Spring/Summer 2012

Spring is such an exciting time...tender new leaves, fresh smell of cut grass, plants and flowers bursting through the earth and the potential of what is to come. Breathtaking flowers, warm sunshine and birds tweeting and chirping with happiness. I love sitting on the porch in the evenings when all is quite. I love to watch the planes and stars in the sky and feel the warm breeze on my skin...Our 'Tiger Eyes' plant shields and offers privacy from walkers and strollers passing by.

This summer was also my 40th birthday..sigh..but on the positive side, closer to collecting my sr. citizen benefits. My parents and sisters and Karen made it special by celebrating it with me (not to mention the fabulous gifts-clothes). Keith's birthday was a quite celebration. He started the day by taking Yohann for Lacrosse and we headed to Whittamore's farm to pick fresh Ontario strawberries http://www.whittamoresfarm.com/fun-farm.html. On the way to the farm, Kyren asked to see the map, I was so impressed that I started looking for the map but  we only had directions to the farm, so I told him next time we would print out maps for sure. He replied..'mom, that's fine, I am going to get an app on my DS instead". uh oh..anyways, if the battery on his DS dies out, he'll know maps are the way to go.  The boys, Kim and I were so excited to pick, my instincts made me want to protect our picking territory by putting a fence around it..Kimberly eagerly picked the baby strawberries and after a while when she got tired of picking and eating (her mouth smeared with red), she plopped herself between the plants and just picked what she could reach. It was so cute to watch them. Kyren was mostly giving directions to Yohann and asking to hurry up because after, they could go on the giant slides and play in the corn maze. Yohann and myself could easily have made a career in picking. we did not want to stop but our bucket was full so we reluctantly made our way to the cashier.  They had tons of activities apart from strawberry picking..but we couldn't do it as Keith wanted to watch the world series soccer match and it was his birthday so we headed back home. However, not before we first sampled all of their freshly baked pastries filled with produce from the fields, Strawberry Cheese and blueberry Cheese Danishes, Rasberry Coconut Tarts, Raisin Tarts and Yohann's favorite Cinnamon buns. The boys also had cotton candy icecream? cotton candy? but Kyren reasoned it is not very easy to find cotton candy flavour..umm, ok. whatever.

Kyren: I am so proud of my boy, he gave his first public performance at a recent community event. He sang 'bad moon rising' by CCR. so many people came up to us and said 'he has such a wonderful voice. all of the band members came up and congratulated him on his performance. One of the organizers said 'Kyren, my heart stopped beating when I heard you singing'..'you gave me goosebumps'..that is the same reaction I have when I hear him singing..his voice is like an angel.

Kyren's birthday-was a blast as usual..We all had so much of fun. He had 10 boys over and they all came at 1:30 p. and left by 9:30 p.m..He had a pool party followed by a soccer match and then we headed home for some bbq and water gun fight..we slept that night exhausted and with happy feelings.

 Camping - was more like a party than camping but neverthless so much fun. shilps and family, ayesha and family and giselle and family came with us. the cuzzins in the end looked like they lived the forest all the time...tired, happy and wanting more of it :-) we spent lots of time at the beach..the lake was warm and beach 3 at Awenda Park was awesome....the lake had sandbanks in various places that means that kimberly and kyle could wade further into the water and still have the water only come up to their hips. 

We also brought tons of food to feed an army- ayesha thought of everything ;-) lots of snacks and fun food for the kids (popcorn packs, jelly cups, fruit bowls, PC chocolate covered biscuits which we used to make smores)..Ships brought awesome chicken wings and giselle brought achari chicken to bbq and pulled pork which we did not get around to tasting. Keith made his signature beef chillifry which was appreciated by everybody. 2 days was certainly not enough to devour the food. Awenda is a beautiful provincial park in Ontario on the banks of the Georgian back. It is encompassed by Lake Huron which is connected to Lake Michigan (one of the 5 great lakes). We camped at Turtle campsite which was perfect. Lots of privacy but a drive to the beach. Here is the link to Awenda and I am also including a link from trip advisor that I found very helpful.
http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g678572-d1549175-r117089362-Awenda_Provincial_Park-Penetanguishene_Ontario.html


