Catch Me If You Can, or, A Rather Lengthy Post About the Last Six Months

WOW, sorry I have been a terrible Blog-ess and have not updated for a few...months?? crap. So much has happened in the past few months, and I think I got caught up in the crazy storm that was spring, (and now summer) So let's recap...

February: My dear friend Rebecca from Jacob's Pillow decides to move to Toronto in the warm, inviting month of February. There is lots of snow and excitement ahead. I discover wearing a tux at the theater everyday is lame compared to the t-shirt and jeans that was our old uniform, and learn every word to the songs from The Secret Garden Musical. Rebecca joins me as an usher at the theatre and we run around with Winter's on the Wing" stuck in our heads 24/7 in our flattering penguin suits.

Febrawrrary

March: I tell my landlord I am moving out March 31, and Rebecca and I begin the search for a new pad. Our wish list includes: laundry on site, running water, cool/funky/artsy 'hood, apartment with character, good light, and, a pool. My search for a design job proves fruitful and I land a job with a tiny design firm doing alcohol promotions and laying out captive insurance(?) magazines. Mid-March we are heading towards homeless and I start having a slight panic attack. Looking out on the homeless horizon, I have also started working my new job full-time during the day, whilst finishing Secret Garden at my other full-time job at night. Add a couple of freelance projects plus packing an entire apartment onto that and I felt free and happy as a bird. Yep. Anywho, we did manage to find the perfect apartment, and, as far as the wish list goes, we got the running water, laundry on site, an awesome neighborhood, a cool house, and a free indoor pool 1 block away. Add onto that some great neighbors below and our own bathrooms. Stellar. However, it is still winter, and cold. I begin to wonder where spring is, though I figure maybe up here in tha north spring comes in April...

Moving in!

Our awesome neighbors!

April: Nope, it's still winter. Sometime mid-month it snows. My body is very confused and I have never longed for warmer temperatures so much in my life. We move into the new place with the great* help of some Russian idiots. Rebecca does most of the work in return for a delicious* cup of Tim Horton's Coffee. In the end our stuff gets transported and as far as I can tell nothing was stolen?

*denotes sarcasm

Also mid-month we begin working Calendar Girls at the theatre. Still in tuxes. A few shows in we all long for The Secret Garden, as at least in that play there was music and authentic Yorkshire accents and a cast that didn't whine every time someone opened a door (not joking). We realize it's going to be a looong run. Luckily at this point I am down to part-time at the theatre, so I only had to watch the show 24 times instead of 48. A week after we move in, we are visited by two friends from the Pillow and Toronto hosts their Spring Thaw, a 3-day contra dance event with, well, lots of contra dancing!

Isabelle and Rebecca enjoying Kensington Market on a sunny Saturday

Toronto Spring Thaw Contra!

A few weeks later Rebecca and I throw a housewarming/birthday party to christen the house and celebrate my making it to 23. Being the awesomely cool people we are, we decided to host a theme party, and the chosen theme for this party was...Dead Celebrities! Rebecca (classy as always) was transformed as Liz Taylor, while I (not quite so class-ily) dressed up as Gary Coleman. Other notable guests included Jesus, Tupac, Aaliyah, and Lindsay Lohan's career. Fun times were had by all.

self-explanatory

May: Finally, finally, it begins to warm up - as in, it has stopped snowing. I knew the Canadian winter would be cold, but I thought people were exaggerating when they said winter is 6 months...apparently they weren't. We settle into our new place and I love exploring my neighborhood. We also discover the man who lives next door that our landlord described as "odd" is actually "legit bonkers" (albeit a pretty nice guy). He entertains us by screaming his cats names, screaming at squirrels, screaming at other neighbors, and creating interesting displays of objects in the driveway...

Crazy neighbor sock display?

Crazy neighbor corners me one night and tries to convince me to buy a bike off of him for $20. This wasn't a complete bike at the time, just the frame and some random tires (no, I'm not sure where he gets all the bike parts - but I wasn't going to ask questions...). I was wary at first, but after some nagging I  visit the shed where he hoards bike parts and car parts and probably dead bodies, I figure he must have enough stuff in there to actually build this bike. I give in and also decide that $20 isn't a huge risk if he doesn't come through, and he probably really needs this $20 to feed his cats: CLEOPATRAAA, PACKAAAGE, & PEAANUT BUTTERRR.

