December, 2014 - sparkleshinylove

Roxymandy December 8, 2014

My Visit to Eataly in New York City

This weekend I spent time in New York City for some holiday shopping, and time at the spa. I do a trip to NYC annually, and like every other year I had a amazing time!

This time around I decided to venture over to Eataly on Fifth Avenue. Eataly is 50,000 square feet and includes 7 restaurants, a wine shop, food market, and includes private dining options and cooking classes. They even have a Guest Relations Desk to assist customers with their experience.

Eataly in New York City has shared owners including owned by Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich and Joe Bastianich.

Why did I want to come here? Well, I read reviews about how amazing it was online and wanted to check it out myself. Even at the airport there were other travellers talking about visiting the Eataly location in Chicago! Another reason I wanted to check it out was that rumour has it there is one coming to Toronto.

The location in NYC is very easy to find since it has multiple entrances stretching across two streets. This place is huge!

It’s hard to explain just how big this place is! As soon as you walk in there are maps available, and staff to assist you find what you are looking for.

The market stretches across the whole space, and the selection of food was incredible.

The pasta is so fresh that I saw the staff making pasta and then pouring it into containers to hand straight to customers. It was amazing – it can’t get fresher than that.

Eataly NYC has 7 restaurants which have table and bar seats at each. The opportunity to sit at the bar was perfect for me since I was dining alone. I wanted to have a great meal, and eating at the bar made me feel a little less like I got stood up. I randomly chose a restaurant called Manzo. It was more of a formal restaurant compared to some of the others, and the food did not disappoint. The best part about eating alone by the way? I didn’t have to share the bread basket! I decided to try on of the specials, a lamb bolognaise with papardelle. I was in pasta heaven. The server said that it was the best bolognaise they had ever had, and I had to agree after eating it. The pasta itself tasted so fresh that it’s ruined some of my previous favourite restaurant pasta dishes.

After lunch I was back to checking out the market, and seeing what else it had to offer. There was a Gelateria with fresh gelato made in-house, a Pasticceria with fresh pastries and cakes, and an espresso bar.

There was a housewares section with kitchen gadgets, and a cookbook section for inspiration.

The word fresh was centered around everything at Eataly. The pasta, the pastries, the butcher – everything was made on site and that day. Even the Rosticceria was cooking rotisserie chickens and carving them for sandwiches served to a line of people waiting in anticipation. The market was extremely busy, but the space was so large that it was easy to find a restaurant with a seat, and the cash registers moved everyone quickly through lines.

If you think you would be overwhelmed with a visit to Eataly, they offer walking tours of the facility as well. I looked online for more information and found that it was sold out for a Wednesday – this place is very popular! The cooking classes look amazing – from Pizza Making to the Flavours of Tuscany, there were lots of classes to chose from. They even had a kids pastry making class which I thought looked cute.

You can shop online with the Eataly website, and they ship to Canada as well.

Eataly New York City is located at 200 Fifth Avenue, and you can find them online at www.eataly.com.

Roxymandy December 4, 2014

daily sparkle

Roxymandy December 3, 2014

My List of the Best Toddler Gifts for Christmas

With less than a month to go until Christmas, I am feeling more than a little stressed about my holiday shopping. I’m not done! Everywhere on Facebook and Instagram I’m seeing perfectly trimmed trees with already wrapped presents underneath, and I am freaking out. I totally used to be one of those organized people, but having a child has curbed my preparedness for the holidays. At this point I’m usually at least half done my shopping, but this time around I only have a few gifts checked off my list.

My latest obsession is finding great gifts for my toddler, and I am sharing with you some of my favourite finds!

This booklet called Let’s Make More Great Placemat Art includes 36 different activity placemats for dinners out when you want to keep your toddler occupied. Which is likely always.

This Shared Kids Canada Day Tee is pretty darn cute, and it’s a great gift for a child who lives outside of Canada as well!

Sticking with the Canada theme, this Toronto ABC book is one I’m hoping to pick up myself this weekend!

Mini Mioche has this amazing parody book called Goodnight iPad, which I am sure all of us can relate to.

This GummyGoods Nightlight turns on when you squeeze it’s belly!

This Personalized Superhero Cape so perfect for a little boy or girl who loves to dress up.

If your child loves tents like I do, this one may be perfect since it’s pirate themed.

