Happy 50th Birthday Renée!

I met up with Nicole tonight to head over to Dora Keogh pub on the Danforth to celebrate Renée's big 5-0 birthday! Yep, that's her on the right. She looks exactly the same 50 years later, with the tongue out and all!

I worked and met Renée at my most favourite job: Today's Parent Group in 1999 (according to the name tags she gave all of us), and a group of us have remained to keep in touch over the years. We had some great times at this company, and there were lots of others there that night to celebrate with her. There was a live band, and people just went right on out on the dance floor and were dancing along... it was great!

Quel came by and joined us for a couple of beers later in the evening, and then we went to Demetré's for some dessert after. I didn't get home until almost 2am! What the?!?! Waaaay past my bedtime!! :P

enRoute's Best New Restos!

The November issue of enRoute was an issue I always looked forward to: The FOOD ISSUE (not to mention I helped with tasting some of the restos while I was there). Just thought I'd share what this year's Top 10 Best New Restos are (from across Canada). Happy Eating!

1 Nota Bene
180 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-977-6400, notabenerestaurant.com

2 Le Local
740, rue William, Montréal, 514-397-7737, resto-lelocal.com

3 The Harbord Room
89 Harbord St., Toronto, 416-962-8989, theharbordroom.com

4 Chef’s Table
1126 Memorial Drive N.W., Calgary, 403-228-4442

5 Boneta
1 W. Cordova St., Vancouver, 604-684-1844, boneta.ca

6 The Only on King
172 King St., London, 519-936-2064, theonlyonking.ca

7 Lucien
36 Wellington St. E., Toronto, 416-504-9990, lucienrestaurant.com

8 Fraîche
2240 Chippendale Rd., West Vancouver, 604-925-7595, fraicherestaurant.ca

9 Liverpool House
2501, rue Notre-Dame O., Montréal, 514-313-6049

10 Stage
1307 Gladstone Ave., Victoria, 250-388-4222

My Raptor curse is GONE!

As you may know... I've NEVER been to a winning Raptor game... EVER! I almost thought it best that I didn't go to any more games (to make Randy happy) hehe. But tonight, I witnessed a winning game, with a 93-86 win over the Charlotte Bobcats! YAY!

Ron called me last minute after work to let me know he scored some tickets to tonight's game. With seats being in the 4th row... I couldn't say no. I quickly finished up what I was doing at work and met him just as the game started. It was a good game and as a bonus, each ticket holder also received Jose Calderon bobbleheads to take home! :)

Sorry to have missed WND ladies, but it was worth breaking the Raptor curse, right?!? GO Raptors GO!

Getting into the Christmas spirit...

Ron and I decided to put our Christmas tree up today! With only 32 days left, we thought we'd try and get into the spirit! We played some Christmas music, put the tree up and wrapped some presents to put under it! Now I'm off to bake some cupcakes! :)

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

Wedding Dress shopping - no freakouts!

Di wanted to go check out some wedding dresses today. I think she was more excited to do this than I was! To be honest, I really don't enjoy shopping. And with something like a wedding dress, I was more worried about freaking out! (remember the diamond ring jewellery incident?!!?) Anyway, Di was great! She talked to all the people that worked at the stores, asked all the questions, and grabbed a whole bunch of dresses to get a change room started. Everyone thought SHE was the bride! :)

I have to admit, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. No freakouts, and it was more like putting on a pretty costume! The first dress I tried on was nice, and then the second was even nicer! I actually really liked it, and would have bought it but I felt that I needed to look around some more. So Di and I went to check out another store. She grabbed a dozen dresses for me to try on, and it was nice to get so many comments from the other ladies there: "that's beautiful", "I really like that one", "wow!", "that dress looks amazing on you".... some of them even asked to try on the same dress after they saw it on me.

I wouldn't have been able to do an entire day, but I'm glad to have done it. Thanks for making it a positive experience Di!

Hangin' with Huddy!

Di and I met up with Huddy and met his new girl, Kim. We met at Jack Astor's at Yonge/Dundas and had dinner while trying to watch the Raptor game against Vince Carter! Can you believe that game? GEEZ!

Hud's girl seems very nice, and it seems like they've been together longer than they really have been, actually. We went across to Milestones and sat by the bar to finish the rest of the Raptor game until our movie began: Body of Lies. It was a pretty good movie, and an evening with Huddy is always so much fun!

