1. Free potatoes, rice and peas to go with our falafels.
2. Text messages from all over sending happy wishes.
3. Little Lukas at the kitchen table, offering me his candy cane ice cream, over and over. ‘Julia [insert developing language here] try miiine?’ End that with a huge grin! I cross to the other side of the table to be fed a Thomas-the-Tank spoonful. I return to my side. Repeat. Each time with a grin bigger than the last.
An honourable mention from yesterday:
A. Isabelle helped me take several bags to Goodwill
B. after our delicious meal of Italian veal sandwiches
C. followed by fruit (raisins, that is, in a butter tart).
1. The bootie boots I got yesterday are pretty hottie-hot!
2. Famished, I discovered baklava in the kitchen at work.
3. Thanks to a tip from Neil, I had fun exploring Good Business Day (a ‘continuously updated source of information on holidays and observances affecting global financial markets—bank holidays, public holidays, currency non-clearing days and trading and settlement holidays affecting exchanges’).
Happy National Unity Day, Zimbabwe.
1. Superstuffed: two slices of orange carrot cake.
2. Superbad: two high school kids in a riotous flick.
3. Superbeer: two reds resting in the fridge, waiting.
1. Feeling the love: film directors and learning the art of.
2. Feeling the love: grandmothers and beaming smiles from.
3. Feeling the calories: Izzy and sharing free birthday cake with.
1. Goodbye, Miss Elena (brunch titled ‘Indian’)
2. Goodbye, Miss Vivian (linner titled ‘Japanese’)
3. Hello, Miss Jennifer (email titled ‘chocolate treats for you in the fridge’)
I love Indian food, but do not recommend it for breakfast.
1. Two little nephews sneaking into bed early in the morning. ‘Oh! I thought you were mummy – but you're Auntie Julia!’
2. With my 4-year-old companion, sneaking pink and blue cream cheese icing and pink and blue Smarties from the carrot cake sitting atop the kitchen island.
3. In hysterics, rolling back and forth with Lukas on speckled white floor tiles after Gymboree: sneaking snow pants onto a giggly, fidgety two-year-old in a Canadian winter in a simultaneously hilarious and exhausting moment.
1. Guest Surprise – Meeting up once again with the talented women of Frames and Pictures.
2. ‘Guest Straw’ – Sipping on Kat’s strawberry banana milkshake.
3. Guest Beds – A, Sneaking a little afternoon nap. B, Sneaking into a little sister’s crib.
1. Honouring: attending one very inspiring awards luncheon.
2. Spacing: attending a release party for Toronto's coolest mag.
3. Attending: to the maple-glazed doughnut Kevin bought me.
‘Today is the tomorrow I was terrified of yesterday.’
1. Queen Street West: Doing the gallery walk, warm lights glowing from storefront galleries at twilight.
2. Queen Street West West: Gingerly picking up salad with folded bread between fingers; eating an entire meal without utensils at Addis Ababa Ethiopian restaurant. Ridiculously delicious!
3. Hollywood Boulevard: A night of raspberry sorbet and the boys of Entourage. Ouch! Hot! Jeremy Piven. Sigh...
1. Gift: Box of luxury Ukrainian chocolates.
2. T-shirt: ‘50 Ways to Leave Your Blubber’
3. Fruit: Large, ripe, green, sweet, juicy pear.
Random 1. It was quite warm outside, so I biked (again).
Random 2. A girl at work swiped me in with her passcard.
Random 3. Leftover mini-cheesecake, coffee bean on top.
AND my brother called me tonight. Myliu, broliuk!
It's an official Me Day!
1. I sleep in because I can.
2. I call NYC because I can.
3. I eat the whole tub of Haagen-Dazs Extraas Caramel Cone Explosion ice cream because I can.
1. Falafels (second for half-price) from Laila's.
2. Eggplant slice, grilled on request, while waiting.
3. Leftover Halloween candies, hunted down...
Mouth watering, 1:00 am EST, going to hunt down eggplant.
1. Pastry. I'm at this thing. I meet this nice guy from Kent, Ohio. He'd like to share his Belgian beer; I'd like to share my gnocchi. We picnic on Greek Orthodox church-steps. He is half-Greek, half-Lithuanian. My nephews are half-Greek, half-Lithuanian. We toast from plastic cups labelled ‘Baltika’. We pour Forêt beer from its wine-shaped bottle. The foam is thick and creamy like a pastry.
I've always liked people from Ohio.
2. Film. I'm at this thing. I see this Robert Redford feature titled The Unforeseen. I learn about Barton Springs and the aquifer in Austin, Texas. Inspired by the perseverance and the conviction of its people, I decide I must make an appointment with Barton Springs for a swim. ‘If the people lead, the leaders will follow.’
I've always wanted to visit Austin.
3. Wine. I'm at this thing. I re-meet this nice guy from Toronto. We drink red wine and talk about ... well, we talk about all kinds of things. He is a writer and artist who keeps on keeping on ... and even though we should both call it a night, we don't. Priorities? These are coffee-spoon moments.
I've always liked kindred creative spirits.
1. Online: Surprise! Tori, tomorrow night.
2. Offline: Korean green tea birthday cake.
3. In line: Encouraging coursework grades.
My friend runs a travellers' hostel, where I met her for lunch. Hostels are where it's at.
1. Salad: Fresh vegetables from Kensington Market.
2. Speech: Fresh conversation from Spain, Japan, Israel.
3. Slammin': As in, Mmm, Fresh Slammin' Hotties!
1. The ‘G’ for ‘group’: many hands made light work.
2. A woman caught up to me crossing the street to return a piece of paper that had fallen from my pocket. ‘Gee, thanks!’
3. Gelato with R; Guinness with I.
1. ¡Hola! Bumping into my Spanish teacher y su madre en el banco.
2. ¡Hola! My friend's brother served me a large green tea ice-cream for the price of a small.
3. ¡Hola! ‘I'm so excited to have you joining my professional world. Just let me know if I can do anything to help!’
Office Candy could mean many things. Today it means Treats. The kind people leave on their desks in small jars.
This post is dedicated to Anonymous Provider, Co-Worker of the Year. I have never laid eyes on such decadent office confectioneries. Entering Anonymous Provider's office can make anyone feel like a kid trick-or-treating in the poshest district on Halloween.
1. Candy-licious: not your run-of-the-mill sweet and sours. Lovely lollipops, joyous jelly beans, jamborees of jube-jubes...
2. Caramel-icious: chocolate-covered and non-chocolate-covered...
3. Chocolatey-icious: rich, individually-wrapped squares, mints of every persuasion, luxurious dark chocolate enveloping soft, buttery toffee...
Thank you, Anonymous Provider!
