Showing posts with label Out_local. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Out_local. Show all posts
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Music Classes for Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers: Learn to Listen
Monday, December 23, 2013
After the Ice Storm in GTA
As we suffered from the terrible ice storm, with frozen streets, cars and power lines which left many areas without power for several days, I think there is a positive side to this ordeal as well. I just wanted to share a couple of photos I tried to make today. Frozen trees look magical, as if made of crystal and gold.
These photos were made in Newmarket today. Please note, I am by no means a professional photographer, neither do I have a professional camera.
Here is my son "riding" a snow dinosaur, which we made a few days ago. Covered with a thick layer of ice, it became very stiff and very much ride-able!
The snowman also is covered with ice. Beautiful, and a rather sad view.
These photos were made in Newmarket today. Please note, I am by no means a professional photographer, neither do I have a professional camera.
Here is my son "riding" a snow dinosaur, which we made a few days ago. Covered with a thick layer of ice, it became very stiff and very much ride-able!
The snowman also is covered with ice. Beautiful, and a rather sad view.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
A Field trip to the Toronto Christmas Market.
Toronto Christmas Market takes place in the beautiful part of the city, the Distillery District. This historic district is an awesome place as it is, with its shops, restaurants, and theaters, but every year now it also hosts a Christmas Market, European style, making it a great attraction for the Torontonians and visitors.
Yes, it was cold and the narrow streets full of people were sometimes difficult to navigate, but we enjoyed walking around, staring at the decorations, spotting various TV reporters with cameras, taking pictures here and there.
There was a big Christmas tree, of course, a gingerbread house, Santa with elves, performers every hour singing Christmas carols, or dancing folk dances of various nations, food stands, and much much more.
Read the rest of the story and more photos here.
Yes, it was cold and the narrow streets full of people were sometimes difficult to navigate, but we enjoyed walking around, staring at the decorations, spotting various TV reporters with cameras, taking pictures here and there.
There was a big Christmas tree, of course, a gingerbread house, Santa with elves, performers every hour singing Christmas carols, or dancing folk dances of various nations, food stands, and much much more.
Read the rest of the story and more photos here.
Monday, March 4, 2013
A post on LWAB blog. Local Resources: Ontario Early Years Center, York North (Newmarket)
This is the first Nataliya's post on LWAB blog as a part of a series about local places of fun for children.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Guest blog: Life With A Baby. Thrifting Basics: Why You Shouldn’t be Scared of the Thrift Store
Ohhh...back to school shopping. The dreaded price tag attached to that can send a momma reeling. With two school-aged kids of my own, I know this feeling all too well. There isn't room on my budget spreadsheet (yes, I have one, and it's glorious in all its nerd glory!) for $200 worth of brand new jeans that will come home with grass stains which I will no doubt flip out about...deep breaths...if spending that kind of money stresses you out as much as it does me? Welcome to Thrifting 101, with Alicia.
I'm going to teach you the joy of thrift shopping & (hopefully) take the stigma out of it for you. Trust me when I say it's a game changer & your bank account will thank me for my services.
We'll start slow so you can catch on quick...
1- No Distractions (with a necessary exception): You will need ample time to browse. Thrifting can be very overwhelming. If you are going in for back to school shopping you're likely looking for a great variety of things- pants, skirts, shirts, shoes...it can be difficult to concentrate. When possible, leave the kids behind. If you must take them, stick to one aisle. Look at the shirts only, or find shoes that fit (if you're worried about foot fungi, antibacterial sprays are your friend- apply liberally!). It’s like the saying “you can’t see the forest for the trees”…there’s a wide variety of “trees” in a thrift store.
2- Inspect Your Selections: Check for pilling of fabric, look at all seams (especially armpits & wrists), open & close all zippers, snap all snaps, count all buttons. There is the odd chance that a retailer will give you a discount if you point out that a button is missing, but most of the time you may have to say a sad goodbye. In my opinion- if it's not a Must Have item that you certainly could not find anywhere else...leave that damaged item behind. It often isn't worth the cost or time to fix.
