Groovy Shoes

Check out Groovy's site for cute runners, athletic-inspired Ts, and crazy Irregular Choice shoes. Free ground shipping in Canada.

Thanks to Ilonka for showing me the site.

F.

Dream In High Park 2010

This year the Canadian Stage TD Dream in High Park 2010 presents Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare's timeless tale of star-crossed lovers and feuding.

Dates: June 25 - September 5, 2010
Time: Tuesday - Sunday, 8p.m. (Gate opens at 6p.m.)
Venue: High Park Amphitheatre

Bring a bottle of wine, some cheese and fruit, and make this a date night. Bug spray is a must!

F.

Tiepedia

Check out Tiepedia.com, a blog about ties. Koodoes to Matt who publishes some pretty good content. I think I will go and get myself a nice slim black tie to update my white shirts…

F.

Outdoor Free Movies at King & University

Organized by TIFF and few other partners free outdoor movies will be showcased at the beautiful square west of Roy Thomson Hall (King/University) starting June 30 - Sep 1st.
The highlights are To Kill a Mokingbird, July 7 and Casablanka, Sep 1 among few others.

Free, Wednesdays at 9 p.m.

Screening schedule is at torontoed.com

k.

I Got...

$38 at the Little Burgundy. Check out their on-line sale - additional 24% off the lowest sale price.

F.

I Like It Black

Jeffrey Campbell, $69
Belle Sigerson Morrison, $275
Diesel, $153
Miss 60, $150

Parts and Labour Media Opening

We want to put our own "2 cents" into Parts & Labour opening frenzy. Me and Capa had lots of fun at their Media Opening party. The drinks were great, the crowd was fun, and the oyster bar won over my heart... This place has some great potential!

Come see for yourself!

F.

Stratford Shakespeare Festival 2010

Christopher Plummer as Prospero. Image by Andrew Accles


Julyana Soelistyo as Ariel. Image by David Hou

It's Saturday afternoon and we are driving to Stratford to see the great Christopher Plummer in The Tempest. This is my first visit to the Shakespeare festival and I am exited about the play and also an opportunity to visit one of the best sightseeing destinations in Ontario. The Victorian city of Stratford has all imaginable attractions - great dining, shopping and architecture, fascinating riverside walks, and an abandonment of picnic spots. We have an early dinner at the local Chinese restaurant and head to the Festival theatre for the very anticipated performance.

From the city's picturesque downtown we walk on the riverside admiring the tranquil scenery. Both banks are flooded with fresh greenery and the water itself is surprisingly clear and inviting… I regret not bringing a swimming suit for a quick pre-performance dive.

The Festival theatre is magnificent inside and out. The grounds in front of the entrance are made into some sort of Botanical garden with all kinds of beautiful flowers and leafy plants and even a tiny pond with water lilies. I wish there were some gold fish in that pond - it would make the place really magical. After taking a million pictured in the garden we go inside and find our seats on the balcony.

The performance hall has unique and clever layout with a round stage centered in the amphitheatre. It's virtually impossible to get bad sits in it. The view is clear from all angles and the acoustics is good enough for a symphony. The seats are surprisingly comfortable and inviting with plenty of leg room and cushioning to get us through the 3-hour play. It looks like all tickets are sold out and the theatre is full. The crowd ranges from elderly couples to teenagers with facial piercing - koodos to the festival organizers for attracting a variety of people. Stratford is becoming a destination for many demographics including young couples and families with small children. The festival's performances are diverse and appealing to all age groups.

Des McAnuff is the festival's Artistic Director and director of The Tempest. He gives a very lively and seemingly unrehearsed intro to the performance and the lights go off…

In all honesty, The Tempest is one of the best theatrical performances I've seen in the past few years. Visual effects, costumes, and stage set-up are all great, let alone the magnificent performance by Sir Christopher Plummer and Julyana Soelistyo (Ariel). For the entire length of the play I couldn't rid myself of the feeling that I was watching Plummer, Soelistyo, and others perform at the Cirque du Soleil. I was going to write a detailed account of the performance, but after giving it some thought I will simply encourage everyone to go and see The Tempest or another play at the festival.

So, take your family, your friends, and your loved ones and come to Stratford for a day (or few) to remember.

F.

Berlin is Calling...so is Moscow

Capa is off to Berlin and Moscow to check out what those cities have to offer! With a great list in my hands of places to see, brunches to eat, beers to drink and patios to enjoy...will create my own one and will share with you when back!
Enjoy the summer in To to it's fullest!
Love,
k.

