We got our stuff back

When I got home from work today, I saw that we got all our stuff back.  Yay!

I imagine our neighbours are happy to get their terrace back.

It doesn't look like any work had been done on the wall.

The railing between our terrace and our neighbour to the left is back, the stones are back on the floor of her terrace and she has her neighbour's stuff stored on her terrace.

I put our stuff back the way it should be on our patio.  Hint hint ... we want the terrace finished so we can use it and we want our BBQ and air conditioner hooked back up.  Pleez??

Book ~ "Liar" (1998) Jan Burke

From Goodreads ~ Irene is numb with shock upon learning that her estranged aunt has been the victim in a brutal killing. But Irene's keen investigative senses immediately awaken when she discovers that she's the #1 suspect of foul play. With the police nipping fast at her heels, Irene searches for her aunt's missing son as she attempts to dig the dirt on her own family members, both past and present. This time it's personal--Irene has to solve the crime to clear her name and catch a killer who's still on the prowl. 

This is the fourth book in the series of eleven (as of 2011) ... I'm rereading the series.

Irene's great aunt, Mary, informs Irene that her aunt Briana (Irene's mother's sister) has died ... she was run over by a car.  As Briana's sole beneficiary, Irene becomes the number one suspect of the murder, even though she hadn't see Briana in over twenty years.  This sets Irene and her friend, Rachel (a former cop, now a private investigator) on the trail to find Briana's son, Travis, which they do.

Travis' father, Arthur, recently died.  He had brought scandal to the family years ago when it was discovered that he was married to two women ... to Briana but first to Gwendolyn, who was rich.  This all came out when Gwendolyn was murdered about twenty years ago and, though the case was never solved, many assumed Arthur had done it.

So not only is Irene out to solve Briana's murder, she also must solve Gwendolyn's murder since they are probably linked.

I enjoyed this book.  It moved along at a good pace and I liked the characters.  One of the focuses was on Irene and Travis getting to know each other as long-lost cousins, separated because of a misunderstanding.

Terrace update

A couple fellas spent the day working on our terrace.

They removed all the stones from the terrace floor to level it ... then they put them back down.

This looking at our neighbour to the left's terrace with her stones removed (the railings between our terraces and the next one over have been removed).

Our walls weren't really touched today.

Our stuff was removed so they could level the terrace floor ... and then they were put back.

The railing between our terrace and our neighours to the right was put back up ... and they left all our heavy stuff on their side.  Yep, that's our BBQ, bags of dirt, chairs, table, etc.

They'll either have to take the railing down to haul our stuff back or carry it up and over.  Duh!

Luxe Box - $66 value for $10!

My May Luxe Box arrived today.

Luxe Box is a monthly subscription service that delivers 4-5 deluxe beauty samples to your doorstep in a chic box. The samples range from skincare and makeup to fragrance, body, and haircare. What’s more? These samples have been hand-picked by their beauty experts, so they are confident you will enjoy them!

Luxe Boxes are just $12 each (or $10 if you get the yearly subscription) ... and postage is free.

• Monthly subscription - You pay for one month at a time. Your subscription is automatically renewed once a month.
• Quarterly subscription - You pay for three Luxe Boxes upfront and your subscription is automatically renewed once every three months.
• Yearly subscription - You pay $120 for 12 Luxe Boxes (and you get two Luxe Boxes free!) and your subscription is renewed once a year.

Not only did I get one box, but I got two!

Here's what was in the white box:

And here's what was in the black box ... as usual, it was made just for me!

 Contents:

• Venus & Olay razor and five refills - retails for $10
• .23oz sample of Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Revolution Complex - 1.70oz retails for $11.99
• Cargo Lash Activator Mini Duo - $15
• 125ml sample of Joico K-Pak Revitaluxe - 125ml size retails for $50
• 1.2ml samples of Paco Rabanne Black XS L'Excess for Her and Him - 50ml sizes retails for about $75
• 3.5ml sample of Orlane Absolute Skin Recover Repairing Night Cream - 50ml size retails for $225 

Ya gotta love getting $65 worth of stuff for $10!

Plus there was a $20 coupon off a Panty by Post subscription.

You can get your own subscription here.

Why we don't have air conditioning right now ...

Gord and I live in a lower unit condo in a townhouse.  When you walk out our door, you are on our terrace ... a few steps take you up to the street level.

The retaining walls on the lower units are starting to collapse so the condo corporation is having them repaired and made a bit higher ... the work started last month.  There are 46 lower units.

They started the repairs on our terrace and our neighbours' terrace today.  The railings have been removed and are laying on the lawn in front.  The bricks from the walls will be removed and replaced properly.

