Ticking Off the Toronto Bucket List: Week #17

Hey Folks!

Sorry about the delay! I've slowly been getting over my "musical festival" withdrawal, and coming back to reality. That being said, Week #17 was kind of a bust! Nothing happened! Can you believe it!? I didn't go out, I didn't go see anything. I basically worked, and got ready for the weekend! That weekend I attended the Hillside Music Festival in Guelph Ontario, so I was gearing up for it!

Sorry if I let you all down. It's been hard trying to properly keep up with the list! I still have tons and tons of coffee shops to visit, and museums etc. I will get to them, I swear! Maybe. We'll see. All I know is that I'm moving to Ireland very very soon. That being said, I think I'll extend my stay in Toronto a tad longer, so my bucket list will still go on for a wee bit longer! Yeah!

My Week #18 post will be up soon!

:)

Keep Smilin kids! Thanks for your patience!

- Monica

My Summer Music Festival Adventures: Part One - NxNE

Summer music festivals. What’s not to love? Fun in the sun, dirt on your feet, sweat all over your body from dancing too hard, and lots of music; don’t forget about the amazing music! Well, 2011 was the second time I was able to, basically, attend four music fests back to back to back! I’ve been attending Hillside in Guelph, Ontario for four years now, but I have slowly started to add others to my list: North by North East (Toronto), Mariposa Folk Fest (Orillia) & Home County Folk Fest (London). All have their own personalities and I love them all for different reasons. Now that I have attended all four, and I’m done my music festival season, I thought I would reflect and share some stories, musical discoveries, and a few music fest survival tips! I’ll split this “reflection” in four parts, so lets start with North by North East! 

North By North East

Wow. What a crazy filled four days that was! This year NxNE was taken over by CBC Radio 3 bloggers from all parts of North America and even Europe! The festival was basically an excuse for all, us (yes, I’m an R3 blogger for those who many not know!) to get together and meet one another. It’s nice that I’m now reflecting on it because it’s slowly becoming a blur! So much happened that week that I can’t seem to remember what happened which days! I met so many fantastic people and made so many new friends, it was wonderful! 

NxNE is basically music mayhem throughout the city of Toronto. Venues across the city host evenings of music from artists across Canada and internationally. You can cater your NxNE experience to your musical preference, whether it be hip hop, rock, folk, electronic, or a mix of everything! There is music for all; that is, as long as you’re willing to trek around the city and wait in lines to get into venues.  

I started my festival at The Rivoli to see Peter Elkas with some friends. Man is Mr. Elkas ever sexy... (his music that is). I’ve never seen Peter Elkas live before, so I was happy to finally experience his sexy self in person. His music was heavenly, rockin and smooth. His smile lights up my heart for sure :) We then left for a venue down the street called The Velvet Underground to see The Two Koreas. Other bloggers were there, so we decided to stop in! Why not? That’s what you do at NxNE! 

Now, as much as I wanted to enjoy The Two Koreas, I couldn’t get into it! So much yelling, and loud music. I had just left a place where I was swooning over the soft soulful voice of Elkas...too a screamer. Just didn’t work for me. However, others were really enjoying it, so I was happy! Just because I didn’t like it, doesn’t mean others felt the same way! That’s the awesome part of NxNE. So many different bands and musical tastes. 

We then headed back to The Rivoli to catch Imaginary Cities, but to our dismay there was a huge line up to get in! This is one of the frustrating parts of this festival. But, we were with a CBC host, and seeing as it was a CBC event, well, we were smuggled into the venue through the back door. That’s about as much information as I’ll provide! Imaginary Cities were incredible. The lead singer, Marti Sarbit, has an amazing voice. She sings with so much passion and soul. Marti reminds me of British singer Adele, but better. So much dancing was involved that night. It was brilliant. Great show, great night. 

