Harrods

There's lots of things that I love about London (I mean, lots) but one place that I find particularly magical is Harrods. This luxury department store has been around for a long, long time, and to me, is the ultimate in glamour. Sure, in Canada, we have The Bay and Holt Renfrew, which are both fabulous, but Harrods is just a bit different, a bit more special. 

While perusing the different departments last November, I wandered into the Christmas section and fell in love with the ornately decorated trees and the delicious looking "fairy cakes" (what they call cupcakes!) Growing up, my parents would always buy an ornament from whatever place we visited on vacation during the summers, so our Christmas tree was a map of all of our favourite travel spots around the world. Now that I have my own tree to decorate, I've started to do the same as well. So while in Harrods, I treated myself to a little British phone box, much like the one found here.

I almost treated myself to a sweet-looking fairy cake, but at £6.50 each, I couldn't justify spending that much on a cupcake. Plus, I'm afraid I'd have decided it was too beautiful and couldn't eat it! Ah well, maybe next time! 

The Birthday Weekend That Was...Sunday & Monday Edition

On the Sunday of my trip, I allowed myself to sleep in a bit, since I was so sleep deprived from my long day the day before. When I finally got up and got ready, I headed out to Etobicoke and went to IKEA. I had a shopping list full of things I had held out on buying for my new apartment because I knew I could get them for so much cheaper at IKEA. I took the subway out to Kipling, waited for the IKEA shuttle, and finally reached my destination.

I spent a few hours at IKEA, so that actually took up most of my Sunday, what with the travel to and from and the strolling the aisles. It was dinner time by the time I got back to the hotel and dropped off all my purchases. I met my aunt for dinner at Red Lobster, another favourite food joint, and we chatted and caught up on all our news.

That's something I did an awful lot of on this trip: talk. And I said pretty much all the same stuff (as all my news was the same) but it was all to different people. So even though I grew a little tired of repeating myself over and over, I was happy every time to hear about the other person's news. I know I've said it before, but it's always so nice to catch up and learn what's changed in a friend's life, or how they've grown in some way.






I knew a trip to Toronto couldn't happen without stopping by CTV and seeing my pals there. I miss the people and the place so much, so I really wanted to pop in and see it again, so I did that on Monday. As was the usual on this trip, it was so great to see so many friends and catch up again. I miss my Dance Family all the time! How could I not, when I really had the dream job there, working with such amazing people?

I made a few other stops at favourite cupcake shops, familiar subway stations and walked down my favourite streets. When it was finally time to head back to the hotel and pack for my flight, I didn't have any unfinished business. I'd seen and done all the things I'd wanted to do on this short trip, met up with the people I really wanted to, bought the things I'd been longing for. I only had three days in the city but I packed so many things into those three days, it was like a small recap of my life in Toronto. A taste of all of my favourite things about this place I used to call home.




This whirlwind trip was exactly the birthday present I'd been searching for to give myself. A chance to be in one of my favourite places, surrounded by my favourite things. And when it's your Champagne birthday, you really do have to make it special. After all, it only happens once in a lifetime. :)

The Birthday Weekend That Was...Saturday Edition

...When I arrived in Toronto, I couldn't wait to get off the plane and get back in the city. I really had missed it, more than I'd realized. After dropping my luggage off at the hotel, I walked down to one of my favourite places of all: the St. Lawrence Market. I've talked about the Market a few times in the past, and how much I love it, so it really shouldn't come as a surprise that it was literally,( after checking into my hotel) my first stop on my trip.




The market has long been one of the spots I always visit when I'm in Toronto, because as much as I love St. John's, there's nothing of the St. Lawrence Market's equivalent in my hometown. This is the place I think I miss the most. Coming here every Saturday morning, stocking up on my fresh, local fruits and veggies, buying some perogies and pasta, picking up a bouquet of fresh flowers....I loved it.

One place I love in the Market is a little vendor outside on the southwest side. A local artist, originally from England, sells her watercolours from her stall almost every Saturday. I came across her a couple of years ago and bought some handmade greeting cards and a mini painting from her, and fell in love with her art. Before I moved back to Newfoundland in October, I went to the Market one last time and went to her stall. I bought one of her paintings and it hangs in my office today. So, when I decided to come to Toronto for the weekend, I knew I had to seek her out and buy some more artwork. 


I managed to find her email address a few days before and asked her if she’d be there that Saturday, and she said she hoped to be. I hoped and hoped, and sure enough, as soon as I arrived at the Market, I sought her out and found her in her usual spot. We chatted for a while and then she let me peruse her artwork until I decided on a couple that I thought would hang nicely in my new living room.

