Friday, October 29, 2010

friday top ten.

1. a red crayon
earliest halloween costume
which i only remember from pictures.

2. a pumpkin
a big puffy orange pillow type costume,
with matching stem/hat

3. a witch
first grade. i still remember the awful apple bobbing contest.
 i did have a pretty cute little bob though.

4. a black cat
original, i know. complete with gymnastics leotard
and a tail made from tights and stuffed with socks.

5. a hippie
the year everyone else decide to be a hippy too.
not many other uses for the long blonde wig afterwards...

6. a cowboy
plaid shirt, pigtails, HUGE prairie girl skirt.
i think i may have even taken a stuffed horse with me to trick or treat.
regrettably, no cowboy boots.

7. the coca cola polar bear
i thought it was quite the original idea-
i wore a white sweatsuit, my mom made me a hat with ears,
and i carried an old fashioned bottle of coke.
but i was pretty annoyed
when everyone kept asking, oh are you a bunny? >:0

8. 'miss georgia' 
the year my three friends and I
dressed up as state beauty queens
in godawful gaudy prom dresses.
couldn't tell ya why i picked georgia though.

9. a french maid
this one was a buy-n-wear costume.
i added the black stilettos though :)

10. teenage mutant ninja turtles
probably one of proudest halloween moments.
that was the year i was studying abroad in france.
we made our costumes with yellow place mats,
fabric face masks
and green paint.
we even had splinter.

voilà.
a brief history of alli's halloween costumes.

what have you dressed up as?
are you celebrating this year?

xo & happy halloween
alli


Thursday, October 28, 2010

on windy days and organizing.


shoes.

paintbrushes.

all things yellow.

it is blowing like crazy outside.
the yellow leaves outside twirl high up in the air
and then fall all the way back down to the ground.

the wind is whistling through my barely open window,
kind of eerie.
the sky behind the bare trees is dark,
i think we're in the middle of an autumn storm.

on a morning where paper topics
and assignments are floating around like mad in my head
just like the leaves outside,
i find a particular pleasure 
in all things organized.

like this tumblr page i found on delicious.
i had a hard time picking only a few images. 
go and explore!

xo
alli

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

life list: develop my own photos.


this is a life list item 
that goes waaay back.
i just know i should have
taken Photo in high school.
but i joined the choir instead,
which is ok.

i want to learn how to navigate my way around a dark room.
to take my pictures
and see them come to life afterwards.
to clip them up with little clothespins,
and impatiently patiently let them dry.

my sister has binders upon binders 
full of photos she developed herself.
our hallways are lined with shots she's taken too.
we talked about putting a dark room in the basement for awhile.
i think that would be so much fun.

what's on your life list?

xo
alli

photo via stuffilike.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

what's cooking.

tuesday night dinner.


gruyere (except i cheated and made emmental) crostinis

YUM.
Yep, i've turned into a foodie.
a soup foodie it turns out.
this is perhaps one of my favorite things i've cooked so far.
the recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon of cracked red pepper.
well, i live on the edge,
so naturally i doubled that.
yowza.
spicy coconut deliciousness.

ps. go to her blog, this lady has AHmazing looking recipes.
already decided granola is next on my list.
if i don't do those maple oatmeal scones first.
seems as if procrastination takes a new form in grad school...

xo
alli


Monday, October 25, 2010

le weekend.


hello friends!
how was your weekend?
mine was wonderfully lazy.

drinks with some new friends on friday-
a wonderful mix of french and english,
stories shared in both languages,
over a couple pints downtown.

saturday i slept in for the first time in ages, 
and went for a nice long run in the (chilly) 
leave-speckled streets.

saturday evening was
creamy tomato artichoke soup
and a seinfeld marathon
with some strawberry ice cream
thrown in for fun.

and sunday i got to chat with some dear friends 
a skype date spanning three countries!
the rest of the day my nose was buried in my books.
my mind was swirling by the end of the day
postpositivism
foundationalism
toomuchphilosophyism.

how was your weekend?
getting through monday alright?

xo
alli

ps. i know i'm on a soup high lately...
just found this recipe, which sounds
unique and delicious.

photo via lonny's shop.  

Friday, October 22, 2010

friday top ten.

autumny things to do list.

1. make soup:
butternut squash, tomato, lentil. and some chili too.

2. carve a pumpkin.


3. roast seeds from squash and pumpkin.

4. go for walks in the park.

5. break out the tights
legwarmers
boots
and scarves

6. jump in/crunch through piles of colorful leaves.


7. find perfect puffy winter coat.

8. tailgate. cheer on your favorite team.

