Skyscrapers and Soybeans Fieldtrip: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

This weekend, I was lucky enough to travel to Toronto to visit one of my best friends, Lindsay, and her mom Marg. In the past few years, I have been to the Toronto area several times and have experienced many of the interesting sights the city has to offer. In my opinion, Toronto has a similar feel to Chicago...it's on a lake (Ontario for those wondering), it's of a similar size and population, and it's a very international city with many diverse neighborhoods. I think that Toronto would make a great weekend getaway for anyone in the Midwest. It's approximately a seven hour drive from the Chicagoland area (my time may be off...I am comparing this to my dear husband, driving like a bat out of hell, from the South burbs of Chicago - our current record it 6h30m) or a 1 hour flight. If you make an extended long weekend of your Toronto adventure, you can even head to Niagara Falls, which is only 1.5 hours from the city.

Listed below are some of my favorite things I have done in Toronto:

South Bend...more than just Notre Dame?

Today I was busy working in lovely Northeast Indiana, specifically South Bend. As much as I hate to concede this, I would wager that most people with any modicum of knowledge about college sports know that Notre Dame is located in this lovely pocket of Indiana. Similarly, most people who know anything about yours truly know that I have a deep dislike for all things Notre Dame. I know, you are all shocked! How does an Irish Catholic girl from the south side of Chicago come to despise the good ole' Fighting Irish? First of all, it was bred into my psyche by my equally Notre Dame hating father. For my immediate family members that are certainly reading this, we will ignore the transgressions of my junior high years when I wore ND sweatshirts and thought that I would some day attend the aforementioned. Secondly and more importantly, Notre Dame fans have a way of believing that the sun rises and sets based on the movements of ND football. If you would like to see a comprehensive list of 10 Reasons why you should hate Notre Dame, I suggest you visit this entertaining article: clicky.

Dedicated to Marcus the Boat Boy

Your humble narrator, circa 1987 aka "The Mullet Years," fishing in Ely, MN

So, I was supposed to update this blog last week while traveling through the lovely state of Minnesota. Well, you know what they say about best laid plans and all that jazz.

Instead of covering the interesting things I did, which were few and far between, I thought I'd share some tidbits from my trip instead.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl...

And this little girl grew up to be a salesman, just like her Daddy. :)

After five years in pharmaceutical sales, I have officially hung-up my pharma-barbie hat and have moved onto my next sales adventure. This new endeavor requires that I travel throughout the Midwest 50% of the month. When initially faced with this travel challenge, I didn't know if I could handle it. Life on the road gets lonely and I worried that I'd miss all the comforts of home, the furry face of my loyal mutt Indy, and the daily companionship of my husband. In the short time I have been working for my current employer, I have found out that all of the above are true.

On the other hand, I've been given an opportunity to truly explore every corner of the Midwest. So why a blog? Today, while planning for the upcoming months, I was exploring Google Maps. While searching the fine state of Indiana for a specific location, I came across French Lick, IN. And then Santa Claus (on Christmas Lake, no less). Mentally, I made a note that I must stop in these places. I mean, who wouldn't want to see the birthplace of Larry Bird and why not share my adventures as I go along?

So follow me as I travel throughout out the Midwest, where no historical marker will remain unturned, no greasy spoon will be denied, and all of the hidden beauty will be discovered, from Skyscrapers to Soybeans.


"The secret to getting ahead is getting started." - Mark Twain