UPDATE FROM THE GREAT FREEZING NORTH POLE!

welllllll they weren't kidding.. its cold as shit. As in…. 7 degrees right now.. the high today was 16! good thing I got this eskimo hat from Paige! Thanks Mom and Daddd!!

Speaking of.. I'm really excited for the weeks to come.. I'm heading to Miami this weekend with my company for our Sales Conference, and then Jim and Paige come on the 8th of February, and my Main man Billiam is coming over Valentines day! <<<<33333333333!! :) :) :) ANDDD my little SPENCER just booked a flight for MARCH!!! :)

Which is good, because I'm starting to get a littttle lonely up here in the great white north… I spent most of the weekend relaxing and reading.

Saturday night I went to this place called Gusto 101 for drinks and dinner with Silvie - she took a-liking to the guy sitting next to us at the bar, and they chatted most of the night.. soo I made friends with the Chef, Carlo. He made me fried cheese and let me try his deserts… We both got a little tipsy on wine and left around 12.. I got free cheese.. she got some guys phone number. Molly 1, Silvie 0.

Sunday I went to the gym in the morning and did a class called "Body Attack"! yep! it attacked my Body.. I was sweating even after my shower.. everyone in the class had skinny bodies - so apparently it works..

I went to grab lunch (sushi) with Silvie and shopping a little, grabbed a drink at this awesome bar with a view. It was on the 51st floor which had its own private elevator (see attached photo) and then we went to see Zero Dark Thirty - (The movie about Osama, mom) I thought it was really informative though of all the attacks and the timeline of trying to catch him. I enjoyed it, but she didn't.. maybe if you're an American you appreciate it more? either way.. Molly 2, Silvie 0.

My books and the gym and skying with friends are good mental escapes, but it's still starting to wear on me that I don't have much to do or many friends. I'm excited for the days to come, but I think I need to branch out and get some more girlfriends.. maybe post a craigslist add? "wanted: normal girl who wants to get drinks with me (and actually talk to me)" Good title??

weekend fun!

This weekend was really fun!

Friday night after work I went home with a co-worker of mine, Andrew to hang out with his sister, a friend and his family.. Andrew takes the go-train home which is a two story train that is 6 dollars both ways, but someone got hit on the tracks so we had to take the subway to the very last station (North) and his father picked us up.

Andrew is from a really small town, kind of reminds me of Pfafftown! As soon as we got there Andrew's dad took me downstairs to pick out my beverage of choice for dinner - I didn't know what I wanted (and didn't want to ask for anything) so the whole family drank mimosas for dinner! It so was nice to have a home cooked meal! Andrew and his sisters friend, Lisa just got the new Ford Explorer so rode in it after dinner to get an ice cream cake (in 20 degree weather?). The cake was prettty darnn good though! After dinner Andrew's dad took us all downstairs to show me his alcohol collection. I sampled 400 dollar tequilla, which by the way, stilll sucks and lots of other liquors, including some all the way from spain. He also made us his famous drink called a "broken down golf cart" he says he makes it different everytime, but I enjoyed it!

Saturday morning we headed back to Toronto and went to the Saint Katherine's market - which is like a huge farmers market - I got some home made beef jerky and a Canadian Bacon sandwich! All homemade!

Saturday day was spent exploring Toronto! Lou, Brett, Andrew and I walked around Queen Street all day and looked at the cool shops. Brett bought a $60 Packers hat.. and then they lost the next day.. so we all made fun of him for that. Lou tried on a RIDICULOUS Hat too - which I had to snap a photo of..

Saturday night I met up with my grandparents friends grandchildren.. yep, another blind-friends date! One of them plays professional hockey so it was cool to learn a little about the sport. The place we went to was NUTS!! It's called Real Sports and it has over 120 TVs.. The picture hardly does it justice… but the NFL games were going on - and the place was going crazy every time someone scored. It's definitely a cool place for someone who enjoys sports to go.

I left the Freeman's about 10:30 and went to meet up with my work friends. We went to a place called Sneaky Dee's, which kind of reminded me of The Goat in Raleigh. No 1 dollar mystery beers though..

