This time I'm having a lovely Saturday

Again, my girlfriend K. is still on her family vacation, so it'd be better if she were here, but all in all - not too shabby (and it's only 3:40 pm).

I woke up around 8:00 after about 90 minutes of alarms that I snoozed through.  Why did I set my alarm for 6:30 on a Saturday morning?  Well, I had an ambitious intention to go really early to the farmer's market, but having gone to bed around 1:00 am, I felt totally fine forgetting that plan and "sleeping in" instead.

Upon waking, I made a pot of coffee and then puttered around tidying my apartment for a while.  My mom was coming for a visit and I wanted to make sure everything looked nice for her!  Then I made my smoothie and sat down to read, drink my smoothie, and start on coffee #1.  Then I moved to the couch to enjoy coffee #2 and some "Dawson's Creek".  I don't know why I chose DC but it hit the spot.  Showered, tidied some more, some more DC, some more coffee... then around 11:15 my mom arrived!

My mom and I really enjoy each other's company, but I think she likes visiting best when there's some way she can be useful.  In today's case, I needed her help hanging some art that needed to be exact and level.  She did a great job with it!  After that, we headed out for some lunch at an amazing Waterloo place called Famoso - a Neapolitan pizza place.  Delicious!

Then we walked across the street to Heel Boy, a shoe store, to buy some shoes for my bestie Mon's wedding next Saturday.  We found a perfect pair!  The only shoes I tried on.  Gotta love that!

Then we walked a few stores down to Honey Bake Shop for an afternoon treat.  Before we got back to the car, we stopped at a great independent bookstore in Waterloo called Words Worth Books where my mom bought a couple books by Mary Lawson.

Then back home for a cup of tea and our sweets from Honey, followed by a great conversation, and then off my mom went, home to Toronto.

What a charming Saturday visit in Waterloo!  I'm sure the rest of the night will be just as great!

Two of Hearts: 3 Movies I Watched this Weekend

It is Monday after the long Easter weekend and I am very slowly adjusting back to a life where I must wake up, do things, wear clothing without elastic waistlines, and be generally presentable.  Normally I'm okay with this, but today I'm not.  It was a delightful weekend!  Highlights include time spent with great friends including karaoke, a beautiful trip to Mel's Diner, time spent on the couch, time spent with more friends, GREEK EASTER!!!, and some epic movie viewing.  I could go on about all elements, but I think I'll focus on one - epic movie viewing.

Having read that Michael Alig is going to be released from prison on May 5, I was reminded that I've always wanted to watch Party Monster.  My friend W. was visiting for a few nights and I asked him if he'd seen it (assuming he had) - he hadn't!  W. was the perfect viewing partner for this movie.  Even better, it was on Netflix.  Bam.  W. whipped up some hummus and we hunkered down for a viewing.  It was a very interesting movie.  I thought Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green both did great jobs in their respective parts, without knowing too too much about Michael Alig and James St. James.  The movie was creepy, funny, enlightening, fascinating, dark, and sad.  I'm now fascinated by club kid culture and keen to read more.  One particularly intense moment was when James St. James was down and out and Michael Alig puts on a cassette to cheer him up.  What's the song?  Stacey Q's "Two of Hearts".  What was one of the two songs my friends and I sang at karaoke the evening before?  Two of Hearts.  Serendipitous, no?

Anyway, Saturday afternoon I was chilling by myself and decided to watch one of the recommended films for people interested in "Party Monster".  One of them was a documentary called "Limelight" about Peter Gatien, legendary club owner who owned the Limelight in New York City where Michael Alig was a promoter.  I learned more about the club kid culture, the introduction of ecstasy to NYC, Peter Gatien (from Cornwall, Ontario), and the massive lawsuit that targetted Gatien as responsible for the rampant drug use and selling in his clubs.  This film was equally fascinating.

Finally, I watched something quite different but not totally unrelated: "Philadelphia". I've watched this movie a handful of times before, but it never loses its impact.  Tom Hanks is incredible, as is Denzel Washington, and the story is so moving and sad.  I still teared up during the epic opera soliloquy.  Incredible!

So there you have it, darlings!  A weekend of movies & more!  Until next time!

Waterloo Life OR My frenetic celebration of the place I currently call home

Toronto.

