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Maison Blanc Day Spa Mommy Monday’s

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Maison Blanc Day Spa is located at Hwy 2 and Brock Street in Whitby.  The spa offers what they call Mommy Monday’s for ladies who want to spa but want to bring their little one along.  They offer a spot for your child to play in while you are having your services done either in the same room, or separate from the service you are enjoying.
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When I brought my son in for the first time (he was around 7 months then) there were staff dedicated to watching him, and they even had a few toys for him to play with!  The staff were excellent with him, and he had a great time.
Each time I visited the spa I had either a manicure or pedicure, but the spa also offered a list of recommended services which were only 30 minutes or less.
Maison Blanc offers free coffee, tea (they have a great selection) or flavoured water and other small snacks.  If you add and extra $5.00 to your service you can add an appetizer from nearby restaurant Mondo’s.  I tried this and the food was excellent!
The spa hosts many other Manicure & Martini nights and other specials each month.  This November 7th they are part of a Christmas Shopping and Ladies Night Out event.  It begins  at 7pm and includes free refreshments and 5 other shopping vendors under one roof.
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www.maisonblancdayspa.com
905-430-3500

Where to Shop – Pottery Barn Customer Appreciation Event + Smashcakes & Closets Shopping Event

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Saturday November 2nd Pottery Barn Kids is having a Customer Appreciation Event from 5:00pm – 9:00pm.  They are offering refreshments, and 15% off in store merchandise.  You must RSVP to attend by November 1st .
Yorkdale Location – 3401 Dufferin Street, Toronto
416-785-7375
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Smashcakes & Closets is being put on by Fashion-Forward.com.  The event is Sunday November 17th from 11:00am – 3:00pm at 70 Peter Street, Toronto.  Fashion-Forward is an online marketplace where you can buy and sell clothing by meeting up locally with buyers and sellers.
This event will have sellers connected with Fashion-Forward who will will be offering up their brand name and designer items for sale.  They will have free Starbucks for the first 40 shoppers, and lots of prizes and giveaways.
Smashcake will be selling their desserts in their pop-up bakery, and there will be demos on how to buy and sell with Fashion-Forward, make up touch ups, jewelry and cosmetics for sale through vendors, and polish changes with Vain Polish for $5.
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www.fashion-forward.com
www.smashcake.ca
Photo #1 courtesy www.potterybarnkids.com; Photo #2 Courtesy of Fashion-Forward; Photo #3 Courtesy of  www.smashcake.com

Where to Shop – Elle Canada Event at Joe Fresh + Dynamite Launches Online Shopping

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On Wednesday November 6th from 6- 9pm Elle Magazine Canada is hosting a shopping night at Joe Fresh on Carlton Street in Toronto.  A contributing stylist from Elle Canada will be there hosting, along with snacks, refreshments, they are offering personal style consultations and 20% off all in store purchases!

First come first serve on the guest list – RSVP to rsvp@ellecanada.com

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Today Dynamite has launched online shopping!  They are currently offering free shipping from today until November 3rd, 2013.  The cost of shipping will automatically be deducted at checkout.  No discount code is required.  Happy shopping!

www.dynamiteclothing.com

web_exclusives

Photo #1 Courtesy of Elle Canada, Photo #2 Courtesy of www.dynamiteclothing.com

Our Visit to Rock Lobster on Queen West Toronto

 

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Rock Lobster has two locations in Toronto – one on Ossington, and the second on Queen Street West.  We tried the Queen West location because it was much closer to downtown.

Their seafood is flown in from Nova Scotia fresh every day.  The menus for both locations differ, and the Queen West location isn’t even on the main website.  The restaurant doesn’t seem to need to advertise because with word of mouth they are busy enough.
The restaurant was much smaller than I expected!  It could only seat 70 inside, and this outpost is actually larger than the restaurant on Ossington.  They do not take reservations, and although we were told to expect a 45 minute wait at 8:00pm, we only ended up waiting 15 minutes.
We started with a round of drinks, and their cocktails included a slushie with tequila, and a drink named Breakfast of Champions with Fruit Loop infused vodka.
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We ordered a round of oysters ($2.25 each which is thought was a good price) which were fresh – as expected!  We also ordered Lobster devilled eggs ($7) which tasted great, and had little chunks of lobster in them.  The egg itself actually looked pink.
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I had the Lobster Poutine ($14) which came out in a skillet pulled high with cheese, gravy and lobster.   It was a strange combination with the fries and gravy hot and the lobster cold, but it tasted amazing.  It was a huge portion, and I couldn’t finish it.  I also tried the Lobster Taco ($5 for one) and it came on a fresh tortilla with fresh lobster and a sauce that had a kick to it.
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I would say the restaurant is not kid friendly for dinner.  I’m not sure about lunch time, but at dinner the music was so loud it was hard to hear the person next to you!  The tables were very close together and I couldn’t imagine fitting a stroller or high chair into the restaurant.  Lunch may be a different story when it comes to the music volume, but space-wise and menu-wise I wouldn’t call it kid friendly.
www.rocklobsterfood.com
538 Queen Street West, Toronto
416-203-6623
Photo Credit:  #1 Toronto Life Magazine

What to Do – Vacation at The Sagamore Resort in Bolton Landing, NY

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The Sagamore Resort is located on Lake George in Bolton Landing, NY.  We chose the Sagamore because it offered 8 different dining options, it looked like it had beautiful grounds including a pool, and it was near our main destination which was Lake Placed, NY.

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We searched reviews on Trip Advisor and read that the resort hosted many children in the summer, and they had a distinction between restaurants which were child friendly, and adult only.
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The resort itself has many gorgeous views of Lake George.  Our son is 1 1/2 and he loved running around the grounds.  The resort has boat rentals, an indoor and outdoor pool, tennis courts, a basketball court, playground, a spa, and nature trails.
Room-wise there are condos, lodges, the main hotel, and even a castle to choose from.  We chose to stay in one of the lodges.  The room was much larger than a regular room, and had recently been refurbished.  We actually tried to get a larger room with a adjoining section for our son to sleep in but they were full.  We travelled in September during their slower season, but the resort was still very busy.
We were worried about which restaurant to take our son for dinner, and were advised by the staff that La Bella Vita would be fine.  They had plenty of high chairs, and we soon realized our son was the only child likely at the whole resort!  We didn’t see one other child during our stay there, so he was a kind of celebrity amount the guests.  They had a kids menu, crayons and a colouring placemat even though it was a higher end restaurant.  The food was excellent for dinner as well.
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The resort offered 24 hour room service which we took advantage of!  We weren’t ready to go to bed when our son was, so we ordered drinks and dessert to the room which worked out great.
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We would definitely visit this resort again.  Our son loved it because of all of the open space to run around, there was lots of selection for food, the pool offered drink service, and the main hotel was beautiful.  Bolton Landing itself had a few shops in its downtown, but otherwise it’s a very small town with beautiful views and was very relaxing.
www.thesagamore.com