City Life Magazine — Oct/Nov 2016

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IS THAT COSTUME APPROPRIATE OR APPROPRIATING? A CHECKLIST

24

FEST IN PEACE: INSIDE THE NEW AGE OF FUNERAL DIRECTING

32

JUSTIN PAYNE ON PREYING ON TORONTO’S CHILD PREDATORS

46

LOCAL CHEFS INSPIRE WITH FIVE FALL FAVOURITES

SINCE 20 2003 003 0

TECH VEX: IS “PHUBBING” THE NEW NORM?

AMAZING AUTOS, AWEINSPIRING APPS AND ALLURING AUTUMN GETAWAYS

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VOLUME 14 ISSUE 5 | OCT/NOV 2016

CONTENTS ON THE COVER

36

40

58

FINN WOLFHARD IS KILLING IT We take a ride with the Stranger Things star who’s about to go supersonic

FEATURE STORIES

46

32 BRINGING THE PAYNE Pedophile hunter Justin Payne on the harsh reality of child predators in the GTA

36 THE ESSENCE OF

HORSE COUNTRY At Salamander Resort and Spa in Middleburg, Va., equestrian dreams come to life

46 FIVE THINGS TO TASTE

THIS FALL Local chefs share the fresh dishes you need to try

32

22 APPRECIATE, DON’T APPROPRIATE Are you plagiarizing someone else’s culture?

Here’s a checklist to find out

38 THE ARCADIAN Business by day, resurrecting vintage arcade games by night: step inside the pixelated world of Sasha Sekretov

24 87 DECISIONS Death becomes them: three funeral directors share the sunnier side of a profession that’s often misunderstood

58 2016 MAZDA MX-5 MIATA This rare revamped model proves that bold things come in small package More stories inside …

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Oct/Nov 2016

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PUBLISHER’S NOTE

If

someone were to ask you what your biggest fear is, what would you say?

Regardless of our age, we all have a fear of something. Sometimes we grow up and grow out of them, or an old fear becomes replaced by a new one.

For example, as a little girl I had an unfounded fear that my mom wouldn’t wake up when she went to bed at night.

I would shake her awake while I slept Michelle Zerillo-Sosa, in her bed. This would go on for a while Publisher/Editor-in-Chief during the night, and only after seeing that she would wake up, I would finally go to sleep. My mother tells me that I was no more than two at the time. I don’t recall at what age this fear went away, but I’m just glad it did so my mom could finally get some sleep — undisturbed! This would be an interesting episode to discuss with Ann Barham, licensed marriage and family therapist and author of a new book titled The Past Life Perspective. Imagine that we may have experienced a past life or many previous lives? According to Barham, the work she does with past life regression is to help people integrate The brave man knowledge from their prior lifetimes and help them move forward to reach is not he who does not the full potential of their current lives. feel afraid, but he who We bring you an example of the many conquers that fear case studies she covers in her book. See story on page 56.

— Nelson Mandela Since we are on the topic of strange things … we caught up with Finn Wolfhard, our cover boy, and one of the main character in the Netflix sci-fi drama Stranger Things, in this issue of City Life Magazine. Our shoot with the Canadian child actor coincidentally took place at Canada’s Wonderland, where the howls and fearful faces of thrill seekers could be heard as they barreled down breathtaking rollercoasters like the Leviathan and the Behemoth. If you have no fears of your own, you may want to join in on the recent craze of this hit series, all while learning what Wolfhard is working on next. See story on page 40.

Although we may be lucky to have shed our childhood fears along the way, the fear of possible pedophiles lurking on the Internet for their next victim is not one most of us want to acknowledge, let alone face. This is not the case of Torontobased Justin Payne, the YouTube sensation who catches and exposes pedophiles right here in our city.

I know that many parents who read this last line will experience a chill down their back, like no episode of Stranger Things or a rollercoaster could ever emulate.

But one should remember to look for the good in people, because this is the world we live in, and know that there are individuals out there like Payne who make it their life mission to protect underage boys and girls who are lured by monsters on the Internet.

We hope you enjoy this issue of City Life Magazine. Until then, stay healthy, happy and unafraid!

“

”

Michelle Zerillo-Sosa Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

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City Life Magazine

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PUBLISHER / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michelle Zerillo-Sosa • michelle@dolce.ca DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Angela Palmieri-Zerillo • angela@dolce.ca ART D E PARTM E NT CO-FOUNDER / CREATIVE DIRECTOR Fernando Zerillo • fernando@dolce.ca WEB PROJECT MANAGER Steve Bruno SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Christina Ban GRAPHIC DESIGN INTERN Axl Valdez WEB DESIGNER Yena Yoo WEB DEVELOPER Jordan Carter E D ITO R IAL D E PARTM E NT FASHION & HOME DECOR EDITOR Michelle Zerillo-Sosa BEAUTY & TRAVEL EDITOR Angela Palmieri-Zerillo PROOFREADERS Nina Hoeschele, Simona Panetta-Kerr WRITERS Amanda Storey, Rebecca Alberico CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Selina-Rachel Mendez, Amandalina Letterio, Erica Giancola, Alessandra Micieli, Carlos A. Pinto, Daniel Calabretta CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS David Perry, Jesse Milns, Farzam Hosseindoust, Carlos A. Pinto SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Sarah Kanbar VI D E O D E PARTM E NT VIDEOGRAPHER Carlos A. Pinto PUBLISHER

ADVERTISING T: 905-264-6789 info@mycitylife.ca DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Angela Palmieri-Zerillo • angela@dolce.ca DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Susan Bhatia SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Mario Balaceanu ACCOUNT MANAGER Miriam Kanbar OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Alessandra Micieli FRONT COVER Finn Wolfhard / Photo By David Perry City Life Magazine • Volume 14 • Issue 5 • Oct/Nov 2016 City Life Magazine is published bimonthly by Dolce Media Group, 111 Zenway Blvd., Suite 30, Vaughan, Ont. L4H 3H9 T: 905-264-6789 • F: 905-264-3787 info@mycitylife.ca • www.dolcemedia.ca Subscribe online at www.mycitylife.ca or by calling 905-264-6789. City Life Magazine’s yearly subscription fee is $24.00.

We accept Visa, MC & AMEX. Send cheque or money order to Dolce Media Group, 111 Zenway Blvd. #30, Vaughan, Ont. L4H 3H9.

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DISTRIBUTION AND CIRCULATION City Life Magazine reaches 342,342 readers per issue through household distribution, newsstand sales and event partnerships across Canada. City Life is also available to over 100 million digital consumers of Magzter Inc. and Issuu.

Inquiries about where City Life Magazine is available for sale should be directed to Dolce Media Group: info@dolce.ca or 905-264-6789.

ISSN 1206-1778 Next Issue: Dec/Jan 2016-2017 The opinions expressed in City Life Magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or advertisers. Dolce Media Group does not assume liability for content.

The material in this magazine is intended for information purposes only and is in no way intended to supersede professional advice. We are proud to be a Canadian company that has successfully published magazines for the past 20 years without any government funding or financial assistance of programs to cover editorial costs. It has all been possible thanks to the wonderful support of our readers and advertisers. ©2016 Dolce Media Group • www.dolcemedia.ca • Printed in Canada @citylifetoronto www.facebook.com/citylifemagazinevaughan @citylifemag www.mycitylife.ca

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CELEBRITY

5 QUESTIONS WITH

Jann Arden

We caught up with Jann Arden at this summer’s Wonderful Women event hosted by Weizmann Canada at Casa Loma, where she was part of a panel of ladies who — pardon our French — seriously kick a**.

Listen in on her thoughts on females supporting females, her career highlights and what she’d say to her 20-something self Interview By Erica Giancola

CL: This event is aimed at CL: In terms of your music, celebrating inspiring, unique where do you draw inspiration and wonderful women, and from when you’re writing? features a panel of extremely JA: It’s from so many accomplished ladies. What different places. It all sort does it mean to you to be of begins and ends with my included on a panel like this? personal experiences, and JA: It’s a great honour. things that I observe. Books Whenever you can celebrate that I read have profoundly the achievements of women, inspired me over the years that’s really a remarkable feat.

— the themes of the books All over this planet, women are that I have been reading marginalized and set aside and suddenly find their way into unable to educate themselves, the music. And, you know, Jann Arden poses with copies of her popular novel, Falling Backwards: A Memoir and in a lot of places still things have happened to my unable to vote, so when you friends and family, and you look at our country, the profound advocate for gay, lesbian, bisexual and can’t help but write about relationships freedom that we enjoy, the ability to transgender young people all over the you’re involved in, whether they’re educate ourselves in some of the finest planet. There’s just so many for so many good or bad, or positive or disastrous. I academic centres on the planet, it really different reasons. don’t think you can help but write that is great. I’m humbled and grateful and stuff down. really excited to hear what everybody CL: In terms of other career highlights, has to say about overcoming obstacles what are some of your favourite CL: If you could go back in time and and how they got to where they’ve got memories? tell yourself what you know now, what to, and I’ll be very curious to see what JA: Well, [tonight] is becoming one. would you say? they’re asked tonight.

I didn’t even know there was a castle JA: To really appreciate my parents. To in Toronto. I don’t know if I’ve been get to know my dad a little bit better CL: Who are some of the women that living under some kind of a rug, but and hang in there with him. He’s got you look up to? [when I saw it] I was like, “What the a tough exterior, but, you know, he’s in JA: Oh, my gosh, where do I even heck is that?” But some of my favourite there somewhere. And to take better start? I have loved watching women memories of my career include meeting care of myself, as a young woman in my like Beyoncé get out there and make some of my heroes like Bette Midler 20s, and have a little bit more respect some profound political statements. and Olivia Newton-John. Being able to for my personal space. I would definitely And Lady Gaga, for instance, breaking write with people like Michael Bublé have that talk with myself. gender boundaries and being an has been a career highlight. wonderfulwomen.weizmann.ca 14

City Life Magazine

Oct/Nov 2016

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A DV E R TO R I A L

Integrity Fitness

Vaughan’s top workout spot shares the success stories of its star clients

I

t’s no secret that taking those first steps toward achieving your fitness goals is a challenge when you feel intimidated by your peers at the gym. This anxiety results in the never-ending cycle of planning and postponing.

Integrity Fitness prides itself on an inclusive fitness environment, where real women can strive toward real results in a safe, motivating space.

Regardless of age or experience, owner Paul Walker and the team at Integrity Fitness tirelessly encourage each woman to strive toward being the best version of herself — which could explain their countless success stories and rave reviews.

Meet Palmira, a star client and trainer at Integrity Fitness. After putting on weight during both of her pregnancies and feeling uncomfortable with her body, Palmira was trapped in the cycle of fad dieting and poor lifestyle choices.

It wasn’t until she sought the support of Integrity Fitness that she was able to switch course, improving her training and eating habits. Now, Palmira is part of the Integrity Fitness team and participates in Figure Competitions, something she never imagined she would have the self-discipline to pursue.

“I found strength not from lifting weights, but from self-discipline and mental focus,” says Palmira.

Nelly is another Integrity Fitness superstar. Since 2014, she has been committed to attending boot camp several times a week. From the very beginning, Nelly loved that her workouts made her stronger and gave her the

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NELLY

PALMIRA

TERESA

mental and physical energy to keep up with her kids — she was hooked! Now, after losing more than 20 pounds, Nelly is more focused than ever on maintaining her figure and participating in Integrity Fitness Fast Track challenges. She is also able to stick to healthy, balanced meal plans without following along on paper; it is now part of Nelly’s lifestyle. Her best advice: be patient and don’t give up.

