Events

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Return to the Advent Calendar 2017 Monthly View

TREE TRIMMING PARTY It’s December 1st and the Scouts have set up their Christmas tree lot around the corner beside the AME Church. We’ve had an artificial tree for years. […]

Today, each of us is going to write a Punk Rock Christmas Carol. Signing bonus if you mention seltzer or incorporate the sound of carbonation. Here are some Ramones lyrics […]

CHRISTMAS COOKIE WARS! Today marks a Battle Royale between the Ancients and the Moderns Today, our favourite Christmas Cookie recipe will go head-to-head with a rookie-newcomer for the title of […]

Adopt and Invent an Animal Tuesdays are traditionally giving days on our Advent Calendar Today, we’re going “adopt” an animal from a favourite charity We’ll be letting the kids decide […]

FRIED CHICKEN TOUR! Today, we’re starting stage one of our Fried Chicken Tour of the City of Toronto! T’s crazy about fried chicken and looking for the best in the […]

We’ve got a late night tonight. So we’re going to spend the tail end of it having… A Late Night Tailgate Party Get out the red and green tortilla chips, […]

Mail the Christmas Cards! With our best wishes to the hard-working folks at Canada Post! RETURN TO THE ADVENT 2018 EVENTS PAGE

Checkered Tablecloth, The Works! Tonight, we’re fixing on an old fashioned steakhouse dinner with steaks & burgers, frites & baked potatoes, beer & whisky + dessert! RETURN TO THE ADVENT […]

Christmas Concert at Roy Thomson Hall Today’s the first of the two Saint Michael’s Choir School Holiday Concerts at Roy Thomson Hall. This season marks a shift from the event’s […]

CHRISTMAS CANNING Today, we’re making some extra special holiday gifts. Alongside my famous Whisky Fig Cranberry Sauce, we’ll be tackling either Lillie O’Brien’s Persimmon, Saffron & Vanilla Jam or her […]

SKETCH THE TREE AND SPONSOR A LIVE ONE Today, we’ll spend some time sketching our Christmas tree. We’re fishing out all of the old boxes of oil pastels and charcoal […]

Pyjama Day + Building the Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich Each year, during Advent, we grab a pair of crazy holiday pyjamas for at least one person in the family (usually Bea) […]

Feast of Santa Lucia Family Book Exchange is ON B & T are swapping titles again this year. They’re hunting gently used books for each other (and an extra for […]

Holiday Game Night with Cocktails for Mom and Dad Tonight, we’re going to play holiday versions of all of our favourite games. We’ll haul out the game of “Christmas Clue” […]

Photograph the City Today, we’ll visit the Art Gallery of Ontario (for Anthropocene) and Allen Gardens (for the Winter Flower Show). Then, we’ll go outside and photograph the city with an eye for […]

Hallmark-Style Christmas Movie Spoof Tonight, we’re going to write, produce, and film our own spoof trailer, meet-cute, or pivotal scene from a Hallmark-style Christmas Movie. Bonus points for “modernizing” Shakespeare, […]

Today, we’re going to make Soft Salted Caramels for the family and for gifting! Here’s a copy of my recipe! Soft Salted Caramels 1 c heavy cream5 tbs unsalted butter […]

Topping Up the Food Bank Box Today, we’re going to pile canned goods into the Daily Bread Food Bank box at our local grocery store. The most needed donation box […]

SEE ALL THE LIGHTS! Our annual tradition lives on! After a holiday event downtown, we’ll cruise the giant inflatable Santas on Inglewood Drive and SEE ALL THE LIGHTS! RETURN TO […]

Toronto Christmas Market It’s our annual tradition! Today, B and I will go have a lunch in the Distillery District and Ride the Ferris Wheel at the Toronto Christmas Market. […]

Holiday Beatnik Coffeehouse As you may have noticed, I took suggestions from the teenagers as to what they’d like to do on various days in Advent. In addition to the […]

St. Lawrence Market Cheese Board This morning, we’ll get up before dawn and travel to the amazing stalls at St. Lawrence Market, gathering the ingredients for our Christmas Dinner and […]

Today, we’re making the Bûche de Noël for our Christmas Dinner! We’ll either be making this amazing Chocolate Mint Buche de Noël or my all-time favourite Lemon Bûche de Noël with […]

Here it is! The annual Christmas Eve Checklist! □ Go for a Brisk walk with our mini-schnauzer, Elvis! □ Make tons of Christmas cookies. □ Live stream Jon Solomon’s 30-Hour […]

Merry Christmas! RETURN TO THE ADVENT 2018 EVENTS PAGE

TRAIN FILMS!!! This year’s New Year’s Eve film fest will consist of movies that take place on a train or which feature a train scene as a main plot-point. Since […]

It’sthe firstday of Advent!Time to trim the tree! First, we’ll have to choose one!This afternoon, we’ll trek over tothe local Scouts lot for a tall, slim fir. Then, we’ll turn […]

Design your own Bookplate! Today’s Advent TBD is a MAJOR THROWBACK to our very first online Advent Calendar in 2011 ! The kids were too young to get involved, and […]

Provide Baby Blankets via Plan Canada Gifts of Hope Today, we’re providing three baby blankets to children in need via Plan International Canada’s Gifts of Hope. How will you be […]

Make Clementine’s Famous Crullers Today, we’re going to be conquering our “fear of frying” by making Clementine Paddleford’s famous crullers. Clementine is the lady with the pencil, above! Her Cruller […]

Family Book Exchange 2019 This year’s Advent Family Book Exchange shall henceforth be known as “The Hardcover Edition.” Go big or go home. Everyone’s going to pick a name from […]

Festive Streaming-Service Binge It’s Friday. We’re going to chill on the couch with some Fish and Chips from our local and have a proper binge of a new-to-us series of […]

Carols, Cocktails, and Cookies a.k.a. Winterize the Song of the Summer Last year, our carol-off consisted of a day of writing punk-rock Christmas songs. This year, we’re back on a […]

Concert & Pinochle Today’s the Saint Michael’s Choir School Christmas Concert at Roy Thomson Hall. It’s going to be an afternoon of rehearsals, dress up, performances, and dress-down. After the […]

Make Block-Printed Tea Towels Anyone who knows me knows my obsession with tea-towels, especially calendar tea towels. If we’re going to have a good time this afternoon, DIY calendars may […]

Donate to Forests Ontario Let’s flight climate change, dozens of trees at at time!Today, we’re making a contribution to Forests Ontario. How will you make a difference today?