Melissa F.'s Profile

good news! new late night menu-POUTINE!
still my favourite resto in toronto

Car free weekends are possibly the best day/night idea for the summer in Kensington.  This neighbourhood has so much to offer within a few blocks.  I can't tell you how much loitering time I've enjoyed here.

*Not so fun in the winter
*warning: garbage stank in the summer

Best Saturday ever.
Farmers market in north side- free sample extravaganza on the south side.
i love doing my grocery shopping here- so affordable and buying (mostly) local.

Don't forget that on sundays there is the flea market aka, what I call the Junkyard.
it's a great day out and an amazing date idea to boot.

I bought a voucher for one of the group buying sites.  At 2-3 bottles it's a steal! The quality of the wine is alright- not spectacular, but to be expected.  The wine wasn't necessarily even very good.  The wine was, ok to good.  
We bought three coupons and chose 3 different wines- I suggest doing this as a group and this way you get to enjoy a variety of wines plus just have a fun day out!

1) You make an appt to come in and you pick your wines.  It is illegal to actually MAKE your own wine- what you do is you choose the wines off their menu and they call you a few months later to go and bottle it.
-We chose the bab, the pinot and the barolo (the cab was by far the best)
2) The activity of bottling is quite fun- note SAVE YOUR WINE BOTTLES- or pay the meager one dollar to buy a bottle from them.
3) The most fun and efficient way is to do assembly line-Fordist style.  Except of a proletarian wage you will be rewarded with WINE at the end!  You clean the bottles, fill the bottles with wine, cork the bottle and put on the professional looking ribbon.  This process is actually a lot of fun and rotate so you get to try each stage!

I have not bottled at a lot of places- although what makes this place great is the friendliness.
People here were just really friendly and lovely- I think Italian-family owned and run.

This is a great place to make a large batch of wine for a party, wedding, or if you're an everyday drinker : )
This won't replace buying wine at the LCBO bc the quality just isn't good enough to replace weekend wines or bottles you bring to dinner parties etc.  But it has saved a LOT of money as a weekday wine, making Sangria or bringing to nice low-brow backyard/house parties.

Yes, you'll have to get past security to get in, but once you're in it's a cool little building.  how lucky that CUNY grads get to go to school on 5th ave.

This great building is RIGHT in midtown manhattan and a great place to study/work.  I'm sad that I didn't accept grad school @ CUNY : (

Air Canada, you are beginning to impress me with your service.

While I am NOT a fan of the roll-backs of general airlines I AM generally pleased when airlines keep it together in terms of:
-being nice

yeah..that's it.  I'm a fairly low maintenance customer.  Now No north amercian airline will EVER compare to japan or singapore air- but at least aircanada has stepped up their game (in comparison to westjet) and provided plans with movies, plugs, etc AND heightened their standards on being nice.

A few years ago I went straight to Westjet for my north amer flights.  For the last 2 years I have consistently taken Air can.  

good work, Aircanada- you have successfully (almost) made me forget how BAD you were before.

Marc D. hit the nail on the head: "Holy good deal, Batman!"

I was late on the online-contacts train but I have had friends and family take advantage of their great deals over the years and they all have been very happy customers.  It came to the point where I was on my last pair of contacts and it was ready to take the dive.

I ordered some contacts and they weren't a LOT cheaper than deals I have got in store, but they were a competitive price that is shipped right to your door.

What I'm most impressed about are all the tools they have online to help you make the right decision- that's fabulous!  
Also, I haven't been unhappy with anything, but reading other reviews it seems like they have a amazing customer service etc.

Two days later I saw that they were having a promo on free glasses, just pay for shipping.
All the add-ons for special coatings and other things are extra- but people with low prescriptions or others that just want a clunky backup pair in between having their contacts on- this is great.  15$ later for shipping and I am waiting for my free pair of glasses.

