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While I was in Toronto recently, I kept driving by the most intriguing little shop by the above name. Unfortunately, each time, we seemed to be driving to a destination and had a time line to keep. There is not a whole lot of shopping spontaneity when you are travelling with three kids and an early bird husband!On our last day in the city, I managed to get my reluctant hubby to stop and let me out to take a look inside. Well, he had barely come to a stop before I leapt out (of a huge Suburban...our eco-friendly rental car) and nearly landed on my behind! Oh well, I knew my time was limited...what's a cracked tailbone in the pursuit of a great shopping experience? I felt like one of those contest winners at the grocery store who has 3 minutes to fill his/her cart before someone blows a shrill whistle and ends the fun. Well, my whistles were in the car feeling quite impatient and counting down my "ten minutes" (we were going to the mall of all places...blah...) so off I went.
From the minute I stepped into the store and heard that old-fashioned jingle as the door swung shut, I felt my breath catch: I was in a little girl's paradise and I had ten minutes!!!!!! Now, I love my husband dearly, but it is moments like these that I wish he wasn't such a non-shopper and that he'd understand my need to spend the afternoon marvelling over the authenticity of the miniature reproduction this and tiny vintage that. This place had piles of charm just peeking out from its shelves. Hand-crafted doll houses decorated with scaled-down versions of decorative perfection: tiny chandeliers dripping with tiny glass beads...that actually light up!!! Hanging baskets of flowers ready for the wrap-around porches, little lawn mowers, farm house sinks, baby cradles; if you can dream it, it's in that shop!!! Then there was me...with my meagre ten minutes...!!
Well, I snapped into action, allowing my eyes to dance over as much as I could when I spied what would be the purchase of my entire trip.........there in front of me, was the most realistic, scaled-down version of the fairy door of my dreams!! Now, it wasn't exactly a fairy door, but it would do a stand-up job as a substitute!! It had gorgeous moulding as the door frame, a tiny door handle, and...hold your breath for this one...a stained glass insert!!!! I dared not breathe as I asked the price. With the clerk's response, my excitement drained from me. It was well over one hundred dollars...definitely not qualifying as either a practical purchase (which it didn't have to be) or a purchase that I could sensibly justify to anyone, including myself. You see, I have problems with certain pricing points. If something is $19.95, no problem. If it is 17.95, the number doesn't sit well with me. If the price is $39.95, again, okay. If it is 52.95...it's probably not going to come home with me. In the same vein, I can buy five things for $20 each, but have a lot of difficulty buying something for $100. It's weird, and I can't explain it, but it just is. If I am going to spend $100 on a single item, it has to be big!! A fairy door for that price just doesn't qualify...
The shop keeper, sensing my disappointment, laughed and reassured me that I could find a very similar unpainted version, sans the glass (which was fine with me), for next to nothing!!! Sure enough, at the back of the store, was a little display of unfinished doors with lovely frames and a selection of door accessories to purchase as well. I was thrilled to find the most beautiful wooden door and frame, handle with door knocker, and even accessories to set the scene scattered throughout the store. I paid in total, about $39.95 ( a good number) when all was said and done. That even included a little "cast iron" mailbox and some rubber boots for the "fairies" to slip on when they leave the house. 
In my efforts to be authentic to the fairy door people (who actually know the folklore behind these sweet, little doors) I decided to pick up a resin version for the inside of my entry as well. It was cheaper (in total, with accessories, $15) and painted up beautifully. 
Now, you all know I did this for my little girl,who unfortunately wasn't even with me, and I was dearly wishing she was as she would have been able to charm her Daddy into letting us stay a lot longer. Unfortunately, since this trip wasn't about the adults (is it ever?), I had to adhere to our schedule and take our boys to the mall! Sure enough, as I was paying, my dear, sweet hubby called me on the cellphone to "encourage" me to hurry along and let me know that the "bus" was leaving very soon...with or without me!!! The nerve! Do you honestly think the other man of my dreams would utter those threats to his wife??? I don't think so...!!!With only seconds to spare, I hopped (climbed) back into our gargantuan vehicle where I had been unceremoniously relegated to the back seat while I was in the shop. The indignities I suffered just because my fellow travellers were mostly male!!!! You can just bet that the next time I return to Toronto, I will be the driver, I'll drop the the testerone at the mall first, and I'll save all my spending money for that adorable, little shop. You can bet your money on that one!!!!
The highlight for the kids was the visit to the Much Music studios (and meeting the veejays) and the basketball game between the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks. What an exciting outing!! They do an incredible job at pumping up the crowd and if it wasn't for the drunk guys behind us with a proclivity for the F-bomb (lovely), it would have been perfect! Which leads me to my other observation in Toronto. While everyone we met was very nice, I encountered a certain lack of social niceties...which I'm sure is just a symptom of a faster-paced life and talking too much on cell phones as one walks... Indeed, I was bumped into many times and found myself apologizing (in true Maritime style) while the guilty party seemed totally oblivious, if not annoyed at me for being there! 
Me and my posse at the Raptors game..so much fun!!
Meet Charles...he was very shy...he'd sneak a peek at me and then look away quickly (although I didn't look my best, surely he wouldn't have found me that hard to look at it??). The gorillas were my favourite...they had to drag me away!! 