What's On Sale

Here is what's hot and cheap these days:

Style Exchage Midnight Madness - details here

HandM Summer Sale - up to 50% off, June 18th-30th

Mendocino's Summer Sale - up to 50% off, June 18th-26th

SportCheck - massive discounts up until June 28th!


Go shopping!

F.

Toronto Wine and Spirit Festival

This weekend, head to the Distillery district for the Toronto Wine and Spirit Festival. Tickets are $22 advance, $30 at the festival. More info here.

F.

Russian Ballet Gala - Good Wine, Average Food, Surprising Performance, and Very Strange Crowd

Where do I begin… Well, this was the second year I've attended National Ballet's Mad Hot Gala at the Four Seasons. I am an avid theatergoer, and the annual event is a great way to close off the season. The Four Seasons Centre for The Performing Arts is one my favorite Toronto venues - it's a magnificent building with great acoustics built specifically for ballet and opera performances. This year, Mad Hot's theme was Russian Heat. Having Russian roots (well, at least speaking the language) gives me a different perspective on anything Russian-themed. First, it requires lots of careful planning. Russian culture is reach and complex and a few matrioshcas scattered around are not enough to imitate it. Second, I could see the event attracting an unusual crowd - people who've never been to the Four Seasons before, who've never seen a ballet performed there, women of all shapes and sizes "fashionably" dressed in skimpy animal-printed polyester frocks… The list can go on for a while turning the gala into an Eastern European émigré gathering. I was still exited to go, looking forward to the crème-de-la-crème performance and spending time with my mom and her girls.

I've spent a few moment pre-performance eyeballing the crowd. It was noticeably different from last year. Still, there were a few extraordinary couples - tuxedos, Valentino gowns, and Louboutin's. I guess they were the people buying $1,500 post-performance dinner tickets for an opportunity to mingle with the principal dancers and Karen Kain, the ballet's artistic director.

The performance itself evoked a whole range of emotions. To my surprise, it was almost two hours long (as oppose to less then an hour last year). The first 45 minutes were dedicated to Kudelka's Musings and at some point I felt like just getting up and leaving. Another surprise here - I always liked Kudelka and his fresh interpretations of classics. Strangely, this time even Mozart couldn't save his "choreography". Not one complex dance element is 45 minutes!

As if to contrast Kudelka's opening, the remaining 4 short performances were extraordinary. I especially enjoyed excerpt from Polyphonia (choreography by Christopher Wheeldone) and pas de deux from As Above, So Below (choreography by Mark Godden and danced to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata). It was a real treat to see Sonia Rodriguez and Piotr Stanczyk perform this beautiful and sensual piece.
Post-performance drinks and buffet were uneventful. The food was exactly the same as last year, the wine was a notch better, and Russian Standard mohitos have replaced Grey Goose martinis. Just as an FYI, mohito is NOT a traditional Russian drink. The few highlights included two weird-looking elderly gents (pictured) dressed as pseudo-Russian generals. They clearly didn't do their research before putting together the costumes.

I will go to the Mad Hot next year again hoping for the best.

F.

I Got...

These shoes were on sale for $20. I love the color!

F.

Summerlicious 2010 - July 9-25

Summerlicious 2010 is fast approaching. For those of you who don't know what is Summerlicious, here are the details. And here is the list of participating restaurants. Book way in advance to get a spot and stay tuned for our reviews.

F.

Turkish Delight

I think I've said this before… I LOVE food. That's one of the reasons I'll never be a fashionable size 2, but rather a cozy size 6 going on 8… Sorry, got carried away again.

Anatolia restaurant is a small, hard-to-notice place on Dundas street in Etobicoke. On the outside it's just a local eatery, but on the inside it's ancient Turkey coming to life in West Toronto. The décor is bold and very authentic - hand-made porcelain wall art, copper dishes, woven rugs… The menu and somewhat limited, but each dish is a fusion of traditional Turkish cuisine and the chef's culinary art. Owner/chef Ayse Aydemir opened the restaurant in 1999 and since then it became Toronto's darling. The prices are not as democratic as one would expect, but a good dinner for four will cost no more then $150, drinks extra.

I am not going to go through all the menu items, but make sure you try Feta Bruschetta and Manti from the appetizer menu. Ayran, a traditional zesty yogurt drink, is perfect to wash down the hearty meal. Oh, and leave some room for Turkish coffee ($4.75) or tea ($9, serves 4).

