Ladies and Gentlemen ... we're in!

I am so happy to say that we've finally migrated out of the hotel and into our new apartment. Ben and I have always wanted a bit of an urban experience before settling down, and this place is the perfect way to satisfy that urge.

We are smack in the middle of the Uptown 17th District, which is filled with bars, restaurants, shopping and people, and is a quick walk (15 minutes) to downtown. Our eighth-floor balcony gives us an amazing view of downtown's skyscrapers, not to mention a pretty angle of the sunrise and sunset. The previous tenant told us that during the summer, we will get tons of sunlight on the balcony from 5pm until 10pm. Barbecue grill, here we come!!

I have been trying to figure out why I am so excited by living close to every amenity imageinable, and have come up with a few possibilities:

a) I am lazy
b) I intensely dislike city driving
c) Five years in East Nashville spoiled me
d) I love walking
e) All of the above!

After a week of moving and assembling our Ikea furniture, Ben and I are now left scrambling to come up with Halloween costumes. Any thoughts? We need good ones, as we are introducing our international pals Almu and Alicia to their very first Halloween experience!

I'm including a few pics of our balcony and view - I will show off the rest of the apartment once it's decorated and cleaned up a bit more :)

Canadian Humor

This cracks me up!!

Photo Time!

We headed into Lake Louise this weekend and saw some of the most stunning mountains yet (and the most bitter cold so far!)! I'll post more details later ...

Calgary from Bosco's (aka B-Diddy's) POV

It has been hilarious watching people's reactions to Bosco, our furry, 90-pound black baby. Since downtown Calgary is a mecca of corporate headquarters, hotels and short-term corporate housing, I think many people are taken aback to see a dog of his size wandering the streets.

Some people literally cower away or shriek! Coming from the super dog-friendly East Nashville, I had forgotten that some people are just not accustomed to seeing pups, however friendly they may be. There are also plenty of people who get huge grins when they see Bosco coming up the sidewalk. I love seeing him brighten somebody's day. Of course, anybody who will give him a chance is instantly charmed and discovers that he is a gentle giant!

Regardless, Ben and I cannot wait to move into our apartment next week, which is in more of a residential neighborhood where dogs are not an anomaly. I think Bosco will be happy there, and so will we. Three weeks in a hotel is quite enough!

You can go your own way...

I can't believe we have been here for more than two weeks now. In this short amount of time, we have noticed a strange phenomenon - the sidewalks are chaos!

On one of Ben's first days at work, a manager of his said, "Have you noticed Calgary's sidewalk culture yet?" Ben was puzzled and said he had not, to which the manager explained that people walk all over the place and will just as soon run into one another as move out of the way.

I had been very careful about walking on the right side of the road and obeying street signs - I've visited enough metropolitan, pedestrian cities to know that urban dwellers tend to get peeved if you meander around or walk the wrong way on a crowded sidewalk.

Ben and I started paying closer attention as we walked around town, and have indeed observed a complete lack of logic behind pedestrian traffic. It's quite strange - and frustrating, actually - the way people wander every which way and will not scoot over to avoid a head-on collision. I guess it's every man for himself!

But hey, we are just happy that there's a walking culture at all. This is a really manageable city to get around. Locals complain about the lack of public transit, but I am pretty thrilled that we are within a 20-minute walk of about everything we need, and that there are huge sidewalks and a sense of public safety that make walking (or biking) pleasant - and preferable to driving.

There are also plenty of buses and the C-Train, which runs north to south through the city, hitting suburbs, shopping centers and parks alike. I suspect we'll learn more about these options when the real winter hits (-30 degrees c, eek!) and I will have to be bribed to even walk out of the door!

Weekend Update

We had a really fun weekend, complete with good food, new friends and outdoor adventure. On Friday night we met up with two other lovely ladies who just transferred here with KPMG - one from Spain and another from Australia. What a great, international group!

