game: philadelphia vs dallas
escape: the Art Gallery of Ontario
menu: dinner at Union

Christmas is over and as 2013 is drawing to a close, so too is football season.

There was no rush to wake this morning and only the whisper of NFL Sunday Morning in the background via the little kitchen TV that Mike was watching as he made coffee. This Sunday’s guest was a little different from our usual roster.  Mike’s mom was in town for the holidays and [according to Mike] in town for the most important Dallas game of the season.  As Mike enjoyed his Football Sunday Morning from the comfort of the kitchen, we occupied the couch and monopolized the TV.  Fortunately for Mike, mom and I had an afternoon of art planned leaving him free to spend quality time alone reflecting on 2013 and setting goals for 2014 with his football.

I know what you’re thinking…”what about the ramen ritual?” | Don’t you worry, we went for ramen on Saturday.

It was completely unintentional, but as I looked back on the past 16 weeks, I  realized that I am ending my 2013 posts the same way I started it; with an afternoon at the art gallery. We have come full circle spiral!

This year, all my trips to the AGO were to attend featured exhibitions.  It had been quite some time since I’ve gone to view their general collection. When we arrived, we veered passed the queue for the Guggenheim exhibit and headed straight for the Group of Seven.  Amongst the works of talented Canadian artists we viewed walls ornamented with historical art, paintings and sculptures from the European Renaissance, photographs that captured faces of the past, and walked through a room of giants sculpted by Henry Moore.  It made me realize that though I have year ‘round access to these gems,  I have for sure taken them for granted.  Definitely worth a visit!

Of all the exhibits, I found the collection of AMIA AGO Photography Prize finalists most captivating; particularly the following 2 artists.

The picture above shows 4 of 13 videos on  TVs/monitors of musicians who were individually recorded standing on land markers while playing a traditional Mexican death march.  However, when heard simultaneously the music is out of sync.  This installation by Edgardo Aragon, comments on the increased violence in his region of Mexico brought on by territorial disputes.

The most interesting of all 4 finalists, I thought, was Chino Otsuka and her photography work titled Imagine Finding Me.  In her exhibit she explored memory in context of a snapshot in time through a series of double self portraits of her past and present self.  The photos are set in places that she visited in her past and re-visited in her recent adult life. (Imagine Finding me image source)

The Dallas game that was originally scheduled to air in the afternoon was moved to the evening.  As Mike explained, the NFL usually makes such scheduling moves based on game popularity and viewer ratings; after all this is the most important Dallas game of the year. Everything on Mike’s agenda was smooth sailing until this time slot switch occurred.  The game was to be watched in the afternoon and the 3 of us would head out for our dinner reservation in the evening.  Instead, we headed out for our dinner reso and the game was PVR’d for after dinner viewing.

Every Sunday, Union, [a restaurant that I frequent and have mentioned in the past] hosts a Parisian style dinner where you are expected to nothing but take your time to wine and dine as you relax and recharge for the week ahead.

1. entrée: steak tartare | habanero, dijon, bread & butter pickles, toast
2. plat du jour: Lovell Springs trout | beets, potato rosti, sweet mustard
3. dessert: sticky ginger cake [salted caramel + ice cream] | eggnog creme brulée | maple bread pudding [burnt caramel ice cream]

With a full stomach, Mike watched the Dallas game.  If they win they are in the playoffs.  If they loose they are done.  Though the game was good, as evident by Mike’s cheers + screams + and fist pumps,  Dallas lost.  This was the saddest I’ve seen my husband in a long time.  Better luck next year Cowboys.

Hope you all enjoyed my inconspicuous iPhone camera work!
-see you in 2014

football pic from http://www.nflrush.com