for quite some time now i've been trying to find the perfect "every day" necklace... something that felt like "me", whatever that means... and could be worn with pretty much anything..  this weekend i was wandering around the city on one of the most beautiful saturdays in a LONG time, and wandered right into this necklace... not usually one to seriously peruse the jewellery cabinet at jonathan + olivia, knowing my wallet and pamela love aren't exactly "besties", I was enticed when i saw a sign reading 50% off!!

it gets better.... peering into the bottom shelf i spotted this unique piece by german designer sabrina dehoff ... the very helpful stylist informed me that dehoff's work is, not surprising, exclusively carried at j+o in canada... it was perfect! a sterling silver bear claw with a claw detail and chain dipped in 14K gold.. it perfectly combined my love of mixed metals, delicate detailing and canadiana... as if my luck couldn't get better, my sweet boyfriend decided that he would treat me to this special find... if only every day was this sweet..

nuit blanche.. (via Blackberry)

anticipation... 12 hours.. 1 sleepless night.. art, culture, expectation of something "wow".. darkness.. night... energy.. temporary.. movement..... 6:15pm saturday evening.. these thoughts are roaming my head...

walk into a room crowded with white jackets, coffee, gloves and chatter... "where do i sign in?"... wheatabix, real fruit gummies, chapstick, energy drinks, glycomed.. what have i gotten myself into...? one-hour meal breaks every 3 hours... show your button, smile and keep warm.. off you go..

Endgame (Coulrophobia) - Max Streicher

 it spots me before i notice it poking it's crude red nose from between 67 and 69 yonge street... as i approach, the sinister leer of its smile captures me as i realize it is not alone... another lingers, trapped, a few feet above, it's white teeth glaring into the darkness of the night... around me are shrieks and laughter, feet stomping and the erratic flutter of cameras and cell phones... finally reaching its resting place, the offensively crude smiling face of the third clown comes into view, wedged closer to the street level glaring at the continuous flow of passerbyers..

questions, uncertainty... what does it all mean? familiar faces appear with coffee in tow encouraging me to forget the coldness.. confidence resumes, discussions.. simplicity... lets keep this simple folks... they're watching...



Reflection in window of 1 King West

 2am and the bars begin to pour out the aftermath of the nights splendors in masses... tripping, madness, laughter, horror, intoxication.... constant clicking of cameras... i too get caught up in the comings and goings and find myself moving with the crowd... the noise and the energy is intoxicating... lights seem to be summoning us from the north and south... first to the south to the blue mist which causes those around me to cry out for Jesus.... "i can see him!! i can feel him"... perhaps the LED lighting was a poor choice....

blinded... i move away from the mist...

Auto lamp - Kim Adams

Moving north, Auto lamp rotates in circles like a beacon, urging us to take a closer look... i don't need to understand, i just watch and allow my eyes to be mesmerized that the projections dance across the surrounding  buildings.... simplicity... beauty and calmness seems to come from this work...

i remember why i'm here and wander back to the dreadful clowns... the crowd has not dispersed but rather tripled in size.. there is a fascination with these characters... a couple teenagers dressed as "the joker" appear and become part of the exhibit... a bride  in her full white gown... more clicking...


it's now 4am and the crowd is still clinging on to the fate of these clowns... will they remain stuck? or will the eventually succumb to their inescapable demise... perhaps i'll get to witness this personally at 7am when this is all over... more screams, questions, thoughts... flutter of cameras... i decide to rest my legs in preparation for the final hours... reflection...

4:47... i take note of the evening... was this really about art? or about the effects of mixing alcohol and energy drinks... this is answered by the sound of trickling water behind me... i turn to see a man urinating on the gate the blocks of the small alley where my clowns are trapped... i think i've had enough....

5:25am as i'm polishing off my "breakfast".... i consider going back out in the cold for the final hour... imagining how they will look as the sun rises behind them... my interest wains.... the reflection in the mirror says, "looking not SO bad (considering)"... but alas, my bed cries out and i leave without bidding fare well...

it was a night to remember... if only for the strength and endurance my body showed me... but in the end.. i think i'd rather forget... 

This week I...

Got these..

Was guilty of...

Hung out with this cool cat..

Photo by Nicole/Rob

Ran 17K (on 2 separate runs)...

Mike Cheliak Photography Company

This week I...

Ate this at Harlem Underground...

before                                                                              after

Laughed at sleeping Lola ...

Was shocked by this amazing cover shoot..

Got these shoes for 70% off!

Watched this movie at Amsterdam Brewery...

(i'm actually seeing this tonight!)

Ran 23K (2 separate runs)...

This week I...

did NOT spot Michelle Williams, Sarah Silverman or Seth Rogan, despite the fact that they were filming "Take This Waltz" directly across the street from my house for 2 days straight...

Images from justjared

ate an entire bag of super Nibs.. again...

Had my orientations for TIFF and Nuit Blanche!

Ran 27K (spread out on 3 different runs)...

Drooled over this bike...

Image from curbside cycle

wrote on my blog while at work...

crying out for calamari...

it is with great sadness that i report the death of the beloved "MUSA" restaurant on Dundas Street... and the end of my love affair with their amazing calamari....

after returning home from 10 days in Malta my taste buds were all revved up to embrace the Mediterranean diet on a full-time basis and i thought, what better way to celebrate then with a dish of my favourite Cajun calamari on a bed of roasted vegetables from my newly coveted favourite restaurant MUSA on Dundas West?!

well my plans were soon shattered when i opened the Toronto Star to learn that an apartment fire had spread to my new favourite haunt, on a path of destruction leaving only a shell of a restaurant in it's place and a mass of rubble..

"Part of the roof has caved into the bar, blackened insulation spills from the ceiling and crumbled gyprock litters the floor. Half a dozen lamps — Fleischman’s favourite part of the decor — lay smashed and twisted in the rubble." - Toronto Star, July 12, 2010

with no definite plans to rebuild, i'm left with a sense of sadness and a lurking growl in my stomach for what i can whole-heartedly claim was the best calamari i had ever had... RIP..

My last supper at Musa on June 25th, 2010

stuck in an elevator...

for a number of months now, people have been getting stuck in the elevator at my work... sorry, i should rephrase, STUDENTS have been getting stuck in the elevator.. it's an ongoing problem as they, in their haphazard excitement, jam themselves beyond capacity to go up one floor causing the disgruntled, crabby elevator to heave and eventually surrender to its inadequacy...
at first, i was struck by the horror of being crammed among 20 or so other bodies with limited oxygen for upwards of 4 hours... then i heard that one of the students had video-taped the experience and posted it on youtube much to his classmates amusement... in an attempt to find this video, i was overwhelmed by the number of videos people have created of their elevator "experiences" over the years... clearly this is a creative point of view i have yet to explore..
continuing my research, i was shocked to see the number of images of such an incident as well as stories.... found friendships, love encounters, sexual encounters.. suddenly, being trapped in an elevator didn't sound so bad!!!
but... as always, the cloud with the silver lining falters and the storm rages through... i later heard that the youtube captured elevator experience was not the fun and excitement that i had pictured... among the trapped was a student who fainted from claustrophobia, another in tears as she required washroom facilities and someone with unfathomable body odour... as i headed over to the elevators to visit my friend on the 9th floor this morning, i heard the all too familiar buzz of the emergency push button.... i think i'll be taking the stairs...