I love Toronto.  I love Toronto especially because it's home.  I'm from Toronto, I grew up in Toronto, I've lived in Toronto longer than I've lived anywhere else, my parents live in Toronto, and 3/4 of my sisters live in Toronto.  I also love Toronto's vibe: the big city, something always going on, the best restaurants, arts & culture, creatives and business people working alongside one another... Neighbourhoods!  Gentrification!  "The hottest new cafe!"  I live for that stuff.  I pour over my monthly edition of Toronto Life magazine and drool over the latest trends and where to see and be seen.  I really do love that stuff!

But I also struggle with that stuff.  I mean, who cares?!  Does eating at the "hot new place" make any difference?  Does anyone care?  Does my indulgence in that kind of nonsense result in stress to "keep up with the Joneses" and then constantly feeling like I can't keep up?

Trust me... I don't devote too much energy to any of this, but I do experience that swelling of the ego when I participate in that kind of culture while simultaneously poo-pooing people who get too wrapped up in it.  I both want to be the yuppie and make fun of the yuppie.  It's like "Portlandia"; you embrace the culture and mock the culture all at once, but you do love the culture.

Anyway, all of this is to say that there's something liberating about caring and then letting a lot of that go.  How?  By moving!  Yes, I'm from Toronto and yes, I'll still be in Toronto a lot, but I don't live in Toronto right now and I want to embrace that.  I want to pat myself on the back for not being so Toronto-centric to have to stay there forever and consider every other place lesser than.  In fact, I am having the wonderful - yet not totally unexpected - experience of loving and having my life enhanced by a new city.

Waterloo.

I lived in Waterloo from 2005-2010 and I really enjoyed the city.  However, living anywhere as a university student is a different experience, so when I made the decision to accept a new job and move as a young professional to Waterloo, I wondered what that would be like.  What would it be like to have a car in Waterloo?  Have some disposable income?  Not be taking classes?  What would it mean to live in Waterloo when I don't have classes to take and schoolwork to do, and therefore more of a life?  Could I have the life I wanted in Waterloo?  The answer, delightfully, is yes.

Waterloo is a change of pace.  Truly.  The pace is slower than Toronto's enough to feel it, but not so slow as to make it - for lack of a better word - lame.  There is an ease of life in Waterloo!  Nowhere takes as long to get to.  I get to work in 5 minutes!  I get from work to the gym in 5 minutes!  There's parking everywhere!  There's decent public transit, lots of taxis, and if you find the right place to live, it's totally walkable, too.  You can find a restaurant with tapas, a microbrewery with craft beers, and a cute cafe with a crazy collection of scotches.

You can find friends!  Some of my best friends were living in Waterloo still, and seeing them is so much easier than it is to see friends in Toronto.  In Toronto you have to make plans with a friend and account for maybe an hour of total travel time.  In Waterloo I can be having an alone night in my apartment and then realize at 8:00 that I want to hang out with someone, get to their place in 5 minutes, hang out for an hour, and be home in time for an early bedtime.

Toronto will always be where I'm from, and it'll always feel like home, and I will very likely settle down in Toronto one day for good.  But right now, at the moment in time, Waterloo feels like exactly where I should be, and it feels so good.

Some things I want to share

I'm fully moved out of my Toronto apartment.
The apartment my girlfriend K and I (plus Spoon the cat) called home from September 2012 is now empty... at least of our stuff.  I haven't been living in the apartment since late January, but this past Friday we took out the last of it.  It feels bittersweet, as it has when I've moved out of every place I've lived in, but perhaps this one especially.  It was K's and my home; our first space together, and it really was special to get a cat together, too.  The kitchen was almost unbearably small, and now that I'm living in a relatively huge place, it's sort of a wonder how we lived in that small apartment.  But it was home, and it was ours, and I loved it.

The sweet part is twofold: a new, big apartment to call home, but also, there was something mentally difficult about straddling two places for a month.  It was unsettling.  Clearing it out of the last of the stuff felt really therapeutic.

K has not yet joined me in our new place in Waterloo.  She will, but she has to wrap up some things of her own in Toronto for the next few months, so she'll likely join me in the summer.  It's hard, of course, but our relationship is so strong, so we're getting by just fine.  Plus, when she joins me, she'll be ready for a fresh start, too, and that's a better time to move anyway... when you don't have too much left behind.

