permanence
"I promised myself that when I moved to Toronto I wasn't going to be one of those people who bragged about their neighbourhood, like, oh, I love my neighbourhood, everything's so convenient, blah blah blah. I'm from the coast, and I don't believe it. But I've lived in the Bloor West Village for three years now and you know what? I love my neighbourhood! Everything is so convenient!"
Words of wisdom.
I love discovering Toronto's neighbourhoods. I live on the Danny, and even though some people think the nightlife is creepy (I argue it's not as creepy as the nightlife at Yonge & Gerrard) it would be tough to convince me to live anywhere else. First of all, and probably most importantly, the east side is dirt cheap!* Big old houses are plentiful! Bookstore, 24 hour grocery, coffee and a wide, wide selection of gyros available 10 minutes from my doorstep! The subway's right there! When Lola comes I can walk her at Withrow Park! I went for a run the other day and accidentally found Riverdale farm! If I had time, which I absolutely do not, I could sign up for yoga or improv just down the block! Everything is so convenient!
It's missing a movie theatre, though. So it's not perfect. I cannot be close enough to the Bloor Cinema. That place... makes me happy.
But I'm working at Queen and Ossington, and I am falling in love with West Queen West. The food! (Cafe Bernate serves mean f'ing sandwiches filled with brie and artichokes and everything delicious.) The clothes! The mental patients! The artists! It's a mishmash of awesome. And I have independent espresso bars to choose from any direction I walk. (T.A.N. serves an Avoccino - which I think is composed of avacado, espresso, cocoa, milk and sounds basically like the best thing in a cup ever.)
The point of the story is that... I've only ever had co-op jobs / internships before, which were awesome but I knew they would only last 4 months. And now I have a real job that I want to stay at, and I'm going to move into an office-space with more permanence than I ever have before, and maybe I'll bring the ficus and my branding textbook and my MLS book and some pictures, and I'm really excited about that. And maybe, okay, the first two nights in my new house I felt so lonely that I had to sleep with Trogdor wrapped around me, but now things are coming together and I think I can do it. I think I can be a grown-up.
*i.e. I can afford to not live in a box and occasionally spend $10 on used orange polyester dance wear.

