So, Amy at work proposed to me today. And I accepted.

Elisa overhears our conversation and to her surprise tries to clarify the situation, “Did I just hear Amy propose to Taku?”

Amy brushes it off as if it’s no big deal, “yeah, that’s right. It’s only out of convenience and nothing else.”

Elisa readjusts her thinking and responds, “it’s probably because you two have nothing better to do on a Saturday night.”

lol… and so the story went. We continued our conversation and decided that we would register at Williams Sonoma and we started listing out all the things we wanted.

We decided to go to the store tomorrow and check out what they have.

And then as I headed back to my floor, I told her, “call me,” as I so cooly left the scene of the crime.

Of course, none of this is actually going to happen. But that’s just to let you know what kind of a working environment we have here. A rather playful one at that.

If it weren’t for people like Amy, I suppose working there wouldn’t be half as fun as it is. It’s a good thing Elisa has a sense of humour too. Otherwise who knows. Maybe we would have had to keep our word?!

Yeah, right. As if!

I went over across the border this past weekend in what was a much anticipated road trip for me. I hadn’t gone away in a long time and this little mini-vacation with my friends was exactly what my soul needed. A friend of ours is studying medicine in Syracuse, NY so we went to visit her over the weekend – with some on-the-way shopping at the Waterloo outlet mall and Carousel Mall on the outskirts of Syracuse. I had never been to either of them and so it was a pleasant surprise to wander around aimlessly shopping for who knows what.

The Prime Outlet Mall in Waterloo was just grand. With so many outlets lined along the side, it was crazy trying to cover the entire mall. But knowing my friends, anything was possible if it had to do with shopping. It took us just about 4 hours to complete the entire mall. We went from one side and walked our way from store to store trying and buying anything and everything that we thought we would even have a remote need for sometime in the distant future.

Going in from one store to the next, I was amazed at all the prices. All I saw were stickers yelling out, “Additional 25% off lowest ticketed price,” “35% off,” “buy one get second half price,” and even “75% off.” There was literally nothing that was on sale for regular price! Looking and comparing these prices from the stores in Toronto, I felt just plain silly buying things here, even when they were on sale here.

Take for example a nice, plain fall jacket that I had purchased just 3 weeks ago at the Banana Republic friends and family sale. At 30% off, I bought a jacket for $91 thinking it was an OK price to pay for a good quality merchandise. Coming to the Banana Republic outlet store in the states, the same jacket was on sale for US$59 – 25% off, which totals to roughly $45! That’s half the price! I felt almost ashamed to even admit that I bought that item in Toronto.

Although it was very difficult to restrain myself from buying up a storm, I managed to get away with buying just a pair of Puma sandals ($15 – this was regular price, but I didn’t really want a second pair at half off), a CK reversible belt at $25, something else that I can’t mention right now, and a pair of Clark shoes at $59. Not bad, not bad.

But then came shopping at Carousel Mall, which by Toronto standards is one giant beast. It’s currently under renovation but when it is done, it will be dubbed, “Destiny USA” and is touted to be the largest shopping mall in America… not to mention its green energy saving features.

In any case, I wasn’t planning on buying anything more since I had already done more than enough at the outlet mall, but when we walked into Macy’s, we found their “One Day Sale” too good to pass up! Searching through the men’s section, my friends attacked the shelves with a “Clearance” sign on it. Upon my friend’s suggestion, I came over and looked at what they were feverishly searching through. They were dress shirts and ties! After my friend pointed out to me that each of these were only $10, it didn’t take me long to start my search for a good design.

I came out with two dress shirts, each $10 and one tie at $20. Not bad, I thought to myself. You definitely cannot beat a $10 Donald Trump Signature Collection dress shirt!

I knew I had already over-spent during this trip, but I have to say, it was fun looking around and trying to restrain myself even more as my friends went from one store to the next. To further sooth my soul, I bought a large cup of Coldstone ice coffee lovers ice cream. Delicious at only $5!

So after this weekend of shopping and eating, I came to the conclusion that it is now too silly to shop here in Toronto when you can get such great deals only 3.5 hour away!

My other friend tells me about this place called Grove City in Pennsylvania. Now I’m even more curious as to what is there!

The annual Taste of the Danforth draws more than a million people throughout its three day event. This year was no different with tents lining either side of the Danforth, each one trying to get people to buy their quails, souvlaki, chicken skewers, or other tasty treats.

This year I went to the festival with RS, who already had her agenda neatly planned out. Since I really didn’t have any preference as to where to go, I was happy to go wherever she wanted to. At the end of it all, I realized how little I actually eat now. heh! But all in all, it was a tastier year than others since I tried out more than the traditional kabobs and the likes.

Admittedly, I think everything that I ate was indeed quite tasty. To start off with, I had a lamb chop ($3), which was left off the grill for a tad too long, but nonetheless a tasty chop as that pungent lamb scent was not quite as intense as in some places. Moving on we both had some BBQed quail ($5 each), which was both tender and tasty, albeit not too much meat on them. Still, it was good.

To satisfy some seafood craving, RS recommended this one spot with calamari and grilled octopus. How could one say no to either of them? Seeing as I felt my stomach getting full, I opted for 4 cuttle fish for $4. Lemony. Salty. Just slightly overcooked. Herbed. Very flavourful. I liked it. Now if only I had the stomach to taste the octopus. Next time, so I told myself.

Walking some more we stopped by to a bakery to get some Spanakopita ($3). At first, I wasn’t going to get anything. Then as we walked closer to the tent, I was tempted to get the creme filled one, with dusted sugar on top, however, the spinach one that RS bought looked too good to pass up. Sure enough, with a flaky skin, and not too chewy center, it was just right. It also helped that we got the first two out of the newest batch that just came from inside.

Throughout the evening, RS had highly recommended to me some gyro’s with fries in them. She insisted I try them out at this place called Messini’s as it was that good. So, although I was all ready to get one, running into this Spanakopita place, I had ruined my appetite for anything more at that time. Sadly, the gyro’s will have to wait for another time.

In the midst of all of this, we must have spent a good 45 minutes lining up at Astoria’s where the line wrapped around the corner for their famous pork souvlaki ($3). RS was kind enough to let me taste one since I couldn’t eat anymore. Very large chunks, moist, tender, flavourful, although a bit weak in some areas. Was it worth the 45 minutes? Well, at least we were able to see Super Lover.

I had also forgotten that I had bought some almond cookies from a bakery. At $1 each, I hope they are tasty! I have yet to taste this but I’ll be looking forward to it tomorrow morning.

A nice big glass of freshly squeezed lemonade from Lemon Heaven capped the evening off as we walked from the end of the festival to the start of the block, and back to the end once again.

Being exposed to soo much Greek food at one time, it was a shame that we couldn’t truly enjoy certain places for what they’re good at. Honestly, if I went to one of these restaurants at some other time, I would probably enjoy it more than had I eaten a bit here today. However, the festival is all about the atmosphere and well, you can’t beat a million people making their trek along the Danforth, that’s for sure!

We must have both smelled like grilled meat and bbq as the streets were filled with a myriad of smells that evening. I have to say, it was a tastier time than my previous visits and I was quite happy with the selection that I had; thanks to RS of course for the recommendations.

Ahh, delicious indeed!