The site also does a lot to help the customer demystify glasses- measurements, etc.  It makes the consumer a whole lot more knowledgeable and I think less intimidated- I remember a decade ago when you went into a optometry clinic there was a bit of intimidation with the various instruments etc.  But the way clearly contacts works is awesome- you get to understand what the various numbers mean and make an informed decision for yourself!

Such a good business- Canadian to boot.  I couldn't be more pleased with them and their business model

I went in for a consultation today after thinking about laser eye surgery for 4 years, seeing a lot of happy customers- at various clinics- and spending countless hours on forums where people dish their experiences (see http://forums.redflagd...)

This review is for the consult only- and if I decide to go with Lasik MD I will, of course, update.

The clinic, located at 130 King in the exchange Tower is very easy to find- right beside the elevator column on the main floor.
I booked online and they called a couple times to confirm my appt. An important thing to know that they DON'T tell you before you book online- YOU HAVE TO BE CONTACT FREE FRO AT LEAST 24HRS prior to consult.  NOT telling me this resulted in me cancelling a last min consult I made earlier in the year.

The formums on redflag deals didn't have that many nice things to say about the confidence in MD Lasik, wrt to the consult.  But I found them very thorough (but, of course, i still dont' have much to compare it to).
The consult took 2 hours, as they told me and here's how it went:

1) Nice waiting room, can be a bit noisy b/c it's on the main floor and there is a lot of bustle, but they make it as comforting as possible with no name cookies, Tassimo coffee/tea, granny smith apples, and various magazine, newspapers.  Couches with dimly lit areas (to rest your eyes when you get your pupils dialted) are available.
Step one is to fill out the forms and wait til they call your name.  The closest washroom is at starbucks to your right or downstairs in teh foodcourt- they REALLY should have one in the office, but they do not.

2) You see an eye technician first who measure your eyes, they sterilize/swab all the instruments that you'll be resting your face on- a nice plus that you dont' ahve to tell them to do this
Pleasant

3) Next step is the opthomologist who tells you your updated prescrip, will put some numbing drops to measure your cornea (not scary at all), and will go over your options for procedures and then your specifics for what is best for you.  In my case I was a candidate for both lasik and prk but from my own research I knew I wanted prk (although there is a longer healing process it retains most of your cornea tissue in case another surgery is necessary- which it is most likely in 20-30 years to adjust).

4) Finance officer who will tell you how you can finance your surgery, and wil quote you a price.  I was quoted just under 4000$ for custom wavefront PRK.  This is on par with other quotes from larger or well known clinics- not the most expensive (5400 for upper tier) and DEFINITELY not the cheapest (I have been quoted less than 2000 at clinics that I know and trust from friends and family experiences with the same surgery and similar prescrip).

Lasik MD does have a Lowest price guarantee and will match + 100$ less your consult.  This means that I will be shopping around for quotes.

I've been nervous to shop around- but after reading a lot of forums and knowing my options well I know that it's not a huge deal- all these clinics have qualified drs and thousands of cases of good results- ppl are nervous to shop around because it IS a surgery- but really, as long as you go with one of the bigger names there is no problem to shop around.

All in all an a-ok experience, I may adjust the 3 stars up or down as I get other consults but for now I think they are a-ok.

Just saw Caroline or Change: http://actingupstage.com/
at this theatre and it was fantastic.

I love this theatre- it has a great Shakespearean setup- it's a lowered stage (my fave format), rather than a raised stage.  
I must admit that I have not seen the BEST plays here, and have never even heard of this one before but it was recommended and tickets were less than 30$ (note- i'll pretty much see anything for less than 30$)

WOWEE- I cannot recommend this musical more.
It's got an amazing cast, everything was sung, a fairly serious topic done very tastefully with a range of very entertaining laughing moments and some serious tear-jerkers.

This is a lower budget venue where there tends to be a range of performances some of them good and some of them bad- I suppose go on reputation because this particular musical was top notch.  

I would have easily paid twice as much as I did for this show.
A definite must see!

Good sushi. Pretty classic Vancouver.
Quality rolls. Good price. Chinese owned and run.
Nothing to rave about but definitely nothing to complain about either.