“Paul always tells us that fitness is a journey and a lifestyle, it’s not a destination,” says Nelly. “I’m a true example of that.”

Giving up is certainly not in Teresa’s vocabulary. This star client won a package of 24 sessions in an auction and hails the prize as divine intervention. Teresa admits that it wasn’t always easy. During her first class, she was discouraged at how difficult the workouts seemed, but regained confidence with each passing session and through the encouragement from her trainers and peers. Thanks to her perseverance, Teresa surpassed her goal weight by five pounds, and is currently maintaining a weight of 125 pounds. “Never give up,” says Teresa, “we’ve all been there.” She encourages other women to stay focused and enjoy the journey to fitness.

Integrity Fitness 51 Jevlan Dr., Woodbridge, Ont. 8000 Hwy. 27, Woodbridge, Ont. 905-851-7722 www.integrityfitness.ca

Oct/Nov 2016

City Life Magazine

17

Technology

Are You “Phubbing” Kidding Me?

Put the Phone Down

A recent study out of the University of Kent examines the practice of “phubbing” — concentrating on your phone in a social setting. But is “phubbing” truly the new norm?

Written By Daniel Calabretta

T

wo men stand adjacent to each other at a local coffee shop in Vaughan as they await their freshbrewed beverages. They appear to be acquaintances of some sort, as they discuss personal and work-related matters. However, while they’re talking, both of them keep their eyes deadlocked on their cellphones — neither breaking for eye contact.

One of the gentlemen — who is older than his acquaintance — places his phone in his pocket, while the other continues to type away. After a prolonged pause, the older gentleman turns to his peer and jokingly says, “Get off your phone!”

Both of these men are guilty of “phubbing” — concentrating on your phone in a social setting — as defined by academics Karen Douglas and Varoth Chotpitayasunondh (of the University of Kent in the U.K.) in their recent study entitled, “How ‘phubbing’ becomes the norm: The antecedents and consequences of snubbing via smartphone,” which appeared in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

The study was developed to investigate psychological precursors and 18

City Life Magazine

Oct/Nov 2016

ramifications of “phubbing” behaviour.

Professor Douglas describes how the idea for the study crystallized in 2013. “He [Chotpitayasunondh] has a background working in medicine and mental health and is interested in addictive behaviours. He approached me because of my academic background in the study of human communication.”

A total of 251 individuals (158 women and 93 men) participated in the study — with a median age of 28. Through their inquiry, Douglas and Chotpitayasunondh ascertained that factors such as Internet addiction, self-control and the fear of missing out contributed to smartphone addiction, which, consequently, predicted “phubbing” behaviour.

In terms of gender, 53.1 per cent of females reported phubbing in social situations at least twice a day, however, only 28 per cent of men admitted doing it, according to fusion.net. Similarly, women were phubbed more often than men. Douglas and Chotpitayasunondh also discovered that smartphone addiction had a substantial influence on phubbing behaviour.

“One of the antecedents of smartphone addiction and phubbing behaviour is the ‘fear of missing out.’

Smartphones allow people to access a huge amount of information easily, and interact with others immediately. When people are not using their smartphones, they are therefore potentially missing out on valuable information and social interaction,” Douglas writes.

Douglas argues that in this day and age, people alternate from being phubbed to phubbing others. “People phub and are phubbed. It can become a vicious cycle. We argue that this is one factor that may lead to phubbing becoming normative. If everyone does it, and has it done to them, then it becomes normal behaviour.”

Dr. Steve Gennaro, who teaches “Media, Culture and Society” at York University, shares a similar view. “If you say the term ‘phubbing’ and tell people what it is, most Canadians will nod, agree and kind of giggle — which then (I guess) is an indication that they’re aware of this practice. It’s something that people are very familiar with. Now, how long this becomes the normal for, we don’t know — because technology is changing so rapidly.”

Time will only tell. www.kent.ac.uk www.mycitylife.ca

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A DV E R TO R I A L

This year, husband-and-wife team Dr. Domenic Gagliardi and Dr. Claudia Machiella are celebrating 15 years of The Centre for Health and Rehabilitation as well as their own 15th wedding anniversary

The Centre for Health and Rehabilitation

S

ometimes we fall off course, putting our health and wellbeing on the backburner while we focus all our energy on raising our children, advancing our careers or coping with significant changes in our lives. We’re overworked, exhausted and unhappy — sometimes.

Through no one’s fault but our own, we neglect to schedule time for ourselves in our crammed calendars.

If there was ever a place to go and hit the “reset” button on your well-being,

20

City Life Magazine

Oct/Nov 2016

the Centre for Health and Rehabilitation is your one-stop shop for a total health overhaul.

Husband-and-wife chiropractic team Drs. Domenic Gagliardi and Claudia Machiella run this successful Vaughan-based practice, with onsite chiropractors, physiotherapists, registered massage therapists and naturopaths to serve clients in two convenient locations. The Centre for Health runs on the philosophy of balance — mind, body and spirit. After

an initial consultation, all the services provided are custom-tailored to each client’s needs and lifestyle and help them implement these core values in their busy daily lives.

“We always wanted to take chiropractic care to another level,” says Dr. Machiella. That is exactly what these doctors have done since the facility’s inception in 2001, when they were already recognizable trendsetters in their industry.

The Centre for Health and

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PHOTOS BY CARLOS A. PINTO

Body, mind and spirit — keep these in check and your life will emanate health.

The Centre for Health and Rehabilitation is a groundbreaking health facility dedicated to helping Vaughan citizens optimize these three qualities in their life through expert advice and state-of-the-art health-care services

We’ve built a “ business on a

commitment to helping people get be�er

”

— Dr. Claudia Machiella

Now with two locations and a third in the works, the couple looks forward to spreading their innovative health-care services throughout the GTA

Rehabilitation is far from the average, run-of-the-mill chiropractic centre. One of the most unique services the clinic offers is bioidentical hormone therapy, a process that begins with a consultation with the in-house naturopath and works toward the goal of balancing the patient’s hormones naturally, using their own hormones — there are no artificial hormones used in this process. Initial blood tests will provide a baseline for the patient’s current hormone levels, and the naturopath will work to replace the hormones using specialized ointments and lotions. This process is extremely beneficial for patients who are suffering with any sort of hormone deficiency, and it’s especially useful for women who are going through menopause, which brings on significant hormone imbalances.

Each of the personalized services offered at the Centre for Health complements the others perfectly, helping to reboot the client’s health in all departments, including sports injury rehabilitation, nutrition, hormone balance and physical therapies. For the team at the Centre for Health, it’s not about fixing a problem; it’s about restoring a lifestyle.

“I’m always reminding clients that

www.mycitylife.ca

it’s just about finding what makes you happy,” says Dr. Machiella, “because finding what makes you happy is going to make you feel healthy and that’s the key.”

This power couple doesn’t just have their sights set on improving the lives of everyone that seeks their support — Drs. Gagliardi and Machiella also practise what they preach. They consider patients friends and family, so the couple firmly believes in teaching by example and living the healthy lifestyle that they promote. This is an important part of their business model.

“We work hard and keep focused, but we also play hard and make time to have fun as a family,” says Dr. Gagliardi. “That keeps us healthy and happy.”

Clients of all ages come to The Centre for Health for help. Most commonly, entire families visit the Centre for Health together for regular health maintenance. To maintain the highest quality of care, even for their youngest patients, all staff members are trained to provide a consistent quality of care as an integral part of the centre’s practice.

The doctors have two young children of their own, Sebastian (10) and Abigail

(7), so they can definitely appreciate families with a busy schedule. It isn’t always easy booking appointments around an already packed evening of dance lessons and soccer practice.

It was always important for Drs. Gagliardi and Machiella to equip their practice with enough staff to accommodate patients’ schedules more readily, especially at peak evening hours.

The practice has built a positive reputation for itself and is much loved in the Vaughan community, which is a privilege Drs. Gagliardi and Machiella don’t take for granted.

“We’ve built a business on a commitment to helping people get better,” says Dr. Machiella. “We knew we were going to make a difference.”

For years now, the team at the Centre for Health has nurtured an important foundation of trust and reliability with its patients.

This year, the duo is celebrating 15 years of partnership in both business and matrimony, and the power couple shows no signs of slowing down. The Centre for Health and Rehabilitation is growing, and the team is looking to be more easily accessible to clients. A third location for the practice is in the works. The doctors believe having three state-of-the-art locations will allow them to not only provide more services that people need, but also educate more people on achieving an active and balanced lifestyle that best suits their individual needs.

It’s evident that being a patient of the Centre for Health and Rehabilitation means having the possibility to live your best life.

The Centre for Health and Rehabilitation 1160 Clarence St., Suite 6, Woodbridge, Ont. 905-652-4811 2640 Rutherford Rd., Suite E-201, Vaughan, Ont. 905-553-4814 www.chrehab.ca

Oct/Nov 2016

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CULTURE

Appreciate, Don’t Appropriate One of Canada’s most poignant qualities is its multiculturalism. But despite our “melting pot” status, racism still exists here — and oftentimes appears in the form of cultural appropriation.

City Life asked Selina-Rachel Mendez to clear the air surrounding this delicate issue and lay down some simple tips for avoiding plagiarizing someone else’s background Written By Selina-Rachel Mendez

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ecently, a woman came to visit. She had a very dark fake tan, dreadlocks in her hair and a prominent Hebrew tattoo on her arm. Curious, I asked what her background was. Surely she had mixed Jamaican and Jewish heritage, based on her expression of cultural and spiritual symbols.

No, she was Italian through and through. She told me that she had lived in Jamaica and felt very connected to the culture. (She had stayed there for a smooth two months.) The rest of the night was spent listening to her as she “taught” me about my own culture and contradicted my assessments of cultural issues. It seemed that she believed she understood more about it from two months than I did in my decades of experience. She had both appropriated my culture and used it to marginalize my thoughts as a member of it.

Here is a checklist to separate appropriation and appreciation: 22

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1. Do you understand the significance and origin of the item or practice?

2. Are you using it for its intended purpose? (For example, is it intended for a special ceremony, yet you’re wearing it to a festival?)

3. Are you actively ensuring that the original group is credited?

4. Is this choice a lifestyle for you that you will continue when it is no longer “trendy” or “different”?* 5. Can the group wear or practise this item or tradition without persecution in the same space that you intend to? (For example, if they wear it to work, will they be viewed as “too black,” as politicized or as forcing their culture or beliefs on others?)

6. Are you an ally to this group and actively speak out against their oppression?** 7. Did you purchase/receive this item from a member of the group, and is the money flowing back to the community of origin?

8. Do group members welcome your presence in/use of their culture and find it respectful?

If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” you should rethink your choices.

Something being “cute” is not a good enough reason to drain a culture of its resources or intellectual property. If it is just “pretty” to you, let it be just that, but like a painting, admire and do not touch. Culture is not for consumption, nor is it a commodity, and by treating it that way, you devalue it.

