To celebrate the release of The To Do List  this Friday, we asked readers to submit their ultimate summer to-do lists for a chance to win ours. We got so many wonderful entries that had us LOLing for hours!

After much debate, we narrowed down our top ten lists and voted one grand slam winner. Congrats Alexa Huffman!! You have won our dream list: 

– Tix to the AGO

– $150 gift card for food and drink on The Drake Sky Yard

– A Topshop shopping experience where a team of personal stylists will help you find the perfect summer look plus a $200 gift card to walk out with it!

– A nail art mani at Pinky’s Nails

– Passes to The To Do List!

Thanks to everyone who sent in a list! Read the Top 10 and get inspired to write your own list. Watch The To Do List trailer now.

Winner

Congrats Alexa Huffman! Your list was amazing.

Alexa Huffman

  1. Drink 50 cups of strawberry lemonade (that’s the bare minimum).
  2. Stand in the freezing Lake Ontario for more than five minutes.
  3. Go to as many free concerts as possible.
  4. Start a slow clap at the end of a movie (preferably an emotional tearjerker).
  5. See every summer blockbuster (every single one) and post hilrious reviews on my blog.
  6. Pretend I’m a famous photographer, take pictures of people around the city and print them in black and white.
  7. Make the perfect hamburger at home. Failing that, find the perfect restaurant to have a hamburger. Failing that, settle on A&W.
  8. Two words: beach volleyball.
  9. Take long walks on the boardwalk, stopping to admire all the cute dogs.
  10. Finish a novel and not just skip to the end to find out what happens.
  11. Find a hipster-esque guy who is cool with taking cute filtered sunset pictures in a car.
  12. Embrace my body and find the confidence to wear a bikini.
 

Loren

  1. Never wear a bra (unless totally, utterly unacceptable. Ie. My grandpa’s 90th birthday party in a white crochet jumpsuit).
  2. Buy a cookbook and learn to cook something that isn’t scrambled eggs or a tuna melt
  3. Re-read all 7 Harry Potter books, because, why not.
  4. Start a monthly book club, a bi-weekly kickball beer league and a bike gang called The Giggle Bitches.
  5. Take up the harmonica (and maybe discover I have a natural talent for it then be invited to join a bluegrass band called The Yodelling Yids that travels across the country and fall in love with the mustachioed banjo player with who I will write love ballads with for harmonica and banjo. Just a thought).
  6. Never take public transportation. Always bike. (Only exception to this rule is to make the trek to Wonderland which is on a supplementary summer to-do list).
  7. See live music every opportunity I get.
  8. Start a garden in my currently-overrun-by-weeds-backyard. Just to prove to myself that I can grow and care for something, anything. Even a single flower.
  9. Go on a blind date.
  10. Read all 1079 pages of Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

Emily

  1. Go to the Toronto Island for the Very First Time!
  2. Have a gourmet doughnut/bike tour to the top spots on Queen (get ready Glory Hole, I’m comin’).
  3. Go night time pool hopping with gratuitous amounts of wine and friends.
  4. Grow, harvest and prepare a salad made entirely from backyard veggies.
  5. Invent a cocktail! Check! The Taylor Swift: one bottle of cheap red, one litre strawberry lemonade, and sorbet flavoured vodka to taste. Best enjoyed in the company of lady friends and embarrassing girl music.
  6. Survive a massive city stopping flood and subsequent horrible heat wave with no AC (wait, check).
  7. Enjoy delicious post-AGO mojitos at the Drake Sky Yard with some fancy new clothes and my best buds (cough).
  8. Go on a fun blind friend date, and finally catch up with some old pals.
  9. Attend art events FOR REAL! Not just on Facebook. Utilize OCADU education in the real world.
  10. Go to as many cottages as is humanly possible. Do not rule out making friends because they have a cottage. Pray to the cottage gods for a cottage.
  11. Win the best contest for the coolest Event and Lifestyle site ever. Ever!

Deevanie

  1. Finish oil painting for my Dad’s Birthday (August 17th).
  2. Get dolled up and crash a wedding reception (open bar ftw).
  3. Go skinny dipping ;).
  4. Check our Cabanna Pool Bar.
  5. Drive In movie with the boo <
  6. Hit up some galleries/museums.
  7. Kayaking along Harbourfront with the girls.
  8. SUMMERLICIOUS!
  9. Try something new (food-wise).
  10. CN Tower Edgewalk or Skydiving – with whoever is willing!
  11. Crazy cottage weekend – recovery day included.
  12. Back to school shopping in NYC.
  13. Bonfire at the Secret Beach.
  14. Play all the games at The Ex.
  15. Attempt another one of my infamous hotel parties.
  16. Fake Bachelorette party with some friends (receive all the perks a bride-to-be would).
  17. Caribana Weekend: Parade, OVO fest, after parties, etc.
  18. See a movie at TIFF.

Avery

  1. Go to Hanlan’s Point…But not to get naked.  As a die hard Ward’s island fan, I feel like the sweet little beach that I once loved has now become party central for the under 30’s. Not that I don’t mind the party from time to time, but I hear Hanlan’s is still awesome for beach reading and snoozing. I repeat!  I am NOT going for the exposed wobbly bits.
  2. Find that perfect summer T-Shirt. Ah, the oh-so elusive summer tank top.  Light weight, flattering with jean shorts and friendly to all bra types. I still don’t think it exists but I keep trying to look.
  3. Host a Grown Up Outside Dinner Party. Preferably with the beer can up the butt chicken. Tres adult.
  4. Speaking of Beer… Steam Whistle Tour! Or any brewery tour! Maybe Amsterdam… Whatever! I want to taste them all!
  5. Find and Befriend the White Squirrel at Trinity Bellwoods. Self Explanatory.
  6. Get My Urban Veggie Garden out on the Balcony. Our condo balcony has been in off limits since we moved in a year and a half ago.  I’ve started all my plants and they desperately need actual sun and wind and all those good things that plants need. Plus my cat won’t stop eating them. Good bye bean plants! Hello cat vomit!
  7. Learn to Paddle Board. Those guys look sooo cool.
  8. Lastly, Eat Oysters on the Rodney’s Oyster Bar Patio with the Boy. My favourite food, my favourite restaurant with my favourite person. Oh! And he pays.  Yay! 