Next day was filled with breakfast with the R3 gang. We all met up at Cora’s to record with Vish Khanna for his weekly R3 “Breakfast Club”. We ate food, chatted about music, laughed, smiled, hugged and then headed over to the CBC for a tour. Vish took us around to various places at the CBC headquarters. I should add though, this isn’t really part of the NxNE experience, it’s more so my personal experience. I then did some co-hosting with Grant Lawrence (a host a R3) for his Friday afternoon show. It was lots of fun :) Talked about the festival, chatted with some bloggers, you know, the usual :) Great fun! After the show, we headed to the atrium of the CBC and met up with many R3 bloggers who were there for a big R3 group photo! Pretty epic stuff! Lots of people meeting for the first time, lots of hugs all around. I was so proud of everyone. So much love in the air. 

That evening I decided to head over to Sneaky Dees with some new friends and check out some pretty rockin’ bands. I wanted to catch some bands that I had never seen live before, so Sneaky Dees was my best bet! The line-up included Enjoy Your Pumas, Gramercy Riffs, Ruby Coast, Great Bloomers, Paper Lions, etc. I really wanted to see Great Bloomers and Paper Lions, but it was getting really late and I had a picnic to host Saturday afternoon, so I had to bail. Too bad though! I heard both bands were amazing. I ended up seeing Paper Lions at Hillside... but I’ll talk about that later :) 

Saturday was pretty epic. It was the “MoniSki NxNE/Going Away Picnic”. My dear friend Grant was able to get some awesome musicians to play, which included: Matthew Barber, Wayne Petti of Cuff the Duke and Graham Wright of Tokyo Police Club. Even the fellas from Woodhands decided to show up and go on strike! Again, we laughed, and cried (well I cried), and enjoyed a super lovely day in Trinity Bellwoods Park. Everything about it all was super gorgeous and perfect. I’m going to miss everyone so much! 

That evening is now a huge blur. I remember heading down to The Horseshoe Tavern to catch the CBC Radio 3 Showcase where Craig Norris was hosting. I believe we saw Teenage Kicks, One Hundred Dollars, Dinosaur Bones, Wildlife, Jenn Grant and Hooded Fang. I remember being up front for Jenn Grant and dancing A LOT. My friends and I love Jenn Grant ;) She’s a sweetie and her music is extremely catchy. How do you not like her music?! If you don’t, than you obviously don’t like to smile. Shame on you! 

I’m pretty sure the evening/morning ended Sunday at 4am. This is normal in NxNE standards. You shouldn’t really be going home Saturday night. If you do, than you obviously weren’t having a good time! I spent the night with ol’ friend, chatting about life and the amazing week that we had just experienced. It was epic. It was hard work, but it was all worth it!! 

How to survive NxNE: 

• Bring the schedule of shows you want to see, but understand that it may be a tentative plan. You never know where you’ll end up throughout the evening! 
• Try to plan your shows according to venue location. This sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t. It’s nice not to have to travel to much though, especially if you are from out of town and don’t have a transit pass. Taxis and subway tokens can really start getting expensive throughout the week! 
• Don’t carry too much with you. If you can go without a backpack, jacket, etc, than you’ll be doing yourself a huge favour. You don’t want security to have to put your things aside and than have to try to find your stuff later. It can be a pain when you are in a hurry. Plus, it gets really hot and sweaty in the clubs, so a jacket and sweater do get in the way! 
• Be prepared to drink lot of beer. That’s a given though. 
• Plan to not eat properly. You’ll probably have to grab several street meat meals along the routes to your shows. You’ll be eating out a lot if you’re not from the city, and even if you are. Bring some extra change with ya! 
• Arrive early to the shows you really want to see. There’s nothing worse than missing that one band you were dying to see. Plan ahead! Sometimes lines can be a nuisance and take a while! Sometimes you’ll get lucky! 
• Have fun :) Always smile and have fun :) 

Musical Discoveries/Highlights:

Imaginary Cities (new)

Gramercy Riffs  (new)

Peter Elkas 

Jenn Grant 

NxNE is good for.... : 

- For those who love to discover an amble amount of new music in a short period of time. 

