New York Part 1

Happy Saturday all, hope you are having a nice weekend. So you may have seen from the overload of Snapchats, Instagram and Facebook photos that I went to New York last weekend. I had never been and one of my friends from home was going so we decided we would meet there. 

As we got so much done in our short time I said I would split this blog post into two parts. When you  take nearly 2,000 photos its kinda hard to pack it into one post!lol.

I took Friday off from work and we got the first flight out to New York on the Friday morning. We flew from Toronto City Airport which is a 10 minute walk from where we live and if I could fly out of this airport every time, I would. Its small, quiet and quick. Its amazing. 

The flight is an hour and a half from Toronto so we were in Manhattan and all for 9.30am. We walked from Penn station to our hotel and stumbled upon Time Square while heading there. Of course we stopped for pictures. Time Square was very quiet at this time of the morning.

We were able to check into our hotel early, which was great as we didn't have to drag our bags around while exploring. The hotel we stayed in was Hudsons Hotel and was very central, just a 10 minute walk to central park. It was very modern and clean and the only negative I would have was the bathroom was tiny, like really tiny. Your knees touched the wall when on the bowl and I am short haha!

After freshening up we headed out to explore and get some food. We briefly went into central park but I was getting hangry so we had to feed me! lol.

After our food, neither of us knew where we were going so we just kept walking. We walked passed the Rockefeller building and decided to go up to the 'Top of the Rock'. I was blown away by the views, it was incredible. The day was so clear and we could see so much. If you haven't been to New York I would highly recommend going up to the top of the Rockefeller building. It was probably my favourite thing we did all weekend. It really is breathtaking!

By the time we had all that done, my friend Linda had arrived from home so I was dying to see her. She has been to New York numerous time and was so helpful when it came to places to eat and see. Since it was a short trip  we didn't want to waste time doing things that you could go without seeing.

After being reunited we went for drinks in New York biggest rooftop bar called 230 fifth. They have communal igloos and blankets and when it got dark the view of the empire state was incredible.

  

After a busy day we went to Greenwich village for some food and then headed to our hotel to sleep and prepare for another busy few days. I didn't expect to fall in love with New York that fast and some more fun was yet to come.....

Part 2 to follow.

Talk soon xx

Zita J

Snow Day Sunday!

We woke this morning to lots and lots of snow. It was before Christmas when it last snowed properly here. So instead of moaning about the weather which I usually do, I went out and took some silly photos in it. Haha. It can be annoying getting places in the snow but it's so damn pretty. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in your busy life and not appreciate your surroundings but it's up to you to see the beauty of everyday things...

Happy Sunday!

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Talk soon xx

Zita J

Foodie Friday- My Top Five Favourite Burger Locations

I have been meaning to do a post on my favourite burger places for awhile now. The photos I took are from my phone and not my camera, which i usually use as I prefer putting better quality pictures up here. However I said I would put them up anyway for anyone that might want to get a burger while over here and trust me you will want to.

For the first three weeks after arriving in Toronto, I thought I was going to turn into a burger I was eating so many. I calmed down after awhile but I do love a good burger now and then.

I have listed my 5 favourite places to get a burger. Nothing too fancy or anything, some are fast food places, some are restaurants. All are delicious!

1) The Burger Priest

The name alone is great! They have lots of locations in Toronto. The one I go to is on Queen St and is a small location so probably more suited for take away. I usually get the bacon double cheeseburger. There burgers crumble in your month and taste so fresh. And wait, the milkshakes alone I would go there for.

2)Toma Burger

I would consider this more of a restaurant than others on my list. Its bright clean diner style restaurant is very inviting at their Queen St West location. I stumbled upon Toma Burger when I started my new job back in August and I was very happy when I did. Besides the freshness of the patties and bun, they have so much choice of toppings. The fries are also to die for. The coolest thing about the place was having my burger stamped with a giant T. You gotta make your mark I guess when you have so many good burgers places to choose from here.Would 100% recommend going here.

3) Big Smoke Burger

Similar to Burger Priest, Big Smoke is a popular franchise here. Its so good and they do smaller size burgers too if you don't want to commit to a big one. If you can't decide on what side you want with your burger, fries or onion rings? Don't worry, in Big Smoke you can get frings, yes half fries, half onion rings. Best of both worlds.

