toronto is a wrap! now I'm in NYC!
I finished up my 5 day stay in The Big Smoke and it was great! What a cool city!!I feel so lucky to have had Kat showin me around the town and letting me crash her life for a few days. That woman knows how to have a good time! I met a ton of her friends, all of whom are very cool, and we did a ton of eating, drinking, walking, talking and chillin (much needed and totally luxurious for me!).
Monday I worked a little and then went & had lunch w/ Hyedie, a girl I met on Illustration Friday. She's a fellow illustrator/web designer and we enjoyed a yummy lunch at Fresh on Queen St. She was super sweet & it was fun to talk to her about what we want to do with our illustrations - and where she's at in her Web Design career right now, etc. And of course we talked music. She likes Feist, too. :)
Monday night Kat & I grabbed our individually chosen dinner cravings (her: sushi, me: pizza) and went back to her place to watch Super Troopers. That movie is ridiculous. In a good way. It's like Reno 911 on crack. Worth watching for sure.
Tuesday I got up, went for coffee, and opened the laptop to see if I could possibly get any work done before I had to start packing & head to the airport. As soon as I did, I noticed a comment that was left by Justin, a fellow Blogger/Web Designer/Developer (aka Macromedia-geek) and regular reader of my blog who I've emailed with a couple times over this last year or so, who lives in Toronto! I had spaced! I had a sneaking feeling as soon as I left Toronto I would remember a ton of people or places I should have connected with while I was there. And Justin was a near miss of exactly that - but I still had time! So I emailed him quickly (and tried Paris, too - who is a regular reader as well and apparently lives 20 miles north of TO? but I couldn't get ahold of her in time) and set up plans for brunch! yay!
I had actually been craving Eggs Benedict, ever since Kat gave me a full discourse of the beauty of eggs with more egg on top (falling asleep last Thursday night she gave me a play by play on how to make hollandaise). Unfortunately, the place she'd raved about near her wasn't open for breakfast on the weekday, but Justin knew of a breakfast place AND offered to take me to the airport (awesome!! thank you!) and so the plan was set!
It was very cool to meet yet another "internet friend" in person and connect a face w/ a name. (Justin wrote up his POV of the morning here.) Plus, he's all Freelance now, too, so it was great to chat w/ him about what he's up to. One thing he's doing that's very cool, is that he's curating and producing a Design conference in Toronto: DesignFest '05 - Check it out!
Lastly, a big congratulations to Justin and Jerrie - who are expecting a baby girl in September!! So if you go to the DesignFest, be sure to ask him if he's gotten any sleep. :)
:::
My flight down to NYC went smoothly... a little snoozin, a little reading (new book!)... and then I hopped in a cab to Karrie's house in Brooklyn's beautiful Fort Greene neighborhood. She had already had to take off for her PT job in the city. She's a Freelance writer, but she has this side job where she goes in, watches TV and reviews shows for some internet site. Tough job! hahaa She's such a great writer, and so it's no surprise she's found herself getting paid well to do something funky like that. :)
Anyway - so Karrie was off at work already, but her boyfriend Wayne was here to welcome me and show me around. He's soooo sweet! They're such a great couple - and actually are just closing on a place here around the corner from their current little home. I'm so excited for them! I want to be a homeowner!!!
I'd made dinner plans with an old friend, so after settling in and meeting their 2 fuzzy wuzzy cutie kitties, Wayne showed me the way to the subway station and I headed into the city to meet Katrina in Union Square.
At Karrie & Waynes recommendation, we ate at Dos Caminos and it was YUM!!! We had a bit of a wait, so by the time we got seated we'd had 2 margaritas each & some guac at the bar - totalling to $65. Welcome to New York! :)
After dinner, Katrina & I said goodbye & I taxi'd over to Sarah's for a quick beer, while I waited for Karrie to get off work so we could come back to Brooklyn together.
A great night to start my trip here and I'm excited what the next couple days have in store!
