About a month ago we were in charming Kerrisdale village visiting the good folks at Kerrisdale Camera.

For years Kerrisdale’s exact location confused me, I couldn’t wrap my brain around how it could be where they say it is, when (I thought) those areas already belonged to other neighbourhoods. Don’t mind me, I get like that sometimes and then get even more confused.

Kerrisdale is the area south of W. 41st and its surroundings.

It’s an old and beautiful Vancouver suburb dotted with old and new (mostly residential) architecture and picturesque tree-lined streets.

But it’s the shops that line W. 41st that draws me to Kerrisdale, some of these shops have been around for a very long time.

The Canadian fashionista mecca Aritzia started out of Hills of Kerrisdale which has also managed to stay trendy since 1914.

It was a hot hazy Saturday afternoon, we were at the cusp of a heat wave and didn’t even realize it.

We cooled of at My Cup, a great little spot with comfy chairs and free wifi.

Kerrisdale reminds me lively little towns,

where you can easily spend the whole afternoon with a good cup of coffee reading the newspaper.

Where gentlemen still wear hats and…

friends chat leisurely over a pot of tea.

Where there’s always a guy with a guitar on his back and…

mothers and daughters spend afternoons bonding over ice cream and shopping.

And, there’s always that old couple who never lose their sense of humour.

I lived in a place like that once, a long time ago.

I was young and headstrong; I called it boring and would run away to the city whenever I got the chance.

I’d listen for the sound of the train and promise my naive and willful self that I’d never live in the place like that again.

I never took the time to explore, or just sit and take in the serenity.

Which is why I love places like Kerrisdale. I go back a little every time I visit.