Elusively aloof

Hey gang, ready for one of those things that I do here? Good me too. Lets get it over with. None of this is in order, rhyme, or reason. I’m managing several projects as usual and this is just a dump post of IG images plus some extras. I go crazy if I don’t blog here and my life (in pictures) accumulates.

*Psst: I started writing this yesterday (Sunday) fyi.

Tuesday went to Southern Accents (aka Southern Comfort lol easy mistake) after Guu now called kinka izakaya. Tuesday was a funny day I had a couple appts, hit the mall to do a long-standing chore then met up with another new colleague. Hey whatever I dont need to explain myself to you people!

Life is about balance. I am also addicted to “going out”. That balance I speak of.. the other half of my life is spent sitting in front of my laptop working so “lay off me”.

Errrm. If you go into a library you’re gonna read a book and if you see a bottle of absinthe you’re gonna have a sip. It was the perfect storm and I totally nursed it like a lady.

I ventured out dressed in gonna speed-walk home gear so felt like a desperate housewife eating at Kinka Izakaya just a little. I made it work.

I have misplaced my Detroit Tigers hat. Whoever has it, Give it baaaaaaack.

On Earth Day last weekend I was feeling a little cooped up and so guess what I did haha. I painted the down just a bit. Birthday month kinda thing.

Double-header blog gig day a couple weeks ago one job being with Toughroof, flat roof repair. Went out to the jobsite pretty under-dressed for it which resulted in another cold a few days later that is still in my throat. I have a kennel cough.

This view never gets old and largely is why I stuck around here so long haha.

When my hair is unwashed it goes more red. I am trying to stretch out salon visits in between colourings rn. When I wash it all the blond pops out again. My roots make it so I have to do that model-hair flip thing. Hair hair hair etc.

Happy I finally got the right size bracelet for my teensy wrist. Aside from my nose, all my other features are small like hands, ankles, boobs, wrists. The more ya know. Actually while on the topic, my boobs are not that small they are deceptively small in appearance but are actually quite the scoops. It’s my platform and I’ll declare whatever the hell I please here on it. I wonder how addicted to charms collecting I’ll become.

Adore this place. Don’t ever leave or change.

Sometimes you just need some spicy octopus. This cleared my brain right out. I took a bite and got back to yammering then all of a sudden I felt like I was going to sneeze and my eyes watered right up. I find that if you senselessly flap at your mouth and at the air like an idiot for a bit the heat will subside and you’re left with a nice little buzz and your co-eater is like, you ok bruh? While tears and snot streams down your face, “I’m fine.”

Turns out eating and drinking lots gets you fat. What? The zipper on these bit the dust. You have to wear them on a skinny day. With spanx. Anyway, I stopped ordering pizza for a few weeks and have slimmed down finally. I am exercising too. I want to be toned. I have a vision. No more farting around.

Dream come true. Everyone loves my DJ name Babysitting Money. “My DJ name”. I am Raymazing. Remember when I used to have joie de vivre and say things like that? I must have been kicked in the head by a mule, or by bitches. Too many bitches, so little time. So many distractions. Y’all don’t even know. The object of the game is to keep it that way. I am well blessed in accruing lots of great mentors and cool people, peers and colleagues along the way. I love collecting good people who are good to me and believe in me. Tired of people hating me for breathing.

We thought the event went at 7. It started at 5. I was late. Showed up to a swarm of nerds. My big coat and I trying to make our way through the crowd I was having a mega-anxiety attack. I needed a drink stat. I am not a .ca member, I only own .coms so I had the white lanyard aka a loser. No open bar for me! No biggie I was the star of the party and had all my new friends and future colleagues getting me dranks through the night. You need to rsvp for next year. Don’t wear a turtleneck though. I was dying. My jokes were on fire though.

I wanted this but I was in a stingy bitch mood. I still want it though, it was a little big. Distressed clothing is the best I have their contact I’ll nag them for stuff. A shirt like this would have seen me through summer.

Canada was not cool enough to be represented in fashion. That’s cool we good.

One of my bigger life regrets is not buying a tartan plaid mini blazer that I tried on at a clothing sale in bar in Ottawa. I have pics in it I’ll show ya. Ugh. I haggled and the girl would not budge the longer she looked at me in it cos she knew I needed that blazer it was made for me. I did not want to lose so I did not buy it. REGRETS.

Was not expecting to go here but it’s just around the corner from Kinka so why not. I like escapism bars. If you never leave the fucking city you kinda have to.

We had such a blast we stuck around for trivia and then it got ugly. Hella competitive. Okay not ugly but they wouldn’t let you even touch your phone and sometimes you need to reference stuff (not cheat!) or follow whomever you’re talking to on IG and then all of a sudden you’re getting yelled at for being on your phone in front of the entire room. Plus you’re drunk. I was just like FINE. We had too many people at our table and at first were split into two teams and we were mean af to each other then got nice when we just banded together so whatever it’s just one over the limit why not merge teams but not before one of us said Duluth instead of Buffalo. Rowdy is fun though I love talking trash as I’m sure you’ve noticed.

