Word on the street - Toronto

On Sunday, after dropping off The Man at the airport, and drowning our sorrows in a cup of fruitopia, my sister suggested that we check out the Word on the Street festival at Queen's Park. We decided to take the subway to avoid the mayhem that is parking downtown.

Riding the Rocket like a pro already.

What is Word on the Street? From their website:

The Word On The Street's Exhibitor Marketplace offers festival-goers a window into the Canadian literary scene, presenting everything from the largest publishing houses to the smallest niche magazines and everything in between. We also feature a World Food Market at various locations throughout the festival.

There was so much to do and see, it was almost overwhelming. My sister and I, both logophiles, could have happily spent all day there listening to speakers and authors, and browsing all the new and used book stands. However, it's a little difficult to do that with a couple kids in tow. The Boy is a great reader already and goes through 5-7 novels a week [We love our library!] but wasn't all that interested in seeing or talking to authors. The Girl, even less so. The KidStreet seemed geared more towards the younger set, not the 7-9 years that I am currently dealing with. So, while I secretly wanted to wait around to see the Polkaroo, the Kids wanted to grab some pad thai (but only because the hot dog line was too long).

This series is next on our to-read list!

We did manage to score some sweet swag though, including free books! Woo hoo! We got some books signed by the authors too. There were new books being given away every half hour, all along the festival route. it was pretty amazing. I picked one up for the Man about a woman's adventure along the Bruce Trail. Again, my sister and I would have waited happily in every line, for every book, but it just wasn't possible with the Kids. We collected buttons, pens, a bag, book marks, more buttons and even book lights!

One of their favourite booths was the Science Centre (to which we have memberships that are worth every penny). Here's the Boy getting his mind blown by the power of reading:

His head isn't really that big. :)

All in all, a great day walking around Queen's Park circle. The trees provided relief from the light showers and one downpour that we experienced - not nearly enough to dissuade the book lovers of Toronto!

We'll definitely make a note to head out again next year.

Practical joke?

I'm not going to say that I'm obsessed over my age. My friends might say I have a major slight problem with growing older, but they would be wrong. I can't help it. And I think that anyone who says that they have absolutely no issue with their advancing age is lying. I will follow that with the fact that I do not miss my younger years. I don't try to act like I'm twenty, because I'm not. I simply appreciate the present. I've never wished to be younger, and I've never wished to be older. SO.....

....what the hell is this????

Which joker decided to subscribe me to this magazine? Because it sure wasn't me! This was was how my after school shuffle went down:

After picking up the kids from school, I cart them over to the grocery store because I have to buy some supplies for dinner. Pulling into the driveway I notice that there's a bag peeking out of the mailbox. Ooh! What could it be!? Before I can check, I have to make two trips lugging various backpacks, computer bags, purse, groceries etc from the car and into the house. Then, lo and behold: yay! A new magazine. Hmmm...I've never heard of this one before, and I certainly didn't subscribe, but there's my name and address. Let's take a look. "MORE: for grown-up women with smarts, spirit, style." I guess that could be me. Oooh! Salma Hayek. She's pretty. "Why her forties are her favourite decade." Ha! "Look better with age" Hmmm. "Caring for aging parents". Okay... Let's look inside:

"Easy on the knees workout"

"Anti-aging beauty awards"

"Osteoporosis action plan"

WTF?

Yep, it's a magazine for old ladies mature women. Or supposedly for women over 40. I am not over 40. I'm not even close. Well, I'm kind of close, but I've still got a few years left. Here's the kicker though. I DIDN'T HATE IT! It's a decent mag. I appreciated the advertising not displaying grotesquely thin children to peddle their wares.[Did you know that there's such a thing as a purse with an illuminated interior!?]  The articles are engaging, if not completely relevant to my situation. And frankly, I'm not sure it's all that relevant to most women in their 40s either. I have friends who have long passed that age threshold, but they still have young children. They, like me, are still reading parenting magazines, not wondering how to support adult children who have moved back home. We're still concentrating on getting them through grade school. 

So, thanks, but no thanks. If this magazine was sent to me by a well-meaning friend, then I say: not yet, friend. Not yet. If it was sent by a misinformed marketing company, then I'm not surprised.

While I usually read articles online, and get most of my information there, I do like the shiny new feel of a magazine. When I do read hard copies [at the library!] I read Canadian Living, Canadian Family, Chatelaine, Today's Parent, the occasional Martha Stewart Living and various wedding magazines to keep up on trends for work. 

