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Roxymandy May 28, 2014

What to do this weekend

Here are a couple events worth mentioning that are happening in Toronto this weekend!

Movie Wardrobe Sale

On Saturday, May 31st the Canadian Alliance of Film & Television Costume & Arts Design (CAFTCAD) will be hosting their 13th season of their bi-annual Movie Wardrobe Sale! This means that you can shop through Toronto’s wardrobe departments with thousands of items, many of which are deeply discounted up to 95% off retail. There will be a range of items from contemporary and vintage clothing and accessories used in film and television productions as well as designer samples, wardrobe supplies, handcrafted goods, and props.

The location is Pinewood Toronto Studios (225 Commissioners Street), and it runs from 9-5. Cash only! Admission is $5 per person at the door, with partial proceeds from the admission fees benefitting the Actor’s Fund of Canada and CAFTCAD.

http://www.caftcad.com

Gluten Freedom Week

Until May 31st, participating Toronto restaurants will offer patrons a delicious selection of a 3-course gluten-free meal for a fixed price.

You can see all of the participating restaurants here

Roxymandy May 27, 2014

Summer Reading Material!

Do you remember getting ready to leave on a vacation and making sure to pack some carefully selected books and magazines to lazily read while tanning? I remember those days. If you still have those days, cherish them. I followed the same tradition while packing for our first vacation to the Bahamas when our son was 7 months old. I found some great books at Chapters that I couldn’t wait to read on the beach since life at home seemed too hectic to get any reading done.

By the end of the vacation the most use those books had was to act as a weight in my beach bag. Reading with a small child around? I don’t know what I was thinking. It was almost as silly as when my husband packed himself a bunch of magazines for our hospital stay for our son’s birth. Didn’t he know he would be busy running around doing everything I asked? I did just give birth to his first born child, so it didn’t take me long to cash in on the you-owe-me-for-life-for-having-your-baby angle.

Now that things are a bit more manageable (I didn’t say less hectic, it’s just easier to manage the chaos), I’ve had an easier time keeping up on my reading. I always have a novel on the go, and sometimes two. Yesterday I picked up Gone Girl, which I am excited to read before the movie comes out.

Here are a few of my recommended summer reads for when you actually have five minutes to yourself this summer!

The Night Circus By Erin Morgenstern
I avoided reading this one for a long time, but I kept seeing it over and over again on people’s lists of must-reads. The idea of reading about the circus didn’t interest me, but once I started this book I couldn’t put it down. Highly addictive, and dare I say, a must-read!

The Paris Wife By Paula McLain
I really knew very little about Ernest Hemmingway until I read this book centered around his first wife, Hadley Richardson. The book focuses on their lives in the 1920’s while living in Paris, and the story of their marriage is pretty unbelievable. And frustrating. Very frustrating. You may do some yelling at Hadley. Oh, and it will make you want to go to Paris.

Before I go to Sleep By S.J. Watson
This one was a bit frustrating, but I found myself racing to the end to figure out what was going on. Every morning Christine wakes up not knowing who she is, who her husband is, and why she cannot remember anything. It’s one of those books where you are screaming at the character to figure it out!

Furious Love By Sam Kashner & Nancy Schoenberger
Love love love this book! It’s about the love life of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and I think I’ve read it at least three times. Their life together was so unbelievable.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
This story jumps from present to past, and is a little on the sad side, but it’s a very good read. It sort of haunts you when you are done, which means it’s a great story!

Life by Keith Richards
I love biographies. I read some pretty obscure one’s too, but this one was pretty appealing because wouldn’t you think Keith Richards had an interesting life? He did, I can confirm it. It’s a great read, and his life was as crazy as you would imagine.

Roxymandy May 26, 2014

River Island Mini Me Line

It’s such a total pain when there is a store you like, but they aren’t in Canada. Online shopping is great, but wouldn’t it be awesome if you could just walk into the store and browse? Luckily we are getting a Nordstrom soon, and even a Saks, but next on my list would be River Island. They do ship online, but why why why isn’t there one here yet? Especially since they have launched a cute new Mini Me Babywear Line for children aged newborn to 3 years. Shipping on the website is not all that outrageous either at around $15 (10 euros).

The 100-piece line for boys and girls is well priced and is very on trend, mimicking the styles River Island carries for adults. They already had a line for children aged 3-12, but I didn’t take a look at it previously since my son is only two.

The line launched in stores this month, and to check out the full line visit www.riverisland.com. I’ve added some of the highlights below!

Roxymandy May 21, 2014

Springtime Farmers’ Markets

I am not the best when it comes to eating my fruits and vegetables, so I need to find creative ways to get them into my diet. That usually means hiding all of the healthy stuff inside a smoothie favourite with chocolate so I don’t really know what I am drinking. One of the other ways I actually look forward to eating things that grow on trees and in the dirt is shopping for them at a farmers’ market. Let’s face it – I love any kind of shopping. Grocery shopping doesn’t exactly give me any sort of satisfaction (unless it’s delivered to my door, otherwise I find it a pain), but when shopping for all that healthy crap is snowballed into an outdoor event, well it suddenly seems a bit more appealing.

