i got a city love...

in a mere 30 days, i'll be walking the streets and taking it all in. it never gets old i tell ya. we'll be sippin' on coffee, eating delicious pizza, and enjoying drinks on the rooftop patio. and of course, galavanting in washington for a day, too.

taken last year.

the energy in that city just can't be matched. take me back now. until then, i'll just walk around toronto and enjoy my city.

one extreme to another...

lately, life has been a little boring. i've been at another location for 2 weeks now, and my work schedule has pretty much been the opposite of what i typically get. while it's been a nice change of pace, and nice to get to know different people, i'm ready to get back to my regular schedule with the people i normally work with. plus, working at 7:30am is really screwing my sleeping; even though i'm an early bird, i'm not up that early (6am).

 i browsed the sale section of the book store the other day and treated myself to a new book. so far so good.

when i'm not working, this is what we're doing. and when the weather is cooperating, we're out for walks.

speaking of the weather, last week i was in shorts and a tank top. monday and tuesday of this week, i had to wear a winter coat, a scarf, and earmuffs. and they're calling for snow tomorrow. so weird. in other boring news, i have to get my passport renewed today because it expires the day before we get back from nyc. quite annoying. i'm not looking forward to likely sitting in an office among a hundred other people for a couple hours. luckily, dylan is coming with. what a way to spend my day off...

word(s) on the street...

when walking home from getting ice cream last week, we passed these few pieces of art on buildings.

true that.

must find out what my dream is first.

that it is.


keep spreadin' the good words, whoever you are. i like it.

brighter than sunshine...

wednesday was pretty close to being the most perfect day. we had fantastic 26 degree weather and i got to bust out the shorts and tank top and sandals. dylan showed up around 10:30am and from there, we went to a cute little italian cafe for coffee (zaza) and sat at one of the few teeny tables they have set up on the street. from there, we went to the st lawrence market, bought some yummy food, and then laid in the grass with the sun shining down in a nearby park. once home, we popped a bottle of white wine and enjoyed it on the porch. oh, and there was also ice cream involved after dinner; the streets were bustling, guys  were singing some jason mraz, and we sat there with chloe taking it all in.

americano for him, latte for me.

up next, lasagna from the market. i had told him it was the best i had ever had and really hyped it up. he agreed.

seriously, it's better than any italian can make (it's a little ukranian shop).

stuffed everything! we picked out a few things ;)

laying in the grass.

squinty eyes. shadows. bad angles. double chins.

she's so cute.

stick obsession.

after dinner stroll for ice cream.

our familia.

it was a long, packed day, but pretty awesome if you ask me. the weather is just outta this world and makes me so ready for the warm weather to stay. now, go off and enjoy your weekend!

dinner party...

out first little dinner party happened last Saturday. my friend had just moved into her new place, so it wasn't really decorated yet, and there was no table, but we made do with a little improvisation. we brought some wine and a casserole, and she had made salad and a delicious bacon wrapped chicken breast. there was also the best bread topper i've ever eaten- it's pretty much goat cheese on the bottom of a plate and pureed black olives on top. spread it on bread and it's heaven. we then had apple crumble and ice cream for dessert; basically we rolled outta there. i also discovered that i'm a pinot grigio gal, just like my girl ramona from nyc.

 peach sweater, purple pants, mint nails; basically, i was easter.

hey, hey.

 wino.

 ate a little, then took pics. of course.

see? told ya we (dylan) improvised..moving boxes for tables!

there was also 2 dogs hanging around..montana (pictured)-my friends boyfriend's dog, and her little dog, not pictures. i was lovin' it.

unfortunately, it seems i only took phone pictures. womp womp. but, we had a good time and i'm pretty sure we need to do it more often. i guess that means that next time it's our turn to host.

keepin' my eyes on you...

a random assortment, in no particular order..

 this. i just cannot stop laughing. iswap faces is a great app. (obviously, i'm cheap and have the free version that leaves watermarks.)

 dinner by moi.

 i'm also on draw something and i'm a fantastic artist, as you can see. it was pauly d, by the way.

 mornings.

 they had each other on ignore for a bit.

stole this from pinterest. he's trapped in my phone!

i can't even handle the weather lately. i know i keep bringing it up, but i was in shorts yesterday. SHORTS! and tomorrow may reach 30 degrees. that's like, mid july heat right there. i checked my blog to see what it was like this time last year, and apparently on the 23rd, i woke up to snow. hey global warming. 

that said, welcome the first day of spring.

choppity-chop...

another hair appointment, another change-up. i think i'm in a 'life rut' and so i change my hair. back to the blonde it is, and another couple inches off at that. it's been  many years since it's been this short, but i love it.

 car smirk. 

once again, i feel like myself. since september, i've had 3 different colors and lengths. people at work probably think i'm a wackadoodle who can't make up her mind. but me and blonde-we just go together.

the peaks and the pits...

i'm taking a cue from the kardashians (*ahem*) and doing the peaks and pits (also known as the highs and lows) of this last week and upcoming week.

peaks:

-when at work last week, someone asked if i had veneers. i think this is a compliment? but i usually find veneers to look big and fake like, so i'm not sure..i hope my teeth don't look big! ha
-one of my girl friends just moved into a new place and on saturday she's having me and dylan over for dinner with her boyfriend. our first grown up dinner date. how exciting! :)
-finally finding a dress for the wedding, and at $39 to boot. one more thing off the checklist.
-the weather lately has been insane. it's pushing 20 degrees celsius (around the 70s for you fahrenheit people) and i've my windows open for a few days now. the forecast for the next 5 days is lookin' beautiful.
-the number is getting smaller; 44 days until NYC.

