Friends, Books, and September in the City

Downtown Edmonton - Image from Unsplash

Edmonton is an autumn city. I've lived here for three Septembers, each producing a feeling akin to Nora Efron films, where main characters own bookstores, drink Caramel Macchiatos, and walk the city streets in sweaters and long leather jackets.

This feeling is particularly vivid when I'm walking downtown. 104th Street on Jasper Avenue has that brick-and-mortar "Autumn in New York" vibe straight out of a '90s rom-com, and Giovanni Cabot Park makes me want to bundle up in a scarf with the Gilmore Girls' "la la la's" playing in the background.

Autumn is one of the few times of the year when I wish I didn't work from home just so I had an excuse to walk downtown every day and absorb the atmosphere, see the leaves falling, breathe in the crisp, fresh air, and watch as professionals and college students step by with their lattes in hand and headphones over their ears.

Yes, Edmonton is an autumn city. And it's during this time of year I get most of my reading done when I'm either bundled up on the couch at home or sitting in a cozy cafe.

4th Street Promenade on Jasper Ave - Image from Unsplash

I'm in the midst of Go as a River by Shelley Read, which is the perfect book for this time of year. It's a cozy mystery based in the 1960s, and so far, I'm finding it quite intriguing. I'm not usually a mystery genre girl outside of film, but I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I'm only about 20% of the way through, but I'm planning on spending my Saturday burying my head in books.

I'm about seven books behind my goal this year because I've been in an intense reading slump, but there's nothing like listening to audiobooks while taking walks among the falling leaves to revive that hunger for reading.

I don't read nearly as much as I used to, but I'm a lot busier socially than I used to be, and a person only has so much time in a day! However, I'm getting into a routine of winding down in the evening with a book instead of TV or YouTube, so the balance between my book world and this one will be struck yet!

After living in the same city going on three years, a person would hope that in that time, they'd end up with a few good friends. I'm happy to say I've made plenty - more than I ever thought I would, in fact.

Having good friends is essential in any phase of life, but I'm happy to say that in my '20s, I'm not only spending evenings held up at home with a glass of wine, pizza, and Pride & Prejudice (2005) playing for the umpteenth time but that I'm also going out, having fun, and forming wonderful memories with people who I can simply be myself around.

I happily sacrifice my extra reading time for those memories, something I never would have said five years ago. But eventually, you find where you belong. You find people who can make your regular life feel just as eventful as a plot-thick novel.

As we move into October, I intend to thoroughly enjoy my autumn city, both with my lovely friends and in my own company.