life list: buy local.

This is more of an item on my right-now list rather than my life list. Over the past few days I've been starting to ponder holiday gift ideas for my near and dear. It's (unfortunately) so easy to get wrapped up (pun intended?) in the brand name, department store, commercialized side of the holiday. I've already bought a few things from big-name stores, but I was thinking about how wonderful it would be to buy presents exclusively from local boutiques, etsy shops, and the like. Promoting small businesses and gifted artisans. So I've been scouring etsy (not really a trying task...) and I've found some wonderful gift ideas that I've tucked away to purchase in the coming weeks.

Without giving any of my gift secrets away, here are some other noteworthy things I've found...

Quirky greeting cards.

Posters for little girls. Or boys.

Beautiful hand printed tea towels.

A mustache spoon.

To stash your whiskey during long walks through Parisian streets.

And my obsession love for infinity scarves continues. 

Will you be buying locally for your holiday gifts?

xo

alli

you should be reading: enJOY it.

Whether you're a home decor junkie/DIY...

Baker/Cook...

Or you're a sucker for cute paper shops and crafts...

You should be reading enJOY it, a blog written by Elise Blaha.  I happened upon it a couple weeks ago now, and the creativity that oozes from this blog is refreshing and inspiring.  She sets goals with vigor- she trained for more than one half marathon and she's baking 40 loaves of bread before the end of the year.  I'll be stealing about half of her bread recipes... and considering ordering one of those wonderful prints that she's made.  

She writes in an approachable way and has made me think about what goals I'm setting.  And how to be more creative.  And how I'll train for my next half marathon.  Ha.  Maybe not toute suite though.  

Go have a look!

xo

alli

pillows.

look what I saw on Cup of Jo this morning, these adorable pillows.

They make specialized pillows for every state,

some of my favorite cities :)

And even countries!

These are definitely on my list, but I have may have to save up a bit in order to afford them.  All found here.  How COOL would that be, to have a couch full of pillows for places you've lived.  May have to have multiple couches at the rate I'm going ;)

Happy Friday!  What do you have planned for the weekend?

xo

alli

polka dots.

today i left the apartment to face the world in my polka dot blue rain boots and my nice new (to me) red umbrella.  turns out the most i needed them was for the drizzly walk to the metro.  the rest of the day was balmy and warm, although incredibly blustery.  

the wind blew all the clouds away, so i took the long way home and walked in the sun.  i sat on some steps by the bus stop and paged through catcher in the rye, which i'm re-reading.  holden makes me smile. john mayer accompanied most of my day.  

tomorrow i've booked an afternoon of pampering, which i could not be more excited about.  a valentine's gift certificate is finally being put to use.  and then it's the weekend!  more apartment hunting :/ and hopefully some nice springy weekend weather.  and since we ordered pizza tonight i have high aspirations for dinner tomorrow night: roast chicken, zuchinni and mushroom risotto, and a lovely glass of red. 

ps. i saw this lovely, entrancing video on dooce.com 

about symmetry.

and here are the fruits of my thursday pinterest window shopping:    

caffeine queenie.

erigutt.

xo

alli

on springtime wednesdays.

it's going to be 70 degrees here today!

(with lots of thunderstorms, rain, and ridiculousness)

but more importantly....

i don't have to wear my wool coat today!

ok, so i'm exaggerating, but only slightly i assure you.

the last week or so has been filled with more or less the same couple of things.

work. rain. apartment hunting. in the rain. and a couple of broken umbrellas in there as well. also, there is a pile of books i'd like to read for my thesis research, which is exciting, but it's growing at an alarming rate. some exciting links happening in that area too.

mostly i'm looking forward to the birthday month which is coming up, and a trip to california in june.  thinking of the beach is getting me through some of this crappy weather!  and the way i see it, even though i gave up my rights to complain about snow and cold when i willingly moved to montreal.... i figure i'm somewhat entitled anyways, because of the wonderful weather they were blessed with last year.  at this time last year everyone was wearing shorts and sunglasses, sitting under the hot sun with a cocktail on a patio somewhere.  

i want a sunshiny cocktail!

what is happening where you are?

ps:

would love this somewhere in my apartment.

via

going to need some of these barn doors and chalkboard walls.

via.

and this is pretty much a must. homemade goldfish crackers!

enjoy your wednesday.

xo

alli

de retour.

i'm done with my final papers!

yay to having a life again!

the next two-three months will be full of 

reading and research, but interesting stuff. 

i'll be narrowing down my thesis focus a bit, which will be challenging but good i think.

in other news,

we've been quite the social butterflies recently, 

now that we're both home in the evenings and finished eating before 9:30 which was the average for the past four months.  hockey finals are coming up, so some cheering in pubs with some pints is on the schedule for the next couple of days. 

i've had small glimpses of the summery buzz that is guaranteed to descend upon montreal,

hopefully sooner rather than later.

everyone talks about how bad the winters are,

but nobody mentions how excruciating it is to wait for spring here.

snow/hail/rain mix on saturday did not make me a happy lady.  especially when you're apartment hunting by foot, with an incredibly dysfunctional (ripped to shreds) umbrella.  

the apartment hunt is on, which i find is inspiring even more time to be spent on pinterest, drooling over interior design and diy projects.  

which is where i found these: 

via

via

oh and these:

which have nothing to do with decor, but could totally see them with cuttoff denim shorts and a tank top.

anyone else restless for an apartment change, spring, or just a smidgen of sun??

xo 

alli

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

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