friday top ten.

ten reasons that make this weekend awesome.

1. the week is over!

2. 3 presentations out of the way.

3. beaujolais nouveau soirée tonight!

4. toasting to new jobs!

5. my warm puffy winter coat FINALLY arrived.

6. a nice long (freezing) run.

7. HARRY POTTER!

8. earning some money tomorrow (this is the upside of working 9-5 on saturday).

9. snow flurries, furry gloves and wool socks.

10. christmas music that's made it's way on to my ipod.

happy weekend friends! 

i know i wasn't around much this week, 

the next two weeks are gonna be BUSY ones too.

how are you going to enjoy your weekend?

what are your top ten reasons it's going to be a great one?

xo

alli

le weekend.

hello!

this is a monday evening weekend recap
instead of monday morning.
i have a 4 hour break between classes on mondays,
which i usually use to blog,
but today my blog lost the battle to my literacy paper due next week.
c'est la vie!

my weekend was much like my monday,
filled with work!
i worked 9-5 on saturday
(ON A SATURDAY!)
and spent most of my sunday afternoon in the library.
smells like the end of the semester, eh?

i have three presentations this week,
but there are a couple lights at the end of the tunnel.
beaujolais party on friday!
harry potter on saturday!

i was going to go on and on today about
how riding the bus has changed my life...
but that'll have to wait for later :)

for now,
here's a little nightcap.
a hilarious (and true?) excerpt from the simpsons,
where they talk about grad students.

here's the youtube link to the video,
this is the first time i'm importing a video into the blog
so i'm not sure how it'll work.
plus, for some reason the video is showing up SUPER tiny.
oh well.

enjoy!

xo
alli

photo via: a beautiful mess. 

live like a local: la distillerie.

this weekend i felt like a local,

when i walked into a great little bar with some friends,

la distillerie.

ourfaves.

it's a cocktail bar

with wooden tables, and chairs,

and barstools gathered around old wine barrels.

pvtistes

there's a set of rules written in french

on a great chalkboard wall.

par exemple,

'invitez vos amis à la fête. par contre, n'invitez pas les gens

que vous n'inviteriez pas chez vous'

invite your friends to party at the bar! but, don't invite people here 

whom you wouldn't invite to your house. 

pretty sound advice.

but my favorite feature of all?

voir.ca

most of the drinks are served in mason jars!

i just love that idea. 

i think it's definitely a bar i'll be heading back to.

come visit, so i can take you there.

so many mason jars to try! 

:)

life list: start a fashion blog.

i'd say about 3/4 of the blogs i read 

are fashion blogs.

not haute couture or anything, 

rarely vogue or schmancy stuff,

whatiwore.

just personal blogs of women 

who take pictures of what they wear.

scholarstyleguide.

i think reading them

has made me more creative with my outfits.

now i look in the closet and see more choices.

chictopia.

it's fun to see what other people wear,

although sometimes i think 

i'd be nervous to put all those pictures of myself

on the internet for everyone to see.

weardrobe.

i've made a skirt from directions on a blog,

started thrifting,

and i have a whole pile of bookmarks for DIY projects.

top on the list: embellished tank tops and chunky knit hunter green leg warmers :)

are you interested in fashion?

do you read fashion blogs?

would you read mistinguett if it were a fashion blog?

xo

alli

alice.

how is it 

that sometimes 

those of us who have gone through

the worst of times,

are the ones who are the most positive?

here's a video for an inspirational tuesday evening.

this lady is soon celebrating her 107th birthday.

she's the oldest living Holocaust survivor.

she just has a certain light about her.

she plays the piano every day,

and the way her eyes smile is contagious.

we all have something to complain about,

something to lose hope over.

this woman survived concentration camps,

escaping not only with her life, but her unharmed optimism.

listen to her story if you'd like,

Alice.

via Girl's Gone Child.  

le weekend.

well,

it's debatable whether or not this was influenced

by my friday top ten...

but i ended up eating indian, quebecois, and mexican 

over the weekend.

i've officially found and declared my 

favorite indian restaurant in montreal

(only had to try two!)

so indian food & seinfeld was on the schedule for friday date night :)

saturday, we were invited 

to a family friend's house.

a french woman that's lived in canada for 40 years,

and her husband, quebecois born and bred.

we drove an hour out to their little country home.

it was nice to have a little change of scenery.

the last time we left montreal was at least a month ago,

when all the leaves were orange and red and still on the trees. 

we enjoyed an apertif

(need to find out the quebecois word for cocktails)

and shared stories.

i have to say, it was funny speaking with a french woman

who didn't necessarily identify herself as french,

having lived 40 years in canada.

i don't think i've ever met a french woman

who wasn't french to the very core.

does that make sense?

it was less intimidating in a way.

the man's accent was hard to decipher sometimes,

but actually light in comparison to some i've heard.

we sat around the cutest tiny wooden table and ate lunch-

the woman served us

'quebecois style'.

apparently it's the custom for the cook 

to serve your guests' plates (in the kitchen)

-as opposed to buffet style-

a funny little quirk.

on the menu:

red pepper soup 

homemade croutons and rolls

tomato breaded chicken, broccoli & homestyle potatoes

and of course

maple syrup sugar squares for dessert.

which made me smile.

i was wondering out loud last week,

what constituted canadian cooking...

i think i've found my answer.

while the recipes might not be all that different

there is one common and necessary ingredient:

maple syrup.

i think it's the only food item that's cheaper in canada than the states...

sunday night was 69 cent taco night at 

3 amigos

in the latin quarter in montreal.

we went with a group of 7 other french people 

who are working and studying here.

69 cent tacos are alright,

but it was far from cafe rio or Anahuacalli.

all in all, a cuisinar-ily diverse weekend.

how was your weekend?

xo

alli

friday top ten.

today's top ten:
types of restaurants that i love
and want to try!

1. indian 

which i ate tonight, yum!

butter chicken & garlic nan deliciousness

2. sushi!
there's a place on the street next to mine

3. vietnamese

also not far from the apartment

4. afghan restaurant 

we tried to go there a few weeks ago with friends

but it was full

5.georgian/russian restaurant

probably the one i'm most curious about 

i have no idea what they eat in georgia

6. mexican

gotta find a good mexican place around here!

i'm going through withdrawal

7. vegan 

there's a vegan restaurant on campus

that is by donation only

sounds yummy

8. french

i miss crepes!  and tartiflette! and raclette! and chevre chaud!

9. italian

we ate a great little italian place,

and i know there must be tons of others around here

10. canadian?

i need to figure out what exactly canadian food is,

and then find a good resto for it.

bacon? maple syrup?

they have this specialty up here called poutine

fries, gravy, and cheese curds.

not quite on that bandwagon yet...

what's a restaurant you've been wanting to try?

xo
alli

le weekend.

coucou!

how was your weekend?

mine was slow and relaxing.

it rained all day saturday,

which eventually turned to snow

(SNOW?!)

i took the opportunity to order 

my new (down, fur-lined, -20 rated)

winter coat :)

we saw 

the social network

and visited a gallery

where the guide gave us a

very thorough tour

monday was chaotic, as they usually are!

here's a little treat for you,

the new covet garden

online magazine for november

i haven't even looked at it yet.

i like savoring magazines,

reading them bit by bit.  

ps. re: reading material-

my new metro book,

she's come undone

has turned a bit heavy.

a little change from

confessions of a shopaholic, etc. 

if you're around montreal

and you see a girl crying in the corner 

on the metro,

chances are it's me !

going to need another fluffy story after this one.

how was your weekend?

xo

alli