Hilarious!

OK, I saw this clip on Facebook, and was laughing hysterically after I saw it... had to share! It's a skit from Saturday Night Live with Beyonce and Justin Timberlake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2cWbOakLBc

Tanaz's new home...

I went over to Tanaz, Mo and Zarius' new home today... they just moved in! I only took a photo of the front of the house, and my new favourite spot by the window as there were boxes everywhere! Since it was a brand new home, there was a lot of dust everywhere. Tanaz put me to work the minute I got there: wiping down all the shelves, cupboards, vaccuuming, dusting, unpacking and putting stuff in the pantry... geez! Welcome to your new home Tanaz (and I declare that MY window by the way). :P

My Montréal cravings...

It's been a year and seven months since I've been to Montreal. During this time, there have been quite a few food cravings I've had. This past weekend, Ron and I decided to drive down so I could fulfill all those yummy cravings!! Ok, we were checking out possible wedding churches and venues as well... but we still haven't decided on anything, so this blog is all about the food!! :)

I took Ron to all my favourite restaurants!! Our first stop was my favourite Vietnamese resto: Pho Bac. The key to good Pho is the broth, and I think this place has a pretty good one! Next stop was L'académie. This is the restaurant where you can bring your own wine, and Karen, Shaun and I always had a blast here! Ron had the filet mignon, with scallops and shrimp, while I had the filet of sole... we even shared a bottle of wine even though Ron's not a big wine drinker. (you know who drank most of THAT). After dinner, it was such a nice night that we decided to walk the streets of Montreal... on St. Denis actually. I was looking for a dessert place for some Crème brûlée, but no such luck.

Sunday morning, we woke up early to head out to Bagel Etc. I used to pass this place on my way to work all the time, and it wasn't until last year, when I came to Montreal with the girls that we discovered the yummy pancakes... they were still good ladies! We made a quick stop into Simons, and then we then headed to Old Montreal, where I spotted the cutest little cupcake shop: Les Glaceurs. There were so many flavours to choose from, but we finally decided to try the Vanilla-Café cupcake. It was goooood! If I wasn't so full from breakfast, I would have tried every single flavour!

Last but not least was lunch at Schwart's... you can't go to Montreal and not have THAT!! This place never disappoints. After that, we quickly stopped off for some Montreal bagels... always good hot from the oven! We were utterly and completely stuffed from the weekend of eating. It was definitely hard to try and drive after that... all I wanted was to take a nap! But I was happy to share all my favourite restaurants with Ron. There are a bunch more, but you can only fit so many in a weekend. It's nice that he knows where I used to hang out!

My head HURTS!

Geez! Talk about information overload... is this what work is like?!!? My first day of work today, and I sat with the woman who's position I'm taking over... and she just talked and talked and talked. And I had to listen and absorb EVERY single word of it! And THEN, I had to go for a 2-hour training session on Maximizer, a program used throughout the company.

My head was pounding by the end of the day, without a Tylenol or an Advil in sight! Tomorrow, I'm bringing a bottle to work with me. The woman leaving is only here until Friday, which only leaves me 3 days with her. I'll need that bottle all week! :P

Oh how I miss the days of sleeping in, facebooking, watching movies and chatting with y'all on MSN!

Working girl!

I was laid off exactly 5 months ago today! I can't believe I've been unemployed for that long, 'cause it sure didn't feel that long. But I guess one has to go back at some point. (sigh)

I was offered a job... two jobs actually! The past couple of days, and up to the last few hours until my noon deadline today, has been a debate on which one to take. I did the pros and cons, and even had an Excel sheet with ratings of importance factoring out and calculating each offer to help me decide on which one to take (yes, that's Ron's influence).

After all of that, I finally decided on one. I start tomorrow, actually! I'm very nervous about it since it's been a while since I actually worked... it's like the first day at a new school! I hope I make friends! :)

Happy Birthday Lorna!

My Saturday started off with a jog around Queens Park with Di and Quel. In the evening, we all went to Bar Italia for dinner and had our favourite chicken sandwiches... mmm! After that, we walked it off and then I had to head over to Wegz Stadium Bar to celebrate my cousin Lorna's 21st Birthday! I'd never heard of this place before, but Ron would have loved it here (he was in Niagara today with the boyz to celebrate a birthday himself)... the place is full of TV's with every sports channel you can imagine, with pool tables, foozball, and a video game section. All my siblings were there, as well as my cousins. It's always a fun night out with them (drinking mainly), but I was way too tired to stay out that late (considering I woke up at 6am). :S

Crepe it up!