A few weeks go by and $20 more later, I have a complete, working bike! With a basket! And a bell! And reflectors! I am stoked. With a little push from the roomie who is already hooked on biking, I take to the streets of Toronto on my little lavender 80s-tastic "Bicycle Formerly Known as Prince." I start slowly, going to the store and back, then to the theatre and back, and finally the 5 miles across Queen Street to my other job. I surprise myself and get totally hooked on biking as well.

Then, after six long weeks, Calendar Girls ends much to the staff's relief and we get a break from carting walkers all over the place and humoring old people.

June:  Rebecca and I escape for a weekend trip to Montreal to see her beau in his natural environment and for me to take my first tour of the city. After a lovely weekend wandering around a cemetery and eating delicious poutine ("poo-tin" if you insist on being French about it), I fly from Montreal to good ol' Myrtle Beach for a week away with the parents and my good friend Sarah. The weather is perfect and we eat lots of ice cream and the smoked meat I was able to smuggle over from Montreal (sooo goood). After relaxing at the beach I was able to spend a couple of days in Greenville, catching up with my (now pregnant!!) sisters and some good old friends. Though I love Toronto it was really hard to see the people I love so briefly before returning to the hustle and bustle that is real life...

Looking over Montreal from Mont Royal

Sarah ma and I on da beach

When I got back to TO I worked at the theatre for a few days, for a quick run of a comedy troupe called Women Fully Clothed. It was a group of 4 women, one from old SNL, one from Whose Line Is It Anyway, and a couple other grads of Second City. I really liked their sketches and thoroughly enjoyed the show - if you have a chance to see them you should! However, the best part of the show was definitely seeing Martin Short and Eugene Levy! They must have been friends of the cast, and came to the show one night. Luckily I had to monitor the lounge where they met with the cast after the show and got to hang around creepily while they schmoozed. Good times.

Whew...and now, onto July...

July started out with a bang, and so far the rest of the month has flown by in a sea of my travel-ing and hosting travel-ers.

For the first weekend in July, I was determined to go to Ottawa for my first Canada Day experience and luckily everything came together to go on July 1st. I really wanted to get the full Canadian-patriotism-experience (and catch sight of the Prince and Princess, after all...).

I arrived Thursday night and woke up early on Friday the 1st to figure out what was going on in downtown Ottawa. I  really had no idea as to where to go or what to do or how the Duke and Duchess would make their way downtown, but armed with a bagel from the famed Kettlemen's bagels and the best iced coffee I have ever had in my life, I followed the sea of red and white until I reached Parliament Hill. It was about 10am at this point, and I moseyed along until I found a stage where I assumed the Noon Show would take place. The crowd to be thinner than I expected, and while I couldn't see the stage behind the people already gathered, I figured I should at least find a screen so I could watch the festivities that way. When I arrived a band was marching around some open grass in front of the Parliament buildings, and I think there was a changing of the guard somewhere in there...

...Anywho soon after I arrived the music stopped and people began folding up their chairs and started pushing against the barrier, and I asked around to see what was going on. Apparently they were getting ready for a mad dash to the main stage. This was very exciting news (though I may have been slightly scared that I would get trampled if people didn't look down to see the little person running in front of them...).

Now, I'm not sure why people wanted to arrive before 7am to stake out the perfect spot in front of the stage, because in the end it was all about how fast you can run/if you are carting kids with you/how much stuff you have/etc. Luckily for me I was by myself with a little bag on my shoulder, so I sprinted for the stage and was able to land a spot right up front with a perfect view (and a good view of the VIP seats on the stage where Kate and William and Stephen Harper and the like would be sitting to watch the show :) :)

Duke and Duchess

Sooeeeh I did watch the show that featured a large variety of Canadian artists, from folk dancers to circus people to a quartet to French rappers etc etc...buuut I probably did spend 90% of the time staring at the Duke and Duchess. As a bonus Prince William gave a speech!

Speech!

After the show I met up with a coworker who is from Ottawa, and tagged along with her to a BBQ outside the city. On the way we grabbed "Beaver Tails", a traditional Ottawa-ian food that is kind of like a funnel cake shaped into a flat oval. I tried the "Killaoe Sunrise" Beaver Tail, basically fried dough covered in cinnamon/sugar/lemon/deliciousness. Highly recommend.

mmm Beaver Tail!

