Coffee at Estia Deli - Cafe

Tried a coffee and muffin at Estia Deli - Cafe on Kingston Rd (just west of Victoria Park) and I was very pleased.  I picked it up to go but the place is very quaint for sit in.  Next time I will try the baklava that I saw starring at me as I was waiting for my coffee ;-o

May 2-4 at Harbour Front – The ‘not so’ Sweet Variety of Circus

Just what I expected for a city of Toronto organized event: Very mediocre

I don’t know what it is about Toronto festivals and events but they seem to always be missing something.  I suggest they get some help from our French city neighbours who are a whole lot better at organizing these special events and making them truly spectacular.  Don’t get me wrong, a walk along the lake from the CNE to harbour front is always nice on a warm sunny day and there are plenty of good pictures to take and snacks to eat on the way.  But as for entertainment, I was not very impressed.  Where’s the creativity and variety?  There was one tent for face painting with a ridiculous line up, a tent with about 20 hoola hoops, a huge tent with simple  crafts like most kids probably do enough of at daycare and a “clown”show which I found to be a little lame.  We missed the acrobatic show so maybe that would make up for the lack of effort elsewhere.  There were a couple of mimes too which were o.k. (but I’ve seen better).  There are so many activities I could think of that could have made this event so much more interesting for the kids.  Potatoe sack races, bean bag throws, dump the clown, guessing games, just to name a few.  Don’t kids just want to get involved and play?  I think there were more junk food stands than actual activities for the kids!  And we wonder why we have a child obesity problem!  Anyway,  if you like that kind of stuff and want to be impressed, you may want to take a trip Eastward and head over to Old Montreal or le Vieux Québec where this kind of stuff happens all summer and not just for one weekend.

Lunch at Pier 4 though was very nice.  Food was good and patio was perfect.  Prices were also reasonable considering where we were.  

Lakeshore Blvd

Pier 4 on Harbourfront

Pulled BBQ Chicken Panini

Hot Chicken Wings

Planting the garden

One of my favourite things about this time of year is getting our garden going.  The best part, is going shopping for the veggies and plants and then of course planting them.  While our 2 year old was at daycare today, my husband and our son ventured to Loblaws Superstore at Victoria Park & Gerard for a coffee and a trip through the garden centre.  Side note - also got gas at Super Bucks which has got to be the best place to get gas around here (south east Scarborough).  It's always cheaper than most places and you also get super bucks towards your groceries.  Can't beat that!  Back to the garden centre... I must say, it is very nice one.  Their selection of vegetable garden plants and herbs is good.  Although it was lacking in varieties of cucumber and tomatoes (unless the kinds I was looking for are no longer around).  I was also disappointed not to find any cilantro as I had previously seen this herb available at Sheriden Nurseries.  The quality of the plants however seemed to be very good and many are available in large sizes.  This is nice as the plants will fruit a lot faster.  I was looking for the old school vegetable plants that come in small containers of four plants for dirt cheap. Surprisingly there was not much of this there.  I'm not sure if this was because they were selling out or if this is yet another way for a box store to make more money.  The bigger the plants, the more $$ they cost!  Also, if you're looking for assistance with your plants, the employees are not very knowledgeable.  Go to Sheriden for that.  All in all though, I give this garden centre an A-.  We even came home with a lemon tree!! If you want A+ though, Sheriden in my opinion is the place to go and prices there are also reasonable (for the plants anyway!).

Coffee anyone?

Met a good friend of mine for coffee today.  She has recently joined the mommy world and I am so happy to share the rest of my mat leave with her!  She suggested we try Remarkable Bean.  This place has great reviews for coffee so it was a must try.  I found the place definitely interesting and kind of raw looking.  The late was very good and most of the snacks looked appetizing.  There was a decent selection of quiches that I would love to try some time.  I don't think I would sit there to take my coffee though as it does not have that cozy and quaint feel I normally look for in a coffee shop.  Nevertheless, it is a great place to grab your coffee on the go.  Especially if you have a stroller, you must be in and out with it as it is not a stroller friendly place.  But who needs that when you have benches outside along your shop!  That was nice ;-)  

My first blog

So here it goes, my first blog post... I guess I shall start with how I became inspired with the idea to start a blog.  I recently just moved back to Toronto after having left this city for 10 years!  My husband and I moved back last summer with our two little ones and are finding ourselves re-discovering the city again.  For one, it has been a long time since we have seen many of Toronto's famous spots and are amazed at some of the changes.  The other thing is that we are enjoying sharing this experience with our kids and find activities so much more fun and interesting.  And so, with our 2 year old, 6 month old, and our double stroller, our little family takes on a different adventure every so often to explore through the city and its out skirting towns.  As I stroll with my stroller the streets of Toronto, I can't help to want to tell everyone how awesome some of my discoveries are; like the fab finds for my home on Queen St or the delicious croissants on Mt Pleasant. Yummy!   I hope that with my blog, I could comment, critique and tell stories of how I stroll with my stroller to re-discover this great city with my family.  Readers stay tuned!