Wonderful Weekend!

Man, I must be in a writin' mood.  Two posts in two days.  Oh well, when the muse is with you, the muse is with you...

First a little something fun:



What a sweetie!


I've been having a great weekend!  It's a long weekend here in Ontario (Family Day), so the usual luxury of the weekend is made that much more luxurious.  I've had a great mixture of chill times, time outdoors, movie-watching, friend-seeing, food-eating... the whole gamut.  In the food-eating arena, I went to Frida last night as I mentioned I would, and it was as delicious as I remembered.  Tasty margaritas, succulent jumbo shrimp, and the best guacamole I've ever had in my life!!!  On top of all that, I had with me some absolutely fabulous company.  Great evening!!!

Today was an adventure with my boy Waleed.  As his birthday present, I wanted to do something fun together.  W. and I are going to be friends forever, so buying expensive things isn't always necessary; I'd rather have a fun experience together, so that was the inspiration for this gift.  We started the day off with brunch.  We met at the Bloor Street Diner where I was having a coffee and thinking that the all-you-can-eat brunch sounded tantalizing.  When Wal arrived we asked how much the AYCE brunch cost and it was $25.95 each before tax.  That was a little too steep for the two of us, so we finished our coffees, paid for them, and headed east to Sunset Grill at Bloor & Church.  There we got 2 filling breakfasts for $20 TOTAL!!!  I'm glad we resisted brunch at BSD -- another time.

After a yummy breakfast at SG, we headed to surprise #1, which Wal had NO idea about.  Where did we go???  The Bata Shoe Museum!!!  I hadn't been there since I was 12 or so, and Wal had never been, and I thought it would be a fun experience.  We went to lots of museums together in Paris, but why not in the city where we both (kinda... sorta...) live?!  It was a lot of fun.  We started downstairs where the history of shoes is charted, and then we followed that up with the Roaring Twenties exhibit, which was really well done.  We also saw the Art in Shoes | Shoes in Art exhibit, which was cool, too.  We were there probably an hour or so in total, and then we headed to surprise #2.

Surprise #2: Seeing "The Iron Lady" at the Varsity Theatre in the VIP theatre!!!  Wow... what a movie.  It was really fantastic to see such a strong, powerful woman's journey.  It was also well-done; watching Margaret Thatcher's struggles with sanity/dementia.  Jim Broadbent acted well, as he always does.  But, let's get to the most important thing:

MERYL.  MERYL.  MERYL.
Meryl Streep... how do you do it?  She is, without a doubt, the greatest actress of our time.  For that matter, she may be the greatest actress of all time.  While watching the movie, you completely forget that it's Meryl.  That is definitely thanks to the talent of the make-up artist, too, but... oh Meryl... you really just nailed it.  You were Margaret Thatcher.  You were completely in the character.  The accent, the facial expressions, the voice...  You were absolutely flawless.  Win or lose the Oscar, there is no debate about your talent.  Congratulations on the performance of a lifetime!!!

Never mind the special treat of enjoying a movie in the VIP theatre.  It's not something you want to do every time you see a movie, but for a treat it's worth the extra bucks.  You've got a small, intimate theatre with a great view of the screen.  You've got extra comfy seats and a side table for your treats.  You can have beer while you watch your movie!  And, in my last experience in the theatre, I even had an employee serve me my treats!!!  It's a fun little treat.  (Say treat again... treat!)

So that was the birthday adventure with Waleed.  A lot of fun!

I also saw another great movie this weekend: "Beginners".  I'd been wanting to see this since I saw a preview for it; it seemed like a really new idea for a movie.  Beyond a fun story line, it also had a creative multimedia-esque approach.  The acting was also really good.  I loved Melanie Laurent, and Ewan was great, and Christopher Plummer was at his best.  It was a well-written movie and quite moving.  I loved it!



So, that was my weekend!  Lots of fun, and back to reality on Tuesday!

N.Y.C. Part II

How is it that something I used to do to procrastinate is now something I procrastinate doing?
Ch-ch-ch-changes.

Anyway, without further ado: NEW YORK CITY!!!
More specifically...

10 things I learned in (or general comments about) NYC - 2011 edition

1. The NYC transit system makes so much sense... unless you're used to the TTC. It's an incredibly efficient and elaborate system, but when you're used to tracks being for 1 train that's going in only 1 direction, then you'll likely slip up at one point or another.
   
   
2. I would really love to spend more time in Central Park when I'm next in the Big Apple. Both times that I've visited I've walked around the park a teeny bit, but I'm interested in a full day spent in the park. It's just so lush and grand and I want to go visit at the height of the summer, pack a picnic and a book or 2, and just take it all in.
   
