Latest news with #Annabelle
CTV News
a day ago
- Business
- CTV News
Sleep Country co-founder reveals crack cocaine addiction in candid memoir
In 1996, Canadian entrepreneur Gordon Lownds was in the midst of two of the most pivotal moments of his life: The launch of the uber-successful Sleep Country Canada business, and the beginnings of an all-consuming drug addiction. In Cracking Up, what Lownds describes as an 'unlikely addict's memoir,' the Toronto-born entrepreneur recounts his first ever experience with drugs aged 48, his quick descent into addiction and his subsequent recovery less than three years later. The memoir, written a year after recovery, differs from others in that Lownds' experience was as intense as it was brief. The addiction essentially lasted 1,000 days, he remarks, and had come after a lifetime abstaining from experimentation. 'I think I've been drunk like 10 times in my entire life, and I can remember each one of them,' he says from his home in Vancouver Island's Black Creek. 'Booze was never a big thing with me, and I'd seen people's lives get destroyed with drugs … and I just, I just never thought I would ever be in that situation.' Lownds recounts his first experience with drugs as one that had been suggested and then egged-on by his then-girlfriend Annabelle, an exotic dancer from the United States. Just two years short of turning 50, the businessman was at the pinnacle of his career in the midst of expanding Sleep Country Canada's four initial stores in Vancouver to include over a dozen more across the country. 'I was divorced. At the time, my family had moved back to Toronto. I was on my own in Vancouver. I got involved with a stripper from Seattle, which is obviously a bad decision,' he says. Lownds recalls how he let Annabelle move into his penthouse apartment, against his 'better judgment,' only to discover she had a hidden addiction to crack cocaine. One afternoon, after another row over her reluctance to complete the treatments Lownds had attempted to enroll her in, she requested he experience the drug to better empathize with her struggles. It was an 'ill-advised experiment' that saw him hooked on the substance within six months. Within the year, he was injecting the substance intravenously. 'It was a very rapid descent into the worst possible parts of an addiction,' he says. Lownds transformed from being a lofty businessman terrified of stepping foot in the Downtown Eastside to becoming someone embroiled in the scene to such an extent that sex workers and drug dealers were comrades. Now, he laughs, he could 'give tours' of the DTES. Throughout the three-year period of addiction, Lownds estimates he spent over $700,000 on cocaine and the associated lifestyle that comes with it. Yet he describes himself as a high-functioning addict, professing his addiction didn't impair his ability to drive the Sleep Country Canada business. 'From a business point of view, the world didn't know that I had a problem,' he says. Even in the midst of his recovery journey, spurred on by hitting 'rock bottom' via an overdose and an arrest two years in, he was able to create the successful hearing aid retailer Listen Up! Canada. 'The recovery probably took me 10 years to get back on my feet, and within three or four years of getting clean, I started that second company, so I was functioning well enough to do that,' he says. 'And that turned out quite well.' Lownds deters from the common tropes of addiction memoirs when he discusses his recovery. Instead of waxing lyrical about the treatment plans, he details the negativity that permeates the 12-step meetings and the tendencies attendees have to seek apologies for their past mistakes rather than genuine recovery. Such people are the reason why he abandoned meetings in favour of working with his own, personal psychiatrist, he says. The book is honest, brutally so, and Lownds describes his drug and sex escapades in such an expletive-laden manner that he feels obliged to chime in at certain points to directly address the reader – he doesn't 'want to offend,' he assures. When asked whether he is concerned over the potential shifting of his public image in light of the book's release, he seems unbothered. 'I've spent many, many years in business. I've made friends and I've made enemies, and I'm not particularly concerned about the people who might find this subject matter, or my story within that subject matter, offensive,' he says. Lownds' primary concern with exposing his experience so publicly was the effect it would have on the individuals who do matter – his daughter, his ex-wife, his business associates and close friends. It took time to 'fix those relationships,' and now that trust is regained, 25 years on, Lownds says he feels comfortable publishing his story in the hopes that it will help others. 'It's useful to share stories where some people have managed to conquer their demons and come out of it doing OK,' he said. 'It's basically to give a sense of hope and deliver the message that, no matter how messed up you are, how screwed up your life is, it's never too late to turn things around and fix things.'
