Moving—or rather, truly settling in after a move—can be a lengthy process. At the end of August, I returned to Toronto from Montreal, after six years away. Soon after arriving back in the city for good, I moved to a new apartment. Fast forward five weeks and things are unpacked, but still strewn around rather messily. In the absence of proper storage, in the absence of a proper budget, it has taken this long for me to obtain among the most basic of furniture items: a desk. Without a desk, I didn’t feel I had the right physical (and therefore mental) space to get this blog underway.

It’s my first time living in Little Italy, and I’m not far from West Queen West. Walking around, going about running errands and getting back into touch with old friends (involving coffees, lunch dates and such), I’m constantly noticing the amazing spots Toronto has to offer. Being away for half a decade and touching down in a new part of town has made me excited about the city and eager to share my thoughts on the places I’m discovering for the first time or seeing with new eyes.

A lot of this observation and excitement went on in the first weeks back in the city. In the next couple of posts, I’ll look back on some of the places that caught my attention. I intend for this to then take shape as a running log of activities and locales—restaurants, shops, concert venues, and elsewhere—worthy of note.

I hope this blog will serve as a resource for visitors to Toronto and to people new in town, and as something of a diary of settling back into my hometown.