i feel sorry for this little blog space, i admit. days go by and i visit here, or read my lovely comments from the few people who haven’t given up completely, (thank you! i love you!), but i can’t write what i want to write, so i don’t.
the thought occurs to me that this little porch is in dire need of a spring cleaning, otherwise it’s going to fall right off my house.

last week i signed the lease for my dream apartment. a week ago friday, my (new) landlord had left me a message asking me to call him, but i wasn’t able to get in touch with him all weekend…so i was a bit of a nervous wreck, thinking that the place has gone to someone else oh my god i don’t want to keep looking it’s perfect it’s right by the canal it’s close to friends oh, god and then on monday, at 9:30, i called him, got through, and all of a sudden i had made an appointment for 1 pm to meet downtown to sign the papers.

so on july 1st, i am moving. to an apartment in a neighbourhood where i have always wanted to live, but not many other people understand why. let me explain.
10 years ago, in montreal, housing prices were ridiculously low. it was right around the time of the (latest)separation imbroglio and anglophones were moving out of province, everyone was abandoning ship and this tiny, neglected island in the middle of a province the federales weren’t sure they wanted anymore was one of the “victims”.
you could rent a sizable 2 bedroom apartment here for i’m not kidding, $275/mo.

but, of course, montreal’s coolness couldn’t stay hidden long, and in the past ten years or so, a lot of gentrification has taken place. don’t get me wrong, although i hate gentrification, i love my adopted hometown, so i’m glad it’s thriving. i’m glad, due to quebec’s cultural preservation tactics, that it’s become such a unique “big city”.
there are only a few neighbourhoods that are still considered “undesirable” or “unchic” to live in (ergo, their housing prices are amazing, in comparison to the inflation that is going on elsewhere) and i’m moving to one of them.

my new house is on the upper level on a building that has only six apartments. it has it’s own door (instead of a main door with my own door within that door). it has a shared balcony off the (huge) kitchen with soon-to-be-new-stove and leaf-inlaid linoleum counters, with a tiny yard off the balcony. it has hook-ups for a washer and dryer. it is close to the canal, which will be awesome for my girl. it will be a BIT of a walk, but it is conceivably within walking distance of the school. it has hardwood floors, windows that let in a lot of light, two bedrooms, (so i can keep all electrical type things out of my bedroom - or, have a separate room for yoga entirely).

it is near a very cool, as yet undiscovered to many people in montreal, street that has an organic food store, a yoga centre, a neighbourhood cafe, and a second-hand clothing store within a few blocks of each other. i could fall over and hit my metro stop.

to say i’m psyched is a little of an understatement. and i won’t lie, after living for two years in a (wonderful) apartment that had its drawbacks after a while (when we were still dating, field asked me to look for a place in his neighbourhood. i’m currently around the corner from a few of his relatives. we broke up in this space and i had a breakdown here, and although i’ve also done a lot of my healing here, i’m ready to leave.

it’s funny because our friendship is in a really good space. it’s better than it’s ever been, in lots of ways, even though we’re both incredibly busy with our own lives.

i have a OH MY GOD i want to be your friend so badly, reciprocal connection with a girl who just started working at my store. i’ve been calling her my girl-crush for a while now…she and i are starting to realize how much we have in common, and i’m so excited for this friendship to (hopefully) blossom. to boil her down to a few descriptive sentences:
she rides a motor cycle, quit teaching high school special ed to work in an organic food store, is the lead singer in a reggae band (and is selling her and her partner’s home to fund their debut album - i find that faith-in-her-own [and it is goose-bump-giving amazing] talent so inspiring), is HILARIOUS, is ….i want to be her sleepovering, tell-everything-to, drinking copious amounts of wine with best friend.

i’ve been reading. i read sweetness in the belly, by camilla gibb, which is incredible. i hate writing reviews, but i would recommend this to everyone. it’s about a white muslim woman raised in ethiopia during the reign of haile selassie, and…if you need a good, interesting, amazingly-crafted, can’t-put-it-down read in the next little while, go there.
reading john updike’s until i find you now, although to be honest, i think i’m going to stop.

have bought the artist’s way. read through the introductions, and am waiting to start the program ceremoniously. if anyone wants to participate, or re-participate, maybe we can do this together.

going to the gym. running a LOT. running feels very very good. i can’t get over how much i love it. it’s funny - i stopped going in the beginning of march, right when that fight happened - how i always stop doing the things that i enjoy and are healthy and good for me, the second i become stressed out. like doing “comforting” things are smoking and eating junk and watching movies, instead of going on long walks, and eating food that is healthy and doesn’t weigh me down, doing yoga and getting out there.

and that, pretty much, is all….

(image courtesy of wikipedia)