Jane's Sunday Bridal Shower

My cousin Matt is getting married soon at a destination wedding in Jamaica this year. His fiance Jane's sister held a bridal shower at the family's penthouse downtown condominium with beautiful views. 

Salsa Advanced Performance Winter 2014

I've finally got around to blogging about my experience with Salsa Advanced. I was also part of the Bachata Performance Team and a KPOP dance group. 

This term I was with instructor Martin, and this was the second semester I took a class with him. He focused on a lot of skills, fundamentals and technique so that we had a good foundation moving forward with learning choreography. Considering how I was dancing before, I've been able to clean up my footwork and incorporate a lot more styling. 

Bachata Performance Team Winter 2014

I joined the University of Toronto Dance Club's Bachata Performance Team for the winter term of 2014. It was taught by JP, a regular instructor and talented competitive dancer. We were partnered up with the person closest in height to us.

Social Dancing versus a Performance Team: I was really looking forward to joining a performance team particularly because I really want to be able to refine a lot of things I have been learning. I find in most classes I learn a lot of basic moves and how to follow. However, with a performance team the atmosphere is more serious, and you are drilling the same moves over and over again to attempt to get it to the standard of the choreographer. 

Performances: We performed at University of Toronto's Heart House Festival of Dance on March 28, 2014 and then at the End of Term Party on April 5, 2014. 

KPop Performance Group

I've never been particularly good at hip hop, much less korean pop choreography. This was my first time joining with the goal of performing at University of Toronto's Festival of Dance to showcase what we had learn. With three months as the goal and biweekly practices, we met up at a yoga studio to learn new steps and refine our moves.

Indian Food at Madhur's

I went to a friend's house that I met through salsa for a home made Indian dinner.

Board Games & London Fogs

I've been meeting up with the same group of friends several times a month for social outings. Since moving to downtown Toronto, my friends and all these neat places have suddenly become accessible to me.

Snakes and Lattes

My iPhone camera doesn't produce the best quality photos, but nonetheless it captured a few moments we had at Snakes and Lattes is a $5 admission cafe with access to a huge library of board games in the heart of downtown Toronto. Its tucked away by Bathurst station (Honest Ed's!) and the lineups are usually very long.

The waiters are also super helpful and will explain game rules and strategies to you if your group is struggling.

It was my first time there and I was surprised at how much fun I actually had, I get a bit too competitive at board games and often take the outcomes VERY personally (unless I win... I kid, I kid).

Lonely Hearts Valentine's Potluck

I've been feeling really sick this past week, and finally took a day off to recover (I slept the entire day, fluids, meds, etc.). As a result I had to postpone a potluck I had planned for VDay but nonetheless it went off without a hitch!

We don't take Valentine's Day too seriously, and take the "hallmark" holiday as an excuse to get together with good friends and have some good food.

I hosted an "anti-Valentine's" day potluck at my condo. I put together the facebook event and titled it "Lonely Hearts" (a homage to Marina and the Diamonds song, "Lonely Hearts Club"), the tagline was "for singles, couples and the confused".

My love affair with salsa

I had the opportunity to supervise two University of Toronto Dance Classes - Salsa (Advanced) and Salsa (Intermediate II). In addition to administrative duties for the classes I also take the classes too.

A gif of our instructor dancing with a student.

Ringing in 2014

I celebrated New Years Eve at my good friend Bernice's and a few close friends. I took the opportunity to break out the SLR camera and practice taking photos. Although facebook as the "group/people" shots that I shared with friends and family, I thought I'd use the blog to share some of the small details from the event.

We actually missed the countdown by a few seconds, but had champagne with lemon sorbet to celebrate!

North Indian Music and Dance: Tabla and Kathak.

I had the opportunity to sit in a Tabla and Kathak performance with vocals this past week organized by Toronto Tabla Ensemble. It featured and was attended by Tabla and Kathak students. 

The traditional Tabla is a membranophone "drum". There are usually two drums, of different sizes. The musician uses the fingers and palms, with the used to apply pressure to the drum to change the pitch as the fingers produce the "tap" or "bol" that you hear (source):

Toronto Fun: Salsa (Advanced) at UofT Dance Club

Class: Salsa - Advanced

Instructor: Martin

Location: University of Toronto Dance Club

Cost: $40 for students for 7 classes

Time: Tuesday evenings 7:00 PM for one hour. 

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UTDanceClub/
Website: http://utdanceclub.com/

They offer dance classes, practices and workshops as well as performance classes if you are more advanced.

Our salsa group

Our dance teacher Martin is on the far right. He also teaches Waltz, Tango and Salsa. 

Toronto Fun: Friday Night Live @ the ROM

{Friday Night Live at the ROM}

Theme: Climate Change
Venue: Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON
Coat Check: Bags are free, $2 for each garmet, strollers are $4
Admission: $12+ tax, purchased online to avoid the line
Ages: 19+
Dress Code: Business casual//semi-formal

Toronto Fun: Paint Lounge

I had the opportunity to visit Paint Lounge with a girlfriend for her birthday! It was a lot of fun. They give you a blank canvas, 3 hours and a coffee. We attended the freestyle session where you get to work on any art of your choosing, or choose to attend a workshop. 

Halloween 2013: Three Blind Mice

I put together a Halloween Party inviting high school friends, friends from university and friends from salsa class. One of my goals for 2013 were to meet new people. We had decided to dress up and go to a Pub Crawl, my first in downtown Toronto.

Housewarming Party

Since moving downtown by the harbourfront, putting together a housewarming party was challenging.

Cleaning up the House:

• Sweeping, vacuuming and mopping all floors (in that order)
• Washing all linens
• Dusting and cleaning all household and table surfaces
• Removing and organizing any remaining boxes
• Kitchen: Good oven scrub (with oven cleaner), clean dishwasher
• Clean Bathrooms
• Empty waste bins

Food Preparation:

Getting a Pinterest board up and pinning potential ideas and recipes are very helpful. I planned for some appetizers and desserts:

Appetizers and Desserts:

Girls Night, Cupcakes and Bubbly

Trying to move on from a recent relationship break up, I invited the girls over for a Girl's Night at the new Condo I recently moved into: