What to Do - sparkleshinylove

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 13, 2014

Joey’s World Bowmanville + 5 Admission Pass Giveaway!

One of the hardest parts of being a mom is keeping your child busy! Before I had my son I spent my spare time looking for fun events and parties to go to. Now that I have a child, I’d say about half of that spare time is now spent looking for fun things to do with my toddler. Not quite as exciting as some of the childless events, but none the less very necessary!

I’ve pretty much been all over the GTA to many of the different kids facilities, parks and play places. Eventually you run out of new places to go. One of my regular haunts with my son has been Joey’s World.

Joey’s World is located in Bowmanville, approximately 1 hour from Toronto. The facility has a multi-tier play structure which houses a toddler play area and a separate section for even younger children to safely play. There is also a kids 20-foot rock wall monitored by the trained Joey’s World staff.

There is a multi sport simulator as well where kids can play soccer, baseball and soccer in one section of the facility which seems to be a favourite with the boys. Throwing, kicking or hitting something as hard as you can? I’d say that is a boy magnet.

One of my favourite parts about Joey’s World is that upon entry you are given a matching wristband to your child. It’s scanned upon exit to be sure your child safely leaves with you, and it can also be scanned to add food or beverage charges to your bill. It’s like a credit card! Except this one needs to be paid on time, before you leave!

Shoes are not allowed inside the play area, but if you forget your socks they even have some for purchase at the front desk.

I love that Joey’s World is so clean! Their staff is always cleaning up while the kids are playing, and I have been there after-hours to see the staff vacuuming, sweeping and mopping for the next day. There is nothing worse than taking your child to a play place and being completely grossed out over the strange smell wafting from the rafters, or wondering what you are stepping in that has you stuck to the floor. It feels like a relief to go to Joey’s World and to not be afraid to crawl around on the floor!

I spent so many Saturday mornings at Joey’s World with my son that I decided it would be a great spot for a birthday party. They have a few different options for their parties on their website here, and I chose the Plan your Own Party Package. With this package I was given use of one of the party rooms, admission (there are different prices based on your party size), free coffee and tea and for my guests, security bracelets, invitations, and the party cleanup.

London running around the facility before his party started

This package was perfect for a control freak like me who wanted to handle my own food, cake, decor and details for the party.

I had almost 40 people in attendance, and we were able to fit them all in one of the party rooms. It was lovely to be able to enjoy the party and not worry too much about the cleanup!

In the winter Joey’s World was a savior through the long boring days when it was too cold to go outside. This summer when it’s just too hot to be outside, or when I am worried that my toddler has had too much sun I’ll be happy to head to Joey’s for some fun in the air conditioning! They are even running summer camps with different themes each week for parents who have children home for the summer.

If you haven’t been to Joey’s World, I’ve got an a opportunity for you to check it out!

This week I am giving away a 5 Admission Pass courtesy of Joey’s World!

To enter, just comment below this post “I want to go to Joey’s World!”.

This contest ends at 4pm on Monday, May 19th, 2014. The winner will be selected via a random draw.

Good luck to everyone who enters!

Joey’s World is located at 380 Lake Road, Bowmanville, ON,

905-447-PLAY

Roxymandy May 12, 2014

High Tea at the Shangri-La Toronto

I had never been to a High Tea before, and Mother’s Day seemed like the perfect opportunity to see what it was all about. It’s really the ultimate girly experience! When you were little how many times did you have a tea party? And were boys ever welcome? Probably not, unless you had a little brother and he was the next best thing compared to your Cabbage Patch doll. Ok so maybe there was a boy invited by default, but otherwise a tea party was more of a girls-only event that was all about drinking from fancy tea cups and enjoying some gossip.

There are many different places across the city to enjoy High Tea, but I really wanted to experience it at the Shangri-La. A reservation was required (I made mine one month in advance!), and we were there for a few hours and didn’t see a free table. High Tea Service is normally 2pm-5pm daily at the Shangri-La.

We decided to use the convenice of the hotel’s valet parking. It’s so lovely to just stop your car right out front, have an attendant help you out of your car (this is always helpful when wearing impossibly high heels), and walk straight into the venue without worrying about a thing. Since we were staying for tea, valet parking was only $15.00.

Right inside the front door is the receiption for the Lobby Lounge, where afternoon tea is served. The two-story lobby itself is opulent, complete with beautiful fireplaces, art lining the walls, and a grand piano. Nothing seems more grand than having a piano player next to your table while having tea! He played everything from his own rendition of “Imagine”, to that song from My Best Friend’s Wedding when in the movie Julia Robert’s realizes she isn’t going to win the guy. Trust me, you would know the song if you heard it. I really need to watch that movie again. Sorry, back to tea!

