with moving comes a new neighbourhood. a new coffee shop. a new grocery store. a new route to work.
i like the new adventure. the change.
Josh and i awoke at noon on saturday, after a night of partying with work colleagues. i put the party together, so i was exhausted and felt well deserved of the extra sleep.
i coerced mohawk into walking with me to the St. Lawrence Market. walking is not his favourite thing to do. i would have hopped on the back of his bike if we knew where the bike lock went during the move. (one of the MANY things that have gone M.I.A – missing – in – apartment, over the course of the move)
since we woke up so late, we missed getting to the farmer’s market that closes at 3pm and is only open on saturdays. we had plenty of time to walk around the south market though, which is also open during the week. the next saturday to come that i have free, you better believe i’m waking up early! with or without mohawk!
other than one time with my dad that i can remember, well over 10 years ago, i haven’t stepped foot into the St. Lawrence Market. no idea why. now that i live so close, i have no excuse not to take advantage of one of the top 10 food markets in the world – that’s what National Geographic thinks anyways. i would have to agree with them.
don’t walk into the market hungry – you will want to buy EVERYTHING IN SIGHT! thank goodness i had only a tiny amount of cash in my wallet and i refuse to pay the ATM fee to take out cash, so i bought very little and looked only with my eyes.
below are a few shots that i took while strolling through the main floor of the south market – many of which i will be back to try! oh, and of course, a picture of tut. because it wouldn’t be a little bit about my week without a little bit of tut.
there’s something about hot chocolate that just makes me feel… at ease.
it was a childhood staple in my home – especially around Christmas time. we would often be seen taking a candy cane off the tree to stir it into our chocolatey goodness.
oh and yes – it must be the powder hot chocolate mix. the kind you buy in a sobeys, or zehrs, or loblaws, or your corner convenience store. tiny marshmallows or not, add some hot water and voila! comfort, chocolate, warmth, mmmmmm!!!!
and so, on the days where i feel blue, this drink warms my heart. even at 24 degrees celsius – 34!! with the humidex.
i am a firm believer in word of mouth. if you don’t get a good start, a good following, it may be hard to stick it out and make it in a big ocean with many many tiny fish. this isn’t the case for this restaurant – nor is it my first time out to the nose. thank you Mikey – for sharing what i feel is… (was, after this) your secret spot.
at the corner of queen east and leslie, near the shores of toronto there is a building that stands with a human shaped nose directly above the front door. its presence feels somewhat mysterious on the street corner…in a stand alone kind of way.
it’s almost hard for me to write this and to truly explain to you the utter joy i feel when i eat the food at this establishment.
keeping in mind that others feel the exact same way, so some nights can feel crazy and jam packed and you may not get the most attention starved service that you may want to come to find. i’ve interacted with many members of the staff, all extremely friendly and knowledgable of their menu and ingredients. there is a love in the foods look and taste. you know its all been expertly crafted before being presented on your plate. i personally appreciate being left alone to dine – to come and eat food, be relaxed by the pleasant drone of conversation around me.
tonight wasn’t any night. Josh and i had arrived home from a more than unpleasant “adventure**” and i was determined to put us on the up swing again. to get us back to reality and the pleasantries that come with home. FOOD!
so naturally, i went to my new found comfort, the nose, or gio rana’s really really nice restaurant.
tonight wasn’t about the wine. i had water.
tonight was about the food. the way the menu is laid out, you really want to order one of something from each section. each plate is small but substantial and in my opinion can always be shared between 2 – so get MORE! get lots of them! and SHARE! i choose the dailies chopped salad and mohawk had mozzarella and tomato with basil pesto, balsamic and olive oil to start. i apologize for the lack of food pictures – there was going to be no waiting to eat at tonights dinner table.
i’m not joking – i teared up about 3 bites in. it was just…perfect. what real, good food should taste like. it is actually ridiculous just how yummy everything is inside this building. i then followed with potato gnocchi in a white wine veal… it was some saucy name. i really can’t remember and the only menu i could find online is out of date. it was creamy and oniony and fluffy… IT WAS MIND BLOWING!
Josh had my classic go-to. the involtini. shredded pork wrapped with rib eye, goat cheese and jus. $15.95. worth every single penny. believe me. it’s one of those dishes you find yourself craving weeks after. a cappuccino and a tiramisu – which was a complete joke that we even ordered, considering how full our tiny post-adventure tummys were. we took the tiramisu to go.
i left feeling overly elated. it’s no surprise that i shall be back – again, and again, and again.
you should go.
gio rana’s really really nice restaurant.
1220 queen st east. the corner of queen st east and leslie.
