Discovering TO #1 + RC3

As I wait for my coffee to finish steeping in my FP, I will write...

I just had a FANTASTIC weekend!! As you may know, I am from Toronto, but I currently reside in a small town about an hour east of Toronto. I love my job so it's completely worth living in the town, but I get a bit stir crazy sometimes, and as such, I spend most weekends in Toronto.

Despite being from Toronto, and spending most weekends here, I really haven't discovered much of the city. Even in a place with so much to do, you still tend to stick to your tried, tested, and true neighbourhoods - go to the stores there, the restaurants there, the cafes there, etc. However, I really want to take advantage of this great city, so I've decided to start to try branching out, and what's a good way to do that? Find a resto you want to go to and let that be the excuse to explore a new area. Bam!

So this weekend I discovered new areas on two ends of Queen Street. On Saturday night I rode the streetcar East to Leslieville and ate at an amazing restaurant called Queen Margherita Pizza. My girlfriend orders the Margherita Pizza at any place that serves it, as she calls it the metric for a great restaurant. If their MP is good, then the resto is good. So - when I found out there was a restaurant with the pizza in the name? I thought, we've gotta try this! Plus - it has a rave review in the Toronto Life 2011 Restaurant Guide... not a bad reason to go! It was delicious. She obv ordered the MP, I ordered a pizza called just the Vegetarian Pizza, and both were amazing!! We also started off with a re-imagined bruschetta which was amazing, and finished the night with their Tiramisu which was the best I've ever had - light and yummy! We didn't walk around Leslieville enough, but it seems like a great area with some eclectic shops and a very relaxed vibe.

On Sunday morning I rode the streetcar West on Queen to Roncesvalles, and had brunch with my bestie Rachel at Easy Restaurant. It was also highly recommended by Toronto Life and www.blogto.com, so I wanted to give it a try. My friend was a "bit late", but I was in no rush so I relaxed with a cup of coffee and a book. The serving staff were fantastic - just kept refilling my cup but never pressured me to order or asked me when my friend was coming; they just left me alone... much appreciated. When Rachel arrived, we ordered - she got the vegetarian toscada, and I got the house specialty: Huevos Divorciados. They were delicious! Mexican-inspired breakfast food... no complaints. Unfortunately I didn't walk around Ronci that much either, but I love the vibe there, too. Once again - lots of neat shops, some hipsters walking and biking around, and it didn't hurt that it was a gorgeous day... so was Saturday. Man, good weather really makes walking around a total pleasure!! Anyway, needless to say, it was a great weekend!!

And that's not all... I discovered two areas of Toronto AND finished two books. I hate getting into a reading funk, but the fun of getting out is that if you have 5 books half-finished, suddenly you feel like you're breezing through.

1. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
2. The Girls by Lori Lansens
3. Live from New York by Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
5. The Divinity Gene by Matthew J. Trafford

HP7 - the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series - was awesome!! I laughed, I cried, and I enjoyed every minute of it... especially the last 100 pages or so - I felt as though I could not stop. It really was a fantastic story, and I'm already looking forward to re-reading it sometime in the not-so-near future. The HP series can't be double-counted in the reading challenge... that just wouldn't be fair. Anyway, so I'm done the series! I can't wait for the movie, now knowing what happens... it's going to be quite the show!

Secondly, I wrapped up reading The Divinity Gene by Matthew J. Trafford - who I know personally, but haven't seen in a while. Man oh man can that man write... wow!! I think I can safely say that aside from Margaret Atwood, that is the most inventive, imaginative writing I have ever witnessed. The stories... they were so out of this world that I couldn't believe they were conceived by the human mind... but that's why I love fiction! I also love reading a book of short stories for a change. For one thing, you don't feel as guilty setting it aside for a little while, and for another, it's so nice to have so much variety in one book. I highly recommend the book and bought a copy for a friend this weekend to support Matthew, as he deserves it!

That's all for now!

Also - 4 sleeps until NYC!!!!!

Try to relieve some pressure.

Try NOT to dance... I dare you...

Even if it's chair dancing where you're just flexing/un-flexing your bum.

NYC Adventure #2

I'm exhausted. I wouldn't have even known I was exhausted except for the fact that I stopped working for a second to stare out the window and have a sip of coffee and I just totally zoned out. Does that ever happen to you? The worst part is when you're trying to zone back in and your eyes get all fuzzy and out of focus..... now that I'm saying this out loud, I really hope I'm not the only one who this happens to..... I don't want to find out that these things are symptoms of something.....

Moving on.....
Actually I'm not really sure what the point of this post was, so I'm not sure yet what I'm moving on to.....

