So I’ve had a pretty nice weekend and thought I would share the deets with y’all.
Friday after work I met up with ME at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. There was mad chaos out front as the babes of Bollywoodland arrived for the next night’s awards soiree. We headed to the Library Bar for Indian-inspired cocktails, and were quickly consuming their Jaipur Mojito with its fresh watermelon infusion. Although, the BEST watermelon mojitos I’ve had were poolside at the Hollywood Roosevelt, these ones were not bad. The $24 “sharing plate” of massala-spiced tapas was GRAVELY disappointing, however. Describing the size as miniscule would not suffice.
Keep it in perspective; these were all bite-size…
Mmm… watermelony
Afterwards we sauntered over to Queen & John for a pint at The Town Crier, the new beer haven that now casts its mighty shadow over Smokeless Joe. The bartender gave me the stink-eye when I ordered a half-pint. I wasn’t going to get all into it with him, and explain that I have been on a gluten-free diet for the past eight weeks and this was my first foray back into the barley & hops. He looked at me the way me and JG looked at the girl in Paddy Reilly’s in NYC (the world’s first and only all-draught Guinness pub) who asked the bartender for something “girly and not Irish.”
Pure Genius
I wanted to explain to The Town Crier waiter that I own thirstybeaver.ca, I’m one of them– his beer brethren– but he didn’t seem interested. My King Pilsner was quite bitter-tasting, but man how I’ve missed the refreshment of a golden glass fit for the gods!
Saturday morning and afternoon was spent (along with a stomach ache from my gluten cheats) watching WNED, doing laundry, washing the kitchen floor, and cleaning the bathroom. The evening saw me showered and changed into Indian-esque patterned capri pants, a black silk t-shirt, and a sequin shrug– fitting attire for the International Indian Film Academy awards gala! JG invited me to a V.I.P. box to watch the show. The Rogers Centre was PACKED, with screaming, cheering Bollywood fans. Dalton McGuinty was there to give welcome remarks, and a bunch of people dressed in white danced around to a performance ad for the province of Ontario (yup), complete with Chinese dragons (YUP). Maybe 15% of the guests wore sarees. I wanted to but JG said I wasn’t allowed. Since I’m not Indian. And we’d be sitting in her work box. Sigh. I’ve been looking for a reason to wear a saree for years! Instead, I pigged out on popcorn, chips, and white wine. Maybe I was just really thirsty but Two Oceans sauvignon blanc goes down really smooth! (NOTE: On June 15th, JG and I attended iYellow Wine Club’s South African Braai at C Lounge with an amazing array of S.A. wines. Will write blog post about that soon!)
Sunday morning saw me up to watch the Corrie omnibus as per usual, and then pop over to Bloor West Village for a few groceries– including a fresh baguette and some shaved ham for the JAMBON-BEURRE!!! I would soon be eating on my picnic in High Park with my university friend SPK! Yay, ham sandwich! Yay, SPK! (Not sure which one I was more looking forward to, heh heh.) We picnicked by the playground with her two sons, and then sauntered over to the zoo to visit the yaks, llamas, bison, emu, Highland cattle, peacocks, et al. I just love how there’s a zoo across the street from my apartment. I especially love the Highland cattle and their shaggy fringe. (I cut my own bangs on Thursday. I hope my stylist doesn’t read my blog. She’d kill me!)
MOO!
After SPK headed back out of town, my cousin M (of M&M) came over and we went back up to Bloor West Village for a sushi b-day dinner (his, not mine). Loves me some sushi pizza. Then we popped into the Chapters, which is housed in the old Runnymede theatre and you can still see the stage and the gold ceiling decorations. It’s awesome.
Anyhoo, so here it is coming up on 11pm and this eventful, happy weekend has almost come to a close. Whilst writing this post, I finished my bedtime snack of (two) pasteis de Nata tarts and a cup of French-pressed coffee.
Surprisingly, I did not spill this on my laptop…
And now all that’s left to do is pick out something to wear tomorrow, and then get ready for bed. Yay, sleep! That’s where I’m a viking!
Night, y’all.
x