Blue Velvet Sectional

"You'll love Toronto, Liz.  It's just like New York, but without all the stuff!" -  Gavin Volure, as played by Steve Martin, 30 Rock I live in Toronto, but I  love  New York.  I've loved it from my first visit as a teenager , when I stayed at the Edison, and Times Square was still seedy and gross, to my most recent visit a few months ago, when I stayed at the Sofitel, and ate at Balthazar and Babbo again.  I learned to love New York from movies as old as The Thin Man, to The Godfather and When Harry Met Sally. The joke is how many New York movies were actually shot in Toronto. Spring St on Adelaide St Yes, this has been going on for decades.  Whenever our dollar is in the toilet, the American productions ramp up.  Legend has it that set designers used to have to make fake garbage to litter our streets, since Toronto was so tidy that it didn't look authentic.  Thanks to Rudy and Bloomberg cleaning up New York, and Rob Ford turning Toronto into the Wor

Do you remember The  Golden Girls ? Of course you do. It was a blur of sex and menopause jokes, wrapped in pastel polyester and propped up by shoulder pads. It started in 1985, and the actresses were, at the time: Bea Arthur (Dorothy): 63 Betty White (Rose): 63 Estelle Getty (Sophia): 62 Rue McClanahan (Blanche): 51. FIFTY ONE!! Here are people who could do a revival, based on these ages: Meryl Streep (she's 65) Goldie Hawn (69!) Susan Sarandon (68) Sheryl Crow (52) This woman is 52.  The bar is high, ladies. And there's more... These lovely women are also in the Golden Girls demographic: Lisa Kudrow is 51.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus is 54! Courteney Cox is FIFTY, y'all. Sharon Stone is 56. Annette Bening 56 Juliane Moore 54 Kirstie Alley 64 Jane Seymour 64 I mean, COME ON! Women in their 50s and 60s look completely different than they did just a generation ago.  I'm sure some older women in the 80s were stylin', but the TV versions were pret

Barcelona at night. After our 4 day wine-drinking bender in Bordeaux, it was time to bid France adieu and head for Spain. It was a quick flight on Vueling airlines From Bordeaux to Barcelona- an hour or so. We grabbed a cab and were in the city centre in no time.  Our hotel, the  Catalonia Port , was in a great location, central to the Barri Gòtic, el born, and, of course, the port.  We were also really close to the legendary ramblas.  After settling in, we decided to go for a walk up these famous streets.  And we hated it! So tacky and touristy... it was like the worst parts of Times Square, but with more pickpockets and costlier food.  Yes, there is a cool, if jam-packed, food market, but the rest of it is just so terrible.  Since we were both so underwhelmed, we didn't walk the whole way, but went back to our hotel to get ready for a late dinner. By then, I was dreading spending more time in this city.  If that was the highlight, I might as well just grab my Kindle and go

Image- Pinterest I had braces for 3 years.  That may give you some idea of how out of whack my teeth were as an adolescent.  My dad used to say I could eat corn on the cob through a picket fence.  Even with good insurance, he still referred to my braces as "the trip to Hawaii."  I had them removed just a few weeks into high school.  I was perfect, for about a month. Then, one day in math class, my teacher asked me to do the problem written on the blackboard.  "There's something written on the blackboard?" I said, which was both smart-ass and true.  I couldn't see a damn thing on it.  So, off I went for an eye exam, and, sure enough, I needed glasses.  I was  not  pleased.  Hipsters hadn't yet been spawned by the devil, and the only people who wore glasses were nerds and old people.