Kimberly- every night we go through the ritual of her saying 'goodnight mommy' and I'll say 'goodnight darling'..and she'll say 'no, say goodnight angel'...so we try again.'Goodnight mommy' and I'll say 'goodnight angel'...then she says 'see you in the morning mommy' (and I have to say exactly these words and in a specific tone..otherwise we go through the ritual at least 5 times before I get everything right) 'see you in the morning angel' and she'll say.."no, 'say, see you in the morning Kimberly'..if i do lose my cool, i have to start all over again. so I remain calm and focussed and concentrate on getting it right.

Summer Fun

Sponge Cake with Pastry Cream and Berries Recipe

Sponge Cake with Pastry Cream and Berries Recipe

• Basic Jelly Roll Sponge Cake (recipe follows)
• Pastry Cream (recipe follows)
• Sliced Berries
• 1 cup 35% whipping cream
• 1 cup toasted sliced almonds

Basic Jelly Roll Sponge Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sifted all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt

How to Make the Jelly Roll Sponge Cake:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 15 x 10 x 1-inch with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
2. Beat eggs in a small bowl with electric mixer until very thick and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes at high speed. Add sugar gradually and beat very well after each addition. Turn mixer speed to low and beat in water and vanilla.
3. Sift the flour before measuring, then spoon it lightly into a dry measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife. Sift measured flour, baking powder and add to egg mixture. Beat on low speed until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl often.
4. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly with a rubber scraper.Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly in the centre. Loosen cake around the edges.
5. Place a clean tea towel over a large cake rack and invert the rack and towel on top of the cake. Turn the cake, towel and rack back over and carefully lift the pan off the cake. Strip the paper off the cake. Let cool.
6. Position cake horizontally and cut into three equal parts.

Pastry Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk, divided
• 2 strips lemon rind
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 5 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

How to Make the Pastry Cream.

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring 1 3/4 cups of the milk and the lemon zest to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup milk and the cornstarch, stirring to dissolve the cornstarch. Set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the yolks and the sugar. When the milk mixture has come to a boil, pour it through a strainer onto the beaten yolks-sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Return this mixture to the saucepan and whisk in the milk-cornstarch mixture. Over medium heat, bring to a boil again, whisking all the while, and continue to whisk until the mixture thickens. Add the vanilla, remove from the heat, and scrape into a bowl.
4. Cover the surface of the cream with plastic wrap to prevent it from forming a skin.
5. (The cream keeps for up to 3 days, tightly and refrigerated.) Chill before serving.

How to Assemble the Sponge Cake with Pastry Cream and Berries Cake:

1. Whip the 35% with whipping attachment of electric mixture until soft peaks form.
2. Place one third of the jelly roll cake on plate..
3. Spread with pastry cream.
4. Top with berries.
5. Place the second layer of jelly roll cake on top.
6. Spread with pastry cream.
7. Top with berries.
8. Place third layer of jelly roll on top of berries.
9. Spread whipping cream on top layer.
10. Add sliced berries and sprinkle with toasted almonds.
11. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

http://liliana-tommasini.suite101.com/berry-sponge-cake-with-pastry-cream-recipe-a66453

Swami Rama

Swami Rama continued to spread the teachings his own teacher had given him, that the first goal is to seek freedom from fears, and second, to seek the direct experience of the absolute reality at the core of your being, the center of consciousness that goes by many names. He taught that one should "know yourself at all levels," explaining that "After visiting hundreds of countries I have discovered that all over the world there is one great problem, and that problem is that the human being has not yet understood himself or herself, and tries, instead, to understand God and others. 

http://swamij.com/swami-rama-guru.htm 

If you prepare yourself to know the higher knowledge, then you will deserve. To deserve means to increase your capacity. You want to put the entire ocean in a bucket. The ocean is there. You can have it, but you do not have the capacity. When you deserve, you will have the capacity. The Lord, the Reality, the Truth, is always within you. You simply have to become aware. You can make sincere efforts to work with yourself. 