Pleased with my purchases, I said goodbye to the lovely artist and continued my shopping. Of course, I had to stop and pick up some perogies from my favourite Ukrainian place, and get some delicious fresh pasta and sauce from the pasta place upstairs. Both were just as delicious as I remembered. I really love how they actually make the pasta right in front of you, and you can try scrumptious samples anytime. I'm one of those people that goes and gets a sample...and then goes back 15 minutes later for another one. I can't help myself! 

After I finished my Market shopping, I headed to lunch with my old roommates. We’d stayed in touch after we all went our separate ways when our lease ended last summer, and as soon as I booked my trip, I contacted them to meet up. It was great seeing the girls and catching up on all their news. Jobs and wedding plans and exotic vacations filled the stories we told. It’s always so nice to catch up with friends after long absences.

Another one of my favourite things to do in Toronto, and anywhere, really, is get my nails done. It's one of my vices. I can't help it. I know some people might think it's silly, but there's something about getting a manicure that can make a girl feel like a million bucks. And what better place to go then a salon where everybody knows your name? (It's like the Cheers of nail salons.) Shortly after I booked my trip, I emailed my friend and nail tech at the salon and set up an appointment. It was great to see her again and to catch up on her news, and of course, get a fresh new coat of polish on my nails. There's just nothin' like it!


Later that night, I had dinner with some of my Indigo TweetUp ladies. We went to our usual spot, CANTEEN, where I had a delicious meal, a great time catching up with some pals, and some covert celebrity spying. (One of the guys from The Vampire Diaries was there that night, but I don't watch the show so I didn't really know who he was. Ha!) It was so fun to see the ladies again, it was like no time had passed at all.

To end off the night, I walked back to the hotel, stopping at Marble Slab on the way for a yummy ice cream, and then it was off to bed. I'd been awake for almost 24 hours and I desperately needed some sleep to be ready to tackle all the things I had planned for the next day!

Sunday and Monday are yet to come! Check back soon!

The Birthday Weekend That Was...

As I said in a previous entry, on March 27, I celebrated my 27th birthday, also known as my Champagne birthday. Now, here's something you may not have known about me: I like to make a big deal out of things. Whether it's birthdays or Christmas or Valentine's Day, whatever, I'm all over it. (Remember the Royal Wedding this time last year? Yeah. I was up at 3am and hosted a Royal Wedding breakfast for family and friends, complete with fascinator. All while wearing my PJs. It's how I roll.)

So for something that only happens once in my lifetime, I really had to make a big deal about it. I hummed and haa'd, and decided a party wouldn't be enough. I usually have a party, but this year had to be different. I needed to really mark the occasion somehow.

I had been missing Toronto a lot lately, and kept reminiscing about all the places and things that I used to visit and do there, and then, at the beginning of March, it hit me: Why not go to Toronto for a weekend? I kept looking at my schedule, looking at all the work I had to do, and checking the prices of flights, and I just didn't think I'd be able to do it. I was pretty bummed. So I went back to moping about the lack of celebration surrounding my big day.

About two weeks before my birthday, I received an email from Air Canada, advertising a 50% sale on flights throughout Eastern Canada. I checked, and sure enough, there was a cheap, cheap flight from St. John's to Toronto's downtown airport. I thought it through and finally decided there really was no way I could ignore this opportunity. I could go to Toronto for a long weekend and come back to Newfoundland the day before my birthday. So, I checked with the boss and then I was off!

For the time leading up to the trip, I was pretty much giddy all day long. I planned my three days there down to the hour, figured out where I'd visit and who I'd see and what I'd buy. When 5am on Saturday, March 24th came, I was on my way...

Check back in a couple of days to read all about my weekend, starting with the fun-filled Saturday!

Toronto, How I Miss Thee

As you probably know by now, (and if you don't, what parts of my blog have you been reading?? Kidding!) I used to live in Toronto, going to school and working in the public relations industry. While I love my home in Newfoundland, now that I'm back in St. John's, I realize that I do miss Toronto an awful lot.

When I first moved to the Big Smoke, I was going to school and living in Etobicoke, so I didn't get a chance to explore downtown Toronto a whole lot. But when I moved downtown after finishing school and lived in an apartment with some friends, that was like a different life altogether.

At the time, I was on the job hunt looking for work, with not much to do and little money to spend. While there were days I stayed home and watched a lot of television, (it was then I discovered and became obsessed with the Food Network -  a healthy obsession, I like to think) all that free time gave me a chance to explore the city and get to know it better. I learned street names and subway stations, districts of the city and where popular attractions were located.

