Toronto Blue Jays 5, New York Yankees 3, Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON

The Toronto Blue Jays are hosting the New York Yankees this weekend (there are four games).  Gord and I were at the season and home opener on Thursday (they lost) and we went to the game this afternoon.

The Blue Jays's line-up ...

Doug Tranquada sang the national anthems.

Egg Sunrise Grill, Toronto, ON

Gord and I had breakfast this morning at Egg Sunrise Grill (Dundas Street W/Gladstone Avenue).  Though it's in our 'hood and walked and driven by it often, we've never been there before.

We both ordered an Awesome All-Day Breakfast and they were delicious.

Gord ordered bacon and eggs.  He also had coffee which was refilled a couple times.

Happy birthday, Gord!

Wishing my husband, Gord, a very happy birthday!

Toronto Rock 7, Colorado Mammoth 11, Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON

Gord and I are season ticket holders for the Toronto Rock lacrosse team games ... the Rock is a professional lacrosse franchise in the National Lacrosse League (NLL).  This is our sixth year going to the games and our fifth year having seasons tickets.

They were playing the Colorado.  Toronto is in the eastern division and Colorado is in the western division. Going into tonight's game, Colorado had already secured a playoff spot (they were in second place in the western division with 9 wins/4 losses). Toronto was battling for a playoff spot. They were in first place with 7 wins/6 losses but Rochester, Georgia and Buffalo were right behind them with 7 wins/7 losses and New England has 6 wins/7 losses. After tomorrow night's game, the Rock will have just four games left (including one home game).

I watched the Rock players warm up.

Tomorrow is Gord's birthday and I had surprised him and invited some of his closest and oldest friends to tonight's game.  Their gifts included a sweatshirt with his book cover and a lottery ticket

As usual, Scotty Newlands sang the national anthems.

Moxie's Grill & Bar, Toronto, ON

Gord and I had supper this evening at Moxie's Grill & Bar (on University Avenue at Wellington Street W) before the Toronto Rock game.

We both ordered Chicken Enchildas.  I got mine without guacamole or sour cream.  They were good and filling.  The chips on the side were really yummy!  I've gotten this before and would get it again.

Laya Spa & Yoga, Toronto, ON

For our birthdays, instead of buying each other something, Gord and I treat each other to the spa.  His birthday is tomorrow so we spent a couple hours today at Laya Spa & Yoga (Queen Street W/Ossington Avenue).  It's in our 'hood and surprisingly, though we've walked by it about a million times over the years, we've never checked it out.

Escape the high energy of the city and step into Laya, where every detail is considered and put in place to make sure that your experience is nurturing. Our mantra is health from within, living beautifully inside and out. We are an Ayurveda inspired spa and our aim is to bring forth the practices of Eastern Medicine as a platform for healing. We offer nourishing and wholesome services that help support your body in good health.

Laya is housed a modern space that blends exotic Moroccan textiles and North African design with the edge and urbanity of West Queen West. Our large range of traditional services include signature treatments like herbal hand & foot treatments, hair removal and natural facials, massage therapy and other unique body treatments that are medicine for the soul.

Movement is medicine, our daily yoga class offerings include a variety of unique classes that honour all levels of practice. We host weekly events and workshops that support expansion and reconnection to the Divine Feminine.

​ The space houses a steam room that can be added to any service to enhance your experience. We offer a community shared workspace in our lounge area and outside patio in the summer where we serve Morrocan tea with fresh herbs. We welcome you to join us for morning tea ceremonies, monthly ecstatic dance rituals, meditation and so much more. Please check out our events page for more details.

Happy birthday, Muffin!

Our girl is a year old today!

She does this all the time ... even sleeps like this!

Chimac Pub & Fried Chicken, Toronto, ON

Gord and I had supper this evening at Chimac Pub & Fried Chicken (on Queen Street W, east of Bathurst Street).  It's a Korean chicken restaurant.

We shared a whole bone-in Chimac Fried Chicken with yangneom sauce and soy garlic sauce, which was served with picked radish.  The chicken was hot, tender and freshly made.

Toronto Blue Jays 1, New York Yankees 6, Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON

This afternoon was the season AND home opener for the Toronto Blue Jays ... and Gord and I were there!  I went online as soon as tickets went on sale last month and got a couple.  Yay!

The New York Yankees are in town this weekend for four games.

