strawberries.

via.

Because sometimes, at the end of an excruciatingly long Monday, you just need a building shaped like a strawberry.

alli

le weekend: burlington, vt.

hello friends!

This weekend we decided to escape the city for a day, and go on a mini road trip. Originally we were planning on going either East or North to a regional/national park and snowshoe or cross country ski, but the high temps and melting snow this week put a bit of a damper on that. So we cut our losses and headed South to a place neither of us had been: Burlington, Vermont.

City square, view from Church Street.

American flag, peeking through the branches.

Everybody knows the well-planned road trip starts with ham and camembert sandwiches. And a little sandwich art for some added charm.

After lunch we explored Church Street. I really appreciated (besides the mall) how few chain/franchise stores there were. Most of the shops were quite unique. This was a really cool used bookstore which I could have spent hours in. I left with a copy of TinTin in America :)

There were lots of street performers, playing guitar, banjo, harmonica, you name it. Kids danced along, or sat and listened on big rocks that lined the street. 

Street performer.

Although I have a particular kind of hate for small dogs, this guy was seriously in his element and I couldn't help but take a picture. Leopard print harness and all. 

Further down off of Church Street, we walked into Anjou, one of the coolest and most reasonably priced antique store I've been to. It was like a treasure chest, and we spent a considerable amount of time exploring and uncovering all the stacks of antiques.

Cheeky animal prints and numbered glasses.

Old kitchen utensils and perfect wicker baskets.

And.... although I could have come away with a LOT, this is what we hauled back to Montreal in the backseat.

I've been looking for a unique trunk for ages, and also a bench to go in the hallway. Two birds? One trunk. The two brass/metal handles you see lift up the top part of the trunk to the storage part on the inside. Also, on top is a pane of removable glass, so you can put pictures, maps, or souvenirs on display. I'm thinking an old vintage european map...

There's a ferry that goes from Burlington to New York state, although I'm not sure if it was this boat in particular. Chilly ride!

By the port, trying to stay warm!

If you'd like to see some more photos from the trip and Montreal, hop over to provincecanadienne.com, the blog of that handsome fellow standing next to me :)

There was lots of amazing architecture to observe. I love the contrast here between the red and pale bricks.

This was from the University of Vermont campus. It's five minutes from downtown, and we wandered around there under the snow flurries before hopping in the car and heading back North.

Burlington is on the Southern part of Lake Champlain, which separates New York state from Vermont. On the way back to Montreal, we decided to drive up through the chain of Champlain Islands, and cross over the Canadian border on the New York side. The drive was beautiful, if a bit dark. It would have been gorgeous on a sunnier evening. 

Even though it was cloudy, the pale blues of the thick frozen lake and the pink of the sun made for some especially wintry photos. On one of the first causeways we drove over, there were so many ice fishers! They were peppered all over the lake, some with little wooden shacks set up, some with small bonfires, all crouching or standing quietly around the holes in the ice, waiting for something to bite. 

Our visit made for a lovely day trip, if only a bit cloudy. I think it's a place I would visit again, especially to visit that antique store again... I indulged in some shopping while we were there (7% sales tax and american dollar, I already miss you!) and was happily surprised either to be exempt from border duties and taxes, or to have fallen upon a particularly friendly border controller. Either way, it was a win.

Hope your weekends were equally as lovely! 

xo

in the madness.

etsy.

Right?

Has to be.

How was your Monday? Mine started with an oversized mug of coffee and ended with wine & cheese. I'll go ahead and call that a win.

I've got a couple of work days left, but my mind is already slowly drifting into vacation mode.

Thinking of homemade wrapping paper, christmas cookie recipes, long runs with a view of the mountains, and playing with our dog (who I haven't seen in a year!) in the backyard. Mountain hikes and ski runs, the smell of home, and the luxury of television :)

I got a considerable chunk of my christmas shopping done today. I'm so excited about some of the gifts! I'd say about half of my presents for friends and family are coming from local businesses and etsy shops. Not 100% but it's something.

xo

alli

from whence you came.

Don't they always say... you have to know where you come from to know where you're going? 

