Foto Friday: week 12

I'm sad to say the week ended with slim-pickings in the photo department. I think the whole *going back to work after three weeks off* thing was throwing me off a bit. Hope you all had a wonderful week!

[day 78: Little Kayin fresh out of the oven.]

[day 79: A little taste of NYC soul in TO.]

[day 80: New oversized Sbux mug to add to my collection.]

[day 81: Had a *date afternoon* with E. Saw Alice in Wonderland. Don't be jealous of my 3D specs.]

[day 82: Illuminated by the afternoon sun.]

[day 83: Delectable birthday delights.]

[day 84: Horrible-quality shot of the funny sign on a Brampton public bus. If you can't tell, there is a man with his hands in the air because the bus is *kneeling* down on his foot...it was funny when I took the photo at 7:30AM. Really.]

Read more...

Fit 4 Life NYC goes live!

I'm giddy with excitement to announce that my wonderful husband, Emil has launched his very new, very shiny, completely fabulous Fit 4 Life NYC website! And what better day to celebrate this than on his birthday? [Happy birthday, my love!]

Just a few years ago, Fit 4 Life NYC was a dream for Emil. He was working a regular 9-5 job but was dismayed by the lack of physical activity and healthy eating not only in the lives of NYC's adults, but also its children. He tried to develop programs within the organizations he worked in to promote healthy living for the children they served. He began email newsletters for his coworkers to help them get a hold of their fitness and nutrition. But he wanted to do more.

That's when Fit 4 Life NYC was born. It began as a program in East New York, Brooklyn for children who weren't receiving any sort of physical activity at school. A few hours every Saturday, Emil and a group of volunteers he had recruited, went out to East New York to mentor these children. Half the time was spent doing fun fitness games and exercises while the other half was used to educate the children and adults on tasty, healthy snacks. It was an act of love on the part of Emil and the volunteers. There was no funding.

Emil's passion for healthy living was quickly transferred to the adults in his life. People wanted to know what they could do to become healthier, lose weight, gain confidence...the list was endless. Emil began training a few friends and eventually began his Boot Camp and SlimDown classes. The success stories of the participants are so motivating...they are what kept me going to classes, even when I was pregnant and oh-so-tired.

Emil and his team have been working around the clock for the last couple of months tweaking every aspect of the site so that it reflects the core values of F4L, which embody balancing a healthy lifestyle into our already busy lives.
He expanded the Fit 4 Life Kids pages with more information on how to get the F4LKids program in your school. [He currently serves several New York City schools with a variety of fitness programs for grades K-9.]

I'm so proud of everything Emil has done. His determination to change the course of our population from becoming bigger and more unhealthy is inspiring enough to make people want to change. We deserve to live long, healthy lives. And Fit 4 Life NYC has the tools to help us do just that!

Check out Emil's blog and Facebook Fan Page: NYC and Kids.

Read more...

New-fangled photobooth=fuzzy pics

Indio and I had a coffee date with Li and Bella at Vaughan Mills last week. While strolling through the mall we came across one of those new digital photobooths where you can choose various combinations of poses/prints/background. As much as I love photobooths I'd never taken Indio in one until now.

After depositing $5 into the machine our faces appeared in front of us. This seemed helpful because we could see if we were actually in the frame, but it was also confusing because it was a mirror image, so when I moved left, the screen me moved right. Indio got a kick out of looking at himself and I was sure all the photos were going to be keepers. I was so excited to get my 2 strips of 4 poses and already planned to give one strip to E for his wallet.

Well, wasn't I disappointed when the strips emerged out of the machine! Every single photo was blurry. And we were really washed out. I don't know about these new booths -- the old-fashioned kind seem perfectly fine to me.

Read more...

Foto Friday: week 11

I haven't really gotten back into the swing of things since our return from NYC so this is another Indio-heavy week.

[day 71: Sign at my favourite Italian restaurant, Graziella's, in Brooklyn.]

[day 72: Calamari at Prima Pasta in Howard Beach, Queens.]

[day 73: Please excuse the horrible quality of this BlackBerry pic. Forgot my camera in the car but wanted to capture Indio playing with his cousin, Nico in New Jersey before we hit the road for Toronto. Some say they look like brothers.]

[day 74: Fitting, no?]

[day 75: First big-boy haircut.]

[day 76: Helping papa.]

[day 77: Indio discovers twigs.]

Read more...

Well Fed: Coquine

^screen shot from Coquine website

It's been awhile since I ventured to the trendy Yonge and Eglinton area, but last night Nooreen and I decided to break out of our usual routine and have dinner at Coquine. Being one of Nooreen's favourite restaurants, I figured it must be good because she seems to have tried every restaurant in Toronto!

We both started with a glass of Cesari Mara Valpolicella Ripasso, which lived up to the belief that you can't really go wrong with a Valpolicella. It must have been copycat night because we both also ordered steak frites. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium-rare and the frites were dusted with parmesan...delish! I loved that there was also a side of garlic mayo and ketchup for dipping because who doesn't love mayo with their fries? I don't know what got into us, but we ordered dessert too! We shared the warm flourless chocolate torte with a decaf coffee each. [again with the copying!]

Every morsel I put into my mouth was scrumptious! Coquine is definitely a great place to go for a casual meal. The prices were reasonable [$12 wine, $18 steak frites, $9 torte], the atmosphere was lively, the service was good, and the company was fun!

Read more...