Toronto in a Day

Monday, June 25, 2012

Matt was working in Toronto last week, so I met him up there Thursday night and spent Friday seeing as much as we could before we both flew home on Saturday.   A subsidized mini-getaway thanks to Matt's work.

Breakfast was at Tim Hortons, since there seemed to be one every kilometer.  It's a Dunkin' Donuts like shop and it was good.  Then we made our way to the Art Gallery of Ontario and walked through Chinatown, Kensington Market, Little Italy and turned around in Little Portugal, which we found not terribly obvious to be Little Portugal.  The walk both ways was 3 miles and took up the morning, including pizza in Little Italy. 




Early afternoon, we left Toronto for Niagara Falls, almost 2 hours away.  We did the one thing I said we HAD to do while there:  ride the Maid of the Mist boat tour up to the falls. We got very wet and saw lots of rainbows.  It was a beautiful afternoon.


We stayed for dinner at a second story restaurant overlooking the falls, then drove back to downtown Toronto to the hotel and a little late night snack out on the town.  Oh, is that Canadian Cash Cab?  Why, yes it is.  Thank you, Toronto for a little brush with celebrity.  Always exciting.


Thank you to my wonderful in-laws who not only took care of my kids the entire time, but also did not report any bad behavior.   Ignorance is bliss and the trip was a blast.  Thank you, Giddo and Tata!

WIP: Last Call in Kona Solids

Friday, June 15, 2012


This is the Last Call block from the 99 Modern Blocks book.  I used Kona solids charm packs in Classics, Brights and Darks and tried to randomize all the colors.  Oh, and I also enlarged the pattern piece from the book to 143% so that the 5 inch charms were the perfect size.  
This finishes each block at 18 inches, rather than 12.5 inches.

  


Now I have to figure out how I want to quilt it...any thoughts?  I actually have another 3 blocks I could add to make it a 3x4 rectangular lap quilt, but I didn't add them on once I saw it as a 3x3 square.  I have a really huge wall in our living room that begs for a wall hanging...wonder if this might work.

What are you working on this  week?  Link it up to Freshly Pieced's WIP  Wednesday!  

2012 Book and Movie List

Friday, June 8, 2012

It's practically summer, and although I haven't published this post, I have been updating it quietly for my own records. But now I share it with you, so you can share with me: What have you read this year?  Any must reads?  or sees?

Books read in 2012:

1. Bossypants
2. The Hunger Games
3. The History of Love
4. Catching Fire
5. Mockingjay
6. The Christian Atheist
7. On Writing Well
8. The Charlotte Mason Companion
9. Criss Cross
10. Radical
11. The Well Trained Mind
12. Pocketful of Pinecones
13. Loving
14. The Great Divorce *still reading
15. Smooth and Easy Days (free ebook from SimplyCharlotteMason.com)
16. The Read-Aloud Handbook
17. I am the Messenger
18.  Cutting for Stone
19.  Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
20.  Interrupted
21.  The Heart of Anger
22.  Still
23.  Good and Angry
24. Son of Hamas
25. The Quest for Quality Caring
26. Coming Home
27.  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
28. The Lost Years
29. Looking for Alaska
30. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
31. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
32. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
33. The Power of a Whisper
34.  His Affair My Redemption
35. The Bridge
36. The Mom You're Meant to Be
37. Raising Godly Tomatoes
38. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince


Read Alouds with the kids:

1. The Bears on Hemlock Mountain
2. Dear Mr. Henshaw
3. The Ballet Shoes
4. Freckle Juice
5. Stuart Little
6. Henry Huggins
7. Mr. Popper's Penguins
8. Ralph S. Mouse
9. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
10. Frindle
11. Junie B. Jones, First Grader, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells
12. My Father's Dragon
13. James and the Giant Peach
14. Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus
15. Two for the Fun
16. Chibi
17. The Chalk Box Kid


Movies seen in 2012:

1. Beginners
2. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
3. The Book of Eli
4. 50/50
5. Drive
6. Just Go With It
7. The Guard
8. Terri
9. The Ides of March
10. Being Elmo
11. Hugo
12. Take Shelter
13. Moneyball
14. The Hunger Games
15. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
16. Warrior
17. The Beaver
18. Footloose
19. Mr. Popper's Penguins
20. Haywire
21. Rounders
22. The Decendants
23. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
24. The Long Goodbye
25. PS
26. Incendies
27. The Artist
28. 21 Jumpstreet
29. The Dark Knight Rises
30. Friends with Kids
31. Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets
32. Mission Impossible 4
33. Remember Me
34. The Vow
35. Jeff, Who Lives at Home
36. Madagascar 3
37. Superman 2
38. Superman 3
39. Superman 4
40. Half Nelson
41. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
42. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
43. Madagascar 2

ps.  here's last year's list