3- Don't Touch Everything: This seems counterintuitive, "but Alicia, if there's so much merchandise, shouldn't I be looking at everything to make sure I see the best fit?" NO! If you're a rookie, this will burn out your brain. Instead, slowly let your eye scan the rack for a pattern you love, a fabric that stands out, heck- even a length that you're looking for. It can be too easy to grab everything that you think might work...this is the quickest way to hate thrift shopping.
4- What You Are Buying is What it Will Look Like: One of the things I love most about thrifting is that the clothes are all previously washed. If anyone is going to shrink the sleeves on that $60 sweater? It wasn't you. You are looking at that shirt the way it will come out of your dryer. Is it wrinkly? If you don't love ironing, don't buy it. (and if you do? Hit me up, I've got a whack load!) Does that ruffle fall funny? Chances are you're not going to fix that.
Which brings me to my next point;
5- Use Ultimate Discretion: Your success as a thrifter does not come from how full your bag is...it comes from the quality merchandise you can get for a significant discount.
6- Think Outside the [Retail] Box: I often browse first to find a pattern that catches my eye...often it's something that I find kinda weird. But I pull it out from the pack, I consider it, I wonder what it would look like with a chunky necklace, a belt around the middle, a little more style. You would be surprised at how influenced you are by a retail store's marketing. How the mannequins are dressed will influence what you buy because you think it looks nice. Things are grouped together on racks in the hopes that you will buy Piece A, Piece B & maybe these accessories at the counter together. You have to do this work by yourself at the thrift store, and it is work. To start out, buy 90% from your comfort zone (things you normally gravitate to), 10% of things you want to try. Keep your receipt- thrift stores allow returns too!
7- Look Outside the Size Ranges Noted: Just like different brands fit & size differently, thrift stores often have loose interpretations of "small" or "size 5/6". And, grabby gusses will often move things around frequently.
8- You Don't Have to Buy in Complete Outfits, but You Can: It's not the way I shop. I buy separates because I know my style. Most of the things I buy naturally go together because I am attracted to similar things. Take a look in your closet before you go, you don't need 17 button down shirts in jewel tones. At first, it may be harder to place together an outfit from six different spans of racks, don’t stress. Pick pieces you can work into an existing wardrobe staple.
9- Pay Attention to Pricing, but Don't be Ruled By It: Thrift pricing is all over the place, if you think the price is high, it's completely subjective. Trust your instincts but have an open mind. If the material is good, if you think you won’t find it somewhere else, if you’re totally in love with it? Buy it. It likely won’t be there tomorrow. But don’t be swayed too much by an emotional connection (it’s a real thing, trust me). They’re just clothes and next week there will be a replacement love for you.
Mostly you want to be sure you're shopping smart, taking a few more precautions & opening your mind to a few more options. But the savings are real. Every region is different, so I don't want to start giving pricing guidelines, but I would venture to say that I spend around 80% less than retail on all clothing purchases since...drumroll please...September 2010. My family is dressed well & we save money. It does take a little more brainpower and planning and time, but it's infinitely worth it. See if your thrift store has a loyalty program, a discount card, sign up for weekly emails with coupons- if you’re already saving money, save a little more.
Have any questions for me? I'd love to hear them! Have any tips to add? Please! ADD THEM!
About the Author:Creative, high-strung overplanner meets handsome, patriotic superfan. Married 6+ years, they proceeded to build an army of estrogen: three daughters in six years. Alicia rides the hormone train over on her blog Life With Ladies. She's a fan of the overshare, and hopes that one day her daughters forgive her for writing letters to them all over the internet. She can be found @mrshiggison on Twitter and Instagram (infamous for #urinaledition) and come like their
Monday, September 17, 2012
Summer outdoor activities: parks
One of the main reasons we moved to Newmarket was the beautiful scenery and lots of parks. I would like to share a few of our favorite places to enjoy outdoors. They all are located within walking distance for us, which is great, and they are also all different and mostly very well taken care of.