CBS News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CBS News
"Don't Open Your Eyes" by Liv Constantine is a Club Calvi bonus book
We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. Please consider joining our Facebook group by CLICKING HERE. Find out more about the books below. Club Calvi has a bonus book by an author familiar to readers. Liv Constantine's book "The Next Mrs. Parrish" was a Club Calvi "Readers' Choice" in 2024 and a New York Times Bestseller. Now she's back with a new thriller out this week called "Don't Open Your Eyes." The book is told from the points of view of mother Annabelle and her daughter Scarlett. "Annabelle is living what appears to be a picture-perfect life," Constantine told Mary Calvi. "Two beautiful daughters, a great husband, a career she loves. She starts having these terrible dreams where she hates her husband. She thinks it's just stress. But soon, some details from her dreams begin to actually materialize, things that no way she could have known ahead of time. She begins to realize that that these are not dreams, but premonitions." Annabelle's daughter, Scarlett, is 15 years old. "She was a lot of fun to write," Constantine says. "I had to go back and try to channel my inner teen." Scarlett is keeping secrets from her parents. "She's chatting with a new boy online who she hasn't met, and, of course, we are worried. Is he really who he says he is?" says Constantine. Annabelle starts dreaming about her daughter. "In Annabelle's dreams, Scarlett's in danger. Annabelle's husband keeps telling her it's her own anxiety as a mother," Constantine explains. Constantine says that while she wants readers to enjoy "Don't Open Your Eyes" and love the characters, beyond that, the book is an exploration of society's expectations for women. "We don't always listen to our own voices and our own instincts when we should," Constantine says. "It's very easy to allow outside influences to tell us what we should be believing, when I think often we know in our heart what's really the truth." You can read an excerpt, and purchase the "Don't Open Your Eyes," below. The CBS New York Book Club focuses on books connected to the Tri-State Area in their plots and/or authors. The books may contain adult themes. Bantam ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Don't Open Your Eyes" by Liv Constantine From the publisher: Annabelle Reynolds has everything she's ever wanted. A devoted husband, two wonderful daughters, and a career she loves. She couldn't be happier. So why is she suddenly plagued by disturbing dreams of a future where she hates her husband and her daughters' lives are at risk? At first, she chalks the dreams up to an overactive imagination. But when details from her dreams, details she couldn't possibly have predicted, begin to materialize, she realizes these aren't just dreams but rather premonitions of a terrifying future. They all point to a singular choice, an unknown moment that holds Annabelle's life in the balance. Then Annabelle has a dream that her daughter Scarlett is in immediate danger. Someone wants Scarlett dead, and Annabelle has no idea who or why. Suddenly, every choice she makes is fraught with peril, with no inkling of which move could bring this terrifying vision to life. As Annabelle's present life starts to collide with the future in her dreams, she wrestles with how much control she really has over her destiny and whether she can change what is meant to be. Liv Constantine lives in Connecticut. "Don't Open Your Eyes" by Liv Constantine (ThriftBooks) $23 Excerpt: "Don't Open Your Eyes" by Liv Constantine Annabelle "You're a monster!" I scream, my chest heaving as my heart pounds wildly. His eyes bulge, his face flushes red, and he looks like he wants to kill me. I back away as he closes the space between us. I'm wedged between his body and the kitchen counter. I hate him right now with every fiber of my being. I shove at him with all my strength, but he doesn't budge. I watch, helpless, as his hands reach up and circle my neck. He begins to squeeze. I can't get a breath. I claw at his arms to no avail. My vision blurs. Blindly, I reach my arm behind, my fingers fumbling until they close around the handle of a butcher knife. With every ounce of strength I have left I pull it from the block. I swing my arm around and aim the knife at his chest. He releases his grip and drops his arms, backing away. I cough and rub my sore neck. He nonchalantly walks toward the door to the garage, his hand lingering on the handle a moment, then opens it. