New Hair

So here it is.... me debuting my new hair colour, with Lulu the guest star. I'm still deciding how to feel about it... but I'm trying to embrace the change! Hey, it's only hair! 

Thanksgiving

Over a chilly Thanksgiving long weekend all I want to do is this: 

Eat pumpkin pie. Lots of it. Or pumpkin cheesecake. I'm down with that too.

Be cozy. Spend time with my family. Wear fuzzy socks and an oversized sweater. Lose myself in a good book. Relax. Hole up in front of the fireplace above (sadly not mine, but the one in my dreams). 

Turkey turkey turkey. But more importantly, stuffing. 

Sleep in. Wrestle with my purr monster. Have late brunch. 

Bake something fall-ish. Maybe something with apples and cinnamon. Then eat it. 

Best of all, give thanks for all the wonderful people and things in my life. I am truly grateful this year. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

(Photo via This Is Glamorous)

Ally Redhead? Maybe Not Right Now...

I am not really a redhead anymore. 

And I don't know how to feel about it. 

I got my hair coloured for only the second time in my life yesterday. I was nervous going to the salon because the first time I had my colour done it was a very very dramatic change~ my light red hair going to a very dark reddish brown. I didn't feel like me. I felt like someone else looking in the mirror. Red hair is hard to dye and the colour washed out eventually but lately I've been in the mood for a change again. I had a colour consultation two weeks ago where the stylist and I carefully selected my shade from sample books and a picture. I was thinking Kate Walsh (Private Practice) red, even Ashlee Simpson red. A pretty, richer, slightly darker red. I was told the change would be fairly subtle, only to cover the persistent (and annoying) grey at my temples and even out the last of the colour from my previous process. 

Hmmmmm..... subtle it is not. The two shade difference we discussed is more like ten shades different. Or more. And again I don't recognize myself when I look in the mirror. Who is that dark haired girl? I don't even feel like me. I spent way too much time staring into my closet today, debating what to wear. I need brighter colour to counteract the darkness of the hair~ not to mention far more make up so I don't appear washed out. 

Ugh. Too. Much. Thinking.

I'm not the type who cries during haircuts (I always want to smack those girls on America's Next Top Model) or freaks out over the odd split end. Hair is hair. It grows, it changes. I trust the professionals. Am I crazy about my hair right now? Uh, no. I wanted what I asked for and that I didn't get. It's disappointing sometimes to put your faith in someone when they don't deliver their end of the deal. Have I learned yet another lesson? Yep. Clearly when it comes to my hair I have to be an aggressive, persistent bugger. I need to state exactly what I want and not budge a bit, not even a shade. I have another appointment booked in 8 weeks. Hopefully the worst will be washed out by then and we can start this cycle again..... 

just in time for Christmas. 

Photos may be provided soon of the new 'do but they have yet to be taken..... we'll see. 

Nearness

Elias Back Onstage at The Biltmore

My gorgeous friend Chloe and I hit up The Biltmore last night to see my brother's band, Elias, as they opened for Pilot Speed (read previous posts here and here). The boys had just returned from a quick tour hop in Alberta to play Vancouver and are already back on the road as of this morning. Having not played together live in a year (I last saw them last October at the now defunct Richards on Richards for an Oxfam benefit), I was both excited and nervous for the show, especially as there is new material I hadn't yet heard live. Suffice it to say, the night kicked ass. I know, not very eloquent, but nonetheless true. It was a fantastic comeback show and the boys sounded tighter than ever. The new songs are beyond amazing and I can't wait to get my hands on their new album Lasting Distraction next Tuesday, October 13! Although one would think a sister could get an advanced copy..... hmmmmph. 

Congratulations, boys! Have a great tour! 

Click here to listen to new Elias. I highly highly recommend Awake Tonight. I've listened to it about twelve times today already. Amazing.

(Band photo by Mark Cohene)

Niceness

Parisian Style At Its Best

I am madly in love with this Parisian apartment. I adore everything about its charming quirkiness. It looks so unstudied and casual yet it is elegant and hip at the same time. This is what I always hope my future home will look like. It exudes the fun of the young family who lives in it. I especially love the oversized mirror above the fireplace, the wall of books and the amazing amazing herringbone floor~ swoon! 

Love love love it. 

A fantastic gallery wall above another gorgeous mantle. 

The simple home office area~ fantastic art and stunning 

architectural details! 

A heart shaped polaroid wall above the bed~ sweet, fresh and original! 

Display at its best~ books, art and white fairy lights! All my favourite things! 

(Photos via A Cup of Jo from Cookie Magazine)

Trust

Despite being the big 3-0 I am about as naive as they come about many things in this life. I've never grown a thick outer shell over the years to protect me. I trust implicitly and let people into my life and into my heart without fear or hesitation or doubt. This has caused me to get hurt (and feel wildly stupid), many many times. Platonic girlfriends and bad boyfriends alike have been welcomed into my heart only for me to pay the price weeks, months, years later when things go wrong. 

I never wanted to be the kind of person who put up walls, who judged others or who didn't take a chance on someone. However, sometimes I don't listen to my instincts either. Should that change? Do I have to become the sort of person who lets no one in? Do I have to maintain my close circle and never take a chance on anyone else? Sometimes I think this would be okay (I have amazing people in my life) if it meant I avoided pain and disappointment. This reminds me of my favourite quote, "Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt." Oh, Kurt Vonnegut, you got it right. That is the life I want to lead. 

