Friday Find: Lucky's Doughnuts

Lucky's Doughnuts is the perfect combination of cozy cafe + mind-blowing food. The dark wood furniture and roaring fireplace feel like home, while the crowds of well-dressed customers and exotic recipes remind you that you are enjoying coffee and a doughnut in the big city. It's all about juxtaposition, right? The man who helped me was friendly and had a bushy, hipster beard and, best of all, didn't even complain when I started drooling all over the display case. Nice man.

Lucky's Doughnuts is definitely the type of place where I'd love to spend a long and lazy afternoon. A couple of tables were covered in laptops and textbooks on a Friday night. After all, what better study method than being on a constant sugar high? On a second trip on a Sunday morning, though, Lucky's was crowded with young families and couples and my friend and I were lucky (get it? Ha ha ha...) to snag a table.

We got a box of doughnuts to go (no, those are not all for me. I can dream). On a Friday night, their shelves were getting a bit empty, so I'd recommend heading their early (as part of a balanced breakfast, of course). From the top left there's a chocolate old-fashioned, glazed, cinnamon sugar, apple bacon fritter, peanut butter and jelly, and lemon poppy seed. Because how could we not. From its decor to its customers to its menu, Lucky's is the perfect mash up of old and new, classic and modern.

Lucky's makes their doughnuts fresh daily and have all sorts of other exciting flavors (orange-honey pistachio? Salted caramel? Coconut Bismarck? Yes, please). My favorite was the cinnamon sugar doughnut, though. There's something undeniably classic about licking sugar off your fingers while torn between trying to savor your doughnut/cram-it-in-your-mouth. And riding a bus back home with six dozen doughnuts on your lap? Yeah, that takes willpower.

Stop by Lucky's next time you're craving something sweet, or a sugar-coated afternoon of studying and exploring.

Happy Spring

"You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming." - Pablo Neruda

"It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart." - Rainer Maria Rilke

"What a strange thing!
to be alive
beneath cherry blossoms."               - Kobayashi Issa

The first day of Spring always feels like the beginning of something big. A new season, a new year. All it takes is a fistful of sweet smelling flowers to get my heart racing. This Spring is about to start with big things - writing, reading, baking, exploring and most certainly more blogging.

I hope you all find a patch of sunshine to bask in and set your sights on Spring. All beginnings are new beginnings, but this one is kind of a big deal.

Book of the Month: Never Have I Ever

"I've been single for my entire life. Not one boyfriend. Not one short-term dating situation. Not one person with whom I regularly hung out and kissed on the face."

So begins Katie Heaney's memoir of her years spent looking for love, but never quite finding it. By age 25, equipped with a college degree, a load of friends, and a happy family life, she still has never had a boyfriend ... and she's barely even been on a second date.

Throughout this laugh-out-loud funny book, you will meet Katie's loyal group of girlfriends, including flirtatious and outgoing Rylee, the wild child to Katie's shrinking violet, as well as a whole roster of Katie's ill-fated crushes. And you will get to know Katie herself -- a smart, modern heroine relaying truths about everything from the subtleties of a Facebook message exchange to the fact that "Everybody who works in a coffee shop is at least a little bit hot."

Funny, relatable, and inspiring, this is a memoir for anyone who has ever struggled to find love, but has also had a lot of fun in the process.

________________________________________________________________________________________

I have to admit, I haven't had much time for reading these days. But catching snippets of Katie Heaney's hilarious writing is reading a text from your best friend on the way to class. It gives you a moment of wit and laughter (usually in public, because let's face it: a day without humiliation is a totally foreign concept here) and an encouraging reminder that the most awkward situations make the best stories.

I tend to take my books purely fictional, thank you very much, but Katie (I have an overwhelming urge to call her by her first name. Seriously. I want this girl to be my BFF) writes like a good friend, and the first few sentences are enough to pull you in to her world that seems - to me, at least - almost freakishly recognizable. 

Cue inner Erika, screaming at the top of her lungs: YOU MEAN OTHER PEOPLE THINK LIKE THIS AND DO THINGS LIKE THIS AND ACT LIKE FREAKS AROUND CUTE BOYS IN GRADE SCHOOL AND FEEL ALONE BUT TRY TO BE HAPPY ANYWAYS?!

That crazy whoa moment when an author just seems to get you. Like first-day-of-school anxiety and creating nicknames for boys you're crushing on and wanting to seem tough and edgy and like you don't give a fuck when, as Katie writes, "This is the opposite of what I do. All I give are fucks."

