I Can Still Watch People's Court!

Our second day in Toronto started pretty late because we got to bed so late. I DID find out that The People's Court is on at 9:00am so that is a load off my mind. I SOOOO love my People's Court. At any rate, we finally got ahold of my new and former co-worker, Hayley, who was to be our tour guide. We decided to drive to my new office at the Toronto Film Studios, have some lunch at the studio cafe and then start right in looking for apartments. Our first stop was the glamorous Toronto Film Studios. It's actually a pretty small film lot, but it certainly is interesting. I used to work on the Sony Lot in Culver City back in my salad days as a temp, but I haven't worked on a lot since. We went up to my new office. Baby Boy was already set to go when he got to the office. With the prices in Canada being what they are, he may have to get a job sooner than he expected. Hayley and I tried out the printer/fax machine/copier/pacemaker so I could send a copy of my Work Visa to the attorneys. We then all went to the small cafe on the lot and although the grill was shut down by this time, Hayley was able to use her feminine wiles to get the cook to grill us up some burgers. Yummy. After lunch, we drove around the Danforth, which was the area that I was interested in. It is the Greek area of Toronto and has lots of families and quiet streets and it's quite close to the studios. We didn't find anything that day, but we got a feel for the area, which I totally loved. That night, we went to Hayley's apartment and saw the gorgeous view. But it was time to get back to the hotel and we were prepared to continue our apartment search tomorrow. Up next...eventual SUCCESS!

Pleased to meet you, Toronto

After many months of waiting, we actually arrived in Toronto. It's a lovely city. A little smaller than I thought, not as cold as I thought and very, very nice. The major goal for this trip was to wrangle an apartment for the actual permanent move on February 15th. The flight itself was a little strange as we flew on El Al, the Israeli airline. Everything was in Hebrew and they really don't have much of a sense of humor. They also made us buy a ticket for Baby Boy for the privilege of sitting on our laps. We did get a certified Kosher meal which wasn't too bad. To get ANY meal on a flight is a treat these days, so we were happy to have it. When we landed, we breezed through Customs. We then headed toward Immigration. I was terrified that I would be brought to a dark room with a single, swinging lightbulb and browbeaten within an inch of my life. But, the Immigration officer was (no surprise) very nice and he quickly processed our work papers. I have waited longer for a table at The Cheesecake Factory than I waited to get my Canadian work permits. When we finally got to the hotel (after missing the shuttle and grabbing a cab - a cab which had a hockey game on the radio, of course!) it was very late. The front desk clerk did not understand the concept of Priceline and insisted that I give them another credit card. I was so tired that maybe, I was just a teeny bit short with her. But, all was well by the morning. We then enjoyed a "Pizza, Pizza" pizza and watched Canadian television which is remarkably similar to US television. Stay tuned for the thrilling first look at my new office and Toronto, itself.

Drink Bacardi (or milk) Like It's Your Birthday

So, this past Sunday was Baby Boy's First Birthday Party. It went off without a hitch. Well, maybe one hitch. He was nursing a bad cold and slept through the first hour and a half. A party isn't much fun without the guest of honor. When he finally did wake up, he wasn't his usual sparkling self, but we forged ahead. As you can tell from the picture, he's not exactly thrilled about his cake, but what a trouper! By the way, the party was Curious George-themed, which, as it turns out, is not exactly common, even with the upcoming feature film. So, I had to jerry-rig my own cake. While the good people at Ralphs' grocery made the cake (with a Madagascar themed background, minus the characters), I added the little Man in the Yellow Hat and George, as well as, Curious Nathan himself, rising from the sea like an adorable little Godzilla. He got some fabulous presents, including a picture book written by his equally fabulous Aunt Judy, lots of nice noisy toys (with hammers and singing desk lamps) and lots of cute, winter clothes for his journey to the Great White North. I'll have all of Baby Boy's fans know, he's feeling much better. He still has a runny nose, but he's been playing all day and laughing and smiling and generally being the wonderful boy that he is. Here's to the Second Year of his Life!

Here We Go

Well, in a week I'll be in Toronto looking for housing for me, my husband, my one-year old son and our two cats. Somehow, I find myself packing up and leaving Los Angeles, where I've lived for a decade now, and moving to Canada. In January. Brilliant. I've never been to Toronto, although I have been to Quebec and Nova Scotia - both lovely trips. The company I work for here in L.A. has an office in Toronto and they were looking for another employee to double the office staff to 2. One of the only things keeping me here in California was my job, so the opportunity to be able to keep my job and still move to another location was so perfect. Since the birth on my little boy, I've wanted to move closer to our families in New England. Although, Toronto is still 10 hours from there, it's a lot easier and cheaper than flying across the country all the time. So, I decided to pack up and move to another country - sight unseen. Fortunately for me, my husband was burned out with his job and seems up for an adventure. The baby had no official say in the decision, but I took his smile for a "thumbs up." I decided to start this blog specifically for my friends and family to follow my progress and laugh and snicker as I deal with multi-colored currency, public transportation and temperature in Celsius. I hope it's somewhat interesting to read. Stranger things have happened. And so we go...