What's Your Story? An experiment

What's Your Story? features the different characters that roam the streets of Toronto. Every Monday and Thursday, a new person shares their story, likes and dislikes about the city, a little secret and more.

Name: DesirĂŠe

Age: 26

What neighbourhood are you from? Parkdale

What do you 'do'? Facilitate animation workshops at the National Film Board. I also do photography on the side.

How long have you been in Toronto? Almost 3 years.

What's your story?

Where do I start...I'm from Saskatoon, born and raised. I moved to Toronto basically as an experiment, having no idea how long I would stay. It's three years later and I'm still here. I enjoy the arts and do a lot of things in my spare time.

Favorite thing(s) about Toronto:

Definitely the live shows and the hip hop scene, along with the amazing shopping and rich culture.

Least favorite thing(s) about Toronto:

The dirty streets and the stinky air. The air quality here sucks.

You have 24 hours to spend with someone who's never been to Toronto before - what do you do?

I have a lot of visitors, so I usually gauge it on what the person likes. A couple of the most common things would be to go for brunch at If Lounge, followed by good old Queen West and Kensington shopping. Dinner at Utopia on College is always great, and the evening would be spent at a live show.

One thing that your friends/family don't know about you:

Sometimes I enjoy a peanut butter and pickle sandwich!