Suburb of Heaven

Back from my four days in Toronto. I'm footsore, having tromped through most of the area right around my hotel, but I also relied on the pretty great public transport the city offers. I was in a very central location downtown which meant it was pretty touristy in spots but tourists were just sort of the background parade of bustle. This is different from DC, where in certain spots locals are outnumbered by gangs of roving tourists following guides waving umbrellas, and you have to elbow your way through them to get from point A to point B.

My current city just has to put up with football crowds, which are easier to avoid.

Anyway, my time in Toronto was marked by a lot of eating wonderful food. The biggest thing I miss living in a smaller city is not just having access to different types of cuisine, but having multiple choices for every type that are all good. That was certainly the case here. I could have eaten dinner at a different Chinese place every night and not had to walk too far to do so. Or ramen, or roti, or bibimbap or specialty burger joints, or whatever. I didn't even get to the pierogi, sadly.

I spent most of my time along Queen West, which was fun and funky, and also in Chinatown and around the Kensington Market. The city itself felt like it had mostly been marked by big growth in the 1970s, and everything was a little grubby and cementy and worn and I suspect it's not a great place to be in the wintertime. Very grey and dingy, I imagine. (I think somebody told me there is a maze of underground tunnels and shops and things so you can stay out of the weather, which makes a ton of sense.) But everyone I met reinforced the stereotype of nice Canadians, and it was a thorough pleasure to be in a place that's so deeply multicultural. People-watching was magnificent, especially since there were tons of twentysomethings rocking fashion that I could never pull off but can have fun looking at.

On one of my days I went out to a little boutique for plus-size clothing and spent some serious cash (for me) on some clothes. If I were to describe my clothing style to you I'd usually say "jeans and some sort of t-shirt" because I am unimaginative and also I like jeans and think I look good in them. But I was seduced into buying some wonderful flowy tops in breezy cuts, including a watercolory print kimono throw and a truly outrageous paisley fringed thing. I'm afraid they all say "art teacher" kind of strongly - my mistake perhaps for saying that I worked in a museum - but then again, maybe it wasn't a mistake because I think they look great on me. So, I guess I'm embracing a stereotype of Older Arty Lady? Maybe the little purple fit and flair dress I bought will help keep the Older bit somewhat at bay. Or maybe before I know it, I'll be moving to Taos and will start to throw pots.

Oh, and this is completely petty of me, but the salesfolk took my photo in said purple dress, and also the photo of a woman trying on clothes in the booth next door, and said they were for Instagram. I was simultaneously flattered and worried that I was too sweaty and un-made-up, but they coaxed me into it, but I think I was right because the other woman's (very cute) photo has appeared and mine hasn't. I can't decide if I'm disgruntled or not. I don't like to think that I bought more clothing from them that I otherwise would have because I was feeling happy and flattered, but I guess if I did, good for them, they did their job well. And really, I'm not very photogenic and had just spent an hour on public transport to get there, so it's probably for the best.

While flying home I got to witness older American businessmen being really rude to gate agents, which was obnoxious. Actually, since my hotel catered to the business trade, I was kind of surrounded by them all week, and being forced to eavesdrop as they sat in the bar and in the lobby and barked things into cell phones. It was all Very Urgent. But all my flights for the trip turned out to be pretty smooth and I got to sit in the exit row on the tiny plane for my last leg back, so hey, surprise bonus.

I'm going to miss the food. I already do.

I have been unposty! But I have been doing things! Here is what I've been up to:

- Read The Rook by Daniel O'Malley, which I love love loved, and Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch and I loved it a lot too and just bought the next three books because it's been a while since I was excited by new reading. Oh, also read the newest Harry Dresden book and enjoyed it a lot as a return to form after two books I was really disappointed in. Not to say it was perfect but it made me decide to stick with the series after I was considering bowing out.

- Watched Edge of Tomorrow after all the good word-of-mouth and really enjoyed it. Fun, thrilling, funny, tightly edited, well done, bravo bravo and I don't understand because it apparently didn't do well at the box office? Boo on that, it was great.

- Traveled to Chicago and San Antonio and had a very nice time in both cities while getting some work done there

- Learned the basics of making jam, in a rough-and-ready fashion. Also, brioche.

- Currently entertaining some of the in-laws, on account of a Significant Birthday of my husband (who is not exactly happy about the birthday but it coping with it better than feared)

And that's all I can think of at the moment.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and good wishes to all tonight. It's cold outside, but inside we're nice and warm, and our tiny tinsel tree is glowing invitingly. As is usual for our family, we opened presents on Christmas Eve. This year, since we're far away from family, Facetime was recruited to help bridge the miles, meaning we got to participate in all the raucous laughing and people talking over each other and cheering over gifts that is how Christmas Eve is supposed to go. We have good things for breakfast tomorrow, and will go to brunch with another friend who is in town as well and so pass the day in what I hope will be good cheer. Later, there will be Yuletide reading and freshly baked cookies and contented cats.

