On My Radar

Gloss Rocks: I hear these people have hairdressing….I’m going to try them out next!

Cowboys and Angels Salon: I went here last weekend for a trim and I have to say, I wasn’t impressed. I wanted to love this place and it’s bad girl charm but it was noisy at 9am on a Saturday (so noisy my hairdresser couldn’t even hear what I said…”What? Sorry I couldn’t hear you?” and then she just ignored me after that) and the hairdresser was clearly very inexperienced she barely knew how to trim bangs.  It was very cheap, $50 for long hair (which is cheap, its usually $90 in Toronto at Proudest Pony) but the experience was so unenjoyable I’d just rather pay to not have to be ignored for an hour. Any suggestions on a cool place to get hair done, please advise!

Taco Farm: Taco resto across from the Uptown mall, I believe it’s run by the owners of Nick and Nats

Beertown: Looks like a large (could be chain) restaurant supplying the upper-year students and post-grads in town. Heard it was pretty good and just want the mid-20somethings needed in town. Probably expensive.

Schmuck Truck: Great blog post here about Food Trucks in Waterloo http://www.goodfoodevolved.blogspot.ca/2013/05/ill-have-balls-thats-what-she-said.html

Red House Uptown: Looks like a rustic, finer dining experience. REALLY Excited about place.

Block Three Brewing

Harvest Moon Organic Bakery, Bruce Peninsula

The Bakery

Harvest Moon Organic Bakery is literally a hidden gem in the Bruce Peninsula. They make delicious organic food like pizza, eclairs, veg pies, cakes, fruit pies…basically anything you’d want to eat on a warm day surrounded by nature. The owners are extremely friendly and so passionate about what they do they’ve opened their property to let people explore their gardens, rock statues and crazy original home. They’ve got a huge tree with swings, picnic tables for a perfect pit stop, and a walking path to stretch those legs.

This place is easy to miss on the drive so look out for their sign, if you’re driving north its on the left hand side.

519-592-5742 – 3927

Hwy #6, Lion’s Head, Ontario, Canada, N0H 1W0

Front Deck

Awesome House

Garden Pizza

Picnic Tables and Garden

Tobermory, Georgian Bay, ON

Tobermory (@tobermory_Ont) and Georgian Bay are a little slice of heaven in Ontario’s cottage country. I go here frequently to camp at the Bruce Peninsula National Park  (@brucepeninsula_) but Tobermory itself it a little town on the tip of the Bruce Peninsula. The water is crystal clear and IMO freezing cold but its absolutely stunning. While the Grotto (the main tourist attraction as you can go diving underneath a cave) is predominantly rock, there is a trail that runs parallel for people who aren’t as savvy hikers. It is a work out, so beware! I stay at the Cyprus Lake campground  and hike to the grotto from there as there is a clear, easy hiking path from the campground to the water. But I’m also interested in trying out the backcountry camping. There are quite a few other tourist attractions like the ferry to Flower Pot Island, but I advise you to explore things off the beaten path, it is possible to be completely alone by the water, you just have to work for it!

Tobermory is about a 4 hour drive from Waterloo on the back roads, but it IS WORTH IT! Watch out for the black flies early in the season, then the mosquitos, and then the horse flies but by late August and September the bugs are gone and it’s glorious.

Budding Orchids

The Grotto

Georgian Bay

Nick & Nat’s Uptown 21, Uptown

On King St.

I’ve been to Nick & Nat’s in Uptown (@NNUptown21) 2 times. It’s a small dining room with regimented table placements and a dim intimate atmosphere. I do like this restaurant, but it does require the proper companion and the right age group. This place is perfect for bringing your parents to a nice dinner or maybe a coworker or boss. It feels more adult than I want to feel as someone in their mid-20’s but it’s also trendier and less stuffy than say some Italian restaurant with fake grapes hanging and white table clothes.

It definitely feels more professional and elegant than an experience at Public Kitchen which is lighter, more fun, and dare I say jubilant. But I’ve noticed in Waterloo, as in many suburbs, that the 30 year old demographic isn’t spending money on dining out because they have kids and other more restricting finances, whereas Toronto 30-somethings are a lot looser with their wallets and help cultivate a sense of hipness by going out for dinner at any age.

It’s hard for broke students to be cool as it is for  broke parents – so it’s nice to see any semblance of hipness in the Waterloo area but for the most part the people that are dining a little finer are 45-50-somethings that have the freed up cash flow.

Anyway try this place out but just keep in mind the timing. I also hear they have brown bag Fridays for lunch so I would try that out for sure – hopefully they have vegetarian options!

21 King St N  Waterloo, ON N2J 2W6
(519) 883-1100

Help me I’m….Homeless

UPDATE: Twitter has been helpful to my search, connecting with realtors and community members.

