on a monday evening in

1.  Definitely did that as a kid at grandma's.  2.  How can burlap look so cool!?  3.  Far too cute for it's own good.  Reminds me of my favourite pet cat growing up, Sammy.  Aww.  (Step off cat haters).  4.  A presentable way to wear sweat pants!  I really dig this whole get up.  5.  I just bought a toque in this style (except in green).  Boys sections always have better toques.  Why?  6.  Must keep up with my journaling!  Hand written journaling over blogging is way more intimate and memorable (by no means a diss on blogging, though).

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Café Dario

Last night was my very belated holiday staff party.  Six of us co-workers, our boss & his wife, and the founder of the store headed out for a fine wine & dine evening at Café Dario on Erin Street.  I had never heard of this place before, but it sure did sound appealing when I found we were to be having a 5 course meal....with the boss paying!

I ordered myself a glass of wine, baguettes were served, and then it began with your choice of 5 appetizers.  I went with a creamy chipotle duck and apple salad served on a leaf of lettuce (I don't have any idea what else was in it).  It was pretty spicy!  Which made me nervous for my entrée choice...stay tuned.

Following that came the soup.  It was a carrot ginger soup (pre-determined by the chef).  It was absolutely amazing, I could have had that as my meal ha!  It was almost like a combination between pumpkin and butternut squash soup....but not.

Then came the pallet cleanser: the salad (also pre-determined by the chef).  A simple plate of leafy greens with a minty lemon vinaigrette.  It was delicious (one of my co-workers went to extreme lengths in calling it "diviiiiiine"...).

Now, for the entrée; your choice of 7 options.  Bosses wife and I decided to brave the SPICY (yes, the menu had that word in all caps) lemon chilli pork tenderloin with pineapples within and a mango honey glaze.  The platter also came with a "dollop" of parmesan mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini & carrots.  I asked the server on a scale of 1-5, how hot to expect.  She rather made it into a scale of 1-10, placing it at about a 7 or 7.5.  It was hot.  Actually quite very hot.  I indeed asked the waitress to bring more baguettes for my dear mouth.  That being said, it was so good!  It was so flavourful.  I don't normally like zucchini, but when i added it to my fork of taters and citrusy pork, it just completed it.


With that being finished came the final phase.  Dessert.  Coming out in small, low bowls was a square of some sort of almond brownie with a (again) "dollop" of whipped cream.  Normal Jill could have eaten it in two bites, but seeing as it would ruin the whole idea of the 5 courser, I savoured every tiny bite.  A good finish.


Portions came in the perfect size leaving me completely satisfied at the end.  Just a tad full (as I'd eaten an extra baguette & pounded some water among the ordeal), but not sick.  It was so much fun trying these new foods and being surrounded by some rather nice company.  Considering it's a workplace full of an array of women (head-butting could happen), we all get along which made for a lot of laughter and good conversation.

Thanks moulitas!

tarts 'n' arts

Len and I are always bouncing ideas off one another.   Some good, some iffy (never "bad"...).  But, considering we have a lot of fun while doing so, we just want to involve the rest of you into our Tarty little world.  Get a peak at behind the scenes of some of our crazy escapades, and maybe get ourselves doing or trying things that we haven't done before!  So follow our TARTS-N-ARTS blog for some classy fun!

hold me accountable

Found this hilarious-ness on a blog.  Proooobably going to try this and see what happens.  Please hold me accountable.  Seriously.

the tourist

Alright, so I ended up watching The Tourist tonight with my sister (I really am getting my film fill these days).  It's too bad that it has to be this way, but for every few amazing movies you see, there has to be a flop in there somewhere....I have to say that The Tourist was said flop.

I'm really sorry to those who enjoyed it, but it really didn't cut it for me.  As advised, I did my best to forget about observing the chemistry of Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, but it was just too weird of a pair to not notice.  So, chemistry - not so awesome.  Plot - pretty predictable, and felt like they were trying to make a super complicated plot but was under developed.  Pace - too slow.  Plus, Jolie's hot and all, but really how many over-the-shoulder-peak-out-from-under-my-(fake)-luscious-eyelashes shots do we really need of her to get her sultriness across?  (Don't answer that, boys).  It just de-credited their attempt at making a twisted plot.