*** Josh and i deemed what was to be our vacation, as our “adventure” after ending up in the hospital the first night to our destination and recovering the rest of our trip. no fun let me tell you.
i make my goal(s) attainable and decided back in 2011 that i would tell very few people of my goal(s). i read somewhere once that if you say you’re going to do something and then decide to broadcast it to the world, you’re actually giving your brain that immediate satisfaction of an accomplishment and will be less likely to complete your goal in the long run. don’t go seeking praise from family and friends about something you’re GOING to do…go seek it AFTER you’ve completed and accomplished what you set out to do.
ideally, you will be happy with the result and the praise from family and friends will be genuine.
so what goals you ask?
in 2011, it was to always use the stairs. never escalators or moving sidewalks or those short elevator rides in malls. the exceptions that i put in place were, if i was with a friend (i always gave the option, and most times they chose to take the stairs with me), and if i was in a building where i needed to travel to a very high floor (i used to live on the 29th floor). very happy to report that i completed my goal and it became second nature. i didn’t stop taking the stairs after that point. my legs feel great!
in 2012 it was to write once a month on this thing i call a blog – and i did that. once a month for all of 2012. in case you’re curious, my blogs birthday is – January 7th, 2012.
in 2013, i told myself to learn something each month. i didn’t put any perimeters around how or what i was going to do and ended up falling into some pretty fun stuff. what i mean to say is, i fell back in love with photography. i started the digital photography program at George Brown College. JANUARY a barreworks class and photo 101 by this lady who used to run nicole’s classes.com to get the basics down. my fabulous brother, who was soon to depart to australia let me borrow his nikon d40 as a starter. FEBRUARY – i took a cooking class at williams-sonoma and watched a few broadcasts of photography workshops on creativelive.com. MARCH – 2 “world function classes” (they no longer exist) – geared towards blogging. preparation for the day i’d see martha stewart. APRIL – a cast iron cooking class at williams-sonoma. MAY – JUNE – digital photography 1 and photoshop basics at george brown – i decided to get slightly serious and willingly went back to being given homework. yet this time around, it’s fun! i bought myself a starter camera, d7100. yup – i’m a nikon gal. JUNE – alt summit nyc. Josh and i headed to the big apple so that i could attend a super cool blogging conference. JULY – AUGUST – digital photography 2 SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER – digital photography 3 NOVEMBER – DECEMBER – night and low light photography.
i took advantage of the toronto library system and took out plenty of books. cookbooks, photography books, children’s books, you name it – i’ll look to anything for a smile and a little inspiration.
in 2013, i also did “no make-up mondays.” this was the second resolution i made to myself that year. i mean truthfully, i don’t wear make-up that often anyways – my routine really only consists of eye liner, eye shadow and mascara. the odd occasion i’ll throw on some lipgloss.
the above picture? i woke up, dragged my ass outta bed, grabbed my camera & remote and snapped this photo. just me.
makeup is cosmetics applied to the face. cosmetic is defined on Bing as cos·met·ic [ koz méttik ]
beautifying substance: a preparation that is applied to the face or the body to make it more attractive, e.g. lipstick
superficially attractive aspect: something added or done to something else to cover up defects
intended to beautify: intended to improve somebody’s physical appearance
We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves.
Malcom X
many thoughts and ideas run through my mind every time i read that quote, it’s so powerful – for this instance and for me, wearing no make up meant being closer to a truer me. accepting the skin i’m in and nothing more. and let’s be honest, to be able to press that snooze button one more time on a monday morning.
well – could you? give up your make-up kit for any length of time? and if not – why can’t you live without it? i’d love to know.
you are beautiful – wherever and whoever you are. don’t forget it.
in 2014, i wrote to both of my grandmothers once a month for the entire year. i didn’t know what to expect out of it when i first started, but what i got out of it was… priceless. i felt as if i found a way to connect where i wouldn’t have if i had just picked up the phone and had, maybe, a 10 minute conversation. it allowed me to get to know each of them as individuals a little more than i ever had before. i’ll treasure those letters forever. that turned out to be one of those resolutions that once you start, you realize you don’t want to stop. i continued to write to my grandma siddall until she passed away January 27th, 2016 and continue to write to my grandma on my mothers side still.
in 2018, i made it my goal to reduce my single use plastic consumption. here are the changes i made specifically during that first year. disposable razor = safety razor and blades plastic toothbrushes = bamboo toothbrushes plastic bags = reusable shopping bags plastic produce bags = not using a bag at all or bringing a cloth or mesh bag plastic bagged food items = going to the bulk section or store with a reusable container, taring it, filling it and paying for what i want plastic milk bags = making my own mylk – cashew is my favourite because i don’t strain it.
have you or do you enjoy my blogging? tell me! i like to think there are others out there – and not just me, myself, my computer and i. let me know that you exist and lets start a conversation.
my current resolution? silly question. don’t ask. i’m not going to tell you until it’s completed.
