Toronto December 1, 2019

5 Things You Should Experience at Canada’s Wonderland Winterfest

Did you hear? For the first time ever, Canada’s Wonderland is transforming the park into a magical winter wonderland called WinterFest! My family and I had the pleasure of experiencing opening night and couldn’t believe how gorgeous the entire park looked. As Gold Season Pass holders we’ve seen the park transition from Summer to Fall/Halloween theme and now Winterfest. Opened Nov 22nd and will be open on select dates until Dec 31st. Generally, Fridays (5-10 pm), Saturdays and Sundays (3-9 pm), the tree lighting ceremony is at 5:30 pm each night.

In total the park is shining bright with over five million holiday lights, festive décor and three 15-metre-high Christmas trees! If you missed my Instagram stories of our evening at Winterfest you can find them in my highlights under ‘Wonderland’. There is honestly so much to see and do at Canada’s Wonderland Winterfest, but I’m narrowing it down to my top 5 experiences you should not leave without experiencing.

1. Decorate Cookies with Mrs.Claus

I think this is a fantastic activity to do as a family! D fell asleep but myself, Zo and hubby enjoyed decorating these cookies. I love that they came in to-go boxes. Which made it easier to save to decorate later. Location: Leviathan Plaza

You can also purchase a voucher online. It’s 4 sugar cookies for $19.99+tax, icing and all toppings to decorate are included. They’re a very decent size (See IG story highlights reel).

This is just one of the many activities you can experience at Canada’s Wonderland. You can also write a letter to Santa, do Christmas Crafts at Sally Brown’s Christmas Crafts located in KidZville and get pictures taken with St.Nick!

2. Ice Skating on Snow Flake Lake

As soon as you enter the park your eyes will be drawn to Snow Flake Lake where there are people skating and enjoying the beautiful view of Winterfest! Note you cannot go on the ice without ice skates. Children can get assistance rails, but there’s a limited quantity. The timing for skating is 30 minute intervals and you can rent skates for $10. If you have your own you can use the lockers to store your Ice Skates so you can enjoy the rest of Winterfest freely.

winterfest — Everything that was done to be prepared for Winterfest

kids having fun at winterfest canadas wonderland — **TIP:** There are 2 really great indoor/warming areas for you to get out of the cold and eat your dinner in peace. Seats are limited.

3. Fuel up with comfort food

A winter wonderland (pun intended) wouldn’t be the same if there wasn’t the classic hot chocolate. You can get gourmet hot chocolate throughout the park at various locations such as: Front Gate, True North Gifts, School House Snacks, and Tiny Toms. At Candy Cane cafe you can get nutella french toast and you know the all time funnel cake favourite? It’s been winterized with specialties like egg nog and gingerbread, to name a few. Basically it’s not just about the park and it’s entertainment that has been transformed, they’ve also added an awesome line up of comfort food.

canada's wonderland and the live entertainment at winterfest

4. Live Entertainment

The options for live entertainment are mind blowing! They have a roaming band and if you come early, watch the tree lighting ceremony that happens at 5:30 pm. We’re really excited to watch the Tinker’s Toy Factory the next time we go!

5. Rides

One of our favourite family rides at Wonderland are open during Winterfest! The Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. An interactive ride where you blast all the boo’s throughout a haunted mansion. Check out the other rides that are available during this time over here.

Food May 26, 2019

Game 6 in the Six and The Raptors Move to the Finals: Dinner at Hunters Landing

So the Raptors lost tonights game. Don’t worry, have hope! Take it from a Leafs fan. Beleafing since 1993. It’s imperative that I mention Game 6 at the beginning of this blog post. It was an epic game and I’m not even a die-hard Raptors fan! If you’re a sports fan of any Toronto sport. Be it the Raptors, the Leafs, Blue Jays etc and you’re looking for a great place in Toronto where you can watch a game and have good food. I recommend heading over to Hunters Landing inside the Cityplace area. Right across from the Canoe park, steps away from Toronto attractions like the CN Tower, Rogers Center and a nice walk to Jurassic Park.

hunters landing food review — Calamari ans Nachos (choose from veggie, chicken or beef)

There are some close by parking options and did I already say that the food is great? Okay, so let’s get right into it. Between my girlfriends and I (@frequentflyerfoodie and @sweetshardxo ), for appetizers, we had: Calamari and Nachos. Our mains were: the Lobster Fettuccine, Tuna Poke Bowl and a Maple Chicken with vegetables.

hunters landing review food toronto — We sat indoors, but check out the awesome patio seating as well!

