source

Why go to Morocco when you can go to your attic?

photo from Splendid Sass

Just finished looking at the Best Typefaces of 2011. The fact that I don't understand typography lingo somehow made the descriptions of each font that much more entertaining.

 My faves are:

 Gordon Black

 Abril

and 

 FF Mister K

Marilyn

I've spent the better part of this weekend contacting every moving and storage company I can find. I've spent the better part of the last month wondering and worrying over how the hell I'm going to get all of my stuff out of my apartment in Toronto and what I'm going to do with it. (Sell it there, store it there, ship it from there, move it here, store it here, drive it here...)

I can tell you that moving is more of a hassle than I remembered it being, and when moving involves long distances it is also far more expensive than I could have predicted it being. All in all I was so very pleased to find this video over on flyingbuttresses. It pretty much sums up the state of my life at this current juncture.

Found this photo on my friend Alan's blog. It's so wonderfully him and just a great shot.

via the paris apartment

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011 was a rough one so I'm looking forward to a year that will kick last year's butt!

And as I look forward to the promise of a new year this is the song I'm humming in my head. It's my anthem du jour and my favourite song off Florence Welch's new album:

This is a concept we've seen before, but as the year closes I think it's nice important to stop and think about how truly awesome our world is and how we can better protect it/celebrate it/ be a part of it in the New Year.



One Day on Earth - Motion Picture Trailer from One Day On Earth on Vimeo.

I want to live in a house with a room like this one.

photo source

We got a White Christmas this year. It was really nice.

Ever feel like you'd rather be anywhere else but here?

Milan Dreaming from Francesco Paciocco on Vimeo.

Waitin' for some Christmas spirit...

It's coming on Christmas 
They're cutting down trees 
They're putting up reindeer 
And singing songs of joy and peace 
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on 

But it don't snow here 
It stays pretty green 
I'm going to make a lot of money 
Then I'm going to quit this crazy scene 
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on 


'Tis the season to be jolly, yet I can't help but be in more of a Joni Mitchell kind of mood.

                                                                      


                                                                             I should never

                                                         have stopped playing the cello.

Sometimes we need reminding

Is it worrying that I identify strongly with this image?

from my friend Tessa's blog.

Heard this on the radio today and realized it should be my themesong.

Time Travel

One of the unique opportunities one has when living at home, is digging through old belongings. For me this includes a few miscellaneous boxes unearthed from the hoarders paradise that is my mother's basement.

One of the most amusing things I've come across is the portfolio from my Grade 9 Humanities class. Poems, projects and book reports all collected, each with its own explanation as to how it earned a spot in my portfolio. The real prize out of this collection is a paper entitled A Bunch of Thoughts that Could Pass for a Philosophy of Life. Yes, that is the title I deemed appropriate for an essay - and while we're at it I shall point out that I also deemed multi-coloured gel pens as perfectly apt for a professional looking Table of Contents. For family entertainment I performed a dramatic reading of this amazing piece of writing at the Thanksgiving table. Since it was so popular then, and since I have been urged by friends to post this hilarious and shockingly candid philosophy on this blog I now present to you a somewhat embarrassing yet ultimately amusing insight into the psyche of a 14 year-old Alex:

A Bunch of Thoughts that Could Pass for a Philosophy of Life

 Alex

903

Humanities

March 2000

 Where to start. I guess my main philosophy would be: try to live life as best as you can. I laugh a lot and try to have fun no matter what I am doing. I try not to let my temper get the best of me, although sometimes I give into my temper (it is probably best that you run away, far, far away, when this happens). And I try very hard not to hold grudges or hurt people's feelings.

 My thinking time, when I reflect on the day and think of tomorrow and my future is before I go to sleep. I sit in the dark under my covers and I think about whatever comes to mind. Of course I usually forget the riveting debates that go on in my mind by the time I wake up the next day.

 OK, issue number one: GOD. I believe in God, as some power that affects everything we do. I believe that God has a plan for each person and that everything happens for a reason.