The 158-Pound Marriage
I read my second book of 2014: John Irving's The 158-Pound Marriage.  I believe this is one of Irving's first novels.  I've owned it for quite a while and have taken at least two stabs at it before, never finishing it.  This time I did.  After I read my first novel of 2014, The Devil Wears Prada, Irving felt appropriate because he's always so substantial and TDWP was anything but.  And it was substantial, but I was left unsatisfied... probably to a larger degree than usual because I expect so much of Irving's books... but maybe it being one of his earlier ones was the reason why.  Maybe I just didn't "get" it like I usually do.  Maybe I couldn't relate to it.  I'm not sure.  It wasn't bad, but it just didn't meet my expectations.

"Homeland"
Then there's something that exceeded my expectations.  "Homeland", the television show starring Claire Danes, among others.  Oh. My. God.  SO GOOD!!!  I started it last Monday when I took a day off and was in search of something new and wonderful to watch, and I finished first season yesterday when I was home sick.  The season was incredible.  I spent part of it wondering how there could be a second season, but the season finale made it clear that there is a lot more material to tap into.  The other crazy thing (pun intended?) was how Claire Danes really started showing her stuff in the last two episodes of the season.  She's such an amazing actress, and was throughout all of the episodes, but the stuff people really raved about was most apparent in the last episodes.  It was the kind of high-quality acting that I saw so much of in her movie "Temple Grandin".  She has a well of emotion, from one extreme to another, that makes her perfect for the character of Carrie Mathieson.  I wish season 2 was on Netflix.  I'll have to watch it by other means...

The Time Traveller's Wife
I've said it before: finding a new book to read is always a struggle.  I woke up extra early this morning as I was off sick yesterday and went to bed really early, and also wanted to have lots of time this morning to ease my way back into good health and readiness for work.  Before having coffee and breakfast, I scanned my bookshelf and settled on The Time Traveller's Wife.  I saw this movie ages ago when it was in theatres, and my friend who I saw it with had read and loved the book.  I really enjoyed the movie, but was a bit uncertain about how good the book could be.  I sped through 20 pages this morning.  It's fantastic!  Much better written than I anticipated (I'm a snob) and the story is so interesting.  I can't wait for more!

I spent part of my sick day organizing my office/guest room.
My first visitor - W! - is coming for the weekend and I'm so excited.  I finally live in a place that has a dedicated guest room.  A guest room is great for so many reasons, one of which is the fact that you have a place to hide stuff you don't feel like dealing with.  It was the only place in my apartment with boxes that I hadn't emptied, partly because they weren't urgent, and partly because I knew they were full of miscellany that I didn't want to deal with.  However, yesterday was pretty much my only chance to tackle the craziness, and I did with vigour!  I dumped the boxes on the bed and slowly but surely - and with lots of breaks - put stuff where it belonged.  It's not fully dealt with, but the bed and floor is clear, the desk isn't too cluttered with stuff, and it generally looks welcoming.  I have to deal with the closet and figure out a long-term organizing strategy, but that can happen later.  For now, it's clean and ready for W, and that's all I can ask for.

Things

I'm so close.

I have been living in an apartment with very few things for 20 days now.  I preface this by saying I am fully aware of my privilege, how fortunate I am, how much more I have than so many, etc.  I don't say this lightly, but I want to make it clear that I am aware.  That being said, this is my life, and I want to write about it, so there it is.

So I've been living in an apartment with very few things for 20 days now.  I have a coffee maker, Internet access, a big bed, and a patio table that serves as a kitchen table as well as a desk.  Very versatile!  However, the vast majority of my "things" are in Toronto at my apartment there, BUT Saturday is the big moving day.  Finally all my things, furniture, books, etc. will join Spoon (my cat) and I in Waterloo... everything but my girlfriend K., which is obviously a huge bummer, but she'll join us (not) soon enough, too.

My Mom is joining me on Saturday to coordinate the move, especially on the Waterloo end.  She loves organizing new apartments; arranging furniture, unpacking, etc.  I'm a lucky girl to have her help, and I think it'll actually be fun!

Then my Mom will stay overnight, we'll finish up the work, and then she'll leave Sunday afternoon.  I'm taking Monday off work and will spend those 36 or so hours enjoying my cat, my stuff, my new apartment, and my life in Waterloo.  It'll be nice to feel a little more settled.

Hopefully the next time you hear from me, it'll be from my desk in Waterloo!

Til then!

Spoiler Alert!

Tuesday
Girls -- I love the show "Girls", but I have not been keeping up with it in its current season.  So, last night I took advantage of my minimalist apartment and indulged in some television (on my iPad).  I re-watched (mea culpa) the final two episodes of season two and watched the first ep of season three.  I'll watch the second ep tonight, I hope... maybe more.  Normally I would just download all of the episodes, but I have no personal computer, so... we'll see what I can stream.  I liked the season premiere!  I was a bit sleepy during it, so I may have to re-watch (fight the urge!) before I move on to the next one.