Alright I was curious and just googled it, turns out this is the real quote:

"Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go." - James Arthur Baldwin - Well the land from whence I came seems to be one of obscenely big poofy headbands, t-shirts under floral dresses, full bangs, and bobby socks.  And dark wood cabinets, carpet in the kitchen, and state magnets displayed on the fridge.  I say, when you're starting with that haircut, there are definitely no limitations as to where you can go.  All in the general direction of up :) Hope Monday was kind to you! xo alli

le weekend.

hi friends!  how was your weekend?  mine was fairly low key, complete with movie night (crazy stupid love, which i adored), a visit to a quebec farmhouse with a lovely home cooked and delicious meal, a morning run, and lots of grey's anatomy reruns.  when i got home from work today i spent two hours in the kitchen, making creamy bacon and spinach tortellini, and the wheat oatmeal bread that i posted about last week.

pasta before

bread before

pasta after

bread after!

the pasta was DELISH (a bit rich...) and the bread is cooling as we speak!  two loaves, so it better be tasty :)  this might become a weekly thing if it turns out to be a good recipe.  the pasta recipe called for a roux, mixing up grease/oil with flour and milk to make a cream sauce.  i was a little nervous it wouldn't turn out very well, but it was good.  i added fresh basil, lemon zest and juice, and some cracked red pepper.

tomorrow my sister comes!  i'm so excited that i'll have a visitor to show the city too, especially during the summer months.  even if it was 55 or so degrees this morning when i was waiting for the bus..... don't tell caity that.  i'll be sure to post up tons of pictures on here after her visit, to help convince all the rest of you to come visit me :)

happy (rest of your) monday!

xo

alli

le weekend.

coucou!

how was your weekend? was it good enough to compensate for the drag that is monday morning?  i remembered at half past way-too-late last night that i didn't renew my bus/metro pas for August, and I was late to work this morning.  there were a lot of others who were forgetful with me.  add to the mess that it was about 873% humidity this morning when i was running around like a mad woman.  isn't it always like that?

there was a real summer thunderstorm tonight.  the kind you feel coming when the temperature drops and the clouds swirl around overhead.  lots of lightning to watch from my makeshift desk (my bed) where I spread out what seemed like every book or article i've read so far for my thesis.  trying to bring some order to this project!  

my weekend was full of cooking adventures, punctuated by a birthday soirée and a visit to the science center to see the Indiana Jones archaeology exhibit.  which was fun!  except in all honesty, the movie clips and set designs kept my attention a lot better than all the archaeology technical stuff :/  still, a very interesting exhibit! 

sunday night i made my first.ever.pizza.  and folks?  it was DELICIOUS.  and so easy!  i can't believe it took me this long to make my own.  chorizo, garlic, basil, mozarella.  the crust was light and fluffy, with the perfect amount of crunch.  oh, and it's rectangular because that's the only pan i have :)

and THIS was today's cooking extravaganza.  fried corn pancakes, if-you-will, accompanied by grilled chicken breast and a scrumptious avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro salsa.

it was my first time really frying something, and I only set off the fire alarm twice!  don't worry though, that thing is super sensitive.  which, i suppose, is a good thing.

anyways... next time i think i would fry them a bit.... less.  and the salsa is great, but next time i would not forget that jalapeno that the recipe calls for, and add that in there too.  and i would find a door to put on the kitchen, so my whole apartment wouldn't smell like fried things anymore.  

how was your weekend?

xo

alli

le weekend.

hello!

i've been catching up on reading all morning

for my classes this week.

it worked out perfectly, 

since it's -17 degrees outside.

i have little motivation to do 

anything besides stay under the covers with a book!

i had a lovely little weekend-

on friday night, we finished the week with some pizza and wine,

and watched 

the reader.

i read the book in high school,

and remember it was really sad, but not many more details.

turns out, it's still sad. but it was a good movie just the same.

what is with kate winslet and doing these heart breaking films?

saturday i bought a pair of ice skates!

and we went back to beaver lake and went for a skate.

i only fell once, but it was a pretty spectacular fall. 

