I'm 23 and I finally learned how to ride a bike

I did it.

Took me 23 years, but I finally learned how to ride a bike. I'm not saying I'm an overnight pro, or that you'll see me weaving in and out of Toronto traffic, but I can go from point A to point B on a two wheeler!

I actually learned how to ride my bike at 21-years-old (still old), but I never got an opportunity to ride it for more than 10 minutes.

Also, before my trip to Europe, I practiced riding once with one of my trip mates in preparation for a bike tour in Amsterdam. Unfortunately (and probably in everyone's best interest) I got sick in Amsterdam and couldn't do the bike tour.

Lucky for me, Toronto has an amazing landscape that includes the Toronto Islands. In mid July, my friends Claire and Caroline took me on a 10-kilometre bike ride from one point of the Island, to the other and back.

I only fell once and caught it all on my GoPro.

How to Make This Year Better Than the Best Year of Your Life

My friends and I pose for 2014's corniest graduation photo.

Entering a new year is always a great time to reflect on what you’ve done in the past 365 days. As I lay in my bed thinking about the past year, it hit me that 2014 was the best year of my life.

I travelled, graduated, perfected “on fleek” eyebrows, finally got over an ex, left a crappy retail job, got an internship and then a job at my dream workplace, and paid off my student debt.

So I wondered is this the peak?
No. I won’t let it be.

I know there are things I purposely didn’t attempt last year in fear of failing. So be my witness and hold me to it, 2015 is a year I will not be scared to fail.

1. Learn to Drive

I’ve gone 22 years without a license because transportation in an urban hub is plentiful and cheap-ish, but also mainly because I think I’m scared of driving. The idea of driving looks easy and I’m sure with practice it becomes more natural but in fear of being judged by other drivers and avoiding deadly accidents, I think I’ve tricked myself into being scared of the wheel. In 2015, I promise to complete my driver’s education course.

2. Learn Italian

I love their food, I love their men, and I love listening to their song-like conversations. This past summer I tried learning the language — I even got an app! After two weeks my laziness and over-tired-self-from-working-retail kicked in and I said arrivederci to that. In 2015, I promise to learn Italian.

3. Explore New Places

Travelling is a given but how about discovering places at home? I love the city I’ve been born and raised in but outside the boundaries of my daily life, I know different neighbourhoods as much as someone who recently Googled it. Not only will this open up so many different possibilities but also I’m pretty sure I’ll look cool in front of my friends from out of town. In 2015, I will discover the full potential of Toronto.

4. Hike

Nature is a gift we truly need to appreciate. I’ve been on a couple of hikes and each time I can’t help but be overwhelmed by the beauty of nature. Ravines in the city leave me wanting more from the wild. I want to see what those Planet Earth documentaries are all about and I think hiking in small forests is a good starting point. In 2015, I will take a hike (or more).

5. Express Myself

No Diplo, already tried that and failed. I realized while writing this that the more I put my thoughts on paper — or a virtual document — I come closer to understanding myself. You need to be your own best friend. In 2015, I promise to publish more blog posts and keep my creativity flowing.  

Urban eats: Gourmet Gringos

It's finally here!

My favourite food truck, Gourmet Gringos, has opened their restaurant and it's relatively in my hood!
I've got love for food trucks but the one down side to them is that they're always in different places.

These guys just opened their location yesterday at 1384 Bathurst Street, just south of St.Clair West.

Apart from serving up my favourite veggie burrito, they sell quesadillas, tacos, empanadas, and many other delicious latin foods.

Check them out, your tummies will thank me later.

Childish Gambino Album Preview: Toronto edition.

Photo by Ashley Gaete

On Monday October 28th, rapper Childish Gambino surprised Toronto fans with a pop-up album listening session. Although it may have meant ditching class for us, we couldn't miss this opportunity to listen to his new work and see him in person. 

Yet another reason to love living in Toronto. 

Here is a quick video to share the raw experience we had with the hundreds of others who gathered at Trinity Bellwoods.



Gambino CD preview session. from Super Crew on Vimeo.

Can't Bake? No Problem.

Since the city is under a severe thunderstorm warning, my sister and I decided to FAFL out and 'bake'. 
Just one thing though, you don't actually have to bake what we're making!
May I present to you the smart and efficient No Bake Energy Bites.

This recipe was perfect for the stormy weather that the GTA faced today. Record downpour created flash floods that stalled the city with blackouts. Although my area was unaffected by the power outages, I'm keeping this in my back pocket for future reference.