We enjoyed some Canadian beers at a popular pub, Ship & Anchor - SITTING OUTSIDE! It seems the Chinook winds (warm winds that blow in randomly during the winter) came through on Friday, making it a gorgeous, sunny day with highs in the mid-60s. We shared a table with two Canadian guys who had been there since 2:30 pm (apparently that's the only way to get a table at this hot spot - they were nice enough to share!), and started to learn how much these Canucks can really drink!

On Saturday we wandered over to the Mountain Equipment Co-Op to peruse ski and hiking gear - after a few hours we were so confused and overwhelmed by the options that all we left with was a warm Patagonia ski jacket for me. It's awesome!! Now we need to work on Ben ...

The evening brought more fun with our new pals - dinner at a "Mexican" restaurant, Julio's. While the food was yummy and fresh, it was not exactly Mexican - I guess we will have to trade the wonderful Mexican food we're used to for really good Asian food, which is in abundance here. Take note of the photo of Ben drinking the place's specialty, margaritas with a beer turned upside-down in the glass. Sounds gross, but is surprisingly tasty!

Although we had visions of spending Sunday hiking around one of the grand Rocky Mountain lakes (Lake Moraine, Lake Louise), we got a late start and instead drove to a local park, Fish Creek Provincial Park, that sits on the outskirts of Calgary. It's 11 miles long - one of North America's biggest urban parks! We learned that Bosco is a total outdoorsman! He loved wading in the streams, running up hills and trekking into brush as tall as him.

The landscape was really inspiring and visually interesting to me - acres and acres of flat and lightly rolling land covered in golden, knee-high grass; inclines through sparsely leafed trees, and meandering streams and rivers cutting through the middle of all of it. The sun looks so different up here - it hits more sharply than in the south. The sky is huge and often clear, so that the sun sits right in the middle shooting out rays, casting an amber light onto everything below.

Designer Lust

Exploring local shops and styles is one of my favorite things to do in a new city. While I have not been overwhelmingly impressed with Calgary's fashion options (what can I say, Nashville has come a long way and is hard to beat in that area!), today I wandered into some amazing home decor boutiques that will have me coming back for more, especially since they are blocks from where we'll be living.

I was definitely drooling over all of the bright Marimekko prints and papers and Hans Wegner chairs at Kit Interior Objects, and am in love with the rugged, wood-carved side table at Domicile Interiors as well as their in-house designed organic sofas and chairs. I'm noticing a Scandinavian theme here :)

I also walked by a building with a sign reading "Danish-Canadian Club" and am on a quest to learn more about this exclusive group!

There are several more shops I walked by that will be worth a visit. If I can't get my fashion fix, at least I can get my decorating fix easily!

While we're on the topic of fashion, I have to admit that right now I am pretty excited about the snuggly ski jackets I slipped into at the Mountain Equipment Co-op, a fabulously huge outdoors shop. It seems style in Calgary is either polished business wear, or hardy outdoor gear, or a combo of both. I guess it's just not sensible to invest in lots of cute clothes when they will mostly be covered by outerwear.

Not that this sensibility will stop me and my fashion-seeking ways!

Politics, Canadian style

It's been pretty interesting here over the past few days. The Canadian election was on Tuesday, so Ben and I had to quickly do our homework on how things work here!

Canada is a constitutional monarchy that operates under a federal parliamentary democracy. Hmm... So basically, Elizabeth II is recognized as the queen of Canada and serves as a symbolic figurehead, while the prime minister is the head of government.

In Tuesday's election, the Conservative Party prime minister Stephen Harper was re-elected. Of course, this begs the question - what does Conservative mean in Canada? A quick scan of Canada's politics in recent history seems to tell a story of a very fluid party system, with groups shifting and morphing to fit the present needs. It seems there are often three or more parties with strong influence. I love this! Why is America's party system so rigid?

It seems that the Conservative Party, a recent combination of several conservative groups, runs the gamut in views, but on the whole seems most focused on being fiscally conservative, military strength, etc. The current leadership has been accused of trying to emulate America by becoming more capitalistic and reducing government involvement in economics. I can see why they are skeptical - look at where America's approach has gotten us!

