Well!
As stated in my previous post, lots has been going on...such as my social life has kicked into high gear! YAY me! I'm popular! :)
One day I was sitting here googling for things to do in Ontario. Originally I wanted to just find some interesting little area that I could hike and some small town shops I could peruse and just find somewhere to have a something for myself.
I found a link on a website that lead me to an advertisement for the Mid-Summer Artisan Fair in the Distillery District in Toronto. I know; small town girl let loose in the big city? Oh dear.
And as usual, I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone. Not only did I plan to go to this art fair, but since my bestest wife ever lived in the area I thought "hey! Bring Amanda!" So bring Amanda I did. :)
I packed up my 12 year old daughter, who I explained the importance of art in one's life is quite vital to one's health, and we headed East bound on the 401. I swung by to pick up Amanda and her BF Roger. Now this is where it gets silly and funny and a little stressed out for Lisa.
I asked Roger, who is a Torontonian, as we buckled up our seat belts (safety first people!) if he knew the fasted and easiest route to the Distillery. He did not. I shrugged nonchalantly as if not at all bothered by this and said "Meh, that's that GoogleMaps are for. I can just head down the Gardiner. No probs, yo."
Well...I shoulda done my research. Not only was it Civic Holiday weekend, aka cottagers on the highways, but it was also Carribanna weekend so THAT added to the influx and congestion of traffic. It took us an hour and 10 minutes to get to the Distillery when normally it would have taken 20 minutes. I was in between 1st and 2nd gear for over half an hour. My foot hurt. My toes were numb. All this in a feeble attempt to expand my horizons! SHEESH! :)
Plus, Roger tried in vain to give me directions. I ended up here and there, he directed me to go north when he meant south so I almost missed a turn off, and trying to get through Front Street traffic!? Yeah right.
I intended to also meet up with my friend Melissa. She and I originally met while waiting in line to meet Billy Corgan for a book signing a few years ago back in 2005. Haven't seen her since although we've always maintained a good online relationship ;)
So I emailed her a week prior and said "Hey I'll be in the 'hood lady let's hook up!"
Things went ahead as planned but she informed me that she had to work that day so she only had till about 1pm. I really thought we would have made it there in time.
Well, as luck would have it, by the time I had got to the Distillery and parked, thanks to the crazy collection of cars I endured, she had already departed. Oh well, I will see her again I'm sure! It kinda bummed me out a bit but once I saw all the booths and the galleries I quickly forgot about that disappointment.
If you've ever been to the Distillery District, then you know how absolutely BEAUTIFUL the architecture is. Olden tyme brick work, exposed rusty piping and cobblestone streets! Yes! Gorj! I wanted to fill my memory card with all these wonderful rustic images but risked looking like a tourist...wait, I was a tourist...ack. Moving on...
The first booth we stopped by was put up by artists from Ottawa called Postart Blooming Collective. Friggin' creative ladies they are! Basically they take anything that can be recycled and make it into art. Fr'instance: an old vinyl record? They put it into a mold and shape it into a bowl! How cool is THAT? Or, they take interesting bits and pieces of fabric, strings, and wires and make the funkiest necklaces! I should know, I bought one. It's totally me: eccentric, bizarre, and colourful.
They also had a small table set up for their friend who bends and shapes old spoons and forks into bracelets. See? Creative folk indeed. You can view more of their fantastic handcrafted bits and bobs at http://www.eclection.ca/
I did NOT want to leave the booth but there was so much else to see and do and eat...
Eat? Yes, at CafeUno. Lunch for my daugher and myself was $27 smackeroos but I tried food that we would normally have available to us in our small town. I drank Aloe. Yes. That same stuff that is in lotion. I drank it. And it was good. And apparently, good for my body. At least according to the colourful lime green label. Who can say no to lime green? I can't.
And Roger apparently was NOT letting me leave the place until I tried Expresso. And not only tried it but he got me this honkin' huge styro-cup of it! And I drank it! I don't even LIKE coffee, but goodness me that Expresso was quite tasty!
After leaving the Distillery, Roger suggested that we take a hike somewhere neat and interesting since I like neat and interesting places to hike! :)
I can't tell you where it was we were as I didn't ask nor pay attention to road signs, but all I know is that on this beautiful sunny day we were under a series of half-moon bridges that were adorned in grafitti. I took pictures because to me, grafitti is art.
My daughter climbed the structures that held up the bridges and dared Roger to join her, which he did easily enough as he himself is pretty agile.
I also caught a moment between Roger and Amanda kissing under the bridge. Ok, truth be told, I kinda directed them to stand next to a word that indicated closeness because I thought it was a great photo op. I see things through the lens that some people might not. If I might be so bold to say that I have an "eye" for photography. Not that I'm bragging. I'm just saying.
After the hike, I really did want to get going home. I missed my son, I missed the comfort only my juice-stained couch could offer (hey man, you have a toddler and see if your furnishings don't get ruined), and yes, I missed my man. (Cue the audience "awww!")
So after dropping off Amanda and Roger who I thanked for a wonderful time out because really, if it weren't for them, the day would not have been complete, my daughter and I buckled up our seat belts (safety first people!) and off we went, West bound on the 401 towards Londontown.
The whole ride home was awesome, due in part to the fact that traffic was jogging along nicely, and also because thanks to the Expresso, I was jacked and had the tunes blaring out my factory-installed speakers. We sang along to all the tween hits at the top of our lungs and just had a great car ride home to end a great day.
Next year we will do it again. :)
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