Toronto Day One

It was a Steak and French Fries weekend!!!!!!!!! 

Last weekend, I headed on over to Toronto for a girls weekend with Heather. We didn't have anything planned, (or so I thought.......)just a weekend of catching up, eating, and shopping. We stick to what we're good at ;) 

Immediately upon my arrival, Heather asked me the age-old question: are you hungry? 

I replied "no, not really", and then we took a nap. 

......................................

JUST KIDDING! This happened:

LOOK. AT. THAT. SPREAD. 

In my opinion, a TRUE friend gives you snacks when you pop by for a visit.  

Heather had cut up veggies, lunch meat, and Kali Spera Feta Dip all prepped and ready to go, with a bottle of chilled Niagara Riesling to wash it all down. 

If that's not a true friend, then I don't know what is. 

 

We dug right in and chatted away. I opened my belated birthday presents (an art set and 3 beautiful mercury glass bud vases!), while we got caught up and I settled in for the weekend. I haven't seen Heather in months, but every time we get together it feels like she lives right around the corner.

Before we knew it, hours had gone by, and it was time to get ready for dinner! 

But that wasn't all. Little did I know Heather had planned a surprise (I LOVE SURPRISES!!!!!!!!). 

We were doing a painting workshop at Paintlounge!!!!!!!!! HOW EXCITING IS THAT????????!!!! 

I was real excited. 

But more on that later. 

First, dinner, at Prohibition Gastrohouse in Leslieville. 

The waitress literally presented us with a BUCKET of hot sauces to go along with our oysters.  
It was great! 

We had an early-ish dinner which happened to be during "Hooch Hour". It's from 4-7 and 10-midnight every day so our drinks were a bit cheaper. 

Considering how early we were there, the place was pretty full and booming with loud conversation. 

I ordered a couple of Sloppy Joe Tacos and washed it all down with a pint of Cracked Canoe. 

Sloppy those tacos were indeed. 

Happy bellies, happy ladies! 

And then we were off. To the Paintlounge!!! 

Paintlounge is all about the fun, social painting process.

Art shouldn't be boring!! You shouldn't have to whisper in a stiff, snobby art gallery and tip-toe around! It should be relaxed and interactive. It should be fun like how art class used to be in elementary school. Do you remember your eyes lighting up and your imagination running wild at the sight of freshly laid-out craft supplies? I want that feeling back. 

Paintlounge has captured it for me. 

You choose the level of difficulty (easy/moderate/challenge, but all levels are apparently catered to beginners)and they basically do the rest. They supply all of the materials, and the instructor walks you through what you will be painting (we did cherry blossoms) step-by-step. They'll even make you a drink! (Non-alcoholic options only however... something they should look into. I can only imagine how next-level my painting could have been, had I had a glass of sauvignon blanc in hand haha.) 

I can't even tell you how much fun I had. 

Sometimes, ya just gotta let dem creative juices get ta flowing! 

It's good for the soul. 

I am BY NO MEANS an experienced painter, yet SO PLEASED with my final masterpiece. Check it! 

We all painted the same thing with the same instruction, but everyone's piece turned out slightly different. It was neat.

One especially enthusiastic older gentleman went HOG WILD with the blossoms. It was a blossom EXPLOSION on his canvas. Too sweet. 

Here are mine and Heather's canvases side-by-side. 

I cannot wait to hang my bébé up on the wall back home!! 

On the Hunt for the Best Caesar in Ottawa

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE!!!!!!! 

But actually. Tell me where!!

I have no idea how April (the month durrr not moi!) is already almost over. 

I started the month off right by celebrating my birthday back in Ottawa with my bebes. I didn't really plan much this year - all I wanted was a night of drinks and dancing. That's it! And I can honestly say, it was one of the best birthdays I've had in a really long time. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful friends from near and far to make me feel so special :) 

It's flowers! Shaped like a cake!  

Cranberry Margaritas with Strawberry - recipe here. 

Drunk in luUuUUuUUvv.

