Happy Friday Everyone. It’s funny that in all the posts I have written in the last month I haven’t written about biking. It is such a big part of my life that I really don’t know where to start.   It’s Friday. Let’s start with biking in a pretty dress.

I heart my bike.

If you have ever been to Amsterdam you know that just because you are having a fancy night out, doesn’t mean you need to leave your bike at home. You will arrive at your destination in your tux or your dress with air in your lungs, and rosy cheeks.

A bag basket does the trick!

An inexpensive bike basket can handle your handbag and you can lock your helmet up with your bike so you don’t have to carry it with you all night.

Helmet on and ready to go!

I pin my hair loosely with bobby pins under my helmet and tuck my hair up. Keeps my hair from flattening out! I figure it’s because the helmet acts like an old fashioned salon hair dryer- it sets it.

Peaceful streets

Having a fancy dinner out on Saturday night? Why not pedal?   A bike ride home after a big dinner through hushed city streets on a warm summer’s night is the perfect way to cap off a lovely evening. Don’t forget your bell and lights!

See you Monday!

**All stills taken by the gorgeous Michael Chan. www.michael-chan.com

Oh lovely lists!

I love lists. There is something very satisfying about crossing things off of them. They are proof that you have accomplished something in your day, in your life. Lists have become an essential tool for keeping track of everything from ideas for the site, books to read, errands to run, renos to undertake or movies to see, which I would otherwise forget.

You can do it!

Lists are a great way to achieve goals too. I list my running/biking kilometers per week to chart my progress. Lists are also great for a much needed reality check. I once did a little experiment and wrote down everything I spent in a month and at the end, I put it into an excel spreadsheet. My top two expenses? Restaurants and gifts. Pretty shocking. Groceries were  #6 on the list. It prompted some changes needless to say.

After I get groceries I write down what there is to make for meals. I cook more now.

I find the actual creating of the list enjoyable. I see each list as a little art project. (I remember reading about an artist who had a gallery show consisting of a year’s worth of “To Do” lists. We may have been separated at birth.) At the top of each month I write out a list of ideas and goals for the month. I make it bright and colourful and put it on the wall where I can grab it easily and add to it. It looks pretty at the top of the month and a scrawled mess by the end.

I started this "art project" list 7 years ago.

I always have an art project on the go. Since 2002 I have been adding to a list of 100 things to do before I move on. (Ummmm…die). It’s a good place to dream. I have done a surprising amount of them.

There will be more than 100.

I also keep a personal list of gentle reminders to run, stretch, climb, meditate, or go to a dance class- things that I know will enhance my life and make me feel good, things that go out the window as soon as I get busy.

At home list

Maybe I need a list for my lists. Or an intervention. Life is more than lists, I know, but they hold a lot of possibility in them, as long as you actually do what’s on them…

It's opening night!

I rode by Withrow Park yesterday afternoon and caught the actors of the Stone Circle Project rehearsing the rarely performed “The Menaechmus Twins” by Plautus, which opens tonight at 6 pm! Yes, this post is a full on plug!

Ryan Hollyman and Jeffrey R. Smith.

So pack up your picnic blanket and head down to Withrow Park for this carnival-esque production full of belly laughs, musical madness and mistaken identity.

Wayne Ward and Sarah Evans.

A little synopsis: Set in Epidamnus, we enter a seemingly simple world: two doors, two exits, two brothers, two women, two sidekicks, and a ragtag group of characters whose lives are embroiled in ways they cannot fathom. Twin brothers are separated in their early years; grow up in different parts of the world, only to find themselves in the same place on this night.

If it sounds familiar, it should. The Menaechmus Twins was the foundation for Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors”.

Adrian Proszowski and Ryan Hollyman make an entrance.

This is the second season for Toronto’ s Stone Circle Project. Actors Jeffrey R. Smith, Adrian Proszowski and Sarah Evans founded the company in 2007, when they mounted “Creon” by Ned Dickens. They are joined this year with a stellar cast including Ryan Hollyman, Bryce Kulak (who also composed the original music), Seamus Morrison, Egan Ryan and Wayne Ward. The fabulous Melee Hutton directs.

Stone Circle founders Adrian Proszowski, Sarah Evans and Jeffrey R. Smith.

The Menaechmus Twins opens tonight and runs until August 9th.

Tuesday- Sunday 6pm, Saturday Sunday Matinees at 2pm.

Withrow Park is located between Chester and Pape subway stations

View Larger Map

Join the crowd!

If you haven’t gone to see any outdoor theatre this summer, what are you waiting for? It’s a great way to see some terrific theatre in a beautiful, relaxed, setting. Many of the outdoor shows in Toronto operate on the PWYC (pay what you can) principle or on a “suggested donation” which makes having a night at the theatre easy on the pocket book. Why not go an hour early and take a little picnic with you?  You can munch and watch all of the pre-show prep unfold. Check your local newspapers, or entertainment weeklies for all the show listings and get out there! August is upon us!

I am planning on seeing a bunch of shows in the next couple of weeks so I have put together a “play package” to take along with me!

It includes:

Lemonade and a lovely tablecloth.

• A blanket or tablecloth.
• A thermos or jar of homemade lemonade. (Recipe below)

Hummus and frozen grapes. Napkins by Flyball.

Pita-licious.

