Montreal, Teil Zwei

Surprisingly, we awoke without a hangover. After having coffee and a very light breakfast at the B&B, we ventured out into the sunlit streets to hunt down a pastry of mythical status: the Kouign Amann.  This pastry traditionally hailing from Brittany.

Fittingly, we found it at Boulangerie Kouign Amann. This place makes the pastry into a big round cake, which they slice into pieces. Some people online grumble that this is not the authentic way of preparing it, but I couldn't care less.

We ate our pastries under a memorial at the foot of Mont Royal. The crust was sweet, flaky, crusty and buttery, while the inside was delicate and almost custard-like. We decided to return the morning of our last day and pick up a few slices to share with our families.

During the afternoon we wandered South, through McGill, the downtown, finally ending up in Old Montreal.

We were exhausted after all that walking.

We collapsed in bed at around 5pm, watched Ghost Busters on my phone, and got ready for our reservation at Au Pied de Cochon...

Montreal, Teil Einz

The husband and I drove up to Montreal last weekend to celebrate our one year anniversary. Yay! We stayed at the little Auberge de la Fontaine B&B, and we loved it. Other than the service, the best thing about the Auberge was the location - a gorgeous neighbourhood in the heart of the plateau. We were close to everything we cared about (and mostly, we cared about food).

Our first night, it was bitterly cold and raining cats and dogs. We ditched our stuff at the B&B and went to Schwartz's for dinner. The smoked meat was delicious. Unfortunately, the service was highly questionable, and the place was pretty filthy - like health-code-violation filthy. Had we known, we would have grabbed some smoked meat as take out and eaten in our room. Still, I felt like it was the kind of authentic Montreal experience one has to have.

After cabbing it back to our hotel we decided to crack open a bottle of wine that we had gotten as a gift at our wedding, and foolishly decided to save for our one year anniversary.

Sadly, the wine was corked. We gave it a proper funeral by pouring it down the drain. There was a funeral march and everything.

Thankfully Quebec, unlike other provinces, is not afflicted by a liquor board, so we ran to a local convenience store and purchased two bottles of wine, half of which we promptly consumed in our hotel room. Already feeling the effects of half a bottle of wine, we stumbled over to the aptly named Le Lab - a ridiculously hip cocktail bar located in the next house over. You know it's cool when the website is in French only. There we met some friendly locals, and imbibed deliciously awesome cocktails - like this one, which tasted like sweet meaty smoke and came garnished with beef jerky. Yum.

We were pretty buzzed by the time we left the Lab, but we weren't ready for bed yet. J and I wandered around the park for about an hour, taking unfortunate phone-camera pictures of the foliage.

Part deux of our adventures to come soon...

La Parisienne

I am currently obsessed with this shot from The Sartorialist. She is so incredibly chic. I love the man blazer. It looks so feminine with the long hair and bare legs. 

Inspirational quotes inspire rage

Yup. I abhor (because hate isn't a strong enough word) motivational and inspirational "stuff". Everyone thinks they can stick a stupid quote on a piece of rock, a poster, or a fugly bracelet and then charge money for it.

As far as I'm concerned that's one of the biggest crimes committed on Etsy. Look at this garbage:

This is what happens when you type in "inspirational" in the etsy.com search bar

If you don't have the skill and imagination necessary to be a good jewellery maker, then putting inspirational quotes on pieces of silver should not be the go-to.

Whenever I see this stuff sold in stores or online, I always feel sad for whoever is going to be receiving this sh*t as a gift. Pardon my French.


Speaking of French, there are exceptions.

Sarah & Bendrix

Why is this an exception? Because it is simple, the typeface isn't lame or "handwritten", it's not telling me what to do with my life, and because I can see it adding a cool and interesting element to wall decor. Also, the seller has a blog called A Few Things From My Life, and it is good.

Another exception to the rule, is this gem (though I guess it doesn't count as an "inspirational quote"). I loves it.

ObviousState

This is also associated with an awesome blog - Little Brown Pen.

"It's elementary, my dear Watson"

Starpulse

I've just started watching the new "Americanized" version of Sherlock Holmes (as if we didn't have enough crime dramas already) called Elementary. Also, didn't we just have an updated version called Sherlock, which was ahmazing? Clearly this remake was entirely unnecessary.

HOWEVER! I am ashamed to say that I quite enjoyed it. Though the thing I enjoyed most was Lucy Liu's wardrobe. She does the whole grey and black thing with a pop of colour really well.

Observe:

all 3 images via Zimbio

Let's zoom in on those shoes, shall we (by they way, you can buy them here):

Zimbio

screen-cap chez moi

So many textures and wooly bits! I will continue watching the show for *cough* wardrobe ideas, not at all because I actually enjoyed it *cough*.

words

I am guilty of this.

anyone that doesn't, is a badass.

my favorite.

What?

All from this Tumblr.

late afternoon stroll

Days like this one, when the sunlight makes the fall leaves look gilded, when the frogs jump around your feet, and when the wild flowers smell fragrant, make it all worth while.

fall duds

Scotch and Soda

These are from the Amsterdams Blauw collection from Scotch and Soda. Wouldn't that jacket on top look great on a dog walk through the fields?

Do as the French

Coco Avant Chanel

Ralph Wenig

Ralph Wenig

Lately I've been trying to dress in more a timelessly chic way. It's been challenging not to fall prey to cute "in the moment" styles, but I've been doing a good job so far.

This might seem cliche, but I've been trying to take styling tips from the French. Wool, tweed, a touch of leather, dark jeans, neutrals, blacks and navy blues. A well defined brow, and a red lipstick go a long way too. A scarf is a must.

Fortunately, fall and winter make this an easy time to style like this. Come summer, I never know what to do with myself.

Also, how gorgeous is Audrey? I love her tomboy style. 

The Tim Tam Slam

Nook & Pantry

The first time I heard of the Tim Tam Slam was from James Norton's Supertaster video. Because Tim Tams are Australian, I never expected to find them in a small-town grocery store. I gleefully purchased a pack, and brought them home to see what all the fuss was about.

The verdict: OH MAN OH MAN! OH WOW.

For the uninitiated, here is how it works:
Step one: make yourself a hot beverage (tea, coffee or hot milk), and prepare your pack of Tim Tams.
Step two: take out a Tim Tam, and bite off the opposite corners, like so:



Step three: sip beverage through Tim Tam, as if it were a straw. As soon as you can taste the liquid through the Tim Tam, shove the whole thing into your mouth.
Step four: chew, while making appreciative noises.
Step five: lick melted chocolate off fingers.