Social issues are not as major of a factor as they are in the US - the current prime minister does not support same-sex-marriage, but is in favor of civil unions, which were legalized nationwide in Canada in 2005 - yay for civil liberties!

I have much more to learn - there is also a liberal, democratic party, and I have no idea what they stand for as of yet! I'll keep you posted as educate myself on all of this!

As far as U.S. politics, our re-location expert said that many people here have been more interested in our elections than their own. In fact, Canada just had one of its lowest voter turn-outs in ages (59%). A Canadian news channel analyzed last night's debate for hours, and came to the conclusion that Obama was much friendlier toward his "gentle neighbors to the north." They felt he was more calm and in control, and would handle international relations far better than McCain, who came across to them as inflexible and desperate.

I think most of you know how Ben and I feel, and luckily, it sounds like we'll fit right in with many Canadians ;)

A Moment of Vanity

I have noticed a small but positive change since moving here - the dry, cold air is AWESOME for my hair! It stays smooth, straight and de-frizzed with much less effort than it takes in the humid Nashville basin. Yay!

More Downtown Snapshots!

I finally got some photos of the downtown riverfront and park yesterday during a stroll with Ben and Bosco. Prince's Island Park is HUGE, and I think we've only seen a fraction of it so far! By Calgary standards, it was a very warm fall day with sun shining and a high temp hovering in the low 60s.

I guess that by most standards that is a gorgeous day! The street you see Ben standing on is Stephen's Walk, a pedestrian shopping and dining street in the middle of downtown. The pic of the Curling Club is for my dad, curling's biggest fan!



After having spent pretty much 24/7 with Ben for the past few weeks, it's a strange feeling to suddenly be on my own in a new city while he's training in Vancouver. I had the chance to drive around yesterday and get lost (the best way to learn your way around!), and am enjoying some quiet time this morning while I wait for the temperature to peak out for an afternoon walk with Bosco.

I'll leave you with a few random observations for the day:

* Calgarians LOVE their coffee. Almost every block has either a Starbucks or one of the other popular Canadian chains like Tom Horton's, the "anti-Starbucks," which refuses to serve frou-frou drinks - only straight-up coffee!
* Canadians are very polite and rarely honk while driving (this doesn't stop them from driving crazy, though!)
* One-dollar coins are called Loonies, and Two-dollar coins are called Toonies. Gotta love it!!
* Aquatic centers are big here, oddly enough. I'll probably visit them often, not for swimming, but to sit in the saunas and warm up!
* Streets are often called "Trails"
* Organic, free-grazing Albertan beef is THE food to eat ... I may have to re-think vegetarianism with all this local, high-quality meat around me.
* Certain things are inexplicably expensive - $12 for a 6-pack of Budweiser or Molson, but it's the same price for a 6-pack of top-notch local beer! Pasta and rice are twice as much as in the US, while exotic things like my fave organic teas, breads, produce and OJ are the same or less. There's some food for thought ...

I digress, but let's talk style ...

Those into design may find this interesting, and anyone else can wait for my next post, which will be more Canada-related!

With Ben out of town today and tomorrow for orientation, I have found myself obsessed with decorating our new place. I'm so excited at the prospect of having a petite urban apartment that we can decorate from scratch, rather than an overwhelmingly big house with 12-foot walls to cover.

This is a little compilation, if you will, of some of my ideas for the open eating and sitting areas. I want it to be uncluttered, bright and a bit modern, but still warm, and have been really digging these color schemes with soft grays, yellows and pops of aqua.

Though I dabble in grahpic design and fashion, home decorating is a whole other ballpark, so please chime in with ideas, inspiration or bargains you may know of!

Banff and the Rockies.

No need for me to ramble on this time - we are mostly still too awestruck for words, anyway. Just enjoy the photos of our drive in, and our first hike on one of the smaller peaks of the Rockies, Tunnel Mountain!

