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Late Nights in the Tee Dot
Welcome to the weekend!!
I’ve been a little MIA again, but with good reason :)
After last blogging on Thursday, I went out with my friends, proceeded to drink more than intended, and didn’t get home until 3am.
What should have been a shitty morning on Friday (thanks to my weak minded-ness when it comes to cheap draft beer) was quite the opposite.
I got a job offer!! At a gym :D
I have yet to accept as I still have a couple more interviews. But I’m pretty frickin’ happy that after only a week of being in this city, I potentially have a job :)
I’d had high hopes of making it to a spin class Friday morning. Hopes that were dashed somewhere around 1am Thursday night. Instead I got to celebrate my job offer with a new blogger friend!!
Morgan, from Life After Bagels is another Toronto-area blogger, but she can’t make it to the big meet-up I planned for this Sunday. A lunch date was clearly in order and she picked out a fabulous place called Utopia.
Utopia is right next to Little Italy. I hadn’t been to that part of the city yet and it’s such a charming spot!! The restaurant is known for their burritos, so my decision was almost easy.
They had so many fun burrito combos to choose from! I ended up with a Grilled Tuna Burrito: grilled yellow fin tuna, zucchini, onions, pesto, asiago cheese, lettuce, salsa.
Delicious combo. The tuna was well cooked and pesto makes anything taste amazing. I had an awesome time chowing down on this while gabbing with Morgan. We started brainstorming about all the fun blogger meet-ups we can do in the future – I can’t wait!!
The burrito kept me full for a while, so when dinner rolled around, I kept it simple.
I’d only ever found seasoned tempeh “burgers” in New Brunswick, so I was pretty excited when I noticed all the grocery stores here carry the plain regular stuff!
I sliced it up and put it between toast with almond butter, bbq sauce and lettuce. I know it sounds like a weird combo, but the bbq and almond flavour pair perfectly with the nutty flavour of tempeh.
And here is why I didn’t have time to blog yesterday – immediately after dinner I went to my first ever major league baseball game!
Toronto is home to Canada’s only MLB team, the Blue Jays. My now deceased Papa was their biggest fan, so I will always have a soft spot for them.
It was also my first time in the Rogers Centre (aka Skydome). It was a beautiful night to be sitting in there!! We also had a great view of the CN Tower ;)
Roommies!
We ended up leaving after the 7th inning, as the Jays were getting completely embarrassed by the Red Sox.
*Sigh* at least we’ll always have the ‘92 & ‘93 seasons :P Good news for Kelly though!
Somewhere around here I learned the term “street meat” and realized that watching baseball really does work up an appetite for hot dogs.
So many delicious toppings to choose from, so dangerous because they’re going to fall all over the place anyways.
Let’s see… there was ketchup, mustard, relish, sauerkraut and corn salsa. All on a whole wheat bun of course ;)
I decided early on I wasn’t going to get drunk drink a second night in a row. I had legitimate hopes of going to a morning spin class again.
Those hopes were once again dashed somewhere around 1am when we went to a fabulous bar called Sin & Redemption with an extensive beer menu. Once I saw the Fruli Strawberry Wheat it was all over.
Delicious. I had just one and it was worth every sip! I’m a wheat beer gal to begin with, and the sweet strawberry was perfect with it.
I also got to experience the madness of Queen St W at 2am on a Friday night. That in itself is an experience. We met an interesting fellow who gave us 20 bucks for no good reason – these Toronto people are so nice!! :P
And with that, I’m taking my sorry butt to the gym. No spin class today, but maybe some fun on the cardio machines. I will make it to that morning spin class someday. Mark my words.
Leslieviller
Hellloooo from Toronto!!
Or, my new ‘hood Leslieville :)
Sister Sara took the bus with me from Ottawa yesterday and we immediately came to my neighbourhood and hit up a place called Ceili Cottage.
SO many good restaurants in my area, but we chose this place because Sara raved about their caesars.