These balls are easy to make by only mixing all the ingredients into a bowl, chilling for 30 minutes in the fridge then rolling them into small ball shapes. 

Apart from being a quick and easy blackout day snack, they're packed with ingredients that boost your energy.

So I'm set for my work weeks snack.

What you'll need:

-1 cup of oatmeal
-2/3 cup of coconut flakes
-1/2 cup of peanut 
-1/2 cup of wheat germ
-1/2 cup of chocolate chips (optional or can be subbed for raisins)
-1/3 cup of honey or agave syrup
-1 tbsp of chia or sesame seeds
-1 tbsp of vanilla extract

Makes about 20-25 bites.

Zombie Nation Trailer 2011

A personal project of mine, here is the trailer for Zombie Nation.
We made this for a project in documentary class, keep in mind this is a mockumentary.
The trailer was edited by yours truly, Ashley.
All the zombie footage was captured at Toronto's 2011 Zombie walk.
Enjoy it my little urban dwellers!

Zombie Nation Trailer from Ashley Gaete on Vimeo.

Grand Opening of Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens.

On November 30^th, Maple Leaf Gardens was reborn. There was so much controversy surrounding the new usage of this building that the grand opening of the Loblaws there became a popular city event. I’m not going to lie but I was very much against turning such a historic building into a grocery store. Say-Urban had to see what all this hype was about.

 However, visiting MLG/Loblaws completely changed my anti-MLG Loblaws perspective. 

Dori and I arrived at the Gardens around 5pm, after witnessing a bizarre 2000+ colony of bats circle Yonge and Dundas square. To our surprise, there was a line up of middle-aged people waiting to enter the supermarket. We had flash backs to our wait for Drake.

After a ten minute wait, we were finally inside and our jaws dropped. This is no ordinary Loblaws, it's gorgeous. It's like a beautiful dream surrounded by food. The MLG Loblaws makes any other Loblaws look like a No Frills. 

We were treated to many different samples of their sections. Some that we got to try were cookies, chocolate truffles, cheese, bread, and tea. The paper cup was actually the most adorable thing I've seen in a while so I decided it was picture worthy.

The inside pays tribute to the historic building's roots too. With a wall mural of the leaf's glory days and on your way up to the Joe Fresh and LCBO you can see that they have made a Toronto's Maple Leaf out of the original seats that used to be in the arena.

   

If this place was anything but over-the-top grocery shopping I would still be against it. They have done a nice job balancing the historic elements with the new super store and that's what I think is important. Shoppers need to be reminded of this building's significance to the city. 

Can't wait to see what Ryerson has in store for it's athletic centre (the other half of MLG), seeing as the university already destroyed Toronto's cherished Sam The Record Man's building.

TAKE CARE: The Toronto Experience.

On Monday, November 14th, Drake had a meet and greet for the first 500 people to pre order his album.

Super determined, Midori and I set out to meet our favourite home town rapper.

By the way, his second CD is out in stores now! Get a copy and support our boy!

Camping out in an alley behind HMV since 10pm Sunday.

Started to rain around 2am. These homeless bloggers decided to make a 'tent' out of umbrellas. Not the smartest idea.

9:45 am, fifteen minutes until HMV opens. Fifteen minutes until we get our wristbands to meet Drake later on. Fifteen minutes of what I twitter hashtagged "#DrakeRiots".

"Love you, Aubrey Graham -- XO" 

Early Take Care release signed by your boy Drizzy Drake.

End of Summer 2011... In Pictures

Black on black

The city is mine... "Which one?"... T-o-r-o-n-t-o.

Some people say you can't love an inanimate object. I prove them wrong.

Cole World

Louis interior... at the ROM.

"There are plenty of fish in the sea."

Lil Jon at frosh

Nuit Blanche

HEADLINES VIDEO

At 6pm today Drake premiered his video for Headlines, his first single off of Take Care.
Whole video is shot within the GTA.
Boy really does care about this city!
Jays fitted in the skydome (AKA Roger's Centre) bringing it back to So Far Gone...oh yeah and lets not forget the Cosby sweater.

We love Drake.



Drake ~ Headlines (Official Video) from OctobersVeryOwn on Vimeo.

Toronto Thunderstorm: 08/24/11

Things got a little crazy tonight.When I got home from work, I ran from my streetcar stop to the entrance of my building. My friends, those were the scariest ten seconds of my life. 

