a tourist in your own city

When my days are full of (unsuccessful) job hunting (save for one interview which involved a job that was 100% commission), I turn to hobbies to make sure I don't lose my mind or become a hermit. Apart from the interview, which told me that I was "not aggressive enough" for the job (challenge me to a game of Super Smash Bros., and I'll show you aggressive), I filled up my week with things I actually love to do. 

Those top five things I love to do ended up being: 1) seeing people I love; 2) enjoying great food; 3) exploring my city; 4) web and graphics designing and 5) catching up on shows, namely "Community" and "The Vampire Diaries."

Here are the bits that stand out the most (maybe because I photographed them, hehe):

COFFEE & THE ADVENTURES OF THE HONEY LEMON LOAF. In southern Ontario, they dubbed Tuesday and Wednesday as SNOWMAGEDDON - didn't really show up so much in Toronto, but in my city we got mountains of snow. So I would enjoy my half hot chocolate, half coffee indoors while watching the blinding snow each morning. We ended up getting a snow day on Wednesday, and in a moment of inspiration, I decided to make something I've never made before - a loaf (Lizzy & Tiara already claimed a slice haha).

I was inspired by this recipe and then added in some honey since I didn't have too much lemon. I trekked through the snow to go to The Boy's place with this loaf and it was an amazing evening of eating, cuddling, and then napping. There's something about cuddling with someone you love (be it a person or an animal) that just warms you right up during a snowstorm or rainy days.

WALKING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND. And being so thankful for those moments where you realize you just stepped onto a patch of ice but instead of falling on your bum you just end up skidding along, like a .5 second skating trip (if only that could have happened last week when I had a bottle of wine in my hand -sob-). And also hoping that my city stepped up with shelters so the homeless wouldn't have to endure the freezing weather and mountains of snow.

THE YEAR OF THE BUNNY & CATCHING UP. A few months ago, I wrote about my adventures in my friend's town. I haven't seen her in ages so when she e-mailed me to say she would be at our university I cried "YIPEE!" out loud. Over lunch, it became one of those moments where you don't see someone for a while but then you just pick up right where you left off ... I'm so grateful for those kinds of relationships. We ended up giving each other little gifts - I got her a sketchbook with an adorably artsy bunny on the front since it's the year of the hare and she ended up getting me a zodiac-animal-filled bracelet of sorts and my name in Chinese and carved into a stamp. I'm going to sign all my letters with this now haha :)

ENJOYING YUMMY CHEESECAKE WITH AFOREMENTIONED FRIEND EVEN THOUGH THE HOT FUDGE WAS RATHER COLD INSTEAD OF HOT. Enuff said.

BECOMING A TOURIST IN MY OWN CITY. I've always given my city criticism; it's decent, but you might as well just go to Toronto or Niagara Falls intead of my city if you ever make the journey to southern Ontario. But lately, I've realized the efforts to make my city feel fresh, clean, inspired. I spent the afternoon yesterday with my close friend just exploring one street in my city that I've only been on a handful of times. I admired the cute, quiant shops, and the ability for this single street to make me feel like I was somewhere else. I loved this one alley - that didn't look sketchy at all - and instead just had one wall covered with graffiti. And then, as my friend snapped this picture, five people walked by and just stared, making me feel like a hardcore tourist haha.

AND MORE FOOD. Monstrous bruschetta (with a picture that doesn't do it justice at all) and a delicious pizza of bacon, goat cheese, and scallions that filled me up and made me grateful that I actually enjoy working out ... since that's what I'll be doing for a good chunk of this weekend :)

Hope you all have a great rest of this weekend! And I have to ask:

What part of your hometown do you love the most? and

Is there a place you've wanted to explore?

I challenge all of you to become tourists of the place you live :)