The light itself will guide you. 

Don’t be disappointed with failures. When you start to make sincere efforts and start to practice, you will find light on the path. The light itself will guide you. The light of consciousness is within you. If you ignore that light, the guide outside you, the external teacher, will be of no use to you. He will make you a slave. Every individual has certain notions. He also lives with his notions. He creates a following and millions of people are swayed and misguided.  

Do not depend much on guides. It is better for you to prepare yourself and remain awake. 

 Do you know what a guide means? The word guru has been vulgarized. Such a pious word is being misused. I call it guide. Do not depend much on guides. It is better for you to prepare yourself and remain awake. The scriptures say to wake up from the deep sleep of ignorance. Remain fully awake, remain conscious, and go on learning. Never close the door of learning. The day you close the door of learning you become ego, ego, ego. In the Himalayas the teacher examines the student and the student examines the teacher. When my master sent me to various teachers he told me, “The teacher who can sit still for a long time is a good teacher because he has practiced something. Listen to him. If the teacher changes his posture many times in five minutes, do not waste your time there.” There are certain signs and symptoms that have been explained by the great scriptures. The scriptures help the student to know who is a good teacher so he does not waste much time. Otherwise, what are we teachers doing? Suppose you want to go to New York. You come to Swami Rama for directions and Swami Rama says to go this way. You meet a different Rama on the way and he says, “Oh, come on! He does not know anything. Go this way.” And the student is very sincere. Then another teacher says, “Both Ramas are fools. Better go this way.” By that time the poor fellow has wasted twelve years and he is nowhere. The knowledge should be followed, not the individual personality of the teacher. The word teacher means “knowledge.” The knowledge should be followed, not the individual personality of the teacher. The subject should be given prime importance, not the individual. Teachers have complicated things. Yoga science has suffered because of this. One teacher says, “This is my method.” Another teacher says, “This is my method.” The poor student is confused. After some time he finds that his mind, his individuality, and his pocket have been robbed. From your external teacher just pick up that which is useful for you and leave that which is not useful. When you become aware of the light within, and that light reveals the Truth to you, there are no chances of being misguided. Teachers come and go. From your external teacher just pick up that which is useful for you and leave that which is not useful. No doubt you need a teacher, a guide. I will never tell you that you should not seek and you should not learn from other people, or that you should not study books. Teachers only inspire you and make you aware of that Self-existence that you have forgotten. Their role is to make you aware of the Reality. You do not need any new form. Christians should not become Hindu, Hindus should not become Buddhist, and Buddhists should not become anything else. They should remain as they are and not create any serious new problems for themselves. A known devil is better than an unknown devil. Remember this.

Salted Caramel Brownies

Fudge Brownies with Salted Caramel topping
yield: 24 brownies



1 cup (2 sticks) Butter
2 cups Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
4 Eggs
1 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 cups AP Flour
2 cups Dark Chocolate Chips (I used Hersheys Special Dark)

preheat oven to 350 degrees, prepare 9×13 pan

1. Melt butter in a sauce pot. Add sugar and stir over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, until sugar has melted slightly and liquid is silky.
2. Remove from heat and pour into a large bowl. Use a spatula to scrape all butter into bowl.
3. Add eggs one at a time, stirring between each one. Add cocoa powder and stir until fully combined.
4. Add baking powder, salt and flour. Stir until just combined, though make sure there are no lumps or ‘pockets’ full of flour in the batter. Add the chocolate chips.
5. Pour into a prepared 9×13 pan and use the back of a spoon to spread out evenly. Bake for 40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool at least one hour before cutting.

