Moving to Toronto Take Two

Y'all I'm in the midst of moving.
It sucks.
The movers showed up an hour and fifteen minutes late and the are so super slow. 
I am in panic mode because we have this elevator for only 30 more minutes and we are at my first place.
So super annoyed.
And my dog is so super sick...he has lost like 1.2 lbs this last week (which is a lot when you are only 5.5 lbs) so my dad took him to my hometown because at least I trust that veternarian.
But I'm probably way more stressed about that then anything.
And the movers ughhh they are killing me...and yes I say that as I sit here typing furiously on my computer (what a snob I am).
May be a few days due to internet set up issues until I post again.
And I need to post...about third dates and continued adventures.

How my Sunday funday turned into date #2...

So I was set to have an awesome Sunday.
Afternoon tea for a sorority alumni gathering.
I seriously love afternoon tea.

Also a perfect excuse to reuse this outfit and fascinator.
What do you think?

Fascinator!!! I made this one years ago.

And here it is with one of my favourite coats because it sure is getting cool here.
Oh yes and fun fact for my long time readers.
This is "the coat" from the story of "that weekend where I had a close encounter with a chef"...and if you missed it you can read it here.
How long ago does that seem?
Anywho moving on...

I was so so excited to have tea.
As I was getting ready MrFinance called.

I didn't answer at first.
And his message basically said he had a really fun time (as did I) and he wanted to get together again soon maybe that afternoon.
So remember how I wrote I didn't know if I should go on a date or not I figured maybe I should give him another chance.

So I called him and we chatted about where I was going to be for afternoon tea and it was close to his place so we made plans to hang out after.
I then headed to the Old Mill Inn and Spa in Toronto.

It is beautiful!
There was also a wedding taking place there and I was entering the inn when she was rounding the bottom of the stairs to head to her wedding ceremony.
We caught each other's eyes and I gave a smile and nod and she smiled wide.

Then I made my way to the room we had for tea.
It was great.
I found myself socializing and making new friends...I even scored two numbers (which sounds like picking up but it is in fact WAY better because it may lead to more besties like Taylor!)

These are the ladies who got their 65 year pins.
How incredible is that?
And their friends were there to pin them...and I got a little teary eyed and thought that maybe in in about 50 years maybe it would be Taylor and I doing that :)

Then we stuffed our faced with these delishious things.

Then I headed from there to meet MrFinance.
He invited me into his condo so that we could decide where to eat.
He complimented my dress and didn't make fun of my fascinator (double bonus points!)
After a glass of wine we settled on an English Gastro Pub called the Queen and Beaver.
It was really quaint and perfect for a date night.

Our converstion continued to flow and we shared more travel stories over dinner.
Afterwards we walked around downtown and he held my hand.
I had been wearing those high heels all day so at some point I must have started hobbling so MrFinance suggested we grab a cab the rest of the way (what a gentleman!)

Then he invited me in for a drink and to hang out some more.
So I did and we chatted and held hands some more.
Then I said it was late and stood up to leave.
And he was in front of me standing there...smiling.
And in my head the alarm bells started going off...he totally is going to kiss me.
And he did...and it was...okay.

Yup just okay.
I wonder if part of it was panic on my part.
And I just haven't quite figured out if we have that certain chemistry.
Then he walked me down to the car and kissed me again...and again...just so-so.
Hmmmm this could be a predicament.
Then he asked when could he see me again.
And I stammered and hummed and hawed before settling on Thursday.
Partly because I'm also so so busy having to move and this is not something he knows because really not something he needs to know.

I'm unsure what to do.
Keep going on more dates? 
Stop now?
I'm totally unsure.




Pics from here, here, here

First dates, freezing, and the question of the day... am I shallow?

So today was the first date with MrFinance.
And it was good.
I had fun even though I was seriously nervous.

It took me awhile to figure out what to wear.
I wanted to at least have something red on (which is Toronto FC colour).
And comfortable shoes to walk in.
So this is what I picked.

So I drove downtown to meet MrFinance.
We met close to his place and then walked to the stadium.
The conversation was flowing and there was enough stuff going on to keep us chatting.
We sat with this view of the Toronto skyline in the background.

First Toronto FC game and it definitely has me amped to go again.
It was exciting though because it was a regular season game (the last) it ended in a 2-2 tie against New England.
Here is the starters from today.

Soccer boys can be so very cute...