Charley

  1. Eat an entire strawberry funnel cake from Canada’s Wonderland, go on the Minebuster and try not to throw-up.
  2. Longboard by the lake.
  3. Sit on a College St. patio and count how many guys have dirty moustaches (sans-beard).
  4. Push my ex-boyfriend into a pool.
  5. Paint something and actually finish it.
  6. Make friends with a traveler and pay for their dinner.
  7. Get a Zooey Deschanel-inspired mani (I have bought the bows from ebay already). 
  8. Find a home for the stray kitten “Fifi” I’ve been feeding.
  9. Pretend to be my sister for the day to confuse her nosy neighbours (it’s very Melrose Place at the condo pool).
  10. Hunt down an original rocket popsicle (red, white & BLUE – none of this red, white & purple crap).
  11. Sew something! Anything!
  12. Buy a skipping rope and skip like it’s 1995 and Jump Rope for Heart is where it’s at.

Alysse & Andy

  1. Get a puppy, maybe a Bichon-Frise or a Labradoodle
  2. Find stars and dance underneath them
  3. Perfect the art of picnicking
  4. Be the oldest/most hardcore fans at a taping of “After Degrassi”
  5. Make out across the city at locations featured in “Being Erica”
  6. Write and illustrate a children’s book
  7. Turn on the fan, turn off the lights and turn up the Nina Simone
  8. Convince family members to audition for “Masterchef Canada”
  9. Go swimming at Hanlan’s Point Beach and lose the bathing suits
  10. Stay at a cute Bed & Breakfast in adorably named town like Heart’s Delight, Heart’s Content or Heart’s Desire (Newfoundland)

Masooma

  1. Go to my first Jays game.
  2. Finally learn how to ride a bike! 
  3. Visit more museums and do more yoga. Be cultured and zen. 
  4. Have a beach day and follow it up with pie and board games at the Pie Shack on Queen (Nothing beats settling Catan with strawberry and cream pie!).
  5. Outdoor movie date nights with the sweetie (Clueless at David Pecaut Square for me, The Last Waltz at Christie Pitts for him). 
  6. Get dressed up and have a fancy Summerlicious dinner. 
  7. Go to more concerts and see shows at Comedy Bar to discover local talent. 
  8. Explore new neighbourhoods in Toronto and scout out hip brunch places and ice cream shops. 
  9. Have a cottage weekend and take a break from technology. 
  10. Go to the island and go sailing (also buy a cute nautical striped shirt for sailing adventures).
  11. Go to the CNE and ride the kiddie coasters with no shame (while eating something deep fried, of course).
  12. Do a taco crawl! Pick a bunch of restaurants and get a different taco at each one (and a margarita at each one too, if you want to turn it into a literal crawl!).
  13. Say yes and see where the night takes me (Pool hopping? Wedding crashing? Who knows!) .
  14. Win an awesome contest by She Does the City! 

Daytona Bitch

  1. Visit my parents.
  2. Have a BBQ party.
  3. Dig a hole.
  4. Buy more bodysuits.
  5. Get the crazy glue out me hair.
  6. Call Sherry Shepard back.
  7. Invest in Applebee’s franchise.
  8. Go to the nude beach with a water gun full of milk.
  9. Buy new bedspread.
  10. Colour all body hair golden yellow.
  11. Fix my trophies.
  12. Buy umbrella for patio.
  13. Obtain patio.
  14. Work on my inner thigh tan.
  15. Pour soggy cereal on sun bathers.
  16. Run down the street in a black veil crying.
  17. Glue quarters to the sidewalk.

Jessica

  1. Complete my ultimate Caesar Challenge in the city. Try a new Caesar each weekend  at different brunch spots across the city. And find this elusive Caesar (below)…a cheeseburger garnish?? Yes please!
  2. Catch a fish! Bait my OWN hook, clean the fish, cook the fish and eat the fish. Fisherwoman dreams! To catch your own food.
  3. Road trip with the family! One big road trip to a new destination. Never been on a family vacation before (five kids in the family) and would love to bring us together for a new memory as adults. Thinking Nashville and Memphis. Graceland and Dollywood!
  4. Become bike savvy in the city. Explore new territory on wheels including researching trails along the Don Valley, etc. Haven’t ridden a bike since I was a teen. Would love to be comfortable on the streets and be free on my wheels so I DON’T have to rely on the TTC
  5. Wear a bathing/bikini proudly, in public, in front of friends and embrace all the wobbly bits! Just strut it without shame!
  6. Have a hot n’ heavy makeout session under the stars!
  7. Be a better aunt/daughter/sister/friend. Slow down, make memories, and give more time for important people in my life.
  8. READ!!! Create a summer reading list of 5 books and finish them all the way through! May include picture books.
  9. Pull up those big girl pants and make my apartment look like something resembling an adult’s living space. This will include getting rid of my futon I bought when I was 19…that was over 10 years ago. Oops! And perhaps make a cleaning schedule.
  10. Create my own signature summer cocktail and host a summer soiree in celebration.