Feeling entitled to another culture contributes to a power imbalance. By doing this, particularly when members of that culture are persecuted for doing the same thing, you are abusing (and sometimes profiting from) dominant/ passing/white privilege. I know a lot of people shut off or got defensive after reading that last one, but consider where that defensiveness is coming from. Is it from a place of guilt? Do you feel that this behaviour is wrong, but since you are not a bad person this could not apply to you? Is this feeling stopping you from trying to understand the struggles and experiences of others? Or do you think people are just overreacting? If so, visit MyCityLife.ca, where I’ve collected a list of helpful videos and commentaries that explain cultural appropriation and how to confront your own issues with it. *Exception: If you are attending a special event held by the group and are invited/expected to practise their traditions in that particular space. **Note: This relates to understanding the full experience of people in that culture. If you are only taking the pieces that are interesting to you, but do not want to accept and protect the culture as a whole, you are being exploitative.

SELINA-RACHEL MENDEZ, GUEST EDITOR Selina-Rachel Mendez is a freelance culture and entertainment writer from Whitby, Ont. She is a graduate of McMaster University and recently completed a postgraduate program in Public Relations. She often writes about intergroup relations, social justice and current events, building on her psychology and commerce background.

www.leanwords.com www.mycitylife.ca

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87 DEC SIONS

The media often portrays funeral directors as melancholy and mysterious, but in reality, they’re the heartiest people out there.

City Life meets three local funeral directors to unveil their dayto-day reality — which is a lot sunnier than most might think

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rying to get a funeral director to look grim is actually a lot harder than one might assume.

The flash goes off in Kim Juchau’s face as I plead with her to give the photographer a scowl. But those kind eyes and small smile really, really do not want to budge. It’s against a funeral director’s nature, I’m learning, to be severe.

In fact, the more of them I meet during this day of oddly enjoyable interviews, the more I’m discovering that funeral directors aren’t who we think they are.

Up until today, for me, the term “funeral director” conjured up a sepia image of a melancholy, monotone professional whose job it is to make sure those six feet get dug. Of course, having experienced more than one funeral myself over the years, I was aware this isn’t anything close to the truth — every funeral director I’ve ever met has been downright lovely — but thanks to fiction novels, shows and flicks, it’s what usually pops into our minds at the mention of the profession.

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But even at their actual, very pleasant face value, funeral directors aren’t often seen for anything but their title. They’re either trained to keep their composure — to be an unruffled pillar of calmness for their clients — or else their clients are so wrapped up in grief while they’re working together that no one really notices that they’re real people.

Interesting ones.

Juchau laughs as we switch gears, now asking her to smile broadly for the camera. This is a much easier task for the funeral director, who’s worked for Arbor Memorial, one of the biggest networks of family-run funeral homes in Canada, for over 20 years, and is now the branch manager of McDougall & Brown, the company’s Scarborough location. After being in the industry for this long, she’s discovered that the secret is to find something to celebrate in every situation, and the joy in her soft, bell-like laugh seems more sincere, more saturated, than most others’.

“When someone dies, their loved ones have to make up to 87 decisions in 72 hours,” she says later, as she leads me into the selection room. “I lost my mum

when I was 16, and through the funeral experience I was inspired to get into this business, so I could help people in what can be the worst time in their lives. This is my niche — helping people through my own experiences with loss.”

I’ve never been in a selection room before, but I immediately realize what Juchau means by 87 decisions. One could make at least a dozen of them in here alone. A collection of caskets is lined up and looking pretty, each one beautiful and unique. There’s a flipbook of embroidered graphics that families can choose to add to the casket’s interior (a bouquet of roses, or a swinging golfer, perhaps), and a display of stylish urns, from ash-infused jewelry to mantelpiece clocks.

“The market and families are choosing personalization — it’s not ‘one size fits all’ anymore,” Juchau tells me. “That’s the trend the industry is starting to follow. A funeral is more about commemorating a life lived.”

Sun Drews, the young funeral director at the helm of Jerrett Life Celebration Center in Thornhill, seconds that. And she loves it. www.mycitylife.ca

PHOTOS BY JESSE MILNS

Written By Amanda Storey

“

A funeral is more about commemorating a life lived

”

Kim Juchau, funeral director and manager of McDougall & Brown, Arbor Memorial’s Scarborough location

“The industry is being dragged kicking and screaming into the next chapter, and I’m really excited to see that happen,” she says. “Another funeral home in our network held one celebration in a movie theatre, for a gentleman who had worked as a ticket-taker there for years. The whole community knew him. It’s really cool that people are getting more creative like that.”

Drews takes me on a little tour of her facility and lists, with the enthusiasm of an artist, the changes she’s planning www.mycitylife.ca

for the space. Leading me into the in-house chapel, she divulges her renovation plans for this particular room (mostly that she wants to get rid of the slightly gaudy light that streams through yellow-tinted windows), and in the room adjacent she envisions a vertical garden where loved ones can retreat when they need a moment of silence or meditation.

Every funeral director has a story to tell, the where/what/why/how of their journey into this industry. Drews’ career began with a wisecrack from a Oct/Nov 2016

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Sun Drews, funeral director and manager of Jerret Life Celebration Centre, Dignity Memorial’s Thornhill location

“

The industry is being dragged kicking and screaming into the next chapter, and I’m excited to see that happen

”

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former partner. She was feeling stuck after graduating from Concordia’s anthropology and sociology program when her ex, who was obsessed with Six Feet Under, joked that she should get into funeral directing. Drews pondered over it for a year before deciding it was, in fact, a perfect fit.

“I’ve been doing this for eight years now, and people always ask how I do it,” she says. “But it’s such a privilege to be involved in this intimate group and this precious experience. The families have such amazing stories about the person that they loved. Not knowing what those stories will be, or how we’re going to honour that person’s memory, that’s fascinating.”

For Gianpaolo Bernardo of Bernardo Funeral Homes in Toronto, joining the business that his father had cofounded happened naturally. He had worked there part-time in high school,

full-time in university, and eventually realized it wasn’t just his heritage — it was something he, himself, truly enjoyed.

When I ask Bernardo what he finds the most fulfilling about what he does, he chuckles. “I’m sure that everyone you’ve met has told you the same thing — helping people,” he says. “It’s a benevolent gesture that you can provide someone, and it’s not something that everybody can do. You know, it’s a unique ability to look through someone’s emotions and help them, instead of collapsing with them. The raw gratitude that families express is really what drives people in this business.”

And it’s true — everyone in the business seems to have entered it for the same reason, and that’s to navigate families through the toughest time of their lives. But while there’s a similarity www.mycitylife.ca

Gianpaolo Bernardo, funeral director at Bernardo Funeral Homes in Toronto

“

There’s a lot of misconceptions about funeral directors. We’re all characters and personalities outside of the workplace

www.mycitylife.ca

”

in every funeral director’s mission, each personality is completely unique from the rest.

Sort of like wedding planners. There are traditional, religiously charged nuptials and there are shabby-chic celebrations; and there are the poised, polished planning professionals and more avant-garde party architects to carry them out, respectively. In this new era of end-of-life celebrations, funeral services are no longer synonymous with dark and dreary protocol, but an abundance of styles.

“There’s a lot of misconception about funeral directors, morticians, undertakers —whatever Hollywood has branded us as,” says Bernardo. “We’re all characters and personalities outside of the workplace, and no one ever sees that side of us. But it’s always fun to be around a funeral director, because they always have interesting stories to tell.”

“The industry has changed so much over the years, but people still seem to think it’s all doom and gloom,” seconds Drews. “We have a pretty good sense of humour here — but our staff meetings can be so serious, it gets to the point where I want to ask, ‘Can you tell this to me in interpretive dance?’”

It takes a healthy dose of good humour, strength and grace to be the planner of the penultimate party, the orchestrator of the send-off to end all send-offs. “Some would say it’s a calling,” says Juchau.

Some might suppose that it would also take some seriously numbed nerve endings to survive the emotional stress of a job that’s so close to death, but the opposite is true: Juchau, Drews and Bernardo have all found peace in the idea of “the end.”

“It’s the one thing we all have in common,” says Drews. “It’s a very natural human experience, and I think that in our society we’ve distanced ourselves from that — and as a result, there’s been a lot of fear and discomfort around death and dying. Of course there will be sadness and grief, but I want to help people get to that place where they don’t approach death with fear.” www.arbormemorial.ca www.dignitymemorial.ca www.bernardofuneralhomes.com Oct/Nov 2016

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A DV E R TO R I A L

Villanova College A Catholic, Augustinian school passionate about the education of young people

For 17 years, Villanova College has emphasized the importance of community, striving to create an environment that feels like a “home away from home” for students

PHOTO BY CARLOS A. PINTO

T

hirty-three serene acres of King City landscape comprise the campus of Villanova College.

It’s a view as brilliant and as pristine as the student body of the school — the only independent Catholic school in York Region, and one of the few in the country to follow the Augustinian teaching tradition.

“The core Augustinian values are unity, truth and love,” says Paul Paradiso, president of Villanova College. “They live in community, which is similar to what we experience here. This school becomes the students’ second home — their second family.”

Villanova College was first brought to life as an alternative to the publicly funded Catholic education system in Ontario, creating a learning space where young people could blossom into independent, intellectual and caring adults. In its 17 years of existence, the school itself has also thrived, and now carries the gentle prestige that comes with being one of the most celebrated educational institutions in the country.

Educating children from Grades 4 through 12, Villanova College has

www.mycitylife.ca

crafted a learning experience that’s unique from most other schools, not only through its Augustinian roots but also through its incredibly high standards in academia. As a university preparatory school, Villanova College boasts Advanced Placement courses as well as STEM (sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics), a program tailored for students planning to pursue those particular areas of study.

Villanova College’s intimate class sizes allow students to get well acquainted with their teachers, whom Paradiso says are, at the end of the day, there to serve the students’ academic needs. The Villanova College Diploma requires a higher grade average in students’ core courses than what is needed to attain the Ontario Secondary School Diploma.

And finally, the school challenges students to get involved both inside the classroom and outside of it by finding the extracurricular activity that exercises their talents, whether their outlet of choice is music, drama, sports or another niche.

Villanova students also participate in the school’s many social outreach

endeavours, from Sandwich Patrol (wherein students and their teacher chaperones trek to downtown Toronto to feed and engage with the less fortunate) to projects with Habitat for Humanity, to mission trips to Ecuador.

The long-standing success of Villanova College is a testament to its distinctive approach to shaping young minds and young hearts. The school is known to produce graduates who are, as Paradiso says, “better students and better people.”

The school’s esteem stems from more than just its polished uniforms, manicured property and quality curriculum. It’s also evident in the spirit of the school community and its dedication to using elevated intellect to make the world a better place.

Villanova College 2480 15th Sideroad, King City, Ont. 905-833-1909 www.villanovacollege.org

Oct/Nov 2016

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A DV E R TO R I A L

W

hen stepping inside White Cherry Boutique in Kleinburg, one experiences the feeling of walking into a dream closet. Bright, crisp shades of white envelop the space like a warm blanket and the racks and shelves are loaded with the chicest styles of the season. Fluffy pillows surround onlookers as they sit and wait for their friends to try on the perfect outfit for this weekend’s party. An immediately notable aspect of White Cherry is the unique style of clothing — perhaps something Kleinburg has never seen dwelling in its storefronts before.

