Oopsies!

My sincerest apologizes for my absence from the blogging world. Not to worry, my motivation is back in full force and I am more than excited to return! Let's start this comeback with a quick update on things that passed and things to come:

After researching and watching YouTube videos on how to make French Macarons, I took the plunge and made some myself. It was definitely not as hard as I thought. The first batch was a success, with feet and all!

A couple weeks ago, I made an impulsive decision to purchase a GoPro. I've always wanted to make videos but never really knew what to make videos of. So instead of waiting on the perfect idea, I thought I'd just get the equipment first. Now, I've gone video crazy and can't stop recording.

In a few days, I'll be jetting off on yet another trip to Europe. This time around I'll be visiting Amsterdam (only for a few hours), Vienna, Prague, Naples and Rome! This trip was definitely the influence behind buying the GoPro and blogging again. I'm ready to combine everything I like and share it with you all... I promise more travel posts, pictures and videos!

As always, if I'm not blogging, you'll be sure to catch me in the Twittersphere and of course Instagram! Follow me for updates...
Twitter: @ppatricia
Instagram: @patricialouise

Instagram - August

The last month of summer felt so unbearably short. I worked almost everyday. I never really hated my job, but within weeks I was dreading each shift! I need a change! 5 years in clothing retail got old, fast. This motivated me to go job hunting again. So farewell Roots and hello Best Buy! And since I only ever organized clothes at work, and not at home, I will never have to fold another sweater again!

Anyways besides my birthday, the month of August was not so eventful. However, I did go to the Canadian National Exhibition, also known as CNE, with Jason. As always their deep fried foods were amazing. I am in desperate need of a deep fryer just so I could deep fry anything I can get my hands on, chocolate bars, shrimp, butter, ice cream, you name it! The list goes on. We also lost a bit of money trying to win all their stupid games. I say stupid because, the games look so easy until you hand over a $5 bill and suddenly knocking 3 blocks off a table with a ball seems like an Olympic challenge. I keep telling myself that place is a waste of money, but I end up going back every summer!







If you have an account, follow me! My username is 'patricialouise'.

TIFF12: Saturday Night Edition

Working the morning after the Spring Breaker's after party was such a pain. But as soon as my shift ended, I raced home, changed and picked up my friend Czarah. We were off to Toronto for round 2! The plan? We didn't have any, we went downtown soley to go star gazing.

The first place we thought to go was Soho House. Googling Soho House, you'll find that it's a private club open only to those in the media. From last year's experience at TIFF, this was one of the hottest spots to go to if you wanted to quickly see a celebrity arriving or exiting a party. At first it was extremely dry. The only celebrities Czarah and I saw outside were the actors of Nikita, a show I never watched. Aside from them, we were surrounded by snobby people with invitations in hand, acting as if they were a big deal. A lady was told to wait in the VIP line because the venue was at full capacity and she immediately showed her diva side, "I have to wait in that line? I'M GOING BACK TO THE RITZ!" I couldn't help but laugh because within 10 minutes she was back and waiting in that very line she was disgusted about. Anyways, Czarah and I continued to wait patiently infront of the entrance door hoping and praying someone would come out. Thanks to Twitter, we already knew Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper were among the few inside.


Time passed and we couldn't wait any longer. I don't know about Czarah but this "hotspot" was getting cold. Before leaving and making any drastic decisions, we checked the side of the buidling for some sort of back entrance, nothing. So we ended up in a predicament and stood there thinking of something to do. Suddenly, a man's voice disturbed our train of thought. "Do you girls want to come in?"


Czarah and I look at eachother and couldn't believe it. We don't know exactly what he does, body guard, guest list guy, who knows, but this man got us in and later introduced himself as Kevin. He showed us around on the first and second floor, then went back to whatever job he was doing, "Hope you girls see who you came here to see." I love nice people!


Long story short, hors d'oeuvres were absolutely delicious, open bar contained mini bottles of champagne, multiple ice sculptures were slowly melting, and two floors filled with industry people. Unfortunately upon Kristen Stewart's arrival, they opened a completely separate, extremely exclusive third floor for her and her posse. The rest of the A-List celebrities followed. However, we were able to see Shane West. Oh Landon Carter, the love of my life in elementary school. It was such a tease to know that Kristen Stewart, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Emma Watson, Emily Blunt, Jake Gyllenhaal, America Ferrera, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Alexander Skarsgard, Andy Samburg, Woody Harrelson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Aaron Paul were wandering somewhere upstairs.

