Just another random Wednesday...

It's just another random Wednesday here.
As the fun from the holidays settle and the winter blahs start to creep in here in Canada.
I LOATHE January-March here.

So with that I set about day dreaming of trips this year that I'm trying to do...
Remember this post last year???
How funny looking back on it now?!

I ended up in Florida over Easter and Christmas in 2012.
Over the long weekend in May Brooke and Jane came to Toronto but that meant I spent July long weekend in Kingston.  I ended up in Ottawa for Winterlude.
The July trip to Chicago (to see a certain handsome sailor aka Taylor's brother) ended up missing him due to getting food poisoning while on the most random 24 trip ever to Chicago with MrDentalSurgeon.
September 2012 in Dallas was BLISS!
And it was a September (versus October) in Ann Arbor where I got to meet the gorgeous and fun SoMidwestern (despite meeting her tipsy and then hung over lol...I hope to be much more fun the next time I'm in Ann Arbor!)
So what could be in store for 2013...well here are some possibilities...

Perhaps a trip to Hartford, Connecticut for a conference with Laurel...

Pic from here

That we may parlay into a trip to Boston, MA (I've never been to either!)

Pic from here

Perhaps another fun fling to Miami??? (a girl can only fantasize hope lol)

Pic from here

Dallas is a promise...I've got an adorably beautiful niece (I'm forever going to refer to her as my niece because Taylor is the sister I always wanted lol) to hold and rock!

Pic from here

Hopefully another trip to Ann Arbor for a game...if Will will have me lol.
He is in a new relationship so has fallen quiet the last little while (which usually happens).
But if I'm making the call...he's marrying this one.
So UM for a game hopefully!

Seriously their campus is like the movies!!! Pic from here

I would like to get out of North America as well...
So any low cost budget friendly ideas??? or how about a travel partner or two???
Just putting it out there lol...

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???

Random things that make me happy.

Trips to Dallas to see my best friends!

Pic from here

Fun socks! Ignore the fat left ankle...I love my bee socks :)

Big hair!  These pictures are making me think maybe I should go dark again.
I got my hair done recently and it is fairly light/blond right now.

The goosebumps I always get walking into here....which will be happening this weekend.
Bonus points if you recognize it.

Cute animals

Suri's Burn Book Tumblr...seriously this website makes me laugh SO hard.

This whole flying commercial/ “how the other half lives” thing isn’t cute anymore. Even in first class, you have to breathe the same air as the people in steerage.

I have learned how to carry my own bags with style, though. And believe me, it wasn’t easy.

Two Thursdays Ago

I should be officially enjoying my holiday in Dallas at this point.
But still owe you some posts :)
Like two Thursdays ago.

The CanadaCrew girls had decided to do a girl's night after work.
So 6 of us met up at the Bier Market on King West.
3 Brits, 2 Canadians and an American round out our fun little group.

I explained to the waitress...I hate beer help.
And she pointed me to this delicious discovery.
Total YUM!

And we all had brilliant pub food.
I had mussels and french fries (which the girls told me is a must do combination...it totally is!)
And we chatted away and shared tons of laughs.

The dessert I was told was delish!
I was just too stuffed to order one myself.

We talked about boys, vacations, who should play Christian Gray in the upcoming 50 shades movies, you know the important things in life haha.
All I know is that I had the BEST time.

Hanging out with a bunch of girls.
4 of them not from here.
It certainly took me back to my expat time in Singapore.
I was in SUCH a great mood after.

I cannot wait until our next after work girls meetup!

Thursday Night Fav

So a few Thursday's ago Val and I wanted to grab some dinner.
Our only goal...somewhere good where neither of us had been.
So after trying to figure out a place to go to.
We did what any normal person would do...

Pic from here.

Decided to try out a tiny quaint restaurant in Roncesvalles (a trendy neighbourhood downtown) that Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes were spotted at this summer.
It's called Hopgood's Foodliner.
Even the name sounds vintage/hipster cool.

Pic from here

All the seats were full so we had to settle for a seat at the bar.

Pic from here.

Again one of my favourite things of Toronto is the cool little places to discover.
But that made it all the better because our server was FANTASTIC.
So we decided to share a few things.
The menu can change there frequently but some things are staples.

1. The Halifax Donnairs.
OMG HEAVEN!  We asked for the sauce on the side (which I highly recommend).
It also makes things super messy.

Pic from here.