The game was great but I was FREEZING though because I left my jacket at home. 
MrFinance was sweet enough to give me his jacket during the game.
We may have even missed a goal or two becaue of our non stop chatter.
We agreed on our favourite player was a forward ... Here he is playing today.

There was sort of an awkward end...like I'm sure most first dates are.
He asked me if I wanted to hang out again soon.
I honestly wasn't sure what to say so of course I was like "yea that sounds like fun".
He wanted to know what my week was like.
I stammered...he then said something about maybe scheduling at a later time.
And I said something dumb like, yea let's see how the week looks.
Then I akwardly hugged him which is at least a step up from MM.

So does it feel like I'm avoiding getting to something important.
I kind of am because I have a question.
Here's my question...how much does physical attraction matter?

Would I crush on MrFinance without his good personality or would he catch my attention from across the street...unlikely (if I'm being honest).
His personality is great...and I did have a fun time this afternoon.
The soccer game FLEW by...enough so that we only really had one drink at the game.
And when we got the drinks I got ID'd!!!  And if you don't know the drinking age here is 19! 
I am 10 years older than the legal drinking age.
That's kind of crazy right???

Afterwardthe game ended we walked to a small bar a few blocks away and had coffee with Baileys to warm up.
I paid for the coffees (he got us the soccer tickets and drinks at the game).
But I'm not sure how to proceed.

So at the end of the day...do looks really matter?
It's not that he is unattractive at all...just not my usual type.
He kind of looks like an asian clark kent (thats what I think of when I see him and it is a compliment because I actually really like his thick rimmed glasses).

So here are all the things I like about him.
-He was fun and we had nonstop chatter.
-He lived in London for 2 years with work so did a bunch of traveling
(kind of like how I did in Singapore).
-He is therefore wordly and well traveled.
-His favourite holiday is Christmas (mine too).
-We have similar tastes in music.
-He is really active both socially (had a wedding to go to tonight and went out last night with friends) and physically (bikes, plays volleyball, does yoga, plays golf and tennis).
-He is smart.
-He came up with a fun unique date (Toronto FC game).
-He was a gentleman and offered me his jacket when he was cold.
-He enjoys cooking.
-He likes fine dining and different food experiences.
-He both listened and talked.
-He likes musicals (which is sort of one of my secret nerdy things).

Things that I'm unsure about...
-physical attraction
-his parents came to visit from out West where they live and stayed for 5 weeks (I know I"m weird about the whole parent close realtionship thing because it has sort of gotten me in the past)
-I paid for coffee.  You see I can't decide if this is fair or not.  In my mind in ALL my previous relationships I paid for at least half and often more.  And not that I need someone to take care of me...but seemed a little to easy to pay for something and that is something I'm at least being more conscious of becuase of how badly I've been burned.
-No compliments (in terms of you look pretty or anything like that...wait he did say I was adventuresome...I also didn't compliment him to be fair).
-He rides a bike in the city with no helmet (this would make me worried...I know I'm such a nerd!).
-left around 4:30 and no text follow up (I like the follow up and it has only been a few hours...just all the guys I ever ended up dating follow up immediately with massive compliments...or I guess persistance...to be honest that is how Spencer won me over...I was never initially super attracted to him etc but he was persistant).

So here are my questions...(and I recognize I totally overanalyze things which is clearly evident in my blog).
1. am I being too picky?
2. should I go on more dates with MrFinance?
3. am I being a total shallow bitch?

Then I was driving home and the WEIRDEST thing happened.
A car with a guy and his friend pulled up beside me and I happened to look over.
And the guy is like "excuse me" and making the roll down motion for the car window.
So I do and he say OH my god you are so beautiful.  Let me take you out PLEASE.
And I giggle and just shake my head and say "no thanks that's okay".
To which he replies "and your shy!!! You are shy look at you and so beautiful"
AND I kid you not this goes on for 20+ street lights.
To the point where he is blocking traffic on my right side when I get stuck behind someone making a left turn...and people are honking and getting angry at him.

For a split second I debating giving him my number.
Even his friend was like "come on we should have turned 10 lights ago please just give him your number!"
But I didn't and not going to lie...it kind of made my day.
And three stop lights after a couple pulled up (they must have been one of the honking cars behind him) and they shouted over "did you at least give him your number?"
And I just shook my head no.
And continued to come home...to start my big exciting Saturday night of packing to move next weekend.