TIFF12: Friday Night Edition

My weekend can only be described in one word... unreal. It was a total pinch-me-I'm-dreaming moment. As you probably already know from a previous post, I love celebrities and I follow the media much more than the next person. So you can only imagine how excited I was getting when I found out that TIFF was approaching. Attempting to purchase premium screening tickets didn't work out in my favour, so I figured I'd just go star gazing. Friday evening, my friend, Catherine, and I headed downtown.


First stop: Elgin Theatre along Yonge St. We missed the Anna Karenina red carpet by just a few minutes which then promted us to head to the back of the theatre. We though we would wait for 2 more hours until the movie ended. We even debated leaving to get food, but literally 15 minutes later, the top person on my TIFF list came out. Aaron Taylor-Johsnon. The majority of the small crowd wanted to see Jude Law or Keira Knightly. But Aaron! Taylor! Johnson! I discovered him while browsing through Netflix and stumbled upon 'Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging'. It was love at first sight. The movie had barely started and I was already googling his name. I found out he was in Kickass and without a care for time, I watched it right away. Before you know it, it was 5 in the morning and I had work in a few hours. Anyways, on Friday evening, his wife walks towards me, he follows and I ask them both for a picture. I was in heaven. Another fan asked for a picture with the wife, and they left soon after. If I went home, I would have been completely satisfied. But it doesn't end there...............


Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Sam Taylor-Wood, his arm is on my shoulder by the way!
Second stop: Ryerson Theatre. We went back to the same doors that I saw Ryan Gosling last year. A little over an hour later, the cast of Spring Breakers slowly came out. First Ashely Benson, then Vanessa Hudgens, then Selena Gomez and finally James Franco, the man Catherine was dying to meet. Now see, after this I could have gone home completely content. But it still doesn't end there. In-between the actors, I met one of the executive producers of the movie and he was nice enough to invite us to an after party for the film.


Typical scene


Ashley Benson taking a picture with a fan / Vanessa Hudgens


Selena Gomez right in front of me (I have a more unflattering picture, but I'll keep that to myself) / Rachel Korine


James Franco all ready to go to the airport after the cast dinner

Third stop: Brassaii Restaurant and Lounge. At around 11 o'clock, we made our way to the little party on King St. Our names were on the list so getting in was no problem. It was a pool party theme, complete with the tropical drinks, cotton candy, and a buffet style table full of sweets. The servers were walking around in bikinis and hawaiian shirts. There were two hot tubs. Drinks had little mini umbrellas. Food. And it was open bar. The cherry ontop of it all? Celebrities were walking around like it wasn't a big deal. I saw Ashley Benson. Selena Gomez chatted a little before she left early. Vanessa Hudgens was jamming away with her boyfriend Austin Butler. Darren Criss was standing on the patio furniture just to speak to someone at the top of the stairs. And of course, David Blaine performed a magic trick on Catherine, with the deck of cards that were conveniently in his pocket. I refrained from taking any pictures only because no one else was taking any. I tried my hardest to remain calm, but I'm pretty sure my huge smile gave away how excited I was to be there. We left quite early in order to make the subway. To say I went home happy would definitely be an understatement. It was everything I expected and more.


My only photos at Brassaii

Check back for my TIFF12: Saturday Night Edition!

Instagram - July

July 2012 was a month of travel withdrawal and reminiscing. Unlike last year, I was not galavanting away in Europe/UK and was stuck in good ol' Canada. I can't complain, after my trips in June, July was also a month of motivation to start working my butt off and saving as much as I could for next year.

I also went camping for the first time in my life! Tents and all. It was so relaxing and I definitely cannot wait to do it again. July was a big month for movies, I watched 'The Amazing Spiderman' and 'The Dark Knight Rises', which were absolutely mind-blowing.. If you haven't watched either, then you're missing out. And to top off the month, I caught Childish Gambino (also known as Donald Glover) in concert at Echo Beach. I was very impressed with how crazy he was live.. He definitely knows how to put on a show!

