A Girl's Day in Toronto (66 photos)

By askorbina: Good morning, afternoon, or evening! My name is Sveta, I’m 25, and I live in Toronto. I’m a photographer (shocker!), mostly shooting fashion and personal portfolios. I moved to Canada from Moscow three years ago, and I’ve fully settled in and learned to love living abroad.

Today, I want to share a day off with you—Sunday, November 6th—which I spent in great company and high spirits. Ready? Let’s go!







1. Good morning. Today is Sunday, November 5... It’s so early I have no idea why I’m even awake yet.





2. Nothing special here. View from above, struggling to drag myself out of bed... Sun's shining outside as always... well, almost always, I lie.



3. Nice to meet you! Sleepy-eyed, still hovering around the bed, but already smiling... My mom says I've been like this since I was a kid.



4. Can’t skip the morning routine. I’ve been gradually cluttering my bathroom with cute little trinkets, like starfish, just to cheer myself up. And don't miss the corner of the toilet—it sports a red coral vinyl decal. My personal pride and joy! :)



5. I decided to take a shower solo, without the camera. But here's proof I actually did!



6. Making the bed is a must, just like I was taught growing up. Following instructions! On the right, there’s a framed picture of my mom. Living 7,000 kilometers away from your family is tough, you know? I surround myself with reminders of home as much as I can—I even managed to haul my favorite vase over on one of my trips. On the bed are a couple of cookbooks a friend lent me for inspiration. I’ll definitely get inspired... just not today. Good books are hard to come by here, so it made no sense to turn them down. In the middle of the bed sits the only remnant of my childhood in this apartment. I usually hate stuffed animals, but this bear is the exception :)



7. Watering the only green friend in my apartment. I usually have a terrible thumb and end up killing plants, but this guy and I are getting along fine.



8. Turning on my computer... checking email and putting on music. It’s an absolute ritual. A few emails from clients selecting photos for retouching, plus the release date for a magazine featuring a short interview with me. December 1st! That definitely lifts my spirits.



9. Time to make breakfast. Strawberries, a banana, and 2% milk. In Canada, you can buy fresh berries year-round at reasonable prices, so I take full advantage.



10. My convenient blender pitcher—it comes with a handle so there's no mess.



11. So much for being quiet. My roommate wakes up to the noise and asks for a smoothie too. We haven't been living together very long; you'll meet her in a bit.



12. She mentions she needs to head out to buy some sweets for a gift. Like a true friend, I agree to tag along. Honestly, the weather is gorgeous outside—nothing beats a morning walk. I have to wait for her to get ready anyway, so I whip up an omelet in the meantime.



13. Now, this is a bit of a blunder. I recently bought lovely white shelves for my blue accent wall, only to realize when I got home that the specific section where I wanted to hang them was actually painted white. Probably won't happen today, but tomorrow I'll be doing some touch-up painting... luckily, I still have some blue paint left over.



14. Time flies... Dasha gets out of the shower—though for some reason she refused to let me take her picture :) Time for makeup!



15. All set and ready to go.



16. Taking out the trash on our way out. There's a whole system for waste sorting here. For geniuses like me, there's a handy cheat sheet right in front of your nose.



17. Meet Dasha. She checks our mailbox too... my camera is way too heavy, you see :)



18. Had to snap a photo of our entrance. Around here, they call it a lobby—we practically live in a hotel! :) When I first walked in, these glass globe light fixtures completely sold me. I still love them.



19. Finally stepping outside. Here’s an exterior shot of our building.



20. The complex has two sections: the high-rise tower where I live, and a lower-rise section. Those units have private street-level entrances and are mostly two-story townhomes. Looks super cozy over there.



21. Me in my signature pose: head tilted, trying to tame my hair.



22. Just a stone's throw from home is a Catholic church that is drop-dead gorgeous. I keep meaning to go inside and do a proper shoot.



23. We live right near downtown Toronto, so a ten-minute walk gets us pretty much anywhere we need to be.



24. Oh right, I didn't properly introduce Dasha!



25. Dasha tries to snap a photo of me at an intersection with yellow traffic signals. Pedestrians stop so they don't ruin the shot, which makes me feel self-conscious, so I insist on waving them through. Result: this candid shot.