The rest of the afternoon flew by at the BBQ, chatting, drinking, and playing Rock Band until it was time to head back downtown to watch fireworks. The fireworks were lovely and served as a perfect ending to a perfect day. Saturday I ventured downtown again in attempt to see the city sans 500,000 extra people. I wandered around Parliament Hill again where they were striking the Canada Day stages, so the area was still covered with trucks and stage equipment and the like. Later I visited National Gallery of Canada and the Byward Market before catching a bus back to Toronto.

downtown Ottawa - soo many people

Light and smoke in the sky...

In the days that followed I prepped for my parents' arrival the next weekend. They actually came to visit me! Tre exciting. Technically this was not their first trip to Toronto, but after 20+ years they were basically seeing the city again for the first time. They stayed for 3 short days in which we managed to walk the entire city, wine, dine, and a find a giant inflatable beaver.

Beaver Fever

Ma and pa enjoying gelato in the Distillery District

Dad & I in Dundas Square

It was a bit surreal to have them visit, as Toronto seems so far removed from anything really familiar to me. It seems really far away and separate from "home", so it was strange to have the two "worlds" meet if you will. The weekend flew by and I had to say bye to my parents, who I probably won't see again until Chrima. However I didn't have long to be sad, as my sister and her entire team of in-laws (mother, father and two brothers) arrived 4 days later for their first trip to Toronto. Again, it was strange to have bits of South Carolina in Toronto, but it was really good to spend time with my sister and her husband and I think they enjoyed visiting the city. I had a blast with them at the Blue Jays game as they played the Yankees. Highlights of the game included drinking beer, eating hot dogs and seeing Derek Jeter (because I've actually heard of him). Other highlights included seeing three separate people jump the barriers to run across the field and the Jays winning 7-1 (I think?).

Ab, John & I after the Jays vs. Yankees game 

Out on Lake Ontario

Sooo, if you're still with me - you WIN! You have defeated Voldemort, become the Lord of the Rings, etc (yes reading my blog is just as epic - what are you talking about?) It only took me like, two weeks to write this, anyway....

So there you have it, and hopefully I will keep you updated on all the exciting* news to come more regularly

Love,

ME

*levels of exciting may vary

Winter's on the Wing

Hi kids,

Sorry to leave you hanging for a while, but I have returned to Toronto and the blogosphere after a visit home with the family in South Carolina. My dear sister tied the knot last weekend, and I went home to join in on the festivities. Though the cold and snow had set in before I left, I must say returning from 60-degree, sunny South Carolina to the great white north is a bit of shock, and suddenly the cold hits me harder now than I remember. I also quite enjoyed overloading on bad cable TV, but I'm excited to get back into my routine and make use of my brain cells again...

I spent the week before the wedding helping my sister get all of her details into place, which turned out to be a lot of work. We visited the mall, Panera bread and the craft store more times in one week than I have in my life. Luckily I was well compensated with food and the title of Maid of Honor, with my sister  the Matron of Honor. All in all was beautiful and oh-so-much fun. I As always I enjoyed reconnecting with the extended family. I love Toronto but I hate leaving everyone.

My first day back was all business: laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, and preparing for the arrival of my dear friend Rebecca, whom I met working at Jacob's Pillow. She just moved to Toronto and I foresee many fun times ahead. Also, I got a library card! I'm feeling more Canadian everyday. This is tre exciting.

Anywho, I start work again the theatre Tuesday, where I will don a tuxedo every night and watch The Secret Garden 48 times...let me tell you how excited I am about that. My schedule now will be six weeks working shows and four weeks off between, so I am on the hunt for another job as I strive to make ends meet and to be more productive throughout the day. Even this involves getting up before the ungodly hour of noon.

Lots of exciting things happening in 2011, eh? I hope you'll continue to follow me along ;)

Oh the Musical it Never Ends...or...wait.

It went on and on and on and on...until January 2nd. Sadly (for me, anyway, not for others) Rock of Ages closed on Sunday night. I watched it a total of 64 times, which is nothing compared to my coworkers who have watched it since April for a total of 256 times. Whew. I am sad though, as it is a fun, energetic show with good music for those who have to watch it over and over and over and over and over....