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, I just got news I won best doc. It'll be in next month's Connecticut Magazine. Thanks for voting." He winks and walks out the door. Annabelle Reynolds's eyes flew open, and she sprang to a sitting position. Her face was wet with perspiration, and a feeling of utter terror flooded her senses. She drew a deep breath, and her eyes darted to the figure sleeping next to her. She slipped from underneath the covers and grabbed her robe from the bench at the end of the bed, covering her naked body. Shaking her head, she went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, glancing at herself in the mirror. She splashed cold water on her face. You're being silly. It was just a dream. Yet the image of the two of them fighting, her husband's face red and contorted with rage, had seemed so real. It was especially jarring because they hardly ever argued. Today was their wedding anniversary. Two children, one dog, two guinea pigs, and too many goldfish to count later, and she was happy. As happy as she could be, despite everything that had happened before—when she had still believed in happy endings. After she'd married James, she'd promised herself that she'd put it all behind her. Over the years, Annabelle had tried to forget about the loss—to appreciate all she had gained. And even though there would always be a part of her that missed him, a part of her that couldn't let him go, she had to keep reminding herself that there was no point in missing something that was never meant to be. So, she did her best to think of him less often, every year trying harder to force herself to forget, to be happy. But maybe being happy was asking too much. Enough, she thought. Shake it off. She brushed her teeth, mentally reviewing everything on today's agenda. After she dropped the girls at school, she had to swing by the drugstore to pick up an anniversary card for James. Then she had a full day at work. As she stepped into the shower, she spoke her daily gratitude affirmations aloud. "I'm thankful for my husband, my children, our good health, our beautiful home. I'm thankful for a job I love, and good friends." She felt a little foolish doing this, but her last client, a successful author of self-help books, had told her how beneficial a gratitude practice was, not only to mental health, but physical as well. Annabelle tried to be open-minded, so she'd committed to trying it for sixty days to see if it made any difference. She was on day ten now. "Mind if I join you?" James's voice cut through her thoughts as he entered the bathroom. "Please do." He opened the door to the large shower and stepped inside. "Happy anniversary," he said as he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. "Happy anniversary." Annabelle turned and kissed him, trying to dismiss the earlier feelings of terror from her dream. "Why don't we do this more often?" A banging on the door made her pull back. "Mooom, Parker's throwing up! I think he ate another sock." She adored their golden retriever, but at times like this, not so much. Annabelle looked at James and rolled her eyes. "And that's why . . ." "I'll go. Finish your shower." He stepped out. "Olivia, I'll be right there," he called through the door. Half an hour later, Annabelle was dressed and downstairs. She walked into the kitchen, the smell of bacon filling the air. It was her favorite room of the house, featuring a built-in fireplace with a cozy sitting area, a custom-made farm table, and double French doors opening to their deck overlooking their swimming pool. Her mother had always said that the kitchen was the heart of the home, and some of Annabelle's best memories were of the two of them sitting and talking in their tiny kitchen around their worn wooden table. How she wished her mother was here now. She felt a pang of regret that her mother would never see her settled and content in such a beautiful place. Annabelle had never imagined that one day she'd be living in a gorgeous house, walking distance to the beach, and close to downtown Bayport, one of Connecticut's most charming towns. Parker ran up to her and nudged her with his nose as if sensing her sudden melancholy. She reached out to pet his head. "I hear you ate another sock, buddy." "He's fine now. Someone must have left their socks out." James gave Olivia a meaningful look. "Wasn't me!" their eleven-year-old protested. "Well, I'm glad he's okay," Annabelle said, hoping to ward off a lecture from James. He had made a full breakfast for Olivia and Scarlett: omelets, turkey bacon, toast, and an array of fruit. Annabelle gazed at her girls. Scarlett was a carbon copy of Annabelle—light brown hair and green eyes. James often commented that they were both the typical wholesome and natural, girl-next-door