*taps mic* Is this thing on?

Hello there folks…for those of you that follow me on Twitter, or know me personally, you know that this past weekend, I and a few of my closest e-friends descended on the city of Toronto for Caribana 2011. After I read Cheekie’s epic recap of the trip, I almost decided to leave well enough alone and just bask in the memories she put out there, but then I decided to just go on and put my 2 cents into the TO rememberance basket. So without further adieu, I give you my Top 7 T.O. Moments (in no particular order):

1.) Travelpalooza –  Let’s just say that I had a 13 hour travel day on Thursday to get to Toronto, and a 13 hour travel day on Monday to get back to my house just outside of Washington, DC. And I had to be to work on Tuesday morning. There was a delayed bus heading to Toronto, and two delayed flights leaving out of Buffalo to come home. In both directions, I was just ready to be there! What a way to start and end the trip…

2.) The Food – We all know I’m an unofficial foodie, so I was so hype to get some good eats in Toronto…and the city didn’t let me down. From the epic lasagna and red velvet cake on Thursday night to the awesome omelette and fried potatoes at The Counter and my grilled shrimp and watermelon salad, ribeye steak and shrimp, and cheesecake from Joe Mama’s on Friday to the beef patty that saved me from certain death on Saturday, to the epic picnic food on Sunday for Keisha Brown’s birthday cookout. Not to mention the dill pickle chips, all dressed chips, and red cream soda…I seriously need to get someone to ship me some snacks.

3.)  The Purple One – At Joe Mama’s on Friday, the ambience was really nice, really subdued, really well lit, and pretty cozy. That is, until they played Prince. When Doves Cry came on the sound system, and you would have thought the entire table was at karaoke. Especially BP, Lala, and Miss Bougie. When I tell ya’ll I was recording the entire thing cackling at the table at them? Good times…

4.)  City Life – It wasn’t a shock to me that our only method of transportation while in TO for the weekend was public transportation, but there were a couple of things that set it far apart from DC Transit. First of all, the price. $3 to do as many transfers as you need to do to get where you’re going. So if I needed to take the bus from the house to the train station, take the train down to the streetcar, and then get off the streetcar to get where I’m going, it only cost me $3 each way. Try that on Metro if you want. That, and Toronto’s subway system is so FAST. The longest I had to wait on a train no matter what time of day or night was 5 minutes. 5 minutes. That doesn’t happen around here! Oh, and they can eat and drink on the train, and they have recycling bins and trashcans at each station. Boss.

5.)  The Parade – One word can sum up the parade for me. Hot. It had to be at least 100 degrees with the humidity. In spite of the heat, there were some amazing costumes out there, everybody was having a good time, and it was sort of surreal to finally be there. I just wish I had eaten sooner so I wouldn’t have been so ready to go after only being there for four hours. Somehow the entire group was together one minute, and then the entire group split apart almost immediately, so it ended up being just me, BP, and Lala trudging our way through the crowd trying to get to the food vendors. Needless to say, by the time we got to the vendors, we just wanted to get our food and bounce. I got some great photos while I was there, and I’ll definitely have to go back to get some more Caribana parade experience.

6.)  Bonding – So it’s not really a trip if I don’t get a chance to bond with my girls. There’s one specific event of bonding that sticks out in my mind days later. After I almost got run over at the parade and was all sticky and sweaty, I ended up at Max’s house. And what did I get there? A bunch of awesome conversation with the girls in her house, and her EPIQUE (there’s my inner Canadian showing) breakfast! Her scrambled eggs and fried potatoes are OUT OF THIS WORLD! Seriously, people can show me how much they love me by the food they make me. And if that plate was any indication of Max’s love for me, then well…I’m REALLY loved!

7.)  Party Rock is in the House Tonight… – While in TO, I had the chance to go to two parties. The first one was on Friday night, and it was fun, but the highlight of my partying experience happened on Sunday night. All the girls got all fancified at Keisha Brown’s house, then took some pictures, hopped in a friend’s truck, and headed for her other friends’ hotel room to pregame proper. How proper, you ask? Well…I had some vodka I had never even heard of before (Tag?) mixed with some cranberry juice, and some other random punch, and her friend had a karaoke machine. That’s right. A mobile karaoke machine. This man got on the mic and acted as the DJ for our pregame session, and me and Cheekie had to show our inner African-American and do the entire Cha Cha Slide and Cupid Shuffle in the hotel room. o_O. After getting slightly buzzed off of the drinks, we headed for Icon at Mansion and got there to a packed house. We had to go all the way down to the bottom floor, but it was SO worth it. Max looked gaw-juss in her dress and heels, and I literally partied from the time we walked in around 12:15 until we left close to 4. I came out of my heels real quick, but I ain’t even care. Some of the highlights of the party:

- A guy asking me and Cheekie if we were sisters after we both decided not to dance with him. -___-

- Me being told that I was “cute and dangerous.” What?

- Watching ALL of Keisha Brown’s Jamaican come out anytime reggae came on.

- Various sandwiches that happened with the guys and girls in the group.

- All the girls sharing 3 paper fans because it was hotter than Satan’s upper lip in there.

I literally could keep going on and on about this party, but just trust me when I say, it’s one of the best parties I have ever been to. Ever.

As you can see by this book I’ve written about my trip, I had an amazing time. This vacation came right on the edge of really stressful situations at work and somewhat introspective situations in my personal life, so it was good to get away from home for a minute to clear my head and to have some fun. To each of the ladies that I experienced this trip with: I love you all like sisters. Some of you I spent more time with, others I didn’t spend as much as I wanted to, but I am glad that I got to lay eyes on each of you this past weekend. It still amazes me that a conversation between strangers on UStream has evolved into something as interconnected as this. You are all amazing people, and I wouldn’t have traded experiencing this with you for anything. (Well, maybe except if some of the other e-ladies were there…) Here’s to all of the memories of Caribana 2011, and the ones that are soon to come!

Until next time, folks…