Wednesday
*Edit - I ended up kinda re-watching the first ep of season three during my lunch break yesterday, but just skimmed through it to refresh my - apparently poor - memory.  Then I watched the second ep, but I haven't seen any more.  I need to find a good streaming site.

Opera -- On Monday night, I received a call from the Canadian Opera Company.  They often call their patrons after they know they've seen a show to chat with them, do a little cultivating (I work in the biz, I should know), and - in this case - try to get them to buy tickets to more shows.  Although I didn't want to buy tickets that night (I'm waiting until the $30 under 30 tickets go on sale), I did enjoy talking opera with the woman who called.  Normally I'd give short answers, but I figured it was a great opportunity to test out my growing knowledge of opera.  I spoke with the woman about the specific singers we saw in Cosi (I said I loved Tracy Dahl and when the woman I was speaking with acknowledged that she's Canadian, I said "I know, and she teaches at the University of Manitoba!"), I expressed my opinion on the show (I loved it! ... not the most sophisticated opinion, but it's true), and talked about what I was hoping to see next season (The Barber of Seville, Don Giovanni, and Madama Butterfly).  Anyway, pretty proud!

Laundry -- I had my first "laundry night" in my new building last night.  Great success!  That may sound lame, but going through the process of doing laundry in a new building is always an adventure.  I'm pleased to report that it was an easy and fun adventure instead of one filled with obstacles.  It was fun last night, and all my laundry is now done (yay!!!), but now that the first time is done, it won't be that fun moving forward... just laundry...

Body Pump -- I did my first Waterloo Body Pump class on Monday evening and it was great!  The thing I love about being a member of GoodLife is that it's been so easy for me to move to Waterloo and keep up my gym routine.  And the thing I love about Body Pump is that it's the same everywhere!  I've been doing Pump classes pretty regularly now, but I've never made a point of going on a weekly basis.  I think I'll try to go every Monday moving forward.  I hope I can stick with it!

Alright - that's all for now!  Two days' worth of posting rolled into one.  I love it!

Week 3

I don't even know what to write about today, but I feel like writing...

I'm on Week 3 at the new job and I'm loving every minute of it.  It's very independent work, so I really have to plan and execute my own agenda on a daily basis.  I love that, but it can be a challenge when you're first starting out in a new position.  However, my strategy is to take that to mean a great deal of trust and respect for how I work and the work I do, and I would never abuse that.  If nobody's looking over your shoulder, you have to make an effort to put your work in front of them now and again just to show you're doing it. That's my approach, for what it's worth.

I'm also on Week 3 of living in Waterloo, though in a new capacity: I have my own apartment now!!!  Yes, my girlfriend K. and I got possession of the new place on Saturday and it's better than we remembered!  As I think I've mentioned, it will remain mostly empty until February 22nd when the full move from Toronto takes place, but it's off to a good start with Internet, a bed, and a coffee maker.  What else do you need?!  It was really nice to be able to wake up and go through my pre-work morning routine today without any obstacles.  I may be missing a few material items here and there... and a couch... and a TV... and a 1/4 cup measuring cup... but I'm managing just fine!

All for now!

Currently reading... The Devil Wears Prada

New apartment!

In my first post of 2014, I said: "One of my resolutions is to update Sugar & Gravy more often."  As of today, the last day of January, I have posted twelve times on this blog.  I'm doing pretty well with my resolutions this year.  Yay!

At 4:15 pm EST today, I am picking up the keys to my new apartment!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited, as evidenced by the number of exclamation points (10).  Although my apartment won't be fully set up until late February, it's still a new place where I can hang my hat... or at least my clothes.  I can't wait to set things up... and have my first sleep-in there... and use my dishwasher (a dishwasher!!!)... and have my cat join me!!!  Eeeeeeeee!!!  I cannot wait!

Okay... time to try to relax and work!

Women all behave like that

I have zero interest in being up at 1:50 am, but I can't fall asleep and so I thought a quick blog post might help me get sleepy.