4) Old York Bar and Grill

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the burger I got from Old York and here's why... I was too busy enjoying it! I have had their burgers three times now, yes I know I'm a fattie! haha. Its close to my work and is on  Niagara St for anyone who wants to visit. The burgers are so delicious and you can taste the smokey char grill flavour in every bite. To be honest I could do a blog post alone on this place. From the outside it doesn't look anything fancy and its not a fancy place but its a hearty restaurant/pub with a warm welcoming feeling.I have been there for brunch too and its up there with the best brunch I have had in Toronto. They also make and sell their own sauce in there called Mado's. Its really really good.

5) Five Guys

Last but certainly not least is Five Guys. A very popular American fast food chain. Five Guys was somewhere I really wanted to visit to see what all the fuss was about and then to get a cool Instagram photo. Lol. Once again I was too hungry to take the time to get a cool photo. One picture was enough before it got cold. As its now in Dundrum, Dublin I would recommend you go. The burgers are mouth watering and if you have time to wait and aren't hangry like I always am, you might get a cool photo for instagram.

Hope you're hungry for some burgers now! I'm off to enjoy my weekend and eat my way through this city.

Have a great weekend,

Talk soon xx

Zita J

Foodie Friday- Loaded Pierogi.

Happy Friday!

It's been an eventful week, one of my friends was over here for 5 days so I got to spend some time with her and show her some of my favourite eating spots, of course. We also went to Kings of Leon on Monday and they were brilliant, as usual. I'm hoping this weekend I don't do much and take a weekend off to just relax but I won't speak too soon. Come 5 o clock, I'll be like.. "Hey, who wants to go drinking?".

This weeks Foodie Friday I decided to write about a place I went to during the week called Loaded Pierogi, its just down the street from where I work. I had never heard of pierogi's before and for any of you who haven't either they are basically filled dumplings that can be boiled or fried. They are most popular in Eastern European countries like Poland and the Ukraine.
 

This particular restaurant I went to have lots of options to choose from. I was under the impression before I went in there that the pierogi would be stuffed with the fillings you like inside, however its not. The peirogi's come just filled with potato with toppings on them instead. 

Each dish comes with 8 medium sized pierogi, you can have them fried or boiled or 4 fried and 4 boiled. I chose 4 and 4, The choice of toppings is huge, you can have lobster, crispy confit duck, pulled pork, bacon, buffalo chicken. The list goes on! Surprising enough I didn't pick bacon, I picked my second love, chicken. The toppings I picked was the crispy breaded chicken with spicy bbq sauce, cheese, buttermilk ranch sauce, sour cream and green onions

It was delicious! I cannot wait to go back and try different ones. The location I went to is a cozy modern restaurant with helpful friendly staff. Oh and did I forget to mention its also a vodka bar!

Locations at:

839 QUEEN ST WEST TORONTO, ON M6J 1G4

1044 GERRARD ST EAST TORONTO, ON M4M 1Z8

9-1/2 CHURCH ST. TORONTO, ON, M5E 1M2

Talk soon xx

Zita J

Back to my "long holiday"

Happy New Year,

Just about settled in now after arriving back to Toronto 2 weeks ago. I went home for Christmas and what an amazing 10 days they were, besides the tiredness (I couldn't sleep for some reason, 10 days of jet lag maybe? haha). I didn't go back last Christmas so it was extra special that I went this year.

One of the things I was most excited about was seeing my niece, Nancy. I was a little concerned however that she would be a bit strange with me, understandable for a 4 year old who hasn't seen someone in a long time, however she couldn't of been more excited to see me. She ran towards me with arms out, squeezed me, then followed me over to the couch, squeezed my arm and said " Zita J, I really missed you when you went on your long holiday". My heart still breaks thinking of that. 

My 10 days were spent with my family, friends, eating, drinking and more eating. I think I had nearly every takeaway in Cork. I even got a 3 in 1 one night, haven't got one since I was like 15 but sure I apparently missed it. Its funny the things you miss when you're away. You get stuff sent to you that you wouldn't normally eat when your at home but when you do have them you think they are the best things you've ever eaten. Like double decker bars, never use to have them, got one sent to me in Toronto, nicest thing I have ever eaten haha. Weirdos the lot of us.. or just me maybe.

