A Quick Trip to Toronto

This week  I headed over to Toronto to get some things done for my trip to Russia, meet with my advisor, and celebrate the launch of the student journal I edited this past year. It was a quick trip, but it was great to see some of my Torontonian friends.

Of course I couldn't resist the opportunity

to drink my favorite coffee from Red Rocket

Coffee every morning during my trip. Yum!

The leaves were beautiful while

I was there. Unfortunately, it 

was quite cold--not great 

weather for a stroll. 

This poor moustached pumpkin

seems to have met a premature end. 

Fortunately, Toronto now has a compost

program, so he won't get thrown into the dump.

More leaf peeping on the University

of Toronto campus!

On my last night in Toronto, my

friend Chris and I got gigantic ice cream

sandwiches from a local bakery (not 

pictured). As if we didn't have enough

sugar in our systems, they also gave us 

free cupcakes! 

The flight home from Toronto was rainy...

But I arrived to blue skies in New York! 

I'm going to be spending the next few weeks hurriedly planning for my trip to Russia, but I hope to keep taking photos and updating you all here on Sundays! 

May: Tests, Transitions, and Travel

Well the exams are finally all over and the essays have all been marked, and now I can settle down and return to regular posting. I'm sorry for the extended hiatus over the past few months. As you may know, a lot has happened over the past month or so for me. Let's start from the beginning...

The beginning is actually the end of my time in Toronto. Now that I have finished all of my exams, the only task left is to write my dissertation, which I can work on from anywhere (i.e. New York)!

To celebrate the end of the school year and most 

importantly the end of long distance, Rich and 

I made a visit to the CN Tower's posh rotating

restaurant. Unfortunately, right after this

a cloud engulfed the tower and obscured

the view. 

One last picture of the old apartment 

after we packed everything up. 

 On our return to New York, we stopped at

Niagara Falls for an evening. We had just gotten

over the US border when we decided to walk

right back to Canada (the view was better!). 

Back in New York, I came across

some exciting events like this 

talk by Edward Albee on Samuel

Beckett hosted by the famous NYC

bookstore, The Strand.

But I only had a few days in New 

York before I hopped on a plane to

visit Austin:

In Austin, Tony and I endured the

infamous 3.5 hour line at Franklin's

BBQ...

But it was worth it! 

Less of a wait and equally enjoyable

 was this beautiful sunset 

over lake Travis after a delicious

family dinner at Steiner Ranch.

And I of course I couldn't miss out on this old

high school haunt for breakfast tacos with Robert! 

I'm safe and sound back in New York now, settling down and getting ready for the summer. The pools open this weekend, which means I begin work on Friday! I'm looking forward to the warmer weather and more blog posts to come!

A Moveable Feast (of Books)

Tomorrow I am taking my major field exam. It is an 8-hour exam, open note and open book. My task will be to answer 2 out of 6 essay questions created for me by my committee members. If I pass the written portion, a week later I will have an oral defense of what I've written in front of my committee. I've been preparing for this exam for the past two months (thus the lack of blog posts) and as you can imagine I'm pretty nervious for it!  Above is the suitcase of books I plan to bring to the exam with me and some ramen in the background (hehe).

Wish me luck!

And Happy Easter everyone!

February Freeze

Brrr... it is cold out there! Today was one of a few sunny days we've had all month and so I decided to walk down to Nathan Phillips Square where city hall is.

Tomorrow is Family Day here and

a bank holiday so the streets 

were busier than usual for Sunday.

Old City Hall  is right next to...

New City Hall! 

In front of City Hall is a little skating rink. My

Canadian friends have been trying to get me to go

skating, but I'm balking. I imagine they'll skate

the whole time and I'll fall the whole time! 

My favorite mode of transportation in Toronto! 

That is all for now. This week is "reading week" at University of Toronto. Essentially reading week is the equivalent of spring break, but not as fun. Most students will take short trips to see family or a mini vacation elsewhere and then do work the rest of the week. I'm going to be working away enjoying the time to get caught up on work this week. We are now halfway through the semester! I am counting the days to big field exam in April. 43 days of preparation left!

Have a restful Sunday night and a great week everyone!

My World in Snow

The East Coast was not the only place to get hit with a snow storm this week. In Toronto we got almost a foot of snow. The way Toronto reacted, you'd think we were a city in balmy Texas, not freezing cold Canada! All events were cancelled for most of the day and everything but the U of T library was closed. Thank goodness the library was open. In grad school snow days don't count and I had work to do!

On Saturday I took a sloshy walk around campus and got some pictures of the snowfall before it all melted away (as it is currently doing today and tomorrow).

Amazingly, there are people who are actually

still riding their bikes around town even in

the below freezing weather. 

