Swarovski Christmas Tree - Eaton's Centre

I was in the Eaton's Centre and saw the annual Swarofski Crystal Christmas Tree unveiling in early November. It was a huge production, with live performances by Deborah Cox and a count down revealing the sparkly tree.

It's was an early preview of the Christmas spirit. The best part was that it really brought a lot of people (huge crowds!) together in one place. It is quite spectacular, and reminds me of New Years (lots of people, music, count down, sparkly item unveiled.)

 In a way, it brings new meaning to celebrating Christmas at the mall. But let's be honest - we all love the holidays- time with family and friends (which usually involves giving and receiving gifts.)

the days are getting darker ft. coronation park

I got off work early one day and decided I needed to see the horizon (after being surrounded by sky scrapers). The sunset is still stunning late in the year in Coronation Park, which is one of the best parks along the Waterfront. Harbourfront can be underwhelming at times for those who live in the city, but if you go far enough along the Martin Goodman trail (west towards Oakville), you can find what you're craving.

 Awesomeness, 

Jen.

Cakes Galore -The Delicious Food Show Part II

Alright, so now it's time to talk about all the eye candy.
St. Philips made increddddible wedding cakes. I was so blown away.

My favorite - a stunning flowers and macaron cake by Ruelo Patisserie

 

Chocolate sculpture by ChocoStyle

I can't remember the vendor (if anyone knows please message) but it's wonderfully retro:

And something kind of cute to go with the cakes from DomiStyle.com:

Yes, awesome, no?

Yum.

Jen.

The Delicious Food Show!

I received a free latte sample* at the Delicious Food Show before I even went inside. It was a great start to what turned out to be my favorite food festival of the year. Three words: Best Samples Ever. 

Bistro Ceylon Tea is a new way to brew tea where the loose tea leaves are in the tea package/stir stick. So no more messy bags, or extra wooden sticks. The green tea ginger (I believe) was awesome. Not a bad Christmas gift for the tea obsessed.

 

Chocostyle was a distributor from Montreal, who was sampling chocolate covered marshmellows in dark and milk chocolate with one of my favorite things: sprinkles. 

 They were also selling these chocolate stilettos, which for some people is just two things they love most in one box:

 This picture doesn't do the tiramisu mousse cake justice, but do trust that it was heavenly. By St. Phillips in uptown Toronto. 

This is just a sneak peak of the samples because I got honestly got too caught up eating. It was like, I was thinking about photographing what I was eating, and by the time I was done deciding, it was already gone. My favorite booth was St. Philips by far where they just kept pumping out sandwiches on soft-as-air flat breads. There were other booths offering cured meats (like 4 long tables full of cured meats and cold cuts = some men's dreams), jams, cookies, and other things. Yummm. 

AND there were delicious theatrical huge cakes that will be featured in part 2 of the Delicious Food Show.



Note from Jen:
*latte sample was from the Nescafe Dolce Gusto Machines. Two thumbs up for taste. 
**So the picture above in the header is Cupcake Diner, which is a food truck from Hamilton. No samples from this place, but awesome presentation, no?
***There was a $20 entrance fee - a bit pricy - but as someone who likes to snack on a bunch of different things at the same time, I say "YES!"