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Month: December 2019

Posted on December 16, 2019June 14, 2020

Christmas in Ottawa: 17 Things to Do Before the Holidays End

There’s still holiday magic in the air!

  • Ottawa-Gatineau Winter
 by ninanearandfar0 comment
Christmas in Ottawa: 17 Things to Do Before the Holidays End

Hi! I’m Nina, and welcome to Nina Near and Far – the Ottawa-based travel blog for people pursing career and academic goals. Nina Near and Far is about making the most of your time off, weekends, and vacation days by exploring you own city and taking short, adventure-packed trips.

Small sources of joy: fresh flowers 💐 fiction Small sources of joy: fresh flowers 💐 fiction books 📚 and sunshine ☀️ ⁣ Today I got a library card! I haven’t used public libraries in years (probably since I was in middle school and went to use the computers after school lol) but I anticipate reading a lot this summer and thought it best to not buy every single book... for the sake of both my $$ and my small apartment. They’re really well set up for non-contact pick up! What are your favourite stand alone fiction books? I love a good series but don’t want to get stuck waiting for next books if I use the library! ⁣ Fantasy lovers - hit SAVE! On my shelf: ⁣ 📖 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: Addie makes a deal with the devil to live forever, but the cost? No one remembers her. ⁣ 📖 Lore: currently reading and SO GOOD. Modern Greek mythology meets the Hunger Games. ⁣ 📖 City of Brass (series): Islamic mythology and lore. A con-woman accidentally summons a djinn and gets caught up in a magical world. ⁣ 📖 The Only Woman in the Room: Historical fiction about the life of Hedy Lamarr, reknowned actress and inventor of Wifi. ⁣ 📖 The Fifth Season (series): Science / fantasy fiction set on a supercontinent called the ‘stillness’ that is regularly wrecked by apocalyptic level catastrophe. The final book wasn’t my favourite but the first two were excellent. ⁣ 📖 The Bear and the Nightingale: next up! Historical fantasy set in medieval times and based on Russian folklore. #books #shereads #booksofinstagram
Who had ‘bike shortage’ on their bingo card? 🚲 Increased demand and delays in supply chains has led to ~ 2 year waitlists for bikes! ⁣ SAVE this post for yourself if you need a bike OR to pass on to someone else who does 🥰 ⁣ If you need a bike this summer @biketoursottawa is offering multi-day and -week bike rentals this summer! ⁣ They have a spring promotion on right now. Rent a bike for only $35/week if you rent for 7 weeks or more. I reached out and Bike Tours Ottawa even gave us an additional discount - use the code ‘springescape21’ to take 10% off the spring promotion price! There are also LOTS of other options for how to rent and for how long. ⁣ If you already have a bike check out their tours or day tours for something to do with your household this summer. They have a wide variety of tours in the Ottawa - Gatineau area. Who else can’t wait to bike lots this summer? 🙋🏼‍♀️ I’m just waiting for the roads to be swept! ⁣ #cycling #myottawa #monottawa #outaouisfun #cyclinglife #discoveron #ottawalife #facesottawa #optoutside #getoutside #canadalife #ncc_ccn
*Spamming my soon-to-be new colleagues from Toront *Spamming my soon-to-be new colleagues from Toronto and abroad with photo evidence that Ottawa is the best.* ⁣ Can’t beat these castle views 🤩 Happy Easter weekend everyone! P.S. Head to the link in my bio to find my Ottawa Walking & Cycling Trails Guide if you’re looking for a place to explore this weekend! ☀️ ⁣ #MyOttawa #OttawaLife #Apt613 #DiscoverON #OttCity #OptOutside #Ottawa #FacesOttawa #TopOttawaPhoto #IgersOttawa
I had a different post scheduled for today, but... I had a different post scheduled for today, but... today just hit hard, didn’t it? ❤️ And I want to give you a moment to just... be a little mad. ⁣ There’s lots of time for me to post activities and encouragement and all that good stuff but today I am just feeling like we just need a second, y’know? ⁣ So, friends... tell me what sucks. ⁣ Why are you mad? Frustrated? Burnt out? Tired? Or just - can you relate? And I know - you are incredible and you can see the good, you can make the most of a crappy situation, and you will get through this, and you are resilient... I know all of those things about you. All of you. You’re also a human who has lived through a difficult and frustrating 13 months. And I think we could use a moment to say that this sucks and be met with virtual hugs and empathy, so that is what we’re going to do.