Here is our terrace ... that's the railing that separated the two terraces.

Looking over at our neighbour's terrace ... that's our BBQ, bags of potting soil, shovel and chair on their side (our table and another chair are behind the BBQ).  We have nothing of theirs on our side.

Our terraces ...

In anticipation of the repairs, the air conditioners at our end were disconnected a couple weeks ago.  In the last week, we've been having recordbreaking temperatures (it's currently 31C with the humidex of 38C).  The air conditioners are supposed to be hooked up again on Thursday.  Here is our air conditioner with our neighbour's air conditioner on top ... not much good today.

I have a six-inch fan on my desk at work that I brought home ... it's surprising what a difference it is making.  I'm not hot and cranky ... yippee.

Dog & Bear Pub, Toronto, ON

When the Social decided to change its format to become a pub, Gord and I were happy.  We love pubs and that's what's lacking in our 'hood.

The Dog & Bear Pub opened yesterday.  Gord and I checked it out this afternoon.

They have restyled the inside to resemble a pub rather than a dance club (which it used to be).

We sat at the bar and watched the Blue Jays game (alas, they lost to Texas in the 13th inning).

Kristen took good care of us.

 After all the walking we did in the heat today, my beer tasted gooooood!

When Kristen left, someone one else took care of us.  She spent more time at the other end of the bar chatting with the other servers and/or checking her texts, though.   Despite this, we liked this pub and will probably check it out on a regular basis.  The menu looks great and we'll be stopping in for supper sometime soon.

This woman came in just before we left ... she had the awesomist 'fro I've ever seen!

Fat Bastard Burrito Co., Toronto, ON

Gord and I love love love burritos and have been waiting for Fat Bastard Burrito to open in our 'hood for a while.

It opened on Thursday so we stopped in this afternoon for a late lunch/early supper.

They have a selection of burritos, quesadillos, poutine, etc.

We both ordered a big baked chicken burrito.  The different between then is that his had lettuce and mine had tomatoes.

And it was big!

Here's mine ...

 Here's Gord's ...

 They were tasty (though lacked a bit of a kick) and the price was right ... we'll be back.

Doors Open: Faces on Places Walking Tour — Gargoyles and Other Architectural Ornaments

Gord and I went on the Doors Open:  Faces on Places Walking Tour today.

Look up ...  and what do you see? If you look up with author Terry Murray, you'll see beyond glass and steel and stone to spy gargoyles, griffins, dragons, angels, and portraits of important personages. These characters have been watching over Toronto and its inhabitants for centuries.

Writer and photographer Terry Murray spent 10 years hunting the many creatures adorning Toronto's buildings and researching why they’re there. Explore some of that world with her. Be sure to bring your binoculars! 

Terry Murray is an award-winning journalist and photographer specializing in medicine. For 30 years, she has been on the staff of the Medical Post, a fortnightly newspaper for Canadian doctors. She began gargoyle-hunting in 1994, a hobby that resulted in the publication of Faces on Places: A Grotesque Tour of Toronto (Anansi, 2006), which won the Heritage Toronto Award of Merit as well as an Alcuin Society Award for Excellence in Book Design. 

The tour was scheduled to start at 1:30pm.  We arrived at 1pm to find it was full but thankfully they opened up some more spaces.  Plus because of the demand, another tour was added today at 3:30pm (there is another one tomorrow at 1:30pm).

Our first stop was Old City Hall (built in 1889-99).

Here's Terry giving us some info.

This is the Sterling Tower at 372 Bay Street (built in 1928).

This is the Northern Ontario Building  at 330 Bay Street (built in 1925).

Here we are looking up up up and learning more from Terry.

 This is the Design Exchange at 234 Bay Street (formerly the Toronto Stock Exchange which was built in 1937).

This is the Scotiabank Plaza at 44 King Street W (built in 1949-51).

This is the Commerce Bank of Commerce (now CIBC) at 25 King Street W (built in 1929-31).

This is the Irish Embassy (a pub) at 49 Yonge Street (formerly the Bank of British America and CIBC, built in 1873-74).

As we headed north on Yonge Street, I'd never noticed these on the Bay (formerly Simpsons which opened in 1929).

This is the Confederation Life building at 8 Richmond Street E (built in 1890-92).

Here's Gord in action!

This is the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre at 189 Yonge Street (formerly Lowe's Yonge Street Theatre and Winter Garden Theatre, built in 1913-14).

This is the Ed Mirvish Theatre at 263 Yonge Street (formerly the Canon Theatre, Pantages Theatre and Imperial Theatre, built in 1920).

It was an interesting tour that will make me look up up up in the future.  There is so much to see!

CTV came along on our tour for a while ... you can see the video here.