Homeowners: Pay Attention To What You Smell

Whether you're a new homeowner, or a veteran home owner, you need to pay attention to what your senses are telling about the health of your home.  The National Post published an excellent article by Home Inspector Mike Holmes telling us what certain odours can possibly indicate about your house.  Holmes says many homeowners ignore or tolerate bad smells, and only address the problem when it's too late.  This can result in higher prices for solutions, or worse - health affects.  I highly recommend this as a stick-on-your-fridge article.

Mike Holmes: Making A Big Stink About Odours

Winterlicious 2012

Toronto is celebrating it's 10th Annual Winterlicious event, where food lovers and resto-lovers can explore our city's finest.  Participating restaurants offer a prix fixe menu (lunch - $15-$25, dinner - $25-$45), keeping your palate and your pocket happy.  There are 175 restaurants participating in Winterlicious this year, including Fabbrica - named one of Toronto's top 10 new restaurant's in my previous post.  The event runs from January 27 - February 9, and reservations will be accepted starting January 12th - I highly recommend making reservations, as the top restaurants get filled up quickly!

Restaurant List and Menus

Toronto Skyline - Every day of 2011

We got a daily peek of what our beautiful city looked like throughout ever day of 2011.Year-long Exposure of Toronto Skyline Produces 'Dreamy' Image

Top Ten Top Lists of 2011

The last few days of December and the first few days of January always inundate you with "Top Ten .... of 2011".  I personally love these lists, use it as a path for my nostalgia of the past year, assess whether my opinion is 'with the masses', and if I kept with the times throughout the year.  The lists range from 'Top 10 Albums' to 'Top 10 Hollywood Breakups'.  So, I've compiled my own 'Top Ten Top Lists of 2011"

1. Top Toronto Stories of 2011 full article
     

1. Jack Layton's Dies
2. The Rob Ford phoneomenon
3. Occupy Toronto
4. Sgt. Ryan Russell killed
5. Long, hot summer

2.  50 Best Websites of 2011 full article

This Top list is divided into categories, so I'll give you the top site from each category

• Music & Video - 8tracks.com
• Family & Kids - CafeMom.com
• Sports - BleacherReport.com
• News & Info - BigThink.com
• Financial & Productivity - DuckDuckGo.com
• Shopping & Travel - Airbnb.com
• Health & Fitness - CalorieKing.com
• Social Media - Plus.Google.com
• Games - TheEscapist.com
• Education - Freerice.com

3. Critics Pick Top 20 TV Shows of 2011  - full article

I'll give you the top 10 

1. Breaking Bad
2. Homeland
3. Downton Abbey
4. Parks and Recreation
5. Game of Thrones
6. Louie
7. Justified
8. The Good Wife
9. Modern Family
10. Community

4.  Toronto Life's Top 10 Best New Restaurants - full article

1. Origin - 107 King St E
2. Enoteca Sociale - 1288 Dundas St W
3. Ici Bistro - 538 Manning Ave
4. Quatrefoil - 16 Sydenham St
5. Woodlot - 293 Palmerston Ave
6. Frank's Kitchen - 588 College St
7. Queen Margherita Pizza - 1402 Queen St E
8. Fabbrica - 49 Karl Fraser Rd
9. The Burger's Priest - 1636 Queen St E
10. Brockton General - 1321 Dundas St W

6.  50 Best iPhone Apps of 2011 full article

This Top list is divided into categories, so I'll give you the top App from each category

• Games - Angry Birds
• On The Go - Kayak
• Lifestyle - Amazon
• Music & Photography - Mog
• Entertainment - Netflix
• Social - Twitter

7. Top 10 Wines Under $10 of 2011 - full article

The Whites

1. Citra 2010 Pinot Grigio 
2. Fuzion 2010 Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay
3. Spinelli 2010 Chardonnay
4. Caliterra Reserva 2011 Sauvignon Blanc
5. Citra 2010 Trebbiano D'Abruzzo

The Reds

1. Spinelli 2009 Montepulciano D'Abruzzo
2. Ogio 2009 Puglia Primitivo
3. Citra 2010 Montepulciano D'Abruzzo
4. Caldora 2009 Sangiovese Terre di Chieti
5. Casal Thaulero 2010 Sangiovese Terre di Chieti

8.  Ten Top Grossing Movies of 2011 - full article

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
4. Kung Fu Panda 2
5. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
6. Fast Five
7. The Hangover Part II
8. The Smurfs
9. Cars 2
10. Rio

9.  Ten Best Albums of 2011 - full article

1. '21' - Adele
2. 'Bon Iver' - Bon Iver
3. 'Watch the Throne' - Jay-Z & Kanye West
4. 'Nostalgia, Ultra.' - Frank Ocean
5. 'Take Care' - Drake
6. 'David Comes To Life' - Fucked Up
7. 'House of Balloons' - The Weeknd
8. 'Ceremonials' - Florence + The Machine
9. 'James Blake' - James Blake
10. 'The Big Roar' - The Joy Formidable

10. Toronto's Best Houses, Condos and Cottages - full article

1. Victorian in Rosedale ($3.75 million)
2. Ron Thom designed Country Home ($2.8 million)
3. Elmar Tampold's Hoggs Hollow home ($4.2 million)
4. Annex Victorian ($2.5 million)
5. Eaton Family's former home ($8.5 million)
6. Occupy Toronto Yurt
7. Ravine house in Lawrence Park South ($2.9 million)
8. 3 Storey, 6000 sq ft Wellington St Condo  ($3 million)
9. Converted-Church Condo ($1 million)
10. Ritz-Carlton Mansion in the Sky ($20k/month)