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

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

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.

things organized neatly.

i had a hard time picking only a few images. 

go and explore!

xo

alli

photos via things organized neatly.