Salted Caramel Topping
yield: 1 cup topping

1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Whole Milk
2 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
Salt, for topping

Christmas in Bombay

WINTER 2010 Ok..not yet winter..but still wanted to capture the activity in December..Once we booked our tickets to India for christmas, we could not think or do anything that was not related to the holiday. A simple request like 'can you fix the lightbulb in my room dad?" would elicit a response.."no, we'll do it when we get back from India". Anyways, we spent our time buying gifts for everyone and ourselves. The travel to bombbay was tiring but good. we had a stopover in paris for 2 hours..where i changed Kimberly;s dirty diaper in the children's play area..i was tired and the airport washroom (at least where we were seated) did not have a baby changetable. so there..an explanation if Kimberly ever gets to reading this post and finds out the nasty thing I did. anyways, Kyren/Yohann/Keith and mum travelled home in one car..keith told us later that the boys were looking around surprised and trying to comprehend the birthplace of their parents and Yohann made an observation "looks like the city was destroyed and the only thing that survived was the people" ha ha..that was only the beginning...when they rode in a rickshaw for the first time..they jumped in excitedly and started looking around for seatbelts.. We had a great great time in bbay..everynight we sat around until midnight sipping wine and chatting. Mum made sure we had great food which we would always remember..and she's accomplished that. fried bombils/ targollas/ coconut water and malai. Chappatis in the morning for b/fast/ brun bread/ multigrain bread/ cheese/ jam and eggs. lunch was fish curry/ rice/ 2 vegetables and fried fish. Dinner was a feast of and un-gravy dish/ cutlets/fried chicken..i am salivating even now. Joel came running home from school everyday and devoted every minute and breath of his playing with kyren, yohann and kimberly. I miss you joel, so much. Jane/Elvido came home everyday after work and spent all of their free time with us. Fiona came in from Mauritius a few days later. she is Mrs Claus. she bought tons of gifts for the kids and homemade christmas cake which was to die for. Aunty Elsa and Noreen came and spent a couple of days with us. Aunty Elsa made the most amazing cheesestraws. kyren is begging me to learn..but i dont' think mine would turn as good as the original. Christmas in Bbay. We went for midnight mass and was surprised to see the entire Domenic colony was decorated with Christmas lights including the inside lanes...such a beautiful sight and so christmassy...all around the church there were shops with an abundance of christmas sweets/ decorations/ and people hurrying about trying to get their shopping done.

We had such a feast on Christmas day (Roast Chicken/ Sorpotel/ Meat Loaf/ Roast Beef/Salad/ Rice/ Sanaas/ and christmas sweets for Dessert.

The boys had a fantastic time in bombay. Their aunts spoiled them rotten. They went to the play zone at Inorbit mall frequently. Yohanna tried paper dosas and Kimberly tried a rava dosa plain. We all went to Manori, which is a small island just outside bombbay. so serene and quite and we took a horse carriage to reach the bungalow that we booked. We played on the beach and the boys built sand castles. Kimberly sat on a fishing boat and refuse to vacate it. we had to pull her out kicking and screaming. We went to far end of the beach for a walk where couples make out..and Kimberly went into a rocky area where she parked herself and did not want to move. we again had to carry her kicking and screaming... The smell of sea water combined with the white foamy waves should make it into the book of awesome.

GOA We arrived in Goa on Jan 1st and stayed with the banglore gang..we went that night to dinner at Cavallis with all of them. We were 20 of us including some friends from New Zealand. We stayed at Giselle's house in Goa. We visited Jennifer/ Ronnie one day and the next went parasailing and jet sking. All new experiences for us and thoroughly enjoyable.

Anniversary

Elvido Jane Joel mum and armando dropped us back to airport. Chaotic at the airport but that was expected. In france, we took a cab to see the Eiffel tower. Paris is beautiful and we would like to go back for a longer time.

