Has it been a year, already?

November 1, 2011 3 Comments

Yonge and Eglinton Toronto

A year ago I made the big move from my parents’ place in Scarborough to my own apartment near Yonge and Eglinton.

It’s been a great experience so far and filled with a lot of firsts. I’ve really had to focus a lot on budgeting my expenses, especially since I haven’t been working for a bit, AND there’s the small issue of a wedding to pay for next year, so all things considered, I think I’ve done pretty well.

Chores

I don’t have the luxury of suburban grocery store prices, so I’ve had to shop a bit smarter, which includes only buying things I want when they’re on sale, and maybe picking up extras of things I need when the price is right too.

Another food issue I’ve had to become accustomed to is how much I buy. At my parents place there was always enough food around for four people. The good thing about that is it would rarely go bad. What I’ve come to learn the hard way is that buying food – especially fruit/veggies – needs to be planned out. I can’t count how many times I’ve had food go bad on me because I’ve only used a one or two servings worth. A head of cauliflower and broccoli is a lot for one person, so when I go to the market to get my fruits/veggies, I buy pre-cut, which may be more expensive, but at least the food doesn’t go bad in the mean time.

I like to keep my apartment relatively clean, but it’s probably the least rewarding chore. I’m fortunate enough to not live facing a busy road, and with just me or the fiancee in the house most of the time, there isn’t much traffic inside either, but cleaning is never something I look forward to doing.

Laundry has been pretty simple, but I dread having to pay for it. I try to hang dry my clothes whenever I can, but the cost of even washing it adds up. I will say I’m lucky enough to have machines in my apartment and I don’t have to trek out to a laundromat.

Neighbourhoood

I can’t explain it, but I’ve been drawn to this neighbourhood for quite a while, so when I was looking to find a place this was the first area I wanted to look at. I like the fact that everything I need, whether it’s a grocery store, Tim Hortons, pub, drug store or LCBO, is within walking distance (about 10 minutes). In Scarborough, I needed a car or had to trek quite a bit longer, just to get to any kind of store to do something. The one thing I do miss about suburbia is the cleaner air. I know it’s not that far out of the city, but I notice the difference every time I head back.

Transit

The one thing I hate about living where I was (near the zoo), was the amount of time it took me to get downtown. At one point I had to take every type of TTC transportation to get to work (that’s bus, Scarborough RT, subway and streetcar) and it took me about an hour and a half. That same commute from this neighbourhood involves one or two types of transportation and the time is more like 30 minutes. For a person living in the heart of the city, even 30 minutes must be unfathomable, but for me it’s amazing. The only downside of spending less time on transit would be less time to read my books.

Independence

Of course not living at home anymore means I’m officially an adult. I make my own rules, cook for myself, stay up late (writing this blog post for example) if I want or have people over, which I couldn’t really do before. It’s been a great year for growing up and I can’t wait to keep it going with the next year and beyond.

Well that’s been my year getting used to living on my own, in a nutshell. What was your first experience like? Have I missed anything important (I’m sure I have)?

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For Treetop Canopying it’s worth the drive to Bracebridge

June 13, 2011 Leave a Comment

Treetop canopying at Eaglecrest Aerial ParkIf you’re ever looking for a great workout, you should go treetop canopying.

Thanks to a great deal from LivingSocial, a group of us went canopying and zip-lining to Eaglecrest Aerial Park in Bracebridge, this weekend. According to the site, the park features platforms from 10-50 feet high, and the types of courses we did were wobbly bridges, monkey lines, flippy bridges, balance beams and zip-lines – the final one a 350 foot zip across across open water.

While the zip-lining was the most thrilling, canopying was the most physically demanding, especially when you lack balance like myself. There are three levels, each with similar courses and higher altitudes, and by the time I reached the top level I was starting to feel it.

With each level, the distances between trees became longer which caused the ropes (not sure of the material) to become much more wobbly, causing me to go off balance more than once. Near the end, after much loud cursing in frustration, I was about ready to wave the white flag and surrender to the course, but with some painful effort to regain my balance using my arm pits (the rope pattern on this course was in a V shape, with the top two at my arms, while I walked on the bottom one), I trudged on and was able to finish.

After finishing the canopying, we did the 350 foot zip-line I mentioned earlier. That was a much needed reward after all the work we all did finishing the course. Unfortunately it only lasted a few seconds, but was very fun.

