Wedding Dress Shopping and a surprise in the mail......

On Saturday we had to go to Downtown Toronto to meet dd and her bridesmaids at the Bridal Store.  As we had never been there before we decided to use Daisy  Daisy is our GPS system.  She never talks to us now we have her voice switched on as all that re-calculating drives me potty.  However thanks to Daisy, we saw parts of Toronto that we had never seen before, as she took us through town, which was awfully nice of her.  However with the traffic and the fact all the people driving in Toronto are colour blind (don't know what a red light is for) and just stop when ever they feel like it, it makes for difficult driving.

We finally got there and as I said before dd and maid of honour had been there before and had scoped out a couple of dresses.  She did try one on that was just plain bloody awful.  It had pick-ups (bridal term!!) that looked as though a three year old had sewn them.  So she tried the two on that she liked and looked lovely in both of them.  However she is having a custom made dress as she is having the skirt off one dress and the top off the other dress, which makes it really easy for me to say I can't show you a photo, as the dress has to be made.

What I can tell you is that it is not white; not sure what to call it but it's an off white/ivory colour.  Dd is so pale that a true white wedding dress would make her look so washed out.  They are making the bodice of the dress "in-house" and shipping in the skirt part.  We were in and out of the store in an hour, can you believe that?  I didn't cry and neither did dh when we saw her in her dress, but she was lovely and we're very proud of her.

After leaving the store the girls went out for lunch and we headed for our next port of call, again with the aid of bloody Daisy, which meant another scenic route through Toronto.  I have to say it sucks when you have no idea where you are going.  Our next destination was to a place called "The Door Store," which is in "the heart of Toronto's Castlefield Design District!!"

We need a floor grate to cover a cold air vent on the floor and I am having a heck of a job finding the right size as it is large.  The one on there at the moment is tacky and dropping to bits, plus it is a modern one.  So I ask to guy to show me them and to cut a long story short it is going to cost $600 plus 13% taxes to buy two to fit the hole.  My reaction, "You've got to be kidding..." No he wasn't!!!  I need a new door that fits properly in the dining room $400+, the period door knobs and lock for the door to match the rest of the ones in the house $165.  Both dh and I decided they were charging Toronto prices!!!  If I can find a guy who does iron work I think I'll get the grate custom made as it has to be cheaper than those prices.

Anyhow, we went to the store across the road called Gingers and Summerhill and once again it was so overpriced......HOWEVER I did find a front door handle and lock set on clearance that we ended up getting as it was a good price and good quality, so all was not lost.

Then it was back to Daisy to get us out of Toronto and back home!!!  So again another tour of the city to get back onto the highway and back to our country home!!!  Driving in the city is a pain!!

I took part in a swap that was held over on this blog  I received my parcel on Friday from Kim and this is what I received:

Wasn't I lucky and what a talented person Kim is.  Luckily for me I don't have to get my parcel to Kim until Easter, as mine isn't quite ready yet.  I will post photos of what I send Kim when she receives hers.