Being away from Toronto has shown me how much I really do miss things like:


I miss living with my roommates in our brick townhouse in the heart of downtown Toronto. My friend Heather and I had gone through our public relations program together and our friend Brittany and later, new roommate Kristel, both strangers in the beginning, became fast friends, and are still friends of mine today. It was really nice, being able to come home at the end of our days, make dinner and talk about what had happened at work, and then watch some tv together, play video games, or just chat. I miss those days, girls. :)

I miss walking to the St. Lawrence Market on Saturday mornings with my buddy Paul and having pasta, buying fresh produce and stocking up on perogies. Being able to buy your produce from somewhere other than the grocery store is something that's rare in St. John's. I know we have a couple of little farmer's markets in the city and surrounding areas, but they're nothing like the St. Lawrence Market.





You must know by now that I love cupcakes. I mean, seriously love. So when in a big city like Toronto, there were bakeries and sweet shops that sure, sold cupcakes. But then there were cupcake shops, dedicated to just cupcakes.





Those were the places I used to visit fairly often...so much so, that the staff at one of them began to remember me. I knew then I had a problem. A cupcake-addiction problem...but it's fine, all things in moderation, right? I miss the cupcake shops I'd visit the most, like Prairie Girl Bakery, or Dlish Cupcakes. Both their cupcakes were so delicious.

I know my Toronto friends might think I'm crazy, but I miss riding the subway. (okay, I certainly don't miss the delays on the TTC, but I do miss riding the train sometimes.) I miss getting on the train and letting it take me to wherever I was going, listening to the stops being announced, seeing the people on the train with me, wondering where they were headed. Every once in a while, I'd run into someone I knew on the train (which was rare, since I didn't know very many people in Toronto) and that would always delight me; that in a city of millions, it's still a small world after all.

I miss the atmosphere of the city; so busy and noisy and full of lights and massive buildings and strings of traffic. Those are things that, no matter how much I love St. John's, it just doesn't have, like Toronto does.





My time in Toronto had a big impact on my life and the person I am today. I was out on my own in a city that, while I had visited numerous times on family vacations, was still strange to me. It was a big change. But it was one I had craved and one that I had needed for a while. And because it had such a positive impact on me, there's not a day that goes by that I don't miss that city and all it offered me.

While I do miss Toronto, and still wish I could be back there sometimes, when your home looks like this, it's hard not to feel happy that you're from such a beautiful place like Newfoundland.

Saturday Mornings at the Market!

One of my favourite things to do in Toronto these days is visit the St. Lawrence Market. Saturday mornings are my time to go and explore what local farmers, artists and entrepreneurs have to offer people like me who have wandered down for a look.

I usually like to buy things like fresh veggies and fruit, or delicious baked goods, but I'm also a sucker for things like the perogies at the Polish stand, or the fresh cut tulips that I can buy for super cheap.

A couple of Saturdays ago, I ventured down to the St. Lawrence Market with my good friend Paul, who had never been there before. I decided to take some snaps of the market to commemorate our visit, as well as show off some of my favourite places to visit!

Our first stop was the North building, which houses more of the vegetables and fruit and out of town delicacies, where I could pick up some lovely peppers, carrots and onions for a soup I was planning on trying to make later that day. As you can see, there were lots to choose from, and they only cost a couple of dollars for a whole bunch! Much better prices than the supermarkets!

Then it was off to Moyer's Candy Apples stand, where they sell the most delicious Caramel Chocolate apples. As I was heading to Newfoundland for a visit a few days later, I knew I had to pick up some of these apples to bring home to treat my family and friends...they're too delicious to keep to myself!

We then went across the street to the main building, where meats, cheeses, fish and pasta and more permanent stalls are housed. I knew another thing I would have to pick up was some fresh pasta and pasta sauce from St. Lawrence Pizza and Ice Cream. If you ever get to go to the Market, you MUST stop by this place on the upper level. The pasta is out of this world and the sauce....absolutely amazing. I've never tasted anything like it!

Downstairs is another one of my favourite spots, European Delight, where they serve fresh homemade Polish food like chicken and veal schnitzel, sausage rolls, and my favourite - perogies. Their potato/cheddar/bacon perogies, fried up with some bacon and onions....a favourite Saturday lunchtime meal!

After a successful day of shopping, and too many groceries for my poor little arms to walk home with, I decided it was time to call it a day. I had

perogies to eat and soup to attempt to make! Paul and I walked home content with our great day at the St. Lawrence Market!

If you're in Toronto and you've never been, I highly recommend you check it out! Who knows? Maybe you'll bump into me there one Saturday morning. :)

Oh, and that soup I wanted to make? I think it was successful. Take a look!