Terrace update ... none

When I got home from work today, I expected the wall of our terrace to be finished.  They are going to pull it down a couple layers and then build it back up, adding a few more layers.

Um ... no.

Our neighbour to the left, whose terrace was started the day after ours, is done.

As are ten units west of us.

Huh?!

The only progress we've had is that our steps were swept.

 It will be nice to get our terrace back!

We got our stuff back

When I got home from work today, I saw that we got all our stuff back.  Yay!

I imagine our neighbours are happy to get their terrace back.

It doesn't look like any work had been done on the wall.

The railing between our terrace and our neighbour to the left is back, the stones are back on the floor of her terrace and she has her neighbour's stuff stored on her terrace.

I put our stuff back the way it should be on our patio.  Hint hint ... we want the terrace finished so we can use it and we want our BBQ and air conditioner hooked back up.  Pleez??

Book ~ "Liar" (1998) Jan Burke

From Goodreads ~ Irene is numb with shock upon learning that her estranged aunt has been the victim in a brutal killing. But Irene's keen investigative senses immediately awaken when she discovers that she's the #1 suspect of foul play. With the police nipping fast at her heels, Irene searches for her aunt's missing son as she attempts to dig the dirt on her own family members, both past and present. This time it's personal--Irene has to solve the crime to clear her name and catch a killer who's still on the prowl.

This is the sixth book in the series of eleven (as of 2011) ... I'm rereading the series.

Irene's great aunt, Mary, informs Irene that her aunt Briana (Irene's mother's sister) has died ... she was run over by a car. As Briana's sole beneficiary, Irene becomes the number one suspect of the murder, even though she hadn't see Briana in over twenty years. This sets Irene and her friend, Rachel (a former cop, now a private investigator) on the trail to find Briana's son, Travis, which they do.

Travis' father, Arthur, recently died. He had brought scandal to the family years ago when it was discovered that he was married to two women ... to Briana but first to Gwendolyn, who was rich. This all came out when Gwendolyn was murdered about twenty years ago and, though the case was never solved, many assumed Arthur had done it.

So not only is Irene out to solve Briana's murder, she also must solve Gwendolyn's murder since they are probably linked.

I enjoyed this book. It moved along at a good pace and I liked the characters. One of the focuses was on Irene and Travis getting to know each other as long-lost cousins, separated because of a misunderstanding.

Terrace update

A couple fellas spent the day working on our terrace.

They removed all the stones from the terrace floor to level it ... then they put them back down.

This looking at our neighbour to the left's terrace with her stones removed (the railings between our terraces and the next one over have been removed).

Our walls weren't really touched today.

Our stuff was removed so they could level the terrace floor ... and then they were put back.

The railing between our terrace and our neighours to the right was put back up ... and they left all our heavy stuff on their side.  Yep, that's our BBQ, bags of dirt, chairs, table, etc.

They'll either have to take the railing down to haul our stuff back or carry it up and over.  Duh!

Luxe Box - May 2012

My May Luxe Box arrived 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.

Not only did I get one box, but I got two!

Here's what was in the white box:

And here's what was in the black box ... as usual, it was made just for me!

 Contents:

• Venus & Olay razor and five refills - retails for $10
• .23oz sample of Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Revolution Complex - 1.70oz retails for $11.99
• Cargo Lash Activator Mini Duo - $15
• 125ml sample of Joico K-Pak Revitaluxe - 125ml size retails for $50
• 1.2ml samples of Paco Rabanne Black XS L'Excess for Her and Him - 50ml sizes retails for about $75
• 3.5ml sample of Orlane Absolute Skin Recover Repairing Night Cream - 50ml size retails for $225 

Ya gotta love getting $65 worth of stuff for $10!

You can get your own subscription here.

Why we don't have air conditioning right now ...

Gord and I live in a lower unit condo in a townhouse.  When you walk out our door, you are on our terrace ... a few steps take you up to the street level.

The retaining walls on the lower units are starting to collapse so the condo corporation is having them repaired and made a bit higher ... the work started last month.  There are 46 lower units.

They started the repairs on our terrace and our neighbours' terrace today.  The railings have been removed and are laying on the lawn in front.  The bricks from the walls will be removed and replaced properly.

Here is our terrace ... that's the railing that separated the two terraces.

Looking over at our neighbour's terrace ... that's our BBQ, bags of potting soil, shovel and chair on their side (our table and another chair are behind the BBQ).  We have nothing of theirs on our side.

Our terraces ...

In anticipation of the repairs, the air conditioners at our end were disconnected a couple weeks ago.  In the last week, we've been having recordbreaking temperatures (it's currently 31C with the humidex of 38C).  The air conditioners are supposed to be hooked up again on Thursday.  Here is our air conditioner with our neighbour's air conditioner on top ... not much good today.

I have a six-inch fan on my desk at work that I brought home ... it's surprising what a difference it is making.  I'm not hot and cranky ... yippee.

Dog & Bear Pub, Toronto, ON

When the Social decided to change its format to become a pub, Gord and I were happy.  We love pubs and that's what's lacking in our 'hood.

The Dog & Bear Pub opened yesterday.  Gord and I checked it out this afternoon.

They have restyled the inside to resemble a pub rather than a dance club (which it used to be).

We sat at the bar and watched the Blue Jays game (alas, they lost to Texas in the 13th inning).

Kristen took good care of us.

 After all the walking we did in the heat today, my beer tasted gooooood!

When Kristen left, someone one else took care of us.  She spent more time at the other end of the bar chatting with the other servers and/or checking her texts, though.   Despite this, we liked this pub and will probably check it out on a regular basis.  The menu looks great and we'll be stopping in for supper sometime soon.

This woman came in just before we left ... she had the awesomist 'fro I've ever seen!

Fat Bastard Burrito Co., Toronto, ON (Queen Street W)

Gord and I love love love burritos and have been waiting for Fat Bastard Burrito to open in our 'hood for a while.

It opened on Thursday so we stopped in this afternoon for a late lunch/early supper.

They have a selection of burritos, quesadillos, poutine, etc.

We both ordered a big baked chicken burrito.  The difference between them is that his had lettuce and mine had tomatoes.

And it was big!

Here's mine ...

 Here's Gord's ...

They were tasty (though lacked a bit of a kick) and the price was right ... we'll be back.