Toronto Production on Journey of Refugee Women, “No Woman’s Land”, Comes to The Kingston Grand (code for free tickets included!)

As someone who was raised in Kingston, I know it can get a lot of heat for not providing opportunities for residents to think outside of our small town bubble. Folks tend to venture to bigger cities for broader cultural experiences. But I can say that the team at The Kingston Grand curates incredibly diverse programming every year! And I am excited to tell you about a particular production that will be showing very soon.

Next week on Tuesday, March 14, The Kingston Grand will welcome Jaberi Dance Theatre from Toronto to present No Woman’s Land. This award-winning dance production features stories of refugees and many women’s journey of migration. It took three years to create and was born out of a process that “was multi-faceted and included a literature review, films, documentaries, articles, case studies and a series of focus groups with refugee women from the Tamil, Somali and Syrian communities living in Toronto. These focus groups were led by community facilitators with lived experience, conducted in their respective languages which were transcribed and shared with the creative team,” according to the Jaberi Dance production website. 

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Something in the Water Brewery Celebrates Black History Month with New Stout, Black Waves

It’s Black History Month! February is a special time to celebrate Black history, honour those who fought inequities and those who continue to break through systems that have been traditionally exclusive. If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’re familiar with my own experience as a Black woman in Kingston. I shared back in 2020 what it can sometimes feel like to live here. Since then, I’ve found a stronger sense of community and belonging and much of that has been thanks to the Black Luck Collective, a community group of Black Kingstonians that share resources, support and opportunities to connect with each other and celebrate our respective cultures.

In light of Black History Month, local brewery, Something in the Water, is launching an Imperial Stout called Black Waves to recognize and celebrate the local Black community. They will be launching the stout this February 17 with events on the 18th and 19th. A portion of the proceeds will go towards Black Luck Collective to create future opportunities and support growth. On Saturday, February 18th there will be a mixer for the Black community to gather from 3-7pm and a food pop-up on Sunday the 19th.

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Kingston’s Popular Walks and Hikes to Explore

The air is crisp, the leaves are about to change, you can wear a light jacket or cozy sweater outside without breaking a sweat. ‘Tis the season for hikes and walks! Kingston is surrounded by the most beautiful views and conservation areas. I asked readers recently where they enjoy to hike and walk in the fall and there were so many wonderful answers that I decided to capture and archive them here in this post. Scroll down for a list of the most popular answers from all of the wonderful people that shared! I broke the list into two themes: conservation areas that can be a bit more challenging and nature-filled and pace, wheel-friendly paths that are more accessible.

Read more: Kingston’s Popular Walks and Hikes to Explore
Rock Dunder

Rock Dunder – North
Gould Lake – North
K&P (Specifically off Unity Road)- North
Frontenac park – North
Little Cat Conservation – North
Foley Mountain – North
Marble Rock – East
Lemoine Point- In town
Parrot’s Bay – West

Chill strolls, Paved/wheel-friendly

Lake Ontario Park – In town (paved)
Queen’s campus (paved)
Douglas Fluhrer Park – In town (paved)
Breakwater Park (paved)
City Park (paved)
Battery Park (paved)
Cataraqui Cemetery (paved)

Do you have a favourite place to explore that I haven’t included? Share in the comments!

Kingston’s Donut Scene, A Quick Round Up

I did a poll a few weeks back on whether I should write more blog posts and the response was strongly in favour of more blog posts so here we are! Now that my youngest is sleeping longer stretches at night, I have a little more time to ponder potential blog posts. To start, perhaps a round up of places you can get delicious donuts in Kingston? Though Coffee Way will always have my heart, there are more and more opportunities to properly fulfill a donut craving and I am going round them up below! I am talking about special donuts here, folks, not the ones we grab in a rush on our way to a meeting. Enjoy!

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Upcoming Event: Open Farms Harvest

I often talk about how lucky Kingstonians are to have such an incredible farm-to-table experience within arm’s reach. So many of our local restaurants support our local farmers and together they create incredible food experiences! What better way to celebrate these delicious collaborations than the upcoming Open Farms Harvest event on Oct 2, 1:00pm-4:30pm. It is being held inside City Hall as well as at Springer Market Square, “Local chefs will be preparing local food grown from within rural Kingston and the surrounding Frontenac County to experience and learn where every ingredient on your plate comes from. There will also be craft beer from local breweries, wine tastings from Prince Edward County and Niagara wineries, as well as education seminars, chef demonstrations, and the chance to hear firsthand from farmers about the food they produce.”

