In January I decided on a whim to take a trip to Brittland’s big Ben city for a week. In 2011 I went on 9 trips that had everything to do with business and little to no relation with pleasure. So being that this was my first official just-cause trip in awhile, I did what any true entrepreneur would do: I scrambled and booked some jobs for while I was in the city. A couple of weeks prior to my departure, I made a quick video to let people know that I would be in London and asked if anyone wanted to hire me for an extreme discounted rate to shoot their lights out whilst I was there.

Much to my surprise, by the time I boarded the plane I had booked a minimum of one shoot per day! So for all you out there who think blogging/ vlogging is a waste of time, you don’t know NAAN! Anywho, aside from meeting some really WILD and lovely folks with funky voices, shooting TGAW readers also served as a great way for me to get out and get to know the city. I did, I saw, I walked, I wandered and it was absolutely thrilling!! Thank you to everyone who reached out to me, even if we did not get to meet, I appreciate all of the sight seeing tips, dinner invitations and interest in my photography that I received.

I really love you London. You are swell as hell and do not let anyone tell you different.

Here are some of my fav shots from my trip and if you live in Toronto and you have never hired me…truly what is your vibe eh? Let us correct that asap  ShannonTPhotography.com.

So after working three different gigs in one day, I had the opportunity to go out again for Winterlicious in Toronto with a lovely gent. We went to Sultan’s Tent on Wellington and after three courses of the chef’s best I’d give the spot an M for…meh. Maybe if I hadn’t have gone to  Lee last week I would have been more fascinated but nonetheless it was still a solid meal in a lovely casual dining room inside one of my fav communities in Toronto.

Would LOVE to hit up a freakin WOW spot before Winterlicious ends so if you have any recommendations please let me know!

For more information on Winterlicious do yourself a favour and go to toronto.ca/winterlicious

FuN PhOToS!!

By now you should all have picked up on my unbridled adoration for the city that I call home, Toronto. It truly is the whole world in one city and I could not ask or desire anything more (well weather but DUH this is Canada..) from a place to reside. Anyway now that we’ve gotten the mush out the way let’s get to the MEAT!!! Winterlicious is happening right now in Toronto, it is basically the best time of year (apart from Summerlicious) to try the world’s best food at super cheap prices. I went with my homies from 1 Love TO to Lee and let me tell you…FREAKIN AMAZE BALLS! Dead seriously, the variety of flavours in each bite was mind blowing. Please believe I am going out again this Friday to try something different.

With that being said… if you have ever wanted to take me out on a date or friend date, NOW IS THE DAMN TIME!!

For more information on Winterlicious do yourself a favour and go to toronto.ca/winterlicious

I did a summer love review this year and I enjoyed the reflection process so much that I wanted to do one more that spoke about my winter escapades. Sorry if you recognize yourself in the text, it is all love. Or is it!! BOM BOM BOM…

A New Beginning to a Familiar End

I pulled to the left and he touched my shoulder then held it there til I took my eyes off of the road and onto him, “Go straight, I want to take you some place.”

I glanced at the clock, checked with my gut then continued passed the highway entrance, “Are you planning on kissing me at this destination?”

I am bold because I am indifferent.

“You’re thinking I should have kissed you earlier right? By the rocks?”

“Na I didn’t say that but I think you just did…”

He grabbed my hand off of my gear shift and held it down before eventually bringing it to his mouth, he ran his top lip over the ridges of my knuckle like he was smelling and tracing me at the same time. I pulled my hand free because someone has to drive…

After some direction, I turned off my ignition and sat still in the wide open parking lot. I was very familiar with where we were but for sport, I asked questions to which he answered in a noticeably lower register. To help him along, I turned down my eyelids and relaxed my head while listening until eventually he found plenty of excuses during his random ramblings to touch my legs and once or twice, my face.

“You are conventionally beautiful,” he said mid-sentence.

And even though compliment volleyball is my least favourite sport I replied, “You are typically pulchritudinous.”

He smiled, “I love your brain.”

“Why don’t you see how you feel about my lips.”

He moved, I moved and I didn’t feel guilty about it because earlier that night I told him that I experienced a strong curiosity to neck similarly to how dudes (on TV at least) desired/ fantasized about sex.

So that’s how I started my year: A first kiss. A long convo. A few well placed yawns. A kiss goodbye. A short drive back to the things I really cared about.

The Most Beautifullest things in this world can just fall flat

“Oh my gosh what are you doing here?!”

He looked at me through lightly tinted purple shades, I shuddered a little inside…it was night…and coloured sunglasses are not the business in my books… but nonetheless the boy looked undeniably edible. He remains the most beautiful male I have ever seen in arms reach (and I feel especially at liberty to grant such a compliment given that this week I saw a dude who I, during my teens, considered to hold that same title).

“My flight had a stop over in Toronto, I didn’t even really expect to have time to be in the city like that,” he said touching my elbow.

I wasn’t sure if this was a transition out of the conversation or into my soft side and because like many females I possess a hyper-sensitive fear of rejection, I moved to the side and told him to enjoy his night. He smiled with teeth then kept on into the party, I turned and watched him like the crazy little lioness that I am and lamented on the last time that I saw the back of his head.

“Why did it take you so long to do that?” he said immediately after pulling away from my lips.

That jarred me. I raked my teeth on my lower lip and looked away.