Once we were seating we were given a menu which included all of the tea’s they had to offer. Each of us was given a pot of tea of our choice, which was nice because you could try the tea’s that the other people at your table ordered. I had the Vanilla Roobois tea which I knew I liked because it’s my favourite tea from Starbucks.

We were all very happy with our tea choices (we also ordered their Green Tea and Earl Grey tea), which wasn’t an easy choice since they actually have 68 to choose from! Luckily they narrowed down the selection of those 68 on the menu so you don’t agonize over your choice for too long.

I was worried before we got there that the sandwiches and desserts would not be enough to fill us up. It just seemed like in all of the photos that I saw, what was served at tea was just an afternoon snack and not really a lunch. I was completely wrong! We couldn’t finish all that was there. There were three sandwiches of each kind on our tray so we could all have an equal amount, plus there was a batch of mini house made scones which were still warm from the oven. By the time we got to dessert I am embarrassed to say that we couldn’t even finish what we had! When we were finished with our tea we packed a few items to go, which I would have never guessed would happen.

The cost per person for the High Tea on Mother’s Day was $40 per person, plus tax and gratuity. As I mentioned this really could be done as a lunch, and because of the lovely experience as well I would say this price was very much worth it.

I like to mention whether or not kids are welcome when I attend things like this, and my answer would be yes and no.

While there I saw a baby around the 6 month mark who seemed very happy to be there! He was obviously there with his momma and family, and he loved watching the piano player. I also saw a few little girls around the age of 7 who were dressed up in pretty party dresses enjoying tea as well.

The tables were very low so I wouldn’t say that a high chair would work necessarily. It’s one of those things where older children would probably love to be at a grown up tea party, but my two year old would despise being there since he wouldn’t be able to touch anything! My overall opinion would be this is an adult type of event, unless you have a well-behaved baby or a young child who would love to act like a grown up and have a tea party with the adults.

The Shangri-La Toronto is located at 188 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.

For reservations call 647-788-8888

Roxymandy May 1, 2014

Blogger Fashion Week Presented by FASHION Magazine, Trend Trunk, and Style Democracy

I’m excited to announce I’m taking part in Blogger Fashion Week from May 5th to 11th, presented by FASHION Magazine, Trend Trunk and Style Democracy.

Trend Trunk is an an online marketplace where you can shop people’s closets for amazing deals on designer clothing and accessories, or you can start your own closet to sell some of your clothing and accessories yourself!

Trend Trunk allows you to easily set up your closet – it only takes seconds to post a photo of your item, a description, and then it’s posted online for others to shop! Trend Trunk handles the shipping which makes everything so much easier. They are partnered with Canada Post, so once your item sells you are emailed a trackable pre-paid, pre-addressed shipping label. All you need to do is print the label, pack your item, and ship.

Once delivery is confirmed, Trend Trunk will deposit 80% of the selling price into your Trend Trunk account. That’s it!

It’s a slightly addictive website. There is so much to look at, and you can easily shop by brand or style. Trend Trunk even has an App!

100 emerging and established Canadian bloggers are taking part in Blogger Fashion Week, and each day will see a limited number of closets unlocked and featured each day. It’s a great way to find some amazing Canadian blogs to follow, but it’s also a great opportunity to shop!

I will announce when my closet is being released, but in the meantime you can RSVP to the Facebook page here

You can also visit Trend Trunk at www.TrendTrunk.com, or check out www.BloggerFashionWeek.com

Roxymandy April 24, 2014

Pottery Barn Kids Nursery Style Event

One of my favourite places to shop when I was planning for my baby’s arrival was Pottery Barn Kids. I spent hours going through their website ordering blankets, towels, decor and toys. I love buying gifts for friends with babies on the way from there as well to get my fix of cute baby gear! Lucky for me their toddler lines are just as adorable, so my addiction continues with no end in sight.

Pottery Barn Kids has teamed up with Jennifer Flores of Rambling Renovators to host their popular Nursery Style Event on Saturday, May 3rd, 4pm – 6pm at their Bloor Street store.

Design Specialists will be available to provide one-on-one assistance and offer design ideas & how-to tips for nursery and registry essentials.

Guests will enjoy:
· 10% OFF purchases (excluding furniture)
· A chance to win an UPPAbaby VISTA stroller
· Samples from luxury skincare line, Noodle & Boo

You need to RSVP to this event! Call the Bloor Street store (Toronto Pottery Barn Kids, 100 Bloor Street West) at (416) 961-2276 to get your name on the list!

Join in the conversation at:
· Facebook.com/potterybarnkids
· Twitter/Instagram: @potterybarnkids, #pbknurserystyle
· Blog.buildingblocks.com

Photos courtesy of Pottery Barn Kids