Rimmed with seaweed!!
They had a lot of neat traditional fare, which varies day to day based on their weekly roast. Thursday’s special was a Peameal sandwich + salad.
With fresh Irish brown bread. OMG. So good.
We split the above sandwich and a smoked salmon plate. Salmon was freshly smoked too. I can see myself coming back here a lot!! Apparently they roast marshmallows sometimes??
Once our bellies were adequately full, we checked out the apartment situation. I came with only three suitcases and a sleeping bag, so my room is pretty bare at the moment.
Unfortunately the apartment wasn’t cleaned before we moved in, so it needed to be scrubbed down right away. More pictures to come once we get the place spic and span!!
Seeing as yesterday was Canada Day on top of moving day, drinks were in order!!
This GIANT beer is called the Leslieville Lager at Stratengers pub, although I’m told it may be Big Rock Amber or the likes. There was a lot of muscle contraction happening bringing that giant glass to my mouth.
I ordered an un-pictured salad (vegetables!!) but Sara ended up with something that was very blog-worthy.
A gargantuan enchilada. Look at the cheese!! It was cah-razy. And wonderful. All at once. Check out Sara’s thumb in the back. She ate maybe a third of it. The rest is currently cheesing up our new fridge.
Yay! Sisters!! Sara has been so helpful throughout all of this. It’s not even worth going into because I won’t do her kindness any justice!!
Giant beers were followed by giant fireworks.
Fireworks must be watched on Canada Day. I think I missed them last year due to my job at the time. Happy to be here this year instead :)
We ended up going to bed too late, and were up too early. I’ve got a lovely cough happening right now which will hopefully be cured with a good night’s sleep tonight. I’ve been putting my poor body through quite the wringer lately!!
All hopes of running this morning were put aside. Sara and I rolled right from bed to the Leslieville Diner.
It’s everything a diner should be, from the endless coffee refills to the raspy-voiced waitress who knows everyone by first name.
You can’t go wrong with a $4.85 breakfast special. Yes, you could get egg whites, or fruit, or some other upgrade, but y’all know I really wanted the bacon and whole eggs.
Hey, at least I went fro whole wheat dry toast ;) And yes, I did eat all THREE eggs. It kept me full for 5 hours.
The lasting power was needed today, as Sara and I embarked on my first ever pilgrimage to IKEA.
The one-way trip required a bus, three subways, and a special IKEA shuttle to the store. Yes, a shuttle.
It was worth it though, we managed to get a mattress, bed frame, two small tables, two drawer units and a small bookshelf for a very very reasonable price.
I’m told any trip to IKEA must include a trip to its restaurant.
This was definitely an experience in itself. I of course had to try their famous Swedish meatballs.
Ummm, pretty frickin’ good!! I really liked the mild gravy on top, and the balls themselves were nicely spiced. I must say though, I still prefer making meatballs at home!!
Sara and I split the above, as well as the below…
Cinnamon rolls count as a meal carb… right?? Right?? :P Okay, this was so not necessary, but holymoly it was divine. My sister and I are self-proclaimed cinnamon roll and sticky bun connoisseurs, and this one definitely makes my Top 5. Lots of cinnamon sugar and super soft.
Currently, I’m drinking a DC (blame the hot weather and illness).
While blogging from what is likely to be my new favourite coffee shop.
Comfy chairs, good music and date squares the size of my hand. I have a feeling I’m going to like Toronto :)
Blogging will be sporadic until I get internet on Tuesday, but there are still more amazing blogger interviews to go up. Thank you so much for joining me on these last couple months of being a vagabond, I’m really excited to unpack my bags and set up a new life here. Now, if you don’t mind, I have an IKEA delivery due in 15 minutes ;)
Peek-a-Boo! I’m Back!
Hi friends!! Didja miss me? I missed you!! I don’t apologize for taking days off from blogging. Even bloggers need a day off to relax sometimes ;)
Unfortunately, I do not return with many exciting things to report from yesterday. I of course celebrated Waffle Wednesday.