In other news, Dave and I did a cooking class! 

It all started one night when Dave made me watch a video of Gordon Ramsay cooking scrambled eggs. 

Then everything changed. Forever. 

Dear Mr. Gordon Ramsay, you blew our minds.  

Feeling inspired from our new idol, Gord (I really had no idea you were supposed to cook scrambled eggs that way!!), we decided to sign up for a PC cooking class at Loblaws.  

Surprise, surprise, I picked a class with a maple themed menu (April + maple = 4evr!!) which included: 

Maple scallops 

Maple quinoa

Maple pork roast 

... AND maple pecans and walnuts with ice cream for dessert. 

It was all so DEELISH and honestly a ton of fun.

You watch the chef prepare the meal (kinda poopy if you want to get hands on, but a really good thing if you are in the mood to sit back and relax!), and then it is plated and served. Even without getting our hands dirty, we both learned a lot!(Like what it means to nappé, and these lil pink peppercorns our chef was seriously obsessed with.) 

We went to the Superstore in Orleans - the other ladies in the class were adorable (I think they do these classes on the reg, and couldn't get enough of young Dave and I) and both chefs were super fun and interactive. If you're looking for a different date idea, definitely give one of these a try!    

  

Now stop your droolin', and LOOKIT ALL DESE PRETTY DRESSES!! 

Lil' Hanz and I spent a Sunday hitting up the Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show at the Ottawa Convention Centre. 

IT WAS SO COOL I'm so glad we went. The dresses were sick, they ranged from cheapies at $20 to vintage wedding gowns for around $800. The crowd was also super interesting. Hip fashionistas everywhere!! I think I had a 50/50 equal amount of fun watching the fashionistas shop and actually shopping myself haha. 

We spent like 3-4 hours (but it actually only felt liiiike 2!) checking out the different shops and trying on tons of vintage goodies. I left with a sparkly crop top and Hannah bought a pair of booties. Vintage clothes shopping is actually kinda hard!!! The event was HUGE and I had a hard time staying focused enough to riffle through all of the racks. You need a certain mindset to get in there and get stuff done. Gotta mentally prepare. Still a successful Sunday tho. We finished the day off with some burritos from Corazon de Maiz and I went home a happy wom! 

I have also recently discovered my new fav restaurant in Ottawa, The Albion Rooms!!! 

. 

So I can't lie... I've been here twice in just over a week. I'm OBSESSED. But I have good reasons!! 

A: It is sooooooooooo cool. Top 5 coolest restaurant in Ottawa for SURE. Just so cool. I really have no other words to describe it, other than cool.

B: I have finally discovered the best caesar in Ottawa!!!!!! 

Oh baybay baaaaybay 

For those of you not from Canada, the Caesar is a cocktail made of vodka, Clamato (a blend of tomato juice and clam broth, sounds disgusting but is actually good), hot sauce (the spicier the betta!) and Worcestershire sauce. The rim is usually rimmed with celery salt and it's typically garnished with a stalk of celery. It's a super popular drink in Canada, a hangover cure from the gods, and straight up DELICIOUS. You can order it with brunch. You can order it while out for evening drinks. SO VERSATILE! There's tomato juice in it, so you are basically eating a vegetable, so healthy right now. Kind of hungry but not too hungry? Order a caesar and it basically comes with a snack FO FREE! 

As you can already see, I am obsessed with caesars. I've been on the hunt for the best one in Ottawa, and I think I have finally found it at The Albion Rooms. They call it the "Marcus Brutus" and it is good stuff! Here's how I usually judge a good ole caesar: 

Spicy Factor: It needs to be spicy. Needs. This is non negotiable. 

Rim: There needs to be a substantial rim in place. The thicker the better. 

Consistency: Ain't nobody want a watery caesar. Too chunky can be weird too. 

And last but not least... the garnish: Simple celery stick... meh. Spicy bean... we're getting there. Cured meats... YES PLEASE!!!!

The Marcus Brutus has earned a near-perfect Caesar score and I highly recommend it. 