there were definitely a few seconds between

when my skates left the ice, and when i hit the ice-

my tail bone's still pretty sore.

it was chilly, but we dressed warm, 

and sipped on hot chocolate and ate frozen granola bars.

sunday was spent grocery shopping, skype-ing, and meeting with my volunteer group. 

we're starting a women's circle at a local laundry coop.

i think it has the promise of something great :)

how was your weekend?

are you as bundled up as i am this afternoon?

xo

alli

le weekend.

coucou!

i'm back from a wonderful weekend,

the perfect amount of productive and relaxing.

yesterday and today

are two of the first times since arriving

that i've 100% felt like i was in montreal. 

reason #1

i took a lesson from the locals, 

rented a pair of patins,

and headed to the very much frozen 

lac des castors (beaver lake)

in mont royal park

for some ice skating.

i took notes,

and next time there will be a lot more fleece

and a hat with ear flaps.

but the bright sunny day and blue sky were perfect. 

reason #2

when i stepped out of my apartment this morning,

it was -21 degrees.

celsius.

(even though celsius makes less sense to my american brain,

i find it adds a little more drama than fahrenheit does).

even in fahrenheit, -6 is chilly enough for my morning commute.

and may i add, that's not counting the windchill.

the locals say this is more like montreal weather.

and looks like more snow later this week!

how was your weekend?

i tried out some new recipes this weekend and tonight too.

stop by tomorrow, 

to see what i cooked up!

xo

alli

le weekend.

hallo!

i hope your weekend was both 

as fabulous and low key as mine!

personally... i find 

winter break pretty hard to recover from.

you come back

to an empty apartment,

no more skiing,

no more family, 

no more lakota,

and no more scrumptious christmasy dishes.

so having my best friend visit me this weekend

was a delightful way to ease into the new year.

all we were missing were our other two halves! 

we spent the weekend

observing winter-resistant tarantulas,

oggling the immense spaceship qualities of

l'oratoire st joseph,

la distillerie, poutine, and hockey watching in bars,

fighting the nasty blustery wind in le vieux montreal,

trying to cut chocolate and breaking a plate instead,

movie and seinfeld watching,

and quality <3 to <3's with some vin rouge.

it was fabulous.

i had a lot of stories to tell.

of peppermint marth-mellows,

powdery ski runs,

a mellow (and green!) christmas,

of new years eve weddings,

and a countdown to 2011 surrounded by 

a good part of my extended family. 

how lucky am i?

what was the highlight of your winter holiday? 

ready to drudge through january?

maybe it'll be less dreary if we stick together :)

xo

alli

le weekend.

snow. sleet. powder.

number 9 express.

lift rides with general custer.

christmas shopping and wrapping.

this is what my weekend was full of.

it snowed,

and then it melted,

and then it snowed again.

i'm back home in salt lake for the holidays.

this year's new christmas traditions,

(besides the fact that we are nearly guest-less)

include putting LED lights on the christmas tree.

these suckers are BRIGHT.

looks like we decorated the tree with

glowing Trix cereal.

when we sit in the kitchen eating dinner,

the blue lights make the wall look purple.

we've set out complimentary sunglasses to wear,

so not to look directly at it. 

sneak attack.

tomorrow's itinerary:

more of the same.

we're playing musical cars at the happ household this week.

and i'm getting a haircut that is WAY past due.

what did you do this weekend?

almost ready for christmas?

xo

alli

le weekend.

snowglobe!

might as well 

skip le weekend,

as it was spent

working.

studying

writing.

with a nice break to go buy a christmas tree!

just need some tinsel and lights to liven it up a bit :)

the backyard (ok, the 2 sq ft balcony) is now a snowglobe,

and i am glad i'm on this side of the glass.

seems the snow has arrived folks!

glad my snow tires are installed and ready to tear up the roads.

ps. i heard this song months ago,

wrote down the artist's name,

and promptly lost it.

i found it today when i started working on my last paper,

and have had it on repeat this afternoon.

i feel like karma is poking me in the side,

 saying i should have started the paper earlier...

are you having a snowy monday?

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. 

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

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.  

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!)

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.