Category Archives: About Town

First, We Take Manhattan, Then We Take a Nap

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Do you plan out an itinerary obsessively before you travel?  I’ve spent days and days planning a three-day trip with the kids to New York.  Pretty soon, I will have spent more time planning the trip than I will spend being there.  And the itinerary: it’s nuts.  I have us visiting six museums in three days.  This is clearly super-human and not at all desirable (we do actually want to see what’s in the museums, after all, and not just run through them).  But my eyes are so very much bigger than my stomach.

This is one of our days:

Midtown

Grand Central Station

Library Way (East 41st St @ 5th Avenue)

10:00 New York Public Library (5th Ave & East 42nd St)

10:30 Morgan Library (225 Madison Ave @ East 36th St) $45

12:00 Lunch @ Dean’s (pizza, 2nd Ave between 42 and 43rd)

1:30-3:00 Meet at MOMA Sculpture Garden

MOMA ($25, kids free)

FAO Schwarz

Nintendo World

LEGO store

Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art?

Dinner?

Times Square after dark

I’m exhausted already, and I haven’t even begun to pack!

The Benefits of Being a City Kid

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027One of the benefits of being a city kid is that it is not beyond the realm of possibility that you may one day play in the big leagues.  Well, on the big league’s turf, anyway, which is what happened for my middlest son this weekend.  His house league team sold the most tickets to a Toronto Marlies Game, and their reward was to play their house league game on professional ice at the Ricoh Coliseum.  With his dad on the coaching bench, his mother in the front row, and his brothers watching and cheering his every play, our star player had one of his best games ever.  See that Goal #2?  That was his, along with three assists to help his team to a 5-3 win.  A beauty of a game that not only made me a proud mother but a proud city-dweller, too.

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Follow The Yellow Brick Road

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This weekend I saw the all-Canadian new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Wizard of Oz presented by Mirvish Productions.

Based on the 1900 children’s novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz written by L. Frank Baum, this production is heavily influenced by the 1939 MGM motion picture starring Judy Garland but with a few surprises and a modern take on some of the classic songs that are instantly recognizable from the first note.

Danielle Wade, the winner of the CBC’s reality show Over the Rainbow holds her own in the spotlight with veteran Canadian performers and delivers a rendition of Over the Rainbow that will leave you with goosebumps.  Wade, voted Canada’s Dorothy, after several weeks of competition proves that she has what it takes to take top billing.

Lisa Horner who plays Miss Gulch and The Wicked Witch of the West is nothing short of captivating and when she takes the stage, your eyes will look at nothing but her.

Aside from knock-out performances given by the entire cast, The Wizard of Oz is a visual spectacle from the moment Glinda’s glittering dress graces the stage to the whirl of green shimmer and sparkle that create The Emerald City.

For more information about the show, visit Mirvish and be sure to follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road all the way to the Ed Mirvish Theatre at 244 Victoria St. in Toronto, Ontario.

What was your favourite part of the Wizard of Oz?  Was it Dorothy’s ruby red slippers?  Of the evil flying monkeys?  Have you see this production and if so, what was so memorable about if for you?

image courtesy of Spec.com

Rack-A-Thon

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On Saturday, January 26, I will be participating in an urban triathlon benefitting Rethink Breast Cancer.  The Rack-A-Thon is a three-hour fitness challenge: one hour of spinning, intense circuit training and yoga.

Rethink Breast Cancer is a charity dedicated to raising awareness and offering resources and assistance to young families affected by the disease.  Founded in 2001, Rethink uses its savvy marketing to inspire a new generation of philanthropy and activism.

A friend had posted the Rack-A-Thon link on her Facebook and on a whim, I clicked on the pink icon to learn more.  It was impulsive but I made the commitment . . .  and now that it’s only a few weeks away, I am starting to wonder, do I have what it takes or will this Rack make me a wreck?

In an effort to be successful (and procrastinate from my training) I Googled tips to completing fitness goals and I found this list.

1.    Make it part of your routine

Check.  I can do this.   I have almost two hours in the morning when all three kids are at school.

So long as no one has an episode of explosive diarrhea, projectile vomiting, a raging fever, croup, chronic nighttime cough, or develop some weird and unexplainable rash that would prevent them from going to school, I can use this time to train.

I should be able to log a solid three or four mornings over the five weeks.

2.    Give yourself permission to spend time on you

Check.  I give myself permission to spend time on myself all of the time – it’s the little people in my life who aren’t on board!