• Homemade hummus.  (Recipe also below.)
• Frozen grapes. (See recipe below.
• Cloth Napkins.
• Pita bread for hummus dipping.

Looking behind the scenes...

• Add a cute bag to put it all in and pop it in your bike basket and you are good to go!

Ready to ride.

*If you live in Toronto it may be a good idea to bring something plastic to put under your blanket, as it has been wet for months. An umbrella is probably a good call too. You may also want some mosquito repellent- there are some great “natural” ones available at most health food stores.

*A note on napkins- Thrift shops have bundles of cloth napkins. Give them a heavy-duty wash and you can forget the paper.

*This stacking stainless steal container is super handy AND cute. It’s a lunch box/handbag! You can buy ones similar to this at “Grassroots” in Toronto but I got mine at Tap Phong on Spadina.

Pita- Wrap your warm pita in a clean tea towel and leave the saran in the kitchen drawer.

RECIPES

Lemonade

I have been using this recipe forever. Squeeze the juice of two lemons into a jug of water, and add 1/4 cup of honey or agave. Test a little bit at a time. Add lemon slices to garnish. Refrigerate.

Hummus:

Put one can of chick peas, the juice of one lemon, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 clove of garlic, 1 tablespoon of tahini, a dash of sea salt and pepper in a food processor, mix, and you are done. Garnish with cayenne pepper. Want it thinner?  Add a bit more water. Want some heat? Add a dried chili pepper. Add some fresh basil to the original recipe for a fresh taste. Anything goes. Don’t have a food processor? I have made this recipe with a fork. Yup- manual mashing and mixing!

FROZEN GRAPES.

Wash seedless grapes well. Pull them off the stems. Shake off as much water as you can. Freeze ‘em.

The best summer snack ever made.

Thanks for popping by. It’s been a crazy week around here with a few glitches due to technical issues out of our control.  We are back on Tuesday next week with all kinds of suitably cool stuff to do, make and see. Thanks for all of your comments and your visits and support!

To begin: A lobster salad in the shape of a chicken. The head is carved out of carrots!

I want to send you off on your weekend with a few pictures from a special dinner we had recently at Elegant Chinese Cuisine. (5328 Highway 7 Markham, ON) It is one of my favorite restaurants. Our wedding reception was held there and I have enjoyed many a dim sum and casual family dinner there as well. Read the rest of this entry

Listen up!

In this age of blogging, texting, You Tube and Twittering there is something really wonderful about listening to the radio.  I wasn’t really a radio listener until I got rid of my television a few years ago. And now, even though a television has re-entered my life, I still walk around my house and yard with my little green radio, just listening. My ritual has become addictive. My husband has started listening to the radio as well. These days many of our conversations begin with “I heard this interview on the CBC this morning…” Read the rest of this entry

Rainy days are nothing to get down about.

I went to visit some friends out of town last weekend for a BBQ. I was prepping my salad when noticed a jar, with bits of paper folded inside of it, on top of the microwave. I asked my friend Jody what it was. She said it was her “Job Jar.”  Whenever she had a few minutes to spare she would dig in and pull out a little job to do. I hadn’t seen a job jar since I was little and I loved that Jody was bringing it back.

I got to thinking about the old job jar and thought I really should make a “Rainy Day” jar and fill it full of things to do on a rainy day when I am moping around the house and can’t think of a thing to do.

So here it goes: Follow along below for the step by step instructions. It’s pretty complicated….

1.Round up some paper, scissors, a pen and a mason jar. (Or hatbox, teacup or basket- whatever you have on hand.)

2. Cut the paper into foldable squares or strips.

3.Write out your rainy day fantasies.

4.Fold 'em and put 'em in your jar.

5.Put them on the shelf for a rainy day. Then pull a piece of paper out and hit the road, or paint the bathroom or...

It’s a two post Monday- A double feature! Here’s a tiny little video as you fly into the work week. (Still learning that software!) Oh and check out  the “Rescue Me” post below. There’s good deals to be had!

The dahlias make their way home in a box

This weekend I popped into the gardening department of my local hardware store to look for some inspiration and lo and behold there was a sale!  Yup, there were shelves upon shelves of the saddest looking annuals I had ever seen. Now I love many things in this life, and two of them are: a great deal and stuff that needs rescuing.  I was in paradise.

They get some air pre-planting.

Gingaaah root

I wasn’t feeing the greatest yesterday. It had been a crazy busy couple of weeks with not a lot of sleep and too much pizza. I was starting to feel run down and my stomach was not in great shape. On days like this I always brew a pot of ginger tea. It warms my insides, settles my stomach and energizes me. I always have ginger root on hand in the fridge. It’s inexpensive and is delicious to cook with. The making of tea allows me to slow down a bit as I wait for the kettle to boil and then wait for the ginger root to infuse the water. It’s good time to have a mini rest.

Here’s a step by step, no fuss recipe.  I can’t say it’s mine because it’s probably been used for a billion years.

1. Boil a kettle of cold fresh water.

2. Wash up a piece of ginger root. I usually use a piece that is a bit bigger than my thumb.

3. Slice it up. Chop it up. I slice lengthwise but whatever you like!

4. Put the ginger in the bottom of your teapot or favorite mug. My tea pot has this nifty basket but you don't need one.

7. Drink it! If there is tea left over, I add honey or agave and put it in the fridge for a cold ginger tea later on.

8. Feel like yourself again.