They say you can’t come home…

After New York we headed home, home home. And look…right there in the airport, KETCHUP CHIPS!

I am willing to accept that I MAY have an unhealthy attachment to those things but it is what is!

We had less than 2 weeks to see everyone so we hit the ground running.
First stop – family and all you can eat sushi…of course!

We gobbled up a RIDICULOUS amount food, seriously it was great!

Following day Stevo headed to the cottage while I stuck around for an extra day with my peeps.
Apparently I only take pictures of restaurants and food WTH??

We were in the West End of TO and decided after a day of shopping at all places that are NOT Kmart (cause that’s all we have in the islands) Polish food was the answer to dinner!

Very medieval old euro restaurant / bar.

Psst Universe, this is the chandelier that should go in the St Thomas Pub I’m requesting…along with the 20 tap beers previously mentioned in the NEW York post!

Perogies, beet soup, cabbage, schnitzel omg so good!

Now for the road trip to the cottage, by myself.
Having not driven for MONTHS it was kind of exciting to hit the road.
You know tunes going, sun shining, wind blowing in my hair and …where am I exactly?

I got lost, it was inevitable BUT I ended up here.

Our friends cabin, also located in the middle of nowhere!
Many fond memories of girl’s weekends and shenanigans which also included getting lost on the way up with tunes going, wind blowing etc…

They don’t call me Dory for nothing!

Made it to the cottage…finally!
Canadian cottage country is all about the woods, camp fires, forest and of course the toys and the vehicles that tow the toys.
I love this Hummer, it has a kick a$$ sound system and well, it’s bad a$$.
Can’t imagine this in St Thomas or can I… just plowing over all the road chaos, cool.

Spring time up north, nothing like it. It doesn’t get better than this and maybe just maybe you don’t fully appreciate the beauty til your not there anymore.

Good friends, fires and beers!

Than there’s the fresh water lakes.
Where a scream almost always accompanies the initial cannonball in!

A waterfront that’s been the back drop for many a person’s summer vacation.

Somehow new toys to play with and fix find their way up to the cottage.
Here’s the newest thingy!

Weekend over it’s time to hit small town Ontario, Port Perry.
Picture a country music video with trucks and hunters, farmers and daisy dukes and well there you have it.

We stayed right next door to our old house.
This was the view we shared with our awesome neighbors everyday!
Only we were next door lol!

This little munchkin is our human gauge to how long we’ve been Knot Anchored.

Harquin had JUST popped out when we left Fralick’s Beach for good.

This blurry action picture is an accurate portrait of the wonderful family we shared many memorable moments with while we were neighbors.
Many more moments to come 😉

Moving down the street we stayed with more neighbors and reminisced, laughed, ate, drank until we fell asleep! So much so that we had that no photos 😦

After catching up with all of our small town connections we were off again.

Next stop Uptown Toronto!
See this wine…do not buy it.

Cause there aren’t many anywhere at any given time and quite frankly we want it all to ourselves.
The BEST wine EVER.
Truly.

We were treated to this by one of our guests/friend on Knot Anchored.

Great times! Followed by greek food. Eating our way across the GTA!

Gotta keep moving, next it was downtown for pub night at the Black Bull on Queen West.

It’s so refreshing to be around kids all on the cusp of something great.
Remember when you were 20 and there wasn’t anything that wasn’t possible?
Hard working, independent, ambitious, funny, sweet kids finding their way.
So proud of them and excited for what the future holds.

It’s actually very inspiring to be around that kind of youthful energy!
It’s a reminder to have a goal to work towards.
Sometimes we get wrapped up in the now and forget about the what’s next.

A few years ago a group of friends were sitting around having a beverage one summer night.
Someone said let’s play a game.
Here’s a question for all of you.

‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years and how do you plan on getting there’.
GO!

Around the circle we went each answering, kind of. Some stronger than others in the fabric of their reply.
That was when I realized for the first time since I was in my early 20’s I didn’t have a plan.
It was just day to day with no goal – wow.
Eye opener.

You know what they say…
Only dead fish go with the flow.

If you want something you have to start moving towards it, otherwise your just standing still aren’t you.
Something else is controlling your destiny, not you.

I digress…

Being downtown again was amazing.
There is so much to do in Toronto!
Stevo and I used take mini vacations and stay in the city like tourists. This was a throwback for sure.

Harbourfront is a tourist hot spot. Anywhere there’s water tends to be a tourist hot spot.

Here we enjoy watching a day charter heading out while we indulge in one of our fave cocktails, the Bloody Caesar.
Like ketchup chips, not found on any menu in the US or the islands.

Against the Grain is located in the Corus Entertainment building where they host radio and tv shows.

Check out the fishy looky things in this hallway.
If you can imagine (I should have taken a video) they shift in unison creating a very cool wave effect on the ceiling.

We have been here 1 thousand times but it doesn’t matter.
You can’t help but get sucked into watching this wave for at least a few minutes.

Since the Distillery District is literally just down the road we were compelled to visit.
It is a must see while in TO – even for us.

Cobblestone streets in an old warehouse district of Toronto turned into a trendy but not commercialized community.

I think the whole family has had it’s picture taken with this truck and yet here I am asking for my picture with this truck – again!

The ‘LOVE’ sign seen below is made up entirely of locks.
The sign reads: My heart is, and always will be yours. ~Jane Austen~
Instructions are to:

IINITIAL: CD + SS
LOCK on LOVE
KISS
TOSS the key
SHARE #DistilleryLove

From the weird larger than life iron art to the LOVE sign everything here somehow works.
There’s a vibe…

Here is a perfect shot of the new (CN Tower peeking in) and the old (Distillery District) that is Toronto.

You can’t come to the DD and NOT visit the Mill Street Brew Pub.
Draft beer…mmmmm.
In the fall (or maybe the winter) there’s a Vanilla Porter that although it sounds weird is one of our faves!

We have been coming here for a long time.
This may however be the first picture inside where the ‘magic’ happens.

Food here is well…

Above average!
If you find yourself in Toronto, come HERE!

Not into beer? No problem come visit this little beauty:

Coffee and pastries in a minimalistic, warehouse space.
This is Balzacs!
Featured on the Entrepreneurial show Dragon’s Den, it’s a place that makes you want to sit and write a book or meet a blind date or go for a job interview.
No one here is just sitting slumped over staring blankly into their coffee.
It’s a ‘things are going on’ kind of place.

We said buh bye to the big DD and found ourselves in rural small town Ontario again.
Staying with friends on this beautiful property with horses and kittens and bunnies – you name it was really a breath of fresh air.

This donkey follows LA around like a dog.

This donkey scared this horse who in turn stepped on my sandaled food!

But I was on mud so it wasn’t anything too painful.
Plus I happened to be leading this horse to the stable which for me is…unheard of!
Horses freak me out. This one didn’t.
He’s the one that got freaked out by the donkey – I knew it wasn’t personal lol!

More goodbye’s the next morning and off we went.

Stevo’s daughter was dancing for the last time and it was the big gala.

We sat through both shows, the other kids made the trip to see her as well.
It was beautiful, entertaining, amazing!

We all sat there feeling very proud and inspired by this girl and how far she’s come through all those years of hard work and dedication.
Hearts full up!

Than it was back to where we started.
kds collage It was the family, friends and food tour.