If you’re still looking for a spot to watch the finals, make sure you check out Hunters Landing. It’s a prime location, food is good and the place is live during games and especially in the evenings!

I love that regardless of how busy it gets at Hunters Landing, there’s always someone ready to help you. Our orders came out exactly at the time they had said it would. It couldn’t get more perfect than that!

lobster main dish at Hunters Landing in Butter sauce

The butter sauce this Lobster fettuccine was swimming in, was so delicious! Lots of mushrooms and leek were additions to this finger-licking main. The only thing I’d do next time I get this, I wouldn’t be shy about the amount of pepper I’d want on top of this masterpiece.

The Tuna Poke Bowl made with super fresh ingredients and the tuna was so good!

Maple Cider Half Chicken with vegetables

Dinner isn’t dinner without dessert. We tried this chocolate goodness. I can’t remember what it was called, but what I will not forget, how perfect it was!

Chocolate yumminess with ice-cream on top!

Series October 15, 2018

Toronto Blogger Chronicles [Part 2] – Two Events in One Day

Dear Diary,

I had a vision that I would update this series a lot more often than months later. But let me explain why it has been since June 18th since I last wrote about my blogging journey. It has been BUSY! I am being grateful for every nanosecond of it because it has been an amazing experience. It’s not the entrepreneurship I always had in mind for myself but that’s okay. This is a lot more fun! A lot has happened since June. I’ll sum it up for you:

– I did a lot of full days of content creation. Like that one day of foodie IG stories – one at an event and the other was a collab. I love photographing food! This was so much fun.
– I launched a new website for GNC
– I was a part of the Laura Mercier x The Kit campaign. They brought me into the studio and did a video shoot of me getting ready with Laura Mercier products. I got featured on The Kit site and tried many Laura Mercier products. I was so humbled to receive this opportunity alongside some of my favourite make-up artists.

Top 8 Things To Do at the CNE with Kids – A Guide to Keeping them Entertained

This year we went to the CNE with both of our children. It was a totally different experience compared to the last time we went. We spent our entire half of the day on the side where the kid midway rides were. There were places on this side I had no idea even existed at CNE. Which is also why I was inspired to share my top 8 things to do at the CNE with kids! Although today is the last day to attend the CNE, save this for next summer and plan out your day ahead of time!

Reptilia – This is an exhibit that has more than one daily show about reptiles. We watched the snake show and Baby D loved the interactive part of the show. Children get to pet the reptiles and after the show, there’s a Q&A period, while you pet the reptiles. On average for something like this, it’s $7/child. I know this because we had animals at Baby D’s birthday (twice). At the CNE it’s FREE. (Found at the Kids’ World Park area).
Kids Center – What I wish I knew about the last time we went with Baby D, was this center where you can change diapers. If you have more than one child, you have an entire room shared with other parents to change your child’s diaper. There’s a movie playing and lots of toys for kids to play with. Also in case you’ve run out of diapers, they have every size at this center, along with wipes and other baby items. After changing diapers we were here accidentally for about 20 minutes. They just didn’t want to leave!