Sunday morning I went to lunch with my Grandparents friends. It was kind of cool because it was like going with my Grandparents. I learned they call PopPop brown - Stan the Man! and heard some cool stories about their time spent in Florida- made me miss home.

Sunday afternoon was spent cleaning and being as lazy as possible. Lou and I made "family dinner" of gnocchi and salad, and I went to bed approximately 9:30pm :)

Tonight Lou and I went to dinner with our realtor. She wanted to take us to a "welcome to Toronto" dinner.. and guess who was next to us at the table? Drake! exciting but he was a total A-Hole.. when I asked him to take a picture he said "not now, I'm eating".. Needless to say, he was not being very nice. No one else in the restaurant attempted to talk to him the whole night.. and there was only one other table in there at the time.. he coulda taken a 2 second photo- or at least could have been nicer.

ANYHOOO - not a big fan of Drake. the place we ate though - PHENOMENAL!!

I went to the gym after work and now I'm ready for bed in my onesie.

Onesie out!!

one week down!!!

I've been super busy the past two days so I havent gotten to update this lil guy yet..

Wednedsay I went on my first blind date! It was with a girl I had texted and talked to a little bit about living with here in Toronto.. She is a events coordinator and works til super late so we got a late dinner and a some drinks at this little place called Oxley. They had poodles everywhere and their bathroom was the tackest thing I had ever seen. But overall cool atmosphere and good food! We talked a lot about boys (her boyfriends name is bob so we laughed about "bob and bill" a lot).. and about her job.. she has a pretty sweet gig and gets a lot of free tickets to games and stuff.. so thats cool!! Her roomate is my age too - I was invited to hang out with them tongiht but I might be headed home with one of my co-workers!

Yesterday we had happy hour after work with our VP and a potiental new hire. We went to a place called hemingways, and then dinner and then some SICK roof top bar! We also met some celebrity that some of my co-workers were all excited about.. Rick somthing? I dont know.. My co worker got a picture on his phone so I'll try to out it on here.. looks like a c-list celebrity to me. Apparently he was in the show Suits and the show Entourage

The picture is of the roof top bar's view-

We made fun of Nas's all night because you could see his nipples through his shirt.. and Lou and Nas' argued which was a bigger sport MLS or the NHL - also very entertaining.. Jen drank 4 drinks and then left to run 6 miles and my VP and I tried different types of Vodka and Pineapples or Rum and Pineapples to see which one tasted better.. I'm more into the Rum and Pineapples..

First and Second Day in Canadia!

Skyping some of my Dear TSG co-workers who were at Tobacco Road watching Timons Brother play!

Eaton Center - Where we ate dinner at last night, kind-of looks like a small Times Square to me

Yesterday was the first day of work for me in the Toronto Office - wasn't exactly what I had pictured… don't get me wrong the view is great, the location is great, the people and the office space are great too! There is just not much recruiting to do.. I guess thats what happens when you come into a new territory in the staffing business. My activities yesterday consisted of helping new recruiters and setting up phones and the internet.

For lunch our VP took Lou and I to this cool little burger place, they have won like 7 awards for the burgers and it was AWESOME. It was so juicy and tender (sorry Mom and Caroline)..
http://bigsmokeburger.com/

I found a gym.. but before I can get a membership I have to get a Canadian bank account.. soo looks like thats what I will be doing tomorrow over lunch.. The guy who I spoke to about a membership was fascinated with the word "y'all". He told me he had never heard anyone use the word in a sentence.. and didn't think it was a real word? He also was missing a tooth, and had a personality of a serial killer. Trust me. I know. I watch murder shows.. but I swear it is a nice gym...

After work Lou, our VP, Brett and Nas and I went to this awesome place for dinner and to watch the National Championship game.. or that was our intention… The waitress looked at us like we had three eyes when I asked for the BCS game on TV. We called a bar down the street simply to ask what TV channel the game was on. That bar wasnt too pleased - but success - we got the game! This bar was more like a pub atmosphere - but I ordered sushi anddddd It was the best sushi I have had in a long time! The area it was in was a pretty cool area too! It looks like a small Times Square.. and it was only 2 subway stops from our apartment! I have a feeling we'll be going back to that area a lot.
http://www.joeyrestaurants.com/eaton-centre

When we left the boys got street meat, or as they pronounce it .. "Skreet meeet!".. I took a picture of it which I'll also attach - Nas's got it all over himself- which caused some pretty hilarious photos too! We all had had about 4 beers by now - so were feeling a little tipsy.. so i'm not sure if its the alchol talking.. but the skreet meeet was pretty damnn good.. but we all know I'm a sucker for a good hot dog!

