So Much Going On!

Hello friends!

So much has happened in the past little while that I've got so backed up on my writing.

FIRST: WORLD CUP 2010!!!! I don't know about you, but I'm a football fanatic, particularly when it comes to World Cup/Euro Cup/Premier League Championships. As always, since I was a little girl, I'm rooting for none other than BRAZIL! They are playing incredibly this World Cup. I am also very impressed by the effort put forth by the underdogs this year. The favourites are making some shocking moves, and lack of goals (achem - Spain vs Switzerland, Portugal vs Ivory Coast, Serbia vs Germany, to name a few). I think that's one thing I love about tournaments like this on the world stage. Anything can happen! It is very unpredictable, keeps us guessing, keeps us on our toes. It's great excitement!

If you're looking for a great place to watch the games with a few friends, some drinks, good food, and a great atmosphere, check out The Football Factory. I watched the Brazil vs North Korea game here and the energy was phenomenal! One of the co-owners, Chrissie Whittick, even gave me a Brazil tshirt and a World Cup bottle opener key chain.

Happy World Cup everyone!

SECOND: This past weekend, I volunteered at The Field's MMVA Pre-Bash at Tryst nightclub. I was working the VIP green carpet alongside my good friends, Bridget and Julia. Whenever a celeb walked into the party, I would scribble their name down on a white board, and hold it up for the media to see while the artists posed in front of the media wall/step & repeat.

Sponsors such as Yellow Tail, Pizza Hut, Boris, Eska, PS3, World Vision, FitFlop, and more sprinkled the club with samples and reps for everyone to try. Free wine, free beer, free pizza and free burgers from our friends at South St Burger Company (yum!!) - how can you go wrong!!!!??

This was probably one of the most fun volunteer opportunities I've taken part in! I got to meet and mingle with Canadian celebs such as Stereos, Karl Wolf, These Kids Wear Crowns, Ten Second Epic, Crush Luther, The Danger Bees, The Blue Print Crew, Elise Estrada, Giovanni & Solitair, Ray Robinson, and many many more. I was a little bummed that Dave Navarro, Adam Lambert, and Ke$ha (who all RSVPed 'attending') didn't show up, but I was still thrilled nonetheless!

I wore a cute little summer dress from Urban Outfitters, my killer nude Browns heels, and a gigantic smile the entire time! Can't wait for next year's pre-party. Trust me, I will do what I can to volunteer again!

THIRD: This past Monday, June 21, I attended my first Tweet Up at Caplansky's Deli, along with 20 other Twitteraholics relatively in the food realm. It was great to put faces to names with people I've been Twittering with for months now.

I met Bridget to the Adelaide Street Pub beforehand to gain a little liquid courage over some beers before heading over to the #DeliTweetup. When we arrived at Caplansky's, the patio was packed with live Tweeters, sampling pickled platters of pickles and tomatoes. Bridget and I pulled up a table and joined in on the sampling.

Zane, the owner of Caplansky's, then brought out little plates of chopped liver, schmaltz, rye bread and tomato for us to try. He gave us a spiel about how it was his mother's delicious chopped liver recipe, so I dug in. It was very tasty. Chopped liver has a very distinctive taste, and sometimes, if made the wrong way, can turn out too sweet. Here, it was done just right. Delicious with tomato.

Then came out the potato knishes. I am a huge fan of all things knish, as my grandmother is a pro-star at baking them for me (cheese and potato). The ones at Caplansky's were okay at best, but I hated the "signature" smoked meat gravy that was doused all over the plate. Knishes are best served by themselves, or with sour cream. The salty, watery gravy made for an awful topping.

We were then told to split up into groups of four and order things to share. Bridget and I ordered the Matzah ball soup (a favourite of mine), and the famous smoked meat poutine. After one taste of the matzvah ball soup, I was ANYTHING but impressed. The spices were all wrong. The soup had a very strong taste of dog food, which I found absolutely appalling. The matzah ball may have been tasty, had it not soaked up the horrific broth it sat in sadly. Then came the poutine. Where were the cheese curds? We counted three. The smoked meat was the same smoked meat gravy that was served with the knishes, which I was utterly disappointed with. The portion was WAY too big, even for two people to share.

All in all, I had a an absolutely great time meeting new people, but I will NEVER EVER return to Caplansky's Deli. The food is 100% awful, which my mother warned me of before my visit, and I now agree with her.

I'll take my regular order at Yitz's ANYDAY!

Sorry for the all-at-once blog post, but I figured it was easier than separating it into three!

Cheers,

StheF