Summer in the Six is Coming - Sangria in the Park!

This past Sunday was beautiful in Toronto! It was upwards of 20*, so after church and a great workout at the gym, we made some sangria and headed to the park.

Nic wasn't too happy that I bought this thermos from the grocery store last summer, but now he loves it. We can bring hot coffee on hikes, or delicious sangria to hang out.

Of course I brought my KOBO and colouring book.

Black leather ball cap - eBay
Crop top - H&M
Black maxi skirt - Costa Blanca
Birkenstocks

Allan Gardens with Ryan and Deanna

Yesterday I posted the first half of our time this weekend with Ryan and Deanna. Today I wanted to post some photos of Allan Gardens, which you should absolutely visit if you're in Toronto. It's free, and there are tons of awesome plants. Also, if it's winter, it feels like summer in the greenhouses. That's sweet.

A Sunny Saturday in Toronto with Siblings

Saturday was a beaaauuutiful day! My brother Ryan and sister-in-law Deanna came to visit us, and we didn't even wear coats! We went to Allan Gardens first, then through to Nic's lab, and Kensington Market. A plethora of pictures from Allan Gardens will come out soon.

Nic gave Ryan and Deanna a tour of his lab at UofT, which was cool for them. I'm still only getting an understanding of his Master's, and he's almost done!

We walked through to Kensington Market and looked in a bunch of stores. These pillows are at the Blue Banana Market.

We stopped for drinks at Trinity Common, and my ceasar was perfect.

Dinner at Pho Hung in Chinatown.

Spring Afternoon and Sorry Coffee Co.

Wednesday afternoon I went to the ROM to use my free membership again. I checked out both Canadian exhibits, which I hadn't seen before. It's really nice to be able to hang out in the museum while there aren't tons of people and see everything at my own pace.

This is Momency Falls outside of Quebec City, one of my favourite places. It's so gorgeous there!

Nic and I met up at Sorry Coffee Co. in Yorkville. No, they don't have an Instagram, but you can see tons of everyone else's photos. The place was much smaller than I had expected, but luckily it was almost warm enough so Nic and I drank our coffees outside.

Of course I loved all the copper, geometric shapes, and the marble.

Beautiful latte art! Nic's cappuccino was good, and I liked my latte.

Every so often they change up the design of their cups, which they hand-stamp.

Loving the spring weather!

#WinterStations

This winter at the Toronto Beaches they hosted something really cool: art installations around the lifeguard stands, called Winter Stations. 2016's theme was Freeze/Thaw, which went very well with our very fake winter this year. Some weeks we were at -20 (almost never), and then shot up to 5. The installations

The theme of Freeze / Thaw asks designers and artists to respond to the changing climactic conditions and transitions of the Toronto winter. Designs may anticipate the coming spring or refuse to yield, reminding us December is only a few months behind and will return again. They may highlight a static moment or phase in our winter. Perhaps, most significantly, designs have the opportunity to observe, reflect or contrast the immediate waterfront landscape with its banks of snow and frozen ice. To this end, they should expect to be playful and provocative, creatively utilizing materials and site to inform concepts that echo the freeze / thaw narrative and will engage the public.

"Steam Canoe"

It was a lot of fun walking around the various pieces, climbing into them, looking at the crazy construction, and waiting for dogs to stop peeing on them so I could get a good shot.

This structure uses Grip metal to keep it all together. When the snow melts on it, the structure will create fog at -20*. Unfortunately it was about 0 for us, so we didn't get to experience that.

While it looks like the Death Star, it's not. You can climb inside and be nestled in layers of fur which has been attached to the sphere's inner walls. It's pretty warm.

"Flow"

When I saw this, I immediately thought of tiddlywinks. Turns out the stars are supposed to be snow crystals and are supposed to mimic the transition between freeze and thaw. People were taking the ice crystals and throwing them up on top, which served to depict how the structure would change during the thaw and then re-freeze.

"Ropes"

This structure is a floating cube of ropes. You can climb the guard chair inside to view the landscape.

After our walk we went to Sky Blue Sandwiches and I had a phenomenal pesto, cheese, pepper, and avocado sandwich.

#emptyROM in the Dinosaur Room!

On Wednesday I was one of the lucky 10 or so people who got accepted to participate in #emptyROM. The premise is simple: get to see and photograph the dinosaur rooms before the museum opened! I was so excited when I saw the post on the ROM's instagram, so I knew I had to try to get in.

Look at that! No one is in the shot except for the beautiful dinosaur!
We got to hear cool stories, like this dinosaur was discovered by a student on her first day, and the dig instructor was occupied by his own stuff, figuring she wouldn't find anything important. Oops.

It was so awesome to take all the pictures (I had over a hundred in the one hour) with no one in the way.

Just me and a t-rex!

This was one of my favourite shots from the event. I love how the line of the wing matches the architecture!

It was such an awesome way to start my day, and I'm so thankful for the surprise afterward: a free membership for a year! How crazy!