A Little Piece of Hollywood North

Yesterday was my daughter Ava's 7th Birthday. We had planned on a girls day and she requested going to the Ripley's Aquarium of Canada.

We woke up, ate breakfast and off we went. And kept going. The line? Was all the way down the street and around the corner. Some people had been waiting over an hour. It was hot, the girls were hungry and no one wanted to wait.

We kept walking and decided we would go for lunch and have a mini shopping spree for Av's day.

We walked and walked and finally happened upon some filming. Of course we had to stop. At first I thought it was my favourite tv show that I've been obsessed with lately, Suits. I didn't see anyone I recognized though but I got out my phone anyways to see what I could get.

Hmmm, that guy looks familiar. Of course! It's Peter Gallagher (of "the OC" fame) so awesome! I tweeted asking if anyone knew what was filming in Toronto with Peter Gallagher. I was too impatient so searched and found it was the tv show Covert Affairs. I haven't ever seen it, so I had no idea what it was.

I know lots of filming happens in Toronto it's even been dubbed "Hollywood North" Toronto. I however never see it, ever. So we stopped for a few minutes, I took out my camera for some photos while we watched them film a scene.

 Pretty cool if you ask me!

I was checking out what all is filming in Toronto right now and not only is my favourite Suits filming but so is an Adam Sandler movie called Pixels, Rookie Blue (a Canadian hit we love!), Degrassi, Property Brothers and more! I thought was pretty cool. I often see photos of Suits filming on social media so Jordan has asked if I could take him on a lunch date downtown in the areas and see if we can catch a glimpse next week. Harvey Specter? Mike Ross? Who am I to say no?

Have you ever stumbled upon a famous person while out and about? What about a filming? Talk about fun!

Celebrating 29 Years!

Yesterday was a big day. We celebrated my 29 years of life! Yep, it was my 29th Birthday.

Isn't my cake beautiful? My sister in law who I have previously blogged about made it for me and it was not only delicious but absolutely beautiful. You know me? You know I love whales. So this, was totally me.

The day started off a little rocky. We all slept in, and I woke up with a migraine. My husband was suppose to plan the day for us but both things he had planned was all based on weather, and the weather kept reporting rain was coming. So, he had to search for something else for us to do. I wanted to do something as a family and something we hadn't done before.

He decided since I'm not from Toronto, and I don't know where basically anything is we'd go on a sightseeing tour! I was thrilled. We were going to tour downtown and all the main attractions on a double decker sight seeing bus and then head out on a boat to tour the islands! Talk about fun!

It was so much fun. We were lucky enough to get spots on the top, which made seeing everything so much more exciting for the kids. I didn't  get many photos from the bus tour because I was watching, listening to our guide and trying to wrangle Jackson at the same time! I also had to breastfeed Justin on top of the bus which was something I never thought I would have to do but did, which was neat! Double decker bus feeding:)

 

 After the bus tour the bus dropped us off at the harbor front to catch our boat tour. This was the part we were all looking forward to the most I think! Hubby had my camera during the boat ride and got some wicked sky line photos of this beautiful city!

Spectacular views! It was a really great day! I had a lot of fun. Although I didn't get a ton of photos because of having all the kids with us, babywearing, and rushing I think the photos I got were okay. Hubby did pretty well too! We finished off the night by going home, having subs for dinner and eating my yummy cake! What a great day to begin year 29....

A Day At High Park

We haven't been able to do too much this summer like the past few... With my husbands work schedule we haven't been able to go on many day trips, and our usual trip to Niagara Falls for a week we couldn't do due to having so many pets now! So we are keeping busy and finding things to do around the city.

Yesterday we decided to pack up and head to High Park. We packed a huge picnic and off we went! We walked some trails and went to eat lunch. Then the kids got to play at the big park that has a huge castle they all absolutely loved. This was rebuilt a year or so ago due to a fire, and Mike Holmes from the tv show Holmes on Homes rebuilt it with his team. It was the first time we had seen it since the re-built and I was impressed.

After we went over to the small little zoo they have in the park. The kids loved it, and of course had me take some photos..

After the zoo we took the long walk through the park, stopped for an ice cream and the kids played for a little bit more before we headed home around 330pm. It was a full long day, and when we got home Jackson fell asleep on the couch, as did Justin and the other kiddos watched a movie. We decided to go to the park at the end of our street when everyone finally woke up because we had a late lunch, they all slept and we needed to keep them up a bit later so why not let them run whatever energy they had left off. 

It was a great day and night. A late night which was a bit out of our norm. Usually we stick to a pretty tight schedule, but it hasn't seemed to effect them today (thank goodness!) so it was great. They all even slept in until 9a this morning which is UNHEARD of. So, no complaints here! Next week is my Birthday so I'm excited to see what the husband has planned. I told him he could plan my whole day, and I just wanted to do something as a family even if it was a lazy day at home in the pool - I don't care, I just want us all together and hanging out for my last Birthday in my 20's!

Loving Where You Live

This August will mark 4 years since we moved to Toronto. We moved to Toronto from a much smaller city - 114,050 compared to Toronto (GTA) 6,054,191.. At  first I hated it. It was too big, I didn't have a clue how to get around anywhere and we had to take TTC public transportation because neither one of us drive! How fun right?  We lived in a 3 bedroom apartment, on the 25th floor of a shady building. I couldn't wait to get out of there - so we did, ASAP!

Well, now almost 4 years later I'm happy to say I absolutely love it here. I wouldn't want to move anywhere else, well... Unless somewhere hot all year 'round but that just wouldn't happen.

We moved to the house we live in March 2012.. I love where our house is located. It's close to a bunch of stores, a brand new mall, wal-mart, corner stores, little pizza joints, and its located right on the TTC bus and subway line, also the street car line. How perfect for us.

I honestly never realized how important it is to love where you live and what an impact it has on  overall happiness. At least for me, it's truly been an eye opener. Before moving into this house, and truly loving where I am living I was so different in terms of feelings, and how I felt every single day not just mood wise but health too, I haven't felt so good in a long while...

So Ava and I decided to take a stroll yesterday and take some photos to show you all where we live. How beautiful, peaceful and clam it truly is. People are quite surprised I live in Toronto when they see the photos because HOW? well, simple.. it's all about location.

 This is a pretty long pathway behind our house. It leads to our street and another street, but in between is a tiny little park.

The little park that is on the pathway. It's super small, but my kids love running to have a slide every now and then! Notice broken down trees? Those are left after the Ice Storm this winter that left a lot of us powerless over 24 HOURS.

At the top of the pathway, on our street a little sitting area. This little old lady across the road plants a ton of flowers and plants around it too.

One end of my street, I live at the other :)

This is my end. Way down there is a Dead End and my house, which you can see on the left near the end it's one of the bigger ones.

My street is full of little bungalows then you get to the end and it has some bigger houses, remodeled and redone... Which is where we live. It's very quiet, and mostly older people but a few small young families. We keep to ourselves basically, although our neighbours to the right are super amazing nice - teachers - we speak to them when we see them. Otherwise, we say hi to a few others but that's it. We like it and love our location.

Do you love where you live? Do you think it makes a difference with how you feel daily? I really do!