Jaron came to pick us from the airport. Karen and Lancy were waiting for us at home with food that June made. Also our fridge was stocked with all our favourite food courtesy giselle..croissants for the boys with strawberries and blue berries. smoked salmon/ humus/ and baguette.

High-End Shopping in Toronto

Welcome to high-end heaven, Madame
Published On Fri Nov 18 2011 - Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/living/shopping/article/1089368--welcome-to-high-end-heaven-madame

Models display creations by the Italian designer Alberta Ferretti during the Cali Exposhow fashion week in Cali, Colombia, on Oct. 18, 2011. Ferretti fashion can be bought at The Room at The Bay (176 Yonge St.) and TNT (87 Avenue Rd.).

Models display creations by the Italian designer Alberta Ferretti during the Cali Exposhow fashion week in Cali, Colombia, on Oct. 18, 2011. Ferretti fashion can be bought at The Room at The Bay (176 Yonge St.) and TNT (87 Avenue Rd.).
Fernando Vergara/AP
Image
By Rita Zekas Special to the Star

Mama’s always gotta have a brand new bag.

And a pair of $1,650 Christian Louboutin suede platform sling backs with fur trim.

A girl can never have too many shoes, cashmere, chocolate, champagne or black. As long as it doesn’t make her butt look big.

The euro is in peril, the U.S. economy is in free fall, but not all of us are suffering from dollardrums.

The Hermès Birkin, the holy grail of handbags, is wait-listed for up to three years at Hermès (130 Bloor St. W.), and can run from $9,000 to $150,000 depending on the skins.

Happily, Toronto is ground zero for high-end shopping. The Mink Mile, that rarefied strip of surreal estate bordering Bloor and Yorkville, is home to big-ticket names from Prada to Escada. Everywhere you look, there is Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Calvin Klein, Max Mara, Burberry, Gucci, Lacoste, Michael Kors and Milly.

Luxury goods are no longer politically incorrect. Previously, high-end shoppers have been known to eschew designer shopping bags to transport their purchases in favour of unmarked ones lest they be harshly judged. Nobody is brown bagging it these days unless they’ve been shopping at Whole Foods.

But should Madame prefer to shop incognito, she can drop $4,200 for a pair of Gold & Wood Paris sunglasses with diamonds at Optical Outlook (104 Yorkville Ave.). Feeling frugal? Their sunglasses normally average between $500 and $600.

Afterwards, she can slip into $350 Denham jeans at Over the Rainbow across the street (101 Yorkville Ave.). Or try on a pair of $965 Helmut Lang leather leggings at Intermix, the first Canadian installation of the U.S. chain of trend-spotting boutiques, newly opened at 130 Bloor St. W.

The Room at The Bay’s Queen Street location (176 Yonge St.) is one-stop label-shopping.

Madame would summon her car for the trip downtown. Luxury means not taking public transit. Conspicuous consumers have the driver and the Bentley; a limo is too Diddy.

All the high-end, hot lines are at The Room, including Maison Martin Margiela, Balmain, Armani, Rochas, Erdem, Moschino, Sonia Rykiel, Ungaro, Roland Mouret, Proenza Schouler, Matthew Williamson, L’Wren Scott, Alberta Ferretti and Claudia Schiffer, supermodel turned knitwear designer, whose grandfather cashmere cardie sells for $695.

Two ladies are deposited on plush seating, sipping champagne by the concierge desk, with two little doggies at their feet.

The snob factor is always a driving force: at luxury stores, higher prices are often considered a mark of quality. A Henley by Balmain is a bite-me $440.

A Henley is essentially just a men’s collarless pullover shirt originally worn by rowers in the English town of Henley-on-Thames. You can get a heritage Henley at Roots for $58.

Felicity Brown, a designer from New York, is one to watch at The Room. Her deconstructed, almost lingerie-like shredded garments are reworked with contrasting tailored pieces and go for $1,500 to $3,600. Think early Rodarte.

