Vangroovy pride

I am in Vancouver for a few weeks with the kidlets, visiting with my parents and brother. I snapped a picture of this display in a kitchen store in Kerrisdale village, near my parent's pad. It makes me want to decorate with more colour!! How fun would it be to have a set of rainbow dishes?

Lobster and crab

This weekend we were supposed to go camping with a group of friends, but we decided not to as there were thunder showers...not fun with kids! Since my husband and I were on point for dinner, we just relocated the troops to a friend's house.

This Toronto Star article about the plummetting price of lobster inspired me to cook some live ones with corn on the cob! The plan was to boil water over the camp fire, but they tasted just as good over a gas range!

The cheapest lobsters in the city that I could fine were at T&T Supermarket down in the portlands...if you haven't been, you should...it's famtastic: great produce, cheap milk, and tons of asian specialties, from dumplings to Peking Duck. Lobsters were a bargain at $8.99/lb! Do it!

Bathing suit shopping

Is there anything worse than bathing suit shopping?

Flourescent lights?
Change rooms without mirrors, forcing you out into a public area?
Racks and racks of bathing suits?

Noooooo thank you!

After I had baby #1, my friend Erin recommended that I visit Melmira at Yonge and Lawrence in Toronto. Best. advice. ever. You never see a rack of bathing suits. ...that's right. Your consultant talks to you about what you want and brings you a few suits at a time until you find the perfect bathing suit. It is pricey, but worth every cent. I walked away with two suits that I love and still wear.

Since my body is still in flux, I think I'll need to visit again soon before I head to the cottage in a few weeks (in other words, I think it's time for a one-piece!!!!)

UPDATE: Janice made a good point in her comment that I forgot to mention - the bathing suits Melmira carries are all sold as 'seperates', so you can get different sized tops and bottoms. Also, both the tops and one piece suits are sold in bra sizes - like 36C - so they really fit well.

Feeding baby

Today was one of the rare days when I had access to our car (my husband took my sister's car to work), so I went wild and went to Loblaws..wooohooo! Crazy talk, I know.

I am always looking for creative things to feed my 9 month old that don't result in leftovers that get thrown out. Loblaws is selling these salmon skewers for $2.50....the perfect amount of salmon for a few days worth a meals for the little guy!

New kitchen toy

My newest kitchen toy is an oil sprayer....it sprays your favourite cooking oil like Pam, but is free of all the butane and other chemicals used to create the spray. As well, you end up using much less oil than if you were to pour it out of the bottle.

This was my Mother's Day gift...but don't blame my husband for the unexciting gift; it was exactly what I asked for!

This one is made by Cuisinpro and is available at IQ Living on the Danforth.

Kid row

Yet another baby/kid store has opened on the Danforth. Jet Baby carries the coolest stuff (Beatles and Bob Marley t-shirts included!) and has a 'deal of the day'. Yesterday I scored this great Hatley sun hat for my daughter for $16.99!

Here is a summary of my favourite Danforth stores for babies and kids from West to East:
Ladida (has great stuff for adults too!)
Fab Baby Gear (They also have an Ottawa location)
Jet Baby (they also have an Oakville location)
Treasure Island Toys (Their Crayola construction paper is priced lower than Wal-Mart's!!!)
Silly Goose Kids

We still need something like Moms to be and More, but we're off to a good start!

Fresh From the Farm



Photo from Fresh From the Farm website

 Toronto East-enders take note - Fresh From the Farm is an organic food shop on Donlands between Cosburn and O'Connor. It sells a plethora of organic meats and dairy products, often from Menonite farms, as well as coffee, tea, jams, breads, and fresh produce in the summer.

I must admit that I don't regularly buy organic....I am often unsure how much of the high price tag on organic goods is their true cost versus expensive marketing. But unlike many organic shops, this one is all product and no trendy accoutrements. Their prices are wickedly reasonable and the staff is super knowledgable. 

My first foray into FFTF was upon the recommendation of my friends Kate and Julie for a Christmas turkey - I ordered it by phone and was able to pick it up on Christmas Eve, so it didn't occupy valuable fridge space. Everyone agreed it was among the best turkeys we've ever had. Our Easter ham was equally delectable, as were the burgers we made from FFTF's ground beef.

I am sold on FFTF like a pig in mud! I am going to try their eggs next. Mmmm.

PS: The Leslieville Cheese Shop has opened right across the street....perhaps a foodie corridor is developing!