types. Annabelle thought it was cute when people commented on how alike they looked, but lately Scarlett seemed annoyed by it. Olivia was all James: blond and blue-eyed, with his bow-shaped mouth. But her sunny personality came from Annabelle. James handed Annabelle a portable mug. "I made your coffee with oat milk and no sweetener. Consuming all those artificial sugars is bad for you." "Yes, Doc," she said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She'd add some sweetener after he left. A couple of Splendas were not going to kill her, but it was pointless to argue with him. "I'm looking forward to our anniversary dinner tonight." They had reservations at her favorite restaurant in New York City, a little more than an hour's drive from their house. "Me too. Mom's coming over at six to stay with the girls." Scarlett made a face. "We don't need a babysitter. I'm fifteen. Gram doesn't need to come over." "It's nice for there to be an adult around with us being an hour away," James said. Scarlett rolled her eyes. "Come on, Dad. It's not like you're leaving the country. You'll just be in the city." Annabelle and James looked at each other. "Well," she began, "she does have a point. What do you think?" James scratched his beard and shifted his gaze to Scarlett. "I don't know. You and your sister tend to fight. Not sure you're the best person to be in charge." "Give me a chance. Aren't you the one so big on us learning responsibility?" Scarlett asked. Annabelle suppressed a grin and said nothing, waiting to see his response. He moved his head back and forth as he considered it. "Okay, we'll give it a try." He glanced at his watch, then gave Annabelle a peck on the lips. "You'd better hit the road if you don't want to be late." He looked over at the girls. "Take your plates to the sink and grab your backpacks." "I got it. You should get going, or you're going to be late," Annabelle said. "Right. Have a good day, everyone." A few minutes after he left, Annabelle cleared the table while the girls gathered their things. They filed out and got into Annabelle's Volvo XC90. Once they were on the road, she gave Scarlett a quick look. "Make sure you're not on your phone all night. I don't want you to ignore your sister." "I won't. We'll watch a movie or something." "And no one coming over," Annabelle said. "Okay, Mom. Got it. Geez." "I'll tell you if she does anything wrong," Olivia piped up from the back seat. "I'm not going to do anything wrong. Ugh!" "And you call me right away if there's a problem," Annabelle said. "There won't be a problem! What did you get Dad for your anniversary?" "Remember the photo of the four of us on the beach last summer at the Cape?" "Yeah, you made us all dress alike like a bunch of dweebs," Scarlett said. Annabelle laughed. "It's a great photo of everyone! I had it done in oil paints for Dad." Scarlett didn't seem impressed. "Hmm. That sounds nice, I guess. Um, so, I was wondering—" "What?" "Did you have any other serious boyfriends before Dad?" Annabelle's hand tightened on the wheel as an image formed in her mind. For the second time that day, the old pain returned. All these years later, she still felt like a part of her was missing. "Why do you ask?" Annabelle made her voice light, buying time. "Just wondering, you know, if there was anyone really special before Dad. Like, did you know right away that Dad was the one?" "Do you mean, was it love at first sight?" "I guess." Annabelle was careful to measure her response. "I don't believe in love at first sight. Your dad and I were friends first, and I fell in love with him gradually. But it's better, I think, because he's not only my husband, he's my best friend." What she didn't tell her daughter was that once upon a time, she had very much believed in love at first sight. Back when she was young and naive and hadn't had her heart broken. She'd experienced that all-consuming, head-over-heels, mad love that poets and philosophers wrote about, and it had nearly destroyed her. Maybe her knees didn't buckle when James kissed her, but that kind of feeling didn't last anyway. What they had was better, more real. The kind of love that would sustain her, not obliterate her. Excerpted from DON'T OPEN YOUR EYES by Liv Constantine. Copyright © 2025 by Lynne Constantine. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Return to top of page
Global News
2 days ago
- General
- Global News
B.C. rescue organization for senior, special needs animals fundraising for new home