Oooohhh guess what?! I'm going to NYC in less than 2 weeks - May 13th to be exact!! I can't wait. It's been a little over a year since I was last there, but this time will be different:

1. I'm flying Porter vs. taking a Megabus. Why? Well because I'm only there for the weekend so I don't have the time to take a 10-hour bus. And, because I have an income now and can afford to take a plane!
2. I'll be staying in Brooklyn vs. White Plains, NY. My friend B. who I'm staying with lives in Brooklyn now as he graduated from SUNY Purchase.
3. In addition to my travel buddy & BFF R., I'm also bringing my girlfriend along. She's no stranger to NYC, but it's our first time travelling together, so that's fun!
4. We're going in May this year vs. February. I hope the weather is nice and then we don't get caught in a blizzard on the Brooklyn Bridge again..... I'm sure we won't.
   

Oh... and did I mention that I'm going to the Met to see an opera? Did I mention I have amazing seats? Did I mention my bestie B. is dancing in it? I don't think I did... I'm super psyched about it.

Last year during my visit (Feb/2010) I made a list of 10 things I was learning while in NYC. I wonder what new things I might learn during my visit this year. I'll be sure to list them.

I'm hoping to take in some more sites this time. Last time we did a lot of walking, which I hope to do again, too, but I have no problem going to some tourist sites with fees attached this time around. Maybe a museum? I'm also really looking forward to eating a few really delish meals, maybe going out to dance, and just generally enjoying what the city has to offer.

What do you recommend I do in NYC???

Getting things done week

This is a getting things done week. Now that I've entered the working world, every week is a getting things done week, really, but this is a work-related and personal getting things done week. For example, right now I'm updating my iPhone w/ new tunes via the Hype Machine and updating my blog, which I've been meaning to do for ages... with a substantial post.

So what have I been getting done? Well... work has been incredibly busy, which is overwhelming, but also great! What I love about my job is that there's so much variety - I never expected as a fundraiser to double as a production assistant with a film crew!! That'll be fun. Work is so busy that I brought work home with me today. It's not a necessary part of my job, and it's not unusual to be replying to/sending emails after the work day is over, but today was different - I brought home a stack of work to get through and just finished getting through it. What was great was that it wasn't overwhelming, but really satisfying! I was able to organize myself outside of the work day, so that when I start my day in the office tomorrow, I won't have to waste time figuring out what I need to do, but I'll be able to do it! I also won't have to start the day sending emails - but instead will hopefully have the replies by the time I start working. Definite efficiency... I can see why my Dad has done it for all these years. Anyway - I enjoyed the experience of taking my work home. (Speaking of being efficient with emails [or not!] - check out this post on my other blog Life After WLU).

What else have I been up to?

Well here's a big advancement: remember the driving challenge? Well I took 5 lessons with my instructor, and have gone out to practice with my Dad about 3-4 times, and I'm feeling pretty confident with my driving. I need a little more practice, but I think I'm ready.

Remember my goals?

1. Get my G1 by December 31, 2010.
2. a) Register for driving lessons by February 28, 2011.
   b) Book my road test by May 31, 2011.
   c) Get my G2 by August 31, 2011.
3. Get a car by December 31, 2011.

Notice that a 3rd goal has been (added and then) struck out - 2b) book my road test! Yes that's right! I have booked the road test to get my G2. It is set for June 1, 2011. Just over a month away and I could will be a driver. I was a little hesitant to announce this, especially the exact date, but I find that "being accountable to others" makes a goal more likely to be achieved. So hold me to it, dear readers, and I won't fail!!! As always, I'll keep you posted.

Sidenote: my computer just randomly turned off. I'm hoping it doesn't do that again, but if it does - God bless Blogger for auto-saving my post. Saved me ultimate heartache.

Moving on...

I'm also continuing on in the reading challenge. Unfortunately it's slow and steady (emphasis on slow), but it's still in progress. I'm reading HP7 and totally loving it!!! Can't wait to finish it before the 2nd installment of the movie. Next on my reading list is finishing my friend Matthew Trafford's book The Divinity Gene. It's amazing, and the perfect book to take pause with as it's a collection of short stories. I'm about half-way through, so after HP7 I'm all over it!

Anyway, I think that's it for now. I'm paranoid that my comp will shut down again, so I bid you adieu!

rc-3: Let's get back in the groove.

rc-3:

1. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
2. The Girls by Lori Lansens
3. Live from New York by Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller

3 months into the year and have read 3/20 books. Not too impressive, to be real. I really want to step up my game, and what has helped in the past is reading Harry Potter. Something about HP really helps the RC, and conveniently I still haven't yet read the 7th book. Guess what I started reading yesterday? HP7. Let's hope Harry will get me on a roll again.