3.    Set realistic goals

5 weeks to train for an hour of spin, yoga and circuit.  That sounds realistic, right?

4.    Buddy-up

Check.  It took little convincing to get my fitness-junkie sister-in-law on board.  She is always game for a good butt kickin’ and her enthusiasm is good motivation.

5.    Keep your eyes on the prize

Check.  Thinking about the many women and their families who benefit from Rethink make my sweat seem paltry in comparison to their bravery.

6.    Make it convenient

Is anything convenient when you have three kids?

7.    Fit in work-outs even in your off days

Check.  I have three live-in personal trainers who ensure that I never sit for more than a few minutes.

8.    Keep it fun

Cardio = Just Dance 4 = Fun

9.    Support your goal by getting sleep and eating well

Check.   I can do this.

So long as no one has an episode of explosive diarrhea, projectile vomiting, a raging fever, croup, chronic nighttime cough, or develop some weird and unexplainable rash that would prevent them from sleeping, I can use this time to catch up on my z’s.

With our recent track record, I am sure that getting adequate sleep will prove no problem at all. *

*Said dripping with sarcasm and rolling eye

10. Reward yourself

The reward will be completing the challenge and knowing that the funds I have helped to raise will go towards Rethink Breast Cancer’s education, support and research programs.

Check back or follow us on Twitter on Saturday, January 26 for a play-by-play of how I am faring!  Do you want to join me and participate in the Rack-A-Thon?  Check out Rethink Breast Cancer for more information.

Wish me luck!

Mommyblogers: A Tale of Two Launches

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As a growing and increasingly popular parenting blog, each week we receive more and more offers of sample merchandise and requests for promotional help from charities, authors, good causes and some just plain weird ideas.  (Someone once asked us to help promote electronic cigarettes.)   It is a lovely perk of this very strictly volunteer job that we get offered freebies.  It is our policy only to accept offers of products that we have a reasonable hope of loving, and we tell you about only a very small fraction of the products we’ve been offered.  Quite simply, we have to love it or we won’t help sell it.

Recently, we’ve also been invited to product launches in Toronto.  This is a tale of two of them, one that worked fabulously well to entice me to write about and endorse the store, the other that had quite the opposite effect.

The wonderful people at Lush invited 4mothers to a launch of new products at their Queen Street store.  The time window was from 4-7.  I was the only one of the 4mothers who could make it on that day, and I very nearly didn’t.  I could have gone right after school but before dinner (a good option, but I missed it because of delays at school), or I could have gone after an early dinner.  Either of these options would have worked with or without kids.  I ended up going after dinner, sans kids, thinking this the sanest approach.  This was a decision I regretted because when I got there, I saw that they had a little wee table set up for kids with delicious smelling Lush products for them to squoosh and smoosh and make all bubbly.  And there was a very friendly staff person dedicated to keeping the kids entertained while the invited adult guests browsed the store.  Brilliant.  As it happens, I know a fair bit about the products at Lush because I love a good story, and part of their marketing strategy is to tell the story of where their ideas and products come from.  The sales assistants were immediately able to match my level of interest and knowledge, and I got in-depth descriptions of the products, the history of the development of some of the lines, and the charities that the store helps to fund.  And, of course, I got my own chance to squoosh and smooth and luxuriate in the fragrance of their products myself.  Finally, I went home with a press kit and a goodie bag that had in it samples of the products in which I had expressed an interest.  I will not lie; the free Lush goodies were a lovely perk, and they softened me up both literally and figuratively.  I was already well disposed to sing the praises of a company I love (see above about only accepting offers we think we’ll love), but being pampered and treated as a valuable visitor made me want to reciprocate their kindness.  It was their first launch to include invitations to bloggers, and I hope they think it was worth it.  I know I’m glad that I made the effort to attend.

You can read my rave review of their FUN line here.  I know of several people who have bought it based on my post.  Million-dollar sales it ain’t, but I’m glad to know I helped sell something I love.