An animal rescue organization that takes in senior and special needs animals is now hoping for some help from the public. SANITS Rescue in Mission, B.C., has more than 100 animals, from dogs and cats to pigs, cows and goats who are all seniors with special needs. One of the residents is a 24-year-old blind horse named Annabelle. 'She had a painful condition in her eyes called uveitis and her owners knew it would be unfair to board a blind horse, so they were looking for a sanctuary for her,' Ali Schumann, SAINTS barn supervisor, told Global News. Most of the animals come to SAINTS for palliative care. 'She mapped things out,' Schumann said of Annabelle. 'She can walk any area that we have here that she's been introduced to. And she navigates it like a pro. She doesn't bump into anything. She can run through trees. She's amazing.' Story continues below advertisement For almost two decades, SAINTS has operated out of a small converted house, but a new home is on the horizon as the rescue organization has purchased a larger property in Maple Ridge. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We wanted to have better facilities, better medical facilities,' Schumann said. 'And more room for the animals so that they can have a better environment and we can just provide better lives for them, take better care of them.' 0:48 Dog named 'Three-Leg' rescued after being left behind in B.C. wildfire The non-profit relies entirely on donations and has launched a fundraising campaign to cover the relocation and construction. They have raised $830,000 so far, but they need more than $1 million. The move has not been scheduled yet as the animals need extra support during the transition. Story continues below advertisement 'There's definitely a lot of planning that's going to come into moving the animals,' Schumann said. 'They'll be moved within their social groups. There'll be a lot of thought in making sure that their routines stay exactly the same, that we use, especially when it comes to Annabelle, we'll be using like sensory items.' Sanctuary manager, Nathan Wagstaffe, said the work that they do is so important as it provides homes to animals when seemingly no one wants them. 'SAINTS is incredibly important in what we do and very specialized as well in what we do,' he said. 'We take animals that are unadoptable or have severe medical or challenges and we give them that support.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Farmer Wants A Wife winner exposes major secret about finale: 'Obvious'
After eight weeks of romantic dates, shocking twists, and the occasional kiss, this year's season of Farmer Wants A Wife is finally coming to an end. Farmer Corey and Farmer Jack will both make their decision this week and choose which of their two finalists they would like to pursue a relationship with in the real world. While many viewers have taken to social media to express their excitement over the upcoming two-part finale, one person who won't be tuning in is former contestant Olivia Benic. The 26-year-old, who found love with Farmer Matt Young on the show in 2023, tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she doesn't typically watch the final decisions because the girls '100 per cent' already know if they're 'the one'. 'Matt had already told me he was going to pick me,' she reveals. 'I'm sorry, but if you don't know if you're the final pick, you're not the final pick. The farmer will always tell you. I'm watching some of the girls this season, and I'm like, they know. It's obvious every year.' RELATED: Farmer Wants A Wife fans make major demand of Channel 7 ahead of finale Farmer Wants A Wife winner calls for huge change after Clarette's 'villain edit' Farmer Wants A Wife 2025: Are Thomas and Clarette still together? This comes after Claire Hampson shared that it is 'pretty obvious' who each of the farmers end up with as certain contestants have received the 'winner's edit'. 'The editing this season, I'm like, what have you done? It's awful,' she told Yahoo Lifestyle last month. 'Everyone's like, 'Oh, I've been watching' and I'm like, 'Don't, it's the worst season'. According to Olivia, the remaining contestants from each of the farms get split into two groups ahead of the final decision. This allows the ladies to work out whether they're the winner or the runner-up based on who they're in a group with and how strong everyone else's connection is to their farmer. 'So if you're with a group of girls that you know are going to win, you're probably also going to win. And then if you're with the losers, you're part of the losers,' she explains. Olivia says that on her season, all of the final girls stayed together in Sydney and were split up before the final decision. 