When you’re not feeling your body, going out is a chore. Especially if you are a last minute outfit planner like me but it worked out I think. I’ll be gross and unshowered-ish for days then shower and feel like a beauty queen and take a bunch of pics then kind of hide for the rest of the week in my jogging pants.

A gf said this is one of my high fashion looks. The socks and the shoes like that. She just has a Melanie Griffith in Working Girl (those pumps and socks!) boner, so I am a little skeptical. I do notice a lot of women flicking their eyes down at me when we pass in an, oh that’s an idea kind of way. I know when things look trendy. I am not an idiot. Okay well I am but not in that capacity. I could be a legit stylist if I got my shit together. The more I brag about myself the longer this takes.

Hey again. I have a lot of these.

Club 54 disco inferno dress.

Earth day. Unexpected fun! Makes you feel like you saved the Earth a little. I bet in the future it’ll be mandatory to do it once a week for an hour and then more and more as we deplete the Earth of its renewable resources.

I bet these billboards were all lit though.

During bed to couch rotation I get to see the most spectacular ways of the sky over the city. It takes my breath away or would if I were properly awake. Then I go back to sleep for awhile.

RIP Rob Ford. You will be missed. It’s been interesting seeing the pitchforks come out and kind of disappointing. People love when villains die.

Winter hair. Wild animal. Can’t wait til it’s monstrously gigantic.

A Kir Royale. Loved our bartender this night. I have memories sitting at this bar. Kind of got a chill. I was so much younger. Felt like a kick in the pants.

Shotgun houses.

Lots of memories down here in the bunker of the Drake.

My celeb mogul besties list gets longer. My friend Dave knows Jelleestone (J!) and we recently became social media friends.

A refresher if you will. I went by Grasshopper records to see Dave after I went to The Darling Mansion and he knew J would be there, the stars just all aligned and now we are homies! Go Raymes.

Love hanging here. Hadn’t seen Dave in a month too. I know Dave through Geoffrey. It’s all very complex who cares.

So it was a good night. We hung around Dundas, went to Get Well. Record store. Studio. I am a lucky girl. Or I just spent a good deal making connections in my life and being awesome in general blah etc snore zzzz lol.

I also hadn’t seen my nice lady friend Tanya in a bit so I decided to drop in. More on that later!

No comment. I enjoy the composition. Kind of comical. I ate 4 taquitos and I don’t ever want to forget it and thus never do it again.

Beeeeeautiful.

Easter was a success. Some couldn’t show because of all their barfing kids so like I said, a success! Love our dysfunctional fam though. I’ll do an homage post when I have some time never.

My brother and I’s birthdays are ten days apart. Mine is on march 31. JUST SAYING.

GOOD TIMES. TTYL GUYS time to watch The Walking Dead and edit this post.

Head’s up 100% going to this so get a ticket and come with. Or better yet Retweet my tweet and win a set. I’m giving away two pairs of 2.

The Darling Mansion pt. II

Hello hello. Finally the second installment of The Darling Mansion photos from that epic boxing day bash, the ones too racy for Raymi Toronto but not for you minxes here. The rest of the best!

“Welcome to an inside scoop of the ever-successful Air B&B masterpiece The Darling Mansion by proprietress Tanya Grossi located at 224 Dovercourt Road which was also featured on the front page of The Toronto Star’s Entertainment section last Wednesday, January 27: What goes on inside Toronto’s Darling Mansion? All photos in this Raymi Toronto post taken by Tracey White Kirouac aka my mom.”

Darling is synonymous with Tanya. Anytime I hear that word I think of her immediately. That’s how you build an authentic brand. Claim a word. Be a darling.

It’s a beautiful place. A lot to see and feature.

aaaaaaaaaand Tanya is homies with Geoffrey Rush. He goes there. Sigh. I had the Shine movie poster on my wall as a teen. Fact.

Loved her. Body goals.

I thought this was me when I originally went through all these photos hahaha. Tanya has a great collection of mannequin parts.

Giggle collapse in the Madam’s quarters. It happens.

Great details taken by my mother.

End of the night evidence thanks mom. That’s just Clem nbd.

Exterior of the office. IRL on your tiptoes you see a lot more.

By the end of the night everyone is best friends. Best friends for one night only!!

Hi mom. This was taken in the opium den, the master suite.

What’s up Gurpreet.

Nice.

I was just sitting there and it became a happening. It typically does.

Tanya is pipes goals. Love ya darling.

My instagram “I am a model” phase lol.

Double shooters.