Pics from here, here, here.

7

F

Joao Plata

19

5' 2"

135

Ecuador

Active

This player was only 5'2" but he was maing all kinds of important plays.

Problem responding to comments

I am trying to respond to comments but it wouldn't let because it won't recognize me as signed in.  When I figure it out I will definitely respond to the awesome comments from y'all!

The Immortal World Tour...another great Wednesday

Another fun Wednesday update.
I left work and headed to meet up Eva and Val to take them with me to my hometown to watch Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour.
We drove through crazy Toronto rush hour and the pouring rain to meet up with my parents, aunt, grandmother and brother.

It was AWESOME.
What a great show!
I did prefer this to the show us girls last saw
(you can read about it here and here if you missed it).

And it's Cirque which is artistic in itself.
And the message seemed to be of hope and unity and tolerance.
All and all it was pretty incredible.
This was the view from where we sat which gave us a good view of everything.
As you see we got there in plenty of time which gave us some time to catch up with my family.

Here are some pictures.
If you have a chance please go see it!
The video does WAY more justice than the pics.
And can you spot the person who is an amputee?  He BLEW out minds!!!

It was so fun...and a pretty great way to spend a Wednesday night.
I wasn't sure what to expect to be honest but I loved it.

And yes this is a pole dancer.
But she was so incredible.
NOT that I have a lot of others to compare to haha.

If you want some more detail after the photos I included the list of Acts which can also be found on Wikipedia.


Acts
The acts of The Immortal World Tour are staged to the music of Michael Jackson.^[7]

• Childhood: The Mime awakens the inhabitants.
• Wanna Be Startin' Something: Dance and acrobatic number.
• Fanatics - Shake Your Body Down to the Ground: Five fanatics take pictures of the audience and try to get into the gates of Neverland.
• Dancing Machine: Welders perform on motorized cables.
• Ben: A celebration of Michael's love of animals.
• This Place Hotel: Aerial tango.
• Smooth Criminal: Dance routine.
• Dangerous: Pole-dancing act.
• Fanatics Medley: The fanatics are in a competition and are granted access to Neverland.
• Mime: Mime gains the talents of Michael and performs beatbox.
• Human Nature: Aerial act.
• Scary Story - Is It Scary: Contortion act.
• Bats - Threatened: Aerial act.
• Thriller: Free-running parkour act.
• Swans - I Just Can't Stop Loving You: Straps duo act.
• Beat It: The Fanatics manipulate Michael's iconic accessories.
• Jam: Hip-hop dance choreography with basketballs.
• Earth Song: Mime is tangled in the tree.
• Scream: Tumbling and aerial act.
• Gone Too Soon: The Mime cradles four horses in this ballad.
• They Don't Care About Us: Dance choreography.
• Heal the World - Will You Be There: Artists descend onto the stage with glowing red hearts.
• Megamix - Can You Feel It/Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough/Billie Jean/Black Or White: Swiss rings act, dance choreography, and world dance styles.
• Man In The Mirror: Finale is a celebration of Michael Jackson.

So after the show finished around 11pm we headed back to Toronto.
And I fell straight into bed just after one exhausted...but happy.


Pics from here, here,

Dating

So this internet dating is interesting.
So far I don't think I'm being nearly picky enough.
I just feel bad sometimes when people are nice or funny and I feel like I should respond.

So hopefully I figure that out soon.
So ummm I think I have a date Saturday.
The reason I say I think is because I have never gone on a date this way.

And I'm pretty super nervous about it.
We made it through the communication round of questions and sent a few emails back and forth.
Let's call him MrFinance.
He has also lived in England for work (I'm digging those who do the abroad thing like I did).

So he asked me out and gave me three options:
1. dinner and drinks
2. coffee and explore a new corner of Toronto
3. Toronto MLS (Soccer) final game of the season

So after thoroughly thinking it through.
I decided on









#3!
Because I figured it will give us a multitude of things to talk about (hello people watching).
AND I generally have a great time at sporting events (hello I loved going to UM to watch AMERICAN college football) because my bestie Will has had season tickets FOREVER.
Plus I've never been to an MLS game.
The last time I watched big deal soccer was when the world cup was in the US.
So it should be fun.
Plus umm its super public and just in case he turns out to be a psychopath it will be easy to get lost in the crowd haha...totally kidding I hope!
Just thought I would let you know...I'm kind of anxious about it though.
At least I'm getting back on the horse so to speak after the whole MM/Jacob/Spencer fiascos.

