Holiday traditions take many forms. Many of us treasure them more than any gift, and they can become very important to even otherwise non-sentimental types. Quite often, these are idiosyncratic little rituals that evoke memories more than anything else. For our family, serving a cranberry coffee cake on Christmas Eve became important sometime in my youth, perhaps around the time that the excitement of hanging our stockings from the fireplace mantel lost some of its mystery. But to this day, the stockings are still hung! For my youngest son, a Boxing Day family hockey game outshines Christmas as the seasonal highlight. He talks about it all year.
The Holiday Issue is one that the Lifestyle team always looks forward to. It marks the end of our calendar year, and our annual gift guide is a great way to include more retailers in our Marketplace pages. This year is no exception. If gift ideas pose challenges for you, these pages are chock-a-block full of inspiring ideas for just about anyone on your list. Go online for more complete descriptions and live website links. See page 49 for instructions.
I’m excited for Lifestyle to cover London’s Urban Design Awards for the first time. These awards recognize superior design in a wide variety of architectural areas, and just to be nominated is a significant achievement. To meet our publishing deadline, Janis Wallace got the inside scoop for us on who won the Award of Excellence and Honourable Mention accolades, and the coveted People’s Choice Award, before they were publicly announced. Congratulations winners! Want to visit the nominated projects and see if you agree with the judges? Check out the story that kicks off this issue.
We also did something new for our Road Trip. We normally assign a destination and then construct an itinerary. For this one, Bruce Fyfe and his navigator/spouse Jane took the job without knowing where they were going! Guess Where Trips is an inspired way to explore our region in a novel and fun-filled way. Read all about it, and some other ways to enjoy time in your car, in Bruce’s Autos column this issue.
It’s been a glorious autumn as far as the temperature goes, but I do not doubt that the chilly weather will soon be with us. Lisa Brandt offers a wealth of solid tips for “Winter Wellness,” including body, mind, and spirit. Our Fashion pages offer an astounding array of outfits and accessories for holiday flair, and our Culture Calling and Eatdrink Buzz columns have inspired ideas for savouring the season.
I trust you’ll find this issue full of inspiration, information, and celebration. We all wish you the very best with this joyful conclusion to 2025.
