Happy Friday!

Today marks the beginning of my last week living in Toronto (for now). I feel like in order to no constantly be on the verge of tears, I need to also constantly qualify my moving situation. Everything is “for now.” It’s always “I might be back.”  I am open to the possibilities. Life is an open book right now and I honestly have no idea what the next year (two years, five years, ten years) will bring. I’m trying to embrace that, because that’s the reality.

Some time next week, two things are going to happen. One: I’m going to write a little love letter to Toronto and my time here. Two: I’m going to change the blog name (it will no longer be accurate). So that’s something to look forward to! For now, enjoy your weekend. Americans in America: happy memorial day! Canadians in Canada: hope the humidity doesn’t make you too miserable!

Here are some bits and pieces from around the internet:

Design Sponge National Stationary Show Post 

Cute purse from Target

Going to make this sangria tonight, yum!

The Curator’s Code 

Octopus, Octopie, Octopodes, Octopuses 

 

Old Toronto

I’m currently (or should be) doing research for a paper due at the end of the semester where we focus on one street of Toronto from 1911 and try to put together an idea of what it was like to live on such street at such time. It’s actually really cool (oh, I am such a nerd). Most kids (slackers (not really)) are focusing on an ethnic or religious enclave, but I am trying to find an occupation enclave, of which there is little information (me = idiot overachiever).

Long story short, here are some awesome pictures of Toronto in the 1900s that I stumbled upon on Blog TO during said fruitless reserach.

The cycling club (what?)

King Street

U of T campus entrance (!)

the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE)

St. Lawrence Market

Sleighing in Queens Park

Diving Horse at Hanalan’s Point (this one’s my favorite, it is utterly absurd).

Taylor Swift

Seriously, say what you will about Miss Swift (we all know I personally adore her), but these photos from a vacation (they’re taken by her/her friends!) are just beautiful.

 

That last one is my favorite. So lovely.

Hope you have a happy Thursday!

(all photos from here: http://taylorswift.com/media/photos/17453)

Grace Kelly

Hello, hello!

How was your weekend? I’m putting together a great introduction to Emma’s Winter Survival Guide ’12 but first, isn’t Grace Kelly beautiful?

I managed to slip away and see an exhibit on her transition from actress to princess at the TIFF Bell Light Box this weekend.  She just seemed to have been a truly lovely person in every sense of the word.

 

I find her so incredibly enchanting.

Happy (almost) Halloween!

Nate and I are going to pick out our pumpkins this weekend and I have a Halloween party to go to tonight. Not sure what exactly I’m going to be yet, but hopefully whatever it is will go over well.

Today’s Friday five are some cute pictures of Halloweens past. I always miss home a little bit this time of year. Pumpkin carving was always a big thing in the Sarconi-Johnson household. I’ve been noticing that here in Canada, Halloween isn’t such a big deal. I mean, back home, the houses are DECKED OUT for Halloween. I’m talking haybails and fake spiderwebs and motion censored speakers that whine at you like a ghost when you walk past them. Every year we spent a whole afternoon decorating the house and lawn. Last year, in order to make it up to me that I missed Halloween at home, my dad thought it would be nice to hang a HUMONGOUS and TERRIFYING fake bat from my ceiling light so that it greeted me the minute I walked in. Thanks dad, thanks.

But, back to Canada, there seems to be very few fake bats here. And although in some ways I am grateful for the lack of fake bats, it makes the whole holiday a little less festive (that is NOT AN INVITATION, DAD). Maybe I’m just not looking in the right places, but I never thought I’d miss fake spiderwebs and tombstones with ironic names on them.

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(look guys I made a slideshow aren’t you proud of me!?!?!)

(also, that red costume: I was a “southern belle”. Yes, a “southern belle.” That was the SECOND year in a row I choose to be a “southern belle” for Halloween, the costume from the year before was pink. Today, I might dub that costume “old western bar mistress” or ” saloon harlot.”)