MADE ME LAUGH...

Got this sent to me on the ol' email...

THE BIG SMOKE

When we told people we were going to Toronto, most everyone asked the same question... "why?"

Well, both Michelle and I had never been, we have a few friends who live out here that we've never visited and I really wanted to see TSN's so-called "Center of the Universe". So for 5 days & nights we experienced Toronto and guess what? We loved it!

If you were to take Commercial Drive, Main Street, Robson Street plus a little bit of Victoria and smash them all together, you would have Toronto, a wonderfully diverse, cosmopolitan and surprisingly clean city filled with great architecture and things to do. We stayed with our friends SEAN & LEA who live in KENSINGTON MARKET, a great little area filled with vegetable stands, quaint eateries and more vintage shops than you can shake a stick at. We played tourist and saw QUEEN STREET, MUCH MUSIC, THE CN TOWER, UofT, YORKVILLE, ROSEMONT, THE HOCKEY HALL OF FAME, UNION STATION, ST. LAWRENCE MARKET and we attended a taping of THE HOUR at CBC.

We also ate some amazing food at places like MINI, BISTRO DE SELECT, GIANCARLO TRATTORIA, LA PALLETTE, SUPER MARKET, ONE RESTAURANT and THE DRAKE. Toronto seems to really be into French Cuisine as there are a number of French places to choose from but all of these places were funky and worth trying. One of our favourites however was a little joint in the Market called PATTY KING that sold $1.25 DOUBLES, a small fried, curried chick pea sandwich from Trinidad & Tobego that tasted like gold. Gotta have a double! ! !


It was also cool to see some old friends. SEAN & LEA ofcourse who were gracious enough to open their fantastic home to us and made us feel so welcome, their hospitality was over the moon! The Marley Boys, RYAN & JAY who came out for all the big events and thanks to Ryan, we got to see the CBC and a taping of The Hour, good times. BETH & ANGUS who have probably been living out in TO the longest from the Vancouver crew and are doing fantastic. NICOLE & JUSTINE, gals who I went to High School with and who it was great to reconnect with. Finally, we got to hook up with SHONA which was awesome, she's now in Toronto continuing her Art Education.

All in all, it was really hard to leave Toronto as our friends and experiences within "the Big Smoke" were all positive and all memorable. We even had three big birthdays there, Shona, Sean and I all celebrated one within 3 days of each other, which was pretty cool. We can't wait to go back and experience more of Toronto but for now, check out the adventure HERE!!!.

MICHELLE & GIO: 2 YEARS STRONG

Two years ago today, September 17th, Michelle and I tied the knot with a memorable wedding at the Vancouver Rowing Club and we've been smiling ever since. I can't believe that it's already been two years, time truly does fly when you are having fun. I feel like everyday is worth celebrating but today is our "official" day... I love you Michelle, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me, thanks for two fantastic years and here's to many more!

SKIES CLOUDS SUN MOON

We've been taking a lot of sky pictures and looking back through Flickr, we've taken some pretty cool ones. Take a look at these in this new set I simply called SKY

GOLDFISH & DOGS

On Saturday night, Michelle & I tried a great new restuarant in Yaletown called GOLDFISH. Specializing in West Coast Seafood, the place was very cool, very busy, well decorated and it has a cocktail list to die for. Here's what we tried:

1) Seared Scallops with Mango Salsa

2) Grilled Short Ribs with chili oil & roasted peanuts

3) the Sweet Potato & Pork Curry with fresh tumeric caramel sauce & Jasmine rice

4) Pan-roasted Halibut with sautéed pea leaf & pineapple coconut sauce

5) Pan-roasted Corn with green chilies& cilantro

6) Warm Banana Spring Rolls with cashew butter, caramel sauce & lychee mint salad.

It was a great meal and we will definitely be going back!

On Sunday, we took part in the SPCA: PAWS FOR A CAUSE walk at Vanier Park. We grabbed Laverne and Bozlee (we were watching him for The Forbzez) and went to enjoy the fundraising festivities on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Once there were hooked up with Colin & Natsuko and the four of us took the dogs on a little 2.5 km walk to help support the animals. Great way to start a Sunday, me thinks!

NEW YORK CITY GIRLS

Our good friend KYLIE is currently living and going to school in NEW YORK CITY, following her dreams of becoming Top Baker in all the land. She's loving it but missing all of her friends & family here in Vancouver, so like the great pals that they are, MICHELLE, ANDREA & JEN went to "the city so nice, they named it twice" for a little visit.

The first thing, New York is huge, you can't see everything as there is not enough time to do it all. For instance, Michelle didn't see The Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building or eat a Meatball Sandwich in Little Italy (a personal request by Gio). She did however see CENTRAL PARK, ROCKEFELLER CENTER, TIMES SQUARE, THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE, TONS OF COOL RESTUARANTS & SHOPS and eat PIZZA in Little Italy (I guess the rest of the ladies weren't into Meatball Sandwiches). They also got see a great off-broadway play called CURTAINS (starring David Hyde Pierce of Frasier fame) and see many other cool parts of "the Big Apple".

All in all it was a great introduction to New York, it was great to travel with Andrea & Jen and it was great to see Kylie again.

Check out the adventure HERE!

SAY HELLO TO MURDOCH

I never thought I'd see the day. You know, the day where my old roommate, my old drinking buddy, my best man, my friend... had a kid. Well, that day has come. A few weeks ago, Jason and Andrea gave birth to a 6.6 lbs, healthy bouncing baby boy that they named MURDOCH.

Now where does Murdoch come from? The stork ofcourse! But really, the name means "wealthy sailor" and that's what he's gonna be, wealthy (a sailor remains to be seen). Anyway, congrats to the Johnson-DeLong clan or as I have now christened them, JAM (Jason, Andrea & Murdoch). We love you guys!

OLD SKOOL

It's amazing what cleaning out a storage area will uncover. My parents have a RED ROOM, the red room is the room in the house where everything that isn't being used goes to gather dust. I haven't touched this room in years but last week my folks decided to clean it all out and get rid of a bunch of stuff including all my stuff unless I came to pick it up. Luckily, they were nice enough to put all my stuff into one corner for Michelle and I to inspect before they toss the whole shebang. Anyway, during our search I came across some great old photos of my childhood and school years, I scanned them and posted them on Flickr in a set called OLD SKOOL. Check 'em out if you like. I'll get Michelle to add some of her favorites as well to make it a true Corsiworld set so check back soon!