Rodarte is one of the luxury brands selling at Holt Renfrew (50 Bloor St. W.). We loved the Rodarte wool coat with vivid fuchsia goat hair fur at the cuff and hem priced at $1,175.

The real coup for Holt’s is the new Tom Ford women’s line, which they have exclusively in Canada.

A Tom Ford tuxedo jacket will set you back $4,700; a velvet skirt costs $2,580; and a biker jacket is $8,750, which is $50 less than the price of a Hermès Kelly bag.

We have entry-level Tom Ford: the $48 lipstick and a pair of sunglasses — which we bought at Winners.

119 Corbo (119 Yorkville Ave.) favours the edgier labels like Alexander McQueen, Rick Owens, Dries Van Noten, Haider Ackermann and Ann Demeulemeester.

Go there with empty credit card.

The women’s section upstairs at George C (21 Hazelton Ave.) carries couture pieces by Giles Deacon for $34,000.

Suzanne Rogers has ordered one.

Hazelton Lanes (87 Avenue Rd.) is undergoing a facelift but is still a go-to for TNT and Fabrice jewellery store. (Other select bijouteries include Tiffany & Company at 85 Bloor St. W.; Royal de Versailles at 101 Bloor St. W.; Cartier at 131 Bloor St. W., and Secrett Jewel Salon at 162 Cumberland St.).

TNT (The New Trend) has been renovated to the size of Varsity Stadium. It is 18,000 square feet on two levels for women and a new free-standing menswear store on the second level.

They carry 350 brands of womenswear from all over the world — Comme des Garçons and Isabel Marant are huge sellers — and target a wide demographic from cosseted teens to octogenarians not on a pension. An on-trend pink Mongolian fur chubby jacket from Alberta Ferretti is $2,995 and a sexy black stretch leather dress from the French label Jitrois is $3,100.

Teens love the Free City sweat pants for $165 (Free City is better than “Juicy” on the butt).

R.A.D. (which stands for Research and Development) in the new uber cool section of town at 899 Dundas St. W., carries esoteric lines like Lost and Found, not found anywhere else.

Yorkville is a centipede’s delight. High-end footwear is everywhere including Holt Renfrew, Davids (66 Bloor St. W.), and George C, home of the Botox-injected bag by Zagliani ($3,500 for metallic gold python) and the Rocco P ostrich boots available in a variety of colours for $2,600.

Well-heeled men are wild about Harry and Sydney.

Harry Rosen (82 Bloor St. W.) is the destination for deep-pocketed gents who have no problem dropping $215 on a tie. Meanwhile, hipsters blow their trust funds at Sydney’s (682 Queen St. W.) on items by edgy, esoteric line M.A.+ from Rome.

Other high-end menswear purveyors of choice include Gotstyle (62 Bathurst St.); Brooks Brothers at 200 Bay St.; Nicolas Men at 153 Cumberland St.; Serpentine at 18 Hazelton Ave. for menfolk channelling their inner Goth; and George C, who carries the cool line Drome, featuring a magnificent leather jacket for $1,998.

The kids are all right. Trust-fund babies can be outfitted at La Boutique de Floriane at 38 Avenue Rd. for designer wear imported from France. And across the street at 45 Avenue Rd. is Devilish Angelz, “the place where trendy kids (from ages 2 to 16) shop.”

For little dapper dudes, Devilish has the Scotch Shrunk line, a pint-sized version of Scotch and Soda, featuring a checked shirt with bow tie and herring-bone elbow patches for $110.

Fledgling fashionistas love the navy blue shift dress with marabou feathers on the shoulder made by the Toronto label Matooka for $149.

If you can squeeze into a kid size, it is a bargain. Tiny Kristen Chenoweth wears clothes from Crewcuts, the J. Crew junior line.

Go west, Queen St. West, for bespoke emporiums like Magpie Design at 884 Queen St. W. for artfully deconstructed womenswear favoured by divas like Measha Brueggergosman. Or Hoax Couture at 515 Queen St. W., which made reversible fox fur coats for $5,500.

