Home Sweet Home

I've been back from my vacation for about a week now. I must say, it feels good to be home. Toronto and New York were amazing, don't get me wrong. It's just that nothing beats sleeping in my warm comfy bed with my sweet love Eric and my little Simon. That's home.

Here are a few of my favorite shots from Toronto. More to come from New York. The next time I go, I will be sure to bring a little piece of home with me.

Welcome to Toronto!

Today was fantastic! It is my first official day in the big city and so far, I am in love with it. Thank you Eric Ng for showing me around! 

First we had lunch at this delicious place called Starving Artist on Landsdowne Ave. Surrounded by beautiful little houses, this amazing gem specializes in the yummiest waffles. I had the "Starving 4 Vegan" - four mini vegan and gluten free waffles served with fruit salad and fresh mixed greens. The waffles were crisp on the outside, soft and moist on the inside, and they had a lovely hint of banana in them, which was really nice. They were not too sweet, and just perfect with a drizzle of syrup.

After brunch, we took the transit downtown to Eaton Centre and met up with our good friends, Eli and Leah, as well as their adorable 16 month old, Keiran. I hadn't seen either of them for at least a few years. And Keiran... it was my first time meeting the little guy and I am seriously in love with him. He is one of the most joyful and energetic babies I have ever seen. It's great seeing Eli and Leah so happy. Kieran is a very lucky boy to have such fantastic parents.

After our afternoon hangouts with the Kleins, we were headed towards Kensington, via Chinatown, which was great. The sidewalks were taken over by the overflow of the shops' offerings to the loads of people that walked on that strip. It gave me a slight sense of being in Hong Kong, just in a much smaller scale. Kensington was equally as wonderful. The narrow streets were sandwiched by the neatest shops and restaurants, and sprinkled with pedestrians. I managed to find my sister a little gift at one of shops, called Good Egg. Pretty excited about that! And then we treated ourselves to mini cupcakes from Miss Cora's Kitchen, which was a delightful treat. We walked around for a bit, just browsing, and then we decided to stop for some food at The Grilled Cheese. It was everything that I had hoped for. Simple concept, simple menu, tasty food. I had the "Dill-icous," which was truly delicious. Dill havarti, pesto, sun dried tomatoes, and onion. Nom! I even got the pickle I was hoping for when I saw their wall of pickled goods. It was all kinds of goodness in my belly.

When we left Kensington, we had some time to kill before heading to a show, so we headed for the BMV Books on Bloor Street. This place is packed with books and magazines... all three stories of it. I went up to the 3rd floor and grabbed myself a copy of Ghost World for $6.99. I wanted to get more but that would mean an extra 50lbs to my luggage when I go home, so I decided that buying anything more would be a bad idea. I plan on going back to Bloor and checking out the famous Honest Ed's!

We headed towards Queen Street for the show after BMV. Side note, I seriously can't wait to go back to Queen Street - so much shopping! We made it just in time to see Late July, Eric's friend's band. I really enjoyed them. It could be because of the girly lyrics, mostly about love... I am a huge sucker for love songs.

After the show, we started our walk back to Eric's place, but was sidetracked by Smoke's Poutinerie. I haven't had a poutine since I became vegetarian 8 years ago, so one of the things on my "to do" list was to have a really good veggie poutine. That was exactly what they had there. Eric and I shared the Veggie Deluxe Poutine, which had fried onions, mushrooms, and peas loaded on top of golden fries, veggie gravy, and cheese curds. It was very good... so very very good. 

Today was a good day. 

Final words - I ♥ TO.  

Fem Flower

Today, I started and finished a cross stitch project for a very good friend of mine. She recently moved into her very own apartment, so I thought a little something to put on her wall would be an appropriate house warming gift. Cross stitching is definitely a productive way to kill time when you're full of germs and sitting at home from work. Here is what I made for her. I found the pattern online, and changed a few things to make it my own. I hope she loves it!

Thank You Friends

I had a really really great birthday weekend. One of the best!

Thank you to all of my cousins who came out to have a wonderful meal with me. You are my bestest friends.

Thank you to my beautiful Mother for driving to the city and being here on my day. You are everything that I want to be. 

Thank you to all of my friends who made me mixtapes and cds, came out for drinks and hangouts, and sent me messages and birthday wishes. I am truly blown away and I feel totally blessed and so very grateful. You guys are seriously the greatest people in the world.

Thank you to my Eric, my love, for being the most amazing companion and understanding friend I have ever known. I love you very much. 

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world... I AM the luckiest girl in the world. Thank you!

A few highlights from that night...

Fresh organic veggies from Amy's garden.

Me with a couple beards!

Ryan showing off his flat head.

Birthday note from my Mommy.

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

Today, I am 26 years old. I feel pretty good about it. As a teenager, the number 26 has always been my favorite number. It's awfully embarrassing, but this is why...

The boy that I was in love with from grade 4 to grade 9 had the initials, CM. C is the number 2 on the telephone keypad, and M is the number 6. I was a pretty huge dork. I still am because that number has stuck with me into adulthood. It is still my favorite number.

Last night, I got three more birthday mixtapes from three amazing and wonderful friends. Actual cassette tapes! I am so pumped! When they handed me the tapes across the table, I was so touched and surprised - my heart bursted with love. Mark, James, and Steve... you guys are too sweet to me. Thank you so much!

I also attended the Sonic Boom Festival last night. I was there to see City and Colour - which I love. And of course, the one and only, WEEZER!!! A little back story for you... as a girl, I did not listen to western music. I was all about the Hong Kong pop stars that my parents listened to and I had no idea anything else existed besides that. As I got a little older, I think when I was about 10 or 11, I was slowly introduced to bands like Nirvana, Silverchair, and No Doubt. I did not own any of their records. My parents never really had the money for me to blow on stuff like that, so I would watch MuchMusic all the time, hoping that some of my favorite videos would come on. I usually had the VCR ready to press record. I wish I still had some of those tapes.

Anyways, I had a birthday party, I think I was turning 12 or something like that, and one of the gifts were a gift certificate to the local CD shop in Peace River, where I grew up. I don't think I even hesitated or stressed over what I was going to get with that gift certificate. I brought it to the shop, picked up Weezer's Blue Album, and I went home a happy girl. 

They blew my mind with every single song that they played last night, even the newer ones that I was on the fence about. Rivers' stage presence and energy was just so amazing... I think I have a small crush on him now that I've seen him perform live. They played a good balance of old and new, but it was when they did Say It Ain't So, that was when I was the most pumped and oh so happy. That was one of my favorite songs as a teenager, and it was definitely one that stuck with me all these years. There is a very special place in my heart for this band. I can't wait to see them again!