Life In Pleasantville
Food, Travel, Life
Do you remember joy? It’s that elusive emotion that’s been in short supply these past few years but is now making, and overdue but well-deserved comeback. The thing about joy, though, is that it doesn’t just show up at your door, and it’s certainly not hiding in that endless scroll on social media. Joy requires …
This past weekend, I took my friends to Camp Fortune to zipline. I’m happy to report, we’re still friends. Last year, I started a new tradition with my girlfriends: once a year, they all make the trek to my house in Ottawa. As the host, I have three goals. One, spoil them with good food …
If there’s one thing I want you to know about planning a Le Boat girls trip on the Rideau Canal, it’s this: you can absolutely do it. Yes, you. If I — a vertically challenged woman who has actively avoided parallel parking for 36 years — can captain a 50-foot, five-bedroom Le Boat houseboat through …
I believe in love. I am fully, completely, and with a giddy, fluttery heart in love with love. It’s hard for me to explain how important it is for me to know that. My heart has been through a lot lately, and it would be easy to let cynicism guide me. It wasn’t a delivery …
This was supposed to be an article about skydiving in Ottawa but as often happens, the story I intend to write and the story that gets written is often wildly different. And oh my god, doesn’t that last sentence just sum up the last twenty years of my life. So, apologies in advance if you …
I’ve never really understood the concept of a staycation, going so far as to poo-poo the idea for years thinking they were rather lame. I always felt that in order to get the benefits of a vacation you must first travel some great distance that requires you to complain at length about the journey. Then, …
Canadians know how to throw a party, and we don’t let a little thing like -21C (that’s -6F for our American friends) stop us. After all, if we restricted our celebrations to the days we felt all ten toes and our ears weren’t red, some parts of Canada would only get out for nine weeks …
Adrenaline junkie; I guess this is how my mid-life crisis is being defined. In my 45th year I’ve taken a hot air balloon ride, got up close and personal with gators, ziplined over them, been dropped 325 feet out of the sky, jet-boated to the edge of class 5 rapids and learned how to ski. …