Oh mom. Hi Alastair. This is the downstairs Playboy theme bathroom. It’s very dated. You will love it.

Salvador Dali was a hell of a guy and Tanya’s main squeeze. Inspiration.

Just exquisite. You may find out her name over on Raymi Toronto.

Oh that art. Such a sweet piece.

I’d show it off too baby!

Wowzers.

So amazing.

Nostalgiaaaa.

This is my mom’s friend. Well. He wrote the feature on her for The Toronto Star on her rock collection story. Don’t get me started.

It was a fun party indeed.

If everybody does it it’s okay.

A classic print.

What’s with the face ma?

Mom you are hilarious for taking this.

Va-va-voom! Part of Tanya’s brand is her boldness and confidence with nudity. She is very flexible, used to do back arches on her bar. Iconic. Toronto woman legend for damn sure just lurk her Facebook or google her man, no one compares.

You may admire art like this but Tanya admires it by amassing it in full blown print form. Got you beat again gooses.

This is in the pink room. The Wes Anderson room. Well anyway I’m sorry it’s over but as always, more soon. Have a beautiful rest of your Sundaze.

See part I HERE: The Darling Mansion Part I.

gets tiring being inspiring

Hi “everyone”. Here is a “blog post” wrapping up the last couple weeks of my life because why not. I promised the second sexier half of The Darling Mansion feature buuuut my brain needs a break. A me break. A totally, totally ME blog post in-between first mmmkay. I do a lot. I don’t break it down enough. It piles up then consumes me whole goddamn you social media.

Here’s a wee sampler. It still kills me I lost so many photos from my old phone… you’d be surprised how quickly you fill up the card of a new one.

Okay so last week I went to the Drake two nights in a row which is a major social suicide faux pas but my client really likes this place and we had a totally ridiculous fun time so why not. I am getting an age complex so I am starting to feel like a ghost haunting all these haunts I’ve always haunted but now I guess I’m the same age as those I used to hang with when I was younger soooo shut up Lauren it’s okay. I’m not the only Toronto personality out there still givin’er a go so here is to the lot of us.

What the hell (oh I just remembered lol) did I do the night before that resulted in my sleeping all day then waking up and hitting The Drake it was like I was dreaming still thank god my mental alarm clock got me up. I wore two similar black dresses with heels and black tights both nights in a row I was chuffed by the stupidity of myself in doing that Those whom also work in the industry are afflicted by this vampire lifestyle. BTW I’m at Swan Dive this Monday (tomorrow 9-close) come see me and my ballet skills I’ll be picking up beforehand at a fancy pants lesson I’m saying YES to.

The soosh at Drake is always drool-worthy. Kind of why went back again. Plus that damn cocktail menu too. The Rum Diary is my drink of choice fyi.

Drake dress one. Turning into a bit of a shift on me. Yeah yeah, sure sure.

Dress two. That was Friday I believe. My boots need to be shined and I need an insert cos they’re not level and I have no clue what happened other than probably Theater Bizarre walking around in them.

Pre-selfie to make sure I looked legit enough for my client supper. Dress up when you feel like hell and people can barely (never) tell they’re like wow you look so good all dressed up. Party girl tip. Except I have made more effort to dress up on a regular basis to maintain “a look” and overall peer acceptance. There’s a lot of fabulous looking and well dressed people in Toronto the stakes are mega-high you must always be fly.

I just remembered at least 4 other way more important blog posts I should be doing for Raymi Toronto right now instead of this ughhh hahha. Well at least I am blogging instead of Super Bowling. I have my phone lit up for different things I could be at today right now and I am doing a decent enough job at keeping the FOMO at bay.

Then squad goals showed up and I took them to every awful place I could (I’m so sorry!) okay we went to a lot of wins and we also went to a lot of don’ts too. I think I will use one bier markt situation in future stand-up for sure. I am building a set. Forever building a set I get crippling creative paralysis at times when the balance is tilted in the favour of doing practically everything else or other. I watched a fuck ton of movies yesterday that’s for sure.

We went for food at Rock Lobster for hot mess Sunday. I want to invent a hotel that’s check out hours are like 9PM come on bro baby needs to sleep this off.

Note the third (and new!) jar of cherries. That photoshoot takes place at the end of the week somewhere neat ;).

What’s the deal with American Cheese… well I wrote a whole bit around it but everyone said I talked about myself too much. It’s just really bad and really good bad. Good in the bad way. Possibly some irony too. Sometimes I’m just very, very basic. Because I am actually a total fruit loop. Not really Macaulay Culkin bizarre but pretty close.

Total win was at Gusto 101 pure delish. We had a blast catching up and shared a bottle of red which helped with absolute cold asf saunter back to hotel Germain. Snotty little bitches bruv tgif can’t believe was just a week ago boy the time goes.