- those who don't mind running around the city! 

- Willing to be patient and wait in lines for their favourite band. 

- Don't mind getting up close and personal with people in venues.

- Open minded personalities. 

- those who don't mind crowds.

There you have it! Part One of my Summer Music Festival fun! 

Part Two: Mariposa Folk Festival coming shortly! 

Keep Smilin Gang! 

- Monica

Ticking Off the Toronto Bucket List: Week #16

Hey Folks!

So last week I visited some coffee shops, and ate some yummy food in Kensington Market! You probably think that I'll never get through my bucket list if all I do is eat and drink, but I'll have you know, it's HUMID in Toronto right now. As I type this, the weather network says that it "feels like 42*C" right now... therefore, spending time outside of the house and not cooking at home is the best way to beat the heat! However, I can't forget that I also went to an outdoor screening of the National Parks Project, please click on the link if you'd like to learn more! I'll also explain in further detail down below! I also attended the Home County Folk Festival in London Ontario on the weekend, but I'll leave that for a separate post!

Scoop & Bean

2 Follis Avenue
http://www.blogto.com/cafes/scoop-and-bean

One part ice cream shop, one more coffee shop. It is located very close to where I used to live last summer, and actually, it's still a very short distance away! Why I've never tried it before, I have no idea! But I decided to try it this week. I had no exceptions for this place. When I visited, it was rather empty, barely had any sort of morning treats, BUT when I tried the latte the lovely barista made me, I was pleasantly surprised! It was delicious! The foam was perfect, the temperature was just right. This girl knew was she was doing, and I was extremely grateful. They even played some really great laid back Canadian indie tunes. So I was delighted. Can't wait to try this place for ice cream! Looks like they offer Kawartha Dairy ice cream as well which is pretty awesome stuff for all you non-Canadians out there!

The Burger Bar 

319 Augusta Ave 

Kensington Market 

http://www.theburgerbar.ca/index1.html

So, I've been meaning to try The Burger Bar in Kensington Market for a while now. My friend and I were wandering around one day looking for food, so I thought "let's stop in!". This place is cute. It feels like The Dakota, if it were above ground, but without the music and cool staff. Mainly, it's the look that reminds me of The Dakota Tavern. They serve organic & gluten free options, free range chicken, etc. Quite nice! And they had homemade rooibus iced tea. This made me really happy since it was extremely hot outside!!!

Now, the food came promptly, but the service was... lacking. Not the best service. I wanted so much to be happy with my experience there, but maybe with the heat, etc, the service just wasn't that swell? 

Anywho, I might still recommend it. The food was yummy, and the iced tea was super.  I had the veggie burger with some sweet potato fries that I shared with my friend. It was very filling :)  I'm willing to give it one more try. But not any time soon seeing as I have so much to see and do first!!

Open Roof Festival 

The Amsterdam Brewery 

21 Bathurst Street 

http://openrooffestival.com/

Alright, so I've never been to The Amsterdam Brewery. I actually didn't realize that Amsterdam beer was made in Toronto until a few months ago! I thought only Steam Whistle and Mill Street was from Toronto! When a friend of mine mentioned there were outdoor film screenings at the brewery I couldn't say no! 

The Open Roof Festival's goal is to offer an unique experience where a Canadian bands plays and they screen a independent film. They have beer for sale, and popcorn, etc, etc. It's loads of fun! 

For my first visit I saw a screening of The National Parks Project. I had bought the soundtrack for this documentary earlier on in the week, so when I heard it was screening I just had to go! Here's a quote from their site: 

"The National Parks Projects brings together 52 of Canada's best musicians and filmmakers to create music and film inspired by our most amazing National Parks." 

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Canada's 13 National Parks, hence the special film :) The doc is comprised of 13 shorts, and you can screen them all online at the The National Parks Project website on HD. Not only do they offer the shorts, but you can also watch extended versions of each short. You can explore the parks along with the filmmakers and musicians. It's pretty interesting stuff!! Canada looks so beautiful :) I want to visit each park now! The soundtrack offers music that was inspired by the park's landscape and environment. It's pretty beautiful stuff!! Make sure to take a listen! 