How would you feel receiving this type of mag in the mail, unsolicited? Am I over-reacting [again]?

Olive Oil For Hair Too!

If you read my last post, you'll know I was enamored by AThriftyMrs's suggestion for oil and water as an eye make up remover. She's also done posts on egg and mayo in her hair as a conditioner. That was the inspiration for my own "mayonnaise" experiment.

While I usually have some form of mayo in the house, I only had salad dressing when I wanted to try this treatment. Of course. And since I didn't want to wait until I went grocery shopping again, I decided to improvise. (Is impatience the true mother of invention?)

What is actual mayonnaise but oil and egg, right?

I put equal amounts (okay, I eyeballed it - this isn't exactly rocket science, or baking ;-) of egg and olive oil in a cup. I then used my magic bullet mixer (I'm sure any blender would do) and mixed until the mixture was thick and creamy. It was not quite as thick as store-bought mayo, but definitely easier to manipulate than just egg or oil alone. I slathered this goop on my head, paying special attention to the ends, which are seriously splitsville. I left it on for about 20 minutes.

I read a chapter of this while waiting for the mayo-y goodness to steep. Yay for libraries!

I was worried that this would be stinky, sticky and gross, but was pleasantly surprised to find none of the above. After the initial "ick" factor of dipping my hand in to the cup, there was no more unpleasantness than any other leave-in treatment. It smelled like olive oil - surprise, surprise. Olive oil makes me think of bread and tomatoes so I was kind of jonesing for a picnic.

After a good wash and conditioner my hair was definitely shinier - not dull at all. Sadly, my ends are still nasty and I know the only cure is to cut them, but the frizz was GONE.

So, it's off to the salon for me!

Have you ever tried anything like this before? What's your fave homemade hair or beauty treatment?

Pods for breakfast

I've been working on the pods again. I've got 3/9 done so far. But I'm stuck in the middle... I don't know what it is I should do. Treat it as a mantle and decorate it? Leave it empty as a statement? Ha! Who am I kidding? That thing will fill up with bits and bobs by the end of today if I don't put something specific into it!

So, what do I do, when I don't know what to do? I eat. Yep. Luckily, I usually pretend to know what I'm doing so I can avoid noshing at all hours, but it's true, I do. Also lucky that I decided on this conundrum in the morning, when the house is empty, and it's my breakfast time.

     

Ooohhh... look at me. So healthy. It's actually quite tasty though. Bought it on sale, and I had a coupon, so it came out to less than $2. I DO NOT like the brown sugar variety. Truly gross. And while that bowl looks quite massive, I promise you, it's just the spoon that's super tiny. :)

So here is the latest cleaned out pod. You will pardon the lack of "before" pic. Honestly, it was just too pathetic. Just picture a tumbling out pile of papers, toys, books etc. that attacked you every time you opened the door, and sometimes when you just tried to sneak by. But behold, what now it...holds.

Yay! It's now our library/word game/borrowed film pod! [It all kinda goes together, right?] I was looking for more baskets around the house, but I guess I tapped out on the last search, so instead I found two cardboard boxes that will do the job. I wish they both fit on the same shelf, but it's okay like this too. I think I'll cover the boxes in pretty paper "one day". 

Top box is to keep our "library bag", cards and any items that need to be returned. The bottom box is for items borrowed from the library that we are not done with. Why do we need these boxes, you ask? We are major library addicts users goers members? [WHAT is the word I'm looking for?!] We go at least once a week, but more often you will find one of us there 3-4 times a week. Who can't love their library? Squillions of books, just waiting to read, billions of dvds waiting to watched, millions of audiobooks longing to be heard, thousands of magazines you don't need a subscription for, dozens of quiet hiding places to sit and read, socialization and entertainment for the kids. Forget everything else, the library is THE place to be. And it's free! Come on, I'm hard-pressed to find a decent reason to buy a book. However, I digress. To corral all our library items, this is the system I've devised, which beats our old system of checking under the sofa in a mad rush for anything to be returned. 

On the bottom shelf I've also added a blue bin to hold dvds that we borrow from friends. And on the top shelf are also some of our unboxed word games that don't fit into the game pod. (More on that pod, at a later date.)

This is the empty pod: 

So lonely. Desolate even. What can I stick in there? Any ideas?