Two Nature’s Path maple cinnamon waffles topped with blended cottage cheese, almond butter, cinnamon and maple syrup. Ooohhh yessss :)
At some point I snacked on an awesome KIND bar – Almond & Coconut flavour.
The coconut in this was top notch, not the cheap-o bulk stuff I usually buy. And it was chock full of whole almonds. Thumbs up!!
Oh, and I made pasta! Boring dish for most, but I never make regular pasta, so it was a treat for me :)
It had this:
And this:
(with onions, mushrooms and bell pepper because I have to add them to everrrrything I make).
Turned into this!:
I put the sauce on some spelt penne noodles, brussel sprouts, zucchini and asparagus. Topped with parmesan of course ;) Yum! Now I have a ton of sauce leftover.
I was actually going to go to the gym after work yesterday, but I ended up working late and skipped it so I could hang out with the boyfriend I never see instead. So I was up bright dark and early this morning to make up for it. I did an hour of treadmill intervals and it was awesome! I actually prefer running first thing in the morning, less food in my tummy to disagree with me and slow me down. I did my favourite hour-long set:
On a 1% incline:
2 min @ 3.0 mph
3 min @ 3.5 mph
5 min @ 5.6 mph
10 min of 1 min intervals alternating between 6.0 & 6.4 mph
10 min of 1 min intervals alternating between 6.2 & 6.6 mph
10 min of 1 min intervals alternating between 6.4 & 6.8 mph
10 min of 1 min intervals alternating between 6.6 & 7.0 mph
5 min @ 6.0 mph
3 min @ 3.5 mph
2 min @ 3.0 mph
Good times. My heart rate didn’t go below 170 bpm for the last 20 minutes, which is pretty rare for me! Means I was pushing myself, and am getting better at maintaining those high heart rates for longer periods :)
I had to be at work early today, so I made breakfast and iced coffee last night.
The lighting on top of my TV seems to work best these days…
Peanut M&M cookie :)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2/3 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- M&Ms
- splash almond milk
I scraped the cookie off the plate, flipped it over, and stuck it in the freezer while I showered. Gets rid of the gooeyness that sometimes happens on the bottom.
Work was work, lots of running around in the rain today. I did however get to run home for a quick lunch in between assignments. Since I was driving the work car, I didn’t think to grab my house/car keys on the way out – and I locked them in my apartment!!! Ugggghhh. I am such a scatterbrain. Seriously, my life is a mess sometimes. I called Chris in a panic, and he was able to pick me up from work and expertly break into my apartment (I don’t know whether to be happy or concerned it’s so easy to break into…). So crisis kinda averted. With the whole speeding thing, and now this, I think I lost 2 years of my life in stress this week.
Thankfully, I got to lay a load off at the pub tonight :)
My newsroom coworkers had a little going away get together for me tonight :) I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again – the job itself may not be for me, but I worked with some amazing people. Not just nice and fun, but really talented and good at what they do.
As for the food, I drank this beer, snacked on a few nachos and ate part of a big Greek salad. It actually wasn’t that much food volume-wise, but I was stuffed!!
Oh, and look at what they gave me as a going away gift!!
A $60 gift certificate to a sporting goods store. How appropriate is that? They all know I’m doing my personal training certification now (and that I often mosey into the office in the morning having run “x” amount of miles already). I’m hoping to spend the money on some desperately-needed long running pants :)
Well friends, that is all from me tonight. I’ve got to be at work early again tomorrow, and want to fit a weight lifting sesh in beforehand. I must get in the kitchen an prepare a bazillion meals for tomorrow :P
Question of the Day: What’s your favourite part about your job? At the radio station, it was definitely the peeps! Not just the newsroom folks either, the whole office was full of good-hearted people. Starbucks is the sweet discount, duh :P
