Beauty Cecile Geek

The imminent arrival of Christmas might have you thinking that escape is impossible, but there's still time to make your excuses and flee the festive train smash that is M&S pants, brassy baubles and monotonously merry melodies.

So pack your bags, break out your flexible friend and check out the late availability as you prepare to go AWOL and flee the excesses for something a little more exotic.


Cape Town
Cape Town must be seen to be believed; a relaxed, easy going, yet sophisticated city with an abundance of everything that is great about the majestic African continent. Dominated by the brooding Table Mountain and set on a peninsula of rocky heights and lush valleys where the Atlantic and Indian oceans converge, this city oozes cool, especially around the De Waterkant gay scene which is famed for its spectacular views, village atmosphere and its diverse and eclectic mix of gay pubs, clubs and venues.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

HOLIDAY GIFT MARKET: The fifth annual Canton in the City Holiday Gift Market will be Saturday and Sunday at the Grapevine Convention Center, 1209 S. Main St. in Grapevine. Hours will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The market features items such as home and holiday decor, skin care, cosmetics, children's clothing, educational games, toys, women's rhinestone apparel, purses and shoes. One dollar of every $4 adult admission will be donated to the charity of the shopper's choice. Charity registration forms and discount coupons are available at www.cantoninthecity.com or by calling 972-471-0601. Admission for junior high and high school students is $1. Children up to age 11 get in free. Parking is free.

GRAPEVINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEETING: The group will meet at 7 p.m.

Joining the rotters' club

On one of those lovely autumn days in October, I spent a day with a new client, walking their land. The night before had been the first cold one and it had broken the short spell of the Indian summer. We travelled down on the train, through a smog that muffled the suburbs, but soon, as we moved into open pasture, I realised that the fog was not the shroud it had appeared to be in the city but a magical, mysterious mist. Your framed view of the sky is so reduced in the city that it can feel like a lid on the world, whereas in the country the same grey skies can be seen to their full extent, turning seemingly oppressive weather conditions into things of great beauty. And so the day opened up as the train sped towards our destination, the cover becoming more luminous and then breaking into brilliant pockets of sunlight, one of those perfectly still autumn days when you can hear every leaf drop.

Everyday Biographies Offer Harrods' Customers A Christmas Gift Of Immortality

Everyday Biographies have partnered with Harrods to offer customers a unique gift product this Christmas - professionally written Autobiographies or Childhood Memories books that will be treasured by families for generations to come.

The Everyday Biographies service makes it simple to give someone a gift of having their life story or childhood memories professionally written and bound. The beauty of the service is that the person receiving the gift doesn't have to write a word. They simply share their memories over a series of telephone conversations.

GeoPharma, Inc. Announces Marketing and Distribution Agreement With Vetoquinol

LARGO, Fla. (Map) - LARGO, Fla., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GeoPharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: GORX) (the "Company") GeoPharma, Inc. reached an agreement with Vetoquinol USA (http://www.vetoquinolusa.com/index1.html) for the marketing and distribution of Vetprofen(TM) nationwide. The agreement executed with GeoPharma's wholly-owned subsidiary Belcher Pharmaceuticals represents GeoPharma's first generic drug offering and features the active ingredient Carprofen. Carprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that is used by veterinarians for the relief of pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis and post operative pain management in canines.

"Vetoquinol has long been a leader in the marketing and distribution of veterinary health products, so working with them was a logical choice to proliferate the acceptance of Vetprofen(TM) into the marketplace," said GeoPharma CEO Mihir K.

Is Stratford Ontario's perfect little city?

(This story was published in the Toronto Star's Saturday edition on Oct. 27 on the front page of the New in Homes section and is reprinted here with the writer's permission.)

Michele Boniface has had a lifelong thing for Stratford. She loves it so much that five years ago she pulled up stakes in her hometown, Edmonton, and made the move east.

"I came here as a child and I brought my students here," says Boniface, a former teacher who has also worked in film and television. Now serving as a co-ordinator for a local performing arts festival, she can't get over the level of friendliness in her adopted city.

"It blows me away," she says. "It has actually made me a warmer, friendlier person."

As a visitor, Boniface was attracted by Stratford's beauty and its lively downtown - a place with an uncommon number of thriving shops and restaurants for a city so small.