Delicious Food and Delightful Company at Dirty Food in The Junction

On a recent sunny Sunday afternoon, Andrea, Isabel and I met for brunch at Dirty Food, located in Toronto's "The Junction" neighbourhood, on Dundas Street West. It was pretty great time.

(To fill you in on these ladies : Isabel and I met at a mutual workplace many years ago, and became fast friends. Then, Andrea and Isabel met at a subsequent workplace. And then I met Andrea after Isabel invited us both to an event, the one written about in this post. Now, we're a happy trio of friends!)

Dirty Food serves brunch from 8am until 3pm every day except Wednesdays, and is operated by Andrea's close friends. Of course, this connection caused it to be at the top of my "must try" list, however, so did all the positive buzz I've heard about it, in general, including an impressive 4.5/5 star rating on Yelp.

Being friends with the owners didn't pull any strings in the line-up at this popular place though, and we waited in the line-up with everyone else. Well, I should say that Isabel and Andrea waited in line (for about 20 minutes) -- I got the address mixed up, so arrived late, just after they'd been seated. Given the delicious food and very friendly service, I think I can speak for them when I say that it was worth the wait.

Gift Wrapping : How to Make a Felt Flower Topper

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/handmade-gift-bow-topper-felt-flower.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="640" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37580 blk-brdr">Hello! Here's a fairly easy way to give the gifts you give a personalized unique look. Aside from adding a decorative handmade touch to your wrapping, this felt flower will almost certainly be saved and reused, over and over again. You might even get it back yourself one day!Incorporating a row of simple stitching, it's a fun quick and relaxing project for you to try, but is easy enough to make a good project for children to try, with your help on the cutting and finishing steps.Supplies:

At the Gallery : Guillermo del Toro – At Home with Monsters

The "Guillermo del Toro : At Home with Monsters" exhibition currently on at the AGO contains hundreds of pieces borrowed from filmmaker Guillermo del Toro's personal collection of props, artworks and artifacts, plus some relevant items from other sources, selected with his input.

To be more specific, there are over 500 of his things to see, and more than a thousand comic books on loan from The Beguiling, some of which you can actually touch and leaf through. Additionally, the gallery has pulled some art from their own collection to compliment his monster-related belongings. All together, this show offers visitors to the gallery an intense and spine-tingling experience that won't soon be forgotten.

Given the decidedly spooky content, it was a fortunate coincidence that the exhibition was on in Toronto over Halloween, after finishing runs in Los Angeles and Minneapolis. From what I understand (based on this interview with del Toro) we are lucky that it made it here. Apparently, the show was originally meant to travel to more cities around the world, however, the artist has changed his mind about that -- he misses his irreplaceable items too much to be parted from them for a longer period of time, so Toronto is apparently the last stop for "At Home with Monsters". It will be here until January 7, 2018.

Once home again in the new year, these things will be reunited with the 10,000+ pieces that were not included in the show. What we see at the gallery is a "drop in the bucket" -- his total collection is so vast that it is usually set out at his LA home-base, two houses combined that he calls "Bleak House" (named after a Dicken's novel). Even though he has plenty left at home, in regards to what is on loan to the gallery, he is quoted as stating, “It’s maybe 10 per cent of what is in the house. The house still looks very full but, to me, a shelf that has books on it without having action figures too is an empty shelf!”

Having seen the show on Thursday, with Nick and a group of other local blog creators and their guests, I can report that fans of all things eerie are fortunate that Guillermo del Toro has let us see his treasures!

The show was co-curated by three people, one from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, one from the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and Jim Shedden from the AGO, who took us on a guided tour.

Take a look at some of what is there ...

Holiday on Canada’s West Coast – Salt Spring Island 2017

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/coffee.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37494 blk-brdr">We're just back from a trip out west, on a small coastal island called Salt Spring, where we were visiting some of Nick's family.It took nearly 12 hours to get there, flying from Toronto to Vancouver and then catching a little sea-plane which took us to the island.

Two “How Did I Miss Them?” Places on Queen Street West

Although I've lived in Toronto's Queen West neigbourhood for ages, it took a friend who lives in a different part of town, to introduce me to these two gems, that I didn't realize were as great as they are. Meghan was the pal and "Tequila Bookworm" and "The Done Right Inn's Back Patio" were the places.Update Winter 2020 :  Sadly, after 28 years in operation, Tequila Bookwork has closed permanently.I've walked by Tequila Bookworm countless times, located as it is right across from the grocery store at Queen and Portland Street, however had never been in. The reason for that was an incorrect assumption -- going by its name, I thought it was a bar specializing in Tequila, which is not my drink so I didn't think to go.I was wrong, though -- Tequila Bookworm is a casual bar and restaurant that specializes in locally crafted beer, cider and wine, and serves very good, creatively prepared, food. It has the uncommon bonus of a kitchen that stays open late.To quote their site : "We serve small sharing snacks as well as full meals all day every day. From burgers to poutines and salads to cheese boards, our kitchen is cooking till 2am every night of the week."Meghan and I went for dinner on a Friday evening and had an excellent time.The service was really friendly and welcoming and the walls were decorated with very nice original paintings by local artists.