Top 8 Things To Do at the CNE with Kids – A Guide to keeping them Entertained
Kids’ World Park – It’s just a regular park area, with your standard swings and such but what makes it fun for kids is that it’s in the center of all the fun stuff for them. There’s also a stage nearby where all the shows happen. You’ll find the reptilia mobile on one side, and the kid center, workshops and more on the other. Oh, and the midway rides are very close by. So you can make this your meeting station for older kids and a place for your kids to burn off energy before you sit down for lunch/dinner.
Midway Rides – I didn’t think there would be good rides for my 3-year-old toddler to ride but boy was I wrong! He went on his first roller coaster (dragon midway ride) and there’s always the classics, train, carousel, tea cups etc.
Farm Animals – There are about farmyard yard animals at the CNE for kids to enjoy watching. Cows, goats, and sheep to name a few! People also get to pretend they’re farmers by picking apples off a tree, collecting eggs from the chickens and more.
Toddler Center – The toddler center may change every year based on who is sponsoring the room. This year half the room was sponsored by Air Transit; with a make-believe airplane and stairs going up to it. You could sit at the front and be the pilot or be a passenger in the seats behind it. The seats are big enough for adults to sit on. There’s a slide to come down.

FUN ACTIVITIES AT THE CNE FOR KIDS
Pizza Nova Pizza Making Workshop – They have many classes throughout the day. You get to learn how to make pizza by the pizza nova professionals and then you get to eat it too! Awesome workshop to do with your kids.
Art Studio – At this studio kids get to paint, make things out of clay and more!Overall, I’d say that the admission for CNE gives you a lot more bang for your buck than most people know. I highly recommend to get their early, have a plan before you go and bring family with you if possible. You can have your toddler/babies play in that kid area for hours with a family member supervising while you go to the other side and play some CNE games or go on rides. Or stick around with them and plan out your day so you see all the shows and do all the workshops with your little ones. Excited for next summer!

Desserts May 21, 2018

Butter Baker in Toronto

Have you heard? The Canadian company, Butter Baker just opened in Toronto. They have an amazing selection of sweet and savory pastries. Croissants, brioche, and danishes. They make their baked goods by using classic French confectionary cookery techniques. Everything is made with local ingredients including fresh herbs and free-run eggs, which makes me so happy because that’s all we use at home. Free-run eggs are important to us in our household. I can actually taste the difference.

Butter Baker in Toronto

I had the pleasure of trying their baked goods. (See below for the review of my favourites)

Strawberry Matcha Danish

Croissant base, Uji matcha vanilla custard, house-made fresh strawberry jam and topped with freshly sliced strawberries. All-Butter Baker products are made with natural ingredients including free-run eggs, real flour and dairy without added artificial flavours or preservatives. (Contains dairy, nuts, and gluten.)

THOUGHTS: Flaky, sweet and love the fresh fruit.

Pear Tart

This tart is made with a half of a caramelized pear, free-run egg, Madagascar vanilla pastry crème, apricot glaze and a flaky puff pastry.

THOUGHTS: I’m usually not a fan of fruit in baked goods but these are too good to pass. Beautiful presentation and the taste is so good!

These cakes are so good! The Strawberry and Lime cake were light and the perfect amount of sweetness.

Butter Baker is located in the heart of downtown Toronto, 120 Dundas Street West. Very close to the Eaton center.

Hours:
MON – FRI : 8 AM – 8 PM
SAT : 9 M – 8 PM
SUN : 9 AM – 6 PM

Winter December 28, 2017

No More Café at the Toronto Colette Grand Café?

Have you been to Colette Grand Café? Recently? It’s a beautiful French Bistro in Toronto. I love finding cute coffee shops in Toronto and whenever I do, the same thought comes to my mind every time: “I wish there were more of these hot spots when I was growing up downtown.” Colette is my go-to cafe when I’m visiting my mom because of its walking distance from her place. Brunch is amazing, dinner is good and the service is always the very best.

Last week I came here for some delicious cake and a latte, while I caught up with my sister. I was told there weren’t serving any desserts at the moment because they closed down their bakery/cafe section and changed it into a private party room. I for one loved that corner of Colette. Here’s an old picture of what it looked like:

ca·fe

kaˈfā,kəˈfā/

noun
1. a small restaurant selling light meals and drinks.

synonyms:

coffee shop, tea room

No More Café at the Colette Grand Café? [TORONTO]

So no desserts, but they still make one of my favourite lattes. Some places make them too strong (I can’t take too much caffeine) but at Colette, it’s perfect! The interior here is so spot on with the whole French bistro vibe. Perfect for photography. More details of what I wore this day:

Boots: Zara – Similar ones can be found here.

