BFF reunion in Ottawa

In August my dear friend Mel (aka Melanie, or Melly as only I can refer to her as) packed up her bags and moved to Ottawa to do her Masters. We've been great at keeping in touch through iMessaging and regular Skype dates, but I was definitely missing her presence in my life. This past weekend I hopped on a Porter flight and headed to Ottawa for a visit! 

I'm so thankful for Porter and it's ridiculously often sales and hospitality. While my flight was a bit late, I was happy and cozy in the Porter lounge complete with tea, snacks and wifi.

When Mel picked me up at the airport, I couldn't help but be reminded of when she found me in an airport in Hannover, Germany during our European adventures. Finding Mel in the Ottawa airport was a heck of a lot easier thanks to its smaller size, affinity for the English language and the popularity of iPhones. I didn't cry when we found one another (like I did in Germany), but it was pretty amazing to give one of my best friends a huge hug after five months apart!

Melly and her boyfriend were amazing hosts and did a wonderful job at feeding me! Some of the highlights included "bachelor slop", incredible steel cut oats with carrot juice, walnuts & raisins and a delicious lentil dahl.

We also visited a couple of sweet Ashley-friendly restaurants in Mel's hood including The Table and Simply Raw. The Table is another pay-by-weight place similar to The Green Door that I visited during the summer. I think the gluten free vegan butter tart was my favourite part of the meal.

I was extra excited to go to Simply Raw, despite the chilly temperatures and neverending snowfall. Laura met Mel and I for lunchy and the three of us caught up over sweet potato ginger soup, yogi tea and raw chocolate cherry cheezecake.

I had a lovely conversation with Simply Raw's owner Natasha Kryssa about my favourite restaurants in Toronto and New York as well as the premise of raw food. She was incredibly kind and I loved the cafe. I can't wait to go back and try more and definitely have another slice of cheezecake. It was pretty divine.

We didn't have any crazy plans for the weekend outside of some exploration, catching up and seeing Les Miserables. I think we succeeded in our objectives with some good food, late night wine, a lot of laughter and reminiscing of the fun we've had together along with quite a few cat pictures thrown in for good measure...

Because Lego is pretty much the cutest thing I've seen in 2013. I couldn't get enough of him!

The snowy view from Mel's balcony

I felt calmer this weekend than I have in awhile, likely because it was the most vacation-esque thing I've experienced of late and aided by the presence of such a good friend. I'm so proud of Mel for kicking ass at school, but it's definitely been tough without her in my city. Thankfully Ottawa is only a short ways away and both of us are making a concerted effort to stay connected.

Love that girl.
And her sweet boyfriend.
And adorable cat.

I had a really lovely weekend with one of my very favourite people. Ottawa was good to me once again and I'm looking forward to returning again soon.