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!

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

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 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 

here

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 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.

 banker to the poor

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.

 confessions of a shopaholic

by sophie kinsella

a stark contrast to the book above

but it was my fluffy metro book :)

3.

blink

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.

the book thief

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.

 white teeth

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.

travel as a political act

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.

olive kitteridge

by elizabeth strout.

a very honest story.

with a sometimes loveable

sometimes hateable

main character.

9.

a place of my own

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.

julie and julia

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!

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

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 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.