Anywho, it was a fun evening. I'd recommend at least checking out one screening! Oh, and I should mention, Catl were the band who played before the film! They were pretty rockin :) 

Rapido 

Website

1089 Bathurst Street 

How the heck did I NOT visit this place sooner?!?! Literally, it's 4 houses down from where I lived for four months last summer, thus only 10 mins from where I live now. I used to walk by it all the time, but never stopped in. I guess that's what happens when you live close to things. You just never see the need to pop into places that you walk by on a daily basis. Well, my dear friend who still lived four houses way, joined me on our first and possibly last visit to Rapido. Like me, she never stepped into this lovely Italian cafe. 

It was a HOT day. Thank god they offered homemade iced tea! I'm a huge fan of real iced tea, not that sugary stuff! We sat down with our iced teas, and drooled while the chefs in the back prepared pizzas and salads for lunch time. Thus, we couldn't resist splitting a panini when it was lunch time! It was delicious. It's a cute spot, filled with older Italian men sipping on their espressos. 

Awesome place :) I'd love to come back for a proper lunch soon! 

That's the end of Week 16!! I'm behind I know!! I have to write about week 17 soon... though not much happened! Please be patient :) 

------

How many weeks do I have left in Toronto?!? 

Apparently 5 more? I might still be around the city after the time I thought I'd be gone... so we'll see. 

I do only have 7 more weeks until I fly away to Ireland though!!! 

AHH!!! 

:) 

Keep Smilin! 

- Moni

Ticking Off the Toronto Bucket List: Week #15

Hey Folks!

How's life treating you these days? Life has been pretty swell for me, and this past week was filled with lots of experiences, not all Toronto related, but I'm still going to blog about it!

I saw a show at the Toronto Fringe Festival, ate some brunch AND attended the Mariposa Folk Festival in Orillia, Ontario. Suffice to say, it was a successful week for my little bucket list!

Toronto Fringe Festival


http://www.fringetoronto.com/index.htm

"Every Woman I Have Ever Slept With" 

I'm planning on seeing one more show before the festival is up, but I did get a chance to see this one last week! I haven't seen many one man shows, but I do enjoy them! If a single actor can captivate me for an hour while alone on stage without the aid of props or other actors, than I'm in love! This one was pretty humourous too! The play centered around a man on a date with a young lady, and throughout the date he reveals some pretty interesting stories about all the woman he has slept with. Apparently all the stories were based on true events, with some embellishments here and there. I love plays like these because they force me to look back at my own life and reflect on all the relationships I've experienced. I suggest you all do that, reflect on your life... it's kind of fun actually!

Anyway, the Fringe Festival is always a good time in Toronto! The plays were submitted in a lottery format, and if you're chosen than you get to put on a show! Plays are held all around the city in actual theatres to a room with a simple stage and lighting set up. It's fun! If you have the opportunity to see something, I recommend you do! Supporting the arts is always good :)



Le Petit Dejeuner 

http://petitdejeuner.ca/

I've heard so much about this place and it's waffles, so when my out-of-town friends visited, we just had to try it out! Mind you, I didn't have the waffles, but my pal did and I tried some of his! They were delicious and light! Quite yummy. Now, I had the Hungry Gal, but I must say, I was still a little hungry after! I'm sure it was the perfect amount, but I'm used to Aunties and Uncle cheapness and filling portions cheaper! But that's okay! It was still yummy and awesome :) Can't go wrong with peameal bacon.

Le Petit Dejeuner is located near Front Street and is in the "business-y" "tourist-y" side of town, but that doesn't make it any less cool! They played pretty awesome music and have a pretty chill atmosphere :) I'd recommend it for anyone visiting the city for sure!