So now I am laid off until the beginning of February when the next show comes in, which will be The Secret Garden (the musical version). Blah. boring. Dry. Not that I won't enjoy it at all, I'm just not looking forward to watching that one over and over. It's only for 6 weeks, but stiiiilll. wah. Hmm, I guess I have to start coming up with other titles for my blog posts? We shall see.

So Sunday night after the last show we had a little staff/cast gathering afterwards with free beer and wine and it was quite lovely. The cast is (for the most part) a really nice group of people and I'm sad I wasn't around to get to know them more.

Sorry I haven't been posting very much, it has been crazy here cramming shows in between holidays, the holidays, and getting sick, and loads of other fun activities...all on which I shall update you...now.

So Christmas and Hanukah and the winter solstice and New Year's have all passed so I guess the "holiday season" is officially over. Also very sad. My first holiday season away from home was...err...not quite what I expected. Christmas Eve was just lovely, as two friends from work invited me over for a home cooked meal after I went to see the National Ballet Canada's version of the Nutcracker. (Side note: last year was the first time I had ever seen the Nutcracker. I went to the little York County Ballet performance, partially because they conveniently performed at Winthrop. It was mostly little girls and teens and recorded music and quite adorable. Sadly, one of the girls slipped in the snow scene and knocked into another girl and it was kind of funny. However, one of the dancers in the National Ballet Canada professional company also slipped and fell during the same snow scene. So either the snow is very slippery and this is common or I am cursed! eek!)

ANYWAY that night we had some kind of roast with rosemary potatoes and carrots (all in a toaster oven - impressive!) and I contributed the traditional Juraschek-Dykes Christmas Icebox Cake. I chose this specifically because I figured it was fool-proof, knowing I'm not much of a cook, and it is soo good but should really only be consumed once a year.

I've made the thing many times and there is no baking required. So I found the wafers and the cream and set to work. I even found a decorative Christmas tray to set it on. Well after about 10 minutes the whipping cream hadn't whipped at all, and I realized I was using the "wrong" attachments to the electric mixer. Once I found the "right" ones it whipped right up and I continued. I piled the cream on the cookies and once finished I marveled at my domestic skills. I decided to protect my creation with a little tin foil. As I lifted the tray to put the last piece of foil on top, I dropped the damn thing on the floor. Most of it landed on the foil and I wouldn't consider it spoiled, but instead of a presentable cake with neat little rows covered with cream, I now had a mess of cream and cookies. Proof I have no domestic skills. Now, of course I handled it really maturely and counted my blessings despite the mess, and by that I mean I and sat on the floor and cried. Good times.

The cake! I was so excited for about 5 seconds...

In the end we ate the cake anyway and it was rather delicious, even though it was less than presentable. Afterwards we watched Scott Pilgrm vs. The World. I had been wanting to see it, as lots of people have raved about it. I actually had no idea that it took place in dear old Toronto, so that was great, aaand a girl in our little dinner party was actually an extra in the movie, and she provided lots of insight so that was really fun. Then of course we chatted for a bit and drank too much wine and generally had a fine time.

Where I saw Ze Nutcracker

Wine, Scott Pilgrim, good friends, good times.

Then Christmas I woke up really late by myself and opened some packages from family. I made eggs and cinnamon rolls and laid around for a while watching cheesy Christmas movies. Later my roomie decided to make homemade hard lemonade (like, squeezed fresh lemons, added sugar and other, um ingredients, etc). This was also delicious. Too lazy to cook or leave the house, we ordered pizza for Christmas dinner. Later (a couple of glasses of aforementioned lemonade later) roomie decided to make brownies from scratch. Roomie turns on the burner which does not have a pan on it, but the burner where a paper bag containing pills and a roll of paper towels was resting. Naturally they set on fire and filled the house with smoke and the smell of burned plastic. So that was fun. I also skyped with the family for a long time which was very nice, including my 91-year-old grandfather. Oh, technology!

The next day I got up early and worked a double at the theater, despite Boxing Day (Dec 26th) being a holiday for most Canadians to go buy more crap. Boxing Day is our Black Friday, and everyone rushes out for big sales. I don't think I missed much.

Fast-forward to mid-week, a couple of days before New Year's Eve. On Wednesday, a couple of friends and I went for sushi between shows. I felt fine afterwards during the last show, but started feeling queasy towards the end. Instead of respecting my body, I went out afterwards to our favorite bar. I figured the queasiness was just dehydration and I didn't think much of it.

