Ottawa 6 Years Later

Hi Friends! We are hooooome! This post is all about our weekend trip to visit our friends in Ottawa and a little recap of the last 6 years. You knew this was coming, right?

This picture basically sums it up.

But first off, let me just blow your mind for a second with the next few pictures of us from 2009, when Dima and I first visited Ottawa. This was our first year in Canada.

We are such kiddos here! Happy young couple that decided to begin a new life journey in Canada!

And this is us in Ottawa again, six years later.

What a rocky but happy life chapter it’s been in this wonderful country – Canada. Many crazy things have happened. Dima and I bought our first house and got married. We have two best furry friends Jean and Benji, who follow us everywhere.

In the beginning of 2015 I quit 9-5 office job to grow my passion for food and started this wonderful food blog. I was working in a real estate industry as an accountant for one of the largest commercial real estate companies in Toronto.

I’ve spent my working days calculating commission payroll, taxes and reporting on several conflicting deadlines. I liked my job. It all seemed perfect at the beginning –  the downtown office, a prestige company and a promising career path in accounting. But after several years I couldn’t see myself dedicating my life to calculators and numbers, routine schedule and the daily boring paperwork anymore. I was sitting in an office and dreaming about recipes I could have been creating for you guys!

I wanted to do something more valuable. For the people!

Here is the thing, some people enjoy routines and security, and there is nothing wrong with that. I guess, I am not one of those people. I would rather take the risk of doing something myself, than having my work life planned ahead by other people and the paperwork.

Gastro Senses started as a fun project a month before I’ve quit my full time job. I wanted to have my own creative place, where I could share my food passion with other people. But after several nights of coming home from work exhausted, drained and worn out – there was no inspiration. I needed some time off. For good. We booked our trip to Mauritius, which I wrote about here. And during the trip we relaxed, and I got my thoughts together.

Now I get to organize my own days, work when I feel like working, even if it’s in the middle of the night, or don’t work, when it’s Monday morning or Friday afternoon. Who even wants to work on Friday afternoons? And most importantly, I’ve been also prioritizing this strange and wonderful thing called rest. I now have enough energy to try doing things like yoga and gardening as well.

Back to the trip…

Stas and Alfiya are now Canadian residents as well and have just moved into their first home in Ottawa! They’ve been thinking about moving to Canada for the last gazillion years and are finally here!

Welcome to Canada! Eh?

Alfiya treated us with a national Tatar dish called Zur Belish, which is the most delicious pie filled with chicken and potatoes traditionally served with a huge side of Tatar hospitality.

Their new condo is bright and spacious. I really loooved those huge wall to ceiling windows.

We had such a good time, saw so many things, walked under the rain, cooked and spent valuable time together laughing our bellies off.

Yes, yes, yes.

More of that please!