Just as I did for my Albany and Florida trips just thought you may like to see some photos of the great meals we ate in Toronto.

Hotdog


Poutine


Tim Horton's baked goods



Pizza


Cute mini potatoes served with breakfast shaped like tator tots but were roasted

I recently found a Home Goods store. This was my first visit and I assumed it would be like a Marshalls/TJ Max type of store, which I find a little overwhelming. But it was so well put together! Knick knacks, furniture, kitchen supplies and other house items galore, with some clothes and shoes thrown in for good measure at very affordable prices.

I purchased a Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess (for $9.99), Lingonberry jam and some home items. I don't know if all Home Good stores are this organized or fantastic but it is a dangerous place for me and I instructed Niel if we drive by one again to keep driving and for us not to go back until we get a house and we actually need some things.






Song Stuck In My Head: "This Is Such A Pity" by Weezer


Craving: A little bit of cool weather

A while back Niel brought home for me a cute Winnie the Pooh cell phone chain. It was a mini Winnie dressed in a wolf costume. The company that makes them is Gacha USA. He says the key cell phone chains are popular in Canada and abroad. When we were in Zellers in Canada a Kmart type store, we saw a whole machine with the cute keychains. Niel ended up getting me three more. A Winnie hamster, rabbit, and mouse. I like the different expressions they each have.

Niel and I got back last night from Toronto. We left Thursday for a long get away weekend. Now that we are back I feel like I was never on vacation as usual. The pictures and our tans, ok my slight redness are my only proof. We had a good time. Niel and I are already planning our next escape. Toronto is a nice city. A mixture of old with new. English with French translation. Loonies and toonies. Street signs that chirp. Good public transportation. Great hot dogs. We stayed at the Metropolitan hotel. It is Asian themed. Niel found a good deal for it on Hotels.com. It is a four star hotel. Never stayed at a four star before. Not much different than a Marriott though. Except our room was smaller and there was no internet access in it, so we had to go to the lobby to check mail or post sporadically. I guess that's four star for ya. LOL. The hotel did have two nice restaurants inside but they were too pricey so we ate our meals out. There were a good variety of dining options, such as Indian, Thai, Chinese and West Indies. After we arrived and dropped off our luggage we decided to go exploring. I heard that Toronto or Canada in general has great hot dogs. We spotted a vender. They were all over the place and got two beef hot dogs. They were awesome. The carts also come with little buckets of condiments. I like mine with relish, mustard and sour kraut. They also sell German, Polish and vegetarian hot dogs. We saw a neat looking old building and started to walk towards it. We saw some protestors and asked the guard what it was. He said the building was the Ontario parliament and if we wanted and were quiet we could sit in on it. It was really hot(it was the entire trip) so going to an air conditioned building was a relief. The building was as pretty on the inside too and it was very interesting seeing the three parties discuss and sometimes argue over laws. There were also these kids who would bring water or pass notes to the members. We stayed for a while then walked to the Eaton Center. The biggest mall I have ever seen. Two long floors underground and two long floors above ground. They also had two food courts. We walked around a bit with our mouths open. We got a bit more peckish and decided to try an Eastern Canadian delicacy Poutine. It is fries with cheese curds and gravy. Really good. Then we went back to the hotel hung out in the pool and hot tub. For dinner we had some dinner from the West Indies restaurant down the block. It was yummy and a nice first day!



Friday, our second day and first full day, we had breakfast at Tim Hortons. Another place in Canada I wanted to try. Sort of reminds me of Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. I love their cheese croissants. We underestimated the map and decided to walk to Casa Loma from downtown Toronto. Big mistake. Our feet hurt so badly. But the castle was beautiful. They have a tunnel to the stables. Really good sound quality for singing. We took pictures and walked around a bit. Afterwards we ended up in Little Italy and ate fantastic pizza at Johns. I had a pesto, roasted pepper and goat cheese pizza, and a pizza marguerita. Niel had two pepperoni. We tried each others slices. They cut the slices down the middle. Easier to eat. We also drank a lot of water. Niel tried Steamwhistle beer. He liked that a lot. Then we headed over to Kensington Market. An eclectic neighborhood with restaurants, and shops. Next we walked over to China town. Also lots of shops and dining options. Afterwards we headed to the CN tower. Similar to the Space Needle in Seattle. We had to walk through these detectors where this steam was sprayed. I think they were to check for bombs. Our ears popped when we went up the elevator. The view is gorgeous from top. June 26 was its 30th anniversary. They also have a small clear floor where you can see all the way down. A bit scary. We went back to shower before going to see the Blue Jays play the Mets at the Rogers Center. The stadium is not that large, so we got to see the field pretty well. The Mets won. Yay! We got more hot dogs and called it a night.