9. wear nice woolly mittens

10. sip some cinnamonny apply cider.

voilà

what are you adding to your list of autumn things to do?

xo

alli

Thursday, October 21, 2010

hope.


nothing like emily dickinson
to get you through a rainy day.

some sigur ros on your ipod may help too, 
i found out.

this week has FLOWN by,
as all of them seem to be doing recently...

i started a very exciting community project this week,
and have been reading all about
postpositivism,
measuring beauty,
non formal learning in labor unions
and violence in education.

i'm just going to stop and 
appreciate for a moment,
that i can talk about all those subjects
in one masters program!
sometimes i think i'd like to be in school 
forever...

how has your week been?

xo
alli

ps. thoughts about the new blog layout?
still working out some kinks with the title and picture...


Sunday, October 17, 2010

Saturday, October 16, 2010

weekend reading.

ok i'm becoming a serious fan
of online deco mags.
and my lucky readers,
i'm passing on my love to you.

colorful bedsides


lovely summery picnic, upper left.

love those yellow chairs!

a roomy living area 
and tulipy wall paper.

take a look!
happy weekend!

xo
alli

Friday, October 15, 2010

friday top ten: blog roll.

this week's friday top ten:
(which was hard to narrow down)
ten of the top blogs i read.
in no particular order.

always has the cutest stuff from around the web.
sharing secrets.
grad school style from a self professed nerd. 
self esteem, fashion, KILLER shoe collection.
proves you can have a great closet from thrifting.
a french take on canada.
all sorts of creative.
great outfit posts.
for the photography lovers.
for the travelers, writers, life lovers.

this is by NO means an exhaustive list!
there are many others 
that i just couldn't choose between.
and i'm always finding new ones.

your turn!
what are your top ten?
and what should i be reading?

xo

alli

life list: see mount everest.

image courtesy Kappa Wayfarer.

there is definitely a sizable (sizeable?) chunk of my life list
that is made up of 
traveling to places
and seeing natural monuments.

although some days i think it would be amazing
to climb to the tippity top of everest,
others (like après reading Into Thin Air)
i'd be happily content 
with a postcard from a distance...
not to mention, keeping my toes and fingers.

what's one of the 
natural monuments 
from anywhere in the world
that's on your life list?

xo

alli

ps. friday top ten is coming later today!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

inspiration boards.

photo source unknown. shame on me.

in most every place i've lived,
i always have some sort of inspiration board.
above my desk,
on the inside doors of my closet,
on my dresser.

it's a place where i can post
photos, memories, 
fashion ideas, outfits,
important events, ticket stubs, color swatches.

i read old magazines
dozens of times.
i flip through and look at the pictures, 
the color combinations, the shapes.
cut out pictures and pin them up.

sometimes i like it when they're organized,
but i can also appreciate the messy.
i think there's a little of both in me. 

here's a picture of my own inspiration board at the moment





cards from friends,
pictures and memories,
invitations, 
couple necklaces and hair pins.

do you have an inspiration board at home or at work?
what's on it?

xo

alli

Monday, October 11, 2010

le weekend.

a three day weekend
and three parks visited!
(well almost, i cheated a little for the last one, 
which was more of a general stroll. 
but doesn't that sound nice?)








we went south to mont saint bruno
and north to saint saveur
and stayed in the neighborhood 
for a sunny monday walk

we had a picnic in the mountains
and a scrumptious italian dinner 
with some locals and visitors.
we participated in our first
'apportez votre vin'
meaning...
you buy and bring your own wine to the restaurant.
a creative idea really.
it's less expensive,
you have WAY more choices,
and you get exactly what you want.

sunday was a franglais sort of day,
something i've really come to appreciate 
about this city.
we spent it with a québecoise and two français,
so there was a general mix of french, english, and québecois french.
we spent the day comparing words, phrases, ideas in the 3 languages
(this is where i argue that québecois, the montrealers french,
is at times, quite a different language)
and an added treat,
when you can't remember a word in french
or it just sounds better in english
well, just say it in english. 
the best of both worlds, i'd say.

and today is thanksgiving
here in canada.
although i find myself in a
quite non-thanksgiving mood.

thanksgiving is the thursday in november,
not the random monday in october.
 it begins 
with late morning baking
turkey stuffing
pie crust making
football watching...
or at least that thanksgiving-friends-episodes watching.

it marks the transition between autumn and winter
maybe even a couple early season ski days.
the day after thanksgiving is THE official
christmas-music-commencing-day.
not to mention the shopping to be had the day after.

yes, these are quite typically american,
the stereotypical traditions.
but it's almost what i feel like saying to these canadians up here.
um, who ever heard of 
thanksgiving before halloween anyway?

so i think i'll conserve my american traditions,
and celebrate my thanksgiving
on a completely ordinary thursday night,
in a month and a half.

ever feel weird about similar traditions in different cultures?

xo
alli

ps.


in saint saveur, 
we went on a little mountain sled ride,
-think alpine slides in park city-
so here are some fun bonus pics


the ride up

and the video.  
enjoy!

(ok, youtube is not cooperating, but the video will be posted shortly!)