I got skype with some of my co-workers last night which was very cool! and of course Billiam when I got home. THANK GOD for the person who invented Skype.. or FaceTime.. or Tango.. awesome apps and I don't know how i would survive with out them!

Today was a slow day again in the office - but I'm hoping it will pick up soon. Our Account Manager was out all day trying to secure business for us… lets hope he's good at what he does!!

I bought two books over lunch today, thanks to Krista (Kendalls sister) who has an awesome blog with good insight on good books… I also made some kale, brocolli and salmon when I got home for dinner. I've decided since I'll have a lot of down time here in the city I should use it in good ways.. like reading, or learning to cook different dishes.. alll I need is my gym membership and I'll be good to go!

I don't know who I am - reading? cooking? and wanting to workout? - lets see how long this lasts! HA!

I have a drink-date tomorrow night with a girl named Silvie... whom I was supposed to live with, and a lunch date on Thursday with a friend of a granddaughter of my grandparents friends.. can ya follow that??  I'm excited to meet new friends.. not gunna lie, it's is kind of getting lonely.. and the office is 2 girls and 5 boys.. I miss my friends, and I need some quality girl time! and maybe a little escape from TSG?

One of the worst parts of being here is missing big events in my friends lives.. My company paid for a co-worker of mine to go to the BCS game because his brother was playing for ND - way cool right? I really wish I could have been there for his surprise.. andd a good friend of mine had a baby on Sunday - It really stinks I didn't get to meet the baby before I left.. but I guess the quote below is true.. just waiting on that thing I get to gain!

"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you have gain, you lose something" Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)- Compensation

Welll time to Skype wif my man, relax, light my urine-smelling candle ( I gotta get a new one of those) and start reading "The Glass Castle"..

Little Italy

...something about sitting in a twin bed, sipping on wine feels kind of wrong… maybe like I am taking away my beds innocence? oh well its got 147 more days of wine drinking..

I woke up this morning to snow steadily falling from the sky, one might call it a snow storm (me) but apparently here in Toronto it is not considered a "snow storm".  Anyways, I put on my new snow jacket and snow boots (Thanks Santa/Mom) and headed out to explore for the first time on my own. I didn't get past the Dollar Store and Starbucks, but was still a cool feeling to be on my own in the city. Lame? Cliche? whatever. I enjoyed my 30 minutes of snowy, icy serenity.

I got a little depressed last night looking at my tanish-gray walls of nothingness- I needed to find something to make this small room feel more like home..  so at the Dollar Store I purchased a candle, a picture frame and a basket. Who knew the Dollar Store had room decorations?!? not this girl… normally I stick to Marshalls, TJ Maxx or Bed Bath and Beyond.. but when you're ballin' on a Toronto budget, the Dollar Store will do just fine! However, Unfortunately.. my frame is to big, my basket already broke and my candle smells like a mixture of a cat's litter box and a smelly janitor… maybe I'll venture a little farther next time.

When I got back Lou was up and reminded me I didn't get him any coffee. Oops… and we went out to explore Little Italy. Which is only a short subway ride, and a street car away.

The street car was like a mix between something you'd see in San Diego (well.. I've only seen pictures) and a train on the tracks. It is connected by a wire, and tracks like a train… doesn't sound very cool? well to the"locals", its not.. but to me it twassss pretty nifty.

We attempted to go to some place Lou's uncles knows of for pizza and authentic italian food. We took some back road (about a 30 minute walk) to get there and ended up in Little Portugal... only to discover that the place wasn't open until 4… Soooo we headed back towards the direction of Little Italy. After about 5 attempts to find a Mom-and-Pop place to eat, and about 4 miles of walking in snow boots (every place was closed), we ended up at some place that looked pretty "main stream". Lou got margarita pizza and I got an italian panini, it was pretty damn good for "main stream" Italian food. Needless to say, it was worth the 2321u3532y53285352357 miles we walked to get there.

