Sunday, July 08, 2007

Canadian Romance Blogger Meeting, part IV

Hey everyone :D

No, I didn't forget to continue the recap, it's just, well I had other things on my mind: 1) reading! yep, been reading a LOT lately which I'm so happy because May and June were really slow reading months... and 2) Wimbledon... unfortunately, all my favorite players didn't make the finale :( Anyway, now it's over, so I should have more time to blog LOL (I have to admit, I've been rather obsessed by this year's tournament...)

All right, so let me start on Sunday morning, our third day in Toronto. So again, I was the first one up, but this time, my roomates didn't sleep in LOL :P See, Kristie was going back home at noon and she needed to leave the hotel before 11am... Although Ames and I were staying another night in Toronto, we were switching hotel, one closer to the airport and Toronto Zoo. So we had to be out of the room by noon. Anyway, I just wanted to say that we didn't sleep in to my great joy... so we woke up, did our morning routine and started packing. I was done really quickly :P Kristie had a little bit of difficulty and as you all know, she had to throw away her pair of running shoes LOL :P I have to add though, it wasn't a big loss, since they were very well worn and actually hurt her feet when she wore them. The only thing left I had to pack was... my Wendy's baked potatoe! I know, I know! Seriously, it's not really in me to throw away food, but I didn't want to carry it in the luggage ^^; So in the end, while Kristie went down to check-out and Ames was in the shower, I ate it... and regret it, because we ate the hotel's breakfast buffet and the food was really good, but I was already half-full because of the baked potatoe :(

So during breakfast, we get a phone call and guess who it is? Yes, Chantal!! She asked if we could meet her in Newmarket and Ames and I told her we would find a way to... So after the really good breakfast, we chat a little bit outside and then, it was time for hugs and goodbyes :( After Kristie left, Ames and I checked-out, put our luggages in storage and went to the CN tower!

The CN tower was a lot of fun, unfortunately, it was a LOT of waiting! See, the reason why we went to the CN tower was because it was 11am and the Eaton Center Indigo bookstore only opened at noon. We ended up leaving at 2pm ^^; Then, we made our way back to Eaton Center and went to Indigo... While we were at Eaton Center, we called Chantal and told her we would take the go train... but needed her to check the schedule. So at Eaton Center, i bought 4 more books LOL :P What can I say? Pretty much nothing LOL :P Ames was looking for Hidden Agendas and another book by Lisa Cach... Unfortunately, neither were at the bookstore although the computer indicated that there was one copy :( After doing a little computer search, there was a bookstore on Richmond that had Hidden Agendas :P So off we were to yet another bookstore... we got out of Eaton Center and then hesitated... it was already 3pm, Ames' feet were really hurting... in the end, we changed our mind LOL :P It was too far and we'd rather get to the new hotel ASAP and then, off to Chantal's house. So we turned around and went back to Indigo where Ames stayed at the entrance while I went to get her books :P Poor girl, her feet were really hurting LOL! At Indigo, we got another phone call from Chantal... she got some info for us: 1) no go train on the week-end! but we could take a bus... but the last bus was at 10.10pm to get back to TO... Hmmm, that was pretty tight ^^; So guess what? I came up with the brillant idea of renting a car!!!

So we got back to our hotel to get our luggage... and in the lobby, there's this man sitting at a desk with a computer and he's answering questions and all. We ask him if where we had to go to rent a car... He says that it's quite later and perhaps we won't be able to rent one! Oh no! Nonetheless, he calls a few places and lucky!!! We got a car! So we waited for them to come and pick us up. The signing of the contract was all very quick and very confusing... the place we rent the car was also, hmmm, spare ^^; it was just a room with a counter, a computer and a printer ^^; Seriously, it didn't look like a business and so I was worried ^^; but then, as Ames said, the hotel recommended this place, so it must have been an okay place.

So finally, we were on our way to another great adventure... we got to the hotel without too much difficulty, although i have to say, at first, I was quite stressed ^^; Ames was in charge of giving direction and she's so patient! and seriously, the girl is really awesome... See, I was nervous... and Ames would say, you need to turn at "X street"... but Ames, I have no idea where is X street!!! You have to be more specific!! Anyway, after a few streets, we finally got it down and from there on, everything was smooth :D We got to the hotel, which was really far and our thought was: thanks god, we rented a car and didn't take the public transit as we planned LOL :P We didn't have any difficulties checking in and after a little rest, we were on our way to... Barrie to see Chantal!

It took us only 40 minutes to get there :D Everything went smoothly, except when I suddenly had to change like 4 lanes to get to the exit! That was really the only scary moment... and seriously, that exit is really not well designed ^^; So we got to Chantal's house and she was there, with Levi in her arms and Logan behind her to welcome us :D It was really awesome! She is soooo nice and easy to talk to! and a lot of fun LOL :P On our way out to go eat, Chantal mentionned that there was also the "Buy 3, get the 4th free" sale at her bookstore and that she went bookshopping the day before. We ask her which book she got and guess what she answered? Yep, Hidden Agendas! LOL :P So I asked Ames and we decided to go look for it, as Chantal said when she bought it, there was 3 copies left! We rushed to the Chapters, but unfortunately, there were all gone!!! That was quite disappointing... we almost rushed to the other bookstore, but it was closing in 20 minutes and it was on the other side of town... So in the end, Chantal bought 4 books, Ames, 1 if I remember correctly and me, 5. Shut up! LOL :P Again, it's really fun to shop with fellow romance books lovers :D

Then, we went to eat at Jackaster and had a nice meal :D We did linger quite a while and I think the waitress was annoyed ^^; After eating, we went back to Chantal's place and hung out a little bit... Then, for a second time in the day, it was hugs and goodbyes time :P By the way, Chantal's boys are sooo cute and lovely :D As she said, Logan was a real mama's boy and her youngest, daddy's boy. On our way back, we had to switch driver, because I was falling asleep and I think Ames was starting to get scared LOL :P Once back to the hotel, I went straight to bed ^^; Yeah, I'm a very boring person at night LOL :P

The next morning was another early day... we woke up early, checked-out and went to Toronto zoo :D I was kind of worried about Ames, because her feet were hurting so much... but when I asked her, she told me her feet no longer hurt... instead, it was her whole leg!!! OMG! ^^; However, I'm so proud of her, because she was such a trooper... we did the whole zoo in about 3.5 hours! Obviously, saw a lot of animals :D The cutest were the polar bear, the elephants and the tigers :D I have some videos that perhaps, I'll post soon ^^; hopefully. Ames was really good at spotting baby animals :D

The reason we did the zoo so fast was because I wanted to go to the Pacific Mall, a chinese mall... actually, one of the biggest Asian mall in North America :D It was fun, although we didn't buy much. The great thing we got though, were sticker pictures of us :D we ate lunch there and OMG, the portion was huge!! It didn't help that just before, we got a bubble tea ^^; Felt so bad when we threw it away... but you know, I wasn't going to bring it to the airport ^^; At around 3.30, we were on our way to the airport... dropped off the car (by the way, they finally charged my credit card)... checked-in... there were two bookstores instead and we did look for Hidden Agendas, but it wasn't there... Ames did some last minute gift shopping :P We had time to sit a little bit, call our families and then, it was time for me to board :( Last pictures, hug and goodbyes and then, I was on my way to Montreal.

And this was our trip :D An awesome trip!

I swear, I'll post pictures soon and will also list the books I bought soon.

Have a nice evening everyone!

Canadian Romance Blogger Meeting, part I
Canadian Romance Blogger Meeting, part II
Canadian Romance Blogger Meeting, part III