“Personally, I am fond of Australian brands, so you will find a lot of them here: CAMEO, Finders Keepers, Keepsake and The Fifth,” says owner Cristina De Francesco, who curates collections from coveted designers across the globe. Now you can skip the shipping and handling costs when you purchase online, and go straight into White Cherry — with the option to try the clothes on before you purchase them.

Although she is one of Vaughan’s youngest entrepreneurs, 26-year-old Cristina has earned an abundance

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of experience. Before starting her own clothing boutique, she acquired knowledge of every angle of the fashion industry.

“I have worked in many boutiques across the city, and I got a lot of handson experience [before] I went to school for fashion at Ryerson and eventually landed a job at Holt Renfrew, where I really learned about the luxury of the fashion industry and that side of it,” she says. “I then made my way into the buying office and learned about the business side, the ins and outs of buying for consumers these days, and different portfolios. As far as my interest in ever opening a boutique, that was something that was instilled in me from a young age, and I just knew I needed to travel more and see more before actually taking the plunge and taking the big risk that it is.”

Cristina’s vision for her boutique is trendy and modern, but she was sure to include a personal tradition when pursuing this dream. The shop’s name, White Cherry, is a term that is close to her heart, as it contains influences from her culture and family heritage.

Young entrepreneur and fashion expert Cristina De Francesco channels her love for style and charmed family heritage into her quaint Kleinburg boutique

“In Italy, my family has a soprannome, which is kind of like a nickname or a representation of your ancestry. My father’s family soprannome is ‘White Hairs’ (Capelli Bianchi), because it’s a running joke that the family gets gray hairs early, and on my mother’s mom’s side, the family is called the ‘Cherries’ (Ciliegie) because of their red-hot temper. It’s a silly thing, but it has always been something that was passed down.

Recently, both of my great grandparents passed away and this was a homage that I wanted to pay to the family to include part of our heritage in my future.”

White Cherry Boutique 10425 Islington Ave., Kleinburg, Ont. 905-552-7700 www.whitecherryboutique.com

PHOTOS BY CARLOS A. PINTO

White Cherry Boutique

Young Vaughan-trepreneur Cristina De Francesco brings her fashion sense to Kleinburg with outfits for every style. White Cherry is an upscale clothing boutique that carries the most coveted brands worldwide. Cristina gives customers her experienced style expertise and advice throughout their entire shopping experience

www.mycitylife.ca

A DV E R TO R I A L

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29-year-old Justin Payne started hunting pedophiles about four years ago and has since become an Internet sensation

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www.mycitylife.ca

Community

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? JUSTIN PAYNE CATCHES PEDOPHILES. CITY LIFE SAT DOWN WITH THE FAMOUS YOUTUBER TO TALK HIS CONTROVERSIAL METHOD AND THE EMOTIONAL TURMOIL IT COMES WITH

PHOTOS BY FARZAM HOSSEINDOUST

Written By Amanda Storey

itting in a half-deserted parking lot at a nondescript mall in Mississauga, I get a phone call from a mysterious number.

“H—hi, this is Christopher,” stammers the childlike male voice on the other end. “You said you wanted to meet me here. Are—are you ready?”

It takes me a moment before the confusion fades and I realize that I’ve been Payned. I laugh, and so does my mystery caller.

“Sorry, that was probably bad,” says Justin Payne, now assuming his own 29-year-old voice. “I punk people like that sometimes.”

You’ve probably heard of Payne, the Toronto-based YouTube sensation who catches and exposes pedophiles. His channel has over 45,000 subscribers, his action-packed videos rack up an average of 20,000 views a pop, and the description on his profile reads, “Just a man who wants change in this world.”

When I find Payne waiting for me at one of the mall’s entrances, play fighting with his bodyguard-turned-best friend Gerry O’Brien, he’s wearing the standard Justin Payne uniform, looking exactly like he does in most of his videos: a tank top, shorts and baseball cap worn backwards, all splattered with the concrete he hauls in his day job.

As I sidle up to the pair, they www.mycitylife.ca

introduce themselves and we decide to chat on the curb — but not before Payne halts our conversation to open the door for an elderly lady walking by, give her a courteous nod and wish her a happy evening.

“For me, doing these little things starts to erase all the hateful things I have in my mind. It makes me feel pure again,” he tells me. “Because right now, I feel like I don’t have a soul.”

It just so happens we’re meeting in the midst of Payne’s most challenging case yet. For months he’s been in talks with Jimmie, a 40-year-old man from Alabama who’s lured and groomed Payne’s 13-year-old pseudo-self, Christopher, via texting and phone conversations. Jimmie, who Payne and O’Brien simply call “Alabama,” plans to trek up to Toronto and meet with Christopher in just a few days. But, as the story always goes, it won’t be a minor waiting for him in the designated meeting spot. It’ll be Payne, O’Brien and their video cameras.

Throughout our interview, Payne keeps an eye on his phone. Every few minutes it buzzes as Alabama sends off another nauseating message, some of which he reads out loud, and I can tell he’s struggling to hold in his rage as he’s pelted again and again with sexually charged texts.

There’s a method to the madness of

Payne’s productions, and it all starts online. Payne has multiple profiles set up on various dating sites, pretending to be either Christopher, 13, or Jennifer, 16. At any given time, he is logged into a few or all of these accounts. And he waits.

The amount of messages he receives is astounding. But in order to chase the predator and orchestrate a confrontation, they have to meet Payne’s requirements. They need to initiate the conversation with Christopher or Jennifer. They need to explicitly say they’re okay with their being underage.

They need to lead the conversation.

They need to tell Christopher or Jennifer the sexual things they plan to do to them, not the things they might do — that way, if taken to court, there’s no fantasy defense. And finally, it’s up to the predator to arrange a meeting.

Once Payne has ticked off all those boxes, he has his next case.

As seen in his videos, Payne and O’Brien then surprise their predator and, come hell or high water, come frantic sprinter or profanity-spewing boxer, they capture the footage that will shame them for life — and, hopefully, spark a criminal investigation.

It’s not as clean a process as what’s seen on more polished programs like To Catch A Predator, but it’s the style that works for Payne. It does the job. And Oct/Nov 2016

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Since joining the project in January, O’Brien has become beloved by the Payne fan base — which is known to be as passionate as any Belieber or Swifty. The two heroes (who look unnervingly like Captain America and Iron Man) have become local celebrities of an even higher caliber than the famed Brampton Batman, with people recognizing them even when they’re just sitting on a curb in a mall parking lot. Halfway through our interview, we’re interrupted by two security guards.

“Justin Payne?” one of them asks as they approach. “I recognize you from your videos!”

The publicity, paired with O’Brien’s friendship, have certainly forced Payne out of his shell, and he’s grateful for it. Despite the distractions, he’s still wrenched with anxiety.

“Take Bill, for instance,” he says. “He’s 63 years old and believes that you can have a real relationship with children, sexually and emotionally. He wanted to date Christopher.

Every night he would make bubble tea, and he told Christopher he was gong to teach him how to make bubble tea. It’s little things like that that I think about.”

This is why Payne is so intent on catching Alabama, whose phone calls and messages to Christopher transcend any pedophilic interaction that Justin has experienced yet.

Alabama refers to Christopher as his “boyfriend,” says he loves him. And, knowing he’s speaking to a young boy, he breaks down the process of sex as though he’s genuinely trying to educate him.

Less than a week after our interview, Payne accidentally posts a video containing Alabama’s phone number, prompting thousands of people to call the predator. One even warned him, so Alabama disappeared, and Payne’s plan fizzled. No matter, though — all the evidence that Payne collected was passed on to the Alabama police, and Jimmie is now facing a potential prison sentence for 31 counts of possessing child pornography. Payne and O’Brien have kept busy filming a documentary for Vice, and after that, Payne tells me, he plans to take three weeks off for a road trip to the Maritimes, the place where it all began.

“I’m going to enjoy everything about the experience,” he says. “When I want to get out of my car and walk through a field and just feel the air and the sunshine, and just feel human, I’m going to do it.”

It would be a welcome break from the intensity of his passion, which he’s sure will end in one of three ways: upgrading to a larger operation, getting arrested, or getting killed. As his project continues to gain momentum on social media and in headlines across Canada, Payne is getting smarter — so here’s hoping his conclusion lies in the first option. Besides, both he and O’Brien have their own families to protect now, Payne’s being his eight-month-old son and O’Brien’s being his wife and two little girls.

“These videos are getting out there,” he says, “and people are being more vigilant and aware for the young people around them.”

“It’s a movement,” adds O’Brien. “And you’re at the forefront.”

Payne spares a grin. “We’re at the forefront.” www.youtube.com/canadaohyayaya

Gerry O’Brien joined the project in early 2016 as Payne’s bodyguard, but the partnership swiftly turned into a friendship

the goal of that job has evolved since the project started four years ago. His inaugural video, which has since been deleted, was just a social experiment.

Shocked by his own success in tracking down a pedophile, he became passionate about outing these predators and committed to making regular videos.

And then, when the project started gaining popularity, Payne realized he could use this platform to trigger some real action in the issue of child luring, grooming and molestation.

Of course, not everyone agrees with Payne’s method, including the Toronto Police Service (TPS). Meaghan Gray, section head of information and issues management for TPS’s corporate communications, says that while Payne’s heart is in the right place, it’s breaking too many rules — and ultimately, it’s causing more harm than good.

“We have a certain standard we need to set to do both of those things,” she says. “He does not meet it, so he’s in fact not helping us as law enforcement when it comes to getting these offenders off the streets.”

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“ IT ALL COMES

DOWN TO THE VICTIMS. IT’S TO OFFER AN AID IN THE SENSE THAT THEY CAN CONFRONT THE ONES THEY NEVER GOT TO CONFRONT

”

— Justin Payne

While the officers in the TPS child exploitation unit have undergone rigorous training, a lot of which focusing on the proper gathering of evidence, Payne’s only assets are his will and his tech. It’s a reflection of the Millennial generation’s way of tackling big issues — via social media.

With a device in our hands, we can float over the red tape and conquer the

world. Or, in Payne’s case, bring down the pedophiles.

But Payne and O’Brien were recently contacted by a Hamilton-based law firm offering their assistance pro-bono, and both of them plan to go for their PI licenses, so perhaps once they’re equipped with those tools, peace can be mediated between Team TPS and Team Underdog.

“It all comes down to the victims,” says Payne. “It’s to offer an aid in a sense that they can confront the ones they never got to confront.”

Payne came to Toronto with his mother and brother when he was about 10 years old, but before moving from Nova Scotia he had a traumatic sexual abuse experience of his own — one that he doesn’t feel like sharing today.

The rude awakening seems to have stuck with him, though, and fueled his interest in exposing pedophiles and bringing them to justice. It could also be a reason why this project takes such an emotional toll on him.

“I am Christopher,” says Payne, who christened the fake profile after his own middle name. “His personality is real. It’s like a split personality without the disorder.”

In January of 2016, Payne experienced a mental breakdown triggered by the emotional build-up that comes with his job description. It was serendipitous timing, however, because that same month, O’Brien suffered a severe head injury at work and had to endure weeks of physical rehabilitation. He was also given half the year off to heal, and finding that he was bored with all the free time, he decided to reach out to Payne and offer his security services.

“It was definitely against the doctor’s orders,” O’Brien says with a chuckle.

“I didn’t really like him at first,” says Payne, turning to his partner. “You came on too strong. You’re too honest.”

