Balancing out life’s stresses is essential for maintaining your sanity. To help you maintain the hectic pace of your life, you need to regenerate regularly, not just one day a year. The best and easiest way to regenerate is to find your own special place to relax and remove yourself from the world. Maybe for you that’s a stolen hour in the middle of the day for coffee with friends, some time at a club or spa, reading a great book or simply taking a walk.
Study after study shows that to continue to parent effectively, you must take time for yourself. If you’ve caught yourself saying, “Maybe tomorrow... after the laundry, errands, etc., etc.” Stop right now. It’s time to re-evaluate. The human body needs time to regenerate. If you don’t take time for you, you risk burnout, illness and more. It’s not a luxury; it’s a necessity – especially for parents.
Take a moment for yourself and...
• Hang out at your favorite coffee shop and visit with friends over your favorite brew.
• Turn off the phone, and curl up with a great movie or book.
• Escape to a spa. A little bit of pampering can go a long way to recharging your batteries.
• Take an afternoon break at Lunchbox Theatre. Plays run from 12:10 to 1 pm. Prebook a prepared lunchbox, sneak away for an hour and enjoy a great play in the middle of the day! Call 265-4292.
• The Olympic Plaza Cultural District invites you to visit over 45 fun arts and dining spots including fabulous restaurants, art galleries, theatres, museums and shops, all offering special events or discounts, all within three blocks of Olympic Plaza. This is a great chance to participate in talks/readings, backstage tours, tastings, live music, dancing and theatre, all the elements needed for a great night out with old friends – and a great place to meet new ones. Check out culturaldistrict.ca for the upcoming month’s complete list events.
• Explore Chinatown for some wonderful sights, sounds and smells (don’t miss the Chinese Cultural Centre and Museum). Leaving time for lunch during this excursion is a must!
• Calgary has many galleries and museums just waiting to be discovered. Spend an afternoon in a cultural pursuit. Stop in at The Glenbow Museum. Best to plan to spend the entire afternoon strolling along 8 Avenue downtown – there are several galleries to visit in nine city blocks and several public art pieces to engage your eye.
• Discover ArtCentral, a new visual arts complex which brings together artist studios (open to the public), galleries, shops, and cafés – all under one roof (Downtown Calgary – corner of 7 Avenue and Centre Street. Visit artcentral.ca for more details.
• Take a cooking class. Check out any of the following for courses, prices and dates:
•. Chinook College, 777-7200 or chinooklearningservices.com.
•. The Cookbook Company, 722 - 11 Avenue SW, 265-6066 or cookbookcooks.com
•. University of Calgary, Continuing Education. Visit cted.ucalgary.ca.
•. SAIT Culinary Arts, 1301 - 16 Avenue NW, 284-7248 or sait.ca/coned.
•. Sunterra Catering, 450 - 1 Street SW, 262-8240 or visit sunterramarket.com.
• Crowfoot Liquor Store and Wine Boutique: Learn all about wine pairing wines. Call 272-1161 or visit crowfootliquor.com
• Experience wine tasting or take a cooking course at Willow Park Wines & Spirits, 10801 Bonaventure Drive SE, 296-1640 or visit willowpark.net
• Need a break from the “What’s For Dinner” Blues? Dinner is ready for you to pick up, put together, have delivered or prepared right in your kitchen!
Copper Pot Creations
Phone: 585-4717
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Convenient. Healthy. Creative. Meals for the whole family prepared by us and delivered to you.
Dashing Dishes
Phone: 471-1395
Website: dashingdishes.com
Want to make meal time less stressful? Dashing Dishes is Calgary’s new and exciting meal assembly program.
Entrées Express
9673 Macleod Trail South
Contact: Valerie Vasic
Phone: 252-3801
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: entreesexpress.ca
At Entrées Express, we do the menu planning, grocery shopping, food chopping, peeling, and kitchen clean up!
The Liberated Cook
16 Stadium Shopping Centre
1941 Uxbridge Drive NW
Contact: Chef Andrew Hewson
Phone: 233-2665
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: theliberatedcook.com
No time to cook? Liberate yourself from the dinner time dilemma with one of our time-saving meal solutions – ready made meal packages, do-it-yourself meal assembly sessions and parties, in-store selections, and catering.
Make or Take Meals Ltd.
15, 222 - 16 Avenue NE, across from Peters’ Drive-In
Contact: Nicola Stevens
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: makeortakemeals.ca
We are a no stress/no mess quality meal assembly service designed to save you time.
Savour the Flavours, Personal Chef Service
Contact: Mike Pruden, Chef
Office: 279-0879
Cell: 630-3582
E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: savourtheflavours.com
Savour the Flavours is an in-home Personal Chef Service that specializes in custom designed one or two-week meal plans based upon the individual’s specific tastes and dietary requirements.
Savoury Infusions Inc.
