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This summer in Toronto has been less than ideal, with rain on almost every weekend, and temperatures well below the seasonal average. However, it seems that summer has finally arrived and last weekend was a shining example of the beautiful summers we get in the city. I’m always more than happy to travel out of the city during the winter months, but in the summer there’s no place I’d rather be than in Toronto.
One of my favourite summertime activities is to visit the islands just outside of the downtown harbour. The islands have always been the playground for city dwellers and they are easy to get to on a fun 10 minute ferry ride. You can take bikes and rollerblades on the ferry, or you can canoe/kayak/sail over. There are no cars on the island, so it’s really peaceful and ideal for families to go for day trips with large picnics.
There are button cute cottages on the east side of the islands, and a “little kid” friendly amusement park in the middle of the islands.
It’s a great place to take bike trips, and with open barbecue pits and tables it’s a great place to throw a party.
Every time I go there I’m taken away into dream land with the sounds of children playing nearby, while I’m having a lovely picnic under weeping willow trees with sailboats floating by.
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1. With the right travel partner touring in unkown lands is a delight. I went with my boyfriend, and we spent every minute together for 11 days. Even in stressful situations we laughed about it later. With the wrong travel partner you could spend a painful two weeks stressed out of your mind.
2. Tuscan wines are to be enjoyed in excess. Wine with lunch, afternoon wines, wine with dinner, after dinner drinks, nightcaps…….. it was all so amazing that I couldn’t resist.
3. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. It happened on day six, when my pants didn’t fit…..I realized that a steady diet of cheese, wine and salami are not slimming.
4. Shopping in Italy is a serious activity. Everybody dresses up and looks their very best to go to the shops and be waited on. And, there is a definite etiquette to be followed….I don’t know what it is, but I know that I don’t know it.
5. There are no Italians…..in tourist areas anyways. I was amazed that after travelling through Florence, Rome, Amalfi and Siena that there were almost no Italians……I found them on the last day in the outskirts of Florence. I can’t blame them, I’d go crazy too if I had millions of tourists in my town every year.
6. Italians are not that friendly. French people have a bad reputation from tourists because they let you know they don’t like you, whereas Italians just ignore you. I was expecting them to be warmer and more inviting.
7. Sometimes you just need to sit back. Let the driver wiz you around – even if you are two inches from all the other cars, flying around sharp corners and going through dark tunnels at 140km/hour, just go with it! Otherwise you’ll be stressed your ENTIRE vacation, and that’s just not fun.
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Like most people, I’m a pretty good sleeper, but whenever I’m stressed, it always affects my sleep. Over the last little while work has been quite intense and I’ve been putting in lots of time to make sure all my work is taken care of properly.
When the nighttime comes I do some exercise, spend time with friends or my boyfriend, and then relax before going to bed. Usually, I’m asleep by 11 o’clock or midnight…but then at 230 in the morning I wake up again and can’t fall back asleep! I’ve tried everything:
Counting sheep
Imagining myself sitting on the beach watching the waves come to the shore
Visualizing the even strokes of painting a cottage deck
Breathing in one side of my nose and out the other
But, what ends up happening is my little sheep wake up and start dancing around and kicking their legs up and having fun! The waves gain more energy and come crashing into the shore line. The even strokes of paint eventually become erratic patterns with multicoloured patches…and the funniest of all…..I discovered that I can’t breath out one side of my nose…literally one of my nostrils is broken, and no air comes in, or goes out!
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I have a confession. I’m a lip biter. I have been for years. Every time I apply lipstick it’s mere minutes before I’ve removed it by biting my lips. I’ve tried everything from the very pricey brands to the super cheap drugstore variety but nothing seems to stay on my lips longer than twenty minutes, until…I discovered lip stain!
When I first opened the tube, I thought it looked weird. When I applied the lip stain it seemed like I was drawing on my lips with a felt pen, and it smelled a bit strange too.
But when I looked in the mirror five minutes later I could still see my lips brightly lit with colour! I checked again in ten minutes and they were still fully coloured then too! I checked every ten minutes and it wasn’t until an hour later that the colour started to slightly fade. And several hours later I still had tinges of colour on my lips!
I was so pleased that now I’m a lip stain convert! And the best news? Even the cheap ones work fabulously well. Here’s the $6 one I tested out from Joe.
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Earlier this year I was at a photo shoot for Vitamin Daily. On the day of the shoot it was pouring with rain – all the traffic was very slow, even one second outside meant I was getting soaking wet! These were not ideal conditions for my first shoot, but you know what they say to do with lemons – turn them into lemonade!
So, I ran home from work, packed all my favourite clothes into a car, as well as my cosmetics and accessories, and hit the road. When I arrived at the location there was absolutely no parking – and for the record I’m a pretty novice driver so parallel parking on a busy street in rush hour is not my idea of fun. A tad stressed, and tight for time, I finally found a parking spot and then rushed to get everything out of the car and into the studio, without getting soaked. Sadly I dropped one of my shirts right into a mud puddle!
When I arrived at the shoot there were other girls having their pictures taken too. I wasn’t sure what to expect since I’ve never been on a real photo shoot, and to be honest, it seems a tad intimidating. I thought it was going to be me with hundreds of girls who do this for a living, and maybe I would stand out as someone who doesn’t do this. I’m not bad at hamming it up for the camera…but in some situations when I don’t feel comfortable I don’t want to be fussed over!
