Toronto Shopping 101

First lesson of shopping in Toronto is to AVOIDE the Eaton Centre AT ALL COSTS! There is not one unique store in the awful place. The reality is, that the Eaton centre sucks your soul! There are other malls in TO is that is wha tyou are looking for, I really like Yorkdale Mall, it is one level but very large and with basically all the same shops as the Eaton Center but without the crowds and the soul sucking.


I also really like to shop on Queen St W. This area is perfect for those who really love to shop but hate malls. There are lots to look at and great deals.

Bloor street/Yorkville is of course la creme de la creme of shopping in Toronto. That is where Holt Renfrew, Chanel, Hermes and Tiffany's are located. The staff of these stores are not to snotty and don't mind people window shopping which I am happy about!

Toronto has great shopping with lots of unique places to visit, but more often then not people go to the Eaton Centre and then they hate Toronto!

Sheila Lukins

She was one of the women behind the silver palate cooks books. She passed away on Sunday at the age of 66.

Now of course I understand the current frenzy around Julia Child...but for me my Julia was Shelia. It was the go to cook book in my mothers kitchen. I loved sifting through it, looking for something for mom. The smell of the pages...the interesting drawings...we literally used the book so often we had to by a new one because the book fell apart. I still of course have that book that is so difficult to use because it is in pieces. But I love it, I love my moms handwriten notes in the margins explaining a reciepie as wonderful or not worth the effort.

It makes me so sad that we have lost this gift to the culinary arts. I wished their store still existed on the upper west side, how I longed to go to their tiny shop and sift through the piles of goodies they had waiting for purchase.

These women are people I would have loved to meet and discuss with, I of course was never so lucky but she will forever be a huge influence in my kitchen. She lives on in her pages, in the food and in my home.

Tonight I think I will be cooking from the silver palate...

Blogs

I mean I love to write in my blog...it is my outlet. My personal rant.

But does anyone read it. I supposed most people do not, in this world there are millions of blogs of people speaking about lots of things, cooking, fashion, hunting, biking, travel.I suppose very few people will read a blog about my journey and why I happen to be feeling on that particular day.

When you search for me in google my blog does not come anywhere near the top. But I don't really write this for money or popularity...this is my expression. I feel like it is so important for each person to have their own outlet...about their life, family, friends, interests. You need something personal that you put out there 100% and say yes this is who I am and this is what I think.


What a freedom we have in this world today to write this information and put it out there and wonder if maybe someone stumbles across it and has a read...at the very least I know my little twin will read and that makes me happy!

Tattoos

My office is all a twitter about getting inked....I personally have never done such a thing


A women I work with put it so elegantly I think, it make even me (girl who is terrified of getting a tattoo).

She said "I can't imagine dieing without leaving a mark or altering my own body in some way" I thought it was a very unique way to look at tattooing and I think it certainly beat the "well think about how it will look when I'm 50" argument.

1/4 life crisis

I know people talk at great lengths about going through a midlife crisis...but what about when you have a 1/4 life crisis..

It 100% happens to most 20 - 25 young adults....well that is just the thing, are you an adult? Are you still supposed to enjoy the freedom of your twenties? Should you be career driven..what if you still have no idea what your career should be. Is it time to be thinking about settling down and getting married starting a family?

There are so many pressures. Family pressures to bring home the babies, social pressures to climb the latter and not settle down too quickly.


All of it is so stressful it could give you an ulcer.


I think it is such a weird place to be...I know I want to one day get married but I don't think I am ready yet, but I do find myself lingering at the bridal magazine section. I want to climb the corporate latter, but I struggle with maintaining the proper work life balance. It is a constant battle...a struggle to find that perfect balance for each individual person.


I think that is the real challenge, for each person it is a different struggle. Each person has different things they are trying to figure out and what they are trying to achieve.

Maybe that is why people say they loves their 30's so much?

Summer time...

Is almost over...


But there is still so much to discover. September is supposed to be beautiful and I fully intend to finish my summer activities list

1 -- Toronto Island

2 -- The distillery district

3 -- Crush Wine Bar

4 -- Sotto Sotto

5 -- CNE

Wow there is still so much to do!

Short Weeks

How great is it to come back to work after a long weekend and realize you have already made it to Tuesday. The whole week is actually like a weekend. I am always more pron to go out at night, head to a movie, or do a bit of shopping. I wish I only ever worked 4 days a week. That would make me very happy. I think it would help to balance my life actually. I feel like on a 4 day week I actually get time for me and my life.



It really is wonderful.