We really do live in a beautiful city. Probably one of the greatest things about moving to a new city is watching how each season changes the horizon just a little, or in Ottawa's case - a lot. In just 2 short months, the vibrant green trees have turned to red, gold, orange and yellow; people have broken out their sweaters and boots as the temperatues creep lower and lower; with thanksgiving just passed, the smell of turkey, stuffing, cranberries, apples and cinnimon filled the streets. Now, pumpkins with elaborate expressions and frightening scenes are popping up on the leaf covered doorsteps. Halloween is just around the corner, and you can already see the excitement in people of all ages. While October has always been my favourite month, there is something a little extra special about my first October in Ottawa.
Lucas and I are admittedly Classic Rock Junkies (CRJs) and like many in our group are quick to state, "Music is just not what it used to be" or "there is no good/great new music". CRJs really are obsessed with some of the best music ever produced: the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, the Who, the Guess Who, Supertramp and the list goes on. This is some heavy competition for today's artists. The constant covers of hits by these bands shows that many of them know this, trying to revamp what shouldn't really be touched.
But I'm not writing this to hammer home this point. I'm writing this because me, Lucas and other CRJs are wrong. We really need to think twice before stating "there is no great new music". The more we go on with that mantra, the more the below artists go unrecognised by us. And it really would be our loss.
From the website: "The Akron, Ohio-based duo The Black Keys is well known for its concentrated, hermetic approach to recording, hunkering down with rudimentary equipment in an unfinished basement or commandeering the floor of a vacant local rubber factory to create terse but soulful rock that seems to have time-traveled into the pair's amps from some long-ago radio show."
John Mayer http://www.johnmayer.com/home While he may be a bit more mainstream than the above mentioned talent, there is no denying that John Mayer is emerging as one of our time's greatest guitarists. He's played with Eric Clapton on numerous occasions and even Lindsay Buckingham was excited to see his performance above all others at the most recent Grammys. As far as I'm concerned, that's something to take note of.
Joss Stone http://www.jossstone.co.uk/ I first saw Joss Stone perform with Melissa Ethridge on the Grammys in a tribute to Janis Joplin. My mouth dropped and I was out the next day to pick up her album. Her own music did not disappoint. When I found out that she was only 20 at the time of this performance, I was a life long fan.
This past Wednesday was the epic staffer's Garden Party at Stornoway (the residence of the leader of the official opposition...or Ignatieff's place). It was everything I expected and more. There was lots of great food, wine, Canadian beers, and even better company from Ignatieff himself to Justin Trudeau, Ken Dryden and many more. It was a night of excitement, laughter, awe and just plain old good times with good people. It was definitely a night that Lucas and I will never forget.
The highlight of the night: Meeting Ignatieff
Good times with good people
Lucas' highlights: Meeting Ken Dryden, Ignatieff and Justin Trudeau
BE WARNED! I am about to bombard you with photos! :)
Liberal Pics
Me working at my desk in my office on the Hill :)
At the Victory Fund reception held at the National Gallery
Ignatieff speaking to the crowd. To watch his speech, click here
Decorated ramp to the main reception area
Me sitting at Ignatieff's desk at OLO (Opposition Leader's Office)
Around Town
One of the many views from our rooftop patio
Lucas and me standing at the entrance to the largest tulip display in the city :)
SO beautiful
I think yellow was a favourite colour for me that day :)
Montréal
Just this past weekend, Lucas and I went our separate ways for our own little adventures in Quebec. He went to a cabin with some guys in Tremblant and I went to visit Jake in Montréal. In the battle for who got to take the camera I, sadly, lost. Thus these are the only pictures I took - they are of the John Lennon and Yoko Ono exhibit at the Musée des Beaux-arts. Forgive the quality as they were taken on my phone.
La musée
John Lennon's piano. This was in room themed around the song, Imagine.
This is one of my favourite photos and I so wish I had had the camera to have it in better quality.
With such a beautiful day, we couldn't resist getting out on our bikes. We started from home and went out to Westboro which is like a little piece of Vancouver in Ottawa (picture W. 4th and W. Broadway). We spent some time here before heading to the National Capital trails which took us along the Ottawa river, up to Parliament and the Canal.