Mariposa Folk Festival 
Orillia, Ontario

http://www.mariposafolk.com/


Attending Mariposa has become a bit of a tradition for my friends and I. We attended last year after winning some tickets, and we decided to go again this year! It is located in a park that is surrounded by Lake Couchiching, which my friends and I took a dip in! Watch out though, it can be a bit rocky! My feet ended up getting a little cut up after our swim, but that's okay! That's what folk festivals are about!
We ate our traditional Mariposa delights like grilled corn on the cob with dill butter, samosas, ice cream and beer! You can literally live off the corn and samosas all weekend. Trust me. It has been done!

The festival is a great place to hang out with friends and peacefully watch some great folk and rock musicians. The crowds aren't too large, and people are quite nice! They have fewer bands than other fests, but loads of opportunities to see them play in workshops throughout the weekend! It definitely has a different vibe from festivals like Hillside or NxNE. People are more relaxed and just plain happy. It's nice :) We ended up seeing Jim Bryson play many times. He was backed up by The Weakerthans for two of his sets, so that was a nice touch.Yukon Blonde & The Beauties just blew the roof off the Mariposa Pub stage Saturday afternoon. It was a loud and sweaty set! Brilliant! Than a special guest appeared in the evening, his name: Danny Michel. It was a great way to end a great weekend!

I highly recommend Mariposa for 2012!


 For week #16 I'm headed to the Home County Folk Festival in London Ontario!
I'm sure there will be other small adventures along the way!

6 more weeks?!?! Holy Crap!

Keep Smilin,

Monica

Ticking Off the Toronto Bucket List: Week #14

Hey Everyone!

So for Week 14 I headed west to The Junction! I didn't go alone this time, I went with a super cool friend of mine who wanted to take me to Rawlicious (a raw food joint) and Bunners (a gluten vegan bakery). We had a lovely time, and everything was so tasty!!! 

The Junction is located on the west end of Toronto close to the High Park area. This area of Toronto seems to attract artsy, and the social activist types. Lots of cool vegan friendly, organic friendly options, cute cafes, unique stores, lots of bakeries. Just like every neighborhood in Toronto, it really feels like it's own little community. Great vibes all around! 

Now, I also had a lovely coffee at Crema Coffee Co. when we visited, but I have technically already been to Crema, however, I never got around to posting anything about my experience! So I hope you enjoy that as well! 

Crema Coffee Co. 

Long Distance Indie Coffee Date #16 

3079 Dundas Street W

http://cremacoffee.ca/

I first visited Crema Coffee Co. as part of my Long Distance Indie Coffee Shop blog posts! So I shall follow in that same format! 

Neightbourhood: The Junction

Drink Ordered: Mocha! Very tasty :) 

I also purchased a lovely cookie :) It was delicious :) Went very well with my heavenly drink! They get their treats from Circles and Squares. This bakery seems to be a standard for loads of coffee joints in the city, and I'm okay with that!! So good! 

Size: Great size! Lots of places for people to pull up a chair to join groups, or smaller tables for more intimate conversations. Really bright and pretty. Great art work on the walls. Upon my second visit I noticed they had changed their art! Looks like it's always rotating! 

Lots of Crema merch on sale as well! You can even get a t-shirt! 

Menu: Lots of your classic coffee favourite. The daily drip I had on my second visit was tasty! I actually really enjoyed it!  Also, their pastries are to die for thanks to Circles and Squares like I had previously mentioned :) 

Atmosphere: Great atmosphere!! Lots of "professionals". But the cool kind :) The artsy kind. Really hip and laid back people! The staff are also really nice and helpful. Also, they are all super cute! Make sure to stop in even if it's just to check out the staff! 

Overall, Crema Coffee Co. (the Junction location) is a must for coffee lovers who are wandering around this lovely neighbourhood :) I'd go back, and I have gone back :) I love it :) ... I should probably stop using the smiley face. I'm that happy about this place! Lots of positive vibes! 

Date Potential: 9/10 Hearts! 