But with years of training in mixed martial arts and inherent interest in enforcing justice, O’Brien was the guy for the job, and his outgoing attitude ended up being the yin to Payne’s yang. After years of wrestling with his social anxiety, Payne had unwittingly fallen into his first real friendship, and it’s changed his life and his project for the better. www.mycitylife.ca

Since joining the project in January, O’Brien has become beloved by the Payne fan base — which is known to be as passionate as any Belieber or Swifty. The two heroes (who look unnervingly like Captain America and Iron Man) have become local celebrities of an even higher caliber than the famed Brampton Batman, with people recognizing them even when they’re just sitting on a curb in a mall parking lot. Halfway through our interview, we’re interrupted by two security guards.

“Justin Payne?” one of them asks as they approach. “I recognize you from your videos!”

The publicity, paired with O’Brien’s friendship, have certainly forced Payne out of his shell, and he’s grateful for it. Despite the distractions, he’s still wrenched with anxiety.

“Take Bill, for instance,” he says. “He’s 63 years old and believes that you can have a real relationship with children, sexually and emotionally. He wanted to date Christopher.

Every night he would make bubble tea, and he told Christopher he was gong to teach him how to make bubble tea. It’s little things like that that I think about.”

This is why Payne is so intent on catching Alabama, whose phone calls and messages to Christopher transcend any pedophilic interaction that Justin has experienced yet.

Alabama refers to Christopher as his “boyfriend,” says he loves him. And, knowing he’s speaking to a young boy, he breaks down the process of sex as though he’s genuinely trying to educate him.

Less than a week after our interview, Payne accidentally posts a video containing Alabama’s phone number, prompting thousands of people to call the predator. One even warned him, so Alabama disappeared, and Payne’s plan fizzled. No matter, though — all the evidence that Payne collected was passed on to the Alabama police, and Jimmie is now facing a potential prison sentence for 31 counts of possessing child pornography. Payne and O’Brien have kept busy filming a documentary for Vice, and after that, Payne tells me, he plans to take three weeks off for a road trip to the Maritimes, the place where it all began.

“I’m going to enjoy everything about the experience,” he says. “When I want to get out of my car and walk through a field and just feel the air and the sunshine, and just feel human, I’m going to do it.”

It would be a welcome break from the intensity of his passion, which he’s sure will end in one of three ways: upgrading to a larger operation, getting arrested, or getting killed. As his project continues to gain momentum on social media and in headlines across Canada, Payne is getting smarter — so here’s hoping his conclusion lies in the first option. Besides, both he and O’Brien have their own families to protect now, Payne’s being his eight-month-old son and O’Brien’s being his wife and two little girls.

“These videos are getting out there,” he says, “and people are being more vigilant and aware for the young people around them.”

“It’s a movement,” adds O’Brien. “And you’re at the forefront.”

Payne spares a grin. “We’re at the forefront.” www.youtube.com/canadaohyayaya www.mycitylife.ca

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Oct/Nov 2016

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travel

Written By Carlos A. Pinto

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t’s been a long day of connecting flights and dragging luggage through two major Canadian airports, and I’m finally here at the Salamander Resort and Spa in Middleburg, Va. My trying commute is promptly made up for when I find myself on a leisurely walk to the resort’s on-site equestrian centre. As I stroll past the culinary garden, a scenic view of Virginia’s countryside unfolds, its rolling hills and green pastures making me feel like I’m walking into a storybook.

I’m soon greeted by Jennifer, the resort’s equestrian manager, who shows me the ropes of Equine Communication.

She walks her 12-year-old horse, Stella, to an outdoor arena, where Jennifer spills the secrets that only true horse lovers know, like that you must speak to a horse with your body language instead of your words, and that horses feed off their riders’ energy.

“Horses teach you a lot about yourself,” says Jennifer. I experience this for myself when I’m introduced to Patrick, a 16-year-old gelding. After some hard work and guidance from Jennifer, the initially reluctant Patrick

and I make friends. Once I’ve earned his trust, he follows me when I walk and even gives me an affectionate nuzzle.

Jennifer was right — you really can learn a lot about yourself from a horse.

I go back to my room to get ready for my spa appointment. Yes, a spa appointment after a self-discovery lesson with horses. Can this weekend get any better? The answer is yes — yes, it can.

Just 12 hours ago I was waiting at the Montreal airport after missing my flight to Washington, D.C. Now I’m at the Salamander Spa, inhaling the aroma of pine-scented oil while being treated to a well-being massage. I’m in full relaxation mode.

Next, I head to the cooking studio for an interactive, hands-on culinary class, where my group and I learn to make Chicken Roulade using some of Virginia’s finest Piedmont ingredients.

As we sauté locally sourced herbs and spices, our friendly waitress pours me a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon from Virginia’s Barrel Oak Winery. As if its horse country wasn’t enough to make Middleburg charming, its favourable climate and rich agriculture make this www.mycitylife.ca

PHOTOS BY CARLOS A. PINTO

Equestrian dreams? Yes, please. City Life explores the horse-loving town of Middleburg, Va., with Salamander Resort and Spa as our guide

The Essence of Horse Country

City Life lived the equestrian dream at Salamander Resort and Spa, an elegant getaway that showcases the best that Virginia has to offer, from inspiring horseback tours to exquisite culinary experiences

DELICIOUS FOOD, PICTURESQUE SCENERY VILLAGGIO RISTORANTE IN THE HEART OF KLEINBURG For over 10 years, Villaggio Ristorante’s awardwinning Mediterranean-Italian dishes have exceeded guests’ expectations. Featuring only the freshest ingredients, and coupled with a contemporary fine-dining atmosphere, Villaggio has quickly become one of the top restaurants of Vaughan’s competitive dining scene. Savour delicious dishes such as Black Angus New York steak, Quattro Formaggi pizza or pappardelle in tomato lamb sauce alongside the elegant scenery Kleinburg has to offer. Come for the food, stay for the memories. Villaggio Ristorante.

part of Virginia the perfect spot for growing some of the finest wines in the U.S. And so, together with a glass of wine, I finish my dinner and head back to my room.

On the last day of my stay, I discover the history-packed downtown Middleburg before heading to my final activity, “twilight polo” — a summertime tradition in this small town. It’s exactly as it sounds: a polo match after the sun has set, taking place at the town’s Great Meadow.

Salamander Resort has its own section at the event, with a privileged view of the track. Eventually, I break away from the celebratory atmosphere and head back to the resort with my group, singing along to “Bohemian Rhapsody” as we wind through the starlit streets of Middleburg.

On my commute back to the airport, I pass a few vineyards, catch glimpses of grazing horses and already begin to plan my next visit. Salamander Resort emanates the essence of Virginia’s countryside in the most lavish and luxurious way. www.salamanderresort.com www.mycitylife.ca

905-893-4888 110 Nashville Road, Unit 11, Kleinburg, Ont. Oct/Nov 2016 City Life Magazine www.villaggio-ristorante.ca

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#CITYLIFER

Entrepreneur by day and vintage arcade game refurbisher by night, Sasha Sekretov has built up an enviable collection of flawlessly restored antique games

THE Sasha Sekretov left his heart in a 1980s arcade. Today, he resurrects his favourite childhood pastime by giving new life to vintage games he year is 1988. A 14-yearold boy walks into the corner pizza joint and orders a slice of cheesy pepperoni with a Coke.

He mumbles the lyrics to Iron Maiden’s Aces High playing on the radio as he walks toward the back of the room with his slice in one hand and his drink in the other, and lays his eyes on a neon-coloured, brightly lit arcade game. He puts his food down beside it, pulls out the few quarters he has left and slips one into the change 38

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slot. He isn’t here for lunch — he is here to beat yesterday’s high score. He is here to play Pac-Man. And he is here to win.

Fast-forward 28 years. Today, Sasha Sekretov can be found working hard running his company, Progryp Fitness, which distributes highperformance gym equipment and gear to major sporting goods retailers across Canada. But when he’s not busy as an entrepreneur or spending time with his wife Puja and their two children, Mihailo and Leela, he’s working on a

hobby that he’s been passionate about since he was 14 years old.

I meet Sekretov on a rainy afternoon at his home in Vaughan. He invited me over to teach me about this hobby. And no, I wasn’t going over to discuss how to pitch a weightlifting project to Sport Chek — Sekretov invited me to see his in-home arcade room.

“In the ’80s, I got to play the original arcade games,” he says. “I was mesmerized by them. I always thought to own an arcade was unobtainable.”

He wasn’t wrong. At the time, arcade www.mycitylife.ca

PHOTO BY CARLOS A. PINTO

Written By Amandalina Letterio

gaming was a billion-dollar industry.

One system could make up to $500 weekly in quarters. Whether it was the local pizza joint, a big arcade of games or even the local convenience store, every business owner knew it was a smart move to own one. Young kids just like Sekretov would flock in just to try and get to the next level of their favourite game.

For the past four years, Sekretov has spent about two hours every day refurbishing old arcade games from the ’80s. He welcomes me into his basement, alongside his energetic seven-year-old son, Mihailo. As we descend into the gaming sanctuary, my eyes are blinded by hundreds of flashing neon lights comprised of pixelated computer graphics. I hear sporadic clinging, gunshots and jingles coming from every corner of the room.

As my eyes adjust, I see that Sekretov has brought over 30 of these gaming systems back to life.

“Cool, isn’t it? I buy them as is. A lot of them are water damaged or need to be rewired,” he says. “I bring them back

www.mycitylife.ca

to their authentic, original condition, and they look brand new. I had to teach myself how to do all of the electrical work inside. I’ll research online how the games looked in their original state, I often repaint them exactly how they were when they were first made.”

Sekretov walks me through each of the games he owns. From Super Mario to Duck Hunt to Tetris and more, this basement is a dream room for any gamer who grew up in the ’80s.

While Sekretov teaches me about each of these games (and Mihailo completely absorbs himself in catching a 1-Up Mushroom in Super Mario), I ask the refurbishing whiz how this passion came about. Sekretov tells me how it all started — with a date.

“My wife and I were out once and we came across an old Bubble Bobble arcade game,” he says. “Puja was saying how amazing it would be if she could have one of those in her home one day, and like every guy, I wanted to look cool to the girl I liked. I bought an old Bubble Bobble machine and refurbished it for her. We still have it to date.”

The act of romance then grew into a hobby, and then a passion, for Sekretov, whose love of the ’80s runs deep.

“Every person I have met that refurbishes arcade games or collects arcade games tells me the same thing — we all do this for the love of the ’80s,” he says. “We do it for the feeling we get when we play, that feeling of having grown up and being able to afford and own this thing that was once so far out of our reach.”

Everyone has a memory from the past they wish they could just go back to in a time machine and experience it over again — the atmosphere, the people, but mostly that nostalgic feeling. Arcade games are Sekretov’s time machines. For a few minutes a day, Sekretov’s mind gets lost in a game and he forgets his age, the bills and all the work he has to get done. When he plays these games it’s like he is 14 again. He can taste the pizza, hear Iron Maiden, and the year is 1988.

If you are interested in learning more about vintage arcades, Sekretov invites you to email him at sasha@phyzex.com.

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FINN WOLF IS KILLING IT The 13-year-old star went supersonic a�er stealing the show in Netflix’s summer smash series Stranger Things. Now, as he embarks on some even spookier projects, City Life takes a ride with horror’s new wonder kid Written By Amanda Storey Photography By David Perry

realize my mistake about seven seconds after Finn Wolfhard hops out of his car.

