Celebrating Easter, The Canadian Way

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!  In Canada it is hard not to since it is a long weekend for most, and we lucked out with fabulously warm weather Saturday (and everything is finally starting to bloom).  Since Good Friday is not typically a day off in the US, I was surprised to learn that it is one of five nationwide statutory holidays in Canada.  On top of that, many people also have Easter Monday off as well (statutory for federal employees only though some other businesses take the extra day as well) making it a nice, long four-day weekend.  I've come to find out that most things are closed Friday and Sunday with the exception of some restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries.  Luckily for those like me who haven't finished preparing for Easter, virtually all of the service industries in Toronto are open on Saturday (stores, restaurants, gym, dry cleaner, etc).

Exactly What IS Boxing Day?

I wasn't in Toronto on December 26th this year, but everywhere I went Americans were making some comment about it being Boxing Day back in Canada - and I should know what that is because I live in Canada now?  I had heard of Boxing Day when I lived in the US, but didn't pay much attention.  However, in Ontario, Boxing Day is actually a statutory holiday, so I did some digging to figure out what I could about Boxing Day hoping not to look so ignorant when people make comments in the future.

Holiday Preparations in Toronto

Our 1st Tree in 5 Years!  All lit up!

We got our first Christmas tree in 5 years last night!  I'm very excited that we have enough space to fit one since we didn't in NYC.  Living space is a definite benefit of moving to Toronto.

I'm still not positive where the best places are to buy a tree in Toronto.  In NYC, there is a person selling them on what feels like every corner so you can't possibly miss it.  Here I saw the Metro by us carried some and found out that Home Depot did too, but you always hear about how those die so early.  Then, we found a lot behind a church by Bloor and Markham, and that is where we got our tree.  We ended up with a fraser fir which is kind of special - it has scoliosis like me!  But I like it!  They cost $8/foot, which seemed reasonable to me.

Happy Halloween!

Canadian Halloween is the same day as US Halloween, and I hope you all got out and enjoyed it!  Halloween here seems to be celebrated basically the same here as in the US - with pumpkins and candy and costumes, trick-or-treating and parties.  Since it is on a Sunday this year, most "adults" celebrated over the weekend though there are still plenty of parties Sunday.  I dressed up for the first time since college - I was Cher, Matt Sonny.  Saturday night we were out down east of Spadina, between Queen and King, and it was CRAZY out!

Two Thanksgivings!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I don’t eat turkey, but I love the rest of the food (ooh pecan pie – my aunt Sherry makes the best!), and I love just spending time with family and friends (plus football!) without the pressure of gifts.  So, when I realized this moving to Canada thing was going to get me TWO Thanksgivings, my ears perked up!  Thanksgiving here takes place on the second Monday of October.  And from my current understanding it seems to have a lot of similarities to Thanksgiving in the US.  Most people have the day off from work.  It is often celebrated with a large family meal where they eat turkey and other similar food.  The “American” football league (versus soccer), if you can call the CFL that, plays a special double header on Monday.  But, as many similarities as there are, there are also some differences.  First, it seems to be widely celebrated in churches that weekend whereas in the US modern day Thanksgiving is virtually a secular holiday - with thankful prayers.  Second, there is no “black Friday” or other start to the holiday shopping season that comes with it (makes sense since it is so early).