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Keep up with Kingston Turns 7! 7 Reasons “Kingston Isn’t Boring Anymore”

This month marks the 7 year anniversary since I moved back to Kingston and began this blog. I can’t believe how time flies! In the last seven years, I’ve had three jobs in this city, we’ve grown our family by two and I’ve started a Masters program to name just a few things. In that time, this blog has put me in touch with so many incredible people, local businesses and unique opportunities.

Although it’s always been a side project, it has enriched our lives in more ways than I can count. The point of starting the blog was to convince myself that Kingston is a happening place and far from the sleepy town I remembered and fled from as a young adult. I hoped that sharing the positive and diving into our community would give me a new appreciation for its beauty. And it worked! I only share positive experiences and specifically focus on small, local business and as a result I attract positive energy. Bonus: I’m often given a heads up on many of the fun things happening around town. This community is so supportive and if you put yourself out there, it’s very easy to find your people. For those of you who have been following along, thank you so much for reading and sharing my content! I appreciate you.

Local artist and founder of collective, ForWorld Studios, Francisco Corbett, has coined this phrase “Kingston Isn’t Boring Anymore” and put it on T-shirts that he sells in very small rollouts. I love this phrase so much because I 100% agree. Perhaps it’s because I actively look for the fun or that it has changed significantly over the years – regardless, I see such a difference over the last decade! Maybe a mixture of perspective and progress?

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Local Meal Gift Guide for New YGK Parents

We welcomed a new baby recently (our second, we have a toddler) and we were so incredibly lucky to have friends and family source delicious foods from locals spots to keep us nourished as we took in fresh cuddles and kept our toddler well-fed! I really benefited from having this blog because many friends tapped into it to pick from our favourite shops (best humans). This post is a shout out to friends who fed us for the first few weeks of baby’s little life. It’s also a guide for anyone who wants to bring new parents nourishing food from local spots while they settle into the chaos and unpredictability of life with a newborn.

Bread and Butter
So many great items to grab from this sweet and savoury heaven on earth! A few friends brought us their quiche, cinnamon buns, chocolate croissants, sourdough, carrot salad and ratatouille. All of it served our family well during the early, foggy days.

The Grocery Basket
Our favourite item from Grocery Basket was the shepherds pie. It was so rich and delicious and huge! It created many leftovers. I still have a couple of personal-sized items in our deep freezer from the Grocery Basket that I haven’t even broken out yet! Love having frozen items on hand for hectic days.

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Ways to Show Up for Indigenous Communities on Canada Day and Beyond

We are weeks into more discoveries of mass graves at various residential schools. It’s no longer enough to react to these repeating headlines with shock. There are things we can all be doing to support the communities that carry the trauma we read about. See below for a few ideas on how to show up and show support.

Learn and Unlearn:

Support:

Please note that if you’re sharing traumatic news headlines to also share the number for the national Indian Residential School Crisis Line that has been set up to provide support for residential school survivors and others affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.

Updated: The Ultimate List of Kingston Patios

We’ve all been (im)patiently waiting to sit in the sunshine eating and drinking at our favourite local spots. There are so many incredible patios to choose from. I’ve tried my best to get them all in this extensive list with the help of my instagram followers! It is incredible how many of our local restaurants have survived the challenges of the past few years so please be patient, kind and generous while tipping (if able) when you visit! Be sure to check businesses’s social ahead of visiting.

Bella Bistro, 4050 Bath Road

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Kingston’s Mother’s Day Gift Guide and Meal Ideas

Photo by Zoe Schaeffer on Unsplash

If you follow me on Instagram, I’ve had a Mother’s Day giveaway going for the last week to highlight all of the awesome gifts from local makers. If you entered and didn’t win, still consider checking out one of these awesome businesses for your Mother’s Day gifts. A quick recap:

Afiya Beauty’s Special Mother’s Day Kit: Rose body oil, bath soak, rose facial serum. (FYI, I use their products and love them!)

Cheesecakery + Found and Lost Art: Cheesecakery has teamed up with Found and Lost Art for an adorable jar and card set.

Heel Boy: A gift card for mom to treat herself to a new pair of shoes as the season changes is a perfect gift!

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