I really like farmers’ markets! It’s like going to a street party, but instead of alcohol there are carrots. Since daytime drinking has been pretty much eradicated from my lifestyle since becoming a fab mom, I take whatever I can get.

Here are a few you might want to give a try this spring!

Evergreen Brick Works Farmers’ Market – 550 Bayview Ave, Toronto

This is one of my favourites! Evergreen Brick Works has a year-round farmers’ market, and their summer hours run from now until November 1st. The market is on from 8am – 1pm, and the food court is open a little longer (until 2pm).

What I like about this farmers’ market is how many things there are to do all in one place. There are vendors serving up all kinds of food in the food court, then there are all kinds of events and workshops taking place every weekend from classes on making pottery as a family, to children’s cooking classes.

For a $5 donation your child can take part in what they call Nature Play at the Brick Works. Children remain supervised by their parents, and this drop in program from 10-4pm on weekends and holidays offers play time, story telling and crafts.

Parking can be tough because there are not a lot of spaces so many people park the street, so you do end up spending a lot of time driving behind people hoping to be the first to take their parking space! You must pay for parking as well.

In the winter there is ice skating and hot chocolate outside, and in the summer it’s nice to talk a walk since the area is surrounded by walking paths.

http://www.evergreen.ca/

The Stop Farmers’ Market at Wychwood Barns – 601 Christie Street, Toronto

Courtesy of National Post

Open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 pm, this market houses most of it’s vendors inside of it’s giant space. The Barns also has an art market with over 30 vendors, and they host all kinds of events like CraveTO with music, food and drinks.

All of the non-farmer vendors shop their ingredients from the market which is nice too.

http://www.atthebarns.org/about-the-wbca/the-stops-farmers-market/

St. Lawrence Farmers’ Market – 92 Front Street East, Toronto

Courtesy of St.LawrenceMarket.com

This market has been running for over 200 years! It’s pretty amazing. There are over 120 merchants which makes it one of the largest in the area as well. It runs year round from 5:00am until 10:00pm on Saturday’s, and they pretty much have everything you could imagine. It’s so busy that parking isn’t the easiest, but you can try the Green P lot behind the South Market Building, or there is a parking garage on the east side of Lower Jarvis (very short walk).

In the Market there are lots of cooking classes which I have been dying to try (will anyone go with me?) for adults and even classes with children, and there is always some sort of festival in the area to enjoy as well. This one is a must try!

www.stlawrencemarket.com

The Leslieville Farmers’ Market – Jonathan Ashbridge Park (Queen Street East between Greenwood & Coxwell)

This newbie on the farmer’s market scene is every Sunday from 9am to 2pm until the end of October. I haven’t visited this one yet, but it’s on my list of stops for this summer.

They say they have music, and that they will have wine starting next weekend! That might be why I’ve decided this one is one on my list. Coming up this year they will have a Bacon Fest, and a Movie Night in the Park as well.

http://leslievillemarket.com/

Roxymandy May 20, 2014

My Favourite Etsy Shops for Kids

Etsy is one of the best/worst things that has entered my life. I get addicted to looking at different stores from around the world and picking out gifts for birthdays or other events, and I spend time a crazy amount of time justifying gifts for myself. I love that so many things can be personalized, and that so many one of a kind items can be found and shipped to my door with a few clicks.

The selection of items for kids is amazing on Etsy. I have a few favourite shops where I love to pick up something for my son, or for one of his friends as a gift. Here are a few of my top Etsy store picks!

Kuku Design has, among other items, has adorable wall hooks for you child’s room in bright colours and cute shapes. You can find their store here

BoyGirlBoyGirlDesign has t-shirts, rompers and onezies, but my favourite thing is their painted shoes. They have themed children’s shoes for different holidays, or princess and pirate themed shoes. Check out their store here

ClaireonCloud9 has the most adorable pillows! Wacky clouds, trees, moons, raindrops, and even a mountain! You can find her store here

The Australian shop MeAndMacCharlie has great patterns for their leggings, bibs, burb cloths, and bodysuits. They ship worldwide too, which can be hard to find from an Australian shop! You can find them here

Boy’s leggings are impossible to find! It’s so unfair girls can wear comfortable leggings, while boys are usually stuck with jeans. I’m always looking for cute boy leggings that don’t look like girly ones. Basically I’m looking for manly toddler boy leggings. Sounds hard to find, right? It is! This shop has some great ones (I have a few on the way now!). Check out Thread and Love here

This is one of the first shirts I bought for my son. I don’t know why, but it makes me laugh every time I put it on him. Coup has a ton of these trademarked shirts for babies, kids and adults too! Check them out here

My son is turning into quite the little baker, and these rolling pins are the perfect way to keep him excited about creating something. They can be personalized, but my favourite is this dinosaur one. You can find the Valek Rolling Pins shop here

bky kid has amazing kids and adult t-shirts with patterns of roads and numbers. The are freaking adorable! Check them out here