These Zara boots are from last year so you may not find them in stores right now. They’re the perfect fit as the heel height is comfortable enough to walk in for hours. I love pointy/round toe boots because they make my feet look smaller. (I’m a size 7-8).

This hat is really warm! I purchased this right before my husband purposed to me. So around 2009. The quality of this hat is so great that it still feels and looks brand new. Highly recommend getting a Big It Up hat.

I love the flared sleeves on this Tobi sweater dress. You can easily wear the sweater almost off the shoulder depending on what size you get. I’m wearing the small size. This sweater is currently on sale for $34.

KYOTO OUTFIT OF THE DAY

Beauty November 30, 2017

Bite Beauty #LIPLABxBITE Experience in Toronto [BEAUTY]

Last night I had the pleasure of being Cat‘s guest to an amazing Bite Beauty #LIPLABxBITE experience! The Toronto Bite Beauty lab is located on Queen Street at 678 Queen St W. Bite Beauty was founded by Susanne Langmuir. She saw a void in the beauty industry and got busy with kitchen chemistry. Almost all of the coolest companies started off in their homes, right?

The store front on the main level is really clean and all about lips! Of course.

Bite Beauty #LIPLABxBITE Experience in Toronto

Some background information about Bite Beauty and why it’s different from other brands:
– Their tag line “natural, age-defying beauty for lips that is good enough to eat!”
–Lip products made solely from all-natural, food-grade ingredients.
– Lip labs where you can custom-make your own lipstick
– The first Lip Lab was in Manhattan

[Tweet “”You are what you eat. What you put on your lips, you eat” – Susanne Langmuir”]

In a nut shell, here’s how everything went down..

First: Austen who was an amazing host, brought us to the private area upstairs. Super cozy! Had a fireplace, a Bite Beauty lips backdrop, lots of couch space and then the area where all the magic happens to make your custom lipstick.

austen bite beauty lip lab toronto — This is Austen creating my colour

Second: He asked what colours I had in mind. My vision and then we talked about tones. I showed him a picture of a favourite colour and he created exactly what I wanted! All in the first try. I also got to choose the flavour of the lipstick. I went with vanilla and mint.

[Tweet “#DidYouKnow you can create a lipstick, select the finish and scent within half an hour at a @BiteBeauty Lip Lab? #LIPLABxBITE #Beauty”]

Third: The lipstick was then microwaved to a liquid, then poured into a lipstick mold and placed for 10 minutes on a surface that was -10 degrees! See my instagram stories below for all of the action:

When he swiped this colour I knew instantly I loved it!

Here I am wearing the custom colour. I call it Zoey:

And here’s what we went home with:

lip repair — Agave Lip Mask, Lip Primer and a Wild Cherry Lip Balm

Food September 7, 2017

5 Best Toronto Ice Cream Shops

This summer I had lots of fun catering to my sweet tooth in Toronto. So many new ice-cream shops popped up in the last few years. With so many to choose from, I’ve narrowed them down to this summers favourites. Here are my 5 Toronto Ice-Cream shops you won’t regret trying. Call me crazy, but I’ll be going back to these places this Fall/Winter:

1. BANG BANG Ice-Cream

Location: 93A Ossington Ave

5 Toronto Ice-Cream Shops You Won’t Regret [FOOD]

I remember the first time I came here with our dear friends, it was a cold Saturday afternoon some time in the Winter/Fall. There was a line up out the store, down the street. That should say a lot on its own of how good this place is.

It’s not big inside, very minimal space to sit or stand. It didn’t matter, we ate ours just outside the shop.

We went with the ice-cream sandwiches. You choose the cookie and ice-cream combo and

you’ve got a drool-worthy masterpiece.

Loved the Homer Simpson art inside the shop!

2. Fugo Desserts

Location: 205 Dundas St W.

I was on a mission to try their cookie monster ice-cream! One of the things I remembered about the cookie monster ice-cream was that it wasn’t overly sweet and the cone was my absolute favourite part!