Botox for my antiques

We inherited a lovely antique dining room set from my Grandparents when we moved into our house a few years ago. While I love the suite, it was feeling a bit 'stuffy' for a young family. I lusted for something a bit younger and hipper, but I didn't have the heart to get rid of this set or to put it under the proverbial knife! It just needed a little pick me up, as we all do from time to time!
In the end I decided to update it with new hardware from Lee Valley Hardware. If you have never visited a Lee Valley store, it is well worth the trip. They have everything from microplanes to fruit fly catchers to very intense wood working tools (think Pinnochio!!).
I looked around a number of different sources for new hardware. Lee Valley had the best selection at the most reasonable prices. Big box stores were suprisingly expensive for not great quality; Restoration Hardware had beautiful pieces at about 3X the price. Lee Valley was just perfect, and located on the TTC to boot!!

PS: I have moved my mercury glass lamps from the living room to the buffet as my baby becomes increasingly grabby and mobile!...I think I like them here!

New ring pulls

Original fixtures

Start the car!

I was perusing the "Finds" section of Sarah Richardson's website yesterday, and noticed her post about this graphic linen Kravet fabric, listed at $122.80 a yard. It reminded me that I had bought a remnant of this same fabric at Designer Fabrics on Queen West in Toronto for $5! START THE CAR!! (This is a quote from an Ikea commercial (view here) that my family frequently references when we get a killer deal....as in "I got this shirt for 60% off. Start the car!").

Anyways, I had totally forgotten about this fabric, as I bought it mere days before my now 7 month old was born while I was in the depths of crazed nesting...and then my baby was born and I forgot everything that had happened before that point in time.

Seeing the fabric again inspired me to make two cushions for our living room couch on Sunday night, piped and backed with a matching turquoise velvet. I rearanged the living room furniture this weekend and the new cushions finish off the new configuration and add a nice punch of colour!

Did you do anything fun around the house this weekend? Any START THE CAR moments?

Put down the iron!

I spent much of my free time (ie while the kids were napping) this weekend ironing. It wasn't fun, and I'm frankly not very good at it.

Luckily, I have transitioned many of my husband's work shirts to Brooks Brothers iron free shirts. They are 100% iron free. Seriously, they come right out of the dryer without so much as a crease. They also have fantastic women's shirts too. I often order mine to my cousin's house in the US (since it's cheaper), but they often go on deep discount at their Canadian locations (last summer I bought 4 men's shirts for $245 including tax.) Either way they are more than I would normally pay for my husband's shirts, but by the time I factor in the money saved at the dry cleaner, they pay off pretty quickly.

Iron free shirts are also available at Mark's (ie formerly Mark's Work Warehouse and Sears (Land's End brand), but I'm not sure how these brands stand up quality and fit-wise.

These iron free shirts make the thought of wearing work clothes again a bit more paletable!

Sally Ann scores

On Friday night after the kids were in bed my Mom and I snuck out to the nearby Salvation Army thrift store. I found two deals. First, at $1.99 each, two white 'lotus' dishes, identical to the turquoise ones I have at home. Second, at $3.99, a ceramic egg carton for the fridge so it's easy to quickly grab eggs one-handed!

Horray for Target (tar-jay)

Today I headed south across the border with my Mom and my two kids. We have applied for Nexus but unfortunately we don't have our cards yet, so we had to wait in a 45 minute border line-up. Boo.

I will savour the day when Target finally arrives in Canada and I no longer have to head south to get unique kids clothes and funky furnishings at rock bottom prices! There is one slated to open at the East York Town Centre, which is a short drive from the Danforth. Bring it!

UPDATE: A few of you have emailed me wondering how to find out if you are getting a Target near you!! Here is the complete list of locations.

Early morning activities....muffins

This morning both my children were up for the day at 4am, thanks to the time change from Toronto (this is despite the fact that I kept them up and put them to bed at the right time, 7pm, local Vancouver time). I almost lost my mind. After about 30 minutes of trying to get everyone back to sleep, I realized that it was hopeless, and so we came downstairs and made muffins.

I am obsessed with heat proof silicone, like these muffin cups. I (as does my mom) also have an assortment of heat proof spatulas, flippers (OXO makes the best one) and egg poachers, all made from heat proof silicone. When I was buying the egg poachers at Kitchen Roots on the Danforth, I had my choice between expensive and inexpensive ones. Apparently there is a variety of 'grades' of silicone, and the most expensive ones are chemical free and won't leach anything into your food. That sounds like a good thing to me!

TTC love

I have always had a soft spot for the TTC, despite them trying to expropriate my house (unbelievable but true; see here). So when I saw this piece of art in Crema coffee shop on the Danforth today, I just swwwwwoooned. I want it for my living room. It is tough to tell from this photo, but the finish is super glossy. I believe that it is a list of the original street car lines.