This mini mioche #timeout tee would probably be more for the parent than the child!

This ZOOBRELLA little kid umbrella is great for a child who wants to act like a grown up with their own umbrella.

This Decorate Your Own House kit is really cute – what child doesn’t love making a house out of cardboard?

This Melissa & Doug Monster Bowling set is freaking adorable.

This alarm clock teaches time, plays games, and changes colours when set to tell your toddler what time it’s ok to get up. Because sometimes they need to be told that it’s not ok to get up before the sun rises.

OBSESSED with these AKID Jasper boots. They need to get into my toddler’s closet ASAP.

My son has this construction utensil set, and it’s perfect because it makes him want to use cutlery, and in this case he can play with his food at the same time.

These Foreign Language Blocks will come in handy once your toddler masters their first language. How impressive would it be to have a bilingual child on the playground? I’M not even bilingual, so I would be pretty impressed.

Good luck with your holiday shopping!

Roxymandy December 2, 2014

The Coveted Life – An Evening with the Coveteur & American Express

Last night I attended an evening with The Coveteur and American Express, which featured a panel discussion on a look into The Coveted Life.

The discussion of The Coveted Life centered around what enriches your life, and how to achieve it. The panel included Laura Scheck from American Express, Stephanie Mark from The Coveteur, Liloo Alim from the Four Seasons Toronto, and moderator Catriona Smart from coco&cowe.

The idea of what enriches your life seemed to be a very personal question for each panel member. Everyone on the panel had a different answer that they put a lot of thought into, but all of the answers seemed to resonate with me. Balance, cherishing the small moments, and my favourite answer – just say yes and figure it out later! It all sounded like good advice to me!

The talk moved into details about trends each panel member has seen recently, and Laura from American Express said that she is seeing people want more premium service – valet service at the airport, premium lounge access, and overall front of the line service is in demand. She said that she has noticed there are less people travelling through the airport in sweatpants, and more are sporting a polished look on their travels. Very true – I have noticed the same!

Liloo said she has noticed at the Four Seasons that people are taking more time to be pampered with spa weekends, and are generally looking for a more healthy getaway. She is finding guests are looking for where the nearest juice bar is, and plan activities that are more health conscience.

This seemed to be a bigger trend abroad as well. Stephanie from The Coveteur mentioned that even in Paris vegan restaurants and juice bars are starting to pop up, which is something you would have never seen in the past. Everyone is focusing more on eating local, and eating healthier.

Many of the questions were directed to Stephanie Mark from The Coveteur as she has had access to some of the worlds most amazing closets!

She talked about how she provides access to her readers when it comes to the closets and wardrobes that The Coveteur covers. She said that they try to make sure they cover things differently by gaining access in a way that no one else does. She says they strive to get insider tips from beauty editors to share with readers, and they constantly work at staying cutting edge and ahead of the curve. Stephanie said connections are key to what they do, and relationships are a big part of that. They personalize everything and stay away from stock photography. The Coveteur experience is different than any other.

A portion of the panel discussion was devoted to service. In a poll last year it was revealed that very few Canadian’s viewed themselves to have had impressive customer service. With social media being what it is, it seems like everyone is complaining about some type of service they have received!

The panel gave some great advice on how to control what kind of service you receive. One of the best pieces of advice was to talk to your service provider, whether it be in a hotel, at the airport, or anywhere you are looking for assistance, and give them an idea of what you are looking for. Many people just expect that things will be provided to them, but they don’t realize that sometimes they need to vocalize what they are looking for. It’s important to give someone a chance to provide you with the service you want, and sometimes that involves telling them your expectations.

It’s also important to be nice! It seems like such simple advice, but it’s so important to be nice to the person providing you with service! You will be well remembered for this, and the service provider will want to make sure you are happy even more.

Finally, it’s very important to thank someone for good service. It’s so important to remember how you would feel in a similar situation if you went above and beyond for someone – make sure you tell someone when they have done something great for you!

My favourite talking point was about closets and wardrobes with Stephanie! She explained that in her experience some of the best closets were not necessarily excessive, but had a curated collection. She said that in her own personal life she thought more was more, so a larger wardrobe meant you had style. She said her best advice was to shop less, and put more time and thought into purchases. Something that works well for her is a versatile wardrobe where you can take an outfit from work, to dinner, to the airport.