I could only stomach a couple of sips of my g&t before the nausea kicked in full-force. Luckily a friend drove me home and I made it home before I started actually vomiting. Really not sure if I would have made it on the TTC...all in all I thought the nausea was very strange. I rarely feel queasy and I like to think I have a stomach of steel. Eating food that has been sitting out or eating raw cookie dough doesn't really phase me, as I have never gotten sick...until now.

Anywho, that was close to midnight and thus began probably the worst night of my life. So, I will spare you the dirty details, but I didn't just throw up a couple of times then go to bed. For the next six hours my body cleaned out my entire digestive system: stomach, colon, everything. In the end I was extremely weak, dehydrated and in ideal shape for a colonoskopy. I was so freaked out by all of this madness I called my poor parents at 3 AM contemplating going to the emergency room. I didn't end up going and I survived, but it was painful.

Interestingly, the two people I ate dinner with didn't get sick, but I am pretty sure it was food poisoning from the sushi. My uncle threw up for 6 hours and did have to go to the emergency room after eating some bad sushi as well, and a couple of other people I know reported getting food poisoning as well from sushi. Actually, now that I remember, Earth Fare near my house in SC stopped serving pre-made sushi because they had so many complaints about illness, so there you go. Careful with that stuff! After my uncle's incident, his doctor mentioned it isn't necessarily he raw fish, but probably some old rice? Anyway, super NOT fun. Afterwards I was really weak and my stomach still upset and I slept a ton. I didn't have much of an appetite or consume anything but fruit and gatorade for about three whole days - whew.

Well, good thing New Year's Eve was less than three days later. I was still feeling off, so I didn't want to upset my body even more with tons of alcohol. So I went out with people from work and the cast from Rock of Ages for a nice, sober night of out with the old in with the new year with people I hardly know.

Happy New Year!

So that was a blast. Kind of...but just for fun here are my interpretations of my holiday week:

Glass half-empty:

Spent Christmas without family clearing smoke from the apartment and eating Domino's. Then had food poisoning which made me violently ill and miss an entire day of pay at work, followed by a quiet New Year's with people I hardly know, and without alcohol to take the edge off and really party. Good times?

Glass half-full:

Had an interesting first Christmas away from home that is actually pretty funny and will make for good stories for my grandchildren as I tell them about my first holiday away from home. Followed next by a thorough digestive cleanse where I shed most of my water weight and had the inability to eat for three whole days, causing my jeans to be loose. Also spent New Year's sober to avoid any stupid drunk texting and the like, partying with the cast of Rock of Ages. Good times!

At any rate I am happy to report that I am feeling much much better and back to normal. Last night was the Royal Alex Christmas Party at the very haunted Keg Mansion. It is an old Toronto mansion with a tragic history, now turned into a large restaurant with lots of ghost stories. We had a delicious three-course meal, some delicious shiraz, and delicious conversation. It was a very fun night and I'm grateful that I recovered for the festivities, though sadly I did not encounter any ghosts :(

The very haunted Keg Mansion

Also, I have become addicted to Ikea and thus have put some finishing touches on my room. I am excited to present to you my humble abode....before:

And after!

I have a bed, yay!

And other stuff, yay!

Lastly I'm headed home in a couple of weeks for my dear sister's wedding, and I must say I am seriously ready for some family time. Can't wait!

xoxoxoxo,

E

i'm always workin, slavin, everryydaaay...

Crap, it's really freaking cold. I awoke to a block of ice covering my window this morning. We had more snow last night that froze in the sizzling 10-degree temperatures today, and it's supposed to drop below zero tonight. I managed to get my laundry done, but after watching the weather report at the laundromat I decided to stay in tonight. Thank goodness it's my night off!

View from outside the living room window

It's been a busy Canada-filled week here in T-town though. Aside from work, on Wednesday I ventured out to buy my ticket for The National Ballet Canada's version of The Nutcracker for my Christmas Eve entertainment. I am quite excited I must say. The only other version of the Nutcracker ballet I have seen was by the York County Ballet at the good ol' WU. It was cute...though I felt really badly when the poor girl slipped on the fake snow during the ice/snow scene and fell into another girl...

