Another fab girl's night

Had another fantastic girl's night out last Wednesday.
It involved 7 of us girls from the Canada Crew and Ethiopian food.
Have you ever had it?

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Besides being delicious and a TON of food...our bill for 7 of us (plus 1-2 beers/wines each) came to $94.73!
We will definitely being doing this again.
We went to a place called Nazareth.

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We already have put on the calendar an Ethiopian night in May!
And it is super great that I am finally feeling like I have a great group of girlfriends here in Toronto...and that my fellow bloggers is BLISS!

Drag Queens, Ships and Burritos

So last Saturday it was E's birthday (from the Canada Crew).
I mentioned before that S and E live on a ship.
So that's where we started the celebration.

Before heading off to El Convento Rico.
A packed bar.
Known for it's drag queens.
And we danced and laughed our night away.

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At the very end my date from the night before showed up.
And I was stunned that he would come all the way across town.
To a drag queen bar just to have a drink.

After we headed to Burrito Boyz for late night Burritos.
And it was nice even if the burritos kind of suck compared to Dallas.

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I ended up spending the night on the ship which was super fun.

My blurry iPhone shot from the ship when I headed in that night.

And it was a fun Saturday night.
Which I desperately needed.

Boston & Hartford

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Super excited that Laurel and I confirmed our trip in April to Boston & Hartford.
Don't know if you noticed the new counter downer thingy at the top of the blog.
And while we have only 4 short days (5 if you include the drive).
I'm super excited to have something on the calendar to count down to.

So anyone have any suggestions of things we MUST do.
It's a first time for us both in those cities.
Yay for a girly roadtrip!

Thursday Night Out

So last night the hum drum of winter definitely settling in here.
Seriously winter in Toronto is SO dark and gray and depressing (well at least for me lol).
So a few of us decided just to grin and bear it and head out for dinner and a movie.

I met up with S and E of the CanadaCrew.
We went to Salad King.
I haven't been there since this time.

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And S and E had insider knowledge to order an off item menu.
I love stuff like that.
So if you are going to Salad King order the Islamic Noodles....which is like Pad Thai with chicken, shrimp, veggies and a red curry sauce.
It was yummo.

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After that we headed to the movies to watch Les Mis.
And you know what it was a good night.
To get out of the cold.
Gossip with the girls.
And watch a girly musical.
Somehow going to make it through this winter.

Another book club meeting

Before we knew it it was time for book club again.
I always look forward to it.
So glad we came up with this idea for the cold winter months.

As usual amazing things were had.
This month's book was A Street Cat Named Bob.

Our opinions were split right down the middle.
The three who had cats growing up LOVED it.
The three of us who did not have cats/dog people didn't like it at all.

Obviously we are super cool and happen to like charts and graphs lol!

But who cares?!
Books club is really an excuse for us to eat, drink, and chat.

Our theme was English Picnic...how cute is this setup?

Apparently this is a British thing (says our British expat friends)....we weren't sure if they were pulling our legs!

British candies

Scotch Eggs...there is no actual Scotch in them...they are eggs wrapped in sausage

My obsession Nadege bakery and their Salted Caramel Tarte...AMAZINGNESS!

Can't wait until the next one.
Though I'm a wee bit nervous because I'm hosting.
Can you believe the girls (who ALL live downtown I know I'm super jealous!) are all coming up to my area?!
Mixture of nervousness and excitement.

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).

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

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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.

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

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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.

Saturday/Sunday

So Saturday like I said first I went brunette (huge change).
And what else to do after that but head up to Kingston.
I hadn't seen Jane since I threw her and Eva a baby shower in the fall.

Saturday was Jane's official due date so we planned for one last girly sleepover... provided her daughter hadn't made her grand entrance.
So I drove up to Kingston.
It turned out we changed plans because Jane's parents wanted to celebrate her younger brother Ted's birthday so I crashed the fam jam.

Ted wanted to go to Red Lobster.
I don't think I've eaten there since I was 15!
So I met them over there.

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And it was much less disastrous then I thought it was going to be (foodwise) lol.
It was great to catch up with Jane's parents too.
After that we headed to Jane's house where we proceeded to catch up, watch TV and I painted her nails for her.
And it was lovely and simple and just relaxing.

The next morning we slept in late before heading to Windmill's for brunch.
Kingston is that small of a city that we bumped into Jane's father-in-law there.
It was also packed with Queen's University students.
And rightfully so because it was delicious!

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After that we headed down to Starbucks for coffees before I had to head back to Toronto for a birthday dinner.
It was for one of my sorority sisters that I don't know so well yet.
And I'm so glad I pushed myself to go out and I'm so glad I did.
As I'm still pushing to make new friends and grow.

We met at Earl's for dinner and it was super fun.

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And then from there I headed to Shangri-La lobby bar to meet with MrRealtor to try to and just end things in  person.

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And y'all it was awkward and frustrating and he just wasn't listening.
And so when he walked me back to my car I pretty much just stepped away, hopped in and drove away.
Here's how I know for sure he wasn't listening or paying attention.
He sent me this message;

"I have never seen someone wanna leave so bad so fast like before
Clearly I'm not good for you
At least that's the impression I get from you
Drive safe goodnight"

I guess the 1.5 hour conversation hadn't sunk in at that point for him.
Ughhh
And that's how the rest of my weekend FLEW by!

Gotta get down on Friday

So after the first full week back to work I was really looking forward to Friday.
I was stoked because the CanadaCrew girls and I had purchased a GroupOn to go see Avenue Q (a musical).
So how else would we start it off then food (obviously).

