Summer 2011

My sincerest of apologies for the current lack of the written word on my blog. I've been busy taking advantage of my summer holiday which, sadly, is over in about two weeks. Yes. Two weeks.

Where did it go? What did I do with my time? I will now attempt, to the best of my abilities, to recall how I spent my summer. For no other reason, really, than for my personal satisfaction, and to remember.

May-June 2011

- Summer School: Contemporary Poety (did marginally well...)
- spent time with an old friend, recently-turned-mother
- watched some Hot Doc productions
- found places to hang out at night with great views of the city
- went out to Century Room with some friends
- attended the launch of In Toronto Magazine at Roosevelt Room
- attended the UTICA gala
- attended Pero Expo at VoX International party
- attended cousins' First Communion...spoken entirely in Hungarian...
- went to good friend's house party for her boyfriend's birthday
- landed new job working at psychological centre...for a month.
- BierMarkt for friend's going away party... although she never did end up leaving...
- spent the day at Cherry Beach with the girlfriends
- continued my piano lessons!
- smoked the green and ordered a pizza to the top of a parking lot then headed over to the dirty Brunny (sweet random night)
- LEVENDES FC SAGAPO POLI!
- bike trip from home down to Lakeshore Blvd!
- Kensington Market with the bestie
- lunch at Vivoli's with the ladies!
- Brunny night...and green, oh the green.
- Gullo's birthday at This is London
- read under a tree all day at Trinity Bellwood's Park
- Prostate Cancer Walk for Papa Silva!
- Bike ride to Centre Island with the Bestie
- more casual baby visiting
- Visited the Nonna in Windsor for a week...joy.
- my special broke his wrist and I truly couldn't believe it

July-August 2011

- Dave and Buster's night...now that was some really awesome fun
- Oro Beach for Angela's birthday
- Drove the sister to the airport so as to begin her trip to Halifax...and never finish it
- "A Midnight in Paris"
- attempt number one in making Fettucini Alfredo...#hugefail
- K.O. after Century Room with the girls. The night ended way too late, or is 5:30 am considered early?
- Vivid's Pizzeria with my special (arguably best pizzeria in Toronto)
- Salsa on St.Clair with baby mama & Co.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt.2 !!!!!!!
- house party at Cheech's
- Breaking Bad. Seriously got into Breaking Bad. So much Breaking Bad.
- last night before the Greek boys headed off to Greece
- Skybar/The Guvernment
- Katrina's annual Taste of the Danforth Party (I got him back...best time spent all summer)
- My special gets a cleat in the knee and loses a chunk of it. Six stiches later and no summer championship he lost but was undefeated
- St. Lawrence Market with my special!
- Swimming with my special :)
- The CNE with friends and my special
- The Paramount
- The Brunny
- SMC Frosh Leader Retreat 2011
- Ana gets her wisdom teeth removed...again
- 'Pasta and Pizza' and Chinatown with my special!!

And there is it. The most sequentially accurate recollection of my summer's events. I mean, hey, I might've not had the most extravagent summer, but I spent it with him. And I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Get Up and Eat!

Not sure what to do with your Thursday afternoon? Well, here are some ideas:

Travel down to Little Italy on College Street. Walk around, take it all in. The desserts looks sumptuous, the smells are divine. The boutiques are full of wonderful artistic pieces. Really, you gotta check it out.

Once you've arrived on College, step into Vivoli's, a small Italian restaurant with great sidewalk and rooftop patios (and exquisite Sangria). Order a Margherita. Why? Just trust me on this one.

You're going to want to order that Sangria now, c'mon, it's hot out; you know you want something refreshing. This is the picture in the dictionary beside the definition of refreshing. You'll even find some fresh blueberries, raspberries and diced strawberries floating around in there.

Then you're going to want to take some pictures of your special person. Or not. That's optional. But I did.

Once you're finished your delightful shenanigans, pay off that bill and head on out to find the best gelato and desserts at the Sicilian Cafe! Your tastebuds will have never had it better. Wow.

And to top off the afternoon, go look for those benches (that aren't benches because they're not made of wood) but they're benches because they look like benches and you can lie down on them like you can on a bench...

Mangiare bene!!

What to do on a Tuesday in Toronto...

It might not be an ideal way to spend your Tuesday, but this is how I spent mine:

So around 10am I arose from my bed and proceeded to prepare for the day--took a shower, ate, brushed my teeth, covered my naked self...

...awkward.

After that, I met up with a very, very special person at Dundas Square. Like most days, Dundas Square was bursting with live entertainment, loads of people swarming the square, hotdog vendors waiting for their next victim, etc.

We then made our way into the Eaton Centre where we decided to take a look around the infamous H&M. Unfortunately we came out unsuccessful, but not discouraged!

Afterwards we mosied on down towards Queen St. where our real adventure started. Queen St. is filled with so much to see. If you are a sushi fan, Queen St. West is the street for you, as a sushi restaurant can be found every ten stores down or so. Indian food tickle your tastebuds? They got those too. We however stopped at "The Footie Restaurant" just south of Queen and ordered ourselves some poutine and a piri piri chicken sandwich. I ordered myself a Corona, and boy, did it hit the spot.

After we finished eating we decided to check out the Farmer's Market at Trinity Bellwood's Park. The park was full of people soaking up the sun, playing tennis, riding their bikes, tossing around a frisbee, enjoying a picnic in the shade, chasing dogs...it was quite the popular attraction apparently.

We decided to take it easy and parked ourselves under a maple tree. It was relaxing and wonderful.


That was my Tuesday afternoon in Toronto. If you enjoy discovering new hidden boutiques or tasting new foods or trying on clothing you wouldn't find in a commercial shopping mall, I think a similar sort of day would suit you just fine.




-e