Anywho, Wednesday was a glorious day, I managed to wake up at a decent hour which I always enjoy, as you can get so much more accomplished it seems. I left my apartment and it was sunny and warm, so I went and bought my ticket to the ballet as well as a ticket for The Second City Toronto for tomorrow night. I saw the Second City in Chicago almost a year ago and it was a truly hilarious show, so I'm all too excited to go again! Also we randomly have tomorrow night off (though I have to work a double on Wednesday to make up for it, arg). But yes, that's right, two whole days off in a row! Somehow I found myself in another performing arts setting with only Mondays off, hahaha.

Then on my way to the Second City box office, I found myself right in front of the Rogers Centre with sunny skies above, so I decided to hit up the CN Tower while I was there. I got a pretty good view, though I'm sure it would be prettier in the summer with some leaves on the trees or whatnot. So yes, obviously it is very high up and all that. In one of the observation levels there is a glass floor that looks down to the ground below. I have learned that somewhere along the line I have developed a fear of heights. I tried to walk on the glass floor a couple of times but it made me surprisingly uncomfortable when I stepped on it so that was the end of that, haha. Maybe I shouldn't have jumped off that cliff this summer...whoops...

Before the ascent

Look I'm floating!

Harbor

Toronto meets lake ontario

Rogers Centre below

Downtown looking east

When I ventured back outside the sun had not set but had disappeared from downtown, so then of course I was freeeezing. I continued walking all around and eventually ended up at Eaton Centre (a large mall near the Times Square of Toronto) where I could warm up. I found a Johnny Rockets along the way which really made my day. I haven't been to one in quite a long time, since they closed the one in G*vegas many years ago :( but it was delicious as I remember. Then I came home and decided to attempt to cook something. I found a relatively easy recipe for pasta with chickpeas and garlic tomato sauce. In the end it was a huge mess and rather bland, story of my life. Later I tried to add ground turkey, which was another huge mess and after scraping the burnt turkey from the pan it tasted awful as well. Good thing I made a ton of it, so I have been making myself eat it regardless. Better luck next time...arrg.

Snoowww

Exploring the freezing city

Then on Friday I had a shopping date with two girls from work so they could show me some more fun Toronto things. We went to a store called Roots, which reminded me of the Mast General Store in Greenville. It is a purely Canadian-pride kind of store with a rustic feel, so they sell Canada t-shirts, Canadian leather purses, maple syrup, outdoor gear, etc etc. We walked around Eaton Centre doing some Christmas shopping, and ran into another girl who works at the Princess of Wales Theatre down the street. After shopping we went to a Toronto restaurant called Terroni's, a fancy Italian place that has taken residence in an old courthouse. Naturally it is pretty big and most of the architecture is still intact, including a few jail cells in the basement near the washrooms. I had a delicious pizza that was a quarter prosciutto, a quarter eggplant, a quarter mushrooms and a quarter zucchini. YUM.

Outside Terroni's

Holidays come to Yonge Street

The weekend was work as usual, pretty busy, spending today recovering and hiding from the cold. Somewhere in the mix I also saw Black Swan, which I found to be disappointing. Worth watching, but very high-stress and very very bizarre. Also a lot less dance than I anticipated, but whatevs.

Miss and love,

E

he's just a city boy...born and raised in south detroit (michigan!) (by way of montreal!)

Yes, there is only so much Journey one can take.

I really liked "Don't Stop Believin," before I became an usher, but it was confirmed last night at the bar when the band opened with "Don't Stop Belivin' " that I could do without that hearing that song when I'm not working...My coworkers and I melted when they opened with that song. Gah. Last night I went to the Bier Markt, which is a nice bar with a ton of, yes, beer. So obviously it was great. As always I drank too much and stayed up too late, but it was quite worth it to be out on the town with some great people.

Oh but I had a rare, positive moment today at work when I did not hate children. During intermission on first balcony, these little girls came up to me reluctantly saying "you ask her, no youu, I don't want to! etc" So I leaned down (also reluctantly) to say "can I help you guys?" They asked very politely if they could pick up the colorful flyers that the character Regina throws into the audience during "We're Not Gonna Take It." I gave them directions and they scurried off to the orchestra section below. They returned smiling, and stopped to say thank you and to offer me some of the flyers they brought back. It was actually cute.