Saturday, October 9, 2010

saturday morning.

it's sunny here!
so while i would like 
to stay in bed and read all day,
i think i'll go frolic in the sun
while it's here to say hello.

but here's some fun saturday morning 
design reading/inspiration!

photo from graciousgood.

covet garden is an online design magazine
that just launched in september.
now they have two issues,
i couldn't find a picture of the second one,
so you'll have to go 


to check it out.

some of my favorites:
the knitted jar cozies,
a colorful dress hung on a wall 
shoes on each step
and vintage coffee cups
and school house maps in the kitchen.

what's your favorite?
happy saturday, 
whether you're reading or frolicking!

xo
alli

Friday, October 8, 2010

friday top ten.

it's definitely autumn weather over here
(minus the rain) 
blustery days, 
orange and rusty colored leaves floating by
patchy, puffy clouds
and a crisp blue sky 
that peeks out every once and awhile.

the kind of weather that makes me want to
curl up with a good book.
so for today's friday top ten,
announcing,

the last 10 books i've read.

1.

by muhammad yunus.
microcredit in bangladesh
really challenges you to look at different solutions.
i saw him speak two weeks ago!
he's a very present man, pretty inspiring.

2.

by sophie kinsella
a stark contrast to the book above
but it was my fluffy metro book :)

3.

by malcolm gladwell.
i went back and forth
between liking this book,
and thinking the author was trying a bit too hard.
interesting all the same.

4.

by markus zusak
i might have already written about this one.
it's haunting, the story and the style
i would highly recommend it.

5.

by zadie smith.
there are a lot of stories going on at once in this one
sometimes confusing.
don't be intimidated by the size!

6.

Et si c'était vrai
by marc levy.
not the most enthralling piece of literature
but it was nice to read something simple in french

7.
by rick steves.
my roomie gave me this one to read.
i would highly recommend it for anyone
interested in travel.
which..... are most of the people i know :)
it had a chapter on morocco which was fitting-
i read it before i visited.

8.

by elizabeth strout.
a very honest story.
with a sometimes loveable
sometimes hateable
main character.

9.

by michael pollan.
i like the second part of the title,
'the architecture of daydreams'.
the book was really interesting at times,
talking about our relation to the spaces around us.
but pretty repetitive and dry at others.

10.

by julie powell.
hilarious, witty, 
and you should go see the movie as well.

voilà!
what have you been reading lately?

xo
alli

ps. most of the links of the book titles go to the amazon page
so you can get more info!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

design project.

photos of my weekend design project, 
as promised.

local time in sandy, utah

hannogne st remy,
a tiny little town 
outside of reims, france

and my current city, montreal.

now we know the time
at a glance,
in 3 time zones.
beats adding it up in your head.

besides the slightly annoying ticking
(who knew it would be that intense with 3 clocks instead of 1)
i'm quite happy with our little design project.

and even if i wasn't,
i wouldn't say otherwise,
because of all the time spent 
measuring out little black stick on letters.

any little quirky design projects from where you are?

xo
alli




Monday, October 4, 2010

le weekend.


hello!
how is your monday ?
the weekend already seems so far away !
all the weekend things i wanted to do
(wander through the market
try a yummy butternut squash soup recipe
sleeeep in)
seemed to slip right through my fingertips.

i did, however,
finally complete a little design project in the living room.
pictures will come soon!

in other news,
i have completely turned against montreal weather forecasts
they can not be relied upon
in the slightest.
today called for clear sunny skies the whole day,
so i'm just a bit curious what all these clouds are doing in my way!

did you do anything fun this weekend?
any other yummy soup recipes i should know about?

xo
alli

photo via unruly things


Friday, October 1, 2010

friday top ten.




i'm going to start a new feature
here on mistinguett.
i'll begin on fridays, 
but that may change.

today i commence my list making.
anything and everything.
and the best part?
you can request a list!

want to know what
the ten best blogs i read are?
my ten favorite foods?
ten must sees in france?
the ten weirdest things i've ever seen on stumbleupon?
leave a request in the comments!

so here we go.
introducing friday top ten.

ten places i've lived.

aurora, ohio
(gig harbor, washington)
georgetown, indiana
mishawaka, indiana
(shavehead lake, michigan)
sandy, utah
redlands, california
nantes, france
paris, france
sens, france
beaune, france
montreal, canada

i had to add the parentheses on washington
because i'm already cheating on my first try.
but, to defend myself,
 we had already decided to move away
by the time we arrived in washington.
it really only lasted long enough
for me to remember driving to preschool,
picking out stick-on earrings
from the glove compartment in my dad's car.

and i cheated again,
when i included shavehead lake.
because in all honesty,
that's the place that feels
the most
like home to me, after all these years.

as i look at this list 
i realize,
(excluding college)
indiana was the only state where 
we moved homes, without moving states.

i suppose it's also worth noting
that half my list has been
outside of my home country.
how's that?

what about your list?
and what other lists would you like to see?

xo
alli

photo via abeautifulmess.

food for thought.

Related Posts with Thumbnails