Tori's Pretty Life - Happy Canada 150!

Cotton Candy Sunset - Downtown Toronto

I have never been more excited to be living in Canada than I am today.

You know why?

Because I get to be here, living in this lovely country, for a once in a lifetime (really, a once ever) experience: Canada's 150th Birthday! Woohoo!

I cannot wait to spend the night watching fireworks with the man who gives my heart fireworks. (I'm so cheesy, I know!)

You know who else has a birthday today?

One of my favorite people! A gal I'm lucky enough to call one of my best friends, who was my roomie before our roomies became our men.

Happy birthday, M! I'm sorry I can't be there to celebrate but I hope you have such a wonderful day :).

Phew, that's a lot of birthdays for one intro!

So grab your coffee, snuggle in your Saturday morning blankets, and let's get right into this week's pretty life...

Tori's Pretty Life: 

Nawlins Jazz Bar & Dining - Downtown Toronto

First up, I grabbed dinner and enjoyed getting to know a new friend here in Toronto. Yay for making new friends and getting in the swing of occasional girls nights :).

Nawlins has been on my list of places to try for the last few months. So I was so happy when she was up for trying it! Delicious creole food and live Jazz? I am totally there :).

This place was actually quite a bit fancier than I expected, more fitting for a date night than a gals night, but their food was delicious and we had a great time regardless. 

Thursday, the band - Danforth Music Hall, Toronto

On the completely opposite end of the musical specturm, B and I relived our teenage years for a second time and saw Thursday at the Danforth Music Hall.

I've got to admit - I'm very used to seeing these screamo bands continue to sell out on the regular back home. It's such a culture shock to learn how much of an epicenter New Jersey really was for that kind of music!

I couldn't get over that this band that still consistently sells out in the NY and NJ area were playing to a half-empty crowd, as if they were newly up and coming.

Not for nothing though, It was kind of nice to see a more intimate set. For a band I wasn't in love with in my teens, they sure won my heart by playing a bad ass set this time! 

Pancake Pagé - Eggspectations,Toronto

As for the rest of the weekend? We spent it two ways. 

First, we went to our current go-to breakfast spot and I enjoyed the fantastic cheat meal you see above. That half of the day we did a little shopping, a little perusing, and a little bit of errand running.

The second half of the weekend we spent like this...:( lol.

Let's just say my laptop and I got into a bit of a scuffle. I won the battle but definitely lost the war and ended up needing to replace my hard drive. Womp, womp. 

Thankfully I have a wonderful, wonderful (Did I say wonderful?!) boyfriend who knows how to fix said expensive mistakes :).

We're still working on loading the OS but hey, that's what a long weekend is for....right?

Tori's Pretty Stats: 

As for the usual life stuff, here's this week's rundown:

Reading

I'm still chugging along with Flappers & Philosophers. This is such a good summer read. I've never intentionally read a book of short stories before (outside of, I'm sure, something I had to read for school). So I love how easy it is to just pick up and put down on a breezy summer day. Plus, for a book written almost 100 years ago, it's very easy to read and the themes are still pretty relatable.

Watching

Okay, I'm totally going to admit a guilty pleasure - Nashville!
I can't help it - I'm such a sucker for a good nighttime soap and these characters fully fill that need :).

Listening to 

If you haven't given Feel it Still by Portgual. The Man a listen, then you've got to stop what you're doing and have this little dance party with me! OBSESSED!

Working on 

Lately, I'm really taking an interest in a more minimalist lifestyle. I don't know if moving all of our crap to another country just pushed me to my stress capacity, or if I'm just starting to realize that I actually don't need all 700 bottles of nail polish.

But I really like the whole concept of only keeping what you use and what truly brings you joy to free up your cleaning time,spending budget, and mental space.

So I'm kind of dipping my toes in the water, watching a lot of minimalism YouTube videos. and taking a stab at a few easy spots to de-clutter (here's look at you, shoe collection!)

I'm not sure if this is the start of a new thing or just a bit of piqued interest. So to be continued - we'll see!

That's a wrap on another pretty week!