My Trip to Toronto Part II
Welcome to Part II of my trip to Toronto
When we left off, the BookBuzz Toronto event had come to a conclusion. *Tear* In this post, I will recap my experiences from the following day.
I failed to mention in my earlier post that while getting a pedicure for my trip, my phone charger accidentally fell into the water. (If you have to ask how that happened, you obviously do not know me very well.) I didn’t realize that the charger was defective until after I arrived in Toronto and I was freaking out about traveling without access to my phone. Kaley was kind enough to meet me before brunch and escort me to the Toronto Eaton Centre mall where I could purchase a new phone charger. It was nice to have a few minutes alone with Kaley to get to know her better. While walking through the mall, I kept expecting to run into someone I knew. And then I remembered how unlikely that was since I was in another country…
Although not everyone was around the following day, the majority of us (me, Sam, Kaley, Cat, Samantha, Lydia Laceby and Heather Wardell) agreed to meet for lunch at Senator Restaurant, a diner in the heart of the city. I was committed to drinking a Caesar, the Canadian version of the Bloody Mary, and was very relieved the restaurant was serving alcohol. I was the only one to partake in a boozy beverage but, like I said, I was determined. It was delicious. Nice and spicy, just the way I like it.
After brunch, we visited the World’s Biggest Bookstore, walked up and down the Toronto streets, stopped for tea, and then for lunch and a drink before heading back to the hotel to pick up our suitcases. Throughout the afternoon, we discussed our common obsession: reading and books in general. Spending the afternoon with women who share my love of reading was priceless. And since almost everyone was an author, we were able to discuss reviews, the writing/publishing process, sales etc. without anyone feeling left out or rolling her eyes in boredom. My local friends are amazing and I would not give them up for anything in the world but spending the afternoon with women who totally get that very important aspect of my life was incredibly special.
Saying goodbye to my new friends who weren’t really “new” was painful because I knew it would be a long time before we met face-to-face again. I was so happy for some extra time with my friend Sam who actually walked with me from the Eaton Centre in the heart of Toronto downtown to the airport at the waterfront. I’m sure most of you are unfamiliar with Toronto, so I’ll just say it was a long walk and leave it at that! As much as I did not want to leave, I was also afraid of missing my flight but Sam and I agreed that in Toronto traffic, taking a cab would probably take me longer than walking and so we walked. And talked.
In conclusion, my trip was 99% successful. The missing 1% accounts for my failure to come home with autographs from the cast of Degrassi High! I guess that means I will have to come back…
Lovely recap! It was such a magical morning and afternoon! Next time we’ll have to work on those Degrassi autographs!
I absolutely want to return to Toronto! I would love to have another afternoon like Friday. One of the best experiences ever. Truly!
Such an incredible day! I will always remember that brunch and our shopping trip! 🙂 Great post, Meredith!
Thanks Cat. I get choked up whenever I think back to that day. It was really special.
What a fun recap Meredith! Such a great trip!
It WAS a great trip and even cooler that I got to meet “super woman” face to face. (That would be you 🙂 )
I miss you. Please come back.
I was also happy to have you all to myself for a little while! I’m sad it’s because you had to buy a new charger but I’m selfish and am glad we had that excursion. I can’t believe it’s all over. I want more! It was such a fantastic event and I am honestly still in awe that it happened.
Aw, I miss you too! I was glad for some one-on-one time as well and even though I did have to pay for a new charger, since it was Canadian money, it was like it was free 🙂 I really, REALLY hope we will get to meet in person again soon. Maybe in New York?
I want to go but I need to get a job first! Keep your fingers crossed for me…