Girly Birthday

I hadn't seen Val since August.
So we had planned on catching up over dinner.
Since her birthday was Tuesday I thought I would take her out for dinner on Thursday.

She wanted French so I looked up a cute place we had both been meaning to try.
It is in the Bay/Bloor area (coincidentally the area that I'm moving to) called La Societe.
Their tagline is  "The soul of Paris in the heart of Toronto. "
I mean what could be more perfect for us two girls?

Things I loved about it...
The gorgeous doors...

Pic from here

The customized tile work...

So pretty! Pic from here

The round booths and the gorgeous stained glass windows...

Pic from their website.

Loved their kitchen towel-esque napkins.

Pic from here

I think they describe it perfectly on their website...
A marriage of Canada’s most cosmopolitan city and Parisian bistro style and cuisine, La Société is a dining destination unlike any other in Toronto. Step inside and your senses will be flooded with the sights, scents, and flavours that your Parisian dreams are made of. Gloriously appointed with luxurious furnishings and a breathtaking stained-glass ceiling, a meal, a meeting, even a moment at La Société will transport you to another time and place. 

It was great to catch up with Val.
Hopefully now that I'm moving downtown we get to see each other more often.
What a lovely girly place in the city.
It's one of my new favs!

Sock Bun Fun

So this past Sunday I met up with Quinn and Val for brunch.
Well actually it was supposed to me Quinn and I and then Quinn suggested we invite Val.
Which I seriously have NO problem with except...when they get together I don't get an invite.
But I'm trying to just not think about that.

So I wanted to try and do something fun for my hair.
I had been dying to try the sock bun.
So I of course youtubed videos.  
I settled on this one not due to the quality but because of the comparison of the way she did it.

So I used a sock and it really didn't take that long.
And the final result...(ignore the random cleavage lol).

Anywho we decided to meet at this cute place called Stoney's Bread Company in Oakville (the half way point between Quinn and I).

Pic from here

Super cute place.
And when you go there you order and then sit down.
Which actually seems to work great with a busy Sunday crowd.

Pic from here

Super darling place.
We luckily grabbed the front corner booth in the warm sunshine.

Pic from here

So we snuggled in with coffees.
And started catching up.

Breakfast was delicious I had the Stoney's omelette.

Quinn was so sweet and had been holding on to my birthday gift since November.
Some nice warm plaid pajamas...so darling.

Pic form here

After that I basically just went home and cleaned up and did laundry etc.
But it was a lovely start to a lazy Sunday.

Taco Tuesday

Val and I finally had a chance to catch up this past Tuesday.
So we decided to hit up a place we had heard about but hadn't a chance to try yet.
So we headed on over to the trendy Queen Street West.

So we went to Grand Electric...know for their Tacos and Bourbon (I know awesome right?!).
When we got there they let us know it would be about 45 minutes.
So we decided to grab a drink at a near by bar.
(Grand Electric is too small and too jam packed to even be able to sit at the bar and grab a drink).

Pic from here

So with that we headed down the street to Cadillac Lounge.

Pic from here

We ordered one of our fav's Gin and Tonic's and quickly caught up.
I filled Val in on my New Year's Eve adventure and MrRealtor drama.
And before we knew it it was time to head to Grand Electric.
And it was jam packed.

Pic from here

Their menu was up on a chalk board and it was super hard to pick!

Pic from here

So we got a bunch of amazing things!
We started with the Guac/Salsa/Chips.

Then it was on to the recommended fish tacos.

And then a sampling of the Pork, Spicy Arbol Chicken and Beef Cheek tacos.

And finally the cheese fundido (and we may have ordered it because it sounded fun...yes Val and I are that cheesy lol)!

We would have loved to try one of the bourbon drinks but alas we keep it to a one drink max when we have to drive...next time for sure.
Overall it was AMAZING and totally worth the wait.
Definitely one of my Toronto favs.

The Birthday Curse...broken???

So it may be true that the birthday curse may have been broken...
The girls from my new little group from the CanadaCrew took it upon themselves to throw that lovely brunch at The Drake.

Pic from here

Laurel made these fabulous cupcakes

My father came up to visit and we had dinner together on my actual birthday at the Bier Markt
And it was a fun quiet time.

Pick from here

A collection of lovely birthday cards from the girls that made me smile.

