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Jean Grant

Jean Grant has been a freelance writer since 2015, covering a range of lifestyle topics like shopping, interiors, wellness and culture for publications like Maclean’s and Toronto Life. She also enjoys working with brands to develop custom content, and shares personal essays through her Substack newsletter, Nobody is Thinking About You.

Latest from Jean Grant

The Find: A wearable tech device that you may actually want to wear

The Find: A wearable tech device that you may actually want to wear

In the wearable-tech industry, the coolest gadgets don’t tend to be ones that you can sport without attracting stares...

Slideshow: A preview of This Is Not A Toy, The Design Exchange's exhibition of conceptual toys

Slideshow: A preview of This Is Not A Toy, The Design Exchange’s exhibition of conceptual toys

The Design Exchange has hosted exhibitions dealing with everything from urban factories, to French lingerie, to the pursuit of...

Slideshow: the big winners of the inaugural Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards

Slideshow: the big winners of the inaugural Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards

Canada's fledgling fashion industry was fêted this weekend at the Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards, the inaugural awards ceremony...

Toronto Valentine’s Day Gifts for Women: 15 gifts she will actually adore

Toronto Valentine’s Day Gifts for Women: 15 gifts she will actually adore

A note for bewildered boyfriends: few women want to gorge on chocolate or squeeze into ill-fitting lingerie after consuming a...

Toronto Valentine's Day Gifts for Men: 15 gift ideas for guys, from simple to extravagant

Toronto Valentine’s Day Gifts for Men: 15 gift ideas for guys, from simple to extravagant

Guys can be tough to shop for on Valentine's Day: they don’t tend to gush over romantic gestures and sappy cards, and there's no...

GapMaternity is coming to Yorkdale and Square One

GapMaternity is coming to Yorkdale and Square One

Even women who don't usually sport the Gap’ s simple, comfortable collections may be inclined to migrate to the brand's shirt...

Five things to do in Toronto on the weekend of January 31–February 2

Five things to do in Toronto on the weekend of January 31–February 2

In this edition of The Weekender, a frigid bike ride, a kimono exhibit and three other things to do in Toronto this...

Target is opening nine new Canadian stores—including one in the Junction

Target is opening nine new Canadian stores—including one in the Junction

Target doesn’t seem to be letting poor earnings and a security scandal hinder its plans for Canadian domination. The American...

Banana Republic is releasing a funky Marimekko collection for spring

Banana Republic is releasing a funky Marimekko collection for spring

Banana Republic's staple pieces will be getting a serious overhaul this spring, when the store releases a limited edition...

Chinese New Year Dinners: seven delicious spots to ring in the Year of the Horse

Chinese New Year Dinners: seven delicious spots to ring in the Year of the Horse

This weekend, Chinese New Year will usher in the Year of the Horse , and families all over the GTA will engage in raucous...

Masterchef Canada Recap, episode 2: “That’s one messy orgasm”

Masterchef Canada Recap, episode 2: “That’s one messy orgasm”

Last week’s premiere of Masterchef Canada was in lockstep with the signature style of the franchise: hone in on emotional back...

Saks is taking over the Sears plot at Sherway Gardens

Saks is taking over the Sears plot at Sherway Gardens

Saks Fifth Avenue is continuing its Toronto invasion with another outlet slated to take over Sears 's plot at the increasingly...

The Find: handcrafted mukluks and moccasins that have a story to tell

The Find: handcrafted mukluks and moccasins that have a story to tell

Slippers and warm boots are essential winter apparel, but they tend to be more functional than beautiful. Craftsmanship and...

Target is giving Canadian customers a free year of credit monitoring

Target is giving Canadian customers a free year of credit monitoring

Target is offering an olive branch to its Canadian customers after the news broke that they were affected (albeit marginally) by...

In a shocker move, the Bay sells its Queen and Yonge flagship to bring Saks downtown

In a shocker move, the Bay sells its Queen and Yonge flagship to bring Saks downtown

Bloor Street shoppers who were pumped for Saks Fifth Avenue to re-vamp The Bay's tired Yorkville space will have to put up with...

Dutch Dreams ice cream shop is moving after 30 years in the same location

Dutch Dreams ice cream shop is moving after 30 years in the same location

Family-run ice cream shop and Toronto landmark Dutch Dreams, known for its decadent cones and colourful, hoarder-style décor, is...

