Entry 0005: High-end literature.

As I go through my MS Outlook and delete the ugly mass that is my Sent Items folder (it auto-archives, so there's going to be some hangups there...), I guess it's a good time to put this blog together. I was going to do it last night, but I got side-tracked by insomnia and general delirium.

Anyway, I'll have to be the first to admit that I'm a bit of a magazine fiend. I don't know what it is - maybe it's the vibrant pictures on the pages, or the glossy paper quality. Some people love reading novels and escaping into other worlds - I enjoy peeling a magazine's covers back and getting lost in the layout. Give me Quark XPress or Adobe InDesign over Microsoft Word any day! [/nerd moment]

So anyway, I was having another late night at the office (surprise, surprise), and I'd made my way over to Union Station to eventually catch a train home. I was hungry, having basically skipped lunch earlier in the day, so I decided to use one of my coupons for a free Harvey's burger to tide me over.

Note to all non-Canadians: You haven't eaten a burger until you've had Hatvey's. It is, without a doubt, the shit. If you ever come up here, seek one out. You will not be disappointed.

To all Canadians: How to score a free Harvey's burger coupon.
1 - Work for a bank. Make sure that a local Harvey's is on its list of business clients.
2 - Become very well-acquainted and friendly with the manager of the Harvey's. They will be the person coming in to make a deposit, but not wearing a uniform. I mean, if you owned a successful fast-food restaurant, would you wear a uniform?
3 - Eventually, if you behave yourself and they like you, they will give you coupons for a free Harvey's sandwich anywhere in Canada! Sweet! (Kinda sucks for me, because I try not to overindulge, so I just get an Original burger. Back in the teenage days, I could've rocked a triple burger with bacon. Man. Heart attack right there.

So yeah, after dropping $3.82 (I paid for the fries and the drink), I got that in my system, noting on the news that the Canon Powershot G9 has come out to play (I mean, I have a G7, which is pretty much just as good, but the G9 is so... NEW...), I was heading back to catch a train home, but still had time to kill. Me + time to kill = horrible news for my wallet. I went over to the Gateway newsstand and started glossing over the glossy magazines (I know you liked that one!).

This time around, a few over from the current issue of XXL with Lil Wayne's ugly mug posted prominently on the cover, was the current issue of Toronto Life, with the tagline of "100 Tastes to Try Before You Die". Now, I loves me some food, so I was instantly intrigued. There's a ton of crazy places, tastes, and textures I haven't tried in Toronto, so I'm definitely going to look into that - I'll keep you guys on notice!

And then I went home and barely slept. The end!

--case p.

P.S. I'm seriously zoned right now, and Second Cup's Candy Cane Hot Chocolate ain't helping as much as I thought it would. Hey, is this becoming one big product placement blog? I wonder....

Entry 0004: More eating!

So yes, I didn't buy anything but food AGAIN yesterday - work's keeping me too busy to hit up the malls, apparently!

My blogging buddy and technology aficionado Jay actually provided the idea of a challenge of a no-buy day to offset all the other crap I buy.

Then I realized: I call that Sunday! It seems to me, the more I sleep, the less I spend. Probably because I'm asleep. I think it's a genius plan.

Yesterday's lunch saw money spent at Food by Frances, near the corner of Bay/Wellesley in Toronto, ON. It helps that it's close to work, and that the winds were freezing yesterday, so it was quick to get, and good to eat.

RECOMMEND:
-Chicken Salad with Mushrooms & Thyme on French White
-Black Tiger Shrimps with Mango-Coconut Sauce, served with Snow Peas & Steamed Jasmine Rice

Both of which I've had and are extremely tasty - the first one a cold sandwich, and the second a hot entree. The pecan tart I had there was a little on the tough side, though. I'll stick to the bakery a few stores down for those ones - when they have them in stock, anyway.

I topped that off with my continuing obsession with Snapple Lemonade, which made for a solid lunch.

Today has yet to see any purchases, but it IS payday, AND end of month, so that already means:

-GO Train ticket
-TTC Metropass
-Rent

We'll see how I manage to spend the rest. Stay tuned!

--case p.

Entry 0003: Food!

Tuesday was one of those straight-forward days where I didn't buy anything but lunch. Those days don't happen too often, believe me!

Though, the place I did have lunch at is a common hangout for me:

Pasta Perfection on Yonge Street in Toronto.

I'm notorious for ordering pasta with Italian sausage there, and the way that they put it together with the garlic, herbs and tomato - man. It's damn good. If you're from the T-Dot, or if you happen to be in the area, I definitely recommend checking it out!

--case p.

Entry 0002: Keeping Warm

Yesterday morning, I found myself faced with a bit of a dilemma: I have enough nice dress shirts to wear (unironed, though, because there's just so many other interesting things I'd like to do with my day [and yes, that includes sleep and playing Super Mario Galaxy]), but I didn't have any sweaters to wear over them! I tried on one top that I thought would work swimmingly, only to find that it was way too oversized and reminiscent of the baggy tops I'd wear throughout high school and first year uni.

So donning a grey Roots sweatshirt with a zip-up, I begrudgingly made my way out to work. I was able to fix that problem though by hitting up the H&M by the Eaton Centre after work - my coworker had told me they were having a sale where they were taking 50% off from the ticketed prices, which definitely did NOT turn out to be true, because the blue light sweater I'd picked up was $24.90, and I definitely paid that (plus tax) for it, but it's all good. We still cool. It's an aquamarine colour, and looks pretty damn good if I do say so myself. Adding more colour to the wardrobe is definitely helping mix things up!

The other good purchase I made yesterday was from Threadless - they have a $10 sale going on right now, which easily saves me $5 a shirt - and I picked up three goodies:





and



All wicked shirts which I will rock with pride.

The WORST purchases I made yesterday was a bottle of Ocean Spray Cranberry Cocktail. It's just too sweet. The Snapple lemonade I had kicked its ass. Never again. Never again.

ALSO, I have beef with all you breakfast places in the Bay/Wellesley area - what's up with you not having lemon danishes? That is EASILY my FAVOURITE quick breakfast food, and no one carries it on a consistent basis! Get your acts right! I'm HUNGRY in the mornings!

Anyway, that's what's what!

--case p.

Entry 0001: Genesis.

Okay, let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

So I've been promising people for a while now that I'd have a new blog with a new direction going on, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But I had to stop and think about that one - there's how many blogs on the Internet already about people and their lives that nobody really cares about? I mean, sure, many people of "Generation Please-Attach-a-Letter-Here-so-Social-Scientists-Can-Better-Label-Us" probably have multiple blogs:

-the blog they use to keep up on downloads from other blogs
-the blog they use to trick their parents into thinking that they lead a wholesome, trouble-free life
-the blog that people keep on lockdown to get all emo with - whining, crying, moaning, groaning, all the fun stuff

Yeah, this won't be falling under any of those categories. Instead, I found myself looking at my bank account balance one day, and found myself trying to figure out where the hell all my money had gone. It really doesn't help that I do enough of my transactions in cash so I can stash the change away for a rainy day.

So then it came to me! It was a glorious moment in the shower, and I nearly slipped and killed myself, but I'm okay, I swear! I need to make a blog about my life. A blog where I can rate and track what the hell happened, since I obviously don't know. All the crap I buy, the places I eat, the stuff I read! Yes. Yes, this will be excellent.

Stay tuned, all!

--case p.

P.S. Mom and Dad, as you'll probably come across this blog as I grow in popularity and stature, yup, it's pretty much all true. But don't worry. If you have come across this, I'm probably reasonably wealthy by this point, so you don't really have to worry.