What I've been up to lately - September + October 2023

It has been a couple of super busy but also super fun months. September is usually a busy month in general, but this year we added in moving and celebrating my husband Jordan's 40th birthday in Las Vegas with our family. Here's what I've been up to the last couple of months.

Food I ate

• Fried Cheese Curds from the CNE - If you go to the CNE and don't eat weird and delicious fried food, did you even go?

• Dill Pickle Poutine from Cheese Headz! at the Markham Fair was everything you'd want, including pickle brine-soaked cheese curds.

• The pitas from Mizon - a Mediterranean Street food restaurant focusing on stuffed pitas. I've tried their lamb kabob and the Candy Steak pita and they were both perfection. The pita is soft but has structure to it. You have to check out this Yorkville spot.

• The Green Out Pizza from North of Brooklyn hit the spot when we were getting takeout a lot while moving. Vegetables on top of a pizza count as a salad, right?

• The SET Monday Menu from Sunny's Chinese for their last night where they had a set menu with a combination of restaurant staples and some new items. It was a great way to try some dishes we haven't ordered yet. One of the most innovative dishes we had was the sweet corn ice cream with popcorn and the bubble tea cocktail.

• Butter tarts from Bà Nội are single-handedly the best butter tarts I have ever. They are ultra gooey on the inside, perfectly salted, all wrapped up in a buttery crust. There's a deal if you buy 3 and I suggest you do.

• No Name pizza from Descendant Pizza - granted, deep dish pizza isn't my favorite type, but we found ourselves in East end and we hadn't had it in a minute, so we stopped by. In my opinion, the only way (AKA the best way) to eat this style of pizza is at the restaurant. The crunch is lost when it's delivered.

• Cinnamon Bread from Dear Grain - they only make this bread on Sundays, and I wanted to give it a try since who doesn't love a nice thick slice of cinnamon bread with butter? With no sugar added, you won't even feel bad.

• Brown Butter Sour Cherry Cornetto from Bar Ape - This is the only ice cream combination that matters. The End.

New Coffee Shops I'm loving

Since moving I've been on the hunt to discover new and delicious coffee shops and so far I've came across 2 really great ones for you to visit.

1. Rooms 915 Dupont - I cannot stop telling friends about this spot. You walk in to this coffee shop from a pretty industrial part of Dupont and into an unassuming commercial-looking building. But as soon as you pull back the curtains you are transported into this very chill place that feels like someone's eclectic home complete with mid-century furniture thoughtfully placed and incense burning in the corner. On the weekends it's a no laptop zone, but during the week you're allowed. Not only is it a coffee shop but they also serve sandwiches and cocktails. So you can visit any day or night.

2. Būno Coffee - This cute shop is tucked away on a side street right off of St. Clair W and is serving up some of the best coffee beans I've ever had. They have a standard bean that they use but you can also choose from 3 other types of beans too. My fave so far is the Papua New Guinea bean that they have. The co-owner Tony sources hard-to-find and ethically sourced beans and uses them in his store. The name comes from the Ethiopia location where coffee was originally found and, "BUN" also means coffee grounds in Arabic. A true celebration of the owner's heritage.

Things I did - Las Vegas Edition

I have been to Vegas a few times and there are some things I've learned. Stay at a smoke-free hotel, make sure to venture off the strip and embrace gambling even if you don't gamble.

We stayed at Nomad which the top 4 floors hotel inside the Park MGM - it's one of Vegas's only smoke-free hotel and casino. I haven't stayed here before but everyone was blown away by the staff, food and the general hospitality at the hotel. We even were given a few free Jell-o shots when the bartenders overheard us talking about celebrating a 40th birthday. The pools were super chill and relaxing (we went there every single day), not the typical Las Vegas pool party that I'm sure you've seen. The Nomad pool has it's own pool, but it also shares the 3 pools at Park MGM too. Depending on the type of vibe you're looking for (they have adult-only pools) there's one for you. If you are heading to the USA, I would recommend picking up Vacation's Whip sunscreen. It looks just like whipped cream and it goes on incredibly smooth. Unfortunately, Canada has some strict sunscreen ingredient laws so it's currently unable to ship to Canada.

We did some gambling - my games of choice are Roulette and Black Jack. I don't necessarily like gambling, but I've learned to just go with it and have fun. Plus, there are free drinks if you're at the tables so it's not the worst thing.

We did unlimited mimosas at Primrose, where the food was subpar, but the bottles of Champagne hit the spot, were chilled and kept coming.

We ended up off the strip for 2 meals, one at PublicUs for breakfast and one for Jordan's birthday dinner at Raku.

At PublicUs we had their breakfast sandwich (topped with a hashrown #Merica), their donut muffin which is a giant cinnamon sugar donut, the waffles, and the corned beef hash. And to drink we ordered the Death Cream which is whole milk, Colombian cold brew, and organic, unrefined sugar shaken to a frenzy—PublicUs’s answer to a Frappuccino.

Raku is the place to go for an authentic Japanese grill experience and it's an experience! They have a board with today's freshest fish that has arrived, plus when you order a bottle of Sake, everyone gets to choose their own sake glass. The grilled items are extensive and have plenty of vegetarian options too. You order per skewer and everything is made to be shareable. We ended up getting the agedashi (deep-fried) tofu that is made in-house, the duck, fried whole fish, salmon skewers, and the scallops. It's definitely worth the Uber ride to try it out.

Things I read

NYT's - Done With Your Candle? Reuse the Jar

With winter (and dark days and nights) around the corner you better believe I'll be burning all of my candles all day now. But if you're looking for ideas on how to re-use your candle jar,s this article is just for you.

NYT - How to Organize your Fridge

Oh hey, not sure if you heard but I moved and so I thought why not try to start off fresh with some fridge organization to help make our lives easier. Wish us luck!

NYT - The Best Gear for Small Apartments

I have been on a small spaces kick lately and since we are living in Toronto where space is hard to come by why not check out the latest gear to optimize the space you have? Even if you don't need to utilize every single square inch of your space, it's always a good reminder.

That it for this month, see you in November!