Woman in Real Life

I will spend a good portion of the spring and summer sitting in a folding camp chair watching soccer, at times freezing, at times boiling hot. In the meantime, we are all about basketball (and dance) in this house. My son has a tournament with four to five basketball games this very weekend.

Last weekend we brought the kids and a couple of their friends to a Raptors 905 basketball game. My husband and I thought it would be a great opportunity for our son to see how more seasoned basketball players operate. Raptors 905 is the NBA D-League affiliate of the Toronto Raptors. The team plays out of Mississauga's Hershey Centre.

If you are playing Santa to a kiddo or two this Christmas, I have an incredible tip to help you get great gifts on a budget. If you live or work in the Greater Toronto Area, get yourself to the Pop! Toy & Party Services Toy & Gift Warehouse Sale. Running until December 24th, this sale features popular toys for kids ages infant to 14 years at significantly reduced prices. Like, if you have $100 to spend, you can get 5 or 10 gifts! To give you a better idea of what you can find, here are 10 hot Christmas toys I spotted at the Pop! Toy Warehouse Sale.

A while back, we took the kids and their friends to the Ontario Science Centre to visit MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition. The Science Centre is always lots of fun for the kids and us parents. Upon arrival, the excitement builds as we hit the long escalators that lead to the exhibition level.

MythBusters is based on the Discovery Channel’s show MythBusters. Co-hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman test wild hypotheses in entertaining experiments. The Ontario Science Centre exhibition features real remnants from experiments that were created on the show. Best of all, there are interactive learning opportunities so that the kids (and adults) can do what they like best - try experiments out for themselves!

One event that I get excited about every September is the Toronto Vegetarian Food Festival. I have been going to it for years and years and now I cannot miss it. One of the many awesome things about the Veg Food Fest is that it is always held at Toronto's Harbourfront. So not only do you get to sample great vegetarian food, but the location is perfect for a leisurely day out with the family too.

The picture above shows us on our way to the food fest (after the ordeal of finding parking - I didn't realize they had closed part of Lakeshore for repairs). You can see from this pic that I'm super excited, the children not so much. The little gal is probably complaining about something (not sure which part of her list she had gotten to at that moment). The dude just wants out of the picture. Why do you have to take pictures all the time?

  This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.


I love to head into the heart of Toronto on weekends to explore neighbourhoods and visit restaurants. Some of our most enjoyable experiences as a family have come from exploring Toronto neighbourhoods like High Park, Kensington Market, Harbourfront and Queen Street West.

Happy Friday! I hope you are looking forward to a fun-filled weekend, light on laundry duties.

My husband is playing in a volleyball tournament tonight with other teachers, which means he will likely spend tomorrow complaining of sore muscles (and possibly bones). Once you reach a certain age, sports don't come easy. But hey, he's trying. My son has a soccer game tomorrow afternoon. At the age of 10, I'm sure he'll recover nicely. The most exercise I will get is cleaning a bathroom floor by hand or passing laundry from washer to dryer.

I've said it before...this menu planning thing works. There are many times when I want to skip making dinner and buy some Taco Bell for the kiddies.  Then I think of my menu plan, posted on my blog for all the world to see. And I persevere.

Monday's Quick Asparagus Pasta was actually quicker than going for Taco Bell. Nothing fancy, but I enjoyed it. One snag in the plan, though. I needed asparagus. Turns out that's the one thing they didn't have at the grocery store. Does that happen to you too? The one thing you want isn't available that day?

Happy Insta-Friday! I hope you are all recovering nicely from the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

I am sharing a look at our family cell phone photos from the past week, beginning with our "date" last Saturday. As I mentioned before, my parents were staying with us, so we took the opportunity to have them babysit. We saw the Frida and Diego show at the Art Gallery of Ontario and then went for dinner in Kensington Market.

It's Friday...and I'm about to share a bunch of seemingly random photos. They are united under the "Insta-Friday" theme...sharing simple family cell phone photos from the past week.

Last weekend, I went to get my hair cut. I hadn't been to the salon for, oh, something like 10 months. My hair was ragged. Here's my little gal all decked out for a cold day in the city of Toronto.