Toronto Diaries: Beat the Winter Blues!

Yes, Canadian winters are harsh and so are winters in many other parts of the world. So when I was moving to Toronto earlier this year, many people warned me about the freezing cold minus temperatures I would be experiencing this year. Having lived in London, I had an idea of how depressing winters can get and I was dreading the season in anticipation. But you've gotta keep going, whatever the weather. So here are a few tips to keep yourself active and out of winter depression:

1. Ice Skating: With the amazing winter gear you get here in Canada (Down Jackets, face covering woollies, gloves and snow boots) you don't have too much of an excuse for staying indoors. While you might not like getting out everyday, 1-2 times a week is very much doable. At the onset of winter, ice rinks become active around all neighbourhoods, some indoors while others outdoors, so its a great outlet and exercise to beat that winter muffin and coffee fat with ice skating at least once a week. Ice skates are quite inexpensive to get starting at about $30. Or you could just rent them at the rink if you like. 

2. Warm up and Host: Yes, all those summers you've been busy with outdoor activities, lazing around on beaches or perhaps been out of the country - so no one minds that you've been out of touch with some of your local friends but its time to get back in touch again. Winters are an excellent time to starting hosting some dinner / tea parties at your place. Sitting by the fireplace with a warm coffee, chit chatting away with a group of friends is an ideal activity for when outdoors just doesn't seem fun at all! While most people have already done that around christmas and new years parties - winters are long and cold enough to continue the trend even after the holiday season. 

3. Indoor Shopping Malls: Another escape from boredom is your nearest shopping mall. Not only can you do most of your shopping without having to go to the cold parking lot every now and again, but it also gives you a good opportunity to walk your legs. (some of the bigger malls are quite a walk, and sometimes people visit malls just for a walk!)

4. Read: Have you been putting off that book you were reading because summer outdoor activities were just so much more attractive? Well now is the time to catch up on your reading while you sip your hot tea or coffee, snuggled in the cozy blanket. (Or blog like me :-) - it's great way to stay busy if you're more a of a writer than a reader)

5. Visit Museums: Another indoor activity for your winter weekends. ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) in downtown Toronto is on my winter to-do list. I have been going to downtown all summer but getting into a museum on a bright sunny afternoon for 3 hours just always lost its chance against cycling around or walking by the high street. 

6. Join a class/ Watch a Performance: Art, craft, baking and other interesting classes run all the year round at different community centers. Perhaps now is the time to take up a class in a warm indoor classroom environment. Check out Living Arts for not just courses but also other events and theatrical performances taking place during the winters. 

7. Ski: If you're more adventurous for the list above, skiing is definitely one of the best activities during winters. Two great locations to skii are: Blue Mountains Ski Resort & Kelso Conservation Area. I'm sure there are many more near your area but these are two I have personally been to and loved!

Cheer up! Happy Winters!!! 

Toronto Diaries - Home Shopping

If you're new to Toronto and looking around for some good ideas for home shoppping, well here's a tip list from my very fresh and recent experience: 

1. The main places for furniture shopping are IKEA, Leons, Bricks and Ashleys. IKEA is perceived to be cheaper and good for quick and practical home set ups, but beware - IKEA with its flimsy finish and quality is usually more pricey than Leons and Bricks - we experienced this mainly when comparing beds and dining tables.

So if you have kids, go ahead with ikea furniture for their bedrooms but for your lounge and master bedrooms, it might be a better idea to check out Leons, Bricks etc. Ashleys is really good too but on the pricier side.

Leons and Bricks seem to have either the same or extremely similar suppliers, because you find the same designs in both places. Leons offers free home delivery  for any thing over USD400 whereas Bricks charges about USD 50 for delivery, no matter how expensive. They usually have great deals on in some seasons so its a good idea to only buy during deals - its definitely worth the wait. If you however you buy something off deal and its put on deal within 30 days of your purchase, you can claim for a refund of the extra amount and they will cater to it.  For that you need to keep an eye on their prices even after you've bought your furniture!

2. So once you're done with the big furniture, you're probably thinking curtains and blinds now. This is a tough one,especially if you've seen better things back home (and especially if your home was Pakistan or India, where beautiful and customised curtains are made at amazingly low prices as compared to the dollar prices you see here). So my first suggestion is, if you can get your drapes made custom made back home (incase you have an excellent cousin, sister or friend who can do that for you and ship them across, or you happen to be going back for a holiday soon - that should be your first option). Because good drapes are found few here. The ones that are even close to good are extremely expensive.

If however you just need very plain, no frills, simple drapes - I'd suggest you get them at Walmart (starting at 20 dollars). If you'd like to get slightly classier ones, then you can get them at Home Outfitters or Sears(starting at 40 dollars) 

If you're going for blinds, then IKEA or Blinds to go - are good options. Blinds are relatively easier to find and cheaper than curtains.

3. Ok drapes done too. What's next? I guess Kitchen and Crockery. Here you won't have trouble looking for options, starting at Walmart and going up to the classiest stores - you'll find good crockery and cooking ware, all price ranges and qualities. My favourite are:

 - Corelle
 - Benix 
 - Home Outfitters

4. Ok done with all the necessary stuff? Now comes the fun part - Home Decor.  Here again you'll find many options but what you must check on your shopping trip are:

- Home Sense
- Home Outfitters
- Pier One (on the expensive side)
- Bouclair (on the expensive side)
- Do NOT shop at IKEA for decor before checking the above out, chances are you're going to regret!

5. Now you're wondering, that's a bunch load of places to visit. So let me give you some good news. There is an outlet store area where you can find almost all of the above stores. This shoppers' heaven is called 'HeartLand' - your ultimate destination for cheaper prices on ALL brands - home or clothing or accessories.

Good Luck Shopping & Settling in :) 

Toronto Diaries - Arts & Culture

I'm going to start a series of posts titled 'Toronto Diaries' which will talk about my experiences in this new city. It seems like 'Google' isn't always a great help when you're searching for the right stuff in a new city. What helps more is word of mouth and that's also hard to find in a city you're new to. 

So I'm hoping information in my posts would help anyone who's new to Toronto (or Mississauga) and for the rest, perhaps you can just enjoy the read !

Well if you're new in Mississauga and do not want to travel to downtown very often for something artsy - whether its an art class, theater show, musical or concerts, one place you'd like to keep a tap on is 'Living Arts Centre'.  Living Arts is conveniently located in the center of the city of Mississauga, very close to the shopping mall 'Square One'   Living Arts is an amazing place where cultural, community and art activities taking place all year round. Currently they are holding a range of workshops and courses including, Theater Classes, Pottery, Hot Glass Sculpting, Wood Sculpting, Oil Painting, Drawing, Dance and Creative Writing. 

They have exclusive studios for each of these courses; the studios are fully equipped with all kinds of tools and machinery required for the craft. Class sizes are usually small (12-15 persons) so individual attention is given to each learner. All class times and fees can be found on their website! I'm attending the oil painting class and loving it so far!  Living Arts also stages musicals, so Mama Mia is coming up in November. Recently they staged an amateur theater, Anarkali - so you can expect ethnic performances as well. Last month one evening was dedicated to Mehdi Hassan, where one of his trained pupils from Pakistan performed Mehdi Hasan's popular ghazal songs. 

Another place you might like to check out for Art courses is Visual Arts Mississauga; they have a similar course offering and slightly less expensive fee structure.