Millennials & the Workplace

I had a conversation last night that sort of solidified a lot of things I’ve been thinking about over the past 8+ months and so I decided it was finally time to write about it.

The conversation I had was with my sister who works in Human Resources and a gentleman we met who is a CA and who has his own company. We were talking about generational differences among employees at a company/organization and what sort of problems come about as a result, but more importantly what positive changes occur as a result.

This man was in his 50s, and he’s been working for many years in a field in which 60+ hour work weeks are more than encouraged, they’re the norm. More than that, you’ll be more successful if you’re in the office for 12+ hours a day (and that doesn’t include the time you spend working via Blackberry or home office). This is the way you succeed… by stretching yourself as thin as possible and sleeping as little as you need to survive.

This man has a pretty small company from what it sounds like (in terms of number of employees), and one of his newer staff members is a 27 year old woman. What I loved about this man (we’ll call him Tony) is that he spoke so highly of his 27 year old staff member, and what he said was that he’s learning as much (if not more) from her as she could be learning from him. He said she’s aggressive and smart and stubborn, all in positive ways, and that she’s a great worker. Does she work 60+ hour weeks though? No. She works 9-5 every day… no more than that. What did he say about her productivity? She gets twice as much done as other employees of the company who work 1.5 times longer than her. She is likely the most efficient member of the company, and yet she doesn’t practice the time-honoured tradition of “burning the midnight oil”.

My sister, who as I said works in HR, lent credence to what Tony has observed, as this is what she works with a lot in her organization. In her workplace (and many others), there is a mixture of generations working in the same place. People as young as 22-24 (like me!) might be working in the same place as people in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and even 60s. Their experience and lifestyles vary, and so do their expectations of their workplaces. As an HR person, it’s my sister’s responsibility to figure out how to make employees’ experience with the organization work with whatever expectations/needs they might have. You can’t just make it the requirement across the board that employees put in extra hours because that’s what it takes to succeed, because for the "millennials"/"echo boomers"/"generation Y", even 40 hours seems like too much… at least in terms of what your superiors expect you to do in 1 week. You can probably get it done in 20 hours.

And that brings me to another point. We get a bad rep (us millennials) for being tech-obsessed, having short attention spans, not being able to use language as well, etc., etc. However true some of these things may be, there are also extremely positive aspects of us as a result of the time we’ve grown up in. I think we know better, faster ways to do a lot of things. I think we realize how many resources we have access to when we have an Internet connection. I think we can do a lot “on the go”. The examples are endless… As with the 27 year-old CA, I too feel sometimes that I’m twiddling my thumbs at work because a project took me about half the time my superiors assumed it would. I’m not alone. That said, it doesn’t mean that 20-hour work weeks should become the norm, because now we have so much time to get so much more done. Efficiency, that’s what it is.

Another difference in the work place of the millennials is that individuals graduate from post-secondary education with a different concept of what their career will look like. I think my Mom and Dad’s generation looked to the future and envisioned themselves in a 40-year career, with no more than 2 positions. Longevity was looked upon as the ideal. Land yourself with a great position at a great company and stick with it for as long as you can. Now I don’t know about you, but that’s not how I see my career, and that’s not what I want my career to be like. Maybe it has something to do with attention spans, I don’t know, but I look forward to a career of moving around quite a bit… I want to stay at every job for at least 2 years, but then I want to move on to something else, and then something else, and then maybe when I get to the top of the ladder I’m looking to climb, then I’ll settle myself into something longer-term. But before I’m the boss? I’m moving around as much as I can. That’s the career I want for myself.

The last point I wanted to discuss was Internet use at work. Toronto Life did a good issue with some articles discussing Internet monitoring at companies and banning certain sites, etc., etc. They discussed some of the top companies in the world and how many of those companies actually encourage you to spend up to 20% of your work day doing personal stuff. There was lots of discussion about the benefits of this “personal time” and how it leads to much happier and more efficient use of the other 80% of your day. There was also examples like, “Taking 10 minutes to do online banking is better than taking 30 minutes to actually go to the bank during your workday”. It’s true – it’s all about efficiency. How can I most efficiently use my time? Also, how positive is my attitude towards my work? If it’s more positive when I can take a few minutes here and there to do something for me, then isn’t that better in the long run? I believe wholeheartedly that it is.

So there you go… some food for thought about different generations and the workplace. I love living in this time period… wouldn’t trade it for anything!

Gilda...

While reading Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, I have realized something:

I am falling in love with Gilda Radner.