If you want to know what it is (from the link above) ...
Halifax donairs ($12): A thinly sliced mix of beef and pork is piled on fluffy homemade pitas, topped with chopped tomatoes, Vidalia onions and a creamy evaporated milk-based sauce. The pair is served over napkins on a crumpled paper bag. This was a snack that Hopgood often got walking home from school or late night after being out at the bar

2. A Tomato Salad
Summery fresh and oh so delicious!

3. The braised cheek and tiny sausages.
The cheek was good (we both loved the tiny sausages better) but was our least fav of the three dishes.

And if you go there you MUST order their dessert.
They make chocolate bars from scratch...called Crispy Toffee on the menu...

Crispy toffee is a chocolate bar made from rice crispies and cornflakes crushed with white chocolate, coated in toffee, then enrobed with dark chocolate, sprayed with buttery chocolate, and frozen. Defrosted, the bar is sprinkled with salt, tied up in a brown paper wrapper stamped Foodliner.

Not to sweet and just the perfect end to dinner!
How cute is it when it comes to your table (and obviously this is the point I remembered to take a pic)

It was amazing.
Another fabulous night in the city.
Val and I are slowly figuring it out.
And finding great places to eat is just the start.

Definitely one of my FAVOURITES in the city.
And yes I'm still sick...which is why I'm home on a Friday catching up on blogging.
Though I did just get a text from MrDentalSurgeon....hmmm separate post I think.
Don't want to ruin the FABULOUSNESS of this one.

Deedeedeedeedadada (aka Saturday Night)

So Saturday I woke up leisurely.
Had a quick gym run.
And started to get ready.
Look at us...all dolled up!

I love doing that...putting music on and getting ready for a fun night out with the girls.
We hopped on the subway and then the streetcar to head to another of the CanadaCrew's condos right downtown.
She had this amazing spread all ready.

The birthday girl!

And us girls had drinks and snacks and got excited for a fun night out.
At around 10 we headed to Pravda.

Pic from here.

It's a Russian Vodka Bar.
It had really cool decor.
And we were all in a really great mood ready for a night of dancing and fun.

Pic from their website.

Pic from their website.

Pic from their website.

Pic from their website.

Here's what it looking like more with people in it!

PIc from here.

Had a great time.
Lots of laughs, lots of dancing, lots of chatting up boys.
B was there too.

It's not a complete night out without a foggy/blurry bar shot with some of the girls!

It was super fun dancing around, and flirting and just generally practicing catching someones eye.
I'm actually pretty bad at the whole approach thing.
One of the girls from the CanadaCrew actually got annoyed when this guy and I kept making googly eyes at one another and just waved him over.


I though great here comes this guy in a bar which will just lead to awkward conversation.
Only it wasn't awkward at all.
We had a lot in common (and not just because we were there celebrating birthdays with a group of friends) and I had so much fun chatting with him.
At the end of the night we exchanged numbers...and there may have been a few text messages exchanged today :)
After all I am "playing the field".


After it got late I headed home with Laurel and her fiance to crash on the couch.
Didn't sleep that great because they only have a small air conditioning unit in their room.
So I was very warm.
Woke up Sunday morning to head home because I had two dates lined up.
More about that later.


It was a GREAT Saturday night that seemed to really fly by.
And it was lovely to hang out with the CanadaCrew too.
Slowly but surely I'm making a life and more friends for myself in Toronto.
It's getting better.
And that's all I can hope for!

It's not me it's you

These last 48 hours have particularly dragged.
BUT I'm trying to put a positive spin on things.
While secretly hoping thinking MrKent will regret his decision.


After all I made him hot toddy's this past Saturday when he was sick.
I am sweet.
I am nice.
I laughed hard at all his silly jokes.
I found his messy bachelor pad endearing not annoying.
I was gracious even with the "it's not you it's me speech" I sat through basically just listening to what he had to say...
and I didn't even cry once (in front of him).


I am just dusting myself off and trying to round up a few dates.
I think there are two things that have resonated greatly with me in these last 48 hours.


One is something I've been trying to live by...

I also need to be more proud of myself/confidant.
Funny enough it was something MrKent mentioned as he gave me "the talk".
He said, "you don't give yourself enough credit".
And when I looked at him puzzled, he mentioned three specific comments that I didn't even realize I said outloud.
One of thes was "I know I'm not everyone's "type""...I know I'm not I'm curvy...I'm not skinny tall model like.
It's like some people (like me) find Kim Kardashian GORGEOUS...and others just don't see it....it made me realize I'm pretty critical of myself (specifically my body).


So maybe I should at least believe in myself as much as a boy who just dumped me does.
After all the issue was his issue.
And for once I really believe it wasn't me that was the problem.
And that is a pretty huge revelation.