A West Coast Girl

I was born and raised in Vancouver in the neighbourhood of Kitsilano. It’s an area known for the beach, coffee shops and Lululemon yoga pants. I love it there. Over my thirty or so years I have also lived in Paris and Cannes, France and Ireland (places I adore), but nowhere holds my heart like Vancouver.

Making the Move

In 2014 my husband Leo, at the time a medical student, graduated and matched to the emergency medicine program at the University of Ottawa. We were thrilled! It is one of the top, if not the top, emergency medicine program in Canada. So off we were headed, Leo, myself, our 18 month old son Lucas and the little baby growing inside me. Our soon-to-be family of four would be moving east. We were moving to a city I had never even visited before. Fortunately, we had some wonderful friends living in Ottawa who told us we could expect great things from the city.

And so began our mad hunt for a home, somewhere preferably close to the Civic Hospital. After a few months of looking we found our house. We moved in on labour day weekend. Ottawa was home.

A New Home, A New Adventure

In the few short years we have lived here I have learned just how wonderful a place Ottawa is to raise a family. Between the parks, the museums, the nearby farms, and the markets, there are countless places and events to take your children along to. My son is now 3 and a half, and my daughter is 18 months old, and I am always finding new adventures to take them on.

I have particularly enjoyed the different experiences that the Ottawa area has to offer over the west coast. Although I greatly miss the ocean and Vancouver’s mild winters, one simply cannot beat Ontario in the fall. Hiking in Gatineau Park, and picking apples from the nearby orchards have been favourite destinations of mine. Maple tapping season has also been a novelty, and as a pancake connoisseur I have made it my personal mission to visit every sugar bush within reach. And so here I am, with my blog, trying to share our adventures by Embracing Ottawa…kids in tow.