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Getting Coiffed in Style
Rating: 4/4 Flags
Wending down Pape, in the ever more Queer-Positive portion of the city known as the Danforth, I was delighted to find François Coiffure & Spa, a Queer-Positive hair salon that made me feel luxurious just standing in the waiting area while I booked my appointment. I relaxed in the burgundy, high-backed leather chairs, sipped some tea, and had cookie from Athena’s, the Queer-Friendly bakery next door. The warm patch of sun was welcome and inviting on a bright but chilly spring day, and the whole salon seemed to glow with a proud luster. Brian, François’s charming partner, and I passed the time chatting, and it became clear that this was not just a place to get your hair cut; this was a place with a touch of elegance that made it worthy of the name “Coiffure.”
The interior burgundy walls are set off by large gilded-framed portraits, the most prominent of which is Marie Antoinette. The salon has a very generous space for hairstyling as well as a spa at the back for waxing, esthetics, facials, and other body treatments. François also offers Spa Day packages: the Morning or Afternoon Delight caught my eye, with a one-hour facial, manicure, and pedicure for only $115.00. Looking up and down at the exposed brick walls and the beautiful antique furniture, and listening to the wall fountain trickling, I knew it would not be a chore to spend some time here. The relaxing, luxurious atmosphere made it easy to feel like I was really taking time for myself. And yet, for those with a little less hair, or the desire for a little less hair, François’s also offers a basic buzz cut for $20. Continue reading
Getting lost in Yoga Meets Dance™
“The older I get, the more I want to do things that make me happy,” Kathryn Peterson, Registered Massage Therapist and Certified Yoga Meets Dance™ Instructor, told me over breakfast at the By the Way Café on Bloor. Kathryn was brimming with excitement about her new Yoga Meets Dance™ series. Engaging this desire that Kathryn expressed, the desire to “do things that make you happy”, is one of the best ways to indulge your healthy pleasures. It encourages a state of mind that makes you open to possibilities, and dance is one of many ways through which to explore this openness.
Kathryn looks at dance and movement not only as an expression of joy, but also as a healing tool and extension of her practice. Like many people her age, including myself, Kathryn fondly recalls a time in her life when she used to go to clubs and dance all night. Designed by Beth Rigby (www.yogameetsdance.com), Yoga Meets Dance™ is a fantastic, healthy way to reconnect with that kind of energizing experience. Kathryn completed her program training in Sedona, Arizona, where she learned to facilitate this combined yoga, movement, and meditation course that can be readily modified for anyone.
Posted in Ambiance, exercise, Health, Interactive, Price, Reviews, Under $50 per couple
Tagged Kelly Wilk, Mary Ann Wilson, writers
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sticky fingers & holiday fun
Rating: 
2/4 Flags
As an adult, there is something about allowing yourself to get messy that indulges your inner child or, if you prefer, holds an innate opportunity for tactile pleasure. And getting messy is coupled with that intriguing feeling that you are doing something you are not supposed to be doing.
Calling Sushi Lovers & Lesbian Writers
Sushi Delight Rating: 2/4 Flags
Tucking into a cup of miso soup at Sushi Delight on Danforth, I discussed healthy pleasures with Chris Fraser: talented writer, OISE Grad student, and facilitator of the eight-week course Story Bowls: A Writing Group for LGBT Women. Chris is a skilled teacher; I attended her Memory Threads; Memoir Writing for Women and found it a space where I felt inspired, engaged, supported, and safe to indulge my healthy pleasure.
Painting Pleasures at Beyond the Pale
Opportunities to engage in activities we love are everywhere. Toronto is filled with places to go and things to do that can motivate us to make time to indulge in healthy pleasures for both our partners and ourselves. But just what are “healthy pleasures,” and why are they so important? In the answer to the first question lies the answer to the second: simply put, “healthy pleasures” are the things that drive our passions, make us whole, and bring us back to ourselves. We hear much about the factors that create a balanced lifestyle, such as good nutrition, adequate rest, and regular cardio, but I think healthy pleasures are a sometimes underestimated, crucial part of this balancing act. Whether it is cooking, dancing, painting, collecting coins, walking in the park, or yoga, these pastimes are tools to help us reduce stress, relax us, and motivate us. This week, if some quiet time with a paint brush and palette is your bowl of cherries, and if a little brush stroke might be exactly what you need, then read on, because Beyond the Pale is the place for you. If, however, you suspect that pottery is not quite your thing, do not despair. Just take time to do the Healthy Pleasures Exercise at the end of this article, by yourself or with a partner, and get an idea of where your interests lie.
Loblaws Cooks up Healthy Pleasures…Upstairs
Rating: (¾ Flags)
We so often neglect healthy pleasures, and yet they are essential to maintaining a well-balanced lifestyle. Cooking is one of the best ways for me to fire up my passion. Shopping for fresh ingredients, turning on some music, and then chopping, mixing, and stirring away allows me to focus on a single, enjoyable task. Consequently, stress melts, submerged in tastes, textures, and colours, and with a delicious reward. Cooking makes me feel that I am creative, confident, and caring for myself, and it is even more energizing when I am cooking for someone else. But what about when I really need some extra motivation?
Food on the Table and Foot in Your Lap
Taking a slight detour from the land of sumptuous edible fare and romantic outings, I turn my attention to more home-grown delicacies. Going out for a date is just one way couples- gay and straight- make time for each other and improve the relationship they share. Getting and staying healthy, together, is one of the most important things couples can do to address each other’s mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and sexual well-being. As a Health Practitioner and Reflexologist, my journey down this healing path begins with the foot and a picnic on the living room carpet.
Drama at the Lakeview Lunch
Rating : 
½ a Pride Flag
Well, diners, I can honestly say that my experiences thus far have been at least satisfactory… until now. Heading to the Lakeview Lunch, a gay-friendly and partially gay-staffed restaurant, I was anticipating a large, well-rounded breakfast like one I had enjoyed there before. Instead, on a busy Sunday morning, a large group of my friends and I were left at half-mast on all counts- food, service, and ambience- and the ordeal continued rolling downhill from there: drama, drama, drama.
The Dyke Does Three’s Company
Rating: (3/4 Flags)
I don’t know what I expected down at Pape and Danforth when I went over to Three’s Company, but the place certainly did not match what came to mind. The shag carpeting and yellow, brown, and orange design palette stereotypically indicative of the seventies were nowhere to be found. Instead, a friend and I were greeted with a clearly thought-out space in what looked like a former diner. Still, it was warm and inviting, filled with locals like a pub, and dressed up with a little casual elegance. The main wall was warm maroon with lovely black and white photography; the opposite wall was a celery-green, which worked well and with the open-air kitchen, refinished furniture, and beaded candleholders. Overall, the place had a shabby-chic charm about it.
However, it also held a definite romantic, literary feeling for me; perhaps that is because it was recommended by my writing instructor, who waitresses there. Perhaps it was the wait staff dressed in beatnik black. Or perhaps it was because I know Three’s Company is open to events such as poetry readings. The pride flag was a stained-glass art piece high in the window, and as soon as my friend and I stepped in, I was glad we had come.
The Dyke Does Steers and Queers
Rating: 
(3/4 Flags)
Welcome to the roughest, toughest Queer event in Toronto. A few months ago, down at the Dakota Tavern, the first Steers and Queers event was put on for a lark: and surprise, surprise the Queers came. After all, aren’t most inventions and ideas discovered by accident? Plus, I am of the opinion that Toronto’s Queer community is always hungry from some fresh blood, so to speak, and this event is certainly a case of “if you build it, they will come”! And so Toronto is the beginning of the Freak Flag Parties.
