it's March 8 and still snowing. i'm trying to make the best of it, but i think the "Seasonal Mood Disorder" is kicking in, therefore, i decided to spend my weekend eating at a few of the restaurants on my list and get a nice massage while i was at it. it started snowing on friday afternoon around 2pm and it didn't stop until saturday night around midnight. we got 30 cm of snow in two waves and it was close to putting us over the all time snow record for one winter from 1938-9 of 207.4 cm. ottawa has gotten 410 cm - wow! on friday, i ate at milagro on john street (http://www.milagrorestaurant.com/). it was my first foray into mexican food in canada and it was actually quite good, although one of the other texans here hated it. maybe i was just really craving it, i dunno. i had enchiladas and rice with plantains. their salsa and chips were fabulous - the salsa was very citrusy and fresh. afterwards, i went to see "be kind, rewind". i fell asleep, of course, and was ready to leave early but because the theatres here are so quiet, i felt i couldn't. when i left the theatre around 11:30pm, it was still snowing very hard and yet people were still queued up outside the clubs in their halter dresses, heels, nary a coat to be found and standing in 12" of snow. they must really need to get their dance on!
when i woke up saturday morning, it was still snowing - phase 2 apparently of the storm. i decided to snuggle up and stay in for a while - i had breakfast, watched TV, and napped. around 1pm, i headed out and decided to go to queen street east to see a different part of the city in the snow. i thought i'd head to riverdale park. when i got to queen street, it was a mess. snow everywhere and cars sliding around. the snow ploughs were coming down so the streetcars were slow. the ploughs are cool! if i lived here and could have any job i wanted, i'd totally be either a streetcar driver or a snow plough driver. when there are cars blocking their path, the ploughs lift up one of their "arms" and leave the piles of snow around that car basically blocking it in - it's great fun! i got off at broadview and walked east looking for the park. i never found it and because i didn't have my map, never realized that it's actually on the danforth and not queen east. i passed by a chocolate shop i'd seen on breakfast television called "ambiance chocolat" (http://www.ambiancechocolat.ca/). i went in and picked up some truffles - my favorite was the milk chocolate caramle with fleur de sel - and some valrhona hot chocolate. yummy on a snowy day. the truffles were only $0.85 each - cheap by toronto standards. as i was standing in the shop, 3 streetcars passed in a row so i knew i was in trouble and wasn't going to be able to catch one back. sure enough, i didn't see one so i walked around the Leslieville neighborhood for a bit. i passed moss park and there were several people out, even in the blowing snow. many of them were playing frisbee with their dogs who were clearly loving the snow, romping and rolling around. after 20 minutes of waiting, i finally caught a streetcar back down king street. everything looked like it was wearing a little white hat! i was headed to my massage appointment at campden spa (http://www.camdenspa.com/) and just thought i'd get there a little early. i got there at 3:30pm for a 4pm appointment, had some green tea and warmed up. they took me at 3:45pm - which is why i love showing up early! - and had a great 90 minute massage. i've been taking pilates and really feel stronger from it. i think it's something i'd like to stick with. after my massage, i thought i'd grab some dinner before i went home so i waited for the king streetcar. it took a while because the tracks were covered in snow and the streetcars were moving very slowly. one finally came and i headed to "the foggy dew" at king west and niagara street (http://www.thefoggydew.ca/). i picked a room with a tv and no one in it so i could eat, but i think i got really bad service because there was no one else in with me. i had the chicken pot pie, which was fierce!, and a pint. it started snowing even harder and the winds were gusting up to 60 clicks. when i was done, it took a while to catch the streetcar back home. there was a crazy guy chatting everyone up - he said he was from north bay and it was like he'd never met a stranger. no matter who or what, he was shaking everyone's hand and asking them what they did. people were staring at him like he was nuts - no one is that friendly in the big city, after all! i watched some "arrested development", changed my clocks forward and called it a night.