When we got back I went to our gym, you'd think for the amount of money I am paying a month for rent - which is a lot- our gym would be half decent. The look of the gym is fine, dont get me wrong... We have a weight machine, a elliptical, a stationary bike and a treadmill.. well the unfortunate thing is.. only the treadmill works. You're probably thinking "whats so bad about that?" well.. nothing… accept for the fact that I freakin hate running.. anddd this particular treadmill is parked right in front of the mirror.. with no TV or anything.. so all you have to is run.. in place.. and stare at your pathetic self.. who is tired after about 10 minutes on the treadmill.

Sooooo since we live on the 14th floor, I thought to myself I'd run up the stairs to our apartment.. wellllllllllllllll 14 flights of stairs is a whole heck of a lot..

working out didn't help much with my self esteem.

Bill did some research for me though and found a gym right around the corner which has hot yoga, and other work out classes.. they also open at 5am. I think I may look into getting a gym membership there.

Lou and I hit up the dollar store tonight.. second time in one day? no big deal.. and got some necessities..

Now I'm in my twin bed - with my empty glass of wine.

I start work in Toronto tomorrow… A little excited to get back on schedule - but wish we got to explore a little more - guess I have 147ish more days..

Talk to you soon 'merica.

Toronto Life

just so you know.. I'm a shitty writer. Slightly dyslexic.. and I can't spell "gud"..

A few things I've learned about Toronto:

1. Pandora doesn't work in Toronto - This was the worst news ever. How can a country just not support Pandora? How can anyone just not support Pandora?!

2. Alcohol is ridiculously more expensive here… like absurdly expensive. Apparently they are taxed twice… A tall boy of Coors Light (which apparently is made in Toronto) is 3.00! THREE DOLLARS! The cheapest bottle of wine I can find is ten dollars…. so much for 2-buck-chuck.

3. Everyone is skinny in Toronto. I think that is because of the fact that we have to walk everywhere… which is also a blessing but a pain in the ass also. Today the high was 32 Degrees, which isn't that bad.  It was a sunny and nice day.. but once it drops colder it going to be difficult to walk EVERYWHERE! but i'll just keep thinking to myself " GET YO ASS SKINNY MOLLY"

I'm laying in my bed now while the boys play FIFA. Lou has played all day, and now Brett is here to play with him. While Lou played today, I got my room organized.

Lou got the bigger room, with the nicer view. How does that work? well let me tell you how.. When we first got here he ran to that room and dropped his bags. He claims we discussed this earlier, but I do not remember this at all. It's also closer to the bathroom…. My argument for being a girl so I needed to be closer to the bathroom didn't work out as well as i had planned it in my head haha… needless to say. My room is the size of my closet in Raleigh..

We went to Ikea and Walmart yesterday and Thursday and both bought beds. I bought a twin bed, and he got a double. This might be the first time since college that I slept in a twin bed, my feet hang off but no big deal... It's not bad though, I bought mattress toppers at Walmart.

However, last night in the middle of the night, approximately 3am, I was rudely awaken by the middle of my bed falling to the floor… I've never bought anything from Ikea without building it wrong.. but not to the point that it breaks… the slats in the middle of my bed had "fallen of the tracks" I guess. Lou and I nailed everything together today, so I'm hoping tonight we all stay intact.

Not sure our plan for tonight... The original plan was to go out on the town, but not gonna lie... I'm kind of tired. I'll keep ya posted.

xoxo - gossip girl

just kidding… kind of..

The Move

WHHATT ARE YOU THINKING?!? .. YOU'RE MOVING TO TORONTO IN THE DEAD OF WINTER?

funny you should ask. 

Today has been a whirl-wind of emotions. I'm nervous, sad, excited but most of all anxious. I've only been to Toronto once, and it was for less than 48 hours. There are so many things I want to do and I want to see, but it is hitting home that I don't have my best friends and my love ones there to participate in these adventures with me.

My entire life is packed up in THREE bags, and I am ready (I think) to board my plane at promptly 6:00am.