I learned something about living in Waterloo today. Don't make plans in Toronto on a weekday evening. Lesson learned.  Before I got my new job and moved here, I had bought a ticket to see the opera on Wed Jan 29 @ 7:30 pm at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto. Don't get me wrong, it was worth it to see Atom Egoyan's amazing interpretation of Cosi fan tutte but it ran 3 hours and 30 minutes, and then it took me at least 15 minutes to get out of the parking garage after, followed by a the drive back to Waterloo. Ugh. I'm exhausted... so exhausted I can't fall asleep.

The opera really was amazing though. I've actually seen this opera performed three separate times now, so I'm starting to feel pretty familiar with it.  I have fantasies that in my new apartment I'll spend evenings lying on the couch listening to Mozart operas with my cat.  Maybe that'll be the case, or maybe it'll be me on the couch watching Netflix. Who's to say?

Alright, c'mon sleep!

Media + In Between

My life is a little upside-down at the moment - all in good ways - but I'm trying to keep up-to-date on my media.  I don't really follow any shows these days, and those I do, I haven't been keeping up with.  I was also chastized by one of my best friends - as only a best friend can chastize you - for not really knowing Beyonce's new album by now.  So, I'm listening to it in my office as we speak - my third time - and obviously loving it, but I'm still planning on an in-depth listen and viewing as I get more settled in Waterloo.

I have a particularly hard time being in between things.  Right now I'm living temporarily at a best friend's place in Waterloo until I get possession of my new apartment on Saturday.  At that point I'll be living without all my stuff and furniture for about three weeks, allowing for lots of time with my iPad watching Beyonce videos, and doing very little of anything else aside from working + working out.  So, it's decidedly an "interim" time, and it's tough on me, but I'm trying to enjoy the process instead of spending energy waiting for the next thing.  If you embrace them, the in between times can be really wonderful, too.

W5H: Waterloo

Guess what?  I live in Waterloo now.  I have alluded to that a few times already, but I want to give you the skinny, so here goes...

I went to university in Waterloo and lived in the city for 5 years from September 2005 to June 2010.  Then I moved to Port Hope to start a job after graduation, and lived there for two years.  Then I stayed in that job but worked out an amazing deal where I was able to work from home 3 days/week and commute to Port Hope for the other 2.  So I lived in Toronto from July 2012-January 2014.

Then, late last year, an incredible job at my alma mater came up, and so I applied for it.  I had no intention of leaving my last job, but the right opportunity came up, and after 3.5 years of service to the school I was working at before, I felt pretty comfortable moving on to something new.  Lucky for me, I got the job!  So, I spent the 2.5 weeks after the Christmas holidays wrapping up my work at my previous job; writing a transition report for my successor, and coordinating the biggest event that I worked on annually - an alumni shinny (hockey) tournament.  It was probably the craziest and busiest time of my working life to date, but I finished off really strong and the event was a great success!  I finished work at 8:30 pm on Saturday, January 18th and then started my new job 36 hours later... I know, I'm crazy.

So now I'm just wrapping up my first week at my new job in Waterloo!  Right now I'm crashing with my bestie and her fiance - so generous of them! - but starting February 1st I'll have my own place here!  I'm in Toronto on the weekends visiting K. and wrapping things up at our apartment there, which we have until the end of February.  K. will live there for that month, and then on February 22 we'll do the full move of furniture, etc. from that apartment to the new apartment in Waterloo.  I love setting up a new apartment; I'm so excited!!!

Work is off to a great start.  The first week has flown by, which says a lot because sometimes a new job means a few weeks of boredom before you really get into your work.  Not the case here!  They had me set up so I could hit the ground running, which has been amazing.  It'll be a few weeks of quiet research at my desk, but starting in early February I'll be hitting the road and getting the real work done.  I can't wait!

More on life in Waterloo soon, but now you know that I'm here in Waterloo (who/where), that I'm here for a new job (what/why), that I'm here now but will have my place as of Feb 1 and be fully moved in by Feb 22 (when), and how...

Until next time!

Posts to come... Why I like living in Waterloo right now & how I love the "7 Up" documentary series

Fully there in that place

Wow... never underestimate the power of music. 

I'm working alongside my GF today so I have my earphones in while listening to music. I unsuccessfully downloaded Feist's album, "Metals", and so when that failed I started listening to Fever Ray (working my way through my music library alphabetically, apparently). For the record I'm listening to Fever Ray's self-titled album... I don't know if that's their only one. 

