Last night we attended the City of Toronto 2013 Urban Design Awards and were honoured to receive, along with Peter and Christine of Studio Junction, an award of excellence for our building, including the front facade restoration, the retail space and home! It was nice to be recognized in this manner because Studio Junction and their crew worked extremely hard on this project, and for us it’s nice to be acknowledged for bringing back the historic live/work aspect of a localized small business strip.

No one knew what big box stores would do to not only our shopping habits, but how we interact (or don’t) with the cityscape. We are so pleased to be a part of a new generation of small businesses working to regenerate the street life that makes our city a vibrant place to live.

Visit the list of winners.

The jury report summarizes the results of the competition.

Toddlers are notoriously terrible with staying cooped up indoors.  What to do with all these rainy days we’ve been having? Any and all suggestions welcome…places to go, things to do at home.

Last Monday on our day off we headed across town to visit Edwards Gardens for the first time.

I am uncertain whether Elodie liked the gardens. In every photo she resembles a fancy Wednesday Adams.

We decided to free the child from her stroller, which we then had to confiscate as she couldn’t NOT push it. Toddlers, part 1.

Overlooking the gardens from the lookout mound.

Toddlers, part 2. Teeny tiny rocks.

Ladies with matching hats.

Toddlers, part 3. Running off to clearly out of bounds areas.

A pretty boring green house. Geraniums? Also, I’m not going to lie, we were a tad disappointed there was no Japanese garden. I guess Vancouver has us beat on this front.

Toddlers, part 4. More of the same.

Some nice greenery over here…

Sniff, sniff!

The cafe was disappointing, but to be expected as I think it’s city run and they just cannot seem to get their game together. I mean, let’s not even begin to discuss the High Park restaurant. Could be amazing.

All in all, it was a nice place to wander around, though we have High Park so I am not sure we’d head across town when we have our own little piece of idyllic parkland right in our back yard.

As anyone who has been away from a loved one can attest, the more you buy the more you are thinking about them, am I right? At least that’s what we told ourselves every time we bought something for Elodie. Actually in the end it seemed like we bought more than we actually did. So that’s good, at least for our wallet.

A book about a cat (we surmise). A wooden car that plays music when you move it.

This happened. Mother / daughter hats. Couldn’t help myself.
Last year we went to see the cherry blossoms in High Park. It was about a week after Elodie was born and she was asleep in her car seat. This time proved more difficult with a toddler. It’s just so amazing how much they change in the first year. From tiny blob to fully mobile and four times the size. Elodie became more preoccupied with pushing her stroller around than looking at the blossoms.

After yet another amazing lunch at Santouka–best ramen in Toronto, maybe because our inaugural ramen experience was in Sapporo, Hokkaido–we headed over to the Textile Museum to finally visit Marimekko, With Love (on until May 12, you still have time!).

There is plenty of historical eye candy for fans of the label, and an interesting joining together of artifacts from the local owners of Karelia, the Toronto shop that originally brought Marimekko (and many other Finnish brands) to Toronto back in the 1970s. We particularly enjoyed this portion of the show, since we are doing similar things with Japanese craft.

I just have a small sampling of what is in the show, as it’s best to visit if you can!

Fabric samples, fashion photography…

Vintage slideshows from both Marimekko and Karelia. The Karelia slideshow was of particular interest to us – it was so neat to see their exhibitions and parties. Is this what it will be like for us 30 years from now? All I know is they looked like they are having a good time, and so are we!

Personal letters and internal memos.

My two favourite pieces of clothing in the show (naturally).

Last Saturday we had many guests up to our cottage for the Kinfolk Toronto Dinner. This particular Kinfolk dinner was extra special because it involved an entire day of eating, chatting, preparing, swimming and relaxing. We started with coffee from La Merceria and delicious pastries from Stoney Lake Baking Co.,which provided a perfect opportunity to catch up with the Toronto crew and get to know the out of towners.

Post breakfast Emily and Melinda got to work in the kitchen. Baking cookies and mixing strawberry parfait for our dessert later, I give them full props for enduring the heat!

Post lunch it was time for another swim and then on to dinner prep. Nikaela and Thom prepare a delicious salad.

Baby party! Elodie and Eloise happily hung out on a quilt made by Sarra, and pillows printed with illustrations by Melinda Josie.

As the sun set, we sat down to our communal dinner.

 

Nikole Herriott‘s fresh Georgian Bay fish dish.