Yoga

Grab your yoga mat and indulge in the relaxation of your body and soul. Turn down the lights, light the candles and let the sound of the rain be your background accompaniment. Whether you choose to do yoga at home or in a studio, you will find yourself in a peaceful bliss. There are yoga studios all over the city, but here are a few to get you started!

The Yoga Lounge

Image Source: The Yoga Lounge
Location:
103 Church St., 3^rd Floor
Website: http://theyogalounge.net/

889 Yoga and Wellness Spa

Image Source: Elle Canada
Locations:
Thompson Hotel, 3^rd Floor
889 Yonge St.
Website: http://889yoga.com/

Max out the mall photo booths

Photo booths are classics. Go to the mall with a few friends and go crazy with the duck faces! (We won’t tell.) Don’t forget that stores like Aritzia or Urban Outfitters have their own photo booths as well!

Image Source: Emilythepemily

Yorkdale Mall
Location: 3401 Dufferin St.

Unleash your inner book worm

Snuggle up and immerse yourself in a good novel. If you don’t want to stay home, pay a visit to the World’s Biggest Bookstore, right here in Toronto! With 64 000 square feet, you’ll never run out of books to get into.

Chapters – World’s Biggest Bookstore

Image Source: Toronto Mike
Location: 20 Edward St.
Website: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/home/storelocator/storedetails/200/

Drink and play

Can’t decide between nuzzling in a café and challenging your friends to a friendly tournament? Drinks and entertainment fusion cafes are popping up all over the city and we couldn’t be happier. Snuggle up with a hot chocolate or beer and laugh the day away!

Snakes and Lattes

Image Source: Blog TO
Location: 600 Bloor St. West
Website: http://www.snakesandlattes.com/

SPiN Toronto

Image Source: Jessica Nakanishi
Location: 461 King St. West
Website: https://toronto.spingalactic.com/

Get on a boat

Even if the rain is coming down, take a tour out on the waters! If it’s not too much rain, the precipitation will only add to the experience. Look out at the Toronto skyline, waterfront and Toronto Islands under the soothing rain. Romantic much?

Toronto Harbour Tours Inc.

Image Source: Matthew G.
Location: 145 Queens Quay West
Website: http://www.harbourtourstoronto.ca

Root for your favourite team

Watching a sports game is rain-proof. Whichever day you go, you will always be surrounded with devoted sports fans!

Rogers Centre

Image Source: Images by the Hamiltons
Location: 1 Blue Jays Way
Website: http://www.rogerscentre.com/

Get the best of food + entertainment

Dinner theatres are an experience in and of themselves. Enjoy a delicious dinner while watching a live performance in front of your table!

Mysteriously Yours… Mystery Dinner Theatre

Image Source: Food Junkie Chronicles
Location: 2026 Yonge St.
Website: http://www.mysteriouslyyours.com/

Shoot your friends

If you are going to put yourself in front of marble sized paint bullets, what’s a little rain? Relieve some of your stress by paintballing and taking it out on your friends! (That’s what they’re here for right?) With both indoor and outdoor arenas, you can do this rain or shine!

Defcon Paintball

Image Source: Deal of the Day
Location: 3550 Victoria Park Ave.
Website: http://www.defconpaintball.com/

Last but not least…

Image Source: Fox News

FRIENDS MARATHON! Enough said.

I recently shared some reading suggestions for fall and winter 2012. One of the titles from this list was “How To Win Friends And Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. At the moment, I’m toggling a couple of books (the Steve Jobs bio, and a rather dry textbook called Effective Public Relations – now in its 11th edition) so I found myself searching for ways to capture time I may not be using to the fullest.

This brought me to iTunes Books where I discovered a condensed version of Carnegie’s novel available for audio consumption – the perfect fix for my daily commute! As it turns out, the condensed version is a little over an hour long, and has some AMAZING insights I thought I should share.

One of the benefits of working in an innovative and diverse corporate office is the opportunity to grab great reading recommendations from my co-workers. I’m always on the prowl for great new material that can broaden my scope in business, strategy and self-discovery. I’m currently pouring through the Steve Jobs bio written by Walter Isaacson – a book I won’t think twice about recommending. There’s so much I hadn’t known about Jobs (right down to his surprising drug abuse), and find his self-made man story to be absolutely fascinating.

Knowing that I’ll soon be done the Jobs bio, I wanted to make sure I had a few other reads lined up. Lucky for me, after sending out an email to some of my closest colleagues, I now have a huge list of books I intend to read this fall/winter. Here’s a few that came my way:

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

In this stunning investigation of success, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on a journey through the world of “outliers”-the best, brightest, and most famous-asking the question: what makes high-achievers different? Gladwell argues that in order to solve this riddle we must focus on the contributing elements around the successful-their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way, he explains what the Beatles and Bill Gates share in common, the reason you’ve never heard of the smartest man in the world, why almost no star hockey players are born in the fall, and why Columbian and South Korean airplane pilots are more likely to crash.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

Are You Smart Enough To Work At Google? by William Poundstone

This book guides readers through the surprising solutions to dozens of the most challenging interview questions. The book covers the importance of creative thinking, ways to get a leg up on the competition, what your Facebook page says about you, and much more. ARE YOU SMART ENOUGH TO WORK AT GOOGLE? is a must read for anyone who wants to succeed in today’s job market.

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity — principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

For more than sixty years the rock-solid, time-tested advice in this book has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live.

Descriptions courtesy of Amazon.ca. Special thanks to Bhumika Kapadia, Seema Lakhani, Jonathan Naymark, and Katie Hinks for the recommendations.

How about you? Are there any books you’ll be reading over the fall/winter season? Share them in the comments!

1. Helvetica - A documentary about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture. This doc was incredibly insightful and told a great story about the history of the world’s most famous font. You won’t believe how many logos, and iconic parts of our culture are translated through this popular typeface. (Available on Netflix)

2. Welcome To Macintosh - Filmmakers Robert Baca and John Rizzo offer an entertaining look into the world and history of Apple, Inc. This doc educates the viewer on some of the little known facts about Mac, and the struggles they faced up until today’s time. (Watch Here)

3. Bill Cunningham New York - A cinematic profile of the noted veteran New York City fashion photographer. An absolutely fascinating look at the life of the ‘On The Street’ columnist from the New York Times. Watching the elderly man ride his bide through the city, spotting trends and identifying upcoming street fashion was riveting. Definitely watch this, fashion fan or not! (Watch Here)

4. Objectified - A feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. Having not really put thought into why toothbrushes look the way the do, and why we must have rectangular shaped cameras – this doc was incredibly enlightening. If you want to further educate yourself on product design, this is a must see. (Watch Here)

Do you have any documentaries that you think are MUST SEES? Share them in the comments!

(Images via.)