And MrRealtor was very sweet and got me a Kate Spade Wallet and Purse

I finally have a grown up wallet!!!  Love this colour!

I always love the hidden happiness that is inside Kate Spade items...like these polka dots.

Seriously it has a bow...could I love it any more?  It's my first Kate Spade handbag too!

Again love the stripes of the inside of this bag!

Which clearly are totally my style and I love.
Speaking of great gifts...one of my co-workers knew of my love a particular piece of art.
And I LOVE it!
If you know Gossip Girl you will totally get it or if you know Marfa, TX lol...

I officially now share my birthday with Eva's little one.
Yup he arrived on my birthday!  Isn't THAT a funny set of circumstances!

Each of the Waterloo girls sent me birthday well wishes.
Val even took the time to take me out for dinner which was lovely.
We went to Aria...a place we had both wanted to try for a bit.

Pic from here.

So what do we think?
Is the birthday curse finally broken???

Fashion Week in the TDotO

Y'all I'm slowly starting to get back into the blog groove...
Two nights this week I spent at Toronto's very own fashion week.
So here it is via my terrible iPhone pics.

So excited to walk up to the tent in David Pecault Square.
Even on a rainy night.

Val and I in front of the step&repeat...at least I think that's what it is called.

 Inside of the tent was really quite cool.
Probably the best part was the people watching and the amazing fashion.
I was so overwhelmed I barely got any pictures!

 DJ and cool light fixtures at the entrance to the runway.

 Media lounge sponsored by Canada's newest American addition...TARGET!
So excited when we spotted this.

When Val and I got to our chairs this was waiting which made it fun and exciting.
The show we were attending was Mercedes-Benz StartUp which is a contest for Canadian young designers...very much seemed exactly like Project Runway.
8 young designers...one winner that would get to show next year and get mentors.
So exactly like Project Runway minus the cashola!

I really couldn't get great pictures because of the bright lights...

at the end of the runway...(look at all the photogs!)

 Wednesday night my mum and grandma came into town to share in the fun.
Notice the new coat!

 Laurel came too so that was a great buffer.

We went to the Joe Fresh show.
It was amazing.  Though a TON more chaotic than the night before.
My mum made it clear while she enjoyed it she wouldn't be repeating.
Oh well I tried anyway.

So it was ALMOST a bucket list item crossed off.
Because I am way more specific...on that bucket list?
Fall Fashion Week in NYC and Spring Fashion Week in Paris.
A girl can dream can't she?

a few Mondays ago

So a few Monday's ago (the first one in August...boy I am super behind in posting)
I was supposed to go on a date with MrConsultant.
But I didn't really feel like it.
Plus I had been sick the day before (from the ill effects of Chicago trip).
So I bailed on him.

Instead I met up with Val.
We decided we were up for an adventure.
And tried our hand at SUPing aka Stand Up Paddleboarding.
You know the new celebrity friendly water sport.

Nicole Ritchie does it (pics from here).

Cindy Crawford too.

Matt McConaghey (however you spell his name....he is yummy even if he acts like a dirty old man in Magic Mike!)

And let's not forget Brody Jenner who may be the hottest guy ever.  Seriously I can't even wrap my head around Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger right now...really from Brody to THAT guy?! Gross!

Anywho we may have lied about our experience a little.
I've never been and she has been once in Hawaii.
The current was pretty rough.
So much so that they weren't allowing Canoes out anymore on the lake.

So I was a little worried.
One of the flirtatious boat boys though suggested he boat us to the Toronto Islands because the waters would be a lot more calm out there.
So we agreed.  

And it was way calmer.
I didn't even fall into Lake Ontario once!
So we pretty much looked just like this...

Pic from here.

Pic from same as above.  Some amazing views of the Toronto Skyline.

We may have also stopped for a suntan break haha.
And had a booze cruise boat blow its horn at us and then got catcalled...that's when we decided we probably should get moving again and stop sun bathing.
It was super fun and is now definitely one of my new favourite water activities.

After just over 2 hours we worked up quite an appetite so we headed to try a patio.
A place that was just okay.
I can't even remember the name of it.
Then we headed to Val's because we wanted to try and make a cocktail.
This one...

Umm we soaked the cucumbers when the drink was made...oopsie but seriously who has time to soak cucumbers for at least 8 hours!!!

We thought it turned out pretty delicious and is our new fav.

All in all it was a fantastic holiday Monday :)