So while I say I was stuck in Canada, I do mean it in every good way possible. Although I wasn't an 8 hour plane ride away, there really is no place like home!







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TIFF 2011

When I'm not daydreaming about travelling, I am obsessing about celebrities.

Blame it on my mother who made it a ritual to watch Entertainment Tonight every time we ate dinner. For each time she shouted, "Shooting!!!!" at the sight of a street full of white movie trailer trucks. For knowing more about celebrities than I do. And it also doesn't help that she was willing to bring me all the way to Toronto just so I could see my favourite celebrities (Spice Girls, Soul Decision, Sean Paul, Kanye West, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, etc.). It was inevitable that I would pick up the same adoration for the rich and famous.

Last year, my best friend and I decided to go downtown in hopes of rubbing shoulders with any of the A-Listers in town for the Toronto Film Festival. We ended up at the Ryerson Theatre to try and spot Ryan Gosling. We got there right on time to snatch a spot behind the barricades. Within a few minutes Ryan Gosling and the cast of Drive were breathing the same air we were.


Ryan Gosling, Drive's director Nicolas Winding Refn, and co-stars Albert Brooks and Bryan Cranston

As soon as they all headed into the theatre, I saw a very tiny crowd forming by another set of doors. I figured this was where they were all going to exit. And when I say they, I am definitely only thinking of Ryan Gosling........ So we sat right behind another set of barricades, talking to passing time. An hour or two later, people were coming out the door and this happens:






Zoom was not necessary for any of the above four pictures. Trust me people, I was freaking out. The man is just as handsome in person than he is on the big screen, and on the small screen if we're thinking back to his Breaker High days. Aside from these, I was also able to get an autograph. The only thing I had in my purse for him to sign was actually a photocopy of my passport that I carried with me while I was in France. After that overwhelming experience, Czarah and I thought of checking out some of the after parties. Thanks to Twitter, we were on our way to the Soho House. Although we were not allowed, let alone dressed, to go in.. We did see a couple familiar faces walking in and out of the joint - such as Jimmy Fallon, Jonah Hill, Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood, etc. Also there was Ryan Gosling, seeing him twice in one night.. I could have sworn he was following me.

My first time at TIFF and I was within arm's reach of THE Noah Calhoun, unreal?! With TIFF 2012 just around the corner, I am hoping to attend one of these fabulous parties. Maybe bump into my good ol' pal Ryan again? Hells yea! Cross your fingers everyone!

Choices, Choices, Choices

Just one more week until school starts up again, and here I am already planning summer 2013. Although family vacations are very picturesque and relaxing, I'm ready to head out on my own again! I finally convinced my best friend to start saving up and all I can hope is that she is as excited as I am. So the questions is, what kind of trip should we take? For the past months, I have been leaning towards taking a Contiki tour.

I'm really loving how Contiki tours are only for 18-35 year olds. It brings me back to my month away in Tours. It was such a great experience, especially to be surrounded by like-minded people who loved travelling and having fun. The big plus is also the fact that all the planning and hotel searching are already done for us.

Then there's travelling on our own. The pros are pretty obvious, do what we want, whenever we want. If we wanted to spend a little more time in one place, then we can do it freely without having to worry about anything else. We wouldn't have any early morning wake-up calls unless we wanted to. Travelling on our own would also be cheaper than taking a tour. We could opt out of fancy hotels and stay in hostels, find cheaper tickets and not pay for things we don't really want to do.

They are both great ways of travelling but their pros and cons balance each other out. My plan was to take a Contiki tour at first, then have the rest of my life to travel freely. But my main concern is the time constraint and if the scheduling is so tight that it sucks the fun out of the tour.


Amateur backpacking on the way to London!

Instagram - June

I am very lucky to say that for half the month of June, I was out of the country. Canada, I love you and all but I cannot stay here for an entire year... Gotta escape sometimes right? Anyways, in between my summer escapades I was left worrying about the Much Music internship. Unfortunately, I didn't quite make the cut. I got a lot of positive feedback from a bunch of people I didn't know and some that were even in the business! I don't quit that easily, so Much Music better watch out because I'll be working there eventually.

Overall, June was probably my favourite of Summer 2012. Here are some pictures (and sneak peeks of my trips!) to prove it:







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