I had quite the opposite experience at another launch I went to.  It was scheduled from 7-9.  Kids were not invited.  I arrived to a store packed with Beautiful People drinking wine.  They all looked like they were having fun, but I had arrived alone and only by the skin of my teeth.  (I had decided not to pay a babysitter to cover my absence at home, but when my husband came home unexpectedly early from a conference dinner, I decided to go ahead and meet my commitment to attend and dashed out at the last minute.)  As soon as I got there, I regretted that decision.  There were no sales people to inform me about or promote their products.  I was told I’d missed the fashion show.  When I asked for information from the publicity person who was manning the door, she admitted a bit sheepishly that she had no press kit, nor did she know about the lines.  She worked for a publicity company, not for the store.  She went to find the store owner, who, as soon as she heard I was a blogger, asked for my blog’s stats and then dropped me like a hot potato and stopped me literally in mid-sentence to hand me over to her junior.  It was very clear that she had more important people to talk to.  Some folks left with big goodie bags, some left with elegantly tiny goodie bags.  I was told that I could enjoy a 25% discount on anything in the store for this one night only.  Thanks, but no thanks.

I made a lot of my own mistakes.  I should have gone with a friend.  I should have asked if there were any other bloggers in the crowd and asked for an introduction.  But mostly, I left there thinking I should not have wasted my time.  I could have been at home, having a glass of wine with my husband, my favourite Beautiful Person.

By the time I did get home I had decided that they should not have wasted my time.  If you are going to ask people to an event designed to get them to help you sell your product, at a bare minimum be nice to them.  Treat them equally.  Tell them a bit about what you want them to sell, and, sure, give them a sample to take home or a coupon for a discount that won’t expire in five minutes.  If you invite bloggers, introduce them to each other.  The internet is a big place.  We don’t actually all know each other.  Some of us are shy.

And I know that it will not make me very popular to say this, but I appreciate that from a publicist’s point of view, bloggers are an unknown and unpredictable quantity.  I very nearly did not attend either of these events.  Mommy bloggers have kids.  We sometimes bail.  We sometimes take your free stuff and then don’t write about it.  I get that it can be frustrating to work with us.  But if you decide you want us at your launch, please make us feel welcome.  Please do not waste our time.

I hope this does not sound too much like sour grapes at going home empty-handed from a launch.  I don’t want to name the store or to do any harm.   There was enough bad karma that night.  I know that we are lucky to have the perk of being invited to this kind of thing, and I am grateful to be doing what I do.  I just wanted to make the point that bloggers’ time is valuable, too, and we’d like to know that our efforts are recognized.

The Unofficial Start of Summer

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This weekend was the 26th annual street party on our street, and though we’ve only been here four years, it has become a family favourite.  From noon until midnight, the city street is closed off to cars, and the kids pile into the street with basketballs and hockey sticks, bikes and trikes; they bounce on the bouncy castle and climb up into the visiting fire truck; they have epic water gun battles while the grown ups sit on the sidewalk with burgers and beer.  Dinner is barbeque and salad, and bake sale goodies, all made and cooked by our neighbours.  Everyone pitches in and works together, and then the east and the west sides of the street battle it out in a massive tug of war.  A DJ provides the soundtrack for the whole day and night, and my little ones sing along with friends and neighbours to the sounds of summer.

For our kids, this party has become the unofficial start to summer with all its bacchanalian revelry and the rare, rare treat of being allowed out so late and sometimes even alone.  Though one was sick, my boys still had a blast and played on their street, made it theirs for a day and a night.  For a day, the car was not king, and the street was home to the simple fun of learning to ride a bike, of wearing a new face, of sinking shot after shot after shot.

Let the long days of summer begin.

Funny Girls & Dynamic Divas

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Toronto’s women’s advocacy agency, Sistering is having its annual fundraiser on June 14, 2012, and these evenings always guarantee a good laugh for a great cause.

Sistering is a women’s agency serving homeless, marginalized and low-income women in Toronto. Their programs and services help women gain greater control over their life circumstances. Their advocacy focuses on changing the social conditions that put women at risk. And their service philosophy is to ensure that women’s dignity is not eroded by poverty and homelessness.

All proceeds from the show go directly back to Sistering and supporting the community of homeless, underhoused and socially isolated women who attend the drop-in programs and use the Sistering services each day.

This year’s headliners include the wildly popular and talented:  Sandra Shamas, Elvira Kurt, Liberty Silver, Jane Bunnett and many more!

 

TD Children’s Book Week

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This is the TD Children’s Book Week, and twenty-nine English-speaking authors, illustrators and storytellers will visit schools, libraries, bookstores and community centres in every province and territory across the country.  The theme for this year is Read a Book, Share a Story. 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of Lillian H. Smith becoming the first trained children’s librarian in the British Empire, and the Book Week theme highlights the important role that librarians play in sharing books and creating lifelong readers.

