A whole new world

I am a woman, and I love to shop. Actually, love is a pretty strong word, I can scale that down to: like to shop, because I do like it (when I am in the right mood, which usually translates in well-rested and fed), so when shopping opportunities are few and far between, this is an issue.

When I worked downtown in the market, I was pretty much shopping and spending money every. damn. day. So when I learned I was moving to BFN (butt f%$# nowhere) for my new job, I was pretty disappointed that I wouldn't be accessible to the Rideau Centre, the market, and all the stores that suck me into spending money day after day.

The upside of not being near any mall is that you definitely have more money in your pocket at the end of each day, AND, BFN doesn't charge $170 a month for parking (its FREE). Its like getting a raise, but not paying income tax on it. A pretty sweet deal, in my opinion, minus the fact that shopping is not convenient.

However, to my surprise, BFN is actually not that bad, it's a stone's throw away from Merivale road, and Merivale road has just about anything and everything a girl needs. Pier 1, Winners, Home Sense, Home Outfitters, Sport Chek, Canadian Tire, STARBUCKS, good restaurants, you name it, it can be found on Merivale road.

The west end of Ottawa, in general is a whole new world for me, as is Merivale road. Whenever I used to drive on Merivale, (the three times in my whole life), it resulted in me getting lost, and at one point I ended up on the 416 (for those of you who don't know Ottawa, that's not even remotely close to where I should have been). For a long time I hated the west end.

However, I checked out Google maps, Google directions, and what do you know, the west end is not all that complicated. It's actually pretty straight forward... and to my surprise I am liking it, A LOT! Yesterday on my lunch, I ventured off in my car, to Merivale, did some browsing at a few stores, got a Starbucks, and headed back to the office after lunch, completely fulfilled.

It was the first day that I thought out loud to myself: I am really going to love this job!

This weekend we are off to great Grimsby (near Hamilton) to take in the stag n' doe festivities of my good friends Krista Lynn Smith & the Burch who will be married on September 1, 2007! You can look forward to seeing some pictures of the event, next week.

Bonne fin de semaine, tout le monde!