What I've been up to lately - November 2023

As the typical real estate cycle starts to slow down for the winter, I've been embracing some much-needed time off. From enjoying a delicious dinner with my sis at La Palma, to taking slow flow yoga classes at the newly opened The Yard studio to showings that had one of the best views of the city I've ever seen, soaking in the last of the fall colours with Winston the dog and LOL'ing at a Just For Laughs comedy show - it's been a very good month. Let's dig into it.

Food I ate

Let's start with a snack that I have recently discovered, and I need to tell everyone about. It's Chimes Toasted Coconut Toffee with Sea Salt. These little hard toffee candies have the perfect combination of sweet coconut and a touch of sea salt, making them incredibly addictive.

I went to Maha's Brunch - an Egyptian restaurant that focuses on authentic brunch foods. Be warned it's a small restaurant, and you need to get there early if you don't want to be standing outside in the line. I like to go during the week before 10 AM. We got the Cairo Classic, the Basturma Scramble, and a large Honey Cardamom latte.

We stopped by the Blood Brothers x Turkey and the Wolf pop-up for some pretty unique tacos. Including Hog's Headcheese, Lamb Shwarma, Taquidogs, and Pork Rind tacos. Plus, they had speciality drinks so I had to try Mighty Eagle Micheleda's. It was a super yummy and fun night out.

My sister came to Toronto, and I was craving lasagna, so we went to La Palma. I haven't been here in a minute but wow, this was one of the best meals that I've had. Cocktails were all on point. My fave was the Negroni D'Autunno, which tasted like a sweeter version of the traditionally bitter negroni. It was SO good. We had the Fritto Misto, The 100 Layer Lasagna and the Branzino. Plus, for sides, we ate up the Snow Pea Leaves, Spouted Cauliflower and Crispy Potatoes. And to finish it all off, we had the Chocolate Torte and the Lemon Posset.

Finally, my vegetarian mother-in-law celebrated her 65th birthday, and my husband and I wanted to make it extra special for her by serving a 100% vegetarian meal. She didn't know what we were eating so it make the surprise extra special. I completely forgot to take photos of our meal, but luckily my aunt took a couple of them. I also made menus of the meal to make it feel like we were at a restaurant - would definitely recommend doing that for your next get-together.

What I did

Even though real estate has slowed down, it doesn't mean that I'm not still doing showings (which is personally, one of my fave things to do!), and this month I saw one of the best views of Toronto from Etobicoke from the condos at 33 Shore Breeze Dr. We also lucked out with a crystal clear blue sky day, but wow. It doesn't get much better than that!

I stopped by The Wild Pansy yard sale that they had. If you follow me, you know that I LOVE this flower shop. They have the best selection of local flowers and so many other pretty things. I ended up getting a couple of vases, candles, and some flowers, too!

A new yoga studio opened up close to me called The Yard. Which I am super grateful for because I love being able to walk to a yoga class without having to stress and worry about traffic. It's a stunning new spot on Geary Ave that's all about building community. If you're in the area, stop by! They have some great introduction offers for new students, too.

What I read

The Psychology of Saving Money: How to Train Your Brain to Save - With inflation impacting everyone I know, maybe it's a good time for a reminder about how to save. This is a particularly important topic for anyone, especially for new buyers saving for a downpayment.

Toronto Life's How one couple transformed an old church into a polychromatic playhouse describes the journey of a couple who left their condo at Bloor and Landsdown and purchased a $ 460,000 19th-century red-brick church in Sheffield, near Hamilton. They have been transforming it into a truly unique home.

The Globe And Mail's Cadillac Fairview shifts Montreal development project to rentals from office space. With the full push to build as much as possible across Canada and a lagging workforce heading back to the office, the smart move is to convert office space into rentals, and Cadillac Fairview is doing just that in Montreal.

Bon Appetit's 31 Thanksgiving Pies You’ll Want Again for Breakfast. We love our pies over here. So I love to look though a huge list and make plans on which ones to make first. I've been eyeing the Simply Brilliant Banoffee Pie to make ASAP.