It's official. We're taking this show on the road. Come the new year, the Leanderson family blog will be coming to you from Toronto!
That's right. Sight unseen, we decided to move our family to the great white north in the middle of winter. Adventurous, yes. Crazy, yes maybe a bit. We're also crazy proud of Mat and the opportunity he's accepted with work.
Our impending move is both exciting and terrifying at the same time-- very bittersweet as we love Charlotte so. But that's for another post. In the meantime, for posterity sake, I'd like to share some pictures from first trip "north of the wall" (Game of Thrones reference translation here).
Mat and I took a baby-free trip to scout neighborhoods and get a feel for the city. These were our take-aways:
1) You know what they say about first impressions. Well Canadians certainly made a good one on us. If they aren't the friendliest bunch, I don't know who is. And that's saying a lot coming from people moving from the South.
2) There is an energy and vibrancy in the city that is both European and mid-western. We're down with that.
3) We loved a few of the neighborhoods in the city. Walking through "Roncy" we noted equal amounts of dogs, babies and mustaches. If we end up moving in with the cool kids Mat will need some tighter jeans and facial hair stat. We aren't sure if we're hip enough to hang with hipsters, but we're excited to get back and check out more.
4) Toronto and the surrounding suburbs felt reminiscent of our hometown of Chicago. It's on a big 'ol lake and the suburbs sprawl on flat landscape (we even saw some cornfields).
5) The fact that everything is in both English and French tickles me to no end.
6) There are endless parks and trails which will be wonderful to explore.
That's right. Sight unseen, we decided to move our family to the great white north in the middle of winter. Adventurous, yes. Crazy, yes maybe a bit. We're also crazy proud of Mat and the opportunity he's accepted with work.
Our impending move is both exciting and terrifying at the same time-- very bittersweet as we love Charlotte so. But that's for another post. In the meantime, for posterity sake, I'd like to share some pictures from first trip "north of the wall" (Game of Thrones reference translation here).
Mat and I took a baby-free trip to scout neighborhoods and get a feel for the city. These were our take-aways:
1) You know what they say about first impressions. Well Canadians certainly made a good one on us. If they aren't the friendliest bunch, I don't know who is. And that's saying a lot coming from people moving from the South.
2) There is an energy and vibrancy in the city that is both European and mid-western. We're down with that.
3) We loved a few of the neighborhoods in the city. Walking through "Roncy" we noted equal amounts of dogs, babies and mustaches. If we end up moving in with the cool kids Mat will need some tighter jeans and facial hair stat. We aren't sure if we're hip enough to hang with hipsters, but we're excited to get back and check out more.
4) Toronto and the surrounding suburbs felt reminiscent of our hometown of Chicago. It's on a big 'ol lake and the suburbs sprawl on flat landscape (we even saw some cornfields).
5) The fact that everything is in both English and French tickles me to no end.
6) There are endless parks and trails which will be wonderful to explore.