Saturday we learned our lesson and took a lot of subways and street cars. The street cars are electric. Toronto is a pretty eco friendly city and I believe country in general tries to be. We took a street car to the Riverdale section of Toronto. I wanted a picture of the Degrassi street sign. It is no where near the junior high where Degrassi Junior High was filmed in the eighties. More on that later. Degrassi street is cute. I loved the show so getting a picture was neat for me. We also found where old China town was and caught another bus. We got to see a lot of different neighborhoods that way. Who says you need a city tour when you can ride the buses for cheaper. LOL. We even visited a local supermarket Loblaws (no not owned by Scott Baio's charachter Bob Loblaw in Arrested Development) and Zellers. We went back to Kensington Market Niel wanted to eat at Big Fat Burrito. It was good. We only had two small burritos and walked over to an ice cream parlor for some walnut ice cream. Delicious. We went back to the Rogers Center and saw another Mets game. They lost that game. Pooh. We were hungry and decided to go to the Harbourfront to look around and perhaps find some dinner. The Harbourfront is lovely but for some reason there was a soft core porno being shot on a boat IN BROAD DAY LIGHT!!!! I kid you not! We left after not finding any food. We ended up going to a Red Lobster. Their portions of food seemed so much more then what we are used to at our local Red Lobster. A wonderful meal.



Sunday we took a triple decker train to Mimico. It was a short ride. We sat on the third deck going and the second coming back. Mimico is a suburb of Toronto. Niel is great with directions so it was really easy to get there. In fact the entire subway/streetcar/bus experience was. I wanted to see Vincent Massey Junior High School. It is where Degrassi Junior High was filmed in the eighties. Niel was game since he got to see the Mets play twice. I knew it was the school once we hit the corner. I never thought I would see the school in person. We took a lot of pictures there. Afterwards we went back to the ginormous Eaton Center to eat some more Poutine. Niel wanted to try KFC's version. It is cool they sell it at Canadian KFC's. I like finding how chains are a bit different in each country. It was a lot better tasting. Their gravy is peppery and the fries are softer. We also tried a burger from Harvey's. Sort of like Burger King. I like that they offer pickled peppers on the burgers. I love pickled peppers. Afterwards we went back to the hotel and hung out by the pool. In the evening we went to see the famous Second City. We got their a little early so we walked around the Entertainment district and found a cute bookstore that sold refreshments and sat there for a bit. The show was very funny. Especially the first portion. The finger foods were so so. Some of the alum from Second City have been Mike Meyers, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, and Martin Short to name a few. We ate a late dinner at Gabby's. One of the chains in Toronto. The service was awful but their wings were awesome.


Monday we had a good breakfast and walked around a bit more before having to go to the airport. The hotel held our luggage. Our plane was delayed two hours so we naturally we didn't get back to NYC till later. Some highlight photos here. Niel also had Tuesday off. Before going to his softball game he visited his mother and did laundry and brought grocieries for the week. I very much appreciated that.


Song Stuck In My Head:"Dani California" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers


Craving: To be back on vacation

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

Your Love Song Is

Yellow by Coldplay "Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everything you do, Yeah they were all yellow" You're so in love, it's like a drug.

What Love Song Are You?

American Cities That Best Fit You::

60% Austin

60% Seattle

55% Atlanta

55% Denver

55% Honolulu

Which American Cities Best Fit You?

Often near my office new products are given out. Cookies, pens, gum, makeup, etc. The other day it was for a brand of sugarless cookies. Murrays. The cookies come in a variety of flavors and are made with Splenda. The cookies are for diabetics and not for weight control. I got a sample cookie anyway for Niel and I. They were very tasty.