“Sorry my voice is a bit hoarse,” he says with an apologetic shrug.

“We’ve been screaming and crying a lot on set this week.”

I look from the 13-year-old actor to the towering Leviathan behind us, just as the next train of thrill-seekers shrieks past at 148 kilometres per hour, and wonder if an amusement park was really the smartest spot to bring him for our interview.

But pandemonium is Wolfhard’s forte. He first appeared on our screens this summer next to Winona Ryder in Stranger Things, Netflix’s retro-style scifi/horror series that promptly earned cult status and a renewal for a second season.

He was such a natural at playing the role of Mike Wheeler, a character that pays perfect homage to the young and curious hero of vintage space opera, that Wolfhard was basically a shoo-in for the 40

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cast of the Toronto-shot remake of It. In shifting from a series that’s inspired by the ’80s imaginings of Stephen King to a flick that’s set out to reimagine an actual Stephen King classic, Wolfhard’s jumped from one unearthly monster to the next, screaming and scheming all the way.

Despite having left most of his voice (and most of his energy) in the studio, Wolfhard is as buoyant and bubbly as the invincible tween he is as we wade through the unusually humid September air and into a shimmery golden hour at Canada’s Wonderland. Trying to be as inconspicuous as it’s possible to be while being trailed by a bodyguard, a publicist and two photographers, we walk up to a squirt-gun game manned by a young woman with a headset microphone. She welcomes us to the fun, pauses — and then, eyes widening, she blurts through her speaker, “Oh, my God — it’s the kid from Stranger Things!”

Oops. Better get moving.

“I love your show, have a great day!”

she exclaims, drawing dozens of eyes our way, as Wolfhard frantically thanks her while backing away.

“Thanks! Thanks so much,” he says with the grace and patience of someone who’s still taking his baby steps into a life in the public eye.

Even here in Vaughan, where we’re relatively removed from the flash photography that haunts bigger cities, Wolfhard’s wearing sunglasses like a good celebrity-in-training.

He hasn’t yet fallen victim to the paparazzi, but he’s experienced a fair share of the name-screaming, selfiedemanding mania that’s synonymous with fame. Since Stranger Things became a worldwide phenomenon — becoming the object of elaborate fan art, themed Halloween costumes, essay-length Reddit theories, memes and BuzzFeed quizzes — Wolfhard’s star has gone supernova in a matter of months.

“I went to this AOL livestream thing and people were lined up out front www.mycitylife.ca

STYLING BY ASHLEY GALANG HAIR AND MAKEUP BY AITOUS RASOULI

HARD

This year, the Netflix original series Stranger Things took the world by storm, and starring as Mike Wheeler, Finn Wolfhard was right in the thick of it

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“ [SHOOTING

IT ] HAS BEEN A BLAST, BUT IT’S ALSO THE MOST INTENSE THING I’VE EVER DONE IN MY LIFE

”

screaming, ‘Finn! Finn!’ And I was like, ‘Uh, I don’t like this,’” he tells me. “It’s totally gratifying, but it’s also weird to think that people want to come up to me.”

Wolfhard rules out the idea of taking on Behemoth or Leviathan in an attempt to salvage his speech, but he consents to trying out a few of the slower rides, and we make a beeline for the first to catch his eye: The Rage, a pendulum pirate ship. As we wait to board, I ask Wolfhard if he’s dared to go for a stroll down King Street lately.

During filming, he and his mother have been staying in Toronto’s core, which TIFF is presently ravaging. He tells me he hasn’t dared, and I say that’s probably for the best.

“Probably,” he says with a chuckle, as we shuffle onto the ride and are instantly eyed by two whispering sisters seated behind us.

“That’s that kid,” I hear one of them murmur excitedly.

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on his horizon. His family’s dabbled in the industry for years, with his father spending his free time penning screenplays. When he was eight years old, Wolfhard decided he wanted to dip his toes in, too, either behind the scenes or in front of them, and he ended up pursuing the latter — and swiftly smashed it.

“It’s really fun to play pretend, and do it for a living,” he says — especially when your breakout role is complemented

by Ryder’s captivating comeback performance as Joyce Byers, Mike’s

friend’s mother. The edgy ’90s icon played mentor to most of her younger, less experienced cast, and Wolfhard’s portrayal of Mike reminisced her signature raw, honest approach to acting.

The result has kept him suspended in the hearts of viewers and the gaze of casting agents.

In fact, the series’ creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, pulled a Lost and wrote the script as they went along so they could mould the characters to synergize with the actors and their chemistry. Hanging out with Wolfhard, I start to see the Mike in him — or maybe it’s the Finn in Mike. He says he relates a lot to his It character, Richie, as well, who’s the source of crude comic relief in the grim film.

“Both Mike and Richie are caricatures of me,” he says. “Mike’s more serious and knows what he wants, but Richie is always joking. I like playing the funny guy.”

Every job has its pros and its cons, and he admits that the gruelling hours and physical and emotional demand of his job can at times be a bit much — especially now, as they wrap up the final month of filming for It, which has apparently been his most challenging on-set experience yet. The 12-hour days are harder to swallow than the typical nine-hour shoots he went through while working on the first season of Stranger Things, and Wolfhard laments that he hasn’t had the chance to chat with his friends much this summer.

Not to mention his schedule held him back from walking the Emmys red carpet on Sept. 18 with his Stranger Things buddies, who gifted the audience with an iconic pre-show by taking to the stage to sing Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk.” “[Shooting It] has been a blast, but it’s also been the most intense thing I’ve ever done in my life,” he says. “The first month was easy, because we were doing fun scenes. But the last month has been, like, terror.”

For those who haven’t dared read or watch previous renditions of It, the monster appears in the form of its victims’ biggest fear. I ask Wolfhard what the monster would look like for him, and it takes a few minutes but he comes up with something. “A ravenous www.mycitylife.ca

After his breakout role on the small screen, the Vancouver native’s career has taken off with another spooky gig, this time as Richie in the remake of Stephen King’s It

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coyote — those really freak me out,” he says thoughtfully. “Or a rodent of some kind, like, a raccoon, or a possum. They’re so disgusting.”

I guess when you’re a kid who’s already faced the ugliest horrors that Hollywood can cook up — from bloodthirsty clowns to the debilitating downsides of the industry itself — all that’s left for you to fear are trash pandas.

Wolfhard may be exhausted tonight, but he doesn’t let that become an excuse to disengage from our conversations, to stop cracking jokes, to become distracted by his phone, which is constantly abuzz as the Instagram “likes” roll endlessly in. In fact, it’s a challenge to keep up with his animated chit-chat, his adolescent sense of humour and bewilderingly grown-up sense of self. His shiny profession hasn’t caused his inner light to snuff out, no matter how tired he’s gotten. It’s evident in the way he so thoroughly enjoys a simple swing on a pendulum pirate ship.

“This feels so good,” he says when The Rage slows to a stop.

“I haven’t felt like that in so long.”

It’s also evident in the way he hops energetically off the ride, exclaims, “That’s one down! Aaaaaand—” and fake retches with a flourish, making everyone around us chortle.

I ask what the rest of his 2016 is going to look like.

As soon as It wraps, he’s jetting home to Vancouver for two weeks of school, then rushing off to San Diego for Comic-Con. After that, it’s back to the set of Stranger Things in Georgia to produce its much-anticipated (that’s an understatement) second season, which was announced just days prior to our meeting, sending the Internet into a frenzy.

But in his rare off-hours, he plans to direct a little something of his own — a short slasher film. He was inspired on set and wrote a screenplay that he’s tentatively dubbed Psychosis, and he hopes to direct it with a friend by the end of the year. He divulges his plan to shoot the two-minute flick using strictly iPhones and maybe enter it in an iPhone film festival.

“It’s not meant to be the game-changer of horror movies,” he divulges. “We came up with it when I was shooting Stranger Things, when I was getting an interest in horror movies. It’s sort of inspired by Scream.”

And if his crammed schedule doesn’t allow that this year, there’s always the option of jamming on his guitar — a hobby that’s been known to spark Twitter crazes, like when he posted his quick cover of Nirvana’s “Lithium” (even Rolling Stone retweeted him, and his inbox flooded with requests from radio stations around the world to have him come in and play).

While the second season of Wolfhard’s breakout series promises to be even darker than its first eight episodes, the young actor has a whole lot of brightness ahead of him. He’s in that bizarre middle ground where he’s both a kid and a star, with his fame simultaneously limiting and unlocking his ability to have fun. And his definition of fun is changing as his popularity increases — so, yeah, maybe he can’t enjoy an amusement park the way he used to (i.e., without all eyes on him), but he’s having a blast on this thrilling new track he’s worked hard to board. He’d better hold on, because it looks like it’ll only continue to be a wild ride. www.instagram.com/finnwolfhardofficial www.mycitylife.ca

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LOOKING TO TRY A NEW DISH OR RESTAURANT WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY THIS FALL? CITY LIFE HAS CURATED A MOUTH-WATERING LIST OF THE TOP FIVE PLACES TO VISIT

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ur inner foodies are jumping for joy! It’s time to step away from the usual mundane dinners and switch it up by exploring fresh new flavours this fall. City Life visited a handful of Vaughan’s top eateries to see what specials their top chefs are serving up. Each of the five chefs took a moment to share with us their concept for the dishes and the ingredients that make them so irresistible.

- CHEF Roberto DeLuca - DISH Farro with Asparagus & Black Tiger Shrimps

FARRO RISTORANTE “The main ingredient is our namesake.

Also known as spelt and emmer, farro is an excellent source of protein and fibre. Not only does it look and taste great — it’s good for you! Farro Ristorante is a great place for a quick lunch or relaxing dinner, offering unique, authentic and classic selections in a friendly and casual, yet elegant atmosphere.

Spelt, vegetarian and gluten-free dishes are also available. Reservations are recommended, especially for weekends and holiday seasons.” www.farroristorante.com 46

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www.mycitylife.ca

PHOTOS BY CARLOS A. PINTO

Written By Alessandra Micieli

NOW OPEN At 255 by Alta Rossa, inspired culinary concepts and fresh, unique fare come together in a modern Italian dining experience

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COPACABANA BRAZILIAN STEAKHOUSE “Copacabana offers a variety of mouth-watering cuts of steak, which includes both traditional favourites and our own signature creations.

One of those signature steaks is the Prime Rib with cheddar cheese, the perfect comfort steak to try this fall. The steak is lightly seasoned with salt before being put over a charcoal fire, where the outside sears as the cheddar cheese oozes out, coating and caramelizing the steak with rich flavour. Go ahead and feel the warmth of Copacabana this fall.” www.thecopa.ca

- CHEF Mateo Valasquez - DISH Prime Rib with Cheese

- CHEF Domenic Colacci - DISH Roasted Ontario Cornish Hen

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TRIMANI RISTORANTE “Our Roasted Ontario Cornish Hen is wrapped with double-smoked bacon and filled with rosemary focaccia, mozzarella and parmigiano cheese, then served with Trimani vegetables and Marsala wine sauce. This particular dish was created for one of our valued customers and has become very popular.

Our menu changes daily and with the changing seasons, as it is important to us to always use fresh and local ingredients.” www.trimani.ca www.mycitylife.ca

An array of freshly - prepared foods …

Gourmet food products, in our aisles or at our hot table … all in a grocer that’s conveniently located in the heart of Bolton.

