Home is Where the Heart Is!

Here I am back in Saskatoon! Its Reading Week out east and instead of hanging around Oakville, I decided to fly home and hang out with family and friends. Its been sooooooo worth it!!!! Sure, I'll stay my lovely pasty white while my classmates are sporting bronzed looks but I love being home!

So far, I've driven around the city to see if anything has changed in my absence and it has!!! There may be a recession everywhere else in Canada but you can't tell from looking around here. Buildings and new businesses are cropping up a lot and they apparently mentioned another housing boom for the city in the coming months on the news tonight. Here's hoping it stays like this...it will be easier for me to find a job if it does!!!

I've hit up the Broadway Roastery already for my mochachino fix (no Starbucks for me when I'm home) The Roastery is an independent coffee joint in Saskatoon (and even though it has three locations around the city, they are all still named for the original on Broadway) and the company roasts their own beans. Its a favourite hangout for students on a study break, walkers/joggers/runners coming up from the Meewasin trail (that's a series of trails along the river) and well, everyone!

I peeped into our new Indigo store (no we didn't have one before) and I gotta say, I didn't like it. I prefer our McNally Robinson much, much more!!! Its got a more cozy, welcoming feel, as opposed to the kind of industrial feel Indigo gave off.

I stopped by my old place of employment, Early's Farm and Garden Centre, to pick up the dog food and some treats for the pooch! Early's has been around for over 100 years and sells "everything for the gardener, and a little something for your pet" (slogan). Even my dog's food is made in Saskatchewan and Early's sells it. Its called Horizon and its made in Rosthern SK.

Other than that, I've been out shopping (finally spending those Christmas gift cards), getting in lots of hanging out time with my friends and just enjoying my time at home. And no, I haven't touched the law midterm yet. I looked at it this afternoon, so my intentions were good but just haven't been motivated to do it yet! (Don't tell Andy!)

Yours til Niagara Falls!

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to Niagara Falls with my good friends Tyson and Meghan from Kingston (Actually Tyson grew up with me in Saskatoon and Meg is from Halifax). We got a beautiful "falls side" room with a view from 36 stories up!


The hotel soap...hey I thought it was cute!


This is the best picture I could get of the falls at night and all lit up!

The view from the "Journey Behind the Falls" tour. For $10 (off season) you can tour along the tunnels built behind the falls and get a close up look at them. If this was summer, this would be a curtain of rushing water!

Wow!!! The roar and just the sheer power of the falls is truly a sight to behold!

Icy!

Ok it was REALLY COLD!!! Even for this prairie chick...not used to being pelted with teeny tiny ice crystals!!!!

The view from our hotel room! Beauty!!!

More Saskatoon Pictures

Courtesy of my amazing friend Dani in Saskatoon! Pictures of my beautiful city in winter and fall!

The Vimy Memorial

See? There's skyscrapers!

Frosty!

Fall along the Meewasin Trail

The Broadway Bridge, with the Victoria Bridge in the background

The Delta Bessbourgh Hotel....although I call it....

The Castle on the River!

Thanks for letting me post your pictures Dani! Love you!

My day in TO with Michelle

So as she has been promising to do since last semester (we were too busy then!), Michelle took me around Toronto today! Its was really fun and she's a great tour guide! We toured around downtown, took in some sights and caught a matinee of Dirty Dancing!


I love this..."Spirit is Everything"....yeah cuz they have nothing else! =)

At the Royal Alexandra Theatre for Dirty Dancing...

Michelle posing by the fireplace at the theatre before the show!

Outside the theatre, taken by a nice passer by...

Terrific show! So good!!!

Staring up at the CN Tower

In front of MuchMusic!!!!

Skating at Phillp Morris Square (did I get that right Michelle?)

In front of the skaters.

So that's a few things off the list! Saw a show and got my picture outside of Much, even if I didn't go in, it was neat to see the place I had been watching for years!

Many thanks for the amazing day out Michelle!!! I had a lot of fun!!! "Nobody puts Baby in the corner!"

Be still my Silent Bob loving heart!

I'm geeking out.

Really.

I just checked the Toronto Life website and there's a Kevin Smith a thon this weekend in Toronto, complete with Kevin Smith!!!

Alright, so for anyone who doesn't know, Kevin Smith is the hilarious genius behind such foul mouthed stoner flicks such as, Clerks (I and II), Dogma, Mallrats Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jersey Girl, and Zach and Miri Make a Porno. For whatever reason, I find his work witty, funny and touching. Its hard to explain but he has kind of cult following, mostly among comic book fans, of which I am not. But I love all things Kevin Smith!

I'm tempted to go but the first screening is on Sunday...weird? And goes again on Monday and Tuesday. I thought that was kind of odd. Its at the Bloor Theatre...at least I know where Bloor is. I've seen all the movies, I just kind of want to see him!

Kevin Smith

The more familiar alter ego Silent Bob

(images "borrowed" from IMDB.com Thanks!)

This one's for the ladies...well I guess the guys could weigh in too if they have any ideas.

As you all know, the end of the program is coming, sooner than we can imagine (it is, after all almost the end of January!). I'd like to take advantage of the shopping opportunities while I'm here. I don't know about you all but I definitely need some new wardrobe options, especially for a more professional/office environment.

SO I pose the question....where are your favourite places to clothes shop in TO? I guess I should amend that to favourite reasonable places to clothes shop...I know there's some hard core Holt fans out there but its a no-no on my budget!

Please comment and suggest away!

HA!

Ok, so I think this is funny even if no one else does (Maybe that's geeky of me, and if so I may have to take up space in Devin's blog)!!!!

Back in September when my friends from Saskatoon came to visit moi, I played tourguide around the parts of Toronto that I knew, which really wasn't a lot. I basically led them from Pusateri's in Yorkville (shout to my roomie Ashleigh for taking me there to begin with!) to Bloor and that was it!

So we played tourists, taking pictures and goofy shots. I took this picture above, because I thought "Wow, what a cool looking building, I think I'll snap a pic" (Really, the thought process is mind blowing). I had no idea that this building IS the ROM!!!! I took a picture of a place I want to go without realizing that it WAS a place I wanted to go.

Hmmmm...its really too bad that that traffic light is right in the middle of the scene. Oh well, never said I was photog!

So since I've been here I've noticed just a few things that I thought I would share...hopefully by now you all find my prairieness sexy and endearing and not annoying regardless of how much I poke fun of your idea of cold weather. =)

You say Tronno, I say Toron-toe.

You call it a transport, I call it a semi.

You call it a hoodie, I call it a bunnyhug (and always will!).

I have no idea where the 401, the 403 or the 407 will take you and I'm not really sure I want to find out...that's entirely way too much traffic. And it scares me. =P I always worry about all you commuters every time I hear about an accident on one of those numbered highways...I'm in awe of you because I seriously don't think I could handle that commute every day.