Song Stuck In My Head:"We're Stars" by Hear n' Aid (you can thank Niel)

Craving: Sushi!

Niel and I were grocery shopping when I saw a few bottles of white cranberry juice I see commercials for white cranberry juice every now and then. I love cranberry juice and decided to try it. I'm not a fan. It was too sweet for me. Niel nailed it when he said it was mixed with grape juice. Although it didn't say it on the front of the bottle. Just in the ingredients. It is missing the tartness that cranberries are known for. But I guess if you want your child to try a healthy drink it would be a good option. They also come in mixed flavors like white cranberry and peach.

Hope everyone had a nice Father's Day weekend! We all melted. It was a hot and humid weekend. And today is also. Blech. Friday and Saturday Niel and I did cleaning, he did laundry and we ran errands. Saturday night we went to see a roller derby exhibition in Long Island. It was a championship match between various leagues in Long Island against various leagues from Boston. We waited a bit in line for the people renting the rink to leave. But they brought out their mascot. A guy in a banana suit. LOL. They also had a flying monkey mascot inside too. The announcers were very upbeat and kept the event exciting. One of the announcers was dressed like Fred "Rerun" Berry. Boston beat Long Island by 100 points. Yes your read right a 100 points. The rounds were three twenty minute matches. Boston was very good and they had cute outfits. I know the outfits don't matter but I liked them. They had on blue and gray colonial looking tops and you could see their ruffly white panties from the back. The Long Island was going for a punky look with ripped stockings, pink camouflage pants and black tops. All the teams also had wacky names like sergeant Fang and Sissy Facekick. We were very hyped up from the game. Afterwards Niel and I had our own Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle moment when we were looking for something to eat afterwards. Except it wasn't White Castle it was Burger King. One place we went in shooed us out saying they were closed. Well here is an idea how about actually locking the door? Hmm? We finally found a Burger King and came home. It was a good night. Sunday we went to my parents for Father's Day. Stuffed ourselves silly by eating roasted chicken and potatoes, mini meat loaves and Parmesan pasta, salad, hummus, roasted eggplant dip, spinach dip with carrots, and melons and jello for dessert. My brother brought us back gifts from his trip to Colorado. Came home and watched Narnia on Netflix. It is a good movie. We also watched Holes last week. We liked that movie as well. I forgot to mention we saw the MTV movie awards. Here are my thoughts:Jessica Alba's first outfit made her look topless, Christian Bale gave a nice speech, Andy Dick is an idiot, Davinci spoof annoying, I love Borat, Gnarls Barkley rules, Stars Wars band awesome, Hayden Christensen also an idiot. Pictures of the weekend here.

Song Stuck In My Head: "THE MOTOWN SONG" by Rod Stewart

Craving: Earplugs

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's, uncles, brothers, cousins, anyone who has been a father or father figure.

The second round of Candy Swappers came and went. I got my loot a few days ago. This time it was from California. I got chocolates, peanut brittle, pixie stix, pop rocks and candy necklaces. They sure brought back memories from my childhood. It was neat getting different types of candy from around the country and sometimes the world. Hope everyone has a good weekend. It's going to be a scorcher here.





Song Stuck In My Head: "The Boys of Summer Lyrics" by Don Henley

Craving: Not to get sunburned

I finished the ornaments I mentioned last week I was working on. Although I was doing yet another craft project it got me to slow down and focus. I guess that's partyly the reason why I like doing little projects. I thought they ornaments turned out pretty good for a first try. I get these bursts of inspiration to try something and I must do it. Luckily I was able to finish this project.




















Song Stuck In My Head:"Jump" from "Strummin' With The Devil: The Southern Side Of Van Halen(I know I hang my head in shame)


Craving: For my supposedly fresh milk to taste fresh

A place I have been wanting to try for a bit has been Yona Schimmel's Knishery. Niel and I got the opportunity this past weekend. I heard they sell very good knishes. We purchased a plain knish, a cheese and jalapeno knish, a sweet potato knish, and two Latke's(potato pancakes). The sweet potato knish was my favorite and their Latke's are mighty tasty. They also make sweet knish's but we only purchased the savory this time. They also deliver world wide.