While Katie's writing may not "inspire fear and fearful admiration" like she dreamed of in elementary school, her book is a gem. It demands hot chocolate and warm blankets and evenings where you have the space and time to reflect and laugh and laugh and laugh. (Or read it on public transit, like I do, and bathe in the glow of freaked out looks from strangers. New favorite pass time.)

Katie Heaney is the perfect read to cheer you up if you're feeling down, and wrap around you like a fictional hug. Say hello to your new literary BFF.

My Name in Print

Once upon a time, my university had a newspaper. And every week that newspaper would put out a new issue, full of fascinating stories, strong opinions and clever humor that made Erika go, "Wow. I would really like to write for the Peak."

The cycle continued for many months until one day someone asked little Erika, "Why don't you just do it?" 

Well, something snapped in our brave heroine that day. She stayed up until two in the morning frantically typing words that she was sure would never see the light of day. But a few of them made it into an email to an editor and big things happened (as things tend to do when the universe is feeling particularly generous). After a lot of editing and anxiety, our little Erika got published.

Bottom right corner? Yup, that's me.

I know it's just a letter to the editor. But it made me some kind of confident-daring-CRAZY and inspired me to keep writing. I have a food review coming out in next week's paper and a news piece after that. I actually interviewed someone - recorded it and everything. I felt incredibly out of place and way too excited to sit down and formulate logical questions (which is probably why I cringe when I hear my voice on the recording... Learning process?) but I did it. I did it and I'm determined that I will keep on doing it for the rest of the semester and then some.

I'm so excited to finally be accomplishing something that I've wanted to for a very, very long time. Seeing my name in print is equal parts terrifying and exhilarating, but the absolute best part was when a friend of mine sent me this:

I made someone's fridge, guys. I am beyond honoured and so happy to have weeks full of good friends and big things. Spring is bringing changes. I can feel it. And honestly, how was I supposed to resist:

Snow Days

"A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things." - George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

"I love snow for the same reason I love Christmas: It brings people together while time stands still. Cozy couples lazily meandered the streets and children trudged sleds and chased snowballs. No one seemed to be in a rush to experience anything other than the glory of the day, with each other, whenever and however it happened." - Rachel Cohn, Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

"Well, I know now. I know a little more how such a simple thing like a snowfall can mean to a person." - Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Snow days always remind me of home - of good books and hot tea and afternoons safely tucked away in bed. But, unfortunately, blizzards and midterms seem to have combined their forces this February. It's going to be a chilly couple of weeks. Stay warm out there.

Late Night Love Letters

Yesterday night I found myself curled up in a corner of Starbucks, hazelnut hot chocolate in hand, writing love letters to complete strangers. The World Needs More Love Letters is a campaign created by Hannah Brencher. It started with her leaving anonymous love letters around the city, giving whoever found them a quick dose of joy to get them through the day. It quickly evolved into what it is today - an organization that accepts nominations from around the world by concerned family and friends, asking people they've never met to show a little love to someone who's having a hard time.

The world really could use more love letters - and more cozy evenings in coffee shops with friends, writing until midnight. The universe can be pretty crazy and overwhelming, and if you feel like throwing a little bit of love out into the world, this month's letter requests are due in the mail by March 10.

I can't describe this feeling, knowing that a couple minutes of my time will translate into a smile on a stranger's face. Whatever it is, it's a powerful thing.

Friday Find: Bon's Off Broadway

As an intense lover of breakfast foods, graffiti and exploring, Bon's really is the place to be. It's the kind of place that, just by sitting there, makes you feel like you're a part of something bigger. The walls are plastered with images, names and words from the people who came before and the booths are full of people from all walks of life. It's a bit like a museum, really. Every inch of wall space tells a story - every late night customer has universes beneath their skin. Sometimes I need a good dose of Bon's to remind me of that.

To be honest, I've been to Bon's twice so far (with many more trips to come) and never before 6pm, but this place must be packed in the mornings. For $2.95 you get your choice of toast, eggs, bacon/ham/sausage, fried potatoes and jam. Yes, there are other things on the menu for slightly more typical restaurant prices, but when the massive neon sign outside advertises "Breakfast All Day $2.95" I tend to take direction surprisingly well.

I always leave Bon's full, happy, and intimately aware of just how good I've got it. Bon's is quirky and a little rough around the edges, but every time I walk in I feel like I am welcome. The booths are cozy, the food is hot, and there's really no place I'd rather be on a Friday night.