Color Me Rad -Downsview Park, Toronto

Color Me Rad is a 5km race that raises money for local charities while runners get pelted with colourful bombs of dyed cornstarch. Gluten free and good fun! This one was for Big Brothers and Sisters.

Runners aren't timed, as this is more of a fun run, then a competitive race, and colour bombs are plentiful.

Driving to the Rendez-Vous point to meet Leslie and Andrea. The entry fee gives each runner a blue shirt, glasses, and a colour bomb. We purchased extra white shirts, colour bombs and tattoos.

The before shot! It was overcast and threatening rain. The humidity was high, but it wasn't unbearable. We were actually hopeful for a little drizzle. It's good to help the colour stick!

The Emcee got everyone geared up as he launched t-shirts and hats into the very pristine crowd. Vitamin Water and Red Bull were on hand for all your free beverage needs. 

Lining up like cattle with the first wave. There were over 12 000 participants and they had to open up a second race day! To start us off, they ran down a makeshift aisle with a fire extinguisher adjusted to spray colour bombs.

We got a little anxious in line as we waited, and may have pre-emptively smashed a few bombs.

On your marks, get set, GO!!

Already looking a little worse for wear after two colour stations. Shay found a boa along the way.

PINK!!!

We made it to the end, and that's when the colour bombing wars begin!!

Mouths and hair were not off limits, as Leslie blasts us during a photo op....well played Leslie.

Shay upped Leslie and just ate the powder...it got a little out of hand...

It started to rain by the end of the run. We were messy enough and decided to head back to the car to clean up.

The "After" shot

A great day and a great race for a great cause!!!

We headed out to the Fox and the Fiddle for lunch. We were a little concerned that our stained skin was not rinsing clean in the sink, but after a vigorous shower, we were spotless again.

Next race, Mud Hero in August!

Rogers Centre -Toronto Blue Jays

Another great weekend that started out with a mad rush to get downtown! We found parking at the corner of Wellington and Blue Jays Way for the ludicrous price of $25 (Toronto game day robbery). We walked up to Queen West for dinner at Epicure Cafe. Epicure is a small restaurant with a rooftop patio that offers a Provencal meets Northern Italian menu. With five pages to choose from there's definitely something for everyone. They were having a mussel festival, 1 pound of any flavour for $8.00. We tried the American and the French. The calamari was good too.

After stuffing ourselves, and leaving no room for dessert, or time to walk leisurely to the stadium, we hailed a cab and made it to the game in time for the first pitch. Great seats at gate 11, section 128 sitting at the third baseline.

We picked a great game to see. So many home runs! The Baltimore Orioles went through 5 or 6 pitchers! 

We had a nice view of the CN Tower, and the rounds of groups hopping out on the sky deck to do the skywalk for $175 per person.

The excitement continued into the final inning. After a bottom of the 8th homerun from Kawasaki, the crowd was on their feet praising the BlueJays' Kawasaki for tying it up. Chanting Ka-wa-sa-ki at his next up to bat,  Kawasaki's hit got a runner to second and third, and allowed Davis to come in and knock a quick one through centre field and extend the Blue Jays winning streak to 8! Go Jays Go!

Scandinave Spa -Collingwood Ontario

If you've been up straight for 9 days and need a spa day, this is the place for you! The Scandinave Spa is open all year round, rain, snow or shine. They offer typical spa services, and have an outdoor oasis of hot and cold plunge pools, a sauna and a steam room.

The atmosphere is very relaxing, as harp ballads, Native American flute, and pan pipes play softly through hidden speakers, guests can relax on Muskoka chairs, hammocks, or in front of one of the warm chimineas on a cooler day. There is an indoor solarium as well. 

Guests can visit to simply enjoy the pools, or have a massage, or other service, which also includes access to the pools. We always go for the couples massage. Lately they have been pairing us with a male and female. Shay didn't want the dude, so he had the grouchy lady. My guy was younger, and he had my file from previous visits, which was nice because he didn't waste anytime asking questions I had already answered. Shay's went through the questionnaire again, asking him questions that he had already answered. I like a head, neck, and shoulder focus, and my guy obliged. Worked out all the knots. 

Shay's experience was more like Ross from 'Friends' and the wooden spoons massage. He even stopped her and asked for more pressure (something she told him to do), but she claimed that she couldn't give more pressure because he had too many layers of muscle?? He wasn't impressed, and probably shouldn't have tipped her, as she was completely miserable and had a bad case of RBF (resting bitchy face) the entire time.