 DEATH. I think (this ties in with issue number one) that when you die, it is God's way of protecting us from some sort of horrible fate or happening that would happen to us if we stayed alive.I think that when you die, you go to a place where you come to terms with everything that has happened to you and you forgive yourself and others for sins they (or you) may have committed.

 I think that you stay in this place until you have resolved everything, and if you can't come to terms with something you stay in this place forever. Once you have reached this "ultimate peace" you go to Heaven, and eventually go back to Earth as a different creature.

 I, personally, want to return as a bird because I have always wanted to fly. If I had one wish, it would probably be the gift of flight. To be able to spread your wings and soar all day, high above the Earth, in the clouds, and bathing in the sun. There is a song (actually it is from a soap opera) that says, "I would fly on the wings of a bird if I knew it would take me higher." That's what I feel about that. I seem to have gotten a little off topic (oops). So anyway, when I sit in my room I sometimes wonder what if would feel like to die, or be dead.

 The issue that is probable the most confusing to me is LOVE. OK, my original plan was to talk about how I don't think it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Now that I think about it, I don't know whether I actually feel that way. I think that love is a magical thing that happens that is indescribable even for the greatest poet and that if you have found that feeling then you have accomplished something that unfortunately not all people can. But to lose the one you love, to lose that feeling, must create a world that is empty beyond imagination. But if you lose the one you love, you can still continue to have that feeling but not have anyone to share it with. I find it all very confusing.

 I think it is very important to have some sort of family. Of course, some of the time I wish I had no family at all - that they would just disappear and I could live by myself (and possibly with friends) in my house. But after this feeling of hatred towards my beloved family passes, I realize that I couldn't live without them.

 A rather crazy and mixed up issue: me. Whenever I tell people my inner personality, they are surprised  because they don't see me as that type of person. For example, I AM SHY. When I tell my friends this, they make a funny face or a weird noise or something and say, "but you're not!" I am though. It's kind of hard to describe but I'll give it a try. It takes a lot of effort to get to know me. I don't open up to people until I am comfortable with them. All my friends had to kind of force (not force, more like, try really hard) their friendship on me. I don't like calling people that I don't know. Other people may not either, but I make a big fuss about it. Whether it's a coach for a basketball team or a new babysitting client or whatever, I usually try to con someone else (mom) into calling them for me because her personality is the exact (well, maybe not exact, but pretty close to it) opposite of mine. My mom is the kind of person who will go back up to the counter at McDonalds and demand a new burger because she asked for mustard not mayo while I sit in my seat thinking, "It can't be that hard, mustard is the yellow one!" Then I'll try to discreetly scrape the mayo off. (Which, when eating McDonalds food, can be quite a tedious job!)

 OK, anger and rage. I have a tendency to keep everything inside, from the small, little, annoying things to the really big, super-duper, frustrating things, and sometimes I forget to and I kind of blow up at whoever is closest and blame everything on them. (I have done this to my mother and have gotten in quite a lot of trouble, but let's not get into that.)

 I don't know what else to say about myself (that's of any interest). Some people say that I am funny (or as my wonderful friend Jamila would put it, a comical being.) Hey! There's a topic!

 I have a rather shall we say interesting group of friends. I wouldn't trade my friends for the world (maybe money, but not the world! Ha!). My friends are the people I turn to for advice or relief, often before my family. (Maybe that's because most of the time it's about my family). My friends have a big impact on my life. What sort of impact I don't know, but an impact.

 There is a place just down the hill from my house that is my "place." I haven't been there in a while, but sometimes, when I get really angry or fed up I just walk out of the house and go down to Horseshoe Island and sit on the hill (or wharf in the summer) and think. Sometimes I don't think, which is good because often I think way too much.

 My mom has this saying (I suppose it could be a philosophy) and she says, "I always try to be nice to people because it may be the last time I see them." I think this is very good and very true because we (humans) have created so much bad stuff that if you talk to someone it may very well be the last time you talk to them whether they get hit by a car, or kidnapped or whatever.