The moment I pressed play (the first song that played was "Dry and Dusty"), I was taken back to where I most obsessively listened to that album; where I first listened to it and where I enjoyed it most. I swear I could smell the cold air. It was winter of 09/10. I used to smoke back then, I'm afraid (I quit though!), and I can smell the mix of the cold air and my cigarettes. I remember the coat I would wear. I remember where I was at in my life. I remember the apartment I would return to after a smoking session. I remember what it felt like in that apartment... what my life was like.  I remember the books I would read, the layout of my apartment, the movies I was obsessed with... where I spent most of my time... 

I know it wasn't that long ago, but what I'm trying to say is that the moment the first few notes of this song started to play: I WAS THERE. Fully there, in those moments, in that life, in that place. 

I also remember the other album I listened to, basically in tandem with "Fever Ray": "XX" by The XX. I just started listening to that right now, too, and it's the same feeling. They're similar albums, really, and that's where I was at: calm, introspective, quiet, cold, relaxed, focused... It was a good time. And it's good music. 

Currently reading... Lennon Revealed by Larry Kane 
On deck... High Fidelity by Nicholas Hornby, Quiet by Susan Cain

My 5 Favourite Foods

My friends and I had an impromptu session last week of naming our five favourite foods.


Here are mine:

1. Thai red beef curry (there are so many versions that I love, but a memorable one comes from Thai Viet Restaurant in Waterloo)
2. Guacamole (the best I've ever had [including Mexico City guacs] is from Frida on Eglinton West)
3. Seafood pasta (Linguini di Mari from John's Italian Caffe in Baldwin Village & Spaghetti Positano from Roberto's [Yonge-Lawrence area], for example)
4. Sushi from Niko Niko in Waterloo - sushi on its own is great and I have other preferred places, but nothing beats Niko
5. The last food took some careful thought and deliberation, but I landed on something I make regularly myself: peeli daal.  My peeli daal - or should I say, my friend Waleed's peeli daal, a recipe which he passed on to me - is simple, fresh, delicious, and has become a total comfort food.

Bon appetit!!!

Discovering T.O. #4

The 4th "Discovering T.O." post (preceded by this one and that one... oh, and that one, too) comes in perfect time as it can be paired with an exciting announcement:

I'M MOVING BACK TO TORONTO!!!
WOO HOO!!!!!!!

Where am I moving from?  Well, I've been living in the wee town of Port Hope, Ontario for the past (nearly) two years.  I moved here for work and it's been quite the learning experience -- I've definitely enjoyed elements of it, but the small town life is decidedly not for me... at least not long-term... but more on that in another post.

What do I mean I'm moving back?  Good question, because I haven't been living in Toronto for the entire time I've been keeping this blog.  I haven't actually lived in Toronto for nearly 7 years now.  Wow... time flies!  I lived in Waterloo for 5 years, and now Port Hope for 2.  I've spent tonnes of time in Toronto in between -- summer of '06, holidays, and every weekend since I moved to PH -- but I haven't really lived there.  As of July 1st, I'll be living there.  For real.

Beyond just living there, it'll be my first time living in Toronto on my own.  Any time I've lived in TO up until now it's been with my parents.  This will be Sugar & Gravy's first place of her own in Toronto.  That's about a million times better.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted during the moving process, but moving on...

Discovering T.O. #4

I get the sense that even if I live in Toronto for the rest of my life, there will always be places to discover.  My dad has lived in Toronto for almost his whole life, and my Mom for over 30 years, and they still find new places, so I'm optimistic.

Not this past weekend but the one before, I found two new spots I would recommend:

(1) Bar Volo -- as you likely know already, I'm an avid reader of Toronto Life.  In this wee town I live in, it's my little slice of Toronto, and it helps guide me in making my weekend plans.  They recently put out their annual "Where to Eat Now" issue, which includes a Restaurant Guide.  I love this guide.  I kept my 2011 edition at my office year-round and would mark it up with a highlighter (for the ones I'd been to) and mark with pencil the ones I wanted to go to.  

One of the hot spots according to the 2012 edition is Bar Volo, which I'd read about on websites and in other mags, so I figured it was worth checking out.  I went there for a few beers with a new friend and absolutely loved it.  It's obvious that beer and other alcoholic beverages is "their thing" because the options are endless.  It had a good vibe, relaxed atmosphere, and I really enjoyed myself.  Check it out -- on Yonge, between Bloor & Wellesley.

