A working lunch is all too often an exercise in indulgence, crammed with cream and butter and overly salted. Four (187 Bay St., Toronto, 416-368-1444, fourtoronto.ca), in Toronto’s financial district, is a subterranean spot with the same frenzied lunch-hour crowd and cookie-cutter décor as your typical tower eatery, but its menu offers a different take that’s both good and good for you. Every dish on the menu is 650 calories or less, achieved by grilling or steaming instead of frying, and cutting down on unhealthy fats and sugars. Chef

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Michael Heaton, The Plain Dealer Follow Share this story Story tools 1
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The AMC drama “Mad Men,” which revolves around a New York advertising agency in the 1960s, has just won its third consecutive Emmy in the best drama category. What gives the show much of its allure is the salacious hedonism practiced by so many of the show’s characters, the people who work at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

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With fall right around the corner, it’s hard not to lust after something other than sandals in the footwear department. And booties have skyrocketed to the top of my list. It’s a trend that may have surpassed its expected shelf life, but, hey, booties are cute, so I’m all the more grateful for it.

For fall think suede, leather and animal prints. That pretty much covers it. Here are a few picks. –

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Australia Fashion Week, or Rosemount-Sydney Fashion Festival or some such nonsensical title is under way. And I mean way down under way. So under that if you skip it…you’ll be better off. Of course we love Colette Dinnigan and Sass & Bide…but the rest of those people…yikes. There really isn’t much to say because action and these visuals speak louder than words. What I do know is that if it ain’t New York, Paris, London, Milan and MAYBE Tokyo…but not even…then all these other Fashion Weeks can fade into the sunset. I know…it generates industry…yada yada…so leave the PR to your homeland. To quote my favorite

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Special to The Plain Dealer Follow Share this story Story tools Traci McBride, owner of TeeMcBee Image Consulting, urges her clients to see their best assets and celebrate them “just as they are today, not with some future goal of how you WILL look someday.” This matter-of-fact acceptance of her own weight has endeared her to clients, many of whom struggle with their body image. She also puts an emphasis on buying secondhand clothing as a money-saver. Photographed at Designer Consignor in Lakewood. Full post…

It’s the dog days of summer and we’re feeling anticipation for the fall season (and all the great wardrobe changes) as well as bittersweet that we are saying goodbye to the warm weather for a while. Before the cool breeze sets in, we took a trip to one of our favourite summer haunts: Muskoka. It was just the kick we needed to get of our city slumber and onto Ontario’s beautiful lakes. Here are our top six spots in and around Lake Muskoka this summer:

Touchstone on Lake Muskoka (touchstoneonlakemuskoka.com) Set right on Lake Muskoka, this idyllic resort has its own restaurant, spa, tennis courts, fitness centre and infinity pool—one night is definitely not enough. The Tre

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