Scares and Explorations

We're layering up for a drive to Banff, where we are hoping to do a day hike and then head back to Calgary tonight. I can't wait to finally see the Rocky Mountains we've been hearing so much about!

Unfortunately, it sounds like it will be tricky to take Bosco hiking because of all the wild animals. We've learned that people often wear "Bear Bells" to scare off the bears (they don't like noise), but this can attract the attention of cougars, which generally don't attack humans but will go after smaller animals.

Yesterday was not quite as adventurous - we spent the afternoon at Ikea to do some apartment brainstorming. We only made it out there after a scare during which we could not find the car keys ANYWHERE! We tore the hotel suite apart, searched all of our bags, and then spent 15 minutes trying to break into our own car with a hanger through a cracked window. Not having used the car in two days, we also discoved that an interior light had been left on, making matters that much worse.

Shamefully, the keys were in the bottom of my giant purse the entire time, and I came running out with them just in time to find Ben explaining the situation to a skeptical security guard. There is never a dull moment with us! Against all reason, the car battery wasn't dead and we were able to truck on out to the suburbs for furniture shopping.

Apartment? Check!

This is where we'll be living as of Nov. 1st: Panorama Court

It was getting dire for a while there, but we finally found a place we love. It's about 2 blocks behind the main uptown shopping and dining district, a 15-minute walk from downtown, and walking distance to the river and lots of parks - plus easy bus access. AND they accept dogs! We'll be really close to all the action for Stampede week, so make your reservation now if you want to come stay!!

We're on the 8th floor and have a pretty good sized balcony (grills are actually allowed!), there's lots of natural sunlight, and we have two bedrooms and an underground parking spot. We learned that underground parking with heat plug-ins is major here for the winter. We'll have to buy an engine block (?) to heat our car and keep it from freezing to its death! Oh, and did I mention the walk-in closet?

Today we also traded in our TN driver's licenses for Alberta licenses, and learned that we also have to change our license plate out, so we're slowly working through all the boring technical stuff!

Anyway, we're off to walk Bosco and then see if we have the energy to hit up a sports bar for the season opening hockey game for the Calgary Flames - time to buy some red jerseys, since we will be living two blocks from "the red mile," the street where fans converge in one red mass for play-off games :)

Calgary, First Impressions

Ben and I had a 9 am meeting with our relocation expert yesterday, so we woke up early and geared up, not knowing what to expect. It was a whirlwind of getting our social security numbers, opening a bank account, then going to check out five apartments. Oh, and did I mention it was our two-year anniversary?!

After an exhausting day, we dragged ourselves (and Bosco) out for a walk and were so glad we did. The riverfront that borders downtown is amazing, with a huge park bordering it and pedestrian bridges connecting to various parts of town. People were out and about, walking home from work, jogging, biking, rollerblading. It was definitely chilly, but not yet too cold to walk around.

Next we made the 15-minute walk from downtown to the area we're hoping to live, the 17th Ave. shopping and dining district. (http://www.uptown17.ca/) It's so charming and lively, with lots of young people. We had a fabulous Italian dinner, walked ourselves home, and promptly passed out.

Of the apartments we viewed, we only liked one - actually, we loved it, but learned today that the condo association would only accept small dogs. So, time to keep on trucking. Turns out that hardly anybody is dog-friendly here, which is a big surprise to us since it is such an outdoorsy city! It was a bit disheartening to discover that our search will not be as easy as we'd hoped, but we're crossing our fingers for better luck tomorrow.

All in all, this is a really exciting city with a perfect mix of outdoor activity and big city life (see the photo above of the view from our hotel room), and we can do lots of walking to get around, which I LOVE! Although it's not too much bigger than Nashville, it somehow feels bigger and more urban, and it has a strong sense of multi-culturalism with a small Chinatown and the sounds of many different languages being spoken wherever you go.

Road Trip, Day 4

Distance: Around 544 miles (close to 2,300 total - need to double check!)
Time: 11 1/2 hours

The last day of our trip brought a long drive through Montana highways all the way to the Canadian border. Thank goodness we did not have car troubles, because we were in the middle of absolutely nowhere for most of this long day. Turns out we did not have to go to the wildlife park to see nature at its best - we drove right by a herd of wild bison AND a huge, majestic elk just standing on the side of the highway.