Visit Anatolia on the first Friday of every month for a dinner and traditional Turkish entertainment - live music, belly dancing, and fortune telling.

5112 Dundas St. W, Etobicoke
416-207-0596

F.

For the Movie Lovers - Schedules for June

Hearing the names Kurosawa and Hitchcock gives myself and Fira goosebumps. The memories of our university years when those two men among few others (Tarkovsky, Bergman and...Fira has a list still running in her head) dominated our past time, are vivid and unforgettable and sometimes even nostalgic. We were free, crazy, in love (not with each other), broke and with a beer hidden in a purse watched black & white classics in a rented UofT library. That was then...
Now we can do it all over again...

Kurosawa Retrospective at Cinematheque starting this Friday, June 11.
Schedule of the movies at Cinematheque is here

Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window and The Birds are playing at Bloor Cinema.
A schedule of the classics and other great films including Cache, White Ribbon, The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo is at bloorcinema.com

Enjoy,

k.

Fira's Luminato Wish List

images from Luminato's site


As usually, Summer in Toronto is beyond busy. I am still making up my mind about where to go for Luminato (Capa wrote about the festival a few days ago). I've short-listed these events and will further narrow down the list when it comes to actually attending them:

The Ascension of Beauty by Mark Fast - an installation by a remarkable Canadian-born designer illustrates the synergy between fashion and art. June 11-20, Brookfield Place, 181 Bay Street. Free

Vienna Academy Orchestra - one of the worlds' most renowned orchestras performs Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert. June 12, Trinity St. Paul's, 427 Bloor Street West. $40.

President's Choice 1000 Tastes of Toronto - international gourmet meals prepared by Toronto's' famous chefs are only $5! June 19 and 20, Queen's Park North.

TSO Goes Late Night: Beethoven Symphony 9 - Music Director Peter Oundjian conducts the Orchestra in Beethoven’s monumental 9th Symphony at 11:00 PM, featuring a full cast of soloists and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. June 19, Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe Street. $20-$69

Diva Photos From the Black Star Collection at Ryerson University - Thirteen photographs of such world-famous divas as Cher, Janis Joplin, Annie Lennox, and Liza Minnelli frame the performances in Yonge-Dundas Square throughout the Festival. June 11-16, Yonge-Dundas Square, 1 Dundas Street East. Free.



Enjoy!
F.

Converse Sale at Little Burgundy

Leather Converse Hoban on sale at Little Burgundy. $49.98 (reg. $75). I got myself a pair already. Third in my collection.

Canvas Converse are on sale for $39.98 (reg.$55)

This store is a rare one where you can find Converse and other brands like Diesel, Miss Sixty, Vans and etc on sale. Use the opportunity...
It's easy to order online, free and the returns can be done any time. I've tried it few times.
More sale items at littleburgundy.com or in store.
k.

Synthetica - a Symphony in Blond Major

June 10-12, at 8p.m., come to the Winechester Street Theatre (80 Winechester Str.) and enjoy an innovative dance performance from the Typecast Dance Studio. Tickets are $15-20.

Enjoy!

F.

Luminato, Festival of Art + Creativity, June 11-20

Luminato is quickly approaching. The festival is an annual ten-day celebration where Toronto's stages, streets, and public spaces are illuminated with arts and creativity. Luminato is a multi-disciplinary festival of theatre, dance, classical and contemporary music, film, literature, visual arts, design and more.

Last year the line up was unbelievable. I had a chance to see an amazing world class performances: Robert LePage's 9-hour play "Lipsynch" and a Cirque de Soleil free performance at the Harbourfront (both Canadian by the way), just to name a few.

The festival is happening June 11-20. My head is starting to spin as I look at the listings. There is so much going on around the city at the time, that it makes sense to start planning your activities or purchasing tickets in advance. The website has a list of all the events including the free once. luminato.com

As I go through the schedule, I'll try to post my own list of things to do and see during this amazing festival!
k.

Wordwide Short Film Festival - June 1-6

There are still few days left of a Worldwide Short Film Festival taking place in several locations around the city.
If you need to add some variety to your evening after work, here is a schedule.
Check out the short promo videos for the festival. Above..
k.

It's a Yes!

For those of you who are reading mediocre-to-bad reviews and having second thoughts about going to see SATC 2 - just forget about the reviews and GO! I haven't seen the series, but I loved every second of the film! For me, it is the essence of being a woman - fashion, love, fun, self-fulfillment, and a bit of regret…

Take your girls and go!

F.