Need a pen to seal the deal? There’s Montblanc Boutique Toronto at 151 Bloor St. W.

Or high-flying luggage to pack it all in? Check out Rimowa at 101 Bloor St. W. and Taschen at 162 Cumberland St.

There are even luxury consignment resale shops. Off The Cuff resale designer menswear at 5 Broadway Ave. offers everything from Jil Sander to Etro.

Shoppe D’Or, 18 Cumberland St., stocks designer labels like Prada and Chanel, some of which still have the original tags attached. Among the booty: brand new Ann Demeulemeester biker boots for $400.

At the end of the day, luxury shoppers return to their beautifully appointed homes, furnished and burnished by high-end decor stores including:

• Teatro Verde, 98 Yorkville Ave.

• Studio B, 380 King St. E.

• Klaus by Nienkamper, 300 King St. E.

• italinteriors, 359 King St. E.

• The Art Shoppe, 2131 Yonge St.

• South Hill Home, 200 Dupont St.

• Hollace Cluny, 1070 Yonge St.

• Living Arts Design, 788 King St. W.

• ELTE, 80 Ronald Ave.

• Avenue Road, 415 Eastern Ave.

• Powell & Bonnell, 236 Davenport Rd.

• Industrial Storm, 1106 Queen St. W.


• Stanley Wagman & Son Antiques Ltd., 224 Davenport Rd.

• Robert Noakes International Ltd., 245 Davenport Rd.

Madame can settle in at home in her jammies from Avec Plaisir Fine Lingerie & Swimwear (136 Cumberland St.) and shop online at Net-a-Porter.

Autumn 2011

Autumn Hikes
We went to the Rouge Valley Park in October...ooohh the most scenic hike we have been to so far..just thinking about it gives me goosebumps...so pristine and clean and beautiful..georgeus colours. the smell of the woods, the winding trails..it was awesome!!...we also did the Colonel Danforth trail in November which had its own charm. Here are some pics from the Rouge Valley Hike

Autumn Hike through Rouge Valley Park



Kimberly fell asleep half way through and although it was raining and raindrops were decorating her angel face, she was sound asleep.


KIMBERLY

Kim is 2 years old...and she is becoming more cute with every passing moment...In the night, when she cries either because she is too cold from sharing her blanket with Kipu, teddy or kelly (how good natured she is, wanting to make sure her cuddly's are warm). or sometimes she just has a bad dream and says 'tap you mama, tap you'..she wants me to just pat her back to sleep..when tears stream out, she yells 'eyes coming out' eyes coming out..when I wipe her tears and ask her 'now ok baby'?..and she replies 'eyes over' eyes over'...it means all good. she says 'over' when she doesn't want to discuss something..I'll say 'c'mon now finish your food'...and she responds..'food over'. I just wanted to put this down so I don't forget..my boys did a lot of unforgettable cute things but blogger wasn't around for me to record..she also sings and dances to 'move like Jagger' by Maroon Five and Bruno Mars 'lazy' song. she turns and twists her two year old body vigorously..dancing with abandon when coupled with obliviousness is super cute in children, I don;t think we would react the same way if an adult moved their body like that..need to introduce her to some good dance videos...She LOVES LMFAO..and gets all excited as their songs come on (party anthem, sexy and i know it and Yes)..She loves loves loves her papa. Here is a pic of them together.


HALLOWEEN
And how could I end this post without mentioning Halloween? The boys get soooooo excited before Halloween, all the time discussing what is really spooky!! and costumes! Joshua's house as usual was just awesomely spooky with sound and lighting effect..it does help that they have overgrown trees in their front yard along with a winding pathway to their doorstep. Kim was frightened and I jumped out of my skin and yelled when I turned around to a tap on my shoulder to face a witch. I screamed! but it was only Anna. Yohann dressed as a military soldier, Kyren went as Grim Reaper and Kim as a panda. Here are some pics