“I better go but next time we will have something to really look forward to, right?” He lifted my chin with his hand and smiled with teeth then dropped my face and turned his eyeline to my window. I slid out of the car feeling practically shooed out of his sight.

I tried my best not to care what corner of the party he was attracting attention in but before long I was parting ways with friends and trying to slip passed flailing arms and rogue drinks in search of him. On the way I was close lined by RJ, a mildly beautiful ex who’s name actually begins with J but I added the R as an abbreviation for a word that I thought best described his intelligence level…

“Where are you going Shannonnnnnn?”

I stopped searching and gave him my attention, “How have you been J? Your birthday just passed eh? What did you do?”

He went on about growing old and staying in, I nodded like it was interesting or original then continued to rap with RJ for a bit about crazy 8s, cars, butterflies and other non-committal topics until I felt someone’s hand touch then press into my hip.

“Did you get my text?” he said into my ear.

Butterflies. I turned and faced him happily, excitedly.

“Is this your man or something?” RJ said into my hair.

I waved him off then stepped closer to the actual object of my affection. He led me to the edge of one of the booths then I did something that I am not particularly in good practice of doing; we danced together…well I danced, he leaned. Midway through the song it was clear that this butt massage wasn’t particularly thrilling for either party plus my large hair was no doubt assaulting his face from every angle so he put his hand on my lower back to signal for me to go down.

I. Don’t. Like. That. Ish.

I shook his hand off in the least abrupt way possible which more than likely just translated into more awkward, bad dancing. We pressed against that poor wooden beam and wrestled with each other for position until a friend of his came over and said something in his ear. Probably along the lines of do you need an ambulance?

He tapped me on the side to signal for me to stop moving then he moved into my ear: ”I am going to go. Kiss me, then call me later.”

I did the former but skipped the ladder. Our awkward abrupt exchanges may have been mischieviously intriguing in my teens but as an adult it all seemed straight foolish and out of whack. Beautiful as the boy is, there isn’t much substance that can be made of milk and honey.

It’s Complicated Eh

I have never met someone who has tried so hard to change me but done whatever humanly possible to keep me. It is a bizarre relationship, sometimes I feel as though I am his project, his shrew to be tamed. We connect, we fight, we share, we work together, we click, we clash… He never seems to fully accept my wild side and I have never given a good enough damn about conforming to any of his  complex or simple requests for change. We remain ourselves this entire time, imperfect for each other but perfectly bent on keeping each other in eyesight. I care for him, so I don’t question what we have in the responsible way that I know I really should.

This is it, don’t get scared

“Where are you going?”

“Dinner.”

“At nine on a Friday…”

“It’s a date,” I blurt out awkwardly. I am not good at keeping secrets and that goes for my own as well.

“Well how is that going to work when I am trying to marry your ass?”

I smile with my heart, my toes, my ears, hell I smile with my car and swirve a little. Men should not say those things to women without REAL consideration if they mean it because no matter what the tone/ circumstance/ setting best believe most women will not take it as a joke. And with him, because of who he is to me, of what he represents, I swoon. Hard.

“It’s a first date, I would gladly trade the evening for a moment with you but, ya know…”

“I do know Shannon,” he trails, stirs then stills.

I listen to the silence like it’s the ocean between and wonder how long it would take the Universe to float me to his feet if I closed my eyes and lay on my back. I don’t mind the quiet, it isn’t awkward, it’s reassuring to know that I don’t have to be a carnival to keep his company.

“What are we going to do?”

He often interrupts the peace with the reality of our situation. The question has become an enigma wrapped up in a stigma packaged by a Hollywood cliche but through all of that, it is real and something we must analyze and face everyday that we continue to grow closer while consistently remaining absurdly too far apart.

Moral of the stories: the heart knows what it wants but that does not mean you need to lose sight of what you truly want for yourself. Safely take advantage and take in as many experiences that help you to fine tune both so they hopefully work with, not against one another.

People with curly hair know that there is a certain amount of etiquette you need to have when dealing with a “curly person”. There’s a long list of do’s and dont’s, some might be new to you and some of them you can definitely relate to! This week we have the lovely ladies, Shanti and Antionette  at A Curl’s BF joining us on this topic. If you haven’t been to their site I highly recommend it, you’ll learn a lot about hair and health and styles! Thank you ladies! Let me know some of your curly hair stories!

I am about to hit you guys with a BUCKET full of information pertaining an amazing dance workshop that I think our Toronto wild girls should def attend and of course I got US and we worked out a special rate for our squad #pow. All the answers to all your questions and then some below!

The 1st 10 people that purchase the friend discount get the early bird rate which is $25 per person. They have to purchase the ticket in one order.

Here is the code to get the 10 limited ticket at the Early Bird Friend rate: DX-TGAW

The code that gets them 15% off if they are attending by themselve or with a friend is Wild-Xpress

All the codes are now active. The DX-TGAW code expires once the 10 tickets are sold, and the 15% Discount code expires on the day of the workshop.

The link for the 15% discount code is:

The link for the 10 limited Early Bird friend tickets is

http://dancexpression.eventbrite.com/?discount=DX-TGAW

When they click on the link they will be brought to the site, and the code will already be entered in the box. Or they can visit the site and put in the codes themselves.

All the information for the workshop is located here www.dancexpression.eventbrite.com

Facebook invite: http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/196361647124377/