Weekend Update

Okay let's get down to what this weekend was.
How quickly did it fly by?
For me super fast.

So Friday...after a nutso work week I met up with Eva for a hot yoga class.
It was awesome and my knee didn't bother me one bit!
We may take up this studio on their offer for the a month at $40.

The instructor was Asian and was most of the ladies in the class.
And her son is living in Singapore.
So we had a fun quick chat before hand.
Her accent certainly took me back to my yoga instructors in Singapore.
Which did not help with my current tactic at deciding on the job offer in Singapore (ie. try NOT to think about it).

After that I came home a good sweaty mess.
I wanted to jump on eHarmony but I refrained because after all what kind of cool person would I be sitting at home on a Friday night.
So I was just sort of lazying around avoiding the web when this message came in...

Just want you to know I love you and will be ready soon and wanted to know if you still will be.

I tried to ignore it.

I am much better and its not complicated anymore.  I want us Teagan, just wanted to make sure you will still be there I love you.

I still tried to ignore it.

I wanted to completely process it so I can be 100% present and emotionally available to you and us.  Do you still want us?  I love you, I think we would work and be great together.

So I cracked and messaged him back.
I told him I would see him and see what was there because to be honest I don't know what will be.
I haven't seen him in more than two years.
And I'm trying to move forward with my life.
But I don't know if I"m strong enough to cut him out completely.
Is there a possiblity of us...I'm not sure.
There are things about him that I don't think will change that are important to me.
So the best I can do is see with him.
I'm not sure how much I'm actually depending on it because let's face it he's been kind of a flake.

And I'm intrigued by people I'm seeing on the web.
I find myself laughing out loud to some of the communication (in a great way).
So I think I will see what also comes of that.
And maybe Jacob's time has come and gone.

Saturday
I woke up and drank a nice hot coffee while finishing the book One Day.

And I hated it.
I won't spoil it for anyone but I disliked.
Cool concept...didn't like what happened with it.
Super annoyed...but might still be curious enough to watch the movie.
Here's the trailer.

So then I met up with Val for lunch at Yorkdale mall.
And we headed over to Michaels to meet Duff!
And I got him to sign my copy of his book Ace of Cakes.

He was really fun and chatty.
He told us he wrote his portion of the book in one afternoon.
He took his laptop and rode his Vespa to the beach.
He said he has ADD and he wouldn't be able to keep at it so he solved that problem by just hammering it out.
It was my first celebrity encounter (I think) and it was pretty fun.

After Val and I headed back to scope out the brand new first Canadian J Crew and Top Shop that just opened.
Both fun and both gorgeous.
I wanted to buy a zillion things in J Crew.
And I loved how their window had We Heart Maple Leaf neon lights.

This was opening weekend (glad we didn't have to wait in line!

The inside was beautifully set up.
One of the nicer J Crew's if I do say so myself.

I stumbled across this opening invitation which I thought was cute and perfectly geared to Canadians.

I didn't realize it had been open this long but I don't always get out to Yorkdale.
Both of us were very impressed with JCrew and both lamented our current thin wallet status and the lack of JCrew buying power we had.
Well we can always save up we decided.

With that we headed over to TopShop which I like decidingly more after living in Singapore and reading up on my fav magazine UK Glamour.
Very impressed with the store and found the clothes trendy, well made and more reasonable then J Crew.
Check out these pics.

How cool would it be to use this section??

One day I will totally splurge on a personal shopper.

Maybe they can help me figure out my curvy body shape.

The rest of the day I did laundry and avoided eHarmony (becuase again I didn't want to portray a girl at home on a Saturday night haha).

Sunday
I woke up this morning and decided it was time to attempt to run again.
So I resorted to the very beginning of the C25K program I started ages ago.
With my fingers crossed to not repeat the knee issue I had in the summer.
So far so good which makes me super excited to continue.

I then headed to the grocery store and prepared stuff for the week.
And I decided that a Sunday afternoon was a perfectly acceptable time to be active on the EH website.
So I did and I really enjoy it.
It's fun to flirt and see what's out there.

I am about to head out for another yoga class with Eva.
It has been a pretty good low key weekend if I do say so myself.
How was yours???



Pics from here, here, here and here.