She said it’s important as well to get organized! This is such great advice. She said that you can look at your wardrobe and think you have nothing to wear, but it could be because you have a preconceived notion of what you have. You may thing you know what is in your wardrobe, but if it’s disorganized then you don’t really know what is in there. Stephanie said often times they would look into someone’s closet for The Coveteur and pull out an amazing piece the owner wouldn’t even remember having!

Overall I really loved the panel discussion, and I learned some great tips and tricks to ensure I have the experience I want to have when it comes to service, and it really made me think about what it means to have an enriched life. It was really interesting to hear the prospective of each panel member!

Guess what I am doing this weekend? Organizing my closet. I’m feeling inspired!

Roxymandy December 1, 2014

Why Do I Have so Much Mother’s Guilt?

On the weekend I told my husband I wanted to write a post about mother’s guilt, and he asked me “What the heck is that?”.

I gave him a scenario from last week that involved him. I woke up with my son every day last week to get him ready for school, or on my days off to get him up for breakfast and off to whatever plans we had going on that day. My husband usually works earlier than I do, so I handle all of the school drop-off’s, and on Friday and Saturday morning I happened to have play dates that I had to take him to early.

On Sunday morning my husband allowed me to sleep in and said he would get up with my son. Somehow I ended up sleeping in until 11:00am and woke with a panic. Where was everyone? Why was it so quiet? Why was I so rested?!

I called my husband and it turned out he took my son for a little coffee date at Starbucks, and then they headed to Joey’s World to hang out for a few hours.

I felt really guilty about the whole thing.

I felt guilty that my husband was the one who had to try and wrangle my son into his clothes for the day (never an easy task). I felt guilty that my husband had to try and get my son out the door because that usually involves begging, pleading and a bit of bribery to get his hat, gloves and jacket on him. I felt guilty that I wasn’t there to play with my son at the play place. I felt guilty I wasn’t there to help my husband entice my son to actually LEAVE the play place. I felt bad that I missed out on the cute moments they probably had while sitting at Starbucks.

So why couldn’t I just enjoy that morning of freedom? Where does all of this guilt come from?

If I had to get up six days in a week with my son, it doesn’t make a lot of sense that I felt bad for that one day I let my husband do it.

When I told my husband that I felt guilty about that morning, he was in disbelief. Why would you ever feel guilty he asked? He told me that I do everything he did that morning and more all the time, so why can’t he do the same?

I asked him if he ever felt guilt like that, and he said no – he said he doesn’t think about it.

I was so jealous in that moment. I feel guilty all the time! I feel guilty when I leave my son with his grandparents for a night out, and I feel guilty when I leave my son and husband at home while I go out to an event. I always feel really guilty when I pick my son up later from school because I was late from work.

My rational-self understands that it’s good for not only myself to get some alone time, or time with friends to keep a bit of my independence, and my sanity. I also understand it’s great for my son to spend quality time alone with his father, and his with his extended family.

I thought really hard about it this weekend, and the best explanation for the guilt I feel is that no one understands better than I do not only how hard it can be to raise my son, and also how amazing it is.

It’s not easy to raise a toddler. Sometimes he’s a little moody, or clingy, or difficult, or particular. He likes his cereal poured to a specific level that he calls “big bigger!”, and he likes to have his boots put on him before his jacket. He likes to bring a different car with him each time he leaves the house, and for the last couple weeks he’s wanted to bring his fish Nemo everywhere. I know all of these things better than anyone.

I also know that when he really likes something he throws his hands into the air and says “I like it!”, and that his favourite thing to do with me is to run full speed with a giant smile on his face as he knocks me over. Who would ever want to miss these things? They make me the happiest!

What I have figured out for me, is that my mother’s guilt is a combination of understanding how hard it can be to take care of a toddler, and a bit of worry that I am missing out on something awesome.

Although I am completely jealous that my husband doesn’t feel any of this guilt I carry around with me, I am pretty grateful that he is awesome enough to support me spending time on my own, or out with friends, and that he understands the importance of us spending time on our own as well.

I feel like this guilt will never go away. Mostly because I have another 16 years of getting my son out the door in the morning, or driving him to soccer practice, or to meet his friends. And mostly because he won’t stop being his awesome self that I don’t want to miss a moment of. I am just hoping that the rational side of me will win out and let me be ok with taking a break from the resulting guilt.