Also I had a very disturbing conversation with one of my coworkers today about food. She is from Ireland and mentioned she was having a hard time adjusting to Canadian food. She didn't understand why bread lasted so long and tasted like it was so full of sugar and chemicals (I immediately thought about the bread in my fridge that eat over about two weeks...oo). The cheese, milk, everything seemed to be loaded with preservatives she said. In Ireland apparently bread and milk go bad very quickly and everything is locally grown and fresh. Why is it so expensive, she asked, to get natural, healthy food here? In Ireland natural is the standard. She has lived in the US and commented that it was much worse, (as I imagine). Anywho, it disturbed me to hear her perspective. I have a general knowledge that I should stick to whole wheat flours that aren't sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, or to buy the peanut butter without hydrogenated oil, but I wouldn't guess that someone could taste the chemicals or that, yeah, bread probably shouldn't last two weeks...it freaks me out on a small scale but also on a larger scale, what else is in our food that we don't know about or choose to ignore? Ugh, I really need to cook more. And maybe start a garden. Oh and a couple of my own cows could be useful...

Hmm, anyway, I'm on cloud nine with Toronto this week. I really love this city. There is so much to do, so clean, I'm feeling very in my element here. Plus, I never have to endanger those around me by driving...hahahaha. It has been a good week here and I'm not sure I want to leave...(If anyone wants to sponsor me to stay here or marry me that would be just fabulous - ps gay marriage is legal...) It's just missing everyone I love back home :(  Of course, in February I will probably be ready to tear my eyes out from the cold...oh but I hate it when creepers hit on you on the subway: today I was completely zoned out with my headphones in until I felt a tap on my leg. A nice older, balding guy apparently wanted my attention to ask, "Are you from Regina?" (Regina is a town in Saskatchewan...) followed by "Are you single?" In a very creepy voice. The nerve. Though it was pretty silly.

With that, I leave you with more...pictures! (sorry most of them are blurry, but there's only so much one can do with a cell phone in the dark...)

New City Hall decked out for the holidays

Oh heeey Christmas - where did you come from??

ice rink in Nathan Phillips Square.
I was supposed to be skating at the time but we were rained out :(

Yes, a poutine-er-ry! All different kinds of Poutine. Too Canadian for words.
Quite good though.

Ice rink with Old City Hall behind.

More lights and clock tower from Old City Hall behind.

Late,

me

i'm gonna harden my heart, i'm gonna swallow my tears...

Today I feel quite accomplished. I was heading to work on King Street and someone stopped me to ask how to get the Rogers Centre and I was able to give them directions, instead of just saying "um no maybe you can give ME some directions" for once! Oh, the little things...

On the other hand, it snowed yesterday. Ok so maybe it was just a little bit and melted quickly, but I was kind of hoping it would hold out until late December...but no. It was pretty chilly Friday and I woke up to a white blanket covering the city on Saturday. Oh well, Thanksgiving hath past and snow hath fallen, so I'll just use that as an excuse to start listening to Christmas music!

I also spent my first Thanksgiving away from home on Thursday. It was slightly depressing. Not just that I was away from home, but I had no other Thanksgiving dinners to crash or anyone to invite to my Thanksgiving For One. (Canadians have their own Thanksgiving in October, and would not be amused by my exotic American Holiday...). It was a cold gray day, and as when I got onto the streetcar to head to the store to get my Thanksgiving-in-a-Box, the streetcar driver and a crazy old man got into a screaming match and were quickly joined by a few others who felt they should be heard as well. So that was fun. I did manage to Skype with the fam for a couple of hours which was just lovely, and I felt like I was partially there. I sincerely missed the homemade goodness of my mother, godmother, sister and brother-in-law though, as opposed to my pre-made apple tart, potatoes, chicken and kraft macaroni-and-cheese. Oh, and then I went to work. But this was a good thing to keep me from sitting at home eating by myself, haha. A coworker even told me Happy Thanksgiving as we were leaving, which made me very happy. It was a good day to reflect on things I am thankful for, especially how well things are going in Canada after somewhat randomly picking up and moving my life here for the next few months :)

Speaking of work, I think it's going to my head: the other day I saw some girls taking pictures in the subway station and my first instinct was to run over and tell them "Sorry guys there is NO photography in the house." Then I had to remind myself I wasn't in the theatre and outside the Royal Alex auditorium people can take pictures if they like...derr.