(2) The Power Plant -- This is another Toronto Life-inspired visit.  Way back when (November or December, I think), I saw an item in the TL events pages for an exhibition called: Coming After.  You can click the link to read more about it, but in short it focusing on artists who grew up in the shadow of the mid-1980s to early 90s' queer experience.  Artist Sharon Hayes puts it best: "What marks me generationally is that ... it wasn't my friends who were dying, it was the people I was just discovering, people I was just beginning to model myself after, people I longed to become."

The exhibition sounded great to me, so I snapped a photo of the ad and forgot about it.  

Later I was flipping through photos on my iPhone and found the ad.  I realized then that the exhibition was ending in about a week's time, so I asked a friend to join me, and on Saturday, March 3rd (the second-last day of the exhibition), we headed to The Power Plant (contemporary gallery) on the harbourfront to see what it was all about.  It was a really great exhibition; diverse media, powerful imagery, and some incredible video installations.  My best way to describe it is that I had never seen anything like it before.  I was very engaged, and would very much recommend it... if it wasn't already over.

Posts to come -- my experience living in a small town & two films I saw recently that I think are important.

Niko Niko

I've talked about restaurants in New York and Toronto, but I have yet to post about a resto in my beloved Kitchener-Waterloo.  And it does have restaurants to boast about - the new(ish) Oliver & Bonacini's at Conestoga Mall (try the lamb burger!!!), Wildcraft, Ben Thanh..... but none is worth boasting about more than:

NIKO NIKO!!!

Niko Niko is a cozy, completely unpretentious Japanese restaurant in downtown Kitchener, close to the intersection of King & Queen.  Unfortunately (but not unsurprisingly) it doesn't have a website, but you can take my word for it: it's the best sushi I've ever eaten in my life!!!  I've been to a lot of Japanese restaurants, and plan on going to one in Japan at some point in my life, but what I'm saying is that I've eaten a lot of sushi in my day.  I love sushi, but Niko Niko has taken my standards to a whole new level.  It's not just sushi; it's art.  Each different kind of roll is creative and unique and isn't just some side dish to your bento box.  It is the dish.  Any roll comes with miso soup and salad.  The miso is spot on, and the salad is your typical greens and tomatoes, but their wasabi-infused dressing makes it anything but typical.  I've sampled a number of the rolls, but what I always end up eating is the signature Niko Niko roll, and I usually share a Love Love roll with my bestie, and classic Niko Niko partner, Monica.  She's the one who introduced me to the resto and it almost feels wrong going without her.  I barely ever have.

In fact, I'd estimate that I've spent over $1,000 at Niko Niko over the years..... I wish I was kidding.

So what makes me post about Niko now?  Well, a fire about 6 or so months ago occurred at a store or restaurant near Niko Niko and as a result my beloved resto closed down for nearly 5 months.  Although I don't live in KW anymore, I've been in the city at least 3 times over those 5 months and every time I hope that it's open again... but it never is.

Until this past weekend.  When Monica told me the news, I almost started to cry.  We headed there as soon as we could and were met almost by cheers from the staff.  We learned from them that we weren't the only devastated ones; apparently there's a whole Niko Niko cult.  I'm not surprised to learn that.  As a result of the 5 months of a closed-down Niko, they upgraded their menu, added a few new items (but didn't take any away - thank God!), spruced up the bathrooms, and got a well-deserved face lift.  The place looks great, and I'm frankly thrilled to have my fave resto back!  

So do yourself a favour and check Niko Niko out whenever you're in KW.  You won't regret it.

Next post - I'll weigh in on the last episode ever of "Entourage".

Holiday... Celebrate!!!

Just finished watching the first ep of season 8 (the final season) of "Entourage". Seeing a new episode of the show was a total delight after nearly a year of drought, but I'm not sure I'd say that the episode was a total EXPLOSION into the new - and last - season. However, it had some great moments, and it seemed to set up the next - and last - 7 episodes for some interesting story lines. The first ep of season 7 was also not a total hit, but the rest of the season was great, and I feel optimistic about season 8 as well. I can't wait for next Sunday - ahhhh!!!

The reason I didn't watch the episode until today - beyond the fact that I don't have HBO, which is sort of stupid - is that I was in Muskoka at a cottage my parents rented for a few weeks. I was there for 3 nights with my girlfriend, sister, and my sister's BF, and it was such a great time. It was the kick-off to a 10-day holiday from work that I'm currently on, and it started things off perfectly. I spent the 4 days sleeping, eating delicious cottage-y meals (read: lots of burgers), reading (more on that in a sec), swimming, went for a kayak, a few short boat rides, lying in the sun, and playing a really fun card game (a sort of re-working of my fave - "war") that the GF taught me (I believe the end tally was 20-16 for the GF).