We first tried to go to Golden Turtle for Pho on Ossington.
When we got there however there was a sign saying closed for Christmas (boo).
So we headed down the street to Photien Thanh Vietnamese Restaurant.

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We quickly all caught up and giggles and stories ensued.
I told them about my most amazing New Years in Miami.
And it was great to get out of cold rainy weather and eat yummy Pho.

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After that we headed to the lower ossington theatre.
A smaller theatre on Ossington.

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We grabbed glasses of wine/beer (depending on preference).
And settled in to watch Avenue Q.
I literally had NO idea what to expect.

Here's the synopsis from the playbill.
"Avenue Q is a laugh-out-loud musical that tells the timeless story of a recent college grad named Princeton who movies into a shabby New York apartment all the way out on Avenue Q.  There, he meets Kate (the girl next door), Rod (the Republican), Trekkie (the internet sexpert), Lucy the Slut (need we say more?), and other colourful types who help Princeton finally discover his purpose in life!"

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And we quickly found ourselves giggling away to this rather inappropriate musical.
Here is a TV friendly preview from a news station.

Here is the list of songs from the playbill...which should give you an idea to the umm adult nature of this.

We all enjoyed it immensely.

Afterward Laurel and I met up with her fiance and B and C to grab a drink and watch them play pool at Billiards Academy and Sports.
Not really my style but oh well.
As you know I've been selectively avoiding B.  
So of course he messaged me the very next day inviting me out again..."just the two of us".  
Ugh and I only say ugh because I feel extremely guilty about it.
None the less it was great to catch up with the CanadaCrew girls and I can't wait until our next adventure.

Girl friends

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So here's some rather exciting news...
A lot of the reason I have not been blogging is because I've been getting closer with some girl friends.
Happily a lot of the people I have chatted about as the CanadaCrew.

We have come together.
And are quickly becoming a fun girl group.
Seriously!

Remember when I wrote about it here about being sooooo happy.
It really is coming together.
Here are some of the things we have been doing...

• Book club...during our winter months (October-March) we decided a book club is in order.  I WILL follow up and do posts about it soon because they are my fav!
• We had a Stevemas party...again I should blog about it.  Basically your ugly Christmas sweater party. And though I brought MrRealtor (that turned out to not be the best idea ever).
• These girls put together (instigated by Laurel) a notabirthdaycelebrationbuthappenstocoincidewithsomeonesbirthday brunch for moi.  I felt so so so darn special!

Things we have upcoming in the next two weeks!

• Book club meeting #3
• One of the girl's birthday celebrations at a place called Snakes and Lattes where we will play boardgames...so fun!
• A night of mulled wine, firepits in the Distillery District!
• A holiday Christmas dinner with traditional English Roasted Goose.

So the girls in the group are myself, Laurel, 3 British ex-pats, and two Canadian cousins.  

So so so darn happy that this has happened.

It's making it much easier to like the city even if I'm the only one not living downtown lol.

Dallas Trip~ Thursday (Day One)...The Arrival!

Working up to my trip things were crazy busy!
I felt like I almost wasn't going to make it to Dallas.
I worked an earlier shift so I could make it to the airport in time.

Leading up to it I was nervous and excited.
Coupled with my busy day of not eating at all...
I was a little awkward when MrPravda came to drop me off at the airport.
A lot awkward actually.

I think I was just so full of different emotions.
We had just come off of this date...and I still wasn't 100% feeling great by the time I was to take off.
He was perfectly sweet.
He even parked the car to help me in with my luggage.

And as I got to the ticket area he was like "this is you".
So I was like "ummm okay".
Though MrPravda did send me a cute text saying he was looking forward to a thicker southern accent when I got back to Canada.
Then I headed to customs.

They totally gave me a hard time because my hair is on the lighter side now versus my dark hair in my passport picture.
After I cleared that I found the only place in the terminal to eat that served warm food.
(Toronto airport kind of sucks actually with that kind of stuff).

I also may have had a cocktail while waiting for my food...heck it was the start of my vacation!

So I had a mediocre hamburger.
And got ready to head out.
One final picture outside the airplane window.

And it was goodbye to Toronto (at least for a little while).
And I got to enjoy SkyMall which is a guilty pleasure of mine.
And I may or may not have one of these wallet things on the cover.
(However I received it as a promo in a swag bag from a meeting last year I didn't buy it from Skymall...truth be told I've never purchased anything from SkyMall...yet).

From being sick and my sinus congestion the flight was so very painful to my head.
I was very happy to land.
And when I landed the feeling of pure bliss.
It felt already like coming home.

And then to have my gorgeous and (now pregnant) bestie pic me up outside!
I was so completely thrilled.
We headed to her BEAUTIFUL home that I got to see in real life 
(and not just during facetime chats).

I met her amazing sweet husband MrArchitect.
And then we stayed up gabbing.
It was so so hard to keep the secret I was keeping.

But I was easily distracted giving her some cute things I had purchased for her.
Like ...

Taylor has a pair of Uggs so I could not resist an itty bitty baby pair.

Seriously it was pink and had polka dots...could not resist!  And I LOVE little ones on white tights!

I loved the sweet details of the buttons.  The quality of Joe Fresh is incredible!

To me this seemed very Canadian...a really nice knit.  Though the buttons might be a bit of a pain.

I loved how these buttons were little hearts!

Before we knew it it was getting late and we had to get up early to head out the next day.
I went to sleep happy and excited and with a feeling of calm I haven't felt in a VERY long time.