It’s Summerlicious in the city! We ate a veritable feast of flavours at Hawker Bar. $70 for three courses and a drink, for two. So good!
Shrimp Laksa.
Dumpling sampler.
Surf and turf. 
Chicken and ribs.with an herbed pancake. 
Tempura pandan banana and vanilla bean icecream
Carrot cake. 
Then pick up some local brew from Bellwoods Brewery to enjoy in a hot tub on our pals’ rooftop.
So, maybe you don’t live near Niagara on the lake. And maybe you’re thinking, ‘why is she telling me about a show that is so awesome, but so far away, that I will never see it…no matter how much I’d like to?’.
That is exactly the point: you would like it. I left the theatre after “Master Harold and the Boys” (admittedly a title that needs some selling), with a lump in my throat and some not very well-concealed sniffles. Set in post-apartheid South Africa, this three-hander is funny and intimate, then built consistently towards its climax -the painful, wrenching altercation that closed the show so poignantly and resonated intensely in the light of current events. As evidenced by the deep conversations following the show and an eager standing ovation, it was moving 90 minutes. Still in previews, this play is incredible already and has me super excited to hit the festival next week to see “Sweeney Todd” and “A Black Girl in her Search For God.”
The set is a 1950s cafe and with the audience on three sides, it feels so close and it’s quiet moments are kept understated. 
And what better way to end the afternoon than at Carlotta’s Gelato, where they can hollow out the centre of your cup and laddle warm chocolate hazelnut into the mix. Seriously.
Try it. You will fall in love. 
Get out support local artists, festivals, live theatre and shops!
Eat up. And make it delicious.
Roasted southwestern veggie soup, cucumber basil salad and organic grilled chicken.
Flatbread pizza with pear, prosciutto, Brie, and basil. 
Sweet potato and French lentil with Swiss chard. 
Sweet potato and cauliflower bake. 
Tandoori chicken nachos.
Mixed greens, carrot and date salad with chicken and quinoa in a mustard dressing 
Cucumber and cilantro gazpacho from Hive in Toronto.
Sweet potato, asparagus and steak.
Homemade pizzas. 
Grilled corn and roasted veggies with steak, chicken and sausage.
So, like most things, the momentum starts strong. Out of the gate we were both so psyched and motivated. The endurance is the problem. We got a little derailed when we went home to visit my parents for a weekend (wine country will do that). I also struggled when Allia was back at work and I was left to my own devices – and by devices I mean a jar of Nutella, and all the other odds and ends of delicious things that are definitely NOT on our clean eating list.
Remember, ME: get back on the band wagon and keep going. I was especially tested when I went up to a cottage for a few lazy gorgeous days at the lake (see the INDULGE tab for more on that in a few days).
But I have found that going to classes at the gym keeps me accountable. There is a group of super buff moms who seem to want to take me under their wing (they like that I’m flexible, but not as strong as they are… I think). When Tatiana asked if I’d stay for the next class, too, (like… a second hour of cardio) I admitted (trying to sound as non-judgmental as I could that I was just plainly too lazy. She replied, in a really cute, but slightly scary accent, “Suck it up, Princess!”
I guess that’s what gets you arms like sexy ropes and a butt that is half way up your back: sucking it up.
I’m re-motivated. Still on board and probably going to extend our 28 day challenge to a fifth week, just to make sure I see the full extent that a change of habits can accomplish.
Really, it’s about will power. I should be able to kick my sugar cravings. I can do this. Can I? I will try. Behold the gallery of delicious, clean eating:
Grilled chicken, roasted veggies (zucchini, carrot, potato), sun dried tomato and a dollop of hummus.
Sweet potato burrito in a corn tortilla with grilled kale, mushrooms and cheddar cheese, fresh salsa and cilantro… with a side of tempeh.
Mini pizza party: apple slices, green pepper, marinated tempeh and pizza topped with olives, spinach and artichoke hearts.
Prepping my morning egg and English muffin with avocado and tomato.
Et voila! A yummy, balanced breakfast. Pair with lots of water!
Deconstructed Nicoise Salad: tuna with yogurt dressing and green onion, fresh lettuce, boiled potato with pepper, green beans and cherry tomatoes, lightly sprinkled with citrus and balsamic.
