Smock: Embrace your inner artist.

So my cousin took me to a cafe in Roncesvalles this past week, and I have to say that I LOVE everything about Smock!  If you live in the West end of Toronto, love art and have a little of your own who does, you will absolutely love this place.

We've been spending a ton of time at indoor gyms this year, which are wonderful and wear Gabriel out.  But there is something about spending all morning in a windowless warehouse in the middle of no. where. with overly bright walls that serve mediocre (read: sketchy) food.  While they keep us entertained, they sort of kill my artsy soul.  So it's places like this that make me believe there is more to this city for kids (and their parents).  If only there were more places like this!

I mean, my cousin and I actually got to sit and drink coffee while Gabriel played.  Once given a marble, he played on the marble wall for about an hour straight while I nursed Magdalene.  We stayed so long that we had a snack AND lunch.

Not sure what I love most: the neighborhood, the ease of parking right outside (on the street), the delicious, fresh and often healthy food and coffee, the green garden wall covered in plants, the vintage-y appeal, the toys for tots or the art centre located at the back.   It appeals to all my aesthetic sensibilities in every way.  In addition, they offer art workshops for kids and mommy classes in the basement.  This place is meant for kids (and their mamas). And it was definitely busy in there!  Busy enough that I would say it would be worth investing in another location even.  This is the kind of thing us mamas eat up.  Really.

Thanks Becca for another fabulous find!  

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Thirty-something.

This past weekend I got to spend my birthday with my family, those visiting and then just our little family of four.  And although it has been kind of crazy around here, I am feeling immensely blessed to have such a supportive, considerate husband and best friend, two beautiful children who light up my world and shake it at the same time and an incredible supportive network of friends all over the continent.  Thank you, my dear friends, for your messages and phone calls over the past couple of weeks while we were going through a hard time.  Whatever would I do without you?!

Turning a year older, I have to admit, I don't really feel older.  Maybe tireder.  But likely that is just the stage of life we are in.  You know, when my toddler and infant are both up later than I'd like to be up. When a 'date' with my husband consists of pawning Gabriel off and taking the baby to lunch and rocking her under the table to keep her asleep.  When our ears are finely tuned to the little clicks of doors opening or stairs creaking as our toddler escapes his room.  When we become masters of acrobatics, dodging creaking floorboards and stairs, swinging our feet up over baby gates so we don't have to unlatch them and wake someone up.  It's also the stage that celebrating a birthday is about the little things like sleeping in until 7:45AM, grabbing a long hot shower, taking a walk in the sunshine, ordering take out instead of cooking and going to bed at 9:00PM.  Ha!  I'm sure that there will be more exciting birthdays in my future.  But for now, this suits me just fine.

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Our Week with a House Full.

Since getting back from vacation, we've had a heck of time getting life back to normal, unlike any experience we've had before after traveling.  We've traveled a lot with Gabriel since he was four months old and generally, I'd say we've managed pretty well--flights, sleep, jetlag, you name it.  But we've had about three weeks of not very much sleep and a week or so of chasing our toddler back to his bed a hundred times a night.  So it was with welcome relief that family showed up to provide a little comic relief and change things up to get us out of the house.  

We also got a great opportunity to meet Derek, the love of Rachael's life and soon-to-be husband.  You'll be seeing more pictures of them this summer in Winnipeg!  Everyone was so great distracting a very tired Gabriel--doting on him, reading, playing hockey, playing puzzles and Play-Doh, taking him on walks, etc.  We went down to Bloor Street Village and Queen Street to go shopping and have a big family lunch in Baldwin Village at one of our favorites, Cafe la Gaffe.  (You may remember I took my sister there on our sister date). They took him to the Hockey Hall of Fame downtown one morning and I'm pretty sure that they locked down that friendship forever!   When family wasn't rocking and cooing at Magdalene or doting on Gabriel, they were busy making some fantastic meals in the kitchen.

Family--thank you for flying all that way and loving on us all week.  We were out in the yard yesterday watching the planes fly overhead and Gabriel was sure you were on each of those flights. And yet he still woke up looking for you this morning. :)

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