Song Stuck In My Head: "Rhythm of My Heart" by Rod Stewart

Craving: Darn acid reflux to stop!!!

Niel's boss recommended a butcher shop/supermarket to purchase premade burgers. But the meat isn't any burger meat. It has cheese, cooked bacon, and smoked ham in it!! We grilled them on the old Foreman and they're tasty! Besides yummy factor I could see bits of the cheese too. I think the ingredients in the burgers are easy enough to replicate but it was nice to try! I also want to try putting small blocks of cheese in the burgers like I've seen on the Food Network.












Song Stuck In My Head: Just the melody can't think of the words. Damn!


Craving: For the work day to always pass by as quickly as yesterday did!

Over the weekend Niel and I attended a birthday brunch for Isabel at the Essex restaurant. They serve a mean Bloody Mary. Niel and I got there early and took a nice walk around the neighborhood. We were surprised how easy and fast we got into Manhattan. Once Spring hits, NYC has a lot of activities happening. Coincidentally it was also the Puerto Rican day parade that day. But we didn't get stuck in any traffic. It was good to see Isabel, her husband Craig, her sister Cora and meet some of their friends. Besides our get together we did our usual cleaning, and errand running. We also saw Kung Fu Hustle on cable(AWESOME) and got out newest Netflix The Family Stone(Better than I expected). Today I am looking forward to a nice lunch with Lisanne who is in town with her family for a working vacation.

















Song Stuck In My Head: "We Got The Beat" The Go Go's


Craving: For the weekends not to go by so fast

When I bring my lunch to work I also like to have snacks handy. I like popcorn but I didn't want to bring those large bags. First I couldn't eat it all and it would be a waste. Then I was told they make individual bags of popcorn. I finally spotted some from the brand Act II at the supermarket and purchased a box. Let the popping begin.





Song Stuck In My Head: Stupid Doodlepops theme song. Blech.

Craving: To be the end of the worday

For my birthday a few months ago Niel got me the Angry Little Girls books: Angry Little Girls and Still Angry Little Girls. He spied me checking them when we visited the MOMA(now back in Manhattan!). The books are extremely funny and clever.






Song Stuck In My Head: "Hellbent For Leather:" by Judas Priest
Craving: A better day

I want to share the Mojito recipe that I mentioned which Niel made. It really is awesome. We've had a few times now and it keeps getting better. Although I don't know why the name is Blue Mojito because it comes out in a lovely green. Maybe not enough Blue Curacoa? Be careful though because since it is so sweet you may want to drink more. So be sure you eat a lot before you do though or decrease the alcohol in the recipe. Although I think people will drink alcohol even if it doesn't taste sweet. I say this when I think back to my bachelorett party and I drank six double shots of tequila. Those things taste disgusting. I have no idea why I drank that many or any really. I hate hard liquor. The bucket was my friend that night. Anyway Niel did post the recipe on his blog and I don't know how many of you visit his blog so I am sharing the recipe here. Oh you should visit by the way. He's very funny.



Blue Mojito

2 shots Blue Curacoa

3 shots Rum

1/3 cup lime juice

Two heaping teaspoons of brown sugar

Mint kind of smashed up



Put all ingredients in shaker. Shake. In a glass smash up some more mint. Put down some ice. Pour mixture over the ice ... enjoy.


Isn't the color pretty?



Bottoms up!



I pity the fool who don't try this Mojito!



Song Stuck In My Head: "Breaking The Law"

Craving: Cupcakes from the cupcake cafe

I have this straw purse I really like. It has blue butterflies on it. The strap is in poor condition and I got a bamboo handle to replace it a few months ago. It took me a few months because I was hesitant to touch it myself. But I finally sucked it up and decide to replace the handle. I found a light enough thread so it wouldn't show too much. I think it looks pretty neat. Maybe I can make a purse next?


One strap was worse than the other. The top and



the bottom on one side was tearing.


One strap down andother to go.


One more left


All done


Song Stuck In My Head: "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley

Craving: Friday!!!