It's been a year of ups and downs. Here's to next year being more ups and far fewer downs for all of us.

Went over to a friend's house and baked four kinds of cookies. They mostly came out ok, but none came out quite as awesome as we had hoped. My coconut macaroons were probably the biggest success - really tasty, but turned out shaped like odd little sombreros. My brown butter cookies are ok, but I feel like they have a faint taste of raw flour to them. Co-worker's gingersnaps are mostly molasses-tasting (good for those who like molasses, which I don't, all that much) and her oatmeal chocolate cookies are nice enough but a little boring. Contemplating whether or not to bring them into work tomorrow.

If you have an awesome cookie recipe, feel free to point me towards it. Something luscious but not crazy-difficult would be lovely. I've got the baking fever upon me now.

We had nice weather up until recently, but the worm has turned. It's not chilly anymore, it's outright cold. Brr.

Note to self: when you've previously had chocolate cake overflow it's pans and all over the oven, clean that shit up before trying to cook anything in the oven again. Billowing clouds of smoke plus bits of charred batter on fire in the oven are no fun at all.

In other news, thanks to Ask Mefi, I'm now reading Herman Wolk's Marjorie Morningstar and really enjoying it.

So I'm back from my work trip which had a lot of leisure time built in, except there was also some stuff that didn't go very smoothly. But it's all been worked out at this point, so hurrah. I got a little obsessive about collecting beach glass on the beach my bed and breakfast looked out onto, and I'll give some to some co-workers who love the stuff, but I should take a photo of the pile before I do. I also ate a lot of cannoli and other Italian pastries - there's a strong Portuguese and Sicilian heritage in the town and I spent a morning sitting at a cafe that could have been in Palermo - great coffee, pastries, and a clutch of gesticulating old men chatting in Italian, Sicilian, and occasionally English, with a lot of enthusiasm.

It's only since I've been going on work trips that I've gotten to know the northeast part of the US a little more, and I really sort of love it. Although I've never seen it in the winter, so. But I've really loved some of the bits of it I've seen recently.

Drivers in Massachusetts are terrible. Saw a lot of texting while driving, driving either way too fast or way too slow, an inability to merge, a misunderstanding of the physics of a semi that would otherwise maybe prevent you from slewing in front of one and immediately slamming on your brakes...

Despite doing well the previous trip, Bemo didn't handle this one as well. He said he cried a lot, didn't leave the house much despite a list of stuff he could do (he likes having the lists, and we used them successfully before) and on the whole seems to have gritted his teeth and endured. It makes it a little difficult for me as well. Hopefully the next time travel comes up for me, he'll be able to deal with it a bit better.

The cats are happy that my suitcase is sitting in the living room, and they have taken turns sleeping on top of it. It's the prize spot at the moment.

Meanwhile, my sister seems to be getting a lot out of her trip to the Philippines, though it does seem to be pretty exhausting. She's currently in Davao at the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute. She got to visit with a couple of the titas, and will have more time with family on the other side of her trip.

It's in the oven now. Exciting!


But some occupants of the household don't really care. They just want you to scratch their tummy.

I am so hopeless at refusing people who are excitedly trying to sell me things and calling me honey and being super-helpful. Because I went into the Vietnamese grocery and came out with a giant frozen chicken plus all the fixings for twelve years of noodle dishes.

It's always lovely when the morning brings unexpected family drama, and it's even lovelier when you're the one who inadvertently triggers it. The Facebook "share" button can be a tricksy thing. Thankfully, it's mostly died down, but I suppose it's useful information to know that you're never too old to feel like a hurt little kid. Blast my father and his overwhelming cowardice anyhow.

In other news, I have a three-day weekend to look forward to, which is pretty awesome. And today we had tres leches cake to celebrate a birthday. And I got to see some proofs for an upcoming catalogue that I had some participation in, and it looks pretty darn cool. And my sister and I hashed out a food plan to start getting our respective crazypants eating under some sort of control. And I earned a little money by doing some ad hoc photo research for a London publishing house, very unexpectedly.

Since I had a bowl of the competition this afternoon, have an 1930 ad for Heinz spaghetti inna can.

Hanging out at a coffeeshop grading tests and listening to David Bowie (makes remarkably good background music to do this.) Am contemplating a pot of tea, but then I'd really be drowsy and less inclined to get work done than I already do. Outside is a railyard and beyond that, a pretty pink and white and purple sun setting over what was a very nice late-fall day that has included some tasty banh mi from the food truck and some lounging on the sofa before I headed out to get some work done which as you can see, I'm responsibly plowing through.