I did some research and determined that the artist is Christine Flynn. Not only is she local, but she also has what looks like an amazing vintage shop on Queen East (just West of Danforth). A selection of her finds can be seen here; I am definitely going to have to check it out soon....maybe I'll take the Queen streetcar!

Hi ho, hi ho, off to Joe we go

One of my favourite baby/kid products for summer is these SPF protecting one-piece bathing suits which protect baby skin from the sun's harsh rays. However they tend to be tough to find, and many of the ones I've seen are upwards of $50.

Joe Fresh is carrying them right now for $16...I bought one yesterday at the Eglinton East location. Joe stock never seems to last long, so go soon!

Poster framing...update

Yesterday, I blogged here about framing a poster that my husband and I bought in Quebec City a few years ago.

To get the poster mounted on foam core and a new mat cut, I headed to the framing store at Pape and Danforth (North East side). I must admit that I've had a bad experience here before. The last time I went, my item took 3 weeks because the owner said he didn't like to work hard any more, as he had worked hard his whole life and now he is focused on relaxing. I am someone who loves to support small business, but admittedly, this had me a little irritated. Nonetheless, I decided to give them another chance yesterday. This time the woman in the shop refused to order a white mat for me since it was a lot of work to order just one mat, and the only colours she had on hand to offer were yellow and green. I'm beginning to think these folks don't actually want to be in business.

So instead I headed to Frame Maker at Jones and Queen E. The gentleman that I worked with was extremely helpful and provided a very fair quote. Done and done. I will pick up my poster and new mat in a few days!

Controlling kid clothing chaos

When my daughter was born, I couldn't beleive how quickly she grew out of clothes. I was resistent to get rid of the clothing, but was at a loss for how to corral the growing mountain of clothing that was too big or too small.

In the end I decided to use canvas sweater bags. They have a clear top allowing you to see the contents of the bag and are the perfect size for small clothes - you'd be amazed at how many onzies you can fit in one sweater bag! I have mine sorted by the standard sizes (e.g. 0-3mos, 3-6mos, 6-12mos, etc) and labelled using a folded piece of paper on top of the clothing.

I originally was buying the sweater bags at IQ Living on the Danforth, but they no longer carry them. I am sure they are avilable at home organization stores, but I don't have any close to me, so I am now buying these ones on Amazon. Let me know if you know of where I can buy these in Toronto!

I know that this is a bit geeky, like a dewey decimal system for kids clothes, but it works! When my son was born and I wanted to quickly find some gender neutral newborn onzies, it was eaaasy peasy!

Burning love for the Bulk Barn

This morning my daughter and I headed down to the Loblaws at Lakeshore and Leslie, which has a Bulk Barn. Normally I am skeptical about Bulk Barn prices, but at the moment Steel Cut Oats are on sale (see my previous posts on Steel Cuts here and here) for $0.20/100g, compared to $0.42 for their PC Blue Menu cousins. I'm pretty sure this is a good deal, but I digress.

The real reason we wanted to go to the Bulk Barn today was to fetch some Valentine's treats for Izzy's friends. Bulk Barn conveniently also sells a variety of little celo bags which serve as perfect vessels for treats (the bags are $0.34 to $044 each)!

This was an easy activity for a snowy morning. Putting the celo bags in the little Ikea cups (blogged about here...I told you I use them for everything!!) made it easier for my daughter to fill the bags. Still, a lot of cinnamon hearts ended up on the floor and in our mouths, but I guess this is par for the course with a 2 year old!

More Valentine's activities to come!

Soooo Fabulous

Since having kids I find I shop online now more than ever. ...afterall, the mere thought of heading to Bay and Bloor with two kids gives me the sweats!

For this reason I just had to share this website with you that a friend of mine created. It's called Shops of Fabulous, and it profiles virtually every online retailer that delivers within Canada, including their collection, shipping costs, return policy, and more. If you like what you see, you just click on the vendor to be redirected to their website and start shopping! You can also subscribe to their online magazine, SoFab. Needless to say, it is FABULOUS! Happy online shopping!

Magic mittens

These mitts will change your life....I swear it! I learned about them from my friend Erin. They are a modern version of those old school mitts with the string that went through your coat from one hand to the other.

Made by Thinsulate, the mitts feature long sock-like stretchy cuffs that protect little arms from wind and snow, fit snuggly under coats, and prevent mitts from falling off. There is an infant version that has no thumb hole. They are adorable.

Best of all they are made right here in Canada.

I know that you can find these mitts at Fab Baby Gear and Hundred Mile Child on the Danforth, as well as Baby on the Hip, and they retail for around $30. This is the second winter that my daugther has worn hers, and I think they'll fit next year too, so they have some longevity.

Get your babe a pair just in time for tonight's snow storm!