Bonnie Weppler
Liam Dwyre and Julia Buchan both work at Whole Foods in Lansdowne Park. Through their work, they knew of each other, but neither was looking for a partner. Julia noted that, while they are friendly, they don’t make friends at work.
All that changed one day when Julia went to work wearing a Joey Division (a British new wave/post-punk band) t-shirt. It was that day that Liam made a point to meet her. And from there, love blossomed!
Julia and Liam and their seven-year old, orange cat named Miles Davis, have lived together in an apartment building on Echo Drive since April 2020.
“We saw this 1930s apartment; we were actually the first ones to see it when it went up for rent. The landlord asked us if we wanted it. We did; it’s a bit of a time capsule apartment, especially with the 1970s bathroom. The landlord did pull out the shag carpeting in the bathroom before we moved in though!”
Echo Drive apartment is a 1930s “time capsule” for OOE couple and their cat. Photo Supplied
Julia is a recent law graduate from Carleton University who hopes to practice criminal justice. Liam pursued cabinet making at Algonquin College but hasn’t really worked in that field. Instead, while working at Whole Foods, he’s been working on his interests in art (primarily screen printing) and music.
“I got into drums when I was a kid and, since then, I’ve picked up some other instruments, I started singing and recording and I used to perform two or three times a week around Ottawa. I also did some house shows. It keeps me busy!”
Liam also notes that their second bedroom is now a music room, with guitars, synthesizers and a piano.
Julia professes that there is nothing in this neighbourhood that she doesn’t like.
“And the view is insane! The canal is right there, and we can see it from our top floor apartment.”
Julia knew the neighbourhood a bit before moving here as her parents have been taking their family to The Green Door since the 1980s! It is their favourite restaurant.
“I also like how quiet the neighbourhood is. It’s not extremely built up and if we want to go to a pub, we can go over to Elgin Street. We don’t have to have everything right outside of our door.”
When talking about travels, Liam confesses that he has only been one place in the USA: Myrtle Beach. Julia has travelled more than Liam and one of her favourite places is New York City. They both dream of going to Berlin for the music scene but also because the late Anthony Bourdain filmed an episode of his show there. Julia would like to see Scotland because of her family heritage.
“I would really love to see the Isle of Skye with its hills and mountains.”
Liam and Julia have been to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia and were planning to go to both provinces this summer but, due to COVID-19, the trip was cancelled.
