Hello radiant orchid! My mom used to grow orchids at her house in Pennsylvania. This is an image I took during Christmas 2011.

I’m looking forward to adding some of this pinky-mauve hue to my spring wardrobe, but alas, need to survive three months of winter first!

Bienvenue! Mural near the Mont-Royal metro station.

Small market outside the metro.

We had brunch at the retro-slash-funky Restaurant l’Avenue. This is Andrew waiting for his eggs Benedict. (Look at that cute face!)

Harley hanging overhead.

The rest rooms were covered with glow-in-the-dark murals. (This photo doesn’t capture the jarring, sensory effect.)

Rue St. Denis, one of the lovely wide main streets in the Plateau.

Colorful street art above the Doc Martens store.

A charming side street in the shadow of Mont Royal.

My favorite image of the day.

When we had our fill of boho chic, we hopped on the metro and headed northeast towards the Botanical Garden. We wanted to catch the Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal exhibition/competition before it closed. It was a grand, elaborate series of topiaries by horticultural artists.

Sheeps grazing.

Old man kneeling.

The scale of the sculptures was impressive.

When the crowds became too much along the Mosaïcultures path, we took off for more peaceful pastures.

Autumn was in the air.

Abstract art? Lichens forming cool shapes.

On our way out, we stopped at the nearby Insectarium. I loved the displays of butterflies, beetles and bugs for their astounding colors and intricate patterns.

No ickiness here, just beautiful wings.

Stunning, eye-catching…I’m running out of adjectives.

Nature’s delicacies.

Sidenote: the insect specimens reminded me of artist Christoper Marley’s Pheromone collection.

“Callicore” by Christopher Marley. Image via pheromonedesign.com

Walking back towards the Viau metro station, we passed Olympic Park which housed many of the venues during the 1976 Summer Games.

The Stadium in the foreground with the Montreal Tower in back.

At 541 feet, it’s the “tallest inclined tower in the world.”

Returning to our Old Montreal ‘hood, we had dinner at Stash Café in the nick of time. I was getting hangry and would have eaten a rubber shoe at that point. Luckily, what we had was infinitely better. Andrew and I ordered the placki (potato pancakes), pierogi, kielbasa and golabki (cabbage rolls filled with pork and rice). Everything was delicious and reasonably priced to boot!

Soulful and hearty Polish food at Stash Café.

Coming up next: We travel to Quebec City.

Info:

Montreal Botanical Garden and Insectarium | 4101 Sherbrooke Street East | Montreal, Quebec | H1X 2B2 | Canada | 514.872.1400 | espacepourlavie.ca

Restaurant l’Avenue | 922 Avenue du Mont-Royal East | Montreal, Quebec | H2J 1X2 | Canada | 514.523.8780 | Yelp review

Stash Café| 200 Saint Paul Street West | Montreal, Quebec | H2Y 1Z9 | Canada | 514.845.6611 | stashcafe.com | Yelp review

Previous posts:

Bonjour Montreal!

Montreal: Day Two in Downtown

Going from a 600-person non-profit media organization to an unabashedly commercial enterprise sixty times larger has been exhilarating and slightly intimidating. With exactly four weeks under my belt, I’m slowly but surely getting up to speed and already feeling more grounded. I’m learning a gazillion new things from my smart, generous colleagues and taking it one day at a time. One. Day. At. A. Time.

Anyway, back to this blog! I’ve had ideas percolating in my head but no time to compose them into thoughtful themes. So here’s a super-sized post crammed with what I’m loving right now.

Investment Piece

I admittedly had a minor internal freak-out when told that my company practices “hoteling.” While management consulting firms like Accenture have been doing it for years, I had assumed in my new gig that I was going to have a designated cave workstation where I could put my personality and colorful mementos on display à la the aspirational office of Jenna Lyons. Not to worry, I quickly got used to this brave new world and no longer give it a second thought. Besides, hoteling was the perfect excuse reason to buy a new bag. Since I’m now schlepping all my stuff between home and office plus traveling a fair amount, neither a canvas tote nor a Longchamp fit the bill. I needed a lightweight bag with more structure, polish, durability—and compartments.

Behold the Brookline 15-inch laptop bag by Lo & Sons. Color: Espresso. Price: $198.

You can read a detailed description on the brand’s website and a stellar review on the Capitol Hill Style blog. Bottom line? The Brookline is stylish and functional which gets this Practical Fashionista’s enthusiastic endorsement. (Hint: You can find discounts and giveaways on Lo & Sons’ Facebook page.)

You Can Take It With You

In lieu of a physical bulletin board, I’ve been carrying around keepsakes in the pocket folder of my Moleskine notebook. (A type of security blanket? Perhaps.)

Wayne Thiebaud’s “Three Machines” reminds me to focus on delight.

Neon Accent

I recently treated myself to this J.Crew bracelet which was on sale for $30. It’s a way for me to embrace the neon trend without buying, say, a fluorescent pink tube dress. (Nobody needs to see that.)

Flower Power

Almost two weeks ago, a friend came over for brunch and brought me these lovely flowers.

I’ve been culling down the bouquet but it’s still looking pretty darn good. (Amazing longevity!)

