An interlude of so much fun

Mitch and I spent the last moments of July 2012 in Toronto, celebrating summer and Kevin,...and we had a FAB time! In Toronto, we tend to lose track of time, have so much fun it hurts, laugh until our bellies ache, and then, get sad about leaving. All of these emotions happen all too quickly, and then, you're sitting on a ten hour bus ride home...exhausted. Maybe because its the overnighter? Maybe its the weekend's worth of booze telling us to calm down? Maybe its the workday creeping into our brains?

Look up - at Queen Street West

Toronto in the summer is awesome. Any city in the summer, for that matter... While I was in undergrad, I wasn't able to spend too much time there in the summer months. In my third year, I stayed and took a summer course on Civil Rights and Black Consciousness...but it ended quickly and I went back to Poughkeepsie in July. Despite the short timeline, I had a great time biking around, drinking americanos, and sitting on patios with sangria and girlfriends. It was also a really important summer for me, in terms of my research. This trip brought back good feelings.

On Summer and Toronto:
Sunglasses are a must. No doubt about this one.

Go to a Blue Jays game, and don't watch the game. You're in the company of friends! Celebrate friendship! ...ok, I watched the game a little.

There's a lot of outdoor furniture in Toronto - in parks and patios. ...and unicorns.

Eat at the awesome frozen yogurt place. twice.

Is this frozen yogurt? No, its Dan's bowl of candy.

Meet up with as many friends as possible in the allotted time of one weekend. Its summertime - they need to celebrate that, too... oh! and then, take a lot of awkwardly amazing photos of them!

The goal was to get all of the people I'd get to see in Toronto, but I forgot in a couple of instances... :(
All of these people are GEMS, and I'm so happy to know them.

Although we know Toronto fairly well, there are a number of things, places, restaurants that have changed. So, try something new.

After a highly-anticipated brunch at Aunties and Uncles (I was the more excited one, obviously), we bought a day pass for the bixi and biked to Maple Leaf Gardens to see the amazing Loblaws, to Queen Street West west west, and up to Bloor for a walk up to Casa Loma. :) Every time I visit Toronto, I feel like I'm there to stay, and then, it abruptly ends. We had a great time, and it was definitely rude to get back to reality. It was a packed weekend of activities. Its a blessing to be able to visit so often, and we want to thank everyone for hanging out with us. A special thanks to Kevin, Matt, and Chris for being awesome people, and for that slumber party accessorized with Matt's FAMOUS cheesecake (its famous now). And, of course, to Minhee, for letting us use her apartment. Your animal friends were very pleasant neighbors. :) Hopefully, they're not dangerous...

There are two there, but one is fashionably camera shy.

Now, we're back in Brooklyn, spending our couple of days together before Mitch leaves for Greenland version 2.0. In the meantime, I'll be working on the Guantánamo project with a majorly haunting deadline looming...its very dark. There's been a lot of yoga, as well. And Mitch is hard at work on processing data from his trip to Hanover and working on a presentation. The Olympics make all of these things a bit more challenging (go Murray!)...

Until next time!