Caledonia Towns on the Park

We've been interested in the progress of this development since we moved into the area. To be honest, we were somewhat skeptical of the location (great to be by the park, but it seems a bit close to this already busy street) and as it started to build up, we weren't digging the exterior choices.

BUT - after visiting the site of Minto, the developer behind this project, it was cool to see how diligent they've been with keeping people updated. You don't see that from a lot of other developers and often you have to scour the internet or casually walk by the development regularly to try to get some information (both of which we have done in the past when we were house hunting).

We especially liked Minto's blog, which featured some photos of the interior in it's current stage. Looks like they're doing their best to not hide anything from buyers. Or at least appear not to :)

So, although we're not quite yet sold on the end product (we're gonna blame it on the weather right now, just in case we're eating our words later), we're giving the company some credit for the way they've handled their marketing.

We'd love to hear from anyone who knows more about this new area and if you've purchased, welcome to the neighbourhood!

Getting a head start on new year's resolutions...

So it's been a long, looong, looooooong while since we last posted one of our west end adventures. With 2012 coming to an end in just a couple of weeks, we thought we'd get a head start on some of our resolutions, with "Continuing our blog" on the list.

So far so good.

The other resolution was to get more physically fit. Since the holidays are generally jam packed with dinners and parties that add to the waistline before the new year, we thought there was no better time than the NOW to get started.

With that in mind, we somehow managed to drag our asses out of bed at 5:30 this morning and try out our first bootcamp class (together) at Body Stride. There isn't much to the site yet, but the owner, Jamie, told us that a new website would be running in January. We learned about Body Stride while walking along St. Clair and seeing a sidewalk sign for it. I know - an actual, physical sign. Those still work sometimes, who knew?!

Ok - so to be honest, we didn't really do any research on the place and were simply sold on the 30% discount for a 1 month membership, which came out to be about $60 per person. We figured at the cost, we could take the risk and see what the place was all about.

So now back to that ungodly hour of 5:30 am... We arrived at the studio at 6 and were the only two losers (sorry did I say "losers"? I mean hardcore gym enthusiasts) there, along with Jamie. He quickly set up the stations, 15 in total, and described each workout to us: Burpees, TRX arm lifts, Medicine Ball squats, and other vomit inducing exercises. We had to do as many reps as possible within 45 seconds and then take a break for 10 seconds before doing the next exercise. Man, did I love those breaks. And it turned out to be a good thing that it was just the two of us since we probably looked and sounded just AMAZING.

It was a great workout, and although most of the moves with the exception of the TRX can be done at home, it was great to be in a space meant for exercise with extra encouragement from Jamie.

Are we going back for more on Wednesday? Yup!

Are my muscles screaming in agony as a type this. Ummmm...yep.

New Brunch place on St.Clair!

Started up by a family who originally lived in the neighbourhood, the Sunnyside Grill has a new location on St.Clair in Corso Italia.

We checked it out last weekend and were pleasantly surprised by the modern diner feel, which is a lot different from the other restaurants in the area. The service was great and the food was yummy and inexpensive.

Poached Eggs Hollandaise and a Traditional Breakfast for under $20...Are you drooling yet?

Great to have an all-day-brunch place in our hood now! Good luck to Sunnyside Grill! Hope to visit again soon!

WagJag deal for SunnySide Grill

Brunch is a lazy man's way of having two meals at once. And since we're lazy, it also happens to be our favourite meal of the day.

Lucky for us, a new brunch place recently opened up on St. Clair and we will definitely be checking out on our next lazy Sunday morning walk. It's called The Sunnyside Grill and today, WagJag has a $10 for $20 deal for two of their locations.

And one of them is the St. Clair location...woooooo!

Just checked out their menu - sounds yummy and the prices are decent. You can get a good hearty brunch for under $10.

Sah-weet!

If anyone else checks it out before we do, please share your reviews!

For the WagJag deal, go here.

I heart cheese

Growing up, I (Inga) always looked forward to Sunday dinner. That was the night my dad, who is German, would serve a typical German supper which included fresh coldcuts, cheese, bread and tea. Was it because it felt like a little tea party that I enjoyed it so much as a kid? Ummm...no.

It was because of the CHEESE. Fresh slices of Havarti, Swiss, Cheddar - the list of what we would have that night was endless. On a plus side - I got my fair share of calcium. On the not-so-plus side, I also now have hips.

Ah well, you win some, you lose some.

When we moved into Corso Italia, honest to god, one of the first things I thought about was where we could buy cheese.

And then we found Tre Mari (cue choir Aaaah's). I was out with my mom one Sunday, showing her the neighbourhood when I discovered this bakery. As we walked in, the smell of fresh bread lingered in the air. And then...I saw the cheese.

My hips began to scream but my stomach muted them with its cheers.

The woman behind the counter could see we meant business, and was quick to help us pick out our selection. It might have something to do with my face pressed up against the glass, breathing heavily, who knows?

We walked out with some fresh cut provolone and chicken cold cuts, and headed home ready to eat our Abendessen ("supper," in German).

Ja, ja, das ist gut.

Tre Mari is located on 1311 St. Clair Avenue West.

Stockyards Development

While paying a visit to our new favourite store, Home Depot (or as our Portuguese friend's dad would say "Home Deeps"), we realized that we didn't know much, ok anything, about the Stockyards development across the street.  So we got our Google on at home later and learned about the new commercial space being put up.

Trinity Development Group is the developer of the site and focuses primarily on suburban power centres.  We'll let the video of the proposed plans do all the talkin'.  Although, we suggest turning off the volume because the cheesy classical music kinda kills it.


Admittedly, our first reaction was "Heck ya, a Target!". And then we considered the pros and cons about the development, such as:

PROS:
- New life to an otherwise dead stretch of land
- Access to tons of big name stores

CONS:
- The suburban feel
- More traffic

If they can put in restaurants, a movie theatre, or some kind of entertainment area that would keep people there for a length of time in one visit, this could be a great addition to the neighbourhood. An example of this is the Quartier Dix30 development that was put in Quebec. It is currently Canada's largest lifestyle commercial centre which was designed to emulate an urban or downtown shopping experience with boutiques.

Waddaya think?