Progress on our Patio

From the day we moved into our townhouse a year and a half ago, the small patio out back has been our biggest embarrassment—a sad victim of neglect and procrastination. I happily threw myself into decorating each room (e.g. basement, living room, office), but the prospect of working on the landscaping outside? No thanks, I’d rather scrub a toilet. However, during the hottest week last month, Andrew and I suddenly decided it was time to tackle the eyesore.

“Before”: a barren, bleak bed o’ mulch. Yuck.

“After”: we’re hardly green thumbs but managed to plant some perennials from Home Depot.

This unexpected spray of color recently popped up.

On the steps, we placed some low-maintenance kalanchoe.

Dying (and Reviving) on the Vine

Last month when the tangle of vines snaking up this trellis had withered and turned brown, I impulsively cut them all down. Healthy green tendrils soon appeared. Then, lo and behold, they bloomed!

Sometimes, you have to start fresh in order to achieve new growth. Hmm, sounds like good career advice too…

I came across these whimsical food-and-flower compositions by California-based photographer Julie Lee via the design blog The Fox is Black:

Neat collage by artist Julie Lee. Her work “features a combination of food stuffs paired with vibrantly colored flowers.”

It reminds me of this sleek ad for Arclinea kitchen cabinetry in Interior Design magazine:

Organized organics.

Here’s another dainty collage:

This piece includes flowers, asparagus tips and sugar snap peas.

Its color palette of green, yellow, purple and pink is similar to this Spring 2013 runway look:

From the 3.1 Phillip Lim Spring 2013 Ready-to-Wear collection.

Hmm, I’m now inspired to adorn our back patio with some cheery flowers. From the Home Depot. It’s domestic de-loveliness.

Images via julieskitchen.me and style.com

You can also follow Julie Lee on Twitter (@julieskitchen) and on Instagram.

Related posts you might like:

Frocks N’ Flora

Give Me Liberty or Give Me…

Inspired by Nature: Prada

Floral wrap: Lucia Wild Ginger and Fresh Fig guest soap.

Rockin’ the frock: Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2012 RTW Collection.

Decked out: flower pots in the backyard.

Intensely yellow close-up.

Floral swirl from the Mary Katrantzou Fall 2012 RTW Collection.

Runway images via style.com

Murakami for Louis Vuitton. White Speedy multicolor handbag. Spring 2003.

This past fall, MAC Cosmetics teamed up with Cindy Sherman* to create limited-edition make-up palettes.

Cindy Sherman for MAC Cosmetics. The collection was available for one month, ending October 27, 2011.

And artsy partnerships were all the rage at Art Basel Miami last month. Christian Dior took the plunge in collaborating with Berlin-based Anselm Reyle—known for his “hard-edge striped canvases made in glossy auto paint and glitter; monumental assemblages of silver foil, pulsating LEDs, and flashy fluorescent drips“—to debut an exclusive line of Day-Glo-printed accessories at Dior’s pop-up shop. In addition to handbags, shoes and nail polish, Reyle designed an eye shadow compact which was recently made available at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Anselm Reyle for Dior. Eye shadow palette. $110 at saks.com. Limit six per customer.

When I saw the camo swirl of pigments, I thought of this cool tree bark that I came across in Georgetown.

Textured tree bark. (I rotated the image 90 degrees.)

Colorful camouflage was also a trend at the Spring 2012 Ready-to-Wear Collections.

Tommy Hilfiger Spring 2012 RTW.

As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

*MoMA will show a retrospective of Cindy Sherman’s work next month.  The exhibition will run from February 26 through June 11, 2012.
MoMA | 11 West 53 Street | New York, NY  10019 | 212.708.9400 | moma.org

Photos via racked.com, saks.com and style.com

Update on October 10, 2012: An article in today’s New York Times about how “artists…are collaborating with cosmetics companies on so-called collectible packaging and products of various affordability.”

Gourds and fresh tomatoes by the kitchen window

Yellow pepper plant in the kitchen

Orange pepper plant on the kitchen table

Close-up of a delicately-patterned orchid in the family room

A different orchid in the dining room

Can you tell that my mom is a health nut and a green thumb with artistic talent?

Welcoming wreath on the front door

Red and green accents on the mantel

Lush poinsettia in the family room

Twinkling lights flanking the entrance

Bright lights at night

Our visit was too short but very sweet.  Thanks, Mom.

Red and green in Georgetown.

Orange and green in Arlington.

“Blueberries” in Arlington. These were growing on a fence next to an abandoned lot.

These berries remind me of some pieces from artist Irene Wood’s jewelry collection called “History and Industry.”

Little Olympia necklace made with painted gold, purple, silver and mauve wooden beads.

You could easily wear this necklace to brighten up a basic black sweater or simple gray dress.  I like to think that Mother Nature is doing much the same thing–using jewel-like berries to accessorize the bleak landscape in colder months.  (She’s quite the stylist!)

Necklace photo via irenewood.com

Pinkish-red roses still in bloom at Georgetown Waterfront Park:

They remind me of Prada’s jewelry collection for Resort 2012.

So maybe in this case, a rose is a rose is a rose. (Sorry, Gertrude Stein, I couldn’t resist.)

Necklace photo via prada.com

Other posts in this series:

Fendi

Blumarine

Cacharel

3.1 Phillip Lim

Chanel