begrudgingly, i recently entered a new phase in my life: post-undergrad. along with crippling self doubt, debt, more crappy apartments and a lot less (socially acceptable) drinking, this means attending weddings. lots of them. apparently, my friends have no issue getting a man to put a ring on it. a few weeks ago, i had the pleasure of being the co-master-of-ceremonies at the lovely carolanne's nuptials to her high school beau, andré. also, as i briefly alluded to in this post, one of my oldest and dearest friends, caroline, recently said "yes" to a beautiful sparkler from another friend of mine, justin. and finally, there's jordan who will be walking down the aisle at the end of july.
jordan moved to montreal to go to mcgill after high school. her mother and step-father then moved to nova-scotia. the end result is that we don't see much of each other which is why it was so special to spend some time with her during her brief stay in ottawa (for a wedding dress fitting) last weekend.
after a yummy dinner at caro and justin's pad with val and mat, we met up with jordan at the rideau centre and made our way to the market for desert. caroline opted that we dine at oh so good.
oh so good is a coffee and desert place nestled beside zaphod beeblebrox on york street near sussex in the byward market. i've been quite a few times: mostly on dates in high school and a handful of other times since.
in general, it's a nice concept. oh so good only serves desert, coffee, tea and the like. in the front part of the restaurant, there's a counter that showcases two dozen or so different cakes and pies. you can order from the counter, pay at the cash and sit at one of the tables to enjoy the yumminess. alternatively, you can walk towards the back and request a table where you will be served by a waiter/waitress. throughout the restaurant, the dark walls are adorned with paintings by local artists. it's a got a cozy feel too: perfect for a first date or catching up with friends like we were doing. it was fairly busy, though on a saturday evening they were able accomodate our group of 7 immediately (that might have something to do to with the on and off rain all day).
now i should mention that i am not a foodie or a baker by any means (not like annie from http://mysweetfrostings.blogspot.ca/) ...that being said, i've always really enjoyed these deserts. and personally, i have fairly plain tastes; i really enjoy chocolate, just chocolate, so i ordered the chocolate mousse all to myself, though once i saw the portion i realized probably should have shared like caro and jordan did with their grand marnier cheese cake. it was absolutely delicious and, as my friends took turns bringing up embarassing high school memories, i devoured most of the large piece of cake.
where things get less so good is when the bill shows up: the slide of chocolate mousse cake set me back $7.25 ($8.33 tax in). the cup of earl grey tea was $2.25 ($2.59 tax in). pretty pricey.
bottom line
this place is an old favourite and i'll be going back to oh so good, no doubt. next time, i'll remember to share my piece of cake. the slice was so big that i couldn't finish it all and it would make the price more reasonable.
backgrounder
after spending two weeks gallivanting in kingston, it was time for me to get back home to start my summer job at canada post.
my first night back, i had plans with two of my oldest friends, valérie & caroline.
we first had dinner at caro and her fiancé justin's downtown apartment at bay & slater and then went for a stroll. we walked eastward (parallel to the river) to parliament hill.
parliament hill
after ottawa was chosen to be the capital of canada, the parliament buildings were built between 1859 and 1927. they include the east, west and centre blocks (all aptly named) and the library at the back. the centre block is the most recognizable - it's home to the peace tower, senate and house of commons. today, the parliament is perfect for spectacular views of québec as it overlooks the ottawa river. and it's also where justin proposed to caro (cue the awwwwww).
personally, it's one of my favourite places to bring my friends (both from ottawa and from out of town). the lawn in front of parliament hill is a great place to have lunch (or even do yoga) during the summer and enjoy canada day festivities. but around the back is where the action is: not only does it offer gorgeous views but there's lots of statues of past prime minister and tons of plaques (i love plaques.... god, i'm such a geek).
oh and there are cats!
parliament cats
if you walk north between the west and centre blocks towards the forest and take the path towards the left (normally, there are tourists) and behind the statue of alexander mackenzie, you'll encounter the cats of parliament hill.
they might be hard to spot at first, but slowly you'll realize there's a colony of about a dozen stray cats living on parliament hill. according to ol' wikipedia, they were first used to hunt rodents in the 1950s, until chemicals became fashionable. a lady named irène desormeaux began feeding the cats and later, rené chartrand took over and built the shelter. today, the cats are taken care of by volunteers and funded by donations. usually, when i have visited there has been a sign with information on where to send donations... it's now been replaced by one saying they have more than enough money and to please send donations to the humane society. people must luuuuuuuv cats.
rideau canal lockstation
after our visit with the cats, we continued to walk east behind the parliament buildings. caro and val chatted as i snapped pictures (i just got a fancy new camera!). we made it back to the front of the hill and down to wellington street. our plan was to head to the market for coffee so we decided to use the locks as a detour.
these locks are the first of the rideau canal waterway (engineered by colonel by... him again!) that stretches all the way to kingston. any time i see boats pass through them, i'm always so impressed that they were built over 150 years ago! as you walk towards the water, there's a bike path which you can use to walk up to major hill park right near the bridge to québec.
sigh. gorgeous.
after coffee in the market, we walked back towards caro's apartment, this time walking along wellington in front of parliament.
always a good way to feel patriotic.
