The Last Few Weeks...March 22

it's easter weekend and the first easter that i haven't spent with my family in quite some time. my weekend kicked off early with a trip to the "one of a kind show" in t.o. on thursday, a gigantic show at the direct energy centre full of canadian artists and artisans selling their wares (http://www.oneofakindshow.com/indexT.php ). i was in heaven. i took transit over and thought i'd only stay a couple of hours. 5 hours later, i had barely made it through the first 3/4 of the show! what amazing artists there are out there. i'm always so impressed at what people think of and actualize. it makes me want to quit my job and figure out something good to sell. i would love to go around from show to show meeting cool people and seeing cool things. i made my list of things i wanted to think about and decided to think on it.

everything is closed in toronto on holidays still so there wasn't much to do on good friday. (as a matter of fact, the toronto city council recently voted against a proposal to allow businesses to open on statutory, or "stat" holidays here. old skool.) when i woke up, i decided to go to the imax theatre here to see "hurricane on the bayou" ( http://www.hurricaneonthebayou.com/ )at the ontario science center (http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/ ). i decided to take the ttc and it only took about 45 minutes! i took the streetcar to the subway to the bus...and it dropped me off right at the science centre...awesome! i was so happy. what a colossal mistake to go on good friday, though. there were about 970,000 screaming children and parents and the line to get into the imax was as long as a football field. once we got in, a little kid with a plastic coke bottle sat next to me and popped the empty bottle in and out the entire time. why do parents not say anything to their kids anymore? my dad would have broken my hands off for doing that. the movie was good but i was glad it was over. i hightailed it back downtown and ordered a cheese pizza from pizza rustica for good friday dinner and popped in "michael clayton".



on saturday, i decided i would go back to the "one of a kind show" to buy my choices and then go to high park for a stroll. yeah, right. i managed to spend another 4 hours at the show and another $400. that place is dangerous. and, everyone tells me the christmas show is double the size. wow. lots of talented people in canada! surprisingly, many of the exhibitors were from quebec and there was a ton of french being spoken. i just love that, although i have no clue what they're saying. it's such a pretty language. anyway, i bought some gold filagree earrings from a jewelry maker from t.o., 2 freshwater pearl bracelets from a jewelry designer from winnipeg, a a kari lynn bianchi armband that i love ( http://www.karilynnbianchi.com/armbands.php ), a really cute handmade purse from prickly pear ( http://www.pricklypear.biz/ ) and some cool "buddha bowls" that were on oprah's favorite things list last year from the artist who lives in b.c. ( http://flavourdesign.com/portfolio.php ). i spent way too much, but i wouldn't be able to get these things once i leave t.o. actually, i could have spent a lot more! needless to say, i didn't make it to high park and just ended up on queen west.

on easter sunday, i woke up and decided to go eat brunch early to beat the crowds. in my quest to eat brunch at as many of toronto's plethora of brunch places, i decided to eat at easy restaurant on queen west and roncesvalles ( http://easybreakfast.ca/ ). i had the huevos divorciados which was okay, but i probably wouldn't go back. it started to get really crowded by the time i left, too. i ended my easter sunday by lounging on my sofa and enjoying the beautifully sunny day.