The streets have been pretty

messy for the past few days

even with lots of salt and plowing.

One of my favorite places

in Toronto: Queen's Park

More Queen's Park. 

Snow-capped Northrop Frye (an important 

Canadian literary theorist and critic).

 

Another favorite place on campus: Hart House! 

Good thing I have some sturdy

snow boots! Walking in this snow

can be quite messy. 

I hope everyone is keeping safe and warm wherever you are and however you were affected (or not) by the recent winter weather!

 

 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

This past month has been quite hectic with the end of the semester! I still have a week left, which will be full of grading exams. I hope to make some time for baking cookies and watching Christmas movies, though.

Tea Advent Calendar: A local Toronto tea shop makes these

wonderful tea-filled Advent calendars that have a new

tea for each day of December leading up to Christmas! 

I've now put up my (few) Christmas 

decorations including this teddy bear 

stocking, which I believe was my first 

stocking as a child (right, mom and dad?) 

Unfortunately only half of this string of lights worked.

It looks like I'll be investing in some new Christmas 

lights for next year! 

 

 Not even a kitchen with miniscule counter space

can deter me from making the traditional

Christmas sugar cookies! 

It doesn't feel like Christmas with out this 

Syvarth family tradition! 

I hope everyone's preparations for Christmas are going smoothly. I can't wait to celebrate the holidays with Rich in New York and New Jersey this year. I'm counting the days!

Fall leaves

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I was very sad not be in the States for Thanksgiving this year, but on Sunday I had a small turkey dinner for myself and my Canadian friend Christine. Now that we are officially moving away from Autumn and into the holiday season I thought I'd share with you some last remnants of fall: Toronto's fall leaves!

By now most of the leaves have fallen off the trees. We've even seen some snow flurries here in Toronto! So it is time to say farewell to fall and get ready for the winter holidays!

Beware: Zombies and gore!

Halloween is coming soon and there are a variety of events celebrating the spooky holiday here in Toronto during the weeks leading up to the big day. This weekend was an event I had always read about but never seen for myself, the Toronto Zombie Walk. The Zombie Walk helps support the Heart and Stroke Foundation and is a great excuse for people to get dressed up as the undead and walk around the streets of downtown Toronto. People go all out for this event as you'll see below. I'm posting some of the more mild pictures here on the blog, but if you'd like to see the full extent of costuming and gore click here for the picasa album (and remember it is all just excellent make up artistry!).

Zombie face paint station for last minute

preparations and touch ups!

 

 This zombie looks a little friendlier than some of the 

others...

Dia de los Muertos zombies. 

Werewolf-cheetah zombie? 

Hello October!

With this week came the start of October, my favorite month! The temperatures dropped accordingly and beautiful fall squash and apples began to appear all over.

Mon: Roasted apple and acorn squash soup and a brie and apple grilled

cheese sandwich for dinner! Delicious fall-time meal. 

 Tues: Autumnal gourds. Although I don't have a mantle to decorate, 

I like to adorn my windowsill with seasonal trimmings.

Wed: Spiced apple cider, yet another wonderful 

part of the season. 

Thurs: More fall leaves. I just can't resist taking pictures whenever

I see them. Although I've been amongst the beautiful colors for 8 years now

I always feel a thrill when the trees start changing. 

Fri: Bixi Bikes are Toronto's equivalent to Paris's vélib program. You can

rent bikes by the half hour and return them to any bixi bike station around the city! 

 Sat: Queens park picture #2. In this post I took a picture from the

same perspective to show the change over time. The leaves are just 

starting off here so by next month there should be a distinct difference.

Sun: The Carillon tower of Hart House and the CN tower in the 

distance. 

That is all for now! Wishing all a wonderful start to October!

Goodbye September...

I forgot to post last week so I'll be doing a double post this week. Two weeks ago mom and dad came for a visit in Toronto and while it was brief it was a blast. Without further ado here are the pictures from September 24-30.

 

Mon: The old class periodicals at the Toronto library remind me of 

the books you'd find in a library out of Harry Potter!

Tues: Many of the squirrels here in Toronto are a surprising shade 

of black. They've been busy preparing for the winter!

Wed: Yet another condo construction site. This one is unique because

they are preserving the facade of an old building using the large scaffolding.

 

Thurs: A festive pumpkin Rich bought me during his visit! 

I can't wait for Halloween. It is one of my favorite holidays!

Fri: Hart House- My favorite place on campus. The

theatre and the swimming pool are here! 

Sat: The night of mom and dad's visit we wandered through Nuit Blanche,

an all-night art festival. Unfortunately, we mostly encountered crowds like this. 

 Sun: Here come the fall leaves! I just love the fall for 

all of the beautiful leaves that begin appearing!