501 Queen St., South, Bolton, Ont. | 905-857-1227 www.gardenfoodsmarket.com

www.mycitylife.ca

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- CHEF Brianne Nash - DISH Porchetta Sandwich

THE GRILL AT GLOBE MEATS “Our authentic butcher shop has been a destination for more than 40 years and now more than ever, crowds come from all over the GTA to taste the authentic, succulent, signature Porchetta Sandwich, among other specialty items. It starts from the highest grade of local Ontario pork, slow-cooked for 12 hours with a house seasoning. The moist meat is then packed within a delicious bun that is specially made for this sandwich. Toppings such as rapini, caramelized onions, smoked cheddar and even a fried egg can be added as flavours. When melted together, it creates this incredible sandwich — mouth-watering, comforting and filling!” www.globemeatsmarket.com

- CHEF Benjamin Katzman - DISH Grilled Whole B-Liner Snapper

SARPA RESTAURANT “The Grilled Whole B-Liner Snapper is prepared with tomato fennel cucumber salsa, grilled lemon, saffron roasted potato, locally sourced vegetables and O Life olive oil. Sarpa is a fish-focused restaurant in the northern GTA. We take our role in what we offer the surrounding community very seriously.

Ultra-fresh seafood and fish are readily available, so it became a natural progression for our menu. Whole fish, in particular, provides immense health benefits that, at Sarpa, can be paired with a night out. Sourcing interesting line-caught or sustainably farmed fish has us even more excited to offer these dishes.” www.sarparestaurant.com 50

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www.mycitylife.ca

BEST MONTREAL SMOKED & AIR CURED MEATS IN TOWN The Imperial Meats experience has been over a century in the making. Founded by a family of butchers that still operates it today, Imperial Meats blends the rich tradition of the delicatessen culture with innovative ideas.

Let our team of seasoned staff bring your meal to life with expertly, lovingly prepared meats, from our table to yours.

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www.mycitylife.ca

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE Outlet Collection at Niagara 300 Taylor Rd., Unit 813 Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

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51

Mother-daughters team Silvana, Bianca and Giulia have upped the cannoli game in Vaughan with their celebrated home recipe and imaginative flavour ideas

CANNOLI QUEENS All hail the Cannoli Queens! Silvana Mior and her daughters Bianca and Giulia took everyone’s favourite dessert and, with a lot of love and imagination, made it even better

F

reshly piped cannoli, classic Italian pastries and signature cannoli cakes are all scrawled on the handwritten chalkboard menu at the intimate Cannoli Queens in Vaughan. The boutique bakeshop looks much like those found on small Parisian side streets, but the menu is undeniably filled with Italian flair.

For Silvana Mior, this bakery is a

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long-awaited dream come true. An endeavour of her daughters, Bianca and Giulia, Cannoli Queens has found much success after their humble beginnings.

When their business started two years ago, the three found themselves supplying wholesale to grocery stores from their home. Within six months, the business had grown exponentially, and within a year, Cannoli Queens had

found a storefront home in the heart of Vaughan.

Today, the vibrant storefront is as charmed and as scrumptious as its sweet wares, and the three entrepreneurs have come to develop relationships with regular customers while welcoming newcomers on a daily basis. Everyone in Vaughan and beyond wants a taste of the Cannoli Queens’ recipe, which was perfected by Silvana, Bianca and Giulia through lots of hard work, love and inventiveness.

“It started off with just a vanilla cannoli. Everyone loved them. I used to make them for family functions, friends.

Everyone would go crazy over them,” Bianca says.

“It’s so different. I’ve never had a cannoli that’s tasted like this. I don’t think anyone else has either, so we started a business.”

From Double Chocolate Mousse, Nutella and Cinnamon Cream Puff to Oreo, Blueberry and Salted Caramel, the mother-daughters team has introduced a total of 18 flavours to date and plan to continue churning out fresh flavours whenever they’re so inspired. They have even introduced a line of seasonal flavours like Pumpkin Spice for the fall and Candy Cane and Gingerbread for the winter months. And no Cannoli Queens treat is complete without an espresso-based elixir or a tea from Toronto’s own Sloane Tea. Their imaginative Carousel Cake has also become famous in Vaughan’s celebration scene, drawing the eyes and luring the tastebuds of everyone planning a wedding, a shower, a birthday — or, well, just a smashing dessert.

The intimate, family-oriented vibe that comes from the Cannoli Queens team is like the silk bow topping their gift to Vaughan’s culinary landscape: their delectable menu is made all the sweeter by their passion and hardearned expertise in the kitchen.

As these new royals continue to up the cannoli game in the GTA, they show no signs of slowing down.

200 Marycroft Ave., Unit 23, Vaughan, Ont. 905-850-8880 www.cannoliqueens.com www.mycitylife.ca

PHOTO BY CARLOS A. PINTO

A DV E R TO R I A L

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Oct/Nov 2016

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food

Move over, UberEATS! Stocking the cupboards just got a lot easier thanks to InstaBuggy, an app that lets you select your groceries from your smartphone and then delivers your goodies within the hour

with Julian Gleizer, Founder of InstaBuggy So you ran out of eggs for breakfast but you want to spend your Sunday lounging in your pajamas.

What to do? Order them on InstaBuggy!

Interview By Amandalina Letterio

CL: What inspired the InstaBuggy concept?

Julian Gleizer: I was working 12-

to 15-hour days. After the end of my workday, I would have to go to the grocery store to buy everyday essentials. I reached a point where I thought to myself, “I wish there was a way to get my groceries but not have to physically go to the store. Just order them and have them brought to me at home so that I could have that extra hour to myself.” There was a company that had this type of grocery-delivery service, but they deliver your groceries within two days. I wanted something faster. That’s how I came up with the concept of InstaBuggy.

CL: How does it work?

JG: InstaBuggy connects the grocer

to the customer. You enter your postal code, all the stores near you pop up 54

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Oct/Nov 2016

and you can choose one of our grocery store partners within the area. We have partners from discount stores, mid-priced stores and high-end stores. Once you place your grocery orders, a picker-packer makes the best choices for your groceries. Once the groceries are picked, they are given to an InstaBuggy driver who then brings it to your home, guaranteed to be delivered within an hour.

CL: What makes InstaBuggy different than other services and applications like it?

JG: There are not any services like

InstaBuggy. We are the only app that delivers your order within an hour, most deliver within two days. We also are the only app that allows you to shop multiple stores from many different price ranges. Most apps require you to shop at one particular

store that they have a partnership with. We give you options and delivery within a timely manner. Let’s say you wake up and realize you don’t have bacon and eggs in the fridge but you want to stay in your pajamas and make breakfast InstaBuggy will send you what you need within an hour.

CL: What’s one thing you really want people to know about InstaBuggy?

JG: A lot of people like the

conventional way of buying groceries because they can guarantee the best products are brought home. They think that if they go through an online service, they will receive a bruised apple or cracked egg. With InstaBuggy, our quality of service and products combined are just as good as you going out and picking the items yourself. The groceries that arrive to your door are impeccable quality. You wouldn’t choose a bruised apple, so neither would we.

CL: Can you share any exciting news regarding InstaBuggy?

JG: Right now we are making it a

goal to implement an in-store pricing model. Right now we have a small convenience fee, but we are working toward eliminating that. We will also be expanding our grocery store selection to give you more choices in the near future. www.instabuggy.com www.mycitylife.ca

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www.mycitylife.ca

Oct/Nov 2016

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book review

The Past Life Perspective City Life takes a peek into a new form of therapy: taking a walk through our past lives

ANN C. BARHAM is a licensed marriage and family therapist and a certified regression therapist with training in transpersonal psychology, hypnosis, therapeutic imagery and trauma-release modalities

Written By Amanda Storey

T

he book arrived at a good time.

A month after my grandmother’s sudden passing, I found myself opening a package to find The Past Life Perspective: Discovering Your True Nature across Multiple Lifetimes — a title that instantly knotted my thoughts in a flurry of skepticism and fascination.

This is the reaction that Ann Barham is used to. Hers is an unorthodox stream of psychology, one that many people might even dub “new age,” but in this dazzling dawn of open minds and alternative methods of sourcing serenity, Barham’s expertise has found its niche. And with the release of The Past Life Perspective, that niche just might become the mainstream.

As I flip through the novel, a third emotion wriggles its way into my mind: comfort. Maybe Barham is right. Maybe this isn’t our one and only lifetime here on this planet — and maybe my grandmother’s wasn’t her last.

And what do you think of all this?

Have you ever experienced déjà vu and pondered the possibility of a past life seeping into your current consciousness?

Or do you think “the past life perspective” is all poppycock? Read this excerpt* from Barham’s book, and perhaps you’ll discover your answer.

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THE PAST LIFE PERSPECTIVE — Chapter 10: I’ll Lose Myself *Excerpt was edited for spacing purposes

Kalinda described herself as having “relationship phobia,” fearing that she would never be able to be herself in a committed relationship and that she would be dominated by her spouse.

Of course, these fears were somewhat consistent with her family’s modeling.

She described her mother as insecure and “squashed by her husband and inlaws,” and described her father as the one who made all the decisions. Still, Kalinda’s fear was so strong that she believed that there was more to the story than her current life experience could account for.

She sees an angry face. “I’m a woman.

I’m in a bedroom and a man is shaking me, yelling at me,” she describes with fear in her voice. “I’m afraid, but I’m stubborn. I won’t cry,” she insists. He pushes her and she hits a big brass pot, which falls over.

Apparently this man, her husband, is routinely abusive. “I’m holding myself, shutting out the abuse,” she says. The husband drinks and wastes all their money. She takes care of the house and

has “no authority or decision making [power]about the money,” she explains indignantly. She identifies the location as northern India.

The next scene is a burning pyre. “I climb in!” she exclaims with horror.

“My husband has died, so I’m supposed to join him in the pyre!” She wants desperately to escape this fate. “I hate him and I hate this tradition! I’m not afraid of the fire,” she explains, but remarks again on the amount of hatred she has for her husband. “This isn’t right! He was a mean, brutal man, and now I have to give my life for him?” She fights to avoid this terrible, untimely and meaningless end to an unhappy life.

Other people force her into the pyre, and her dying thoughts are of vengeance. “This should change,” she insists. “It’s better to be alone than live and die like this.”

Our psyches have self-protection mechanisms built in, and seeing the physical violence and death without having seen the more positive relationship might have only reinforced www.mycitylife.ca

her fear of relationships. Having looked at the chain of events in the Indian lifetime, it was no wonder that Kalinda had carried forward her fear of being powerless and losing herself in a committed relationship. In that time and society, she was the helpless victim of her husband’s abuse, with no rights and no voice. In fact, the ultimate “loss of self ” came when she had to give up her own life because her hated husband had died.

Kalinda mused that being back in the traditional Indian culture had undoubtedly reactivated issues from the abusive relationship. This is not at all unusual. We return to an area of the world, experience or event, or reach a similar age when something traumatic happened in a prior lifetime, and that reopens a Pandora’s box, so to speak, for the issue to resurface and be addressed.