How the heck did it get nominated for Best Picture - Comedy/Musical at the Golden Globes!?...Depp was the only slice of comical relief, and even then it wasn't enough for a nomination nod, I think (there was only one part that I actually found quite hilarious).  Sad, because they're two great actors (I love you Depp, you handsome devil, but please don't ever do that again...).

It's just a harsh reality after seeing two really damn good movies prior.  Plus I'm not the only one giving "ravaging" reviews...

Next on the film docket: TBD

the king's speech

Last night I saw The King's Speech.  Plain and simple: it was absolutely incredible.

Best actor should go to Colin Firth and Best Supporting Actor should go to Geoffrey Rush.  I knew it was going to be a great movie simply because I love these types of period films, I love Colin Firth, I'm very interested in the royal history, and the trailers just looked fantastic.  It blew me away.  Purely artistic shots.  Gorgeous costuming.  All-star BBC actors (get this, BBC Pride & Prejudice's Mr. Darcy, Ms. Elizabeth Bennett, and Mr. Collin's all reunited!).  It made me tear up a little bit and also made me laugh hysterically; they just found such a perfect balance of everything.

If you happen to see this movie after my ravings and don't find it awesome, that's too bad.  But everyone should really see it.  I love seeing great films.

Next up on the film docket:  The Tourist.  Curious about Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie's chemistry...

it snowed a lot today

Happy Friday.  Enjoy these pics from browsing excursions.  Tonight I relax after a busy week.  Oh, and I finally got my hair did like I'd hoped (didn't happen like I had hoped last week).  Highlights!

black swan

I saw Black Swan today with my sister.  There's all this raving about it (and Natalie Portman's performance), and we wanted to see for ourselves.

I loved it.

Natalie Portman does a fantastic job (she trained for a year in ballet for the role and lost almost 20 pounds from her already petite figure...ridiculous!).  But aside from her, it was overall a well done film.  I thought it was great to see a movie that was different.  You don't see too many films based on ballet, and the trails of immersing oneself in the arts in general (Method Acting anyone?).  A great psychological thriller.  It was cool to see.  The costuming was incredible (fashion designers Rodarte designed all of the ballet costumes....gorgeous!), and even the casual outfits were great (I'm a big fan of the 'dancer' style).

Yup, definitely not for the faint of heart though, this film.  It was pretty mature content, but I'm over it.  It was a very well done movie, right down to the use of the Swan Lake music for a majority of the soundtrack.

Next up on the film list: The King's Speech with none other than the great Colin Firth.

tgif

It's been a long week.

So Thank God It's Friday!  Roommate and I settled on watching Scott Pilgrim vs. The World tonight.  It was one of those movies that I would not recommend anyone watching while high, drunk, or extremely over-tired.  Trippy.

Sometimes long weeks/days call for a soothing drink.  I think sometime I will be trying this drink recipe:

Melt 1 Tablespoon of butter in your drink glass

Add to it 1 Tablespoon of dark brown sugar

Bring 3/4 cup of water to a boil and pour it over the butter and sugar

Add 2 ounces of dark rum to the mix

Finish with a pinch of nutmeg (preferably freshly ground)

{via Hither and Thither}

Imagine the treadmill speed needed to work that off...  Mmmmm.  Have a good weekend all.

3rd day's a charm

Today my car wouldn't start.  It was an eventful day (technically yesterday since it's past 12) of trying to get it started again, having to take 3 busses to work making me an hour late, and the cumulative time of me being outside today is greater than my whole of winter combined so far...not really, but maybe.  Not to mention having to bail on plans.  At least I got pizza, tea, & a (disappointing) movie with my sister!

I just didn't have the best of luck today.  But I finished my day off with a late night drive around town to keep my car from dying after being boosted; one of my favourite things to do, such great thinking time.

Tomorrow will look like this:

Oh for sure.

Maybe.