This storm was so terrifyingly beautiful I had to capture it with my Cannon... too bad it ran out of battery as soon as I turned it on. However, I got a teeny-bit of footage of lightning striking. This video is composed of three of the same short clips, each longer than the previous just so you can see the lightning.

Enjoy!

OVO FEST 2011

Let me just say that even though we did not do a concert review of this (in anticipation of our final summer recap), this video shows how epic this annual event was. Midori and I have joked about how we now are booked for Caribana weekend for life, but it's true. We went last year, went this year and plan to go every year since Drake puts on one fucking good show.


Without further adieu, here is the official video recap of OVO FEST 2011.



~OVOFEST 2011~ from OctobersVeryOwn on Vimeo.


ovoxo.

1LOVETO Grand Opening Event... In Pictures.

Live night. So proud to be born and raised in this city.
Please check out and support our favourite blog 1loveto!

 #theworldin1city

 One of the blog's owners, Brian Brock.

 Future The Prince

 Shaun Boothe

Crazy old man in a bathrobe trolling the event.

Mac Miller on His Donald Trump Shit

If I wanted to go to an area surrounded by white teens I would have gone to my high school reunion. Unlike my high school, Mac Miller put on for an hour of nonstop ultra teenage swag which white rich kids from North Toronto never exuded. Similarities between North Toronto C.I. white boys and Miller?—they love their Canadian weed.

The night started off with a longer than expected wait in the blistering heat wave Toronto faced on that mid-July night. We knew the show was sold out but from when doors were supposed to open (8:00pm), it took us one hour to get in and that’s considering the fact that we joined the line at seven. Although the wait was unexpected it still went by smoothly thanks to the atmosphere drunk/high Miller fans made. A minivan drove by that noticed this crowd waiting to get into the Kool Haus and when the passenger asked a scalper what this line was waiting for, the scalper spoke with simple truth: “It’s for Mac Miller, a white rapper, he does white people rap”.

I don’t know if there is a prejudice against white people rapping or if that racial difference created segregation within a genre of music but by looking at the fans it was true; there was not a black kid in sight. With that said, inevitably this crowd had some drunk douche-bag bros.

Inside the Kool Haus the crowd was getting rowdy waiting for the show to start while a female DJ played popular tunes. Midori, Michelle and I found a sweet spot near the stage off-side and within minutes others did too. As soon as TFHouse kicked off his set of songs, the douche bags came out to play. These big boys decided it was “kewl” to push, shove and almost trample smaller teens (in my area this was mainly teen girls).  I swear I almost punched one of the kids; I couldn’t take his bullshit any longer.

Alas, by the time Mac Miller came onstage, all was well! Security had set these asses straight.

When you see Mac Miller perform, or even listen to his songs, you forget how young the kid is. He’s my age and he’s got full control of the audience. “Im Justin Bieber meets Jadakiss,” raps Miller in Get ‘Em Up. He’s a performer and better yet, he’s a leader. He started the whole “thumbs up” movement focusing on celebrating the positives of our young lives. His youth makes him that much more relatable to his audience. He could be a friend of mine, he could be a classmate, or he could have been an ex-boyfriend. But he’s not, he’s Mac Miller and he’s jumping around to his songs onstage showing this audience a good fucking time.

Miller takes a moment from the show to say he’s not always a party boy, he raps about other things too. This is where the vibe of the show tones down a bit as Miller dedicates the song “Poppy” to his late grandfather. A very touching speech about a time in his life when he decided he was going to pursue his dream; a time when he wanted to become the rapper from Pittsburgh we know as Mac Miller. Miller admits his family wasn’t 100% supportive; everyone except his grandfather of course. His grandfather supported him all the way but as would happen in a TV movie, Miller’s old man passed away before he could see his grandson’s success. So he dedicated this song and this moment to him and to anyone someone in the audience lost.

By the end of the show I had gone through mild-beatings, laughs, sweat, tears and I had lost my voice; as the result of a good concert should be.

The kid from Pittsburgh, now an international star, has more great things to come (BLUE SLIDE PARK coming out later this year) with the many-many years in this industry his future holds. On July 16^th, 2011 he made Pittsburgh proud, his fans from all over proud and my heart knows that his grandfather is looking down with two proud thumbs up. 

Today On Youtube...

A Facebook friend of mine posted a link of this video montage he and his friends created. So I checked it out and I can honestly say that this video was magical. 

Each layered video clip captures a brilliant and beautiful aspect of Toronto.