The library in the poster for this year’s book week is the Lillian H. Smith branch of the Toronto Public Library, the branch I am proud to frequent.  See the griffin on the right?  He’s the very one I think of when I tell the story of my eldest son’s name.

I have to admit, when I heard the theme for this year’s events, I was a bit puzzled.  I rather take it for granted that children’s books are, by definition, for sharing.  Isn’t that the best part of the whole reading aloud part of the day?  Snuggling up and sharing a story.  But when I looked closer, I discovered that the books that the organizers want us to share with our children are books about libraries and books about children telling stories.  Books about books!  What could be more perfect?!

So, pop in to your local library, check out the Book Week site, and see what’s happening, story-wise, in your neighbourhood this week.

Get Outside!

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Great Britain’s National Trust has come up with a list of 50 things to do before you are 11 3/4.  They include skipping stones, climbing trees, observing rock pools, calling owls, and sliding in the mud.

The list makes a great activity to print up, read together and check off.  Then, when you have the list of things still to complete, head outdoors and have some old school fun.

Here is the complete list.

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1. Climb a tree

2. Roll down a really big hill

3. Camp out in the wild

4. Build a den

5. Skim a stone

6. Run around in the rain

7. Fly a kite

8. Catch a fish with a net

9. Eat an apple straight from a tree

10. Play conkers

11. Throw some snow

12. Hunt for treasure on the beach

13. Make a mud pie

14. Dam a stream

15. Go sledging

16. Bury someone in the sand

17. Set up a snail race

18. Balance on a fallen tree

19. Swing on a rope swing

20. Make a mud slide

21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild

22. Take a look inside a tree

23. Visit an island

24. Feel like you’re flying in the wind

25. Make a grass trumpet

26. Hunt for fossils and bones

27. Watch the sun wake up

28. Climb a huge hill

29. Get behind a waterfall

30. Feed a bird from your hand

31. Hunt for bugs

32. Find some frogspawn

33. Catch a butterfly in a net

34. Track wild animals

35. Discover what’s in a pond

36. Call an owl

37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool

38. Bring up a butterfly

39. Catch a crab

40. Go on a nature walk at night

41. Plant it, grow it, eat it

42. Go wild swimming

43. Go rafting

44. Light a fire without matches

45. Find your way with a map and compass

46. Try bouldering

47. Cook on a campfire

48. Try abseiling

49. Find a geocache

50. Canoe down a river

The Great Kids Stuff Sale

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It’s that time again!  The North Toronto MOMS Group is hosting their bi-annual Great Kids Stuff Sale.  This large-scale mom-to-mom consignment sale benefits several charities in the Greater Toronto Area which is just one of the reasons that make this a must-check-out event.

The Fall sale proved to be a great score!  I picked up two bikes for $20, a pair of all-leather, never worn shoes for the baby for $5, an almost new GAP coat for $8 as well as a bag of clothes for less than $50.

It’s the perfect place to pick up baby gear for a fraction of the price.  Bumbos for $10, Bjorns for $20, strollers for a less than a third of the retail value!  There are mounds of clothing, stacks of books and so many toys that it could easily take hours to sort through it all.

Here are my insider tips for you:

-        Arrive early.  The doors open at 9 am and there is always a line-up.

-        Bring a large bag to carry around your finds.

-        Have a plan of what you are looking for.  The sale can be overwhelming so it’s better to know what you’re looking for before you get lost in the piles.

-        If you can, leave babies and kids at home as the sale can get crowded

-        Become a vendor!  Clear out the outgrown clothing and never played with toys that are cluttering up your home.  It’s not uncommon for vendors to make hundreds of dollars!

The sale is at a NEW LOCATION this year.

St. Clement’s Church

70 St. Clements Avenue (at Duplex)

Conveniently located between the Eglinton and the Lawrence subway stops.

Just check out the rows and rows of clothes!  Everything is organized by gender and size so finding what fits your little ones is much easier.  Shoes, formal wear, and outer wear are also separated so make sure you know what sizes you’re looking for!

It really is a sea of clothing!  The first two rows have bedding, receiving blankets and room decor.  It’s not uncommon to find the original price tags still on sheet sets.

Need a bouncy chair?  How about an extra one for the upstairs or grandma’s house?  For $15 or less, it’s hard to say no.

And you thought your toy room had lots of stuff!  Toys run the gamut from baby to six years old.  Games, puzzles, books, DVDs, – if your kid wants it, it’s here!