Since I was a teenager, one of my monthly must-reads has been Shape magazine. There’s nothing like it for motivating met to get my butt off the couch and onto the treadmill. So when the folks at Shape offered a special sneak peek of their annual Shape of Beauty awards–hitting news stands this week!–I just had to share it with my gals here at EAD Living!

Can you believe that August is already upon us? The shock of this realization put me in a grumpy mood at first, but then I decided to savour what’s left of the summer by poring over the August back issues of all the magazines I’ve saved over the years. It was the perfect cure for my mid-summer blues, and a great reminder that hey, it’s not fall yet!

Summer’s best blooms are still filling my neighbourhood’s gardens with color, and a …

Design and vintage guru Stan Williams recently released a book called The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating with Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details, and it is a must read! I’ve already shared some of my favourite images at my personal blog, but I wanted to give everyone here at EAD a special sneak peek too.

No matter what your style and your aesthetic, this book will appeal to you. It showcases everything from whimsical eclectic …

Confession time: My bedroom is the last hold-out of ugly in my house. In every other room I have managed at least to begin painting and decorating, but the bedroom is a bland repository of hand-me-down sheets and freebie furniture. This haphazard mishmash is at least partly due to the fact that I can’t decide what I like! So bear with me as I think bedroom thoughts out loud. For example, I do love gauzy fabric in place of a …

The holiday weekend is so close I can almost taste it! One of my favourite things about having an extra day off is whipping up something special for breakfast after a late sleep-in. And these muffins are just the ticket! They’re so light and fluffy, not dense like many muffin recipes I’ve come across. Yet they really satsify–just one is enough to keep you going strong ’til that picnic lunch in the park. But go ahead and have two just …

{Amanda Pratt}

You don’t have to be a desert dweller to feel the effects of summer on your beauty routine! When the mercury rises, it takes all my strength not to crank up the A/C, collapse on the couch, and stay there ’til Labor Day. But I’ve found a few products that make me feel less like an extremely wilted flower and more like…well…a partially wilted flower.

{source}

Yesterday at the gym I saw a woman wearing Crocs and cargo pants on the treadmill. I am slightly more, um, traditional when it comes to workout apparel–though perhaps no less passionate than my Crocs-loving friend. So I thought I’d share some of my essentials!

Countless hours logged on the elliptical and in the spinning studio have me hooked on Lululemon Athletica. I’ve been wearing their stuff for about eight years, and I have pieces that old that still look as …

I am always on the lookout for quick, easy dessert recipes that are fancy enough to serve for company, yet indulgent enough to enjoy while locked in a closet where you don’t have to share with anyone. And this recipe is a winner–these are the moistest, fudgiest chocolate cakes you will ever taste! They come together in an instant, are brilliant by themselves or with a scoop of ice cream, and will win rave reviews from anyone strong enough to …

I have a confession to make: although I love jewelry, I don’t wear a lot of it because frankly I don’t know where to begin! There are so many gorgeous pieces out there, and I’m terrible at making decisions. So I asked uber-talented jewelry designer Jessica Constable of Jess L.C. what the ‘must have’ pieces are for any accessories wardrobe. Here are her ingenious picks, along with my fave fit-the-bill pieces!

1: The “Trench coat” of jewelry: A great gold or …

Hi EAD readers! I’m so thrilled to be contributing here. When I started my blog The City Sage about a year ago, I was living in Brooklyn and working at an advertising agency. Since then I’ve moved to San Francisco, married my sweetie–who I’ve known since we were fourteen!–launched into that great void known as ‘freelancing’ and adopted two sweet kittens named Sophie and James Bond.

My blog focuses mainly on my two great loves: interiors and fashion. And that’s mostly …