decadent girl brunch

I have never had dessert at brunch until I started brunching with these girls!
We certainly are treating ourselves to the finer things in life.

I had a beautiful Sunday brunch at l'ouvrir with Anabela, Charlyn, Melinda, Nikki and Nikole. This brunch was especially lovely because it was the first time we were all able to come out.

All the more reason for dessert at brunch.

Friends new & old

Slowing down life (because I physically move slower these days), carving out a bit of time to catch up with old friends and meeting some new ones too.

Trish, Nikole and I have been trying to meet up since August and originally it was for ice cream! The insanity of summer turned August into October and we met for a warm brunch on a slightly chilly day instead.

We met at The Depanneur for a lovely homemade breakfast; it was exactly what I needed. The patrons were friendly and it was a nice change of pace to just sit around the table and chat with friends on a Saturday morning.

It was so nice to finally meet you Trish, and I always love the chance to see Nikole again!

back to real life

We eased back into our regular lives pretty easily thanks to Gabe and May who looked after the Mea and Mojo and our house while we were away. Knowing that the cats were well loved when we were not there really eased my mind. Thank you so much Gabe and May! What would we do without you??

It was the beginning of spring when we came back to Toronto so easing back into our lives consisted of biking around the city again, making friends with neighbourhood cats, spending much needed time with Mea and Mojo, and some girl brunch.

We also flew back just in time for the busy wedding season and I have some new work I cannot wait to show you!

And I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me share so many stories from our adventures in Hong Kong and Korea. This was more special to me than any other holiday we have ever taken. I have so many more stories I haven't told but I feel like it is time to get back to my daily routine here. Perhaps I will pull something out from the archives in the future.

One more story though. Almost everyone asked about the photo of the fish tied up with yellow string in my previous post. Jin said they are salted fish (I believe it is Yellow Croaker. Very delicious!) eaten as a side dish and he thinks you buy them by the strand at the market. A long time ago, they used to tie the fish using some sort of straw or twine, but this one is tied with yellow nylon string. They use nylon string for everything in asia!

girl brunch

Yesterday, I met up with Nikki, Melinda, Charlyn and Anabela for a really delicious brunch at Marben.

They sat us in the sunny booth, so even though it was a little chilly outside, we were really toasty inside. Maybe spring is finally on its way?

I was really impressed with the food. My bread pudding french toast might just be one of the best french toasts I have had in the city so far! Nikki and Charlyn ended brunch with a homemade ice cream sandwich. Wow. Those girls really know how to brunch!

brunching often

These past few weekends, I have been brunching here and there, but this weekend, I found myself brunching on both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday was with Yukiko at Mildred's. A favourite of mine.
Sunday, I caught up with some lovely university friends, Sacha and Agata. We went to the Kensington Cornerstone which is new to me and I quite like it.

I think I am taking in as much brunch time with friends as I can before the wedding season starts.

If you haven't seen this already, Gabe and May ranked their top 10 brunch spots in Toronto! I love how Toronto is such a brunch loving city.

A day in Hamilton

Last Saturday, Karyn, Andrew, Rosalyn, Jin and I packed ourselves in our cars and drove to Hamilton for some homemade brunch goodness at Jen & Kyle's. It was pure deliciousness! Karyn snapped some shots from our fantastic brunch here, and you can see snippets of their super charming home too!

Jin & I got a little tour of Hamilton and I was really impressed with James St. and all the beautiful old buildings that have retained so much of their character.

We spent a lot of time in the newly renovated farmer's market and library because it was so beautiful inside! We were already really full from the amazing brunch, but we had to get some cookies from the cookie stall that had every cookie ever invented.

We met Hollie from White Elephant Vintage while at the market, but we didn't make it to their store that day. I was a little sad, but I know we will be back when it gets a little warmer.

Thanks for an amazing day Jen & Kyle!

last month of summer

brunch with friends,
city sights,
sun rays.
repeat.

I can't believe it is august already!

searching for sunshine

In my last post, I boasted about sunny skies, and spring-like weather. But this past weekend was not quite as pleasant (weather wise). It was dark and rainy, and the wind was coming from all directions. It got cold, the kind of cold the seeps into your bones.

I still had a great weekend though, with bright moments.

Jin and I had brunch with Rosalyn yesterday (runny eggs make me so happy, and brunch!)

We found some delicious oranges this weekend, and went to go buy more.

And Rosalyn had the happiest rain boots on.

Also, Jin found this funny video that I cannot stop watching. It will make you smile.

p.s. thank you for all your great salad suggestions! I don't care if it is cold out today, I am going to have a salad tonight!

my weekend : part 1

I saw a lot of friends this weekend! It feels so good to take breaks away from the house! I used to work without breaks until I completed my task, especially in school. I think my thinking was that breaks were a waste of time. But I cherish my breaks now, I am realizing that it is the only way to keep sane for large projects, and our projects in life are only getting bigger and more exciting!

Remember this brunch?

Nikki wasn't feeling so good last time, so she was missing in our party. This time, we were complete! We all met at the Hoof Café, possibly the cutest new brunch spot in Toronto! Their decor is perfect, and we were all in love with their light fixtures! Of course, their food was amazing.

I had such a great time ladies!

I just realized, in a restaurant that serves so many interesting meat oriented dishes, I just ordered french toast! What was I thinking?