life with more cowbell

At long last, got a day off this past weekend amidst busy times at Alumnae Theatre and my office job: Saturday – and it was lovely.

After getting some chores out of the way, I accepted an invitation from my neighbours Terry and Phyllis (who live in the loft building next to my house) to join them on their patio for a late morning coffee. It was gorgeous out in the sun – and a light jacket was all I needed to feel comfy outdoors, relaxing over coffee and conversation. We were soon joined by their neighbour Randi, who shared a tall boy of a lovely Swedish cider with us; it had Elderberry in it, and tasted like champagne and flowers. Terry and Phyllis brought out some snacks shortly before I left – and the only reason I left was because I was meeting two friends for a late brunch at Zocalo.

Zocalo is run by life and business partners Paul Hardy and Heather Braaten (who I met at Alumnae Theatre) – and I met two other Alumnae pals there, sisters Catherine and Martha Spence. It was our first time having brunch there – and Catherine’s first time there, period – and we were very excited to be there, not to mention finding a time/date when we could meet. We started with mamosas (Martha and I had the version made with pink grapefruit juice – a lovely change from o.j.), then I had the squash and sweet potato soup, followed by the quiche with greens – the latter I had with a crisp Chardonnay. Relaxed dining over the course of about three hours left room for dessert; I had a feeling there was something with pumpkin and spices (I smelled the heavenly aroma  when I arrived) and the pumpkin loaf was delicious! The atmosphere is welcoming and cozy, our server was lovely – and we even got to see Paul and Heather before we left.

Zocalo’s website is still under construction, but you can get info (including press coverage) at Urban Spoon: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/10/1534373/restaurant/Junction-Triangle/Zocalo-Toronto

The rest of the day, I vegged and made a meatloaf (which I’ll be consuming this week). Saturday was a lovely, languid, relaxing oasis in some very busy times.

Part of those busy times included Friday night and Sunday on the painting crew for Alumnae’s upcoming show GuineaPigging. Not counting travel time, between the office job and painting, Friday was a 14-hour day for me; Sunday was only about seven. We got tons done – with small crews of four or five people. Check out my post on the Alumnae blog, as well as the Alumnae website, for more on that, as well as info on the play: www.alumnaetheatre.wordpress.com and www.alumnaetheatre.com