The Ottawa Tulip Festival started May 1st and we caught a glimpse of my favourite flowers along the Canal. They were beautiful! Ottawa receives thousands of tulip bulbs from Holland in thanks for our help during WWII. Next weekend we are going to visit all of the tulip spots so look out for new pictures soon! :)
I am so sorry that I have been slacking on keeping my blog updated lately. There are a few good reasons but no need to bother with excuses!
Update: Everything is going very well for me and Lucas. The new job is fantastic! I love coming into work every morning and couldn't ask for more than that. Bonnie Crombie is the MP that I work for and she is a delight to work with.
Other than work, Lucas and I have been keeping ourselves busy visiting the various pubs and restaurants of Ottawa, taking in the museums in the area and just generally enjoying the increasingly warm temperatures (up 27C today!).
We don't have many new photos, but these are my favourite and were taken on Easter Sunday along the canal. :)
Here is Lucas and me with the newest member of our family, Mackenzie King! We adopted HER from the the Ottawa Humane Society just one week ago now. She's just over a year old and still as fiesty as a kitten. She has really livened things up for us here and it's nice to have the distraction. Really, she's an absolute sweetheart who loves attention and to play with anything that moves! She has quite the name you might notice. She's named after William Lyon Mackenzie King, the longest serving Prime Minister in Canadian history. We just call her Mack for short :)
Besides Mack, everything else is going really great in Ottawa for us. We're settled into our new apartment and slowly adding pieces of furniture and small touches to create a home. You'll notice up there a picture of our new bed which we love! And our new couch which we got for a GREAT deal on, none other than, Craigslist. The apartment building is too good to be true some days when we're keeping warm in the hot tub and relaxing in the sauna. :) We live in a really great part of town and can walk to everything we need from the grocery store to a number of awesome restaurants and even better pubs! I'll post pictures as more excitement continues! I hope everyone is well! xo
A quintessential Ottawa experience is skating the Rideau Canal. The first day we could we were out on the ice. Luckily, I brought my skates and Lucas was able to borrow some so we escaped the steep cost of rentals. It really was everything we thought it would be and more. We skated the whole thing and back; we calculated about 13 km of skating. I really hope that we get to skate a few more times before the ice thaws!
The views were beautiful! That sign up in the left corner says Waverly and it reminded me a train station in Scotland. And the building in the top right corner is our new apartment building!
It was pretty cold but we found warmth next to the several outdoor firepits. And yes, that is a one horse open sleigh! :)
That top left picture is of me eating a bacon roll which was so exciting for me!! mmmmm And Parliament never loses appeal.
It was hard to believe that the day would finally come to leave Vancouver. But when February hit, I've never felt time move so quickly. Before we knew it, it was February 16th and our last day in Vancouver. Moods were a mixture of excitement, nerves and sadness. The airport was not as bad as I thought it would be; there were tears but not many. As the wheels of the plane lifted off the ground, I couldn't push back the real tears any longer. Poetically, like any girl who loves a little drama, I watched Vancouver shrink back in the distance. It was a beautiful clear morning and the perfect last memory of a city that I will always call home.
Now, we're in our new home of Ottawa, Ontario. We are living with some good friends who are giving us a wonderful welcome to the city. Our time here has been really exciting so far. As many people know, just the other day, President Obama was in town. Unfortunately, we did not catch a glimpse of his arrival but the atmosphere of the city was exciting enough. That day we headed to Winterlude, Ottawa's winter festival celebrating all the things that make this time of year special in Eastern Canada. We saw ice sculptures and I enjoyed my first beavertail (one of many, I'm sure!) And that night, Elliot took us to the Canucks v. Senators hockey game, the ideal Canadian welcome. And to top it off, the Canucks won!
Today we are heading out to the Rideau Canal to go skating. The sun is shining bright and the temperatures are cold. Very cold. We promise to take lots of pictures so look back soon for more!
Everything in Ottawa is in both official languages
Awww...heart ice sculptures!
Some of the sculptures were really amazing!
In honour of President Obama arriving, Beavertail had a special 'Obamatail' that had cinnimon, sugar and whipped cream on it...
My first beavertail! mmm
GO CANUCKS! :)
#13 is Mats Sundin and the story of this sign is too long to type here but it gets Senators fans all riled up.
The arena
Us at the game!
Elliot and Lucas cheering on the Canucks
Final Score. Wooooo we won!
What the game would look like from the front row....ahhhh one day!
