The month of November is coming to an end and this has to be the fastest 30 days of the year. The end of the year, with its parties and celebrations are just over a month away. Here for us, the beginning of winter approaches, the snow and the intense cold, things that have its charm, but bring several side effects too (short days, lots of snow, very cold and a sloth size of the whole world …). Still at the end of October, I went for a walk with Diana here close to home and enjoy the end of the beautiful colors of autumn, since since the leaves have…

Arriving in a new city and still staying or studying is a difficult task. To complicate matters further, it is often necessary to research a new home without knowing the city and where it will work/study. I can say that fortunately, few areas of Ottawa are bad enough to be crossed off the map of possibilities, but it's always good to have some references of places before you settle for an apartment, expenses and legal issues.   In addition to being able to use tools like the Navut site (which I talked about here on the blog already), many local reports can give a good view of what to expect…

One of the accesses to the children's area – Smaland It sounds funny and curious, but many people here in Ottawa choose to go to IKEA when no other program seems feasible, including me. Especially in winter, when the temperature restricts a little, you see the store full at various times, especially near lunch (I add that the food options in the food court at IKEA are great and with good prices – in my opinion). It is true that the store always has something that shines in the eyes, I for example, always have something on the list, but people really go there not thinking so much about shopping,…

Since October 2014, we have choice of outlets here in Ottawa, in the suburbs in the western area of the city. The Tanger Outlets (there is talk of "ten-guer" and not tenjer as I said in the video) have centers like here in several American cities and four in Canada, one of them here in Ottawa.     There you'll find most of the big brands present at outlets in the United States (Tommy, Gap, Nike, Puma, Reebok, Coach, Banana Republic, Ralph Lauren, Old Navy, Carte's, Oshkosh, Guess, Calvin Klein and more and can party in the shopping item – see the complete list of stores here, with a very…

Here at home this year's Halloween was a lot of fun. It was Alice's second year in trick or treating and she couldn't be more energized to start on Saturday night, when all the street kids go out and go home and get candy. Diana was just getting the kids home and wasn't scared by costumes or anything. Our Halloween decoration this year was simple, but I already bought the utensils to work the pumpkins next year. Here in Canada, Halloween is not only treated as a somber event, especially among younger children. Most of the kids go costumed as characters and not needed zombies, witches and monsters, which I…

Today is election day in Canada and as (recent) citizens we voted for the first time in this country. It is offered the option to vote before the date too (2 weeks ago), what is called here "advanced polls", and that's what we did to avoid possible queues. Here in Canada, voting is not mandatory and can only be done by Canadian citizens over the age of 18 (permanent residents not included). If you are registered to vote, you receive a voter's information card with your number and place of voting. And the vote is not electronic, it's all on paper! Modernities (#sóquenão) of the first world! I'm no expert…