Quel and I decided to check out a new crêperie in her neighbourhood called Crepe it up! We had just had dinner and were just looking for something small and sweet to eat.

There were quite a few selections on their menu, with options listed as sweet or savoury. We shared The Dark Angel crepe - hazelnut chocolate (nutella) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream inside. It was good... darn good actually. We were both impressed at how good it was! And it was at a very reasonable price: $4.80 (taxes in).

Before deciding to blog about this place, I googled it. It turns out the owner has quite an interesting story of how he started his own crêperie. It motivated me!! Read it for yourself:
(taken from Burke Campbell, Financial Post - published Saturday, November 24, 2007)
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Crepe it up! Getting laid off supplied the motivation

TORONTO -- Chris Lee owns and manages Crepe It Up!, a restaurant that specializes in crepes with a wide range of fillings, at locations in downtown Toronto.

Leap of faith: "I worked in an office as a corporate salesman. I sat in a cubicle, in front of a computer screen. It was like going to jail every day. One day, I was laid off. That supplied the motivation."

The flash: "While visiting Quebec City, I stopped at a creperie. Everything was in full view. You could see the cook making the crepes. All the ingredients used for filling were displayed. That moment, I decided I wanted to start my own place."

A part of me: "My business is something I created. I'm responsible for keeping it going. It's like having a child. It's someone you have to nurture."

Keeps him going: "I work long hours and sometimes I wonder what I've gotten myself into. But then people come in and really enjoy the food. It picks me right up."

That lovin' feelin': "I make this crepe that's filled with vanilla ice cream and chocolate hazelnut. One customer said it was 'better than love, without the heartache!' It makes me feel good to make people that happy!"

Raptors vs. Pistons

I was excited when Ron called me in the afternoon to let me know that he had gotten his company box seat tickets to the Raptor game tonight! This was supposed to be Allen Iverson's first game with his new team! I was disappointed when I found out that Iverson wasn't playing tonight's game afterall. :( What a jip! The Pistons didn't need him anyway since Raptors lost 93-100. You know, I don't think I've ever been to a winning Raptor game... hmmm. Thanks for the ticket Ron!

Baking...

With both Saadia and Melanie taking baking classes, it encouraged me to try to attempt baking something of my own: Toblerone cookies! I found the recipe on the internet, and decided to give it a try.

I only made 6 cookies, but each cookie was pretty big! Ron was my first guinea pig, and he thought it was really good! I tried one shortly after, and thought it was just ok. I brought Tanaz and family two of the cookies, and Zarius liked it! Hey, if a kid liked it... then I'm happy. I may adjust the recipe a bit if I try it again, but I must say, the highlight of baking is the SMELL of the cookies in the oven! mmmm mmmmm mmmmm.

Movie watching...

This weekend was spent house sitting Di's place while she was off in NYC - mainly watching movies, which I always enjoy. Friday night I met up with Quel to watch Vicky Christina Barcelona, followed by some sweet potato fries at Hemingway's and walking around Yorkville. We continued to walk to the club district, which was insanely crazy with people out in various costumes that we ended up at Jack Astor's by the end. Since it was Halloween, Ghostbusters 2 was on TV when I got home, and I ended up watching that until about 3am.

Saturday morning, I watched Bee Season on TV, which I didn't really understand but continued on watching hoping that by the end it would all make sense - nope. I then met up with Quel and had lunch at St. Lawrence market. We watched Changeling after lunch - good movie, and it frustrated me to know that it was based on a true story. We walked around for a bit and then had dinner at Pho 88... mmm... perfect for a cold evening. I dropped Quel off and she loaned me a few dvd's which I watched that night: Jack and Jill vs. the World, and Married Life. I have to say - they were both bad. The thing with me watching movies is that no matter how bad or how tired I am - I have to finish the movie. It's one of those things where I feel if I fall asleep or don't watch it until the end, I may miss the 'good' part. I always hope the movie will get better - but most times, I'm quite disappointed.

Sunday was spent with Ron. No, not movie watching. We went grocery shopping, and I finally decided to start on my Christmas list! We got 3 kids off our list, so I'd say that was pretty productive!