Today is a new day. While I woke up with a heavy heart I know that it is for the best that it is so. I tried. I opened myself to something I believed in and I'm proud of myself for that. Should I have nipped it in the bud at the start? Rejected this event in my life? Maybe. But I didn't. I refused to put up those walls and despite the aforementioned heavy heart, I'm glad I was open to what life had to offer me. I'm trusting, I'm loving and it gets me into trouble. But I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I'm open to love and open to life. 

This is the greatest adventure of all. 

Reconnection

The most amazing thing happened to me today. I am giddy with it. I woke up to a typical Sunday morning. My roommate/brother is touring so the apartment was mine alone. I was blissfully lazy, laying in bed while on my laptop. Facebook. Oh, Facebook. Such a love/hate relationship. Today I am grateful for it. 

I had a friend request, intriguing in itself. The name was so familiar. Unfathomable. I blinked in shock, genuinely stunned. My childhood best friend. A friend I only knew for a year in grade 4 before she moved away and I was left behind, devastated and heartbroken in the way you can only be when you are a kid of nine. This was long before the advent of computers in every household, email addresses and convenience. It was not like it is now, where people can maintain daily friendships from across the world. I never saw Sarah again. I think there was one letter and one phone call in the ensuing twenty years. Until today. 

We have been reunited after two decades and while in reality we are utter strangers, we have a hazy past that binds us, fuzzy memories that connect us across this continent, from Vancouver to Florida. I have one photo stored away in a box where I keep special things. It is her birthday party and we are doing a dance routine in poodle skirts (was it a dress up party? I guess so). I am doing the splits. The photo is fuzzy, in the way all photos were then. I must find it. Life has sent us in completely different directions but I don't think that matters. We are still those little girls somewhere inside us. The gift of technology has given us the chance to be friends again and I am beyond thrilled at the amazing opportunity. Hi, Sarah! 

Take that, Facebook doubters. 

Modernist Masterpieces

My taste is very particular, especially when it comes to home decor. Anything that looks as if it was found in an estate sale, Parisian flea market or at The Cross can generally be attributed as loves of mine. Once in awhile, however, my aesthetic surprises even me. Today I'm lusting over these modernist homes. They are so unlike anything I've ever been attracted to but they are all truly pieces of art, not just buildings. Their inventive architecture makes me swoon~ and almost, almost wish for a completely different home. 

Well, I'm moving soon.... maybe it's time to change my style a bit? 

Beyond creative~ this modernist home looks as if it is built in the jungle!

This amazing home is built into the side of a hill, complete with a grass roof!

The most amazing stacked apartment buildings I've ever seen~ incredible! 

(Images via Home Sweet Home)

Quote of the Day

"To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead."

-Bertrand Russell

I Heart Shoes

Something to lighten the mood after the last post, here are shoes. I love shoes. Shoes shoes shoes. But only pretty shoes like these ones. 

Was that light enough?

"Hey, it's Carrie. 

I'm shoe shopping so leave me a message."

-Carrie's answering machine message, Sex and the City (enough said)

Alone

Sometimes it is okay to feel really alone in this life. It's kind of true. We are, in fact, alone. Before you think I'm crazy, I need to say this isn't as depressing a thought as it sounds. We can fill our lives with people and places, but at the end of the day we are alone in our own minds. We are the only one who understands us. We are the only one who knows what goes on in our heads. We are the only ones it is safe to tell everything and anything to. It is okay. At times in this life I have felt really alone, in the worst sense, like maybe no one would ever understand me on a profound level or want to know me on that level. There are still days I am frustrated by how surface life can seem, how nothing seems to be real. Why are some things so fake? 

It's hard to learn these lessons sometimes but they are also incredibly valuable. Friends and family are wonderful but I am getting to be okay with myself. I don't particularly like feeling alone (despite loving and needing "me" time), but I'm getting to be more and more okay with it. As I grow (up? scary thought) I'm getting to like the person in this head more and more and that makes it easier to be solitary in these thoughts. Alone. Why is it such a scary concept? Why does it freak people (me) out? It doesn't have to be such a depressing concept. We are our own person. We need to like who we are, first and foremost. Get to know who you are when you are alone sometime. Be comfortable with yourself. It's not so bad. 

Crying

I Wouldn't Be The Same Without You

To the people in my life,

Almost at 200 posts on this little blog! Thank you for reading! 

xoxoxo Ally

Life in the Trees

Still not feeling 100% percent today so my mind is on escape~ escape from discomfort, escape from normal life. What better place to want to escape to than a tree house, where you can live out childhood fantasies and feel as joyous as a kid again? These three houses make me want to scamper off to the woods and live for awhile in the middle of nowhere. Doesn't that sound wonderful and uncomplicated?  

But wait.... these places have Wifi right? 

ps- I must be the only human being to have gained weight after having not eaten for three days. I was on a liquid diet in the hospital yet I am suspiciously pudgier. What was in those fluids they dripped into my arm, bag by bag? Liquid cupcake? Jeez. 

"I'd rather live in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth." 

-Steve McQueen