Last Capital Adventure | Photo Diary

I have officially moved home!

My cousin, his girlfriend, and my brother all came down to Ottawa on Friday and spent my last weekend there along-side me. We packed up all my stuff into a U-Haul and drove 11 hours home on Sunday. 

During our weekend in the Capital we had such a blast!

Friday night we went to Bayshore mall to go shopping. Despite all of us being adults, we all built a stuffed animal at Build-A-Bear! We ended up with two Minions, a Dragon and a CareBear. After we got home Friday night we laughed our butts off playing Cards Against Humanity.

Saturday was a busy day! In the morning we went to the Museum of Aviation and Space, in the afternoon we went to the Canadian War Museum, and after dinner we went to glow in the dark mini putt at Putting Edge!

Of course I took a bunch of pictures haha, so here are some of them!

Museum of Aviation and Space

Canadian War Museum

Glow in the Dark Mini Putt

I hope you enjoyed looking through this little photo gallery. We had an absolute blast this past weekend! If you're ever in Ottawa I highly recommend visiting all these places. 

Have you ever been to Ottawa? What did you do? 

Where do you live? What places do you like to visit there?

Please do leave a comment!

Thanks for reading & check back again to see what KatieDidd, xo

36. Your Home & 37. Something You Created | 52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge

36. Your Home

I'm so unbelievably blessed to have not just one, but two places I can call home. At the moment I'm in Sault Ste. Marie at my family home for winter break; I love this house and I love this city and I love that my whole family is here- it really is so homey and I hope to move back here after college (but who knows, right?). I'm also very blessed to be able to call Ottawa my home for the time being. I feel really at home in my apartment. My roommates are amazing, I have made great friends and the city has become a place where I'm very comfortable. I can't say wether or not Ottawa is a place I will call home forever, it really is such a big city, but it's home for now and I'm grateful for all it's offerings!

37. Something You Created

I spent all morning mulling over this topic (which is why this is a later blog post than most Sunday uploads haha). As an artist I create so much on a regular basis from paintings to poems to photos and so on. Without being able to put my finger on a single stand out art piece that I've created, I had to knock all art off the table. During my morning yoga it dawned on me that I have created everything about my life and that's what I'm most grateful for. I have created a beautiful life for myself at only twenty years of age and I'm very proud of that. 

I hope you are all counting your blessings as the new year begins. Where do you call home? I'm very curious about where in the world you are located! Also what are you most grateful for at the minute? I'd love to read about your gratitude in a comment.

Thanks for reading, xo, Katelyn

10 Favs in Month 10 | October Favourites

Another month has flown by, which means another favourites post (woo!) October was such an amazing month for me! Everything in September felt overwhelmingly new, but throughout October, everything felt refreshingly new. I pulled myself out of my shell and let myself enjoy Ottawa and experience the new life that I'm making for myself. 

Here are 10 things I loved throughout October; the 10th month:

1. Kindle Unlimited

I'm a huge book worm, but when you get through as many books as I do in a month the cost really does add up. I downloaded the Kindle Unlimited app at the beginning of the month and I've really been enjoying it. It's only $9.99/month and you get unlimited access to tonnes of books. You can access your library on any device that supports the Kindle app just by logging in. I recently just finished re-reading MockingJay in preparation for the upcoming movie!

2. Hot Cocoa

As the weather gets cold, I'm all about feeling as cozy as possible. Making homemade cocoa is one of those things that instantly puts me in a good mood (and the little caffeine boost has been helpful during midterms haha). To make my cocoa I bring 1 cup of milk to a boil in small pot. I then add in 3 heaped teaspoons of raw cacao powder, 2 level teaspoons of sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract. I let it simmer over a low heat for about 8 minutes, stirring quite frequently. It's so delicious and warms not only the body, but the soul as well!

3. Body Fantasies

I won't go into too much detail about these two body mists because I did a whole review on them that you can read here. I've been wearing one of these two scents everyday this past month and absolutely loving them! 

4. Astoria by Mariana's Trench

I've been waiting for 4 years for Mariana's Trench to finally come out with a new album, and let me say: it was worth the wait! Their new album, Astoria, is absolute perfection! I especially love the songs This Means War, Dearly Departed, Who Do You Love, Wildfire, and End of an Era!

5. Personal Writing

I took a little break from writing when I first moved to Ottawa. I was so busy and uncomfortable in my surroundings that writing didn't seem like a priority. I'm still busy, but now that I'm really getting settled in and loving living here, I feel that my mind is in a good place to be writing again. I picked up this book of 300 writing prompts from Chapters to get my creative juices flowing again and it's really helped me get back in to writing. I've been whacking out short stories and poems like crazy and I feel great about it! Writing is such a release for me. 

6. Down Town/Byward Market

Coming from a small town, I've never experienced a real downtown aura. Being in downtown Ottawa from the Byward Market, to Parliament Hill, to Bank Street... I love it all! It's always busy and so full of life; there's always something going on. It's such a vibrant and energizing place to be that I can't imagine myself ever getting sick of it.

7. Bras Across The Bridge

I was lucky enough to be able to make it to the Bras Across The Bridge fundraising event on October 30th at Mackenzie King Bridge in Downtown Ottawa. This was an event to raise funds and awareness for Breast Cancer. Over 3000 bras were donated- for every donated bra, $1 was given to Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation in support of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It was such a beautiful experience to see just how many people were passionate about raising money and awareness for a cause that affects so many women (and men) around the world!

8. Thanksgiving Weekend

I was able to make the 10 hour drive home with a few friends for Thanksgiving weekend! It was so great to be able to see my friends and family since I hadn't in over a month. Being home was wonderful and I enjoyed every second of it. Can't wait for Christmas break to be able to go home for a longer period of time- 3 days just didn't cut it!

9. Once Upon a Time

I've fallen into the Once Upon a Time vortex and at such a bad time too! Midterms are getting in the way of my Rumple time! I'm still only on the first season but I'm absolutely hooked and loving every second of the show!

10. My Friends!

I've met a bunch of great people here in Ottawa, but these 3 are definitely my core group! I absolutely adore each of them- they have been such a blessing to have as friends. I feel like we're all on the same sort of wavelength for a lot of things, but different enough to keep things interesting. Definitely my favourite people that I've met so far!

What did you love throughout October? Please do let me know- if you wrote an October Favourites post, leave a link below so I can check it out!

Thanks for reading, xo, Katelyn

27. Favourite Spot in Your City & 28. Your Past | 52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge

When I decided to take on this challenge back in April, I told myself that I would never pre-write the posts because I wanted the gratitude to come across raw and in the moment. I didn't want the posts to be super thought out or edited to perfection. Unfortunately, last Sunday I wasn't able to get on to my laptop to write the post, so this week I am combining weeks 27 and 28 so I can keep on track and end exactly one year from the time I started.

27. Favourite Spot in Your City

My favourite spot in Ottawa, definitely has to be down town. From the Byward Market to the Parliament buildings, there's no shortage of life and activity in downtown Ottawa!

28. Your Past

I have to start off by saying that I am ridiculously blessed; I have had an above average, good life. That being said, I've been through my fair share of heart ache. I have felt pain and loss and hopelessness. But I have also felt joy and love and happiness. I'm so grateful for everything that has happened to me and for me, good and bad, because it has gotten me to where I am today and allowed me to learn and grow into a person I'm very proud to be now.

What are you grateful for this week?

Thanks for reading, xo, Katelyn