I used guided imagery with Kalinda whereby she went back into the events of that prior Indian lifetime, stopped that abuse, destroyed the house where it happened, and walked away with the full support of her family. www.pastlives.org

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Oct/Nov 2016

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auto

2016 Mazda

MX-5 Miata

I

n the 26-year existence of the Miata, Mazda has only remodelled it three times. The 1990 Mazda Miata was the first of its kind, introduced to the world as a small roadster. It was lightweight and boasted mechanical simplicity. At the time, it was technologically advanced, and anyone who owns one to this day would still call it a reliable sports car.

Ever since, and unlike most vehicles, the Miata has not been updated and reintroduced to the world each year.

It was almost a decade before Mazda introduced the second-generation Miata to the world. Whatever the reason, Mazda clearly knows what they are doing — to date, the Miata holds the Guinness World Record as the world’s favourite lightweight, opentop, two-seater sports car, having sold 900,000 units. Not bad for a car that has only been refashioned three times in 1999, 2006 and now 2016.

When the Japanese automotive designers first created the Miata in 58

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The rarely remodelled Mazda Miata just got its third revamp, and it’s got us fired up Written By Amandalina Letterio

Hiroshima back in 1989, they said they wanted to bring back the spirit of the ’60s sports car. Their goal was to replicate those lightweight and funto-drive vehicles that offered nimble handling and free-spirited, openair motoring. Almost three decades later, the Miata still maintains that lighthearted reputation. Th is new model looks European, with its slick lines and high-pitch front fenders — living up to the Old German word it was named for. The front-end design slants from the sides down to the front of the car to give it a bit more of an intimidating face as opposed to the bubblier look that past models have had. The 2016 MX-5 Miata is even lighter and smaller than the generation before it, having impressively shed over 100 kg (220 lbs). Yet despite the weight loss, the car has somehow gained cabin space, offering extra room inside this compact two-seater.

Although the Miata has been updated to meet modern-day standards,

Mazda made the smart choice to not overcomplicate the car with technological and electronic luxuries.

It maintains its infamous simplicity by offering modern drivers just the necessities, like a designated area for your phone, a top-of-the-line sound system and stereo, and even USB ports for mobile charging. The convertible roof is not even electric. It’s completely manual — simply unclip the single latch in the centre, throw it back and press down to click it in place. Exactly what we expect of the traditional Miata we know and love, the 2016 MX-5 Miata is a sprightly vehicle that drives with a lot of pep and energy. It’s a light and fun ride — it doesn’t give off an intimidating roar, but it’s peppy and easy. This was an important car for Mazda, as they had to live up to the Miata brand’s reputation of breaking records. They were able to do so, maintaining the MX-5 Miata’s authenticity and simplicity while revolutionizing it. www.mazda.ca www.mycitylife.ca

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Oct/Nov 2016

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People & Places 1

GEORGE HULL AT AVENUE

It was an evening of fashion, cocktails and entertainment on Sept.

26 for the George Hull Centre for Children and Families. Avenue Cibi e Vini hosted the event benefitting the centre, which offers a full spectrum of child and youth mental health services. Funds raised will go toward mental health programs and other crucial services.

Sponsors included Sardo Foods, Saks Fifth Avenue, Tara Fava, Arti & Mestieri and Avenue Cibi e Vini. www.georgehullcentre.on.ca

5

4 21. Carm Viola, Susan Chamberlain, Seana

Massey, Rebecca Maiese and Leticia Grazia of the George Hull Centre 2. Dresses courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue at Sherway Gardens 3. Carm Viola and Desiree Sardo 4. Fashion show benefitting the George Hull Centre for Children and Families 5. Tara Fava, jeweler and sponsor

6

3

1

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE GEORGE HULL CENTRE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

2

4

TIFF 2016 5

1. Amy Adams 2. Shailene Woodley 3. Chris Pratt and Denzel Washington 4. Gerard Butler 5. Anne Hathaway 6. Kate Hudson

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When Hollywood’s biggest stars weren’t walking the Hudson’s Bay striped carpet at the 41st Toronto International Film Festival®, signing autographs or premiering their films, they were attending the hottest premiere bashes in the city! Starting on Sept. 8, the 10-day festival brought A-listers like Gerard Butler, Ryan Gosling and Kate Hudson into the city. www.thebay.com www.tiff.net

www.mycitylife.ca

PHOTOS BY GEORGE PIMENTEL PHOTOGRAPHY & CHARMING MEDIA INC.

2

A DV E R TO R I A L

David’s Fine Linens This fall, cosy up inside a plush duvet from the GTA’s linens authority

A

s autumn days turn to winter, finding the perfect duvet can make all the difference. This season, look to down and silk duvets to warm up. The eiderdown duvet by St. Genève is made with the softest and highest quality insulating down in the world. Eiderdown’s insulating capacity makes it one of the most adaptable, too, as it adjusts its temperature to the person under the duvet, which means it will be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

The luxurious lineup of duvets at David’s Fine Linens ranges from an eiderdown duvet by St. Genève to a lightweight silk duvet by St. Pierre

And the best part? This down is hand collected from eider duck nests at Canadian eider duck sanctuaries, a practice that does not disturb the birds.

If you’re looking for a lighter duvet, the St. Pierre silk duvet is a great option.

Lighter in weight than the former, they’re a natural alternative for those who find duvets too warm. Find all these and more at David’s Fine Linens, the GTA’s

authority on warm and luxurious linens.

www.davidsfinelinens.com Renaissance Commercial Plaza 8099 Weston Rd., Unit 25, Woodbridge, Ont. 905-264-7778 Bayview Village Shopping Centre 2901 Bayview Ave., North York, Ont. 416-590-7311 Toll-Free: 1-877-591-1115

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Oct/Nov 2016

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People & Places

ALKA’S TOTAL FITNESS GRAND OPENING

Guests walked the “pink carpet” for the grand opening of Alka’s Total Fitness in Toronto on Sept. 7. The boutique studio offered a taste of its aerial yoga, kick boxing, TRX Suspension Training and capoeira Brazilian martial arts classes. Yoga and zumba demonstrations on Yonge St. even grabbed the attention of passersby. Owner and lead instructor, Alka Sharma is committed to providing fun, engaging and motivating fitness to clients. www.alkastotalfitness.com Alka’s Total Fitness is the first studio of its kind in the GTA, offering clients a wide variety of classes.

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Oct/Nov 2016

www.mycitylife.ca

People & Places 1

TOMFW

Bespoke office attire with a modern twist is what rocked the runway at this season’s Toronto Men’s Fashion Week, which ran from Aug. 15 through 23. Think fitted plaid vests and gorgeous velvet blazers. The TOM* Spring/Summer ‘17 collections featured over 18 iconic menswear designers. www.tomfw.com

2

FOLLOW US @BEAUTYEMPO

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PHOTOS BY CHE ROSALES & SHAYNE GRAY PHOTOGRAPHY

HAIR CARE, WIGS & EXTENSIONS 1430 MAJOR MACKENZIE DR. W - VAUGHAN, ON 905-695-7809 - www.THEBEAUTY-EMPORIUM.com

Add glitz to your life MORGANITE

1. Zane Barlas 2. Beatlemania 3. Fashion 4 Hope Charity Runway Show 4. Finezza

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2396 Major Mackenzie Dr. W 289.553.9010 www.glitzjewellery.com

Oct/Nov 2016

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63

People & Places 1

Life is beautiful, and you deserve the best view. Visit Nobleton Optometry, where your vision is our passion.

Comprehensive eye exam Contact lens fittings LASIK consultation/co-management Ocular disease co-management Designer eyewear and sunglasses

905-859-2020 12931 Highway 27 Nobleton, Ont. www.nobletonoptometry.ca

2

GIRO D’NIAGARA

Cyclists participated in the third annual Giro D’Niagara, hosted by Spin Kicks Cycle & Fitness on Aug. 7. Participants pedalled their way through their choice of an 80- or 120km scenic route. Participants were treated to a relaxing massage, as well as a delightful brunch to fuel up. Complimentary lunch was provided after the race, in addition to samplings from Ridgepoint Wines. The event raised $6,500 in support of the Humber River Hospital Foundation. www.spinkicks.ca

Dr. Melisa Siragusa, O.D.

1. It was all smiles at the third annual Giro D’Niagara event 2. Members of Team Revolution & KVC2 at the start of the third annual Giro D’Niagara event

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CIBPA 64TH ANNUAL PRESIDENT’S BALL

The Canadian Italian Business Professional Association hosted its 64th annual President’s Ball at Toronto’s Liberty Grand on Sept. 24.

Awards of Excellence were distributed to recognize and pay tribute to individuals in the Italian-Canadian community who continue to make a difference in their professional fields.

Among the recipients were the Policaro Automotive Family, receiving the President’s Award, and Alessia Cara, winning the Next Generation Award. www.cibpa.com President’s Award recipients, the Policaro Automotive Family. Tony Policaro, CIBPA President Eddy Burello, Paul Policaro, Basil Policaro, Scotiabank Gala Sponsor representative Phyllis Potamianos, Francesco Policaro

www.mycitylife.ca

People & Places 1

Susan Pallotta, Owner

DREAM DESIGN CREATE

2

VAUGHAN PIZZAFEST

The inaugural Vaughan Pizzafest welcomed over 16,000 pizza enthusiasts to the Woodbridge Fairgrounds, July 15 through 17. Guests indulged in slices from Ricci’s Pizzeria, Pie Wood Fired Pizza Joint, Il Bistro Pizzeria, Posto, Slopes of Vesuvius, Ice Cream Patio, Via Mercanti and Tutti Panini.

There was also plenty of craft beer to pair with the pizza, such as Lake Wilcox, Beau’s, Mill Street and many more. Highlights included emcee and funny man Frank Spadone, with acts including Joee, Carlo Coppola and several talented local bands.

Vaughan’s own Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua was also in attendance. www.vaughanpizzafest.com

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Visit Centurian Window Fashions Locations

4 1. Comedian Frank Spadone hosts inaugural Vaughan Pizzafest 2. Mayor Maurizio Bevilaqua poses with Ricci’s Pizzeria. 3. Vaughan’s own Lake Wilcox Brewery. 4. Over the course of the weekend, guests consumed more than 50,000 slices of pizza!

www.mycitylife.ca

Unexpected combinations and unparalleled style.

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Oct/Nov 2016

City Life Magazine

65

real estate

Larger than Life Builders package cosy into grandiose spaces WRITTEN BY REBECCA ALBERICO

Ᏸ Five thousand sq. ft., three years to completion and zero limitations. Dubbed “The House of the Hill,” this stunning design Generation Homes build is nestled in the heart of Woodbridge at 4599 Langstaff Rd. The welcoming structure hugs the curves of the hill while maintaining a strong, bold esthetic. Its clean lines and crisp accents flow seamlessly from exterior to interior. With an abundance of natural light flowing in through beautifully oversized windows, the space is reminiscent of a sanctuary.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF DESIGN GENERATION HOMES

HOUSE OF THE HILL

Ᏼ What could be better than waking up to breathtaking escarpment views? Perhaps having the town’s bustling downtown core just minutes away. The Windrose Estates in Collingwood have perfectly blended rustic mountain charm with contemporary convenience. The upscale estates incorporate the finest combination of quality materials and superior craftsmanship — no detail overlooked. It’s the perfect cottage home that one can enjoy year-round.

www.macphersonbuilders.com 66

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www.mycitylife.ca

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MACPHERSON BUILDERS

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