when i woke up saturday morning, it was still snowing - phase 2 apparently of the storm. i decided to snuggle up and stay in for a while - i had breakfast, watched TV, and napped. around 1pm, i headed out and decided to go to queen street east to see a different part of the city in the snow. i thought i'd head to riverdale park. when i got to queen street, it was a mess. snow everywhere and cars sliding around. the snow ploughs were coming down so the streetcars were slow. the ploughs are cool! if i lived here and could have any job i wanted, i'd totally be either a streetcar driver or a snow plough driver. when there are cars blocking their path, the ploughs lift up one of their "arms" and leave the piles of snow around that car basically blocking it in - it's great fun! i got off at broadview and walked east looking for the park. i never found it and because i didn't have my map, never realized that it's actually on the danforth and not queen east. i passed by a chocolate shop i'd seen on breakfast television called "ambiance chocolat" (http://www.ambiancechocolat.ca/). i went in and picked up some truffles - my favorite was the milk chocolate caramle with fleur de sel - and some valrhona hot chocolate. yummy on a snowy day. the truffles were only $0.85 each - cheap by toronto standards. as i was standing in the shop, 3 streetcars passed in a row so i knew i was in trouble and wasn't going to be able to catch one back. sure enough, i didn't see one so i walked around the Leslieville neighborhood for a bit. i passed moss park and there were several people out, even in the blowing snow. many of them were playing frisbee with their dogs who were clearly loving the snow, romping and rolling around. after 20 minutes of waiting, i finally caught a streetcar back down king street. everything looked like it was wearing a little white hat! i was headed to my massage appointment at campden spa (http://www.camdenspa.com/) and just thought i'd get there a little early. i got there at 3:30pm for a 4pm appointment, had some green tea and warmed up. they took me at 3:45pm - which is why i love showing up early! - and had a great 90 minute massage. i've been taking pilates and really feel stronger from it. i think it's something i'd like to stick with. after my massage, i thought i'd grab some dinner before i went home so i waited for the king streetcar. it took a while because the tracks were covered in snow and the streetcars were moving very slowly. one finally came and i headed to "the foggy dew" at king west and niagara street (http://www.thefoggydew.ca/). i picked a room with a tv and no one in it so i could eat, but i think i got really bad service because there was no one else in with me. i had the chicken pot pie, which was fierce!, and a pint. it started snowing even harder and the winds were gusting up to 60 clicks. when i was done, it took a while to catch the streetcar back home. there was a crazy guy chatting everyone up - he said he was from north bay and it was like he'd never met a stranger. no matter who or what, he was shaking everyone's hand and asking them what they did. people were staring at him like he was nuts - no one is that friendly in the big city, after all! i watched some "arrested development", changed my clocks forward and called it a night.
sunday morning was gloriously beautiful!! the sun was shining brightly, the skies were bright blue and everything was covered in thick, white snow. i decided to try a new brunch place and a new part of T.O. I'd not been to - College Street. I caught the streetcar up spadina and then west on college, and went to boom breakfast company (http://www.boombreakfast.com/). i got a spot at the bar right away. it was a nice place with good service. i ordered the "tuscan eggs" and they were delish!! i had my standard english breakfast tea and was off! i decided to walk down college street and had a great time. the snow, though, was so white and bright, that, along with the sun, almost blinded me. i don't carry sunglasses because i haven't needed them in 5 months, but i definitely could have used them today. my first stop was a home store called "ziggy's on college" - very cute things. i bought a card and some funny party cups with noses on them. then, i went into a used dvd store. they were having a "this winter sucks 30% off all DVD's" sale, so i went in and got 3 DVD's - knocked up, broadcast news and an out of print version of "a clockwork orange". total impulse buys - it must have been the nice weather. then, i stopped in a used bookstore called "she said boom" (http://www.shesaidboom.ca/) and got 5 books. it's one of the things i love most about toronto - because it's a walking city with great weather, you can just walk through neighborhoods you've never been to before and find these little gems of a store that would be "destination points" in any other city. i love happening upon random stores and finding fun things.
i finally headed home and decided to build a snowman with the thick snow on my balcony. it wasn't too bad, but the snow wasn't really packing snow so i had to add some water to make the balls. i used chocolate chips for the eyes and broken matchsticks for the nose and arms. my first and only toronto snowman!
Day 1:
Day 3:
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