Slideshow: the 21 coolest home products on display at the Interior Design Show 2014

Slideshow: the 21 coolest home products on display at the Interior Design Show 2014

Industry professionals and earnest homemakers congregate this weekend at the Interior Design Show, the annual fair devoted to the...

Five things to do in Toronto on the weekend of January 24–26

Five things to do in Toronto on the weekend of January 24–26

In this edition of The Weekender, a festival of craft beer and indie music, a walk to raise money for Alzheimer's treatment, and...

Online Shopping Guide: Trend Trunk lets you raid stylish closets—or launch your own virtual boutique

Online Shopping Guide: Trend Trunk lets you raid stylish closets—or launch your own virtual boutique

Trend Trunk serves two very practical purposes: it helps retail addicts clean out their cramped wardrobes, and allows...

Want to operate your own food truck? You can win one on a new reality TV show

Want to operate your own food truck? You can win one on a new reality TV show

The latest reality cooking show from Food Network Canada boasts a unique prize for the cooks who take the top spot: a year-long...

Toronto artist Charles Pachter puts Princess Anne on a moose (and other odd gifts received by the Royals)

Toronto artist Charles Pachter puts Princess Anne on a moose (and other odd gifts received by the Royals)

What gift could possibly be elegant enough for a princess? If you’re Charles Pachter, the Toronto artist best known for creating...

Saks is getting a billion-dollar makeover—just in time for its Toronto debut

Saks is getting a billion-dollar makeover—just in time for its Toronto debut

Saks Fifth Avenue, a soon-to-be major player in Toronto’s flourishing department-store scene, is about to get a facelift—to...

Bad news for Annex-dwellers: Book City is closing this Spring

Bad news for Annex-dwellers: Book City is closing this Spring

Book City, the indie book chain known for its eclectic titles and great prices, will permanently close its Annex outlet in a few...

Five things to do in Toronto on the weekend of January 17–19

Five things to do in Toronto on the weekend of January 17–19

In this edition of The Weekender, some comedy rap battles, a drunk actor does Shakespare and three more things to do in Toronto...

Summer Camp Guide

Summer Camp Directory 2026

Summer Camp Directory 2026

Discover our top-rated summer camps for kids of all ages

Best New Restaurants

Toronto Life ’s Best Restaurants returns for its 10th-anniversary edition on June 8

Toronto Life’s Best Restaurants returns for its 10th-anniversary edition on June 8

General admission tickets are now on sale for Toronto’s biggest culinary night, featuring top chefs, restaurants and drinks

Big Stories

These are Toronto’s best new restaurants of 2026

These are Toronto’s best new restaurants of 2026

This year’s list includes a 150-square-foot omakase counter, a Parisian brasserie in the Annex, Korean comfort food, Filipino karaoke and a Summerhill seafood spot that’s reinventing the raw bar

Hoop Dreams: Inside the making of the Toronto Tempo, the city’s newly assembled WNBA team

Hoop Dreams: Inside the making of the Toronto Tempo, the city’s newly assembled WNBA team

After years of false starts, months of nail-biting negotiations between the league and the players’ union, and an 11th-hour scramble to build a roster, Toronto finally has its own major-league women’s basketball team. Now it just has to live up to the hype

Live From New York: Inside the slay-or-be-slayed world of Studio 8H with SNL rookie Veronika Slowikowska

Live From New York: Inside the slay-or-be-slayed world of Studio 8H with SNL rookie Veronika Slowikowska

Slowikowska is the first Canadian to join the cast of Saturday Night Live in more than 25 years. She’s also this season’s breakout star. Now all she has to do is keep crushing it

Better Call Deepak: Meet drug lord Ryan Wedding’s self-styled cocaine lawyer

Better Call Deepak: Meet drug lord Ryan Wedding’s self-styled cocaine lawyer

The man who represented the infamous drug lord is unapologetically flashy—he has a Lamborghini and two Maseratis and wears $1,200 Louboutins. But did he become an accomplice to his client’s crimes? Deepak Paradkar says he was just doing his job. The FBI says he crossed a line

The Redemption Tour: The Blue Jays are back. Can they finish what they started?

The Redemption Tour: The Blue Jays are back. Can they finish what they started?