   
3. There is so much good food to eat!!! Each resto deserves its own spot on this list, but I'd at least like to tell you where I ate and why I loved it:
   
   Taboon (52nd & 10th) - My friends and I ate here on Sunday morning with another friend of ours who was performing a musical at a venue nearby. The restaurant was nearly empty when we got there, but we stuck around because of the close proximity to our friend's venue, and the great vibe, and the great service. That said, within the hour the place was packed, and a 3-piece band set themselves up in the corner and started playing some jazzy tunes. My 3 friends all had a waffle with ice cream on top and I had the Steak Benedict. The food was DELICIOUS and completely reasonable. I'd love to go back to Taboon.
   
   Tom's Restaurant (Brooklyn) - We took our Saturday brunch at Tom's Restaurant, a diner near where we were staying. Our friend recommended it highly, and I can see why. When we got there, the line was going around the corner, but it moved quickly, and our appetites were kept at bay with the food that a server was walking around and handing out to people in line - yeah, seriously. While in line we got orange slices, a cookie, and something else that I can't remember. The orange slices came last but were followed by squirts of hand sanitizer. Yeah, that's right - Tom's has got you covered. We didn't wait too long though, and had a delicious meal once we sat down. Tonnes of coffee, and I had the sausage & egg meal with the usual fixings. My friends had a variety of other stuff and everything looked and tasted amazing!
   
   Chavella's (Brooklyn) - The last notable restaurant to share with you (I'm doing this in reverse order) is Chavella's, where we took Brian (our hostess with the mostess) out for dinner on Friday evening. It's a Mexican place that he recommended and it was absolutely delish. We walked over from his apartment and got seated almost immediately on their outside patio. It was a decent evening weather-wise, and we only started feeling cold at the end of our meal, so it was nice to get some fresh air while we ate. All of us ordered some Mexican alcoholic beverages (I had a classic cervesa - Corona) and shared some amazing guacamole, and then I had soft-shelled tacos with delicious rice on the side. Others at the table had Mexican soups and hard-shelled tacos and all sorts of other yummy choices. The dinner was perfect, the server was really fun... all in all it was a great time.
   
   
4. Going to the MoMA on Saturday afternoon was definitely a highlight. I've always wanted to go, so I visited their website before the trip and made note that there was a really cool sounding exhibit on called "Looking at Music 3.0". Lucky for me we went to that exact exhibit on Saturday and I loved every minute of it. You can read more about it at the link, but basically it was the 3rd segment in a series exploring music (a lot of it having come out of New York City) and its impact on culture. The room was set up with headphones and music videos playing on loop... there was Le Tigre, Jay-Z, Beastie Boys... it was so cool! I browsed some other exhibits, too, but didn't have nearly enough time to see it all. I'd love to go back!
   
   
5. The key to Canal St., it seems, is to reject your entire Canadian upbringing, and force yourself to be aggressive and deceitful... at least that's the sense I got after observing my bestie Rachel negotiating with the little woman calling out "Coach...Louis...Chanel" as we walked by. Rachel lied, cheated, and did whatever it took to get a good deal, and I admired her for it. That's just the way you do it on Canal. Thanks to Rach, I got a great deal on a bracelet for my sister!
   
   
6. I love SoHo. The shops, the vibe, the layout, the architecture... there's nothing like that in Toronto; nothing that seems so historic and yet so modern, so hip and yet so accessible... We popped in and out of stores, grabbed a snack at the SoHo Cafe (my 2nd time there, which I was surprised to have happen when I've only been to NYC twice), and just enjoyed walking around. I mentioned that last year: the magic of New York is how much you can see and experience without paying anything and just being willing to walk and walk and walk.
   
   
7. This weekend I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to see the opera Orfeo ed Euridice at the Metropolitan Opera, known as the Met. More fortunate was I to have my best friend Brian (who we stayed with) performing on the stage with other members of the Mark Morris Dance Group. Mark Morris choreographed the dance portions of this production, and not that I've been to (m)any professional operas, but in my personal opinion it was an outstanding production -- unique, funky, modern, beautiful... the list goes on. My friend did amazingly well (front & centre, NBD) and the music was wonderful. It was great!
   
   
8. As I've mentioned already (I think), I stayed with my best and oldest friend (not in terms of age, but in terms of how long I've known him) Brian in his apartment in Brooklyn. The apartment was fantastic and it was so nice not to have to spend anything on accommodations, and it was really neat to somewhat get to know the area in Brooklyn where he lives, which I think is called Prospect Heights, if I've got that right. He told us it's an up-and-coming neighbourhood, and though there was some shadiness in some spots, it was definitely a cute and fun area, where I would be happy to live myself. There were some great restos and cute cafes, and I was happy to now be able to imagine where he lives when we chat on the phone or on Skype or whatever.
   
   
9. On Sunday, after walking through a teeny bit of Central Park, we walked down Columbus Ave. from about 70th to 50th. I'd never walked around this area of the Upper West Side before, and I loved it. Columbus was filled with people walking, great boutiques with what looked like awesome clothing, little stationery shops, cafes, etc. So much fun - glad to have walked down it.
   
   
10. And, as is tradition, I must always say: Home is where the heart is.