If you’re contemplating a trip to go treetop canopying and zip-lining, I highly recommend Eaglecrest. The staff seemed to love what they were doing, and were very helpful and nice. When it comes to pricing, even though we got the LivingSocial deal for $28, it would have been worth the full $56. Also, when researching the park, I found them on Facebook, so check them out!

Have you been canopying before? What did you think of the experience? Would you do it again?

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Turning the page…

February 21, 2011 Leave a Comment

Over the better part of this past year I’ve had the chance to grow a lot professionally, and the experiences I’ve gained at Palette PR and energi PR have been invaluable. As of last week, my time there has come to an end, and so I will soon be moving on to the next chapter in my career.

I’ve had the chance to work and become friends with some great colleagues and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. I’ll miss the many laughs, the loud rads, the in-house coffee, and every time I hear the Subway jingle I’ll think of you (but mostly about grabbing a meatball sub).

As I mentioned, I have grown a lot professionally in my time there, so here are a few highlights I thought I would share:

  • I’ve had the chance to put in to practice a lot of the traditional public relations I wanted a better understanding of when I first decided to join Palette
  • I learned to manage working with different clients, each with different sets of expectations and demands
  • The merger from Palette PR and Communications MECA to energi PR was a huge experience that I’m glad I was able to have early in my career
  • Having the opportunity to take part in social media planning and business presentations meant a lot to me
  • Most importantly I feel I have mastered (though not grown to love) timeslips

There are of course many other experiences I could list, but I wanted to keep this somewhat short. In closing, I am eager to get started on that next chapter, and will keep you informed on here (and twitter, of course). In the mean time, anyone free for a coffee? :)

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Reflecting on the old; looking forward to the new

December 31, 2010 2 Comments

A lot of exciting things have happened to me in 2010. Some of the bigger ones included making my first real job change after leaving Rogers and joining Palette PR (now energi PR!), which was both sad and exciting; I was reunited with the girlfriend who was off in Calgary teaching for a year; finally, I made the big change and moved out on my own for the first time.

I was fortunate that, for this past year, the positives outweighed the negatives, and I think it has largely to do with having a positive outlook on life, which is the mind set I’ve had over the last few years. If something gets you down, don’t let it take hold of you because you end up wallowing in it, and missing opportunities to grow and therefore become happier.

Looking ahead to 2011 I can’t quite predict what it will bring, but here are a few things I look forward to:

  • Getting more accustomed to living on my own; it’s been a great experience the first two months in, but I still have a lot to learn;
  • Connecting more with the people in my life – I haven’t done enough of that this year and would like that to change;
  • Doing some kind of travel, whether it be within Canada or abroad;
  • Carrying the professional experiences I’ve gone through in 2010 forward into the new year with a better understanding of what I want out of my career.

Do you look forward to anything in the new year, or are you just happy to see the current one end?

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Welcome to the new apartment

November 22, 2010 2 Comments

I’ve been meaning to write about my big move to my first apartment for quite some time now, but I guess three weeks in is as good as a few days.

For quite some time I’d been ready to move out on my own for a number of reasons. I finally decided to do it because I have a solid career, good (enough) savings, and I was ready to have that independence that can only come with moving out – oh and living in Scarborough and working downtown was taking its toll.

For months I’d been searching online for postings and contacting ones that stood out to me the most. Those got nowhere, so one day I went out with the girlfriend to physically look around for vacancies. We spent a few hours combing through midtown Toronto and saw a few places. Most (not surprisingly) were out of my price range, and offered too little in terms of space. Eventually I came upon my eventual apartment and though it was a basement (not my first choice) I really liked the space, location and price – it all worked.

After a bit of discussion I gave the landlord a call a few days later, and eventually that lead to a second, more detailed visit, then eventually me signing the lease and getting the keys. Within about two weeks, I was moving in.

Since this was my first apartment, I clearly had nothing to move, but of course I needed a lot of furniture, appliances, utensils.. the list goes on and on. For those two weeks my credit card got a workout unlike one it’s ever seen before. I’ve never spent so much time shopping than I did for this apartment and I am so happy it’s over.

While I don’t own the place, it’s a great feeling to have something of my own. Living so much closer means I have time to a) sleep, and b) live a little. I spent too much time on transit and it was draining. Now I spend time in the kitchen making food which I didn’t have to do much of before, but it’s much better being at home for so much longer.

Outside of moving out for school, what was it like getting your own place for the first time, and why did you decide to move out?

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