It Takes Two
If “board game night” translates into you being bored while your man and his buds tackle a case of beer over a kitchen-conquering game of Risk, it’s time to rethink your strategy. This Valentine’s Day, put on your best game face and challenge that special guy to a game of Syncrohearts. Made in Vancouver, this game uses cards with questions in categories such as “4-Fun,” “Couple,” “Insights,” and “Hot Stuff” to bring couples closer together. Players move their pieces around the squares on the game board, which form a path of two overlapping hearts. And, unlike other games, the aim here isn’t to beat your partner, but to love him. And if that’s not worth a roll of the dice, then what is? Details: syncrohearts.com . —Jennifer Croll
Homing Device
Attention mommies-to-be: While you’re busy renovating your home office into the perfect nursery for Junior, don’t forget to give yourself a treat, too. Enter Sweet Home Birth, an online store selling birth supplies, breastfeeding supplies, and natural baby care products. Delivered to your doorstep anywhere in Canada, the Sweet Home Birth boxes (for home or hospital births) offer a range of both practical and pampering products to help Ma prepare for the big day. The Mama’s Birth Box includes massage oil (to ease labour), organic and vegan nipple cream, and Gaia Garden Momma’s Tea to encourage lactation. Rest assured that each birth box item is carefully selected with the help of local midwives. The only thing they can’t guarantee is that your renovations will be complete before baby arrives. Visit sweethomebirth.com . —Erica Gehrke
Chocolate Island
If you love chocolate so much you could practically sleep with it, this will sound like a dream come true: Cocoa West on Bowen Island now offers overnight stays in its “Chocolate Suite.” Since 2002, chocolatier extraordinaire Joanne Mogridge has been creating scrumptious chocolates from organic ingredients at Cocoa West (tip: the “Unbelievably Good Egg” truffle, filled with liquid caramel and amber maple syrup, is to die for). Her café also serves up coffee Viennese-style (on a silver tray, with a glass of water, and a chocolate on the side, of course), along with artisan hot chocolate blends. If you can’t make an island-hop this weekend, you can pick up Cocoa West’s Signature and spicy Poblano organic hot chocolates at Urban Fare, or Edible British Columbia (Granville Island). Info: cocoawest.com . —Joanne Will
Herbal Essence
How’s this for the perfect meeting of East and West? The Mystic Masala is a local company that uses wildcrafted herbs from a women’s fair trade co-operative in Nepal to create traditional Ayurvedic concoctions. Ayurvedic guru and “spice mistress” Glynnis Osher aims to balance the individual by harmonizing body, mind, and spirit. Her products include made-in-B.C. pure soy candles with essential oils blended according to the Ayurvedic principles of balancing prana (life-force), ojas (life-essence), and tejas (life-fire); herbal body bar soaps made in Nepal from Himalayan clay; and a shampoo bar with nourishing coconut, palm, sunflower, and olive oils. Mama and baby massage oils and soaps (made with cow’s milk) pamper precious cargo during pregnancy, birth, and beyond. All products are natural, biodegradable, and contain no preservatives. Purchase at Banyen Books (3608 W. Fourth Ave.), Semperviva (2608 W. Broadway), or themysticmasala.com . —JW
Full of Beans
If you love eating soybeans, you’ll love wearing them even more. When German-born dancer Freyja (aka Kerstin Eyrich) met Ontario transplant Jules (Julie Emmerson) at a B.C. music festival, the pair soon realized that they shared the same vision of creating unique, sweatshop-free, and sustainable clothing. Inspired by their dance and yoga backgrounds—not to mention nature and fairy lore—Freyja and Jules pooled their talents to create MahaDevi Designs (MahaDevi means “great goddess” in Sanskrit). Using environmentally friendly fabrics including said soy, the ever-durable hemp, and cashmere-soft bamboo, MahaDevi offers a variety of dreamy tunics, casual hoodies, and yoga wear with distinctive detailing and asymmetrical cuts that will keep you both super-comfy and devastatingly stylish. Available at A Small World Shop and Gallery (2120 Commercial Dr.) or mahadevidesign.com . —Sondi Bruner
Sheepy Sleep
If you’ve always thought the pressures of daily life were the source of your insomnia, here’s your wake-up call: it could be what you’re sleeping on. Don Eady was skeptical when his in-laws presented him and his wife with a wool mattress cover, but it only took a single night of undreamed-of slumber to convince him to bed down on wool for life. He took it one step further and created SnugSleep, a line of high-quality wool mattress covers, duvets, and pillows that both absorb and release moisture, regulating body temperature and providing a more comfortable night of rest. And since we can lose up to a litre of water while we sleep, it’s nice to know that there’s something out there to keep us cozy and dry in the winter months, as well as comfy and cool all summer. To find a SnugSleep retailer near you, visit snugsleep.com . —SB
Face Time
Sick of sampling your way through shelves of skin care products only to come up red in the face—literally? Cheryl Theilade was, so the Vancouverite created her own skincare line. Concocted with organically grown botanicals, long known for their beautifying and therapeutic properties, Theilade’s Scentimental Creations products are custom-made for all skin types. Sensitive to both you and the environment—as in no animal testing and zero preservatives—Scentimental offers such gems as Aloe Cure Cream, a scintillating synthesis of aloe vera juice, cocoa butter, grapefruit seed extract, beeswax, vitamin E, and essential oils that soothe eczema, psoriasis, and other skin irritations. Theilade will even teach you how to create your own natural products to give your skin that youthful glow. You’ll never make a “rash” decision again. See scentimentalcreations.com . —EG
Like a Record, Baby
Vinyl junkies may mourn the music world’s rapid evolution from analog to digital, but never fear: there’s still room for those old records in the iPod era. Vancouver company Contexture Design recycles old records and transforms them into iPod-hugging cases. Named the “45,” after the playing speed of a seven-inch disk (remember those?), the case allows access to your 20–80-gig iPod’s click wheel through the record’s old centre hole. If your music tastes lie more in the ’80s, give the “45 nano” a whirl on your iPod nano. These cases are fashioned out of old cassette tapes and recycled foam padding, allowing you to relive your mix-tape glory days while jacking in to your shuffle. See contexture.ca , 45ipodcases.com . —JC