1049 - 40 Avenue NW
Contact: Lisa Gorrill
Phone: 451-6970
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: savouryinfusions.com
• Take a stroll through the Calgary Farmers’ Market at Currie Barracks. Open year round, Friday and Saturday 8 to 5 and Sunday 10 to 4. Call 244-4548 or visit calgaryfarmersmarket.ca
• Volunteering is good for the soul, a great way to meet new friends, and make a difference in someone’s life. Call Volunteer Calgary at the 265-5633 for suggestions.
• Go Shopping! Kensington, 17th Avenue and the Design District on 11th are great escapes and an adventure all their own-especially if you enjoy browsing, crafting, antiquing or great food. There’s something there for everyone.
• Spend a relaxing day walking through the historic neighborhood of Inglewood. Browse through the unique collection of eclectic shops specializing in décor, clothing and jewellery, art galleries and antique shops.
• Exercise is a great stress release, good for you and fun! Discover a new fitness class at your local gym, learn how to run, take a weight training class, or learn a martial art, whatever you choose, you’ll be glad you did!
• Calgary Parks and Recreation offers terrific art classes. Try pottery, ceramic tile painting, crafting, glass blowing, watercolors, or mosaics...the skies the limit. Call 3-1-1 for more information.
• Kick up your heels and dance, from Ballroom, Swing and Flamenco to Country, Latin, International Ballroom, Cha Cha or Jive & Waltz. Whatever your pleasure, make this the year you put on your dancing shoes. Check out Alberta Dancesport Inc. at albertadancesport.com.
• Experience a luxurious night away at The Sheraton Suites Calgary Eau Claire. This upscale hotel is located in the heart of downtown, in the midst of Calgary’s most exciting business, shopping and recreation areas. Call 266-7200 for details.
• Explore the great outdoors. Take a walk along Bragg Creek’s Centennial Pathway in honor of Alberta’s 100th birthday. Completed in October of 2005, the pathway connects the commercial and community centre of Bragg Creek with the natural world that surrounds us.
• Take a guided interpretive hike to Kananaskis peaks, waterfalls and canyons with Inside Out Tours. Enjoy exciting adventures such as whitewater rafting, mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding with professional and knowledgeable guides. Half Day, Full Day, Multi Day and Combination Tours available as well as Corporate Day Adventures, Team Building and First Aid Programs. Call 1 877 999-7238 or visit insideoutexperience.com for more details.
• Drive to Bragg Creek, Okotoks or Canmore for lunch and some great shopping. You will find antique shops, crafts, garden specialty stores, kitchen stores, charming tea houses and much more. Visit the Antique and Art Walk in Nanton. Located just 45 minutes south of Calgary on Highway 2, and enjoy browsing in 12 delightfully restored historic shops.
• Spend an amazing day in Banff/Lake Louise. Visit the shops, and stay for lunch or dinner at one of the hundreds of wonderful restaurants. Rediscover why Banff and Lake Louise are the top tourist destinations in Canada. Indulge yourself with a Ladies Only Getaway or a Fitness, Health & Wellness Getaway
• Go around the World in 35 Blocks. Enjoy a world tour of the many fine shops and food markets of over five continents spanning 35 blocks. This fun bus tour is for those interested in culinary treasures found on International Avenue. ‘Tourists’ will be treated to a bus tour visiting such areas as: Caribbean, Portugal, the Middle East, South East Asia and Latin American Food Stores all within 35 Blocks. It will be fun and best of all you don’t have to leave the city for their world tour! Call for details 248-7288.
• Escape to Devonian Gardens, a peaceful indoor park located in the heart of downtown Calgary. Spanning three levels in TD Square at 317 - 7 Ave SW, Devonian Gardens is one of the world’s largest indoor parks. Today, it houses 20,000 plants representing more than 135 varieties of flora - a great place to break from the hustle and bustle of busy downtown life or to seek relief from the cold weather. And best of all, it’s free!
When all else fails...
• Take everyone for a walk. Edworthy, Prince’s Island and Fish Creek are awesome places to get some fresh air. Walk by the river, enjoy the serenity and escape the onslaught of the city for a few moments or a few hours. Inglewood Bird Sanctuary is a nature oasis in the heart of the city. This piece of paradise offers some of the most amazing family adventures around.
• Have a hot chocolate in Edworthy or Bowness Park, take a walk along the river, kick the leaves (or snow), and enjoy the beauty of the season. Bundle up and lace up those skates. Bowness Park Lagoon is a flashback to the golden age. Skate along the winding river and snuggle up around the open fires with hot chocolate. Or head downtown to the Olympic Plaza and skate under the city lights.
• Make snow angels, have a snowball fight, or simply grab the toboggan, and hit the hills (don’t forget your helmet).
• Have a jammie day, spend all day in bed reading, or break out the cookbooks, and make that recipe you’ve be meaning to try.
• Light the candles and break out the good bubble bath and enjoy a good, long soak in the tub with no interruptions.
For more ideas visit calgaryschild.com
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