Two hot plunge pools, a warm 38.3 degrees C.

One of the cold plunge pools, a cool 14 degrees C.

The cool pools are easier to get into when the air isn't as cool, but it is part of the process here.

We've come on days when the crowd is younger. This visit was a little older, which meant a lot of hairy backs, perfume, and bouffant hair styles. Spa etiquette is that you shower before you enter the baths. This needs to be more thoroughly enforced. Usually when we go, it's warmer and people spread out in the various areas. This time it was cooler, and there weren't enough chimineas going, so everyone would crowd around you. That's one thing I dislike about this kind of place. I don't want to feel crowded. It's not as bad in the summer, and the lack of speaking is nice.

Inside there is a little snack bar with some prepared foods. 

We decided to skip lunch and hold out for an early dinner. Very good choice. We were deciding between Azzurra and Tesoro restaurants. When we drove through the parking lot of Tesoro, we remembered that it was the place that turned us away last summer because they only sat people during scheduled seatings. They had tonnes of empty tables, but would rather turn us away, so we weren't going to even go back there just out of spite. We decided on Azzurra, which is across the street. They let us in to have a drink before they were even open. Service and food were good, and they had gluten free options.

The drinks and antipasti were delicious. I had an elderberry lemonade, with St Germain, and lemon and some other mixes. It was very reminiscent of a Soho-like beverage. Tangy enough for me, but too sweet for Shay's liking. 

We overdosed on cheese here, and creme brûlée. The double chocolate chilli spiced cookie had a nice bite to it, and the lemon tart was like a lighter lemon meringue pie.  

After all the eating we needed to take a walk! Shay was trying to convince me to go see Fast & Furious 6, but I definitely would have fallen asleep. We googled a trail that we could walk to, Georgian Trail, which is wheel chair accessible, and headed over. There was a little hill to climb that was littered with snails. They popped and crunched underneath our feet no matter how lightly we treaded. It was awful. We got off the hill trying to avoid contributing to the inevitable massacre, and strolled down to the lake.

Get Out of the Way!!

And now to not pass out on the ride home!

Field Trip -Fort York & Garrison Common, Toronto ON

What an adventure! My friends Sophie and Joel run a small catering side business called The Backyard Kitchen. Their talents have been recognized by various Foodies in Toronto, and have landed them some interesting gigs around the city, primarily TUM (Toronto Underground Market), where they have auditioned and were successfully chosen to serve in a food market at BrickWorks. After several successful TUM entries, they were invited to sell food at Field Trip.

Field Trip is an outdoor concert featuring various bands including Stars, Fiest, and Broken Social Scene. They had two stages, an Etsy exhibit, food trucks, and two TUM venues to choose from. I was excited to help out and experience the party from the other side of the table.

It was like a gigantic outdoor Hippie picnic with wine tasting and hula hooping.

"Pulled Pork, 3 all day, waiting on sliders!"

What an amazing team! Seven month pregnant Sophie needed many reminders to sit down as a whirlwind of beet sliders, pulled pork on a bun, and banana fritters were prepared on the fly.

The rushes came in waves. They were unfortunately located in the Kid Zone, which had much less traffic then the main TUM market or by the west gate near the main stage. Joel had built a big sign to help direct people to our booth. It worked for the most part, although, the booth two tables down were also selling pork, and people would end up there asking for the pulled pork. Oh well. I think by the end, the Backyard Kitchen did alright considering.

We lucked out with the weather: overcast but no rain. The food was great too. Banana fritters are unbelievable. The booth next to us was selling crepes. Bartering with food is awesome. One pulled pork sandwich for a chocolate banana crepe? Sure! Maybe some ribs for some banana fritters? And the booth to the right let us try the mango ice cream sandwiches and the stout ice cream on a maple bacon chocolate chip cookie. Yum. They even had a gluten free version!

Mango ice cream on gluten free cookies. Dry ice keeps things very VERY cold.

What better way to spend an afternoon in the city? Outdoors, music, food and friends. The concert went all day and we stopped selling food around 10 so the deep fryer had time to cool down. After of course, we experimented with some deep fried, battered pulled pork. You can really deep fry anything!

Great day!