Neighbourhood #19 - Bloor West Village (AKA, part 2 of the Epic Weekend)

I stayed over at Sim's after our adventure to Unionville and beyond.  High on life, and drunk on Whiskey Sour Mash, I wasn't going anywhere.  We went to bed around 11:30pm and both of us just crashed out.  The next morning my fitbit said 9 1/2 hour of sleep.  That's up from the usual 5.  Sim left me alone and let me come upstairs when I was ready, very nice.  We started the day with another croissant and coffee.  And again inspired by the unexpectedly gorgeous weather, we were inspired to get out of the house.  A quick look on google maps and we picked our next hood, Bloor West Village.  I've been there a few times before for various reasons.  Sonia used to live in High Park not far from there.

On the way there, we stopped for gas at the South Kingsway Petro Canada.  Having had my close close (close close close) call being on empty, I was not about to let that happen again.  Being stranded downtown with no gas stations in sight is my nightmare.  As we parked Sim said, I think that cheese shop is near by here, and I was like, "I'm liiiiiistening."  I pumped and Sim pulled up the address, just down Ripley across the street.  So off we went.  Like kids in a candy store we were.  The Cheese Boutique is UNREAL.  Also the lovely parking director outside told me where to park, and then stopped and said my carriage was too low and redirected me to a new stop.  Mad appreciation for that.

We STOCKED up on cheese.  Each got a Tempura sauce bottle.  Had a free espresso sample.  And off we went.  Back across the street to get some ice to keep our cheeses cool for the next few hours.  Up to Bloor and over to the first available parking space.  It wasn't soo horrific, and we actually lucked into a pull-in spot.

I'm trying to remember the details of the next few stops but I'm a bit fuzzy.  I didn't take any photos at all so my lack of memory is shining through.  We hopped across the road and stopped in a great bar called the Gin Mill.  Sim had the Blueberry Bee's Knees, and I had Lavender Lemonade.  Both of them were....AMAZING!!!!  And we ordered a side of fries with garlic aioli sauce.  It was sooooo goooooood.  Definitely recommend that place.  On we went with not too many more stops.  Dipped into No Frills to get some crackers.

Next we tucked into what might be one of my favourite little shops of all the shops we've been into.  Called Brodawka & Friends.  I bought the CUTEST mug with an Alpaca on it, and I pretty much wanted one of everything in there.  BRING IT TO ME.  I'm excited to start using my mug, I think at home.  Sim asked if I'd take it to work, but I want to use it somewhere that will bring me joy.  My brother gave me some tea for my birthday, and I'm going to start consuming.

One more stop into another total blingy gift shop that I never thought I'd buy anything from ever, and I got the coolest pop-up card for my mom for mother's day.  I'm pretty excited to give it to her.  After that, the plan was to double it up and head down to Liberty Village for a second tour.  It took us literally forever (literally) to get to Liberty Village.  Then it took us 10 minutes to get INTO Liberty Village.  And after a fruitless circle of the Green P lot, we resolved to leave it for another day.  It then proceeded to take us an eternity (a literal eternity) to get back to Sim's.  We turned right onto Strachan and apparently the Lakeshore was closed, so we pulled a U-ey while we could and went back to King, across Adelaide, and zip zip zoomie an hour later back home.  Maybe not quite an hour but *groooooan*.

Spence had just beaten us home.  Him and Minnie and Keedo were waiting to greet us.  I smooshed Minnie into a million pieces and held her close for a good 30 minutes.  Then we had one more Whiskey Sour, played some cuphead with Spence, feasted on our cheese platter, and just maybe an hour later I headed home to crash.  I was pooped.

A weekend for the books, for sure.  Missing: one girlen.  Can't wait to see them soon.