pits:

-when me and my mom were on the way across the border, we were waiting in line and were about 4 cars from the border guy (after being in line an hour) and all of a sudden we feel a little tap from behind! we got hit! of course, you can't get out of your car at the border, so my mom couldn't check for any damage, but it was so light, she just let it go. about 15 minutes later, we were waiting in at the toll booth and we got HIT AGAIN from behind!!! this time a bit harder, so my mom had to get out. luckily, once again, there was no damage, and we were obviously fine. but really..2x within an hour!?? pay attention people!!
-i have to get my passport updated (it expires the day before we get back from our trip. really?!?) on saturday. i mean, no one looks good in a passport photo, that's basically a rule of life. hair behind your ears, no smiling..yuck.
-not only do i have to work at another location for 2 weeks starting monday, but my days start as early as 5:30am. i might die. or just be a zombie for 2 weeks. one of the two.

after nearly 5 years, i still never tire of seeing this sight daily.

sun shining on a warm wednesday.

i love my big bay windows here in my living room (and my bedroom) that allows the sun to pour in daily and a warm breeze to drift in.

i'm definitely looking forward to a weekend of sunshine and t-shirts. hopefully you can say the same, wherever you may be located! 

blog birthday...

i may have missed the anniversary of this little blog last week. oops. but, better late than never. so, that being said, happy 3 years! when my computer crashed on me a few weeks ago and for an hour all my pictures were gone, the only thing that gave me a smidgen of relief was knowing that i had my blog. it really is a diary and even now, sometimes i'll go back and read earlier entries and think, oh ya, we did that! and of course, there's all the people i've 'met' and connected with over the years.

a random photo i found from a few years ago, around the time i started this blog.

thanks to everyone, new and old readers, for sticking around and reading about my (sometimes boring) life, and leaving comments that make me smile. 

♥

good eats...

i like good food; a dieter, i am not. i do, however, need to start eating better, and that's a fact. i've put on a couple extra pounds, probbaly only noticable to me, but it's glaringly obvious. so the majority of the food in these pictures is OUT! veggies, fruits, and nuts are IN! i figure, maybe if i put it online, i'll stick to it. here's to hoping.

sadly, i was a loser. womp womp.

dylan showed up at my place at 8:30am one morning last week with bagels and fruit in tow! he woke up at 6  and made the hour trek :)

a typical breakfast for me. crumpets and peanut butter-my absolute favorite.

lunch at famous dave's bbq with my mom when we went across the border on saturday. pulled pork, garlic mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese with a cornbread buscuit. my god was it good.

me and mom spent sunday back in toronto and it was beautiful! it hit almost 16°C and we, along with everyone else, got some ice cream. i got the 'toronto pothole'-chocolate ice cream filled with marshmallows, peanuts, almonds, chocolate etc..delish! the outdoor cafes and restaurant patios were packed. bring on spring ;)

and then we split a piece of apple caramel cheesecake from whole foods. oh so good.


pass the carrots, please.

spring brights...

when me and my mom made the trip across the border on saturday to look for a dress for an upcoming wedding, i had no luck. i'm super picky, and like i've said, i find nothing flattering. but, that doesn't mean i came home empty handed ;) i'm now ready for spring with some bright tee's, peach jeans, a pair of pastel yellow jeans, and a light, airy, salmon sweater. all together, it was under $95! thank you to h&m and forever 21. and of course my mom ;)

color. pastels. bright.

while enjoying the great weather on sunday with my mom, we went to my favorite store to get dresses; mendocino. they get stock in everyday, carry a tonne of different labels, and they've got a wide range in prices. i must have tried on about 12 dresses and liked 1. another was cute, but not my color. the one i ended up with? regular $200 on sale for $39!!! crazy! they had one left, in my size. i was thrilled. plus, i have shoes, so no extra costs involved in this wedding outfit. not surprising-it's black.

now i just have to decide what shoes i want to wear with it? these nude shoes, these ones (which i'm wearing in nude in the pictures, but i have in black, which is what i would wear to this wedding), or go with these bright blue shoes for a pop of color? long legs with nude? sleek in all black? royal blue pop? decisions, decisions. opinions, anyone?

it takes a thousand miles to reach the stars tonight...

ah the weekend. rather exciting, isn't it? big plans for today, i tell ya; chloe's got a vet appointment, and ya, that's about it. dyl and i are betting on what she's going to weigh in at and we're thinking around 19.6 pounds (that's me getting specific), maybe even hitting 20. who knows. remember when they told me she would be 6-8 pounds?!? yaaa riiighhhhttt. that didn't happen. she's certainly not fat, you just never know with mixed breeds. so that's that, and i just went on a little tangent there. saturday, me and my mom are heading across the border for some shopping (still need a dress for an upcoming wedding!), and i'm happy to see that the dollar is par, or if not, very close.

via my pinterest

depending on what time we get back on saturday, me and dylan might get to have a little movie date. he won about 12 movie tickets from work, so we're set for a while! now to find out of there's anything new worth seeing this weekend. and if not, well, the popcorn certainly makes it worth going :)

happy weekend.
♥