Looking to cause a stir with your risotto? At Cookworks new Western Living Test Kitchen, small class sizes, a central location, chefs you know (think Vikram Vij) and amazing wine pairings mean this might just be better than a night on the town.

Debuting March 22 with The Food Network’s Cook Like A Chef star Ned Bell, you’ll learn to prepare Okanagan wine-fed beef (apparently some of the tasting rooms up there are not that exclusive) and sample the latest from Road 13. Grab your gal pals (or treat your mom); it’s like your own intimate catered soiree—without the recycling duties the morning after.

$89 at Cookworks, 1548 W. Broadway, Vancouver, 604-731-1148. For complete class schedule, click here.

Play therapy may be the buzzword of the day, but here’s a new twist: modeling clay that soothes and calms your kids with its scents.

Available for the first time in Canada, Mama K’s Aromatic Play Clay comes in scents like Lemongrass to inspire, Lavender to sooth, and Pink Geranium to balance.

And the scent will come in handy when you find it under the couch six months from now.

$25.99 for 5 tubs at www.naturalpod.com

Tired of merely drooling over Fashion Week frocks, we combed the blogosphere for some designer duds we could duplicate. Grab a sewing kit, some dye and DIY:

• Replicate Doo.Ri’s bedazzled tights with guidance from Shini Park of Park & Cube.

• Commissioned by Who What Wear, Erica Domesek shows you how to recreate the tie-dyed looks of Proenza Schouler.

• As writer and Vitamin Daily ambassador Sarah Nicole Prickett discovers, it just takes a pair of scissors to turn a $59.99 Joe Fresh trench coat into a Celine dress.

Have your own designer DIY idea? Post it on our Forum.

For those of us who will never own a beach house, there is the music of Beach House.

Boasting beautiful melodies over boat moorage, the Baltimore band with a vixen voiced, French-born female lead recently released its third album, Teen Dream, and since then we haven’t stopped playing it. We suggest snatching up tickets now to see the duo at the Rickshaw Theatre next month before they graduate to bigger venues.

You’ll find us front and centre singing along to “Zebra” with a summery Corona in hand.

Tickets $16 at Ticketmaster. Beach House, April 11, 2010, Rickshaw Theatre, 254 E. Hastings, Vancouver, www.rickshawtheatre.com

Sade’s sexy voice is what we really want, but we’ll settle for her super smooth hairdo.

Helping us emulate her frizz-free style circa 1984 is Calm Down grooming butter by Vancouver’s Eli Manuel. Rub the smallest amount of the lightweight cream—which happens to smell like scrumptious vanilla—into your palm, and then run your hands over your hair, finishing with a pat down of those flyaways closest to your part.

A license to love (your locks), insurance to hold (those hairs in place).

$26 at Tao Salon, 1523 W. Eigth Ave., Vancouver, 604-732-7889, www.taosalon.com