I admit it: I’m a Star Wars nerd. The franchise and I were born in the same year, so I’ve never known a world without Star Wars. The opening fanfare music gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. I had a Hoth System play set as a kid. I own a Yoda key chain.

Back in the day, being a girl and a Star Wars fan was fairly rare, since it was mostly boys playing with Luke Skywalker and Han Solo action figures. Today, it’s a different story – literally. Star Wars returned to the big screen in 2015 and 2016 with

At this time of year, I’m always reminded of how lucky we are. We’re lucky to have loving family and friends to spend the holidays with. We’re lucky to have food on the table, a roof over our heads and warm clothes to wear. And we’re especially lucky to have beautifully wrapped presents under the tree on Christmas.

It’s not that I’m not tempted.

The holiday season is about carrying on the traditions that are special to you, whatever they may be. It might be anticipating the daily antics of the Elf on a Shelf, curling up to watch a favourite yuletide movie or baking a classic family recipe. For me, it’s sending holiday cards.

I realize that in today’s day and age, sending paper cards by regular mail may seem ridiculous and archaic. It’s more expensive. It’s more time-consuming. It’s slower. It’s (as my son would say) “from the olden times.”

I LOVE traditions! Especially when it comes to Christmas. Most of us already have some sort of Christmas traditions, whether it’s a tradition we grew up with that we continue to do with our own children, or one we recently started. To me, traditions are some of the best things about the holiday season.

Paging Dr. McDreamy.

If seeing the Dr. was as easy as looking into the beautiful blue eyes of Patrick Dempsey, we’d all be taking a sick day to visit the Doc.

If you can already feel the “how the eff am I going to get everything done” anxiety reverberating through your body now is the time to commit to not losing your you-know-what this Christmas; to enjoying the season instead of merely surviving it.

Right now in Canada there are around 30,000 children in need of a permanent home, including more than 5,000 in Ontario alone.

30,000 is the entire population of towns like Stratford, Orillia and Orangeville. It’s everyone in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

My kids don’t play with toys.