The Albion Rooms is great for dinner, or just casual drinks with the girls (with a cheese plate, you won't regret it!!!). 

And if you know of any other quality Caesars in Ottawa, let me know! The hunt never really ends.  

Go Home Winter, You're Drunk!

Spring has finally sprung! Errrrrrr wait, what?! 

WHAAAAAAAAT IS GOING ON HERE?! What is this white stuff!!!!! Why am I still wearing my winter coat?????? Life is unfair. :( 

Dear Canada, I love you, but you are one chilly beotch! 

These photos are from a hike a few weeks ago at Gatineau Park with Dave :) SUNDAY FUNDAY! 

We thought it would be one of the last days of winter. 

Oh, how we were wrong.  

Spring, where are you?? 

On a brighter note, pancakes (and french toast)!!! 

Last week I wrote my final exams for our psychiatry/neurology block (woo!) and had a week off afterwards to relax and re-charge before my last Unit of second year. I decided to fly back home and spend the week with my family, since I plan on doing some travelling this summer and don't really know when I'll be visiting next. I spent the week mostly catching up on sleep, catching up with friends, and eating... EVERYTHING. Seriously all I've been doing is eating. I can't stop! Wutevr. 

Most of my hometown friends are real humans with real jobs now (while I'm just like heeeey guys just putting on my backpack and heading to class!) so we couldn't get up to anything too crazy, but I still managed to sneak in a couple adventures here and there ;) 

Right off the plane, I got home, cleaned myself up, and headed out for my BFF Christine's 25th birthday. I'm such an idiot, I didn't take a single photo! Very not April like, I don't even know who I am anymore!!! Photo evidence or not, I'm so glad I  made it for my home gurl's special day :) 

So, back to those pancakes... 

My biggest adventure of the week was heading out to Gilbertson's Pancake House (said: hauuuuuuse) with Cait. We planned this activity WEEKS in advance, I've never been so excited to eat pancakes ever!! MAPLE SYRUP EVERYTHANGGGG!! 

Gilbertson's is about an hourish drive from where I live, and is the largest producer of maple syrup in Ontario. I remember coming out here as a kid with my grandma, but I haven't been in aaaages. It doesn't look like anything I remember! I was in luv with the wooden beam ceilings.  

We strategically chose to come on a weekday, so we basically had the place to ourselves (things can get pretty nuts on the weekend). I'm also proud to report that the two of us almost used the entire bottle of maple syrup for the table! You go gurls. 

After our meal we wandered around the gift shop to check out all of the maple goodies. Maple coffee. Maple fudge. Maple candies. Maple candles. Maple salad dressings and sauces!! And of course, the original, good old maple syrup. I don't think I've ever been surrounded by so many maple offerings! If you're ever stuck for a gift idea for an international friend, I think some of this maple paraphernalia would be really thoughtful! Cait bought some candies, and I came home with a lollipop. 

But before we hit the road, we decided to wander around their boilers and the property a bit. I'm stillllll not 100% sure if those boilers were indeed open to the public, but it happened. Maybe because we were the only people there, it just felt like we were trespassing! Haha. 

Just incase we hadn't eaten enough already, for my last day in town Cait and I decided to check out a new restaurant, called Low & Slow - Smoked Fusion BBQ. I love when my hometown gets new restaurants!! Our community has an ABUNDANCE of Italian eats, so when something different comes along I get excited. 

I got the cheese mac and a pulled pork po'boy. All washed down with some sweat tea! If you're gonna do southern bbq, might as well go all out. Cait got biscuits & gravy and the sweet cheese mac. Service was a little slow but the place was packed. They make their own variety of BBQ sauces in house. I loved it!!! 

For my last night in town, I spent it celebrating my "almost" birthday with my family (the big day is Friday!). I was still pretty full from lunch, but I managed to make some room for ice cream cake (#priorities). I had such a nice week at home, but now it's back to Ottawa and back to the grind! I'm ready. Let's go kick sum bootie. 

#baller #shotcaller