such a beautiful sound...

most years we try to make it down to the beaches to see the victoria day fireworks. it's one big spectacle where a huge chunk of the city gathers on the sand and watches the sky light up. the fireworks were beautiful and they're always fun to see.

but what's not fun is the whole getting home after the fireworks, along with like, 100,000 other people. toronto transit (in any form-buses, streetcars, and subways) just cannot match the demand of how many people go. it becomes an absolute nightmare, and then add in the people who choose to drive and the streets become completely gridlocked. subways are rammed, cars/streetcars aren't moving (& they're packed like sardines) and good luck getting on a free shuttle. any other time we would have walked a bit until we left the crowds behind and then got on a streetcar, but you know, about 5 minutes after the fireworks ended, the clouds opened up and it POURED. the streets were a disaster, as everyone attempted cover with jackets and whatever they had. we stood there for a bit, unsure of what to do. obviously public transportation in the near future was out of the question and so was walking, it's just too far. we managed to catch a cab just out of all the craziness. had we caught the cab in the mess, i can only imagine what our toll would have been.

it was raining gold dust on the crowds here, or at least it felt that way.

secret garden...

i really do love the neighborhood we're in now. it's a different one from the one i lived in for 5 years, but i think i love it even more. so much of it reminds me of certain specific areas in the east village in nyc. and obviously with my obsessive love for that city, that makes me happy. we'll be walking along the street and i'll say to dylan, "this spot right here reminds of when we were sitting on that corner stoop drinking our coffee last year!" or "this street reminds me of that street in nyc." obsessed. yes me. plus, we're so close to the water and it just makes for great walks with the dog. it just smells like summer.

 the music garden.

 happy 6.5 years to us! (yesterday. we don't celebrate half years, but it dawned on me and i wished him a happy half anni :))

 boats + a plane taking off.

 clearly this dog was having an awesome day. (stolen from dylan's instagram ;))

the little one.

a long weekend...

we spend some of the weekend cleaning up our old place and making it spic and span for the next tenants. not my idea of how to spend 1 of the days of the long weekend, but it had been put off long enough and needed to be done. we spend a lot of time wandering around the city, like usual, me getting a little sick and spending a beautiful afternoon in bed, a double date to see iron man 3, and a bbq at my parents with my aunt and uncle.

 that would be cream cheese frosting in the banana bread and it was delicious.

 blue skies outside, me feeling sick inside. 

drinks were flowing and food was grilling.

caught a few fireworks off the balcony last night.

may 2-4 weekend is always iffy for rain. it's held off all weekend, but of course it's calling for it tonight, when the fireworks are. we go every year to the beaches, and i really don't want to miss out. fingers crossed for no rain!

what it feels like...

last week, the weather got a little crazy and between heavy rain, some serious fog rolled in. what you see below is what we saw standing on our balcony, unedited. it was an opaque wall of fog and honestly, really creepy to look out at. a little while later, dylan was outside the condo with his cousin, calls me, and tells me to meet him downstairs, and to have his cousins wife and 2 girls come along to go the grocery store since it wasn't raining and he thought they would like to see the cn tower. we get down there, and it starts spitting. we have no umbrellas.

we're about a 5 minute walk from a grocery store, so we get there, get a few things like pizza and chips, pay, and head out. we hit the door and it's absolutely pouring out. like, torrential downpour. the thing i'm most concerned about my little leopard flats. granted, they're only rocket dog and from marshalls (therefore not expensive), but still, that's how i ruined my last pair of leopard flats; by wearing them in the rain. so i do what any normal person would do in a situation like that; take my shoes off, tuck them in my jean jacket, and walk home barefoot. what can i say, i like to live on the edge.

soaked. drenched. 

but happy my shoes made it home dry!

anyways, happy long weekend my fellow canadians! enjoy it! the weather is looking a heck of a lot better than what we saw in this post.

rain room...

i found out about the 'rain room' at moma yesterday (which goes until july 28th) from joanna's blog and i was mesmerized. i think it's just the neatest thing and such a cool concept. i would love to see it before it's gone. basically, you stand in a room that's raining, but it detects your movement and the water pauses, therefore keeping you dry, though if you move too quickly, apparently you may get wet. here's a little video that gives you a better idea. and here are some beautiful pictures that were taken. i was looking on instagram at all the pictures, using #rainroom, and spend way too long oohing and aahing.  (*i'm sure the lines will be insane for this, since they only let 10 people in at a time. i wonder if there's a time limit?*)

photos via

this april was the first year in many years we haven't gone to nyc. i think we've been 6 or 7 times together now (+ all the times i've gone with my mom or friends, i love the city, duh), but i suppose we had a good reason for not going last month; moving into a sweet place! however, i still get a little sad thinking we missed a year. maybe, just maybe, we'll get there before this exhibit is over?? ;)