Summer dresses are magic

lobster claw
Originally uploaded by Simon Goldenberg

Last night, Annabelle (the other toy design intern) and stopped at an outdoor patio bar for a drink. We got seated next to a table of musicians, who were taking a break from their performance. Then I saw the waiter carry an enormous platter of seafood to their table.

I wasn't even hungry. But that platter looked awesome!

So we kept chatting, sipping on our alcoholic beverages, when all of a sudden, the guitarist at the next table piped up and said, "Are you hungry? You should have some! It's good!"

How did he read my MIND!? I don't usually take food from strangers, but I saw this platter come from the kitchen, and I am not one to refuse free SEAFOOD. Also, when do students ever refuse free food?

Before we could answer, he handed Annabelle a LOBSTER claw and me a lobster leg. They even handed us the little lobster-crushing device. Annabelle said, "How do you do this?" She never had eaten lobster from the shell! I said, "Wow! Well you are in for a treat!" And I assisted her with the cracking, as we made a big mess all over the table. That felt very big-sister-y, which was fun.

The musicians kept trying to hand us food, like shrimp! But I stopped at the broccoli.

Later when they started performing again, they drunkenly sang a little Bee Gees ("How Deep is Your Love"). It made me miss my ol' karaoke-ing days in the U.S. Annabelle didn't recognize the song, because she was born in the '80s. I foolishly started informing her about John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever" and disco. And then I told her she should check out The Bird and the Bee's gorgeous cover of that song.



One of the bandmates at the table (who looked something like Will.i.am of BEP) was drumming on the napkin holder, subsequently sending a glass of beer smashing to the floor. He gave a brief look of "Oops!" and moved the rest of the beers away from the edge of the table as they continued playing.

Eventually the guitarist sang "Lady in Red" to embarrass me. (–Even though, as Annabelle noticed, my dress was actually orange.)

He made me promise to come back again the next night. We tried to tell him that we had JOBS to worry about, so we couldn't be out late on a Sunday. This didn't register, because the guitarist asked us if we smoked weed. He probably found the only two women in Toronto over 20 years old who had never smoked pot and weren't planning to smoke it anytime in the future.



As amusing as the band was, I probably won't make it back there again during my short stay here. As I told Annabelle, something about the whole evening reminded me of Paris, except it was the CN tower in the distance instead of the Eiffel Tower. It made me want to visit Paris again.

So if you're ever in Toronto, check out the Portuguese restaurant on Augusta St. in Kensington Market on a weekend night, and tell the old guitarist from Trinidad in the band that the lady in red says hello.