Aberfoyle Antique Market – Love it!!

Although  I don’t want to advertise much on this in case the word gets out and it becomes too popular, I can’t help but blog about it because it is the best place to go  antiquing!  It is also one of my favourite things to do on a beautiful Sunday morning.  Aberfoyle is near Guelph about an hour drive outside the city.  Parking is free and the 2$ admission per adult is completely worth it.  There are a couple of parks on the premise to keep the kids entertained and a decent but little pricy spot to get your usual burger, fries and ice cream. 

I love the idea of finding unique pieces to fill my home and I love it even more when I know I got a good deal on them.  I know it’s crazy but I feel this sort of great satisfaction in me when I can negotiate a better price for something. I feel as though I can not be fooled by the pricing game and that I will get what I want at my price.   Perhaps it is the competitive side of me that enjoys it so much.  Nevertheless, there is still an art to it and I am still working on bettering my bargaining skills.  Here are some tips I have learnt along the way:

1)  Never act like the item you want to buy is so unattainable or that someone else will snag it.  Keep your cool and do take the time to think about the purchase.  This will make you confident as a buyer and may make the vendor want to ease on his price (without you even saying anything)

2)   Always have cash on you.  When dealers see money, they know you are serious and they will be more likely to lower their price knowing you are a serious buyer not wasting their time.

3)   Dealers will always say great things about their stuff (of course, they are salesmen!).  Just remember to take it in with an open mind.  For instance: ‘Yes, I realize this is very old and valuable but it also needs a lot of work which will take me too much time.  I can pay xyz amount for it.

4)   Walk away from the deal if your reasonable offer is not either negotiated back again reasonably or if they are too firm on their high price.  The items are unique but chances are that you may see something like it again.

5)   Remember what you are willing to pay for something before even starting to negotiate a price.  It’s only worth as much as what you are willing to pay for it.  A good way to know if it’s a good price is to compare what you would normally pay for the item brand new in retail then evaluate from there if it is worth it.

6)   The more you buy, chances are better the price ;-)     

 

My finds: Large white antique frame - 20$, small antique frame from 1800's - 5$, brass hardware - 5$

Entertaining work out today

So I thought I would try a different Goodlife this morning just to change things up a bit.  I ended up doing a body combat class at Victoria Terrace with a rather interesting instructor.  Actually, this guy was hilarious!  My first impression of him was not so good.  He was a little geeky and did not look at all like an instructor if you know what I mean (belly, bad posture, no muscle tone, etc) and all I could think of was: “Great!  Just my luck!  I should have gone to my usual Scarborough location”

Nevertheless, thankfully Goodlife’s classes are pretty standard and if you go to them often enough they are all pretty easy to follow.  Anyway, once he gets his music set up, after almost bursting our ear drums, he stands in front of the class and randomly starts to stretch (encouraging us to do the same).  We get started and of course I think to myself: “Just what I thought! He not only looks like a bad instructor, he is one!  His form was terrible, he was completely off cue and had no rhythm.   I kept wondering how this guys passed his instructor testing. But after the warm up, I began to see that although he was lacking in technique, he made up for it with his personality and motivational style.  He made me laugh and actually have fun, and because I knew the moves, it did not matter how horrible his instructions were.  He said things like: “o.k. now, I want you to wear your attitude… like a sweater vest!” I thought that was hilarious.  Then when the Pirates of the Caribean track came up (which is one of my favourites), he says to us: “Arrrhg, ships a-hoy…. That’s Ships ahoy not Chips ahoy!” Lol! Now I know why this guy passed his exam. He kicked butt on everything else that was not related to technique and instruction!  His motivation and passion for what he does was completely evident.  He is the only instructor I have seen actually run the two laps around the floor with us at the end of the class and not turn to his music.  He admitted to us his weakness to push ups and yet still chose to include them in his routine.  And the most impressive thing was that he knew all of his regular participants by name and very attentively asked each of them how they were. 

I’m glad I gave this guy a chance.  Although he is probably one of the worst instructors I have ever seen, he made me laugh and my work out was fun ;-)    

More on Yonge Street

Walked south on Yonge today from Davisville Park after some fun in the splash pad.  My daughter fell asleep nicely in the stroller but as for my son, he slept for the first 30 minutes until I walked into a store.  Is this a male thing?  I can not walk into any shop without him fussing.  It’s like he has a telepathic thing going on with my husband to get me out of there so I don’t spend money!  Well dear, it’s working!  We only went passed St-Clair this time and walked back through Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.  It was another beautiful day in Toronto to be out and about.  

Stopped in for a bagel at The Bagel House.  Good bagel but I think 2.99$ for a bagel and cream cheese is a little pricy no?

This man must have been pretty special when he passed

Inside Job - Great Documentary!

