THE PERFECT GREY

Zac Posen called grey 'the most elegant neutral', a statement with which I wholeheartedly agree. Long one of my favorite colours, I thought that perfectly pale dove grey would be the ideal shade for our new bedroom.

So I bought a color called 'twilight' (so lame, I know) and brought it home to try it out. Of course when I painted a sample patch both R and I found it way too dark (I forgot to follow my own rule of ALWAYS go a shade lighter than you think you should). Anyway, I ended up mixing the colour I had with some white paint we had sitting around until I found that perfect grey. Genevieve's BF Jon was kind enough to help me paint the bedroom (along with the studio, raymond's studio and a wall in our living room, what a trooper) and voila! my dream dream-shade.

Of course, like much of the rest of our house, there's still a lot to do. I don't have a dresser so all my clothes are presently piled in a trunk on the floor. A chair would be nice, a half-curtain over the window is essential (hello high-density living!) and I hope to hang some more art (maybe a mirror?) soon. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

THE NEW FESTIVAL CITY

My friends Carli-ann & Mike and their daughter Astrid were visiting from Victoria this weekend and we all took advantage of the lovely weather on Saturday to check out two Montreal festivals.

The first was Pointe a Calliere's 18th century public market down near the port in old Montreal. Costumed vendors sold bread and cheese, wine, fruit, pottery, vinegars, wool, woven goods, etc. It was my first visit to old Montreal and the setting could not have been more perfect.

I love how their jackets part at the back to reveal their red tail-feathers.

Later on that evening we trekked north to La Tohu, the national circus school and home to Cirque du Soleil. We went to watch the burning of La Falla, a giant 10 metre high sculpture created by a team of local artists and signifying the end of summer.

First, little fireworks went off all around the sculpture.

Until the entire thing exploded into light.

And eventually caught fire.

And we watched as the whole creation burned to the ground.

It reminds me of something out of Spinal Tap.

And finally, when there was hardly any sculpture left to burn, a giant fireworks display lit up the sky above.

Fun, fun, good clean fun.

BASIL OVERLOAD

Basil is so cheap right now it's hard to decide what to do with it, but in the spirit of preparing for the winter I figured I should freeze (in mass amounts) one of my favorite foods: pesto.

If you have been living a very terrible life and have never made pesto before don't worry because it is so simple. Yesterday I made a large quantity in the food processor, but I have also used small blending attachments for my immersion blender, a mortar and pestle, and I have pre-chopped and then mixed in a bowl -- all approaches worked just fine. The ratio depends on your own tastes but a good starting point is:

-1 large bunch (like one of the two shown above) basil
-juice of half a lemon
-1-2 garlic cloves
-1/3 cup olive oil (more or less as necessary)
-1-2 Tbsp lightly roasted pine nuts
-3-4 Tbsp roasted walnuts (optional, but you should really add them, they are delicious and nutritious and a staple in parts of Italy. I like to add them at the end so they are a bit bigger and crunchier)
-salt and pepper
-Parmesan, finely grated (optional)
(The amount created in my food processor below was from using three and a half bunches of basil)

Then you could make a meal something like this one, or you could use it on potatoes, or on sandwiches, or on top of soups instead of cream/yogurt. Or with poached eggs for breakfast....
...excuse me please.

MAJESTIC PAPER BIRDS

I came across the work of Sydney-based artist Anna-Wili Highfield when checking out the Australian blog, shipbuilding. All of the sculptures shown here are created out of paper and copper pipe. Anna's pieces are so thoughtfully constructed and yet display a sense of calm and simplicity. She has managed to capture the very nature of each animal, where there is mystery and sentiments deep within that humans can only struggle to comprehend.

But really I just think they are pretty and I would like one horse head please.

THREE YEARS

Today RB and I have been married three years. The funny part? With all the upheaval in our lives as of late we both would've completely forgotten our anniversary if my father hadn't mentioned it on the phone Monday night. Go us.

I love you RB, happy anniversary.

PAINT IT BLACK

Ever since my mom helped me paint my bedroom black in highschool I've wanted to splash enveloping, rich & cozy ebony paint over my walls again - I've just been waiting for the right walls I guess.

Enter our Montreal kitchen. When we moved in the back wall was painted green, which was fine, but I'm so sick of colour, colour everywhere and find myself craving simple white & grey & black and nothing else.

So I painted it black, and I love it. I want to paint everything black. I used chalkboard paint and am still toying with the idea of painting the entire wall above the stove black and getting R to do a large drawing on it. Whaddya think?

It still needs a lot of work, we'll have to get new appliances eventually and some fresh flowers/art wouldn't hurt either. One thing at a time though right?

URSA MINOR STUDIO

I've decided to start another blog to document and share my studio practice & to show off my new clothing line, URSA MINOR.

As I've been getting this new line together over the past few months I've really missed sharing my progress/successes/adventures/failures with a group of peers. Throughout this time I've struggled deciding whether to launch my collection uber-professionally or in a more organic manner, showing pieces as they develop. I've finally decided that, for now, I want to be able to reveal my work on a more regular basis, to dwell on the process and the product and to build a community around me. What this means for the seasonal/selling format of my line I'm not yet sure (though you'll be the first to know.)

So I invite you to come visit me over at URSA MINOR STUDIO whenever you want to see what I'm up to professionally/creatively. I won't promise that I'll post often, but I do promise to show-and-tell (most) all about my work and probably ask for advice too. Visit often!

And, of course, I'll continue to post life-related items regularly right here on Persuasion.

CAKE REVOLUTION (NOT 18th CENTURY FRANCE)

100 Layer Cake highlighted these cakes by Magpie's Cake last week and they are simply dreamy. I'm not sure I would ever even want a wedding cake, let alone something so dramatic as these.... but maybe I could just have one for a party sometime? So what if they start at $10 a slice -- art (even the edible variety) is worth it, right?

GINKGO

Some people dream of great careers, or families, or having ponies, or I don't know, world peace, but I dream of Ginkgos. I hope one day I can plant one of these prehistoric beasts and watch it grow. The trees have been around for millions of years and are extremely resilient to disease and other naturally occurring threats. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 six Ginkgo trees were some of the only survivors within a 2km radius.

Have you ever seen leaves so beautiful? In the fall the whole tree will become a beautiful shade of golden yellow and then *poof* within hours all the leaves will drop. I can't wait for Autumn!

COOL, CLEAN AND GREEN

Montreal makes me want to eat clean, simple food. Perhaps it's the humidity that has me craving greens and grains and fruit and strong coffee. Perhaps it's the proximity of a lovely little grocery store just around the corner that has me cooking so simply. It's so easy to stop in, pick up whatever looks fresh & delicious, toss together a simple summer lunch and then do it all over again for dinner.

I've also been reading Rachel Eats a lot lately, a favorite food blog written by a UK ex-pat living in Italy. She has a way of making food seem so wholesome, so delectable, so simple and precious and nourishing - the Italian way I suppose. I'm inspired by these simple blends of simple ingredients which transform lowly lettuce, for instance, into something quite special indeed. These things make me happy:

Fresh picked greens,

& sunflower sprouts,

With crisp English cucumbers,

Lots of fresh parsley,

Creamy avocado,

And cool, silky herbed tofu with sea salt,

Tossed together with lemon and tahini and I'm in heaven.

And then I replaced the ballcock on our toilet - cause that's just the sort of renaissance girl I am.