I thought that Marvelous Monday would be an appropriate time to share the marvelous trip I took to Ottawa last week to visit Chelsie.
The 8 hours in transit that it took to get there was a little daunting, but by a complete fluke, I ended up sitting next to an old roommate of mine for 5 of those hours, so the time flew as we got caught up. Once I stepped off the bus and saw Chels waiting for me, it was all worth it anyway :)
We spent our first night just making a good dinner, catching up on each others' lives and indulging in a little Sex and the City. Fun fact: I probably hadn't eaten a bagel in 5 years, but totally blissed-out as I munched one down with dinner. Other fun fact: blueberry bagels are a fantastic invention.
The next morning, Chels had to work, so I took the opportunity to have brunch with my favourite choreographer from my dance days who also lives in Ottawa. After reminiscing over a long meal, I still had some time before Chels got off work, so I got some tea, wandered around downtown a bit and started to seriously question why I didn't live in this city. It is absolutely gorgeous and definitely somewhere I could see myself living.
Another Ottawa perk? McDonalds gives out very large free smoothie samples on street corners.
They may do this in other cities too, I was just looking for more reasons to pack up and move there :)
Chelsie had this great plan to give me a tour of the city and take me to her favourite cupcake place with me on a bike and her running alongside me (since she runs faster than the speed of light). I had been to Ottawa several times, but had never gotten a tour from a local, so I loved the idea. Well, her bike had a flat tire so she pitched the idea of both of us running from her house to downtown... which is 11km away.
Now, I would not call myself a runner, at all. The most I ever run is 6-7km just to get in a bit of cardio, so this idea terrified me to my very core. However, we took it at an easy pace, chatted the whole way and it flew by. We even decided to go a little farther and loop the flame on Parliament Hill before going back to the cupcake place.
 |
| The Peace Tower |
 |
| Looking out over the canal |
We ran a total of 13km before sprinting into Thimble Cakes to get what we came for.
That's right, we actually ran 13km for cupcakes.
 |
| :) |
Then, I opted to carry the cupcakes safely back to her house on the bus, while she ran back (seriously, this girl's a little machine). I figured that since I had already run double my average distance, that trying to do a half marathon without training might leave me unable to walk the next day, so I made a judgement call.
Chelsie beat me back home and started putting together a delicious dinner for us. She makes these really good waffles by blending oats, corn, egg whites and flax. I topped mine with melted frozen berries and peanut better. Mmm...
Then of course we couldn't wait to dig into the cupcakes.
The top one is gluten-free sweet potato pie and the bottom one is carrot cake with cream cheese icing. We decided to share them, and they were both unreal. It was the perfect cherry on top of a beautiful, carefree day. I fueled my run with a cookie and recovered with a cupcake and didn't feel an ounce of guilt, just the way it should be.
I was bummed to have to leave the next day. I could have stayed forever, but sadly we both had to get back to our busy lives.
One last fun fact: Chelsie never drinks tea, but seems to have acquired a massive tea stash that she never touches. The result, I went home with the best goodie bag ever!
 |
| Thanks Chels! I'll think of you every time I drink it! |
Well, it was a fabulous week, my recap probably didn't even do it justice.
The takeaway, anytime you have a chance to go to Ottawa, do it! Make sure to enjoy a cupcake for me too ;)
Have you ever been to Ottawa?
What's your favourite part?