Roasting veggies is my jam.
Pork with rosemary and parsley, roasted with cherry tomatoes. A new protein for my power bowl.
Yumm. Rosemary pork, grilled veggies and hummus.
I know that photos of food that are not styled by food stylists and photographed by professionals rarely look as tasty to an objective viewer as they do to the person who ate or made it; but I’m just a regular person with an Iphone. I promise, these dishes were so yummy that I licked the plate. Figuratively. Or maybe literally.
Sigh. How can I stray when the food is so tasty? I need a witness to keep me honest. Thank you internet.
It’s always a good time with Lindsay; now a globe-trotting sommelier, she and I have been friends since high school. We had a summer ritual of weekly visits to Body Blitz https://bodyblitzspa.com/ where, for $300, you could have an unlimited pass for the summer months to visit as often as you want. For us, this meant Wednesday spa visits to soak in the epsom salt and Dead Sea salt pools, cold plunge, eucalyptus steam room and sauna. We always followed this up with wine tasting, her day job/my pass time.
Body Blitz West Location
Yesterday we cashed in on a blog interview that I did for Body Blitz. (see article here: http://blog.bodyblitzspa.com/2014/09/in-waters-with-alison-carson.html)
As a thank you for the interview I got to try an incredibly luxurious sweet ginger + milk body glow. The treatment included a citrus-mint body wash, ginger body scrub, warm milk with sweet orange oil and almond treatment, and massage to finish, working in a warm grape seed body oil. It was an hour of heaven.
Ginger and Milk Body Scrub
After you get past the part where you realize you haven’t been ‘washed’ like this since you were a baby, and the fact that the plastic apron worn by the spa attendant is vaguely reminiscent of Dexter in body-disposal-mode, it is so amazing to be under a heat lamp having a sweet, soft-spoken angel pamper you for sixty minutes.
Dexter
Spartacus: Pampered and Luxurious, without the problematic power dynamics and violence
At one point I found myself imagining that this must be what ancient rich housewives must have felt like (without the slavery, obviously), but that if every person on Earth received this treatment we could probably solve every global conflict known to man. It was that good. I was blissed-out and elated for the rest of the day.
I joked with my wife about how delicious I smelled; “smell me!”
She told me I smelled like a white person, then smiled and said, “Vanilla.”
Day turns into night as we move on to a late dinner. We started with some bubbly, then shared an Amarone.
Huge thanks to the wonderful staff for a beautiful night of delicious flavours! L’Unita’s website: http://lunita.ca/
L’Unita at night.
We carried on our food theme as we headed to L’Unita, a decadent Italian restaurant at Avenue and Davenport (Toronto, Ontario) with beautiful ambiance and some of the best service in the city.
Grilled Octopus on a bed of greens, with fingerling potatoes and sausage.
Warm olives with herbs and lemon zest
Mozarella Burrata with beets
Classic Caesar Salad
Margherita Pizza
Evidence of a decadent meal
On to desserts, made in-house by their pastry chef.
Caramel sugared donuts
Bufala Panna Cotta with blood orange and mint
Chocolate olive oil cake with gelato
Very happy ladies. I sincerely hope you have a chance to visit L’Unita: Buon appetito!
Allia enjoying Peller 2012 Sur Lie Chardonnay
I have Irish ancestry. I love beer and I love any reason to celebrate; this year, however, family and friends took St.Patrick’s Day in a new direction. We decided to cross the ocean, but instead of Ireland, we ended up in Paris. At Paris Crepes, specifically: a delicious, French themed restaurant-café in Niagara Falls.
Mussels Mariniere with Frites and fresh baguette
Cheers to a meal of French onion soup, mussels 4 ways (for March Mussel Madness) curried, provencale, mariniere or blue cheese, free corkage when you bring your own wine and crepes, both savoury and sweet. Although we saw people running by the glass front window of the café, shamrocked and in onesies, I think this is a tradition that deserves some consideration. Cheers to friends, family and a twist on green beer that will leave your taste buds green with envy!
Images from Paris, including Le Chat Noir and Moulin Rouge
Paris Crepes Café
Homemade Sweet Crepes
With our server, Star, we celebrated St. Pat’s with a twist
StyleSaVie 