Great For: Everyone. It's a very welcoming environment for all walks of life :) 

5/5 Smiles from Me! 

Rawlicious

The Junction Location 

3092 Dundas Street West 

http://www.rawlicious.ca/Rawlicious/Home.html

AMAZING! This place blew my mind. I was honestly sitting there eating my meal in amazement. I couldn't stop saying "OMG" with each mouth full. We started off our meal with a pizza appetizer, but not just any pizza! It was a raw pizza made with a sprouted buckwheat crust! The sauce was something with pesto I believe, and the toppings were mango, pineapple and red onion. It was delicious!! The slice even bended like a real pizza. I was in heaven! 

Next up was my Zucchetti Basil Pesto! I was amazed by this dish and it's zucchini noodles! It looked like pasta, but didn't give me that awful full feeling. You know what I mean? Anyway, my friend and I think they used like 8 zucchinis to create this dish! There was so much. It was incredible. 

My friend had the Special Pasta Bolognese. I don't know how they did it, but it looked like there was ground beef on it! Amazing!

I absolutely loved this place :) The staff was nice, the atmosphere was laid back. There were also tons and tons of great seating options. There was even a back patio! 

I highly recommend checking out Rawlicious! You'll love it! 

I did! 

Bunners

3054 Dundas Street West 

Gluten Free Vegan Bakery! 

http://www.bunners.ca/shop/

mmmm 

That's all I can really say about this place. 

I had the famous Gypsy cookie. It was to die for. I also bought the cornmeal/blueberry muffin for later. 

I loved it. Every bite. 

Visit Bunners. It's delicious. 

Alright, so that's the end of Week #14!! Time for #15!! It's going to start getting intense!

Music Festival time!

This weekend will be the Mariposa Folk Festival in Orillia, Ontario! Can't wait :)

7 weeks to go!! 

Keep Smilin, 

- Moni

Ticking Off the Toronto Bucket List: Week #13

Hey Everyone!

So I apologize once again for the major delay! I've been relaxing and enjoying my time so much that I have neglected to share with everyone my fun Toronto times :) Week 13 was mainly about getting back into the groove after a busy NxNE festival, so I decided to go out for ice cream with a friend and enjoy some "me" time in a cafe :)

Lit Espresso 

810 College Street

Little Italy 

http://www.litespressobar.com/

I decided that I needed to visit a coffee shop this week. It was the only way I'd feel back in the Toronto groove. I wanted to visit somewhere a bit further away from home but not too far, so Lit Espresso was the best choice! It's located in Little Italy closer to Ossington (for all your Torontonains). 

It's cute, and has lots of seating. It's actually perfect for people who are meeting up in groups of two, or want to chill out on their own. The baristas were adorable and sweet, and the coffee was good too! I decided to try their daily brew and treated myself to a chocolate chip cookie. I can't resist treats with caffeinated beverages! Oh, and they have free wi-fi! Perfect for those studying or wanting to leave the comforts of their own home without having to sacrifice the comfort. It's a great place to chill out :)

I'd definitely come back here! 

5/5 Hearts from me! 

The Big Chill 

367 Manning Avenue 

http://www.blogto.com/restaurants/the-big-chill-toronto

This place is so damn cute!! This old school ice cream parlour is also located in Little Italy! They have delicious ice cream, and man do they have a variety of flavours and options! I was craving a root beer float this week so I ordered a float with banana fudge ice cream. It was delicious!!! My friend enjoyed her two scoop treat that was a combination of pistachio ice cream and watermelon sorbet! We didn't try the waffle cones, but they make the fresh! I bet it's amazing :) 

The decor was adorable and very reminiscent of old fashion ice cream parlours. Lots of references to cows throughout the shop, and lots of bright pinks and greens! It was fantastic :) This place seems to be very popular with parents and children, and has bursts of long lines on warm days! 

It's brilliant :) Great way to start the summer! 

So that's what I did Week #13! 

8 weeks to go!!!!

Keep Smilin', 

- Monica