We’re not over it, but they are. Six months after that devastating defeat, the Jays take the field once more, bent more than ever on winning the World Series. Dispatches from the dugout

My Life as a True Crime Spectacle: My father’s crimes fractured our family. Then came the press

My Life as a True Crime Spectacle: My father’s crimes fractured our family. Then came the press

My dad was the infamous Rolex Killer. The news of his crimes nearly broke me. And ever since, my family has been hounded by reporters, podcasters and true crime fanatics—a whole new circle of hell

Robby on the Line: Out and about with Robby Hoffman, comedy’s equal opportunity assassin

Robby on the Line: Out and about with Robby Hoffman, comedy’s equal opportunity assassin

Larry David is the indisputable king of brutal honesty. But if anyone comes close, it’s Robby Hoffman, the suddenly everywhere comic from whom no group is safe

Notes on an Academic Scandal: Why did TMU demote a leading advocate of DEI?

Notes on an Academic Scandal: Why did TMU demote a leading advocate of DEI?

Pamela Sugiman, a former arts dean at Toronto Metropolitan University, was a key player in the school’s push for diversity, equity and inclusion. When the backlash against DEI arrived, she was demoted. The school says it was a coincidence. She disagrees

City of Renters: The dream of home ownership isn’t dead. Maybe it should be?

City of Renters: The dream of home ownership isn’t dead. Maybe it should be?

Scenes from the rent-for-life revolution

This generation was pummelled by Covid high school. Now the job market wants to replace them with AI

This generation was pummelled by Covid high school. Now the job market wants to replace them with AI

It’s hard out here for a 20-something

The High Price of Hope: Inside Toronto’s white-hot fertility market

The High Price of Hope: Inside Toronto’s white-hot fertility market

Desperate wannabe parents are betting their life savings on unproven treatments and false promises

Man vs. Machine: ChatGPT caused him to spiral into delusion. Now he’s suing OpenAI

Man vs. Machine: ChatGPT caused him to spiral into delusion. Now he’s suing OpenAI

Last spring, a chatbot convinced Allan Brooks that he had discovered a revolutionary mathematical theory. He says it nearly destroyed him

Smart City: 20 mind-blowing Toronto inventions that are changing the world

Smart City: 20 mind-blowing Toronto inventions that are changing the world

Homegrown innovations that will transform lives for the better

293 Days Without My Son: I gave up everything to rescue my kidnapped child from my abusive husband

293 Days Without My Son: I gave up everything to rescue my kidnapped child from my abusive husband

When Valentino was abducted, I knew three things: he’d been taken by his father, he was somewhere in India and I would not rest until I found him

The Violent Life of a Tow Truck Driver: How an unremarkable profession turned Toronto into a war zone

The Violent Life of a Tow Truck Driver: How an unremarkable profession turned Toronto into a war zone

The towing industry has been hijacked by criminals and kingpins who fleece customers, beat up dissenters and shoot their enemies. Inside the brutal turf war for the city’s wrecks

Street Fight: Inside the battle raging over Toronto multiplexes

Street Fight: Inside the battle raging over Toronto multiplexes

If this city stands any chance of solving the housing crisis, it will need buildings with multiple units in residential neighbourhoods—a move that has many residents saying, “Anywhere but here!”

Young and Retired: Meet the super-savers quitting work decades before the average Canadian

Young and Retired: Meet the super-savers quitting work decades before the average Canadian

In the age of doomspending, these ultra-driven Torontonians give up their weekends, work multiple jobs and never, ever eat out. The upside: they’ll retire long before the rest of us

Just Listed

For Sale: 171 Durant Ave

For Sale: 171 Durant Ave

This rare property features 2 houses on 1 lot

For Sale: 50 First Avenue

For Sale: 50 First Avenue

A testament to time presiding over one of Uxbridge's most storied streetscapes, this magnificently preserved circa 1880 residence commands its prominent corner lot with the quiet confidence of a true architectural landmark

For Sale: 7 Bentley Drive

For Sale: 7 Bentley Drive

A commanding architectural statement in prestigious Stonegate–Queensway, this newly completed custom residence by Bali Homes Group presents a refined interpretation of contemporary luxury living

For Sale: 75 Queen Street

For Sale: 75 Queen Street

Guelph is having a moment

For Sale: 112 Mildenhall Rd

For Sale: 112 Mildenhall Rd

A rare opportunity to own a custom-built masterpiece in the heart of Lawrence Park beautifully designed by Gray Smith and Arca Design for the most discerning buyer