26. Not so fast! The sun is beaming bright!



27. We bump into these guys on the street, all dressed up :)



28. Quite a backdrop they have there. Honestly, I love Toronto for the way historic churches and cozy little houses blend seamlessly right alongside massive skyscrapers.



29. Still strolling. It's November, but it's around 15°C outside! I'm already roasting in my outfit, but hanging in there.



30. Turns out the lights are orange, not yellow :)



31. Canadians are super patriotic—flags everywhere! But look at this horror: it’s November 6th and people are already putting up Christmas trees!



32. Popping into a store real quick to buy yet another nail polish.



33. Aha! Our trek for sweets hits a roadblock: a French crêperie. Dasha didn't get a chance to eat at home, so we decide to stop. It's packed at this hour, and the shop is tiny.



34. Told you it was tiny!



35. Soaking up the sun. On the left is the lemonade we bought there. It's all-natural; in the summer they serve it iced, and in the winter they heat it up like tea.



36. Peeking at the action behind the glass window.



37. Finally, the long-awaited treat!



38. A fire truck passes us on the road. It looks like a giant toy.



39. Almost there! The sidewalks downtown are narrow, and you see these post-and-ring bike racks everywhere across the city—they're completely packed in the summer.



40. Every girl's dream! Thank goodness we didn't walk in on an empty stomach.



41. Macarons, pure and simple. Hands down the most trendy pastry these days.



42. We grab a box and leave quickly without looking back. It's so lovely out.



43. Oh, the horror! Shop windows are already decked out for winter.



44. Nope, definitely not a hallucination.



45. Looks a bit surreal when it's 15°C out, but it's still pretty to look at.



46. On the way home, we swing by a tanning salon. I'm going on vacation soon, so I decided to get a little base tan. My 8-minute session awaits!



47. Hello, my temporary bed.



48. I completely forgot I’m supposed to meet up with friends soon, so we practically sprint home. This panel in the entrance is the local version of an intercom :)



49. My phone has been acting up for two days straight, constantly throwing error messages. I dashed inside, changed into lighter clothes because it was boiling hot, and waited for my friends. They actually live in the same building!



50. Narcissism and a broken phone. It's already 2:35!



51. Finally! Rita is smiling, though she has no idea why I'm taking her picture.



52. Meet Inna. The guys need to return a shelf to IKEA, and I tagged along for the ride.



53. Tunes picked out. It's a bit of a trek—about 40 minutes each way. We’re driving to the farthest of the three IKEAs because the guys prefer that location.



54. We made it. Nothing new here—it looks identical no matter what country you're in.



55. Everyone's goofing around while Lenya lugs the shelf inside.



56. Inna has funny license plates. Every Canadian province has its own slogan on the plates: Ontario has "Yours to Discover," British Columbia has "Beautiful British Columbia," somewhere else has "Land of Living Skies"... pure poetry, really.



57. We don't linger long: returned the shelf, bought some gooseberry jam, and hit the road. It's Sunday, so everyone is grocery shopping. We decide to head to T&T, a Chinese supermarket. This unappealing bluish duck is a staple on the shelves, but in the three years I've lived in Canada, I've never mustered the courage to buy IT.



58. Everything is alive and wriggling around.



59. Love how they garnished the fish with lettuce leaf decor :) Talk about creative!



60. Now, you’d need a strong drink and a local friend to decipher this aisle. I don't even want to guess what all of this is made from!



61. Crabs. Tons and tons of crabs.



62. Blue crabs too. These ones are alive and look like they could easily crawl out of their bins. Keeping my distance!



63. Groceries secured! We're hanging out near the exit waiting for Inna and munching on our haul. The guys are holding seasoned nori sheets—everyone around here eats them like potato chips. Super popular right now.



64. Around 8:00 PM, time to grab a bite to eat. Inna remembers a pretty good sushi joint nearby.



65. We stayed for a long time, laughing even longer. By around 11:00 PM, I walk back into my apartment, where Dasha greets me. Well, "greets" is a stretch—she's just sitting there buried in gadgets.

Remember how early I woke up? So I gradually wind down for bed, offload my photos to the computer, read a bit of Dovlatov, and pass out.

Thank you for spending this day with me!