4 DECEMBER | JANUARY 2018 best health besthealthmag.ca
...COME IN THE FORM OF ADVICE. I
realized that a few years ago while lunching
with my friend Ruth. Much like my mother,
Ruth was born in the same decade and
spent her formative years in Montreal. In
fact, we met just a few years before my mom
passed, and she was instrumental in help-
ing me move forward. We’ve been friends
ever since – over 30 years now.
Ruth and I have a unique relationship: I
look to her for advice on how to grow up a nd
she comes to me for ideas on how to stay
young (relatively speaking).
It was during one of our traditional holi-
day lunches that I got the best gift ever: her
sage advice about the holiday season. I was
stressing about all the items on my to-do
list and, between sips of her white-wine
spritzer, she looked across the table and
said, “Beth, cut yourself some slack.”
Those words changed my life.
See, until then, I was that person: the one
who lined up in the cold, dark hours of December for some must-have toy, who
ba ked deep into the night for the a nnua l cookie excha nge, who clea ned like a f iend
for our traditional Christmas Eve party. (Why I thought dust-free baseboards
would make for a better party, I have no idea.)
I know better now. While all those behaviours sit high on my to-do list, none of
them makes it to the top of my I-remember list. Celebrations should be about peo-
ple, not things; love, not judgment; joy, not stress.
My favourite songstress, Sara Bareilles, has a beautiful song called “Love Is
Christmas.” She writes, “Why so scared that you’ll mess it up? When perfection
keeps you haunted. A ll we need is your best my love, that ’s a ll a nyone ever wa nted.
Love is how we do, let no judgment overrule it.”
Beautiful, right? Bareilles writes about Christmas, but we can insert any cele-
bration into this theme – they all work.
So this year, I encourage you to stress less and enjoy more. We’ve got articles on
make-ahead foods that will keep you out of the kitchen on party night (page 46)
and insight into why (and how) to shed holiday guilt for a healthier you (page 28).
But that’s not all! This is a bonus issue. You could say we’re all party in the front
and business in the back. While the December side is about getting down, the f lip
side is about getting healthy, with good advice from trusted sources that will help
you make small yet powerful changes come January. Like I said earlier, advice is
often the best gift of all – we just need to believe. bhBETH THOMPSON
Editor-in-chief
FOLLOW ME ON @BESTBETHEDITOR’S LETTER
SOMETIMES THE BEST HOLIDAY GIFTS...
Mini products that slip
easily into your bag for
quick touch-ups.
What’s not to love?
PIXI BEAUTY HELLO
SNOW!, $This gorgeous lippy
stays put until you decide
otherwise.
NARS POWERMATTE LIP
PIGMENT, $Soft, smooth hands – the
ultimate luxury in winter.
CHANEL LA CRÈME
MAIN, $PURSE-FRIENDLY
STOCKING STUFFERSBETH’S PHOTO, GENEVIÈVE CHARBONNEAU; STOCKING STUFFERS, GEOFFREY ROSS