On the back of everyone's seat was a teeshirt ... sweet!

Book ~ "Cousins Maine Lobster: How One Food Truck Became a Multimillion-Dollar Business" (2018) Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac

From Goodreads ~ In early 2012, Jim Tselikis visited L.A. and met up with his cousin, Sabin Lomac. Over a few drinks, they waxed nostalgic about their childhood in Maine, surrounded by family, often elbow deep in delicious lobster while gathered around the picnic table. From this strong memory was born the very first Cousins Maine Lobster food truck. Smart, authentic marketing, and sustainable, delicious ingredients helped turn that one food truck into an overnight sensation. Then, in just three years, they went from a single food truck to a nationally-franchised legion of trucks, an online delivery service, and a brick-and-mortar restaurant, grossing over $15 million dollars in sales a year.

Start-up fever has taken hold of America and there are hundreds of books to teach readers how to become an entrepreneur; this is the first book to answer the question: What's next? At each step, Jim and Sabin were faced with hard decisions--opening each new food truck carefully instead of rushing to meet the demand; turning down a six-figure franchise offer because it came from someone who didn't support their vision; turning down Shark Tank (twice) until they could insist on participating only if Barbara Corcoran was one of the Sharks. Now Jim and Sabin teach readers how they, too, can reach the next level of success in their own businesses, without having to compromise themselves. 

Jim and Sabin are cousins but over the years, they'd lost touch with each other ... Jim lived in Boston and Sabin lived in L.A.  Jim was heading out to California on vacation to visit a friend and thought he'd touch base with his long-lost cousin, Sabin, who lived in Los Angles.  When they got together, there was much reminiscing about the lobster boils with family when they were kids.  They decided they wanted to recreate the same experience for people in California.

The Cousins Maine Lobster food truck was born, giving L.A. customers a Maine lobster shack experience, serving lobster rolls with fresh lobster all the way from Maine.  They were approached to appear on Shark Tank (I remember seeing when they were on the show and that's what made me interesting in reading this book) and ended up with a deal with Barbara Corcoran ... $55,000 for 15% of their business.  Six years later, their company consists of 21 food trucks in 13 cities, a restaurant in West Hollywood and an online retail business, all of which has earned over $20 million in sales.

This book is their story.  They discuss the history of the Maine and New England fishing and lobster industry, how they got started, how they continue to grow, preparing for Shark Tank and targeting Barbara, their failures and successes, franchising, how important it is to incorporate family values, trust and loyalty in their business when dealing with employees, customers and/or suppliers, and giving back (Cousins for a Cause partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles).

I thought it was an interesting story.  It's amazing how far they've come in such a short amount of time  from one food truck and they seem to be extremely dedicated hard workers.  It also sounds like they have stayed true to their Maine roots ... family values, a strong work ethic and a connection to the community.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

Corned Beef House, Toronto, ON

Gord and I had lunch this afternoon at the Corned Beef House (John Street/Adelaide W) ... it's our favourite place for corned beef and Montreal smoked meat sandwiches.

We were hungry so got a gigantic corned beef sandwich and a gigantic Montreal smoked meat sandwich on light rye ... as usual, we had half of each.  And as usual, they were delicious!

Book ~ "I Could Chew on This: And Other Poems by Dogs" (2013) Francesco Marciuliano

 From Goodreads ~ This canine companion to "I Could Pee on This", the beloved volume of poems by cats, "I Could Chew on This" will have dog lovers laughing out loud. 

Doggie laureates not only chew on quite a lot of things, they also reveal their creativity, their hidden motives, and their eternal (and sometimes misguided) effervescence through such musings as "I Dropped a Ball," "I Lose My Mind When You Leave the House" and "Can You Smell That?" 

Accompanied throughout by portraits of the canine poets in all their magnificence, "I Could Chew on This" is a work of unbridled enthusiasm, insatiable appetite, and, yes, creative genius.

I'm not into poetry but I'm into dogs and that's why this book caught my eye ... plus I recently read I Could Pee on This and enjoyed it.

The poems are "written" by dogs and are grouped into four categories ... inside, outside, by your side and heavy thinking.  They give you insight into what your dog is thinking and why they do what they do.  Plus there are lots of colour pictures of gorgeous puppies and dogs.

This is a quick cute read and I look forward to reading others by this author.  Here are some examples from the book ...