Weekend of Win

I'm a lucky person: my weekends are always super fun, enriching, and leave me feeling like I've accomplished something, or learned something, or discovered something, or at the very least, rocked out a little bit. I think I did all of the above this weekend.

Friday was the Dan Mangan Show, and I'm so glad that so many of you liked the song I posted previously. It is my favourite, and he actually opened the show with it! I really enjoying seeing Dan live yet again. He's always on the top of his game, and seems to have a genuinely fun time at each and every show. Stand out songs for me were the opener, Basket, and Rows of Houses. If you enjoyed the song I posted early, pick up his new album (Oh Fortune), and while you're at it get his previous one too (Nice, Nice, Very Nice).

I had a really nice Saturday too. Jason and I went to Kensington Market and found a new yummy brunch place called The Bellvue. It's a tiny place. We had to sit at bar seats by the window, but that made for lovely people-watching on a sunny fall morning. I had truly epic French Toast with apples and home-made whipped cream. Yum.

We were in Kensington on a mission - I had to buy about 15 various flags of the world for my school's Multicultural Day which is fast approaching. Luckily, Toronto's Flag District is on Spadina right near Kensington. I went to my favourite flag store, where they cut me a deal last time, and got the vast majority of flags. They had everything but Peru. Of course, being that I was in the Flag District, I just had to walk a couple doors down to another flag store to get Peru. Mission accomplished.

Got home, went to the gym for a run, then had my first Skype conversation ever (welcome to the 21st century Christielli) with Becca T who is settled nicely in Paris. Then, I spent my entire quiet Saturday night reading. What a treat.

I also treated myself to a quiet Sunday morning/afternoon. I read in bed, took myself out for a sushi lunch, and then read a bit more in a coffee shop. Then I met up with my friend Ali to head off to the 32nd annual International Festival of Authors at the Harbourfront Centre.

We got there early enough to browse the programs and look at all of the books. I'd never really paid attention to the event before, but wow, I'm definitely going to go back another year. It consists of two weeks of readings, round table discussions, etc. by a wide and impressive array of authors. I love Toronto because there is always something awesome going on in this city, and there are always new things to discover.

I was going to see Rachel Simon, author of The Story of Beautiful Girl in a round-table discussion. I had tweeted that I was enjoying this book at the beginning of the month, and she responded and invited me to this event.

The round table discussion could be called "The Advocates" because each author wrote a book advocating for group who normally doesn't have a voice in our society. The Story of Beautiful Girl is a novel that is centred around a love story between a couple with disabilities. In addition, it partly takes place in an institution for people with disabilities in the US in the 1960s, and it's an eye-opening look at how horribly people were treated in the not too distant past.

Conor Grennan, author of Little Princes, was another participant in the round table. His book is about his experiences as a volunteer in Nepal, which lead to him founding an organization that reconnects children who are victims of human trafficking with their families.



The third participant was Andrew Westoll, author of The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary. This book centers around a family of chimpanzees that were used as biomedical test subjects. They are now recovering at a sanctuary near Montreal.

I enjoyed listening to all authors speak about their books, and their motives for writing about their subjects. Each author was very passionate about his or her work. I have only read the first book, but I definitely would like to read the other two; I think I'll ask for them for Christmas.

After the discussion, there was opportunity to meet with the authors for signing. My friend Ali and I got to speak with Rachel for a bit, and she was truly a lovely and warm person. She wrote a very nice inscription in my copy of Beautiful Girl, and it's such a neat experience getting to connect with an author in real life because of twitter.

To all my book lover readers out there: you should all read Beautiful Girl. It will hook you on the first page. When I invited my friend Ali to the event, she picked up the book and read it in one night. In addition, I'm currently reading Rachel's memoir Riding the Bus with My Sister, which is about her experiences with her sister Beth, who is an adult living with an intellectual disability. I started it last night, and I'm really enjoying it.


In summary, I got to hear new songs from an old favourite, discover a new brunch place, buy new flags, experience new technology, go to a new event, and meet a new favourite author. That's why I had to borrow from my dear friend Claire's lexicon and declare this a weekend of win.