So reading... I don't think I've posted about the reading challenge for a while. That's because after I hit the half-way point I fell into a bit of a slump. I tried a few books, fiction and non-fiction, but couldn't get into anything. One day I was chatting with my boss and asked him if he was much of a reader. Turns out he is and we have similar taste in books (one of his favourite authors is John Irving, so I knew we were onto something). I asked him if he had any recommendations and he suggested No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod. If you didn't know already, my goal is to try not to buy any new books and instead get through the ones on my bookshelf that I haven't read (which is about 60%... more like a bookstore than a personal library). It just so happens that I already own No Great Mischief so I pulled it off the shelf and started to read it. I finished it this morning before I left the cottage and absolutely loved it!!! A great read for Canadians with a Scottish family history... especially those who are still very connected to that history. I'd say I both am and am not... the book definitely makes me want to reconnect more.

Anyway, as I said, I'm off to a great start on this holiday. Toronto for the next few days, then a secret adventure (more on that later this week), a trip to Waterloo for a wedding, and then some more chill time in TO before back to PH on the holiday Monday. It will be glorious... now for some serious chillage in front of the TV.

Ode to Waterloo

I drove to Waterloo for the first time this Saturday. It wasn't my first time in Waterloo, and it wasn't my first time being in a car en route to Waterloo, but it was my first time driving to Waterloo.

I felt like muscle memory was leading me there, as if every turn was anticipated ahead of time and there was no thought involved. I've gone from Toronto to Waterloo so many times that I knew the drive like the back of my hand, even though I'd never been the one behind the wheel.

It was surreal. It was like an experience I've never had before. Like coming back as an adult to a place I'd grown up as a kid. But I wasn't a child in Waterloo. I lived there from 18-23, decidedly not a child, but I did grow up there, and the memories flooded back like it had been years since I'd been there, even though I was there in March.

I guess a lot of it had to do with the fact that I was driving. As any even casual readers of this blog probably know by now, driving was a big obstacle for me, and I guess now that I've done it I feel like a totally new person in some ways... more in control of my own life, more independent, more grown-up... and there were many times while living in Waterloo where I felt none of those things... in fact, I felt the opposite. I felt out of control, helpless, hopeless, and totally incapable of real, true independence. That sounds totally dramatic, but I think many people that age (18-23), and maybe especially students, feel that way... like their life isn't theirs, or as if independence will never come... I'm not sure. I only know what I've felt and now feel.

As I drove down University Avenue I just smiled, looking at all the places along the way that had a story/memory attached to them from the 5 glorious years I spent in the city. It was so great to be there. I miss it a lot!!!

Stirring the Pot

An incident occurred at a Waterloo restaurant/cafe/bar that has been considered (perhaps rightly so... it's hard to say since I wasn't there) homophobic. Students, activists, friends, and people in general have responded strongly, and there has been a lot of media attention as well.

Wilfrid Laurier University's Student Newspaper: The Cord

Waterloo Region Paper: The Record

Toronto Queer Paper: Xtra

Plus - The Facebook Group

What do you think?

Aok-3

Guess what?

I'm seeing effing Steve Aoki again!!!

3 times in 1 year, baby! I am soooo pumped! I love that he comes to KW. Like, Toronto I'd understand, but KW? Either this city is getting cooler or Aoki is the coolest!

I think it's the latter!

BRAP!

G.R.A.V.Y.

Fave Joints Right Now
I'm in the House feat. [[[Zuper Blahq]]] - Steve Aoki
Little Secrets - Passion Pit
Jerk It - Thunderheist

Saw MSTRKRFT Wednesday night. They were sick, but it was the whole experience that made the night so fun! Obviously MSTRKRFT were AWESOME, but it was more about being with amazing people! That being said, I flipped when they played their "D.A.N.C.E." remix. I love that track!

In looking for a video with the "D.A.N.C.E." remix, I found out that this song is dedicated to Michael Jackson. I effing love Justice.

Then I found THIS! D.A.N.C.E. and its many reincarnations are my JAMS today!

One more thing: Just found out that a store in Waterloo, Ontario called Unit 5 carries Dim Mak apparel. That's INSANE! Only two cities in Ontario have stores that carry Dim Mak stuff. Toronto (my hometown) and Waterloo (where I live right now). I LOVE my cities!