I LOVE this way of thinking about effort... ⁣ Do I LOVE this way of thinking about effort... ⁣ Doing nothing at all: (1.00)³⁶⁵ = 1.00 ⁣ Making small, consistent efforts: (1.01)³⁶⁵ = 37.7 ⁣ This was going around on another social media platform the other day and I love it 🥰 It’s such a simple reminder that the little things we do make a difference. ⁣ If you follow my stories, then you may know that I’m currently learning to program! I’m taking a course in Python and I work on it for about 30 minutes a day. By ‘a day’ I mean that my goal / plan is to do this every week day but so far it’s actually been 3-4 days per week. Doesn’t matter! It’s steps in the right direction 🖥 Nothing is revolutionary, nothing exciting happens one Python lesson to another- but months from now I will ‘suddenly’ feel that I know how to program. That ‘overnight’ feeling only takes weeks, months, or years 😉 ⁣ Everything you do counts, no matter how small. What goals are you taking steps towards these days? ⁣ #quoteoftheday #motivation #adviceoftheday #myottawa #ottawalife #quotestagram #mindset
What are your plans for Easter this year? 🐰 🌺 Or, if you don’t observe Easter, how are you spending your pending long weekend? ⁣ I created an Instagram Guide (find it on my profile under “guides”) of Easter Treats offered by local Ottawa bakeries and chefs if you need some yummy ideas 😋 We ordered vegan cupcakes from @blondebaking and I can’t wait to try them! I expect we may also order dinner from a local restaurant. ⁣ P.S. This is the town hall in Gananoque and this picture just feels like spring! Petition for all municipal buildings to be decked out in flowers?! I can’t wait for tulip and blossom season to hit Ottawa 🥰 I’m so excited to be living downtown this spring so that tulips will be within walking distance! #1000islands #discoveron #spring #canadagram #canadawinter
The news about increased measures today was certai The news about increased measures today was certainly not good, but I’m looking ahead to the warmer days that will make it easier to spend time out of the house 🥰 ⁣ We’ve started to plan summer adventures (the earliest being in June - all fully refundable or with generous cancellation policies just in case). I’m trying new things this year! Friends... I’m going CAMPING. TWICE. Traditionally, I do not camp, so this could be interesting! ⁣ What I am most excited for is to get out on my bike soon! It’s at the bike shop right now getting tuned up so that’s it’s ready as soon as it’s warm enough. ⁣ What are you looking forward to this spring / summer? ⁣ #QuebecOriginal #CanadaGram
5 years 💕 I don’t think I have posted an anni 5 years 💕 I don’t think I have posted an anniversary post before but 5 years is a big one! Our anniversary now shares the date with the first day universities were moved to online and the day that Nick was told to finish an internship remotely. We’ve worked from home together every day since. Fortunately, for us it’s just reinforced how happy we are together ❤️ Also: this photo is my segue into spring / summer content! I’ll start sharing ideas to help you find safe summer adventures 🥰
Couldn’t resist a photo: morning sun and fresh f Couldn’t resist a photo: morning sun and fresh flowers that make it look and smell like spring in my apartment 🥰 Gift from my Grandparents as a congratulations on my PhD acceptance. ⁣ Quick game! There is apparently a trend going around that claims you most recent 5 non-face emojis are your ‘aesthetic’. What are yours and do they seem ‘on brand’ to you? Mine are: ⁣ ❤️🌷🙌🏼🐶🥕 ⁣ I think that’s pretty accurate! Happy and bright. ⁣ It’s rather serendipitous that the carrot made it in there because I posted about Omega Park 2 days ago lol. I think it’s fair to say that I have spent an inordinate amount of time in my life feeding carrots to deer, elk, and happy pigs. That makes me VERY happy.
On this day last year @elcyphotos @passportunities On this day last year @elcyphotos @passportunities and I woke up at @parcomega after spending the night in a cabin with the wolves! Here’s one of my favourite photos from our day in the park that I haven’t shared before 🥕 ⁣ I’m hopeful that this spring / summer travel across provincial borders will be possible if we maintain good distancing. Places like Omega Park might be a good option for adventures with our households because the cabins are independent of each other and all park activities are outside! This is of course subject to Ontario-Quebec travel rules for those of us in Ottawa but... still an idea worth saving to the spring/summer bucket list! P.S. I have a blog post all about our stay on Nina Near and Far.
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