Apartment Viewings

As some of you may know, Ryan and I will be moving at the end of September. We will still be in Ottawa of course, but we won't be staying in the apartment we are currently living in. After the ordeal that we went through when we moved into our current apartment (in short, we moved from Kingston to discover an apartment that was not at all ready to be lived in), we are both really eager to find a place we are happy with and excited to move into.  

After living on the outskirts of downtown, we're really set on finding a place in the heart of the city, preferably in the Centretown/Golden Triangle districts. Considering it's just the two of us, we are only looking for a one bedroom unit, although at one point I was even considering bachelor units based on the price of some of the apartments on the market.

In the past two days we've been shown 3 different apartments, all with essentially the same layout, but still very unique from each other at the same time. Our apartment wishlist is fairly simple, and I'll share it with you below:

-Downtown location and close to public transit
-Smaller building (no high-rise style apartments!)
-Wood floors (no carpet)
-1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, and an average sized kitchen
-Clean and spacious 
-Within walking distance of at least one park
-Within budget and preferably pet-friendly 

In front of our apartment in Kingston! Wish we
could find something like that here in Ottawa!

Of the apartments we've seen so far, we liked two of them enough to consider submitting an application, although there have been a few hiccups already. One of the buildings is a beautiful older building that used to be a school house. The unit is great, except that the bedroom is incredibly small. Comparatively, the other apartment we liked is in a slightly larger building with less character, but the size of the rooms is larger. We're still looking around and setting up more viewings, but we are really hoping to have a decision within the next two weeks! Wish us luck! 

Potted Plants

Yesterday was an incredibly hot day, and today is more of the same here in Ottawa. Summers here can get very hot and humid, so it's important to keep cool and stay hydrated. Most delicate flowers have already come and gone by now, but the heat hasn't affected the success of the lilies in the city! While I was walking yesterday, it got me thinking about what plants and flowers do the best in the hottest of the summer months here in Ontario. I certainly don't claim to be an expert, as my knowledge is basic at most when it comes to plants and flowers, but I have always really enjoyed being outside surrounded by trees and greenery. Once we eventually get our own home, I am very much looking forward to growing my own little garden! 

In any case, since that probably won't be a reality for at least another few years, I've been putting some thought into how to make our apartment a bit, well, greener! I personally love roses and peonies, but keeping fresh flowers like those in the house can be expensive, since they don't last forever and need to be replaced fairly frequently. 

What's really been getting my attention lately have been potted plants! When I was growing up, my grandparents always had a collection of cacti in their dinning room that always fascinated me. Lately, I've been really interested in getting a small cactus (or two!) and a few succulents to decorate our next apartment. They look so fresh and exotic and compared to most flowers, and are fairly low maintenance. I still have to figure out where in Ottawa I'll be able to find some of these little gems! If you've got any suggestions, please go ahead and post in the comments section below! Once I get some, I'll be sure to do a post all about how they look in our apartment and even more importantly, how to keep them alive!