 Oh! Personality thing! i tend to have these, um, urges, where I want to do something, or have something, and then I will do my very best to get that as fast as I possibly can, and if I don't, I feel very proud of myself, and if I don't, then I get disappointed. 

 I also don't think very much of myself. I don't know why not, nor do I know how to describe it really, I just kind of know I don't.

 I DO NOT like change. I would much rather things stay the same because that would be so much easier and less stressful. For example, high school. I am pathetically scared of going to high school. It's so much bigger and different and I think, most importantly, it means that I have to think about the future. I have absolutely no idea what I want to be when I grow up. Well, not absolutely no idea, I have a whole bunch of ideas. In fact, I just can't seem to decide. I remember when I was little I wanted to be an astronaut and a ballerina, and I may very well end up being what I wanted to be when I was three years old. 

 That, I do believe is my PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE. (whew!)

This morning I am...

Loving that I got an "extra hour" of sleep but shocked that the time change means that I am awake even earlier on a Sunday morning. (Sometimes I miss being able to sleep in)

Loving this post on 90s female R&B groups and (as always) this song:



Really happy that I wore my bright red lipstick last night and wishing it was a little less 'long wear'. Bright red lips seem much more appropriate for a Saturday night than a Sunday morning...

Drinking an entire pot of tea (mmmm tea...) Speaking of - I'm also totally digging these vintage tea ads:

source

source

Spoons from CiaoChessa

Shout-out to this blog's namesake

Gotta have a little "Alice" indeed.

via prettybooks

Quote of the Day

Holy crap Aretha is fabulous.

via theimpossiblecool

My little sister shared this photo on my Facebook wall with the caption "I saw this and thought of you". Apparently my shoe obsession isn't as well concealed as previously thought.

Also- HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Song for a Halloween Weekend

I love that Canada has musicians as capable of writing an orchestral score as they are strumming a guitar.

So I don't own an iPad, and I'm still not entirely sold on the Kindle BUT I want any [all] of these iPad/Kindle cases from JCrew.

Just sayin'.

How does it feel

How does it feel

To be on your own

With no direction home

A complete unknown

Like a rolling stone?

Holy Crap I want this Handbag.

It's a Mulberry and thus costs more than my entire worth. Salivating over photos online is free though so this is what I shall continue to do. It's just soooo pretty and functional and autumnal and perfect.

I love everything about this website.

Color me envious

Call me crazy but this living room is FABULOUS. Love the window treatment, the wall colour, the couches (the florals!!)

photo via design is mine

When I came to bed I found a book lying on my pillow. It was the Complete Poems of Elizabeth Bishop and it was opened to a poem with a note from my mother saying read Sandpiper for a bedtime treat. So I did, and so I shall say to you.

Sandpiper

The roaring alongside he takes for granted,
and that every so often the world is bound to shake.
He runs, he runs to the south, finical, awkward,
in a state of controlled panic, a student of Blake.

The beach hisses like fat. On his left, a sheet
of interrupting water comes and goes
and glazes over his dark and brittle feet.
He runs, he runs straight through it, watching his toes.

--Watching, rather, the spaces of sand between them,
where (no detail too small) the Atlantic drains
rapidly backwards and downwards. As he runs,
he stares at the dragging grains.

The world is a mist. And then the world is
minute and vast and clear. The tide
is higher or lower. He couldn't tell you which,
His beak is focussed; he is preoccupied, 

looking for something, something, something.
Poor bird, he is obsessed!
The millions of grains are black, white, tan, and gray,
mixed with quartz grains, rose and amethyst. 

Goodnight.

I WANT EVERY SINGLE PIECE FROM THIS COLLECTION

London Fashion Week: Jonathan Saunders spring/summer 2012 in pictures

Seriously though. I think I'm in love.

Just finished dinner with the family - both related and extended - and now, for whatever reason, all I want to do is listen to this song...

So here I am at home in Halifax.

Monday I made the decision to go, Tuesday I packed up my things, Wednesday night I boarded a plane and Thursday and Friday I seemingly stepped back in time as I worked at my old job.

