Mother's Day

I know everyone says that their mom is their best friend, but do you know what - I think if they met my mom SHE would be their best friend. Since I was two weeks old my mom has been my traveling companion; 24 years on and our family adventures haven't stopped. We share a love of flat whites, antler chandeliers, cowboy boots, white wine, and seeing the world. I'll spend my life trying to be as cool as her.

Sometimes we don't get to spend holidays together, so it's pretty extra special when we do.

Happy Mother's Day Mom... thank you for letting me ride kangaroos before I was even old enough to know I wanted to.

people, places, things.

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” - Tim Cahill, Travel Writer

Sometimes I think that the best things about traveling to new places are not necessarily the sites you see or the things you do but the people you meet along the way. I have met some pretty remarkable people throughout my years of travel. Most of them I remember fondly in fading photographs preserved in scrapbooks while a handful of these strangers have become some of my closest friends.

A recent travel adventure took my family on a search for long lost relatives of my great grandfather who grew up in Myanmar (or Burma back then) before moving to the UK. After several failed attempts in taxis and on foot we finally tracked down the house that my father had visited thirty years ago. Not only did I get to meet the much talked about Great Aunt Iris, who incidentally has now become a nun, (pictured at the top with my grandmother) but we connected with a number of distant cousins who were all wonderful and welcoming and miraculously fluent in English. We shared our black and white photos while sipping on watermelon juice and the world never felt so small.

Throughout the weekend I went on to meet many of the friendly faces of Myanmar. From the kind ladies who helped dress me for the temples (my wardrobe of summer dresses has become seriously problematic in the modesty department) to the taxi driver who, despite the painful language barrier, understood sign language for 'beer by the water' there were countless moments with unforgettable people. My favourite incident might have been this hilarious gang of cigar smoking ten year old boys who rushed to help me collect sand by Inya lake.

to the maxi

My mother has always had great taste and an eye for style (which has often resulted in a certain daughter dipping into her wardrobe - sometimes uninvited). These days, with her closet far out of reach, I regularly find myself looking at old photos and coveting her fantastic outfits of the past. Tunics, oversized sweaters, polka dots, boater tops, velvet - I only wish she had kept everything she's ever worn. I especially love this striped maxi skirt/pink blazer ensemble - perfection.

I scream, you scream

My Dad, who is currently working away in Katie's general neighbourhood - aka: South East Asia, sent me this retro photo over the weekend of my oh so adorable brother (pre goth phase) and I enjoying a tasty treat in some sort of European locale. And while some tastes might have changed (I can no longer pull off those straight across bangs and can't bring myself to rock the classic 80s off the shoulder look) my desire to indulge in all things frozen and tasty is a lifelong kind of love affair. Since I managed to work my way through THREE ice cream stops this weekend (hey whatever it was labour day) I thought I might share some of my favourite frozen creameries with you all. So while the calender says it's back to school time...I say while the temperature is still sitting pretty around 20ish degrees it's perfectly okay to indulge in a scoop or two.

Eds Real Scoop: At 920 Queen Street East (in Leslieville) this neighbourhood hot spot is just a stones throw away from my brother's new apartment, which might even tempt me to visit him once in while. This east-end favourite boasts ice cream, sorbet and gelato in a delish array of locally unique flavours. My personal fave? Mercury Espresso...named after the local Queen Street east espresso bar across the street.

Marble Slab: If you're willing to endure loo-ooo-ooo-ng lineups and an extremely high caloric intake then marble slab is the go to made-to-order decadence of choice. Picky ice cream eaters will love to create personalized cones as extra toppings (kit kat, gummy bears, chocolate chips, bananas etc etc) are carefully folded into your flavour of choice on, you guessed it, an ice cold marble slab. With a large variety of flavours and an abundance of 'mixins' to choose from you can be as creative as you want when ordering. Be warned, multiple toppings will top up your price point so don't get carried away. I may have once forked over around $9 for one very inventive creation.

Kawartha Dairy: This cottage country hot spot (its the Webbers of ice cream) is a new found tradition of mine. Giant scoops of Moose Tracks ice cream in a big homemade waffle cone makes enduring the long weekend traffic on the 401 seem almost bearable.

Dolce Gelato: If you're trying to be a little healthier and are into authentic Italian treats then hop on the College street car and head on out to Little Italy's infamous gelato spot, Dolce Gelato. This gelateria is full of Italian personality and offers up some of the freshest and best tasting frozen treats in the city. Your best bet here are the fruity flavours or the very popular mentha (aka chocolate mint). No matter how long the line-up is (and it gets pretty long during those humid days) a refreshing scoop (or two or three) from Dolce is definitely worth the wait. I like it so much that I wrote about it here.