Yesterday’s heat wave got us spending the day at our friends’ pool, which in turn put my kids out by about 7 pm!  Let me tell you how happy I was to get an extra hour and a half of me time!  So, I decided to see what I can find on Netflix, which by the way I am so far not very impressed with.  Most of the movies on there are really old and good new releases are few and far between.  Nevertheless, I have decided to give it some more time in hopes for it to get better.  Since there were no romantic movies to watch that I had not seen, I ventured into the documentaries section and Inside Job caught my eye.  It’s narrated by Matt Damon (so pleasant for the listener J) and it is an excellent description of what happened during the market crash in 2008.  I do believe what it represents and I don’t think that it was at all an exaggeration of the truth.  It is well worth the time to watch and a real eye opener to the reality of what power and money has done to mankind.  It really had me thinking and quite frankly makes me sick to know how much corruption, greed and sluggishness surrounds us.  What happened to paying for the consequences of our actions?  Your thoughts on this issue? 

Toronto Ribfest and High Park in two days

Had a very busy week/weekend with 2 kids who were both sick and a husband who had to work for most of it but got to make the best of it anyway.  My blog post is consequently a little behind.

Ribsfest this past Sunday (17^th) in the beaches was a hit (as usual).  Although I found my experience with Ribfest in Ottawa (Sparks St) much more appealing, I suppose for a big city like Toronto, this type of event is small.  Plus, I think they have them across the GTA throughout the summer, so great for those who like this kind of stuff.  Woodbine Park is a good place to host something like this with plenty of space for those long line ups.  I expected to see more trucks and more people though.  Nevertheless, we got our food in decent time and there was lots of room to sit and get our faces full of sauce!  Ribs were fantastic!  My pics aren’t that great for this one.  My hands were pretty full literally as daddy could not be there that day and of course my 2 year old decided she was going to have a tantrum for the better part of it.

A walk through High Park on Monday sure filled our day.  The free zoo was great for the kids.  Parking was free and there was even a place there to get ice cream!  We didn’t make it to the kids park but saw it on the way out and we will definitely be back to check it out.  Beautiful place to spend the day at no cost.  Why don’t I let the pictures show do the talking…

I like long walks on Yonge Street

Yesterday was a perfect day to be outdoors no matter what you were doing.  The sun was out with not a cloud in the sky and although it was hot, it wasn’t unbearable.  There are so many things to see on Yonge Street.  Although walking from Adelaide St up to Eglinton may seem like a long way to go, it’s actually only 5.5 kms and only takes abut 2 hrs to walk it, with no stops of course.  Good luck not stopping though!  There are so many cute shops and cafes that are so hard to simply pass by. 

The new open area built in front of the Eaton Centre at Yonge Dundas was in my opinion a great use of space.  I think these types of hot spots are important in a big  downtown city and good on them for finally having a spot for people to enjoy things like free samples, music, concerts, arts whatever else there is to explore there.  The funny part of the day was probably my sister, mom and I walking into a new restaurant on a wicked patio with my huge double stroller and two little ones, in the middle of lunch right in the heart of the business sector.  I’m sure our table did not go unnoticed as I was trying to get my two and a half year old to take her medicine for her fever, trying to sooth her as she was not feeling well.   My 8 mth old then of course wanted out of the stroller and wanted to be entertained so I pull out the cover and put him on the boob.  All this while trying to enjoy my fish tacos and Cuban sandwich.  I know one day I will miss my kids at this age but I must say, I am looking forward to eating a meal with both hands and no interruptions.  Temperance was a great place to have lunch and I would recommend it to anyone.  The food was great and although we did not fit in with the business crowd, it was still welcoming, comfortable and the food was excellent. 

 Stopped in at Doria for an iced coffee and a delicious red velvet cup cake (totally worth the extra calories!) just south of St-Clair.  This coffee shop was another great find.  Followed by this were the amazing shops for home décor that run between Bloor St and just passed St-Clair.  If you’re tired of the same old stuff at home sense and other box stores, this trip is worth your time.  I was also surprised to see that the prices were also pretty reasonable.

Great Coffee and Antiques on Kingston Rd ☺

What a productive day!  It started with a great work out at the gym, a healthy lunch at home then off to Kingston Rd for an excellent late at Savoury Ground and some antiquing.  Savoury Ground is such a cute spot for a coffee.  It is has a cozy feel to it and coffee there is roasted fresh every morning.  Apparently, the fire department gets sent there pretty often for it due to all the smoke they make. 

Kingston Rd has a some pretty decent antique shops with lots to see.  My favourite one is East End Estates Buy & Sell (near Fallingbrook).         

    

After all that, I managed to get the grass cut (finishing it after I put the kids to bed) and I even made a salmon fish pie for dinner!  It’s amazing how much we can do in one day when the kids cooperate ;-) 

Bouncer Bees just like Humans?

I came across this article about bees the other day in Discover Magazine and had to comment on it.  I quote: “The queen lays eggs; male drones mate with the queen; and female workers guard the nest, collect food, and construct honeycomb” (J. Garthwaite, June 2012, p.13)  So basically, all the males are in it to get one female pregnant, while all the other females have to work hard to get everything done and still get no reward for it!  Mother nature could not have been a woman!