Aand that brings me to  this week's Best Excuse to Take Photos in House: "But I wanted to take a blue Avatar picture!" I saw this guy taking pictures of his wife/lady friend with a blue tint, and when I told them they weren't allowed to take pictures she literally said, "but I'm trying to take a blue Avatar picture." Well guys you can take your very important "Blue Avatar Photo" in the lobby...I'm sure it will be just as...um...blue.

21st Century Thanksgiving

Little Thanksgiving for One :(

I feel like I had other things to mention, but I can't recall them just yet, so for now I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend and survived Black Friday!

 Ciao & cheers!

ME

oh I must have been a dreamer...I must have been someone else..

OOOH SHERRY! I'm in love! HOOOLD ON! HOOLD on! 

Are you enjoying all of my 80's flashbacks yet? You know you love it.

I got a break from Rock of Ages last night though to work at the Princess of Wales Theatre for their annual benefit It's Always Something. It's a night of comedy to raise money for Gilda's Club, a charity founded for Gilda Radner that provides support for families and friends of cancer patients. 

Monday is actually my only day off, but I need money and extra hours = extra money = less poor me. It was a looong night, I clocked in at 6 and clocked out at 12:45, but totally worth it. I got to wear a tux for the first time and got paid watch Eugene Levy, Dan Levy, Colin Mochrie, Brian Sherwood and Russell Peters, among others. Highlights for me included Russell Peters laying into the idiot mayor Rob Ford and a group of four women called Women Fully Clothed, out of Second City I believe. They did a skit where they could not recall any details from any important news stories except that everything related to dying polar bears, but when they started talking about celebrity news they could recall every detail of Courtney Cox's life, so true!! I will have to get used to this tux business though, as it is the usual uniform for the Royal Alex and after the rock show is over we will go back to wearing them...I'm not particularly excited. 

My first time in a tux. Quite strange. That is my colleague Larisa in the background looking oh-so-amused ;)

I am also proud to announce I have established a habit of taking reusable bags to the store. This has long been a cause I believe in, as plastic bags are incredibly wasteful and costly, etc etc...however being as on top of things as I am (and by that I mean incredibly scatterbrained) I rarely remembered to actually A) take cloth bags from my house into my car and B) take cloth bags from my car into the store. Seriously too much, guys, like, for real. Anyway, luckily for me I get charged in Toronto for not remembering to save the earth and all that. So, at the prospect of paying 10 - 65 cents per bag I now remember to take cloth bags. Trust me, if this charging for bags has helped me change my habits, it is an effective system (also, newsflash: I'm cheap). 

More on how Toronto is very green, the city picks up our compost. Yes, Canadian tax dollars pay for their peace-of-mind-free-healthcare and for the city to keep your food scraps out of a hole in your backyard. Quite convenient. We put everything biodegradable in a little bin and every week a truck comes and picks it up for us! Trash and recycling get picked up every other week. There are also recycling bins next to every trashcan. Every one. They make it too easy.

Speaking of healthcare, just for the record I have not heard a single Canadian complain about their government-run healthcare. On the other hand, they think we're crazy for having to pay. How stressed we must be, they say, to never know what will happen to you if you get sick. No shit. Yes, they can choose their own doctor and specialists. No, there are NO co-pays. And no, they don't have to worry if they get cancer that their insurance company will drop them without warning and leave them to die. Must. be. nice. 

So anyway sometimes I'm all "Canada get with the times" but other times I'm all "US get with the times." In other words, if I were queen of the world, everyone would be ahead of their time! Ha...ha.

I tried Poutine last week as well - french fries covered in cheese and gravy. Appetizing, eh? Yes, it was pretty good. Tastes just like cheese fries from Applebee's or whatnot. Definitely good for the beer munchies. 

My room is almost put together! I have never been happier to have a proper bed to sleep in. Pictures to come soon when I get everything put away. Also not looking forward to my first Thanksgiving without the fam. I will instead be working :(  I'm planning to go to the store for some pre-made turkey and mac'n cheese and all that though. Look out for more on that and possibly a whiney post on Thursday. 

And...a couple more random pictures for your viewing...pleasure?

RESPECT my authoritay.

Enjoying a lovely potluck before the Sunday evening show. I love my coworkers!

Happy Tuesday!

ME