Inside the shop you’ll find about 5 – 10 seats and a huge chalkboard menu/graffiti. Feel free to write your name on the wall or whatever.

😋 SO good.

A post shared by Lifestyle • Fashion • Beauty (@humjk) on Sep 21, 2016 at 8:23pm PDT

This Cookie Monster ice-cream from @fugodesserts 👌🏼👏🏼 don’t forget the Oreo cone! 😍

A post shared by Lifestyle • Fashion • Beauty (@humjk) on Aug 1, 2016 at 7:47am PDT

3. Eva’s Original Chimneys

Location: 454 Bloor St W.

The very best soft serve ice-cream I ever had! This ice-cream is as filling as a main course would be. So eat light and then enjoy these cones.

5. Sweet Jesus Downtown

Location: 106 John St

Passed on the birthday cake this year for this massive soft serve birthday cone! #madeawish

A post shared by Lifestyle • Fashion • Beauty (@humjk) on Mar 19, 2016 at 7:22pm PDT

There was a long line-up for this place and very little space inside the shop, but there’s a bench right outside if you have someone to wait for. I love that this place has so many creative flavours that actually taste good! Plus, when’s the last time you saw a lit candle on an ice-cream cone?

Pin it for later?

#toronto #icecream #torontofood Toronto ice cream hot spots

easy lemon bundt cake recipe with cake mix

animal theme birthday party

Food July 13, 2017

Cafe Cancan Toronto Review: No strollers allowed. [FOOD]

Cafe Cancan is a fairly new cafe that opened up on Harbord Street in Toronto. Harbord street is a nostalgic area for me because I went to high school near there. The night before going to Cafe Cancan I did some research about the place and went on to their website to do some light reading about the cafe, the owners and anything I needed to know before I went there.

I love the fact that this cafe is actually designed by Tiffany Pratt. I love her happy go lucky style and everything she touches with her sense of design is incredible!

If you decide to visit this place, keep in mind that parking is a little bit hard to find in this area. We were fortunate enough to find a spot in the residential area, a block from the cafe. I was so excited to check this place out I didn’t mind the walk, although it was really hot. So I got Baby Z cozy in her stroller and we were on our way! So anyways, we get to the cafe and the front view of this place is just so pretty! If you know me, I have this thing with coloured doors. And a pink one! I died. It’s so cute! Immediately I thought, photo opp!

There are a few steps to enter into the cafe, but that’s no problem with the jogger stroller I have.

As soon as we entered Cafe Cancan we were welcomed by a lady and I asked for a booth for two by the door so I can tuck my stroller away. She looked at me and said “Okay, just a second.” and walked away. A few minutes later..

another lady came over. She leaned forward and said “Sorry, there are no strollers allowed here.” You can imagine I was taken aback and baffled. I had never been to a place, no where in Toronto and even in all of our travels with our stroller (Italy, Mexico, Niagara Falls *lol*) did anyone ever say to me, no strollers allowed. I guess I was at a loss of words so I was just staring blank at her and my brother who was with me also didn’t know what to say either. Then, and I don’t know why I said this… “I guess I could just leave my stroller outside and try to watch it from this booth?” And she replied, “sure.” I walked outside, and then of course after baby brain stopped kicking in, I realized, no way. I’m not leaving my $1000 stroller outside!

I started to think, forget it. I’m not staying here. Let’s just go home and eat whatever we can grab. But as we started walking back I thought, I shouldn’t change my plans because of one road block. I should find a way around it and do what I wanted to do. Why have this ruin my excitement to go there and enjoy the food and ambiance? So we walked back to the car, dropped off the stroller, I put a hat on Baby Z and we walked back in the heat.
It makes me sad to think that what if I was a new mom and this was my very first day coming out of my house and treating myself to a nice lunch with my little one and then to have them say to me “no strollers allowed.” I know for sure I’d go back to my car, go home and cry. Thinking perhaps moms shouldn’t go to cute places. Or maybe, baby and I don’t belong in a restaurant. But truth is, that’s ridiculous. And if a restaurant doesn’t allow strollers, then they should do their due diligence to write that on their website or by the door. Because I did mine by going on and checking to make sure it was a big enough facility. There was lots of space there for me to fold my stroller and tuck away. It wasn’t even busy the entire time I was there, there was a total of 3 tables being served and 2 people came in to get coffee to go. There’s also a decent long hallway to the patio in the back of the cafe.