What a perfect day to check out the old Fort!  Although I did not venture into the historic part of it, I took my stroller up and around Garrison Rd taking pictures along the way thinking that it would be a great spot for wedding pictures if you’re looking for a place in that area.  There is a nice mix of greenery and old architecture with some new, that combined would no doubt have a neat effect in any album. I must say that place has cleaned up quite a bit in the past 10 years.  That whole area which spreads to the not so up and coming anymore Liberty Village area, used to be very run down.   Although I’m not into this new era of monster high rises and continuous long lines of condos, I find them fitting in that specific bloc near the Fort.  It gives this prime real estate a nice face lift.

  

What I found amusing was this parking sign:


What does that even mean?  So I googled Chapter 608 of the Toronto Municipality Code.  After about 2 minutes of searching, I decided I had better things to do with my time.  Basicallly, if you’re going to park around Fort York, there is plenty of parking, just park at your own risk!

Stoufville Flea Market – Not like I remember it ☹

Well, it’s been a very busy weekend packed with things to blog about if only I can find a minute to sit down and write about it!  My plan all week was to head out to what used to be an amazing farmer’s market.  I remember my father buying a live sheep when I was probably about 10, sticking it literally in the back seat of our orange hornet (ugliest car ever) while my baby sister and I hopped in the front with my parents (which back then of course was really not a safety concern) and drove back the hour drive home!  Only half way did I realize this damn stinking animal was laying on my blanket!!  Yes, the blanket you love as a kid and take absolutely everywhere!  O.k. wait, but 10 would have been a little old for the blanket so I guess I must have been around 5 or 6.  Anyway, I remember this place being awesome.  The barn, about the size of an arena sold all kinds of live stock, there were aisles and  aisles of yard sale type booths with all kinds of great finds (if you like that sort of stuff) and all this was in the middle of nowhere.  We were driving up to the “country” to go to this place. 

What a difference today.  I say this with great disappointment.  This is not because things always seem better as a kid.  I actually  remember going back in my early teenage years and sort of start seeing this place become mediocre.  I would say that now it has hit it’s bottom unfortunately.  For one, the chances of seeing a good set of yard sale type booths set up is very dependent on weather. Although it never actually rained the whole day up there, because they were calling for some, the place was dead. Two, there were the usual stands (of junk made in China) open for business which makes the place even less appealing to visit.  Do people actually buy stuff there?  Three, as for the live stock, I was surprised to actually see some there.  You can still buy live birds and rabbits but it does not compare at all to what it was and to what it potentially could have been today.

On a positive note, there was a decent variety of fresh produce, much of which was Ontario grown. I suppose this early in the season, one should be pleased with that (although this day and age, fresh local produce should not be so hard to come by).  The best part was the great deal we got on our Crocs!  20$ for a pair of original crocs and they had tons to chose from!  All in all, great day with the family and came back with my wallet weighing the same so I guess I should be proud of that.  

Good Run Today

I want to say that it was a great run but I would be lying.  It’s been a rainy weekend with a little too much cheating on deserts and I paid for it this morning.  My iphone tells me I completed 4.97kms in 33 minutes.  That’s how done I was that I couldn’t even complete the 5kms I had planned for.  But let me tell you, that nasty hill on my route which I run twice by the way just kills me!  Nevertheless, it is a gorgeous day to be out for a run with my stroller and the more I think of it, the more I realize maybe it wasn’t just a good run.  It really was great!  Especially the fact that it put my kid out which is why I’m able to write about it now.  

I’m in a great neighbourhood for a morning jog and am sure to get a few hellos on my way.  A couple people watch me sweat as I push my stroller and with a smile say “that’s a good workout”.  As I smile back and nod all I can think of is: Just a good work out? Do you know how much I contemplated getting off my but this morning to do this? Have you any idea what it’s like pushing this damn Cadillac of a stroller I have up this ridiculous hill (twice!) and still feel like I’m nowhere near my running performance I’d like to be?  Great work!  Keep it up! You can do it!  That’s what I want to hear.  A little motivation goes a long way.  So next time you see me congratulating a runner or cyclist who is pushing their way up any obstacle, perhaps complementing them a little over the top won’t be too much for them to handle. ;-)

Cavalia ODYSSEO in Toronto June 2012

This show has definitely been difficult to pass on seeing as every time I get into my car, I must drive by a billboard advertising this event about a dozen times.  Turns out Cavalia's marketing strategy is genius!  They are apparently sold out for every show!  My husband and I bought tickets and saw the show on June 1st downtown Toronto and it was spectacular.  Not quite the event you want to get dolled up for.  We don't get to get out much with our two little ones at home so we thought we'd dress up on our date night, only to see that everyone else there was in jeans!  Nice.  That's o.k. I thought I looked pretty good with my new dress on and heels as I stood there eating this huge bag of popcorn like I'm at the movies... Very classy!  Then of course I had to climb up these stairs like bleachers to get to my seat.  Did I mention it was poring like crazy that night and you had to leave the big tent to use the washrooms which were in portables just steps away from it.  Needless to say, none of this ruined our night because for one, we were out without the kids, and two, we got to enjoy an amazing performance!  It was fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone whether you like horses or not.  Just make sure you dress comfortably ;-)