J'adore Montreal

Montreal completely stole our hearts. I was expecting to love it, and for it to be different from other Canadian cities I've been to, but I don't think I expected quite how much so! We were lucky enough to stay with Caroline (who you might remember from these photos) and her partner Jeff, who were the most amazing hosts. We're not super touristy tourists, so just wandering through neighbourhoods, stopping at local spots to eat, pretty parks and getting the chance to really spend time with our hosts over beers and poutine was pretty much perfect! I would go back to Montreal in a heartbeat, even though I'm pretty sure I have absolutely no idea how cold it truly gets there, and have been scheming ways to do so ever since we left!

Bagels from St. Viateur (to.die.for.) :: Le Cagibi, a really delicious vegetarian restaurant with great mix-matched furniture and huge helpings of chilli - so perfect for that rainy day :: chocolatin from Kouign Amann, which we discovered by chance after wondering around Mont Royal one day, the pastries were amazing and we managed to find our way back there a couple more times :: the light from Caroline's window dancing on the wall of her beautifully decorated apartment :: Carre St-Louis, a park that was once a reservoir and surrounded by incredible homes. The light was perfect that day. :: beers at Reservoir to escape the cold :: pretty beribboned buildings :: i can't remember the name of this building near the water in Old Montreal, but I loved the crest and the colours :: Old Montreal :: Drawn and Quartely, a book store I could have spent much money in :: pumpkins in Mile End :: tiles on Rue Saint-Denis :: pretty homes.

You can see a few more photos here, if you're not totally saturated in French Canadian goodness, and I also have a couple films to drop off that should make an appearance here soon!

Eastern Time

We're back! Four cities in just over two weeks. Much amazing food was eaten, buildings stood in awe of, stores browsed, friends bonded with and determination to go back and visit more when we left each place. We found a photobooth on our last night in New York and I love how happy we both look! It perfectly sums up how great it was to escape real life for a couple weeks. Getting to spend time with Richard and not be constantly talking about moving or making, and getting back to that child like wonder of travelling and visiting new places might just be the highlight of my trip. 

I have many, many photos and I'll try to use the rest of this week to spread them out over, maybe just the best ones. Each place was so great, I want to share it all! I initially tried not to look touristy, but by our last day in New York I had just embraced the camera/s as giant necklace look. You can't deny it. 

It's now 6.30am and I'm already dressed and ready to go (this is not at all normal), I'm trying to trick my body that it is still on eastern time for as long as possible (dark winter nights are very helpful with this) so that I can be all productive like. We shall see how long it lasts!

Hope you're well friends. 

xo

Last Hurrah!

via Pacolomo

We're heading off to Montreal today for a two week last hurrah before the holiday season and having to really get busy with our moving preparation. We'll also be going to Toronto (with a stop in Ottawa on the way) for my sister in laws wedding and then to NYC for pizza and walking the streets chilly streets in overcoats a la the Metropolitan set. I am so very excited, both for two weeks off on a real vacation and also to see places I've never seen before! Plus there are so many lovely people that we'll be getting to hang out with along the way, so fun to to do some real life hanging out with internet buddies. 

We've closed up the store for while we're away, otherwise I know I wouldn't really let myself take a break from it, but I might do a bit of blogging here and there to show you what we're up to. If anyone has any tips for the above cities, I would love to hear them!

Hope you're all well, and see you soon! 

Fall days

Hello! Sorry for how quiet it was around here last week, no excuses really aside from perfect fall days calling for neighbourhood walks and the realisation that the holiday season is approaching with the shop getting busier and busier. Oh, and the fact that it is November in a week. Eeep!

These photos are from a little stroll we took last weekend to a market that was held in this big, rambling house in our neighbourhood. There was vintage all strung up in the yard, boozy cider and pie for sale, a room full of vintage linens and Ora Bags and Seed Knits were selling their wares there, too. I ended up walking away with a beautiful Dresden Plate quilt for a steal (pictures to come), despite my best intention to be lightening our load before we leave. Oh well, I'm pretty sure you can never have too many quilts!

A few other things;

- My lovely friend Jen has released her Fall/Winter collection for her label Hound and it is just beautiful. I'll take one of each, thanks! How great are those yellow tights with the skirt and cape?
- Speaking of lovely friends, Kenzie released her new woven scarf collection last week and I am dying to get my hands on one! I love that she wove the yarn instead of knit, the texture looks amazing.
- City Shorelines by David Burdeny. These are just incredible, they look like paintings. The colours! I would love to have a print or two of these on my wall to daydream into.