It turned out to be fun though! All the girls were very friendly, the organizers were nice, and the setting was very relaxed and comfortable. It couldn’t have gone any better. So when it was my turn I hammed it up for the camera – and even complied with the request to do the cheesy glamour shots the photographer was requesting!
And at the end we came up with a winning shot that is now on the Vitamin Daily website. You can find me in the Vitamin Daily ambassadors page.
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When in Rome, do as the Romans…and based on how well put together all Romans looked that meant that I also had to put myself together. Of course this meant I had to do some serious shopping!
So, on the last day in Rome I set aside a few hours to do some power shopping…and as it turns out power spending! After running around visiting tourist sites all morning I went as fast as I could through the shopping area near the Spanish Steps in search of the perfect purse.
I went into all the designer stores, like Hermes, Chanel, Prada and Gucci, but since I was in Italy it seemed only fitting that I buy an Italian purse! I actually wasn’t looking for an extremely expensive designer purse, I was looking for a Furla purse, but given the frusturating shopping experience in Furla I couldn’t bear to have my statement “Italian” purse from that store.
So…I splurged…and in a BIG WAY! It was nearing 7pm and all the stores were preparing to close. I was starting to get stressed and I could feel my window of opportunity closing in on me. Was I going to miss out on my dream of buying a fancy Italian purse in Italy? Not me! So with 20 minutes of shopping time left I ran into Prada, all sweaty and dirty and very uncivilized. I was touching everything, moving all the merchandise and not acting very Prada at all. One of the sales people was very patient with me, showing me all the goodies I requested, and then my Prada dream purse appeared in front of my very eyes!
I knew it was destiny as soon as I saw the detailing and the perfect mixture of hardware and fine leather.
For the full story on the Italian Dream travel entries read the stories on Florence, Tuscany, Rome, Amalfi and Siena.
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I’ve just set up my cashmereclutch facebook account so let’s be friends!
You can find me at www.facebook.com/cashmereclutch
I’m also on twitter so you can follow me at www.twitter.com/cashmereclutch
I try to friend/follow back everyone so don’t be shy!
Hugs!
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My name is Ingrid and I DO NOT LIKE ICE CREAM. Yes, that’s correct, Chunky Monkey is not for me. It’s too rich and it makes me very thirsty. People are always shocked when I tell them this – a girl that doesn’t like ice cream?? Can anyone relate?
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For most daters we go through periods of a dating slump – we question if our dream partner is really out there, we wonder when our next date will appear, and after many failed dates we may even start to have a negative attitude and wonder if it’s really worth it. Sometimes all we need is a little reminder of the positives to keep us trucking along. So don’t despair daters, there are many great things about dating!
1. You get to know yourself really well. What you like, what you don’t like…and all the thing in between. The better understanding you have of yourself the better you can judge if your date would fit into your picture.
2. You learn to read other people well. After many dates with many different people you figure everyone out pretty easily. Enjoy the extra knowledge that you pick up along the way, so when you are out on future dates you’ll know if he’s a prince or a toad in no time!
3. You get to try different people on for size. Many successful daters go all over….larger men, older men, jokers……until they found the perfect fit. Don’t keep on trying the same thing and wondering why it doesn’t work…mix it up and you may have more success.
4. You get to see lots of new places. When dating we tend to be more adventurous and so do our dates, so we get exposed to new places and new things very easily. It’s like you get to be a tourist in your own life!
5. You get to meet new people. Sometimes he’s not Mr. Right, but we get to meet lots of new great people and their friends and families. Enjoy the contact with new people…they may end up being your friends or business colleagues in the future!
6. You get to kiss lots of boys. Need I say more?
7. You have great stories to tell your girlfriends!
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Summer is here and it’s time to get active and enjoy the good life – but with this still slow economy some of us are not feeling like celebrating the change of seasons. Turn that frown upside down, there are several ways to enjoy summer fun for free this year.
1. Go to local festivals and street parades. In almost all towns and cities there are several free events around town that are fun to watch and cost nothing. My favourites are the jazz festivals, sandcastle contests and street parades. Instead of saying “oh I’d like to do XXXX this summer” or “we should go to XXXX this summer” put it on a list and get ‘er done! You’ll have summer memories that will last a lifetime.
2. Make outdoor picnics. You have to eat meals anyways, so make them into events and have them in local parks or at the beach. It will be a great way to enjoy the outdoors and you can also invite friends and family to join for extra fun.
3. Take regular after dinner walks in different neighbourhoods. I love the routine of tidying up quickly after dinner and just taking a nice stroll in a new area. It helps me clear the day out of my head and learn about a new neighbourhood.
4. Volunteer at a local charities special event this summer. You will be helping out the community, feeling good about yourself and maybe making some new friends. Success!
5. Become an outdoor photographer. Most of us have cameras and all the tools we need to discover a new hobby like photography so use it! Learn on the internet (free!) how to take great photos and use your newly acquired talents. When it’s chilly in the winter you can spend your time indoors organizing your photos into albums.
6. Visit all the local art galleries in your area. Free and oh so cultured!
7. Learn about astronomy and study the night sky. I love the idea of sitting outside, watching the stars, and dreaming of far off places – can it get more tempting?