We ordered burgers. I got the veggie burger and it came with a side of fries. I was really happy with the amount of avocado they used in this burger. I love avocado. It was nice. If I were to go back I would try something different as I wasn’t in love with it. It’s a messy burger so I cut mine in half. The soda was really good, but it’s $6. I’d love to go back for lattes and dessert.
The owners of the cafe were there and they were super nice. I didn’t mention what had happened. Would I recommend this place to others? Sure. Would I go again? Maybe. Only because the owners are nice, food was good and the place is so damn pretty!

P.S Later that same day we went to Lavelle and they were super accommodating. I folded up the stroller and put it against a wall that was pretty out of sight. Lavelle is a restaurant/lounge on a roof top on King St.

Have you ever gone somewhere and you felt not welcomed or discriminated?

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About

Toronto Lifestyle Blogger
I love Sushi and BBQ, just not together. I'm a mom of two, I love to travel, obsessed with the cosmetics industry and we can have a very geeky conversation about Social Media Marketing and I promise you'll learn something new. I also founded many small businesses that you'll learn about the more you get to know me. Visit any of my social pages to connect or directly via email hihumjk @ gmail.com

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Toronto

1. Decorate Cookies with Mrs.Claus

2. Ice Skating on Snow Flake Lake

3. Fuel up with comfort food

4. Live Entertainment

5. Rides

Dear Diary,

One day I accepted 2 events in 1 day. Then I accepted 3 in 1 day…

On Instagram direct messages, a commonly asked question I get is how do you get invited to media events?

Top 8 Things To Do at the CNE with Kids – A Guide to keeping them Entertained

FUN ACTIVITIES AT THE CNE FOR KIDS

Butter Baker in Toronto

Strawberry Matcha Danish

Pear Tart

The Toronto YAYOI KUSAMA: INFINITY MIRRORS Exhibit with Shiseido – #infinitekusama

In a nut shell, here’s how everything went down..

And here’s what we went home with:

1. BANG BANG Ice-Cream

Location: 93A Ossington Ave

I remember the first time I came here with our dear friends, it was a cold Saturday afternoon some time in the Winter/Fall. There was a line up out the store, down the street. That should say a lot on its own of how good this place is.

It’s not big inside, very minimal space to sit or stand. It didn’t matter, we ate ours just outside the shop.

We went with the ice-cream sandwiches. You choose the cookie and ice-cream combo and

you’ve got a drool-worthy masterpiece.

2. Fugo Desserts

Location: 205 Dundas St W.

I was on a mission to try their cookie monster ice-cream! One of the things I remembered about the cookie monster ice-cream was that it wasn’t overly sweet and the cone was my absolute favourite part!

Inside the shop you’ll find about 5 – 10 seats and a huge chalkboard menu/graffiti. Feel free to write your name on the wall or whatever.

3. Eva’s Original Chimneys

Location: 454 Bloor St W.

The very best soft serve ice-cream I ever had! This ice-cream is as filling as a main course would be. So eat light and then enjoy these cones.

Location: 36 Vaughan Road

The wackiest ice-cream shop I ever saw. With Aladdin on his magic carpet, vintage decor and overall known to be a children’s fantasy land. You pick your ice-cream flavour, pick a cone and then pick your toppings.

5. Sweet Jesus Downtown

Location: 106 John St

Pin it for later?

As soon as we entered Cafe Cancan we were welcomed by a lady and I asked for a booth for two by the door so I can tuck my stroller away. She looked at me and said “Okay, just a second.” and walked away. A few minutes later..

On Instagram direct messages, a commonly asked question I get is how
do you get invited to media events?