Being at home made it really hard to come back to Toronto. Firstly, the weather was amazing, it only rained once and the sun shined nearly every day. Secondly Cork looked really well, busy with lots of new places opened which made me happy to see. It made me very proud, not that I wasn't proud before but I think you just don't appreciate things until you have been away from them for awhile. Be very proud of Cork those of you rebels reading this, it rocks! Lastly, what made it really hard to leave was my family and friends, I had such great nights out with my friends and that was something I was really missing. Saying goodbye all over again wasn't easy. When it came to my family, saying goodbye was like the first time I did back in July 2015, that horrible feeling at the bottom of your stomach. I don't think it every gets easier. When I think back about crying and cuddling Nancy, while she stared at me strangely realizing that this whole counting down sleeps thing leads to sad times too, was by far the hardest part when getting back on that plane.  

Now back in chilly Toronto what the future has in store, I am not sure. January, besides being the best month ever (cough cough My Birthday is the 29th, start saving) this is the month were decisions need to be made. Do I apply for permanent residency? Do I try extend for another 2 years or do I pack up the life I have made for the last year and a half and come home in July? 

Who knows...

Talk soon xxx

Zita J

Foodie Friday- Brunch

Hey,

So I have been wanting to write a post on brunch for a long time now but I haven't got around to it. Lately I am finding it hard to find the time to write posts. Work is very busy and during the weekend I am having too much fun to sit down to write. Haha.

As you may have seen on my Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat. I like food.. a lot! I am always eating and when I'm not, I am either thinking about it or sleeping. I wake up hungry! Parker laughs at me some mornings because I wake up and say, "I am starving". I have to eat very soon after I get up or I am like a bear. Lol! So breakfast or brunch is my favourite meal of day.

Below are some pictures of places I've been to, in case any of you are taking a trip here. Toronto is foodie heaven and I will continue to share its amazing food with you.

My top 5 favourite so far are:

• Lisa Marie - 638 Queen St W, Toronto,
• Come and Get it - 676 Queen St W, Toronto,
• Evviva - 25 Lower Simcoe, Toronto,
• Milred's Kitchen - 85 Hanna Ave, Toronto,
• Cacao 70 - 485 Queen St W, Toronto.

However the list is endless when it comes to breakfast places here and I know what you might be thinking, is there any health options? the answer is, yes, plenty! But any place that has bacon and Eggs Benedict, I'm sold! Have a great weekend everyone, I am off to the Christmas markets this weekend to stuff my face.Come see me on Snapchat: zitajames

Talk soon xx

Zita

Halloween: The Mad Hatter

I know Halloween is over and already there is talk of Christmas everywhere. (Don't get me wrong I can't WAIT  for Christmas this year!) but I said I would share of few pictures of my Halloween with you before its too late and everyone has Christmas jumpers on.

We started the night in a friends apartment. They went to such a great effort with decorations, they even painted all the light bulbs red (old school style), it was great fun. After that we had tickets bought for place called the Amsterdam Brew house. It was transformed into a haunted house and looked very different to its usual brewery style restaurant.

Canadians put a lot of effort into Halloween here and I love it especially as Halloween was a huge event in my house when I was young.

Every year I try my best to make as much of my costume as I can from stuff I had at home or buying cheap things and fixing them up. I find it way more fun than buying a ready made costume, but that's just me. When I decided to go as the Mad Hatter, I was a bit nervous it wouldn't work out the way I wanted but in the end I was really happy with the result.

The best part about it, it didn't cost me much to make. The pants, shirt, blazer and boots I already had. The rest I bought.

The Hat: Originally a pirate hat in the dollar store for $2, I took off the pirate badge on it and added cardboard into the inside to give it more structure, as it was a floppy hat when I got it.

Hat Accessories: The ribbon on the hat was $1.25 in the dollar store. The 10/6 card I wrote on a piece of paper and burnt the edges and the leaves were from fake flowers in our apartment.

The bow tie: I found this a bit difficult to make. I bought a yard of material for $10 and tried my best to get it to match the pattern the mad hatter had (close enough). I cut the material, tied it in a bow and safety pinned it together, I then cut more material for it to hang down from the bow tie, I put a few stitches in it, so you couldn't see the underneath of the material when I moved around and I also safety pinned that on to the bow tie. It nearly broke my balls to do haha.

Hair and make up: I curled my hair into really small sections and then backcombed it to the point that I could of went as Diana Ross. I then sprayed it with orange hair spray. My make up was mainly white paint with powder and I contoured it with pink blusher. My eyes were, one eye pink and one green/blue. I also lightened my eyebrows with this orange tinted primer I had and voila I was done.

Really happy with how it turned out, hope you like it too. Here is more pictures of the night.....

And there I am as usual, in my own world... As mad as a hatter!

Talk soon xx

Zita J