We reached the border, hoping we'd make it in, and crossed into Canada without incident - all in all we spent about 15 minutes getting our visas and heading on in. There WAS some unusual signage at the port (see photo). Canada looked a lot like Montana at first, but the speed limit was lower and in kilometers instead of miles. We passed some scenic, but flat, countryside, and finally reached what appeared to be Calgary. We took the wrong exit, and ended up driving into town all the way through the suburbs.

Ben and I were both a bit concerned when we saw McDonald's and Home Depots all along the roads in suburbs that were not unlike Hickory Hollow or Cool Springs, just the lifestyle we had been fleeing! But all the sudden, we went over a hill, and there was Calgary, this glittering mecca of skyscrapers in the middle of the plains. Downtown was tricky, but we finally found our hotel, loaded our belongings into it, and passed out, too tired to figure out yet what we thought of this city.

Road Trip, Day 3

Distance: 436 Miles (1756 total)
Time: About 6 hours

This was a really fun day. We woke up early in the middle of the Black Hills in South Dakota. Who knew it was such a beautiful area? Our Best Western was surrounded by huge pines and hills, and everything smelled amazing. We took a short drive to Mount Rushmore and gave ourselves a pat on the back for managing to get there in low tourist season and walk right in. On the way out of Keystone, SD, we followed the signs to "Bear Country," a massive drive-through wildlife park where we saw elk, bison, cougars and lots of black bears up close. This was definitely Bosco's favorite part of the journey!

After exiting SD, we went through gorgeous Wyoming for a few hours before entering Montana. Our day spent driving through Wyoming and Montana may have been the highlight of the trip. It truly felt like the wild west, with virtually no signs of civilization all day long. I had no idea such vast, unspoiled expanses of land existed anymore. Heading westward, we actually drove right off into the Montana sunset, all tangerine and indigo in the vast sky. Stunning!

We eventually arrived at our destination, Billings, Montana, and were charmed by the town, though we only saw it at night. We headed to the historic downtown area for dinner at a cozy, fire-lit restaurant, and Ben had what he proclaimed "the best $12 steak I've ever had" while we both sipped on the local brew, Moose Drool. Success - and bed, sweet bed!

Half Way There!

ROAD TRIP, DAY ONE
Distance: 718 miles
Time: about 11 hours

After a very late start, we spent most of the day cruising through the corn fields of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and eventually Iowa. The great American midwest offered several highlights, like St. Louis and Kansas City, both which looked impressive during our quick drive through. Fittingly, the very first stop of our adventure was at a Walmart, the only bathroom for miles!

Driving through acre after acre of corn, I realized how much of the US I have yet to experience. Now I feel a bit more in touch with the middle America I've always seen on television and in movies. I expected Clark Kent to appear out of the fields of a small town called Metropolis in Illinois, and in the flat plains of Missouri, I was bracing myself for a twister to come across the golden fields at any moment.

After a while, the novelty wore off, and we found ourselves at a Motel 8 at 2:30 am passing out from exhaustion and forgetting which state we were in (it was Iowa).



ROAD TRIP, DAY TWO
Distance: 602 miles (1320 miles total)
Time: about 12 hours

Today brought on several more hours of corn fields before we reached South Dakota, home of my recent obsession, the World's Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. (Yes, I believe 'World's Only' is part of the title) Check out the documentary "King Corn" for an eye-opening look at the US corn industry, and you, too, will want to visit the Corn Palace!

We drove through the Badlands of SD, which were a great change of scenery and quite dramatic to drive through. With its contrast of blue sky against wavy land and rock with sparse, harsh foliage, the area lived up to its name. We were thrilled to finally reach Keystone, SD tonight - before midnight!! - and settle in for a good rest before our exploration tomorrow of Mt. Rushmore and the Black Mountains.