Marché Restaurant, Toronto, ON

I met my pals, Deb, Franca and Liz for supper at the Marché (Yonge/Wellington).

It was there in the mid 1990s when we worked nearby (at that time we all worked for the same company and that's when we became friends) ... then it left and was replaced by another restaurant ... and it recently came back.

This is the inside entrance.

There are different stations (pasta, pizza, salad, seafood, meat, etc.) and you walk around and take what you want.

You give the person at the stations your card for whatever you take ... it's like a charge card and you pay when you leave.

It's a large restaurant. We sat on the "patio" ... which is actually inside Brookfield Place (an office building).

I had a pizza with pepperoni and fresh tomatoes ... it was delicious! It's what I used to order there almost twenty years ago.

Deb ordered cheese ravioli in a cream sauce with mushrooms.

Franca ordered veggie soup and what she said was bruschetta with chicken and asparagus. They had heated it up for her but she said it could have been hotter.

Liz ordered cheese ravioli in a cream sauce with shrimp ... except the shrimp weren't cooked enough so she sent them back. They cooked her some new ones and these ones weren't cooked enough either.

And here we are ... Liz, Deb, me and Franca.

Great to catch up the Chicks!

Luxe Box - April 2012

I got my April Luxe Box today.

Luxe Box is a monthly subscription service that delivers 4-5 deluxe beauty samples to your doorstep in a chic box. The samples range from skincare and makeup to fragrance, body, and haircare. What’s more? These samples have been hand-picked by their beauty experts, so they are confident you will enjoy them!

Luxe Boxes are just $12 each (or $10 if you get the yearly subscription) ... and postage is free.

• Monthly subscription - You pay for one month at a time. Your subscription is automatically renewed once a month.
• Quarterly subscription - You pay for three Luxe Boxes upfront and your subscription is automatically renewed once every three months.
• Yearly subscription - You pay $120 for 12 Luxe Boxes (and you get two Luxe Boxes free!) and your subscription is renewed once a year.

Here's what's inside this one ...

• 3.6ml sample size of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat Nail Polish - 15ml size retail for $8. The product card said it was supposed to be a "full size" but it's not, though.
• 8.6 gram sample of Fekkai Advanced Hair Mask - 200ml size retails for $39 ~ Works great ... I'd buy this product!
• Pantene Pro-V Aqua Light Shampoo and Conditioner - new product - 375ml size retails for $6 ~ Works great ... I'd buy this product!
• Panty by Post - This was one of the first in line products. I got an email asking me what size I wanted. For hygenic reasons, a pair of panties will be shipped separately - retails for $30

You can get your own subscription here.

May 2 update: The panties arrived.

Tractor-trailer rollover on QEW sends one man to hospital

I had a meeting in Burlington today (about 45 minutes away) and was heading back to Toronto just after 2pm.

Heading eastbound (which is where I was going), traffic was jammed. Then I found out why ... a tractor trailer had rolled over on the westbound lanes.

From CP24's site ...

One man has been airlifted to hospital and two lanes of the westbound QEW are closed at Royal Windsor Drive following a tractor-trailer rollover Monday afternoon.

Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Dave Woodford told CP24 that the rollover happened shortly after 1 p.m.

One man has been airlifted to Hamilton General Hospital with life-threatening injuries, Woodford said.

Police said that due to the weight of the load, the tractor-trailer may need to be pumped before it can be raised.

Woodford said the two lanes will likely remain closed until around 7 p.m.

The police had traffic blocked off about a kilometre east of the accident.

Cars were stopped with nowhere to go for kilometres.

Judge & Jury, Burlington, ON

After spending a couple hours walking around Bronte Creek Park, Gord and I stopped at the Judge & Jury for supper.

We haven't been since last July. It's a cute spot. Too bad the beer isn't all that interesting ... the usual big names.

We both ordered Mac and Cheese.

It was good ... but it used to be better. It's not as sticky ... it's more runny.

Gord ordered Cajun wings.

I ordered hot wings ... they were huge and good!

Terri was our server and she took good care of us.

Bronte Creek Park, Burlington, ON

Gord and I spent the afternoon at Bronte Creek Park in Burlington (about a half hour drive west of Toronto).

We hadn't been there since last February when we went snowshoeing (alas, we had no snow this year).

We brought our cameras so we could practice what we'd learned in our Photo 101 course. I took my pictures in aperture priority mode, practicing a shallow (blurred background) and deep (everything is clear) depth of field.

This is the Spruce Lane Farmhouse, which was built in 1899. It is a turn-of-the-century historic house museum near the remaining original apple orchards. Open in the summer, the house features costumed interpreters.

There is a peacock and three hens near the house. He was chillin' when we got there.

We followed the trails. It was a nice day to be outside walking around.

We spent some time at the creek.

Then we followed it for a while.

We climbed the hill and posed on the lookoff using the timer and a mini tripod.

Back on the trail ...

There were lots of trilliums, which is the official symbol of Ontario.

The peacock was showing off to his ladies when we left the trail.

I spent some time watching the pigs ... they were enjoying an afternoon snooze.

Then the male decided it was time to get up and woke the other three up.

She wasn't impressed with him ... and let him know it by peeing in his face when he followed her around!

What a fun afternoon! It was great to get outside.