IG caption: Did you bring enough makeup Lizzy? She’s like OH I just noticed that [how much makeup there was] LOL. I think Hotel Germain retweeted this photo they def called us gorgeous ladies – one and the same haha. They gave me good soshe media surrounding our stay there that’s a niiice.

:) Woah embedding tweets is funtacular.

Donair meat egg cheese breakfast thing on a bun. mmmm. Lizzy had lobster turns out that place IS a legit seafood restaurant and it’s not just an ironic name lol. Whagwan Darryl.

Another “on fleek” look at Swan Dive maybe. I am in the business of complimenting and being complimented.

Tony took this. Rebecca and her pot and my rake and then we made up a dance and I banged the pot like a drum and we are very immature at Swan Dive it is the best time it’s my job to have fun and bang the gong.

Bought three dresses at wieners around the holidays FOR the holidays and I wear them all the time on rotate it’s fun to make looks for Swan Dive you’re like a moving piece of art I almost wore my red gothic riding hood jacket with the red lace dress on Friday but felt it was crazy overload. Rob encouraged it. Which made me hella suspicious.

The 9th floor is where you get ice and they neglected to tell us that which we found to be funny as fcuk.

Love exploring hotels right? Eloise and The Shining complex for life. We went up to the roof for a lookeroonie this is the hotel where the ding dongs stayed when we first met and hung out #memories.

This is my friend Heather and I. More on that later!

Me on Friday. Also taken by Tony I love our in-house Swan Dive photographer. We are blessed. He helped build the bar too. Swan Dive has quickly become a go-to. I work there 9PM on Mondays til close and I open on Fridays as well til 9PM (except for this Friday and NEXT Monday I’ll be in on the Tuesday though instead etc I will keep you in the loop).

Stayed in (a coma) all week then by Thursday was restless plus we knew of this party that we had to go to (should go to) and were happy too then danced ass off at Two Cats with Shanny afterward you’ll see further down this post. It was a big two weeks for sure. And this is only the shit I am showing you not those “lost parts” that go in the vault and didn’t happen what who is talking?

Bunny love. You can see my Fryes and John Lennon bag in the background. The thing started to hump my leg and I was like NOPE BYE.

Some of this food we took to go and I forgot about the part of the night when we were at Weslodge as we made our way back to the hotel. Quite an indulgent weekend and life here for a good time bro.

I had to wear this hat cos my hair was super ratchet when times get tough the tough get creative. By tough I mean too lazy to shower and didn’t plan to go out til like an hour before we went it was go time! I am going to bring so much clothes to Swan Dive for the clothing swap/sale Abra puts together I will also let you know so if you have been eyeing some of my stuff I’ll post what I am parting with. I might have to wear this tomorrow at balleeeeeeeet.

Love this photo of Tanya and I <3. The D Mansion is the tits.

Legendary night I met Courtney I can’t even remember how I got into that rooftop night club on Queen. It’s all in my archives.

Oh Shanny. When we were dancing at Two Cats a guy commented that we were like the two MAD Spy vs. Spy characters in our black and white outfits. VERY astute observation there King west guy. That place is fun. Gong show vortex. We SAW THINGS too politically incorrect to mention heehh.

Thank God for this.

Cirque du soleil is my new outfit inspiration. Suitesoleil was my first hotmail address. Fact. That was during my I am french phase. I was 14?

Woah relax selfie.

Well here we go.

Two cats is on our way home so, why not.

My night vision blows thank goodness for this flashlight I am considering a headlamp. I bet you some joker will bring me one now.

I quite enjoy all my new friends, custies, and regulars. I am social plus booze makes for good talking and times and people with beards and toques that sort of thing. Lots of laugh out loud moments.

We walked to Motel from Swan Dive. I had no hat or pants so to keep warm we loudly talked the whole way there hahaa. Claire and I are the ame age-ish.

When I lived on Dowling I used to go to Motel a lot. I love theme bars. I got stories guy. Maybe now that I am reliving a prior Bukowski phase I can write about that time period again. Interesting.

Reminds me of my Stephen King book consumption phase, derelict scary ghost towns where weird shit goes down wow what a creative mind.

More booze more selfies. Love my ratchet nails kinda works.

That bunny art though.

Had to put him in the friend zone. With all the rest. Heheh.

Great style all around.

Heather and I went to kind of an awful apartment and had the most hilarious experience EVER ever ahahahha. This was on the wall. Our cab driver goes, this building? Oh yes! Bed bugs! What? Bahah.

I dig the stairway to nowhere though and the water fountain and music jamming away ???

Then we walked to Parkdale for a bite.

Never ever a dull moment anywhere in Parkdale. Could not run away fast enough lol.

Then she drank a bottle of red by herself (none for me sober day dude way too necessary) and hoofed it home to do her stuff and things and that’s that for today my friends check you on the flip side! I am the only person not watching the superbowl I think.