I've hung around with my half-sister and my niece, I've barbecued on the back deck with my brother, I've walked through the Saturday Farmer's Market and eaten lobster rolls in the sun with a view of the Harbour with my mother and grandparents. It's good to be home.

Now that I'm here I'm confident that coming to Halifax was the right thing to do. I'm trying (for the moment, anyway) to ignore the ambiguity that awaits me upon my return to Toronto and to really listen to myself and what my heart wants to do.

Funny how life can change so fast... 

Time to start packing...

Kiiiiind of wish this was my bedroom...

via Gypsies Gold

Can't believe it's been a DECADE

Photo from here

Excellent comic here 

via prettybooks

Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.

                                        
                                                    Chinese Proverb

It's not even fall and already the temperature of my apartment is such that I'm wearing sweatpants, fur-lined slippers and an over-sized hoodie. This does not bode well - neither for my fashion sensibility nor my internal body temperature.

Asylums are works of art.

NPR turned me onto the work of Christopher Payne and the stunning photos he took of abandoned 19th century asylums for this book.

Blog as Journal: DUALISM

Today I looked the word 'dualism' up in the dictionary. It's definition is largely theoretical, as in:

the doctrine that there are two independent divine beings or eternal principles, one good and the other evil.

 but basically it means to be split in two. It is

the state of being dual or consisting of two parts 

Now before you blow this post off as a [boring] vocabulary lesson may I explain that this is exactly how I've been feeling lately. Not the 'eternal existence of good and evil stuff', the 'division into two equal parts' stuff.

I am at conflict with myself and it is exhausting.

I've been in Toronto for about 20 months now, and lately I've been feeling like the city has let me down - or rather that I haven't stepped up to embrace the city and in doing so have let myself down. I moved here with visions of change and self-improvement and now realize that the only lesson I've learned since I got here is that changing one's location does not change one's situation. I feel like I am the exact same person I was when I came to Toronto - except with a considerably smaller bank account. The city has yet to swallow me whole but I fear that it has frightened me into stagnant submission. These feelings coupled with an extraordinarily difficult six months for several members of my family back in Halifax has lead to a true, desperate feeling of homesickness like I have never felt before in my life.

And so I struggle.

The part of me that knows that changing my address is a foolish way to change my life wrestles with the part that yearns for the simplicity of home.

The part of me that wants to focus on myself and my future argues with the part that wants to be there for the people I care about who may need help now.

Stay - Go

Fight - Retreat

Struggle - Surrender

Me - Them

Forwards - Backwards

Toronto - Halifax

All of these opposing words, and notions, and ideals, and expectations vacillate inside my head, heart and gut until I am confused, anxious, and lying awake at one o'clock in the morning on a Sunday night.

I don't write this to complain or cause alarm, or really to expect an answer. I just know that I can't be the only person split in two (theoretically, theologically, or hell, even psychologically) and maybe if I send these words out into the Clouds - for according to Google, that's where all of our information goes these days - the dual parts of me will be calmed for the evening so that I can get some rest.

dictionary source

Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go;

 it is the fragile blossom that blooms in the snow.

                                                        

                                                               ~Alice M. Swaim

I WANT THIS.

It costs almost a month's rent.

...Typical.

Kind of love everything about this. Wonder if I'll ever tire of Glee being EVERYWHERE

Is it wrong...

...that I'm kind of getting excited for fall?

photo source

The temperature has dropped a solid 15 degrees in the past two days here in Toronto. It's kind of nice - I can wear layers and my cute jean jacket, and walk around with out sweating, and most importantly my apartment is cool. (!!!) Like I'm wearing slippers and last night I went to bed without two fans going! Woah. I'm sure that the temperature will pop back up but these cool days are quite the reminder that fall is just around the corner...

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I'm obsessed with Anderson Cooper's giggle.

It's amazing - cuter than a babies. Maybe I've watched this video 1 (3?) too many times...

Wishing I knew these people: