Christmas Comes Early ...and other adventures...

As you know Kazi and I went to Toronto for a weekend of mother/daughter bonding and
general rabblerousing (tee hee).  The drive there was uneventful, no slowdowns at all
along the QEW or the Gardiner Expressway. We drove straight to the Royal Ontario Museum
and found parking closeby. (Oh yeah, that reminds me...I used a credit card to pay for parking so better make a quick payment to offset.)  At the museum we toured the amazing exhibit of
the Terracotta Warriors.  We weren't allowed to take any photos but you can see a whole whack of them if you click on the link.  After the tour we wandered off to our favourite areas - East Asia, Greek and Egyptian while getting up to our usual hijinks with the camera:)



Receving knowledge, dispensing knowledge...the way of the teacher. But...
why so blue?




One of my favourite Christmas movies is The Christmas Story. Poor Ralphie longs so desperately for a Red Ryder BB gun. His dad, however, longs for culture. There is something about
the picture above which reminds me of this movie - any guesses? 




Oh fuddle duddle...you'll have to turn your head or your computer sideways to figure out whose famous head is on this pair of underwear awhich is displayed in the textiles and costume exhibit!
Guesses?




This is where we ate dinner Saturday night. If you like your food hot and spicy like I do this
is the place to go. The decor is New Orleans style and the waitress we had achieved the
perfect balance of attentiveness without hovering.




The first of the day - a Big Easy martini:)




After a feast of cornbread with bruschetta and goat cheese, jambalaya stew and pecan pie
with icecream we rolled ourselves a little further down the street and into our seats at the Royal Alexandra to see the musical Rock of Ages. I took a couple shots of the set and
immediately had an usher waving her hand at me:( so I've included a link. The show is only in Toronto until Jan. 2nd which is too bad as I'd love to see it again. It's the only musical I've been to where they deliver beer right to your seat:)  The show was pretty risque - I wouldn't take anyone under the age of maybe 16 so I was surprised at the number of young kids in the audience. The main storyline is about a young woman who leaves her midwest town to make it big in L.A. but to make ends meet she works in a bar, then a strip club. Lots of skin. It was totally irrereverent and bawdy and over to top - we laughed and laughed - a) because it was hysterically funny and b) because that's exactly what the 80's were like.




The view from our room at the Sheraton.  That's city hall.



And here we are Sunday morning at the Eaton Centre before the crowds got too huge. I have some disappointing news...you'd better sit down....I know you think I'm superwoman with nerves of steel and an iron will...but I crumbled, my resolve to not SPEND any $$ disappeared as quickly as the dancers' shirts in Rock of Ages. (See it!)
I haven't done a full reckoning yet but let's just say that today Kazi and I are suffering
from S.A.D. (Shopper's Arm Disorder). For any of you non-marathon shoppers thata's when the muscles in your bag carrying arm ache the next day from the weight of the shopping bags you supported over the course of six straight hours of shopping.
Now I am making it sound worse than it was, though my arm (and Kazi's) really hurts. We made the mistake of purchasing heavy things at the first store we went into and thus had to carry
the weight of the bags looped over our left arms ALL day.  Poor planning:)

Further details coming but you know what?  I don't regret a single moment. My DD and I enjoyed so many "moments" and so much "laughter" that I would do it again in a second.  In fact, we are already planning next year's trip...perhaps the Nutcracker?