I’ve discovered a few things:

@KWJen: District 14, 16 & 15 (south of William) are favs (in Uptown)

Keith Marshall @kdmarshall is a realtor and really connected and available online

Mary Keller has also been recommended to me as someone who knows her stuff!

Found this interactive Map of Waterloo… could be useful. It has a drop down menu top left to find and write on the map!

Also Following: Kitchener Apartments + RE/MAX Cananda

Original Post:

Right now we are in the very early stages of apartment hunting in Waterloo. So far, while I have found Craigslist extremely helpful in the Toronto house hunt, apparently Waterloosians are lovers of Kijiji.com – subtle differences that can really make the search a LOT harder.

We’re looking for a house rental, probably semi detached or a townhouse. We want somewhere that can serve as a starter family home because who can afford a down payment on your own home after 4 years of university!? Don’t you just hate those people.

Anyway, I thought sharing my housing hunt would be helpful for those moving to Waterloo without a clear idea of what area’s are cool and how to get there. Hopefully my mistakes help minimize yours!

Now, as a Torontonian the “up and coming” was always a big sell but I feel like in Waterloo “up and coming” is just not quick enough for my comfort. For those of you that want “up and coming” apparently it’s located by the Lancaster Smokehouse and MPC Public Kitchen – both fantastic restaurants but the neighbourhood is still really mixed and the houses just aren’t maintained. They’re also technically in Kitchener… See image below:

Where to live….

Essentially: Uptown is walking distance to the restaurants + shops but it’s expensive. The students area can be quite rowdy but the area is more affordable. Westmount is fancy for wealthy older families.

So, let the search begin!

Orange Monkey Music, Uptown

I’ve been collecting records for over a decade now. There’s something about searching for hours through a tightly packed record store, debating over how much to pay and questioning whether what’s inside that large beautiful cover is worth it. I spent some time the other weekend browsing through Orange Monkey’s vast collection of records, I like how its organized (alphabetically for the oldies and by genre for newer albums) and they are remarkably low in cost. I found a Mozart album for $2.50! I haven’t seen that ever in Toronto!

I highly recommend visiting Princess Street, it has all the elements of a great date: records, Jane Bond (vegetarian comfort food) and Princess Cinema (The Original)

My Dream Home

This is my dream home! But it’s located in Toronto 😦 It’s not too big, not too small, and has a beautiful two story porch with white and blue details. My goal is to find something like this…but in Waterloo.

It’ll take a lot of patience, but I’m slowly starting the search for my future home. Fingers crossed!

 

Meow Boutique, Uptown

In my days at Laurier, this building was totally overlooked and under-utilized so I’m glad it now is home to a very cool vintage shop called Meow Boutique (@meowboutique1). When I walked in I was overwhelmed with the selection of jewellery, accessories, clothes, bags, shoes. A younger girl was buying her prom dress – great idea!

I wanted to grab a girlfriend and just get a little crazy trying on some fun outfits and playing a little bit of grown up “dress up.” If I’m looking for a totally original outfit, this is definitely where I’ll be!

Beside  Fratello’s

78 King N, Waterloo, ON N2J 2X4

(519) 885-6369

Truth Beauty Company, Uptown

I love this pin board, little sail boat necklaces and modern earrings with an earthy touch, I hope they continue to build on this style with more selection.

I stumbled upon this lovely beauty boutique called Truth Beauty Company (@truthbeautyco) within the same building as the Princess Twin Cinema in Uptown Waterloo. I find some of the independent beauty stores in Waterloo to be a bit too “sophisticated” for my taste – I’m young, I don’t want to pull off the older lady thing just yet, so I was so relieved to walk into this spot. Everything here is fun and playful. They have really great little make-up bags made from local designers that are bright and super cute for spring, which I have my eye on!

In this huge space they also have a variety of products from bath treats to baby products, although I hope they continue to grow. Hopefully, this will become a place I’ll frequent for those moments I deserve to spoil myself a little bit… and maybe indulge others as well, without feeling like I’m trying to fit into a box that isn’t me just yet. Thanks Truth Beauty for this awesome find!!!

46 King St N, Waterloo, ON

519.884.6032

Interior

Beauty Products

Death Valley’s Little Brother, Uptown

So Death Valley’s Little Brother (@DVLB_espresso) on King Street in Uptown Waterloo is the most rad place to get coffee in Waterloo. I also highly recommend wasting away some hours there if you’re trying to get a project done. The place is huge and gives off a really great vibe, you’ll feel like you’re in some gigantic coffee bar in Toronto. It also has a nice little patio for a sunny day.Check out their website for more details, they serve sandwiches, coffee and whiskey for a little pre-drink before hitting up Starlight (@starlight_wloo)

84 King St N, Waterloo, ON N2J 2X4

(519) 208-6211