The park on Wayne st., near the Glen Cedar secondary school. We like that it is located very close to our house, there are several slides of various heights, a sliding pole (this is important for a fire-truck-obsessed toddler), and a huge field to run around, a "forest" with a river and bridges, hiking tracks and even an apple tree. We used to love coming to this park back in the spring and the beginning of summer, but when it got too hot we switched for other parks, that have more shade. I am also not a big fan of the little stones that cover the playground in this park. I noticed that all babies and toddlers keep trying to either eat or throw them; they also make clothes very dirty.
George Richardson park, just at the end of Elgin st. This is one of our favorite parks. It is not as close as the previous one, but still just a 15 minute walk. It has lots of shade from big trees, benches to rest on, a picnic table, a baseball field with the seats for spectators, and even a practice cage. There is a huge field divided into 2 smaller soccer fields, a river with a beautiful bridge, and a Tom Taylor Trail right across the street. The playground is covered with wood chips, which is much better, as they are softer and not as inviting for toddlers to put in their mouth. I also find that even though there are always kids at this park, they are more contained and better supervised, as they come with parents, whereas at the previous park there are lots of school kids playing "grounders" and making the play difficult for toddlers.
Then there is our favorite for the summer time, the "Dinosaur" park. It is located at the end of the Tom Taylor Trail, on the other side of the railway from the water feature and Newmarket Community Center. I like the separate areas of this playground, I like that there are areas with sand, with wood chips, and even with a soft rubber flooring, like in a gym. I also love the fact that it is so close to the water feature, and after an hour of play in the sand, we would go straight to the water and run around there. It was beautiful back in the hot summer days.
(I somehow didn't take a good photo of this park, but I do have a distant view snapshot).
We also love the beautiful walking trail that leads to this park, a river, the ducks and the "dinosaur" bones that you can find in the sand.
We visited a small park on Queen st, behind the Southlake hospital. It is way too small, and the climbing wall was a bit too advance for Santino at his 22 months back then. We will try again next year.
There are other beautiful parks just a few steps away, like a huge playground near the Fairy Lake, and many others. Its hard to visit them all, but please do join in the conversation and share your photos of the beautiful parks in Newmarket and the area!
The park on Wayne st., near the Glen Cedar secondary school. We like that it is located very close to our house, there are several slides of various heights, a sliding pole (this is important for a fire-truck-obsessed toddler), and a huge field to run around, a "forest" with a river and bridges, hiking tracks and even an apple tree. We used to love coming to this park back in the spring and the beginning of summer, but when it got too hot we switched for other parks, that have more shade. I am also not a big fan of the little stones that cover the playground in this park. I noticed that all babies and toddlers keep trying to either eat or throw them; they also make clothes very dirty.
Then there is our favorite for the summer time, the "Dinosaur" park. It is located at the end of the Tom Taylor Trail, on the other side of the railway from the water feature and Newmarket Community Center. I like the separate areas of this playground, I like that there are areas with sand, with wood chips, and even with a soft rubber flooring, like in a gym. I also love the fact that it is so close to the water feature, and after an hour of play in the sand, we would go straight to the water and run around there. It was beautiful back in the hot summer days.
(I somehow didn't take a good photo of this park, but I do have a distant view snapshot).
We also love the beautiful walking trail that leads to this park, a river, the ducks and the "dinosaur" bones that you can find in the sand.
We visited a small park on Queen st, behind the Southlake hospital. It is way too small, and the climbing wall was a bit too advance for Santino at his 22 months back then. We will try again next year.
There are other beautiful parks just a few steps away, like a huge playground near the Fairy Lake, and many others. Its hard to visit them all, but please do join in the conversation and share your photos of the beautiful parks in Newmarket and the area!