'They moved half of us to one location and half of us to the other, and they travelled us all in separate cars, and we didn't know who was with who,' she recalls. "But then they accidentally mixed up me and Annabelle [Greenaway], so then they had to swap me and Annabelle, and she figured out that she was with the girls who weren't going to win because everyone talks to each other. 'So they made a big kerfuffle and Annabelle cried and cried for the two days prior to the final decision and knew that she wasn't going to end up with Matt.' Regardless of whether or not you find love on Farmer Wants A Wife, Olivia says it's 'important' for the contestants to keep supporting each other, both on and off the show. 'It's all everyone's real life, and none of us are perfect, so just give each other grace and be kind,' she remarks. 'I didn't have a good relationship with Annabelle, for example, but I don't have any hatred for her. She is who she is, and she had feelings on the show.' SHOP: 💅 Aussie company making beauty more accessible and less of a burden 🛏️ Interior designer reveals why you shouldn't have white bed sheets 💁♀️ Two-minute product that works wonder on brows in 28 days She adds that her biggest tips for the new couples navigating their relationship in the public eye are to 'stay off social media and give each other grace'. 'Before the show even came on TV, Matt and I had a support plan in place because I was like, 'I have no idea how hard this is going to be. This is what I'm going to need from you, what do you need from me?'. So we kind of planned for the bad stuff before it would even happen, and that was helpful,' she shares. 'But I think you just need to be kind to each other.'
GMA Network
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
Who is Annabelle Mae McDonnell? Get to know our Binibining Pilipinas Globe 2025
Annabelle Mae McDonnell of Iligan City has been crowned as Binibining Pilipinas Globe 2025. Aside from the crown, the Filipina beauty queen also took home the Binibining Philippine Airlines (PAL) special award. She will represent the country in the Miss Globe 2025 pageant later this year. But who exactly is Annabelle? Here are some interesting facts about the newly crowned queen. 1. She is Bisaya-British Annabelle was born in the United Kingdom and raised in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte. Now 24 years old, she was brought up by her Tito Tata, who played a pivotal role in her upbringing. Growing up with limited means, Annabelle learned the value of hard work at an early age. In her winning answer at the Binibining Pilipinas 2025 pageant, Annabelle shared that she sold bread and even preloved clothes to make ends meet. "Speaking as someone who experienced involuntary hunger and malnourishment at the age of 15, I say that I wish you never go hungry another night. I think that you should never go hungry again. When you hit rock bottom, don't despair and don't use that as your identity but rather, use rock bottom as your launch pad. I have done exactly that. I've sold bread, ukay-ukay clothes, and all other rockets just to survive and support my family. You can do it as long as you believe in the beauty of your dreams," she said. 2. She is a pageant veteran Annabelle is no stranger to the world of beauty pageants. She has earned multiple titles in her hometown, including Miss Iligan 2018, Miss Lanao del Norte 2019, and 2nd runner-up in Miss Millennial Philippines 2019 and Miss Kuyamis in 2022. Her national pageant journey began with Miss Universe Philippines 2022, where she made an impressive debut by finishing as first runner-up. The following year, she proudly represented the Philippines on the international stage at Miss Charm 2023, once again securing a first runner-up finish. 3. She is a university scholar and a campus journalist Ever wonder where she got her articulate and impactful words for her winning answer in the Binibining Pilipinas 2025 pageant? Well, she got it from her experience as a campus journalist. While studying for her degree in Consular and Diplomatic Affairs at De La Salle College of St. Benilde on a full academic scholarship, Annabelle joined their school paper publication, The Benildean, and served as a features writer. 4. A radio host Aside from writing, she also has some radio broadcasting experience. Annabelle served as a host of the program "TikTalk" at Friends 96.7 FM Iligan, a radio program geared towards the youth's socio-political awareness. 5. A volunteer for the Save the Children Foundation With her personal struggles growing up, it's no surprise that Annabelle is a volunteer for the children's cause. The Iliganon participated in numerous volunteering foundations for children such as Save the Children Foundation. —MGP, GMA Integrated News
