Monthly Archives: June 2014

Week in Review – Side Hustle & A Little DIY

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week in review
It has been long overdue that I start getting a bit of an organized schedule together when it comes to my blogging habits. As you may have realized I’ll have 2 posts in 2 days and then go off the radar for a week or more. The first of many regularly occurring posts will be a week in review consisting of what I’ve done, things I’ve learned and of course my favourite posts of the week.

What I’ve Been Up to

Since I haven’t been working full-time this summer I’ve found some part time side gigs in order to make some money either for a few nights out or additional spending money for Greece. For at least 5 years now I’ve been working for a family friend who is also a real estate agent and have been able to help her out while also earning some spending money here and there. I’m also starting work today for an events company working at World Pride. It’s my first time attending Pride in Toronto and it will be a great way to earn some extra money this weekend, and not spend it on regular Canada Day festivities as well.

Also something completely non-related is that I found myself a little DIY project-a outdoor table that I grabbed for free for our back patio. Yup I know it looks like crap but I’m hoping to turn it into something useful at the very least, maybe an ottoman/side table? I may have been slightly inspired by just about every single blog post on Young House Love. If anyone has any creative suggestions for this beauty definitely post in the comments section!

tablefix

What I’ve LEarned

This week I’ve started reading The 4-Hour Workweek which has taught me a couple of great tips already so far. One of the best pieces of advice has actually allowed me to really get focused on certain tasks over the last few days. Unfortunately I almost have had too much time this summer and a list of way too many things to work on which has lead me to get very little completed at all. What resonated most with me was the following;

If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?-Timothy Ferriss 

So as of Monday this week I’ve started writing a list of 3 or fewer things I want to get done and finish them from beginning to end in a single day. I tend to have a problem with wanting to get about 100 things done all at once and getting 1 of them done…which is the least important of course.

Posts I Loved

How to Increase Your Income by 60% – Lauren  @ L Bee and the Money Tree

Switching Careers: My Story- Jessica @ Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses

The Best Ways to Earn Extra Money – Thomas @ I Need Money ASAP

Life is Great, Be Grateful – David & John @ Debt Free Guys

3 Things Girls Buy That Should Never Be Bought – Leslie @ Millennial cents

Thanks for checking out my first of many week in review posts!

Visiting the Toronto Wine and Spirit Festival

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torontowineandspritifestival

As part of my previously mentioned “getting to know Toronto” goal I attended the Toronto Wine and Spirit Festival this past Friday. I had previously heard about the event last year but wasn’t able to attend unfortunately. This year a few friends from university wanted to go and it worked out as a communal meeting place in Toronto.

I had hoped to have a ton of photo’s to post on here, but given my really shotty iPhone that is still chugging away I only have a few to sprinkle within the post courtesy of my friend Steph and the photo below from the Wine and Spirit Twitter page

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Checking out the Toronto Wine and Spirit Festival

We ended up going on Friday which was the first of 3 days that the festival was running down by Sugar Beach on the Toronto waterfront. I had only been to Sugar Beach once before but loved the space, since it’s a old ship docking area turned urban beach. Thanks to my friend Faye for being more on top of things than I am, we realized we could save some dollars purchasing our tickets online ahead of time.

Upon arrival we received 5 tickets for either drink or food (who uses it for food at these things anyways) and our universal drinking/sampling cup that we would use for the remainder of the evening. Right away we learned that you should definitely go to the vendor shows that happen every hour where you get to taste product for free. This means you get to save your tickets and learn a little bit more about wines or other beverages, it made me feel pretty sophisticated a classy. We also realized that the event name is a bit of a lie, you can get beer and cider too!

Throughout the afternoon and evening we wandered around the beach and went to various booths tasting anything from cotton candy wine to ciders. There were some interesting mixed drinks to check out and even some photo opportunities like at the ONE Coconut water booth.

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Given that tickets were currency you could usually snag yourself a liquor beverage ie rum, vodka for 3 tickets mixed into some very interesting cocktails, a half to 1 cup of beer or wine for 1 to 2 tickets and food ranged from I believe about 3 tickets to 6 or 7. Towards the end of the night you may also start to figure out what vendors give you more for your tickets (money?) and you can take advantage of that if you so choose.

The weather wasn’t amazing (notice I’m basically wearing fall clothes) but it was still a great time, no rain and a cool way to experience the “new” Toronto waterfront. I would suggest making sure you bring enough cash so you can avoid the ATM’s, either eat before or just have a few food items here and there and check out the vendor shows. Overall the Toronto Wine and Spirit Festival was a great experience I would definitely check it out next year and maybe go on the Saturday instead to catch some rays.

Up next the Toronto Beer and Cider Festival in September!

What food/drink festivals have you attended this summer?