Slowly But Surely


I think I'm on the upswing of this sickness now. Finally. Coughing is quite a bit less now. Still have the pain in my ribs but that might take a while to go away.


Actually got out on the weekend & went to Grand Electric to celebrate J's big birthday. J studied Spanish in university & used to live in Mexico City, so she has a love for Mexican food. J2 came in from Guelph too and it was nice to see her. It's been so long! We tried a bit of everything and I was impressed that J even drank TWO alcoholic beverages (she hardly ever drinks). They use Mexican Coke for the Rum & Cokes, I believe. Things have changed at the restaurant since I last was there. They no longer allow 3 tacos for $10. You have to order each one individually at $3.50. The crowd is different too. I liked it before it got popular but that always happens in Toronto. We had Guacamole & Chips (I do love their housemade salsa verde & put it on everything), Tuna Ceviche (though the citrus/yuzu mayo was a bit odd, I still liked it though) and the Chicken Frito - LOVE this every time! Then we had the Baja Fish tacos (the best in Toronto), Pork Belly Pineapple tacos, the girls had the Spicy Chicken Arbol tacos (I passed because found them very hot, but evidently they aren't anymore!), G2 & I had the Pig Tail tacos (my fave) and I had the Beef Cheek taco. G2 & I had double shots of bourbon too. I'd like to think it helped chase my cough away.


We wanted to have dessert elsewhere and ended up walking quite east along Queen because everything was closed or didn't have something nice & chocolatey for J. We ended up at Arepa Cafe and J got her brownie fix. J2 had the carrot cake, G2 had the tres leches flan & I had the tres leches. Their cafe con leche is so so good. Reminds me of the ones I drank 5 times a day in Segovia. I think J enjoyed her little celebration!


I made her some chocolate as a present.

White Chocolate Bark with Salted Roasted Pumpkin Seeds & Dried Cranberries. I tried some and it is GOOD. J loves chocolate things with a saltiness. She was cracking me up because she wouldn't even leave the chocolates sitting on a table by themselves since she was scared someone would steal them!! Hilarious!


Watching the Junos, sort of. Kind of have it on in the background to see William Shatner (I have a soft spot for him as I grew up with Star Trek in our house) and any bands who were giving a good performance. Hands down, the performance of the night was City and Colour (Dallas Green) singing The Grand Optimist:

Great song. Loved how he used photographs of fans' parents flashing during his performance since this song is about his Mom & Dad.


I also love:

And: