All is full of love.

Turned around in the art room. I have been listening to some Björk today and I cannot stop picturing her as Selma in Dancer in the Dark. Oh that film! Whoa. Crazytown. Anyway, seeing it opened my eyes to a talent I had never heard before. What lungs in that little body. All is full of love, a song by the little woman herself, is quite something. So this post title seems appropriate today, considering a few things and the state of myself.

I got a letter today from the Hector House and my heart swelled. Bang Bang. Crash, crash!

It has been so nice having my parents here. They are wining and dining us like ducks for dinner. And that is amazing! My heart is really overflowing and it feels wonderful. It was so nice walking my with my mum in the rain today ducking into shops when the spirit led. She found so many beautiful pieces and again I was reminded of what style is. We learned it from her. She likes bold things also, and wears them really well. And today my mum turned 50. Good job, woman! You go!

Speaking of the birthday woman, last night she cooked JJ and I one hundred cottage cheese menno perogies with schmont and farmer sausage and it really was insane. JJ was wearing this incredible dress. My mom was laughing, my dad topping up glasses with such grace. What a dinner! Mise en place. Mercy buckets, as they say. One million mercy buckets. I am already sad to see you go. I like walking in front of you guys and looking over my shoulder to check if you were actually there! Holy cow, thanksgiving feels like one hundred years ago! That means Christmas is on it's way in like a dog from the rain through the flap in the door.

I also rode my bike downtown!!! Whooooooo baby J Alba! Cruisy baby. I wore my helmet and a tight toque and a fast planting get up with slim shoes (I would LOVE cycling shoes and clips) and zoomed with the wind down the side of a mountain. It as pretty fun, even knowing full well what that would mean going back. Photos were dropped off at the weird jumbotron mall on St. Catherine street and a cd filled with fresh ones picked up. It felt really nice to walk outside and see my girl locked up, long and lean. I haven't been cycling at all. I wasn't ready to in a way. But today felt really natural. Party!

Late fall. Things are wet and dark, but nice. Mitch and I picked up our little house panther today at L'Arterie. Zoi with an i (the initial sight of her flooded the rooms in my heart: Madhavi! This is your soul woman, you have to meet her. And vise versa), had the papers ready to sign and the little minx slipped right into her stray cat house without a peep. In all the excitement of exchange, I forgot the bag of stuff for start up and so Mitch carried on and I ran back for one more exchange with Zoi (hopefully not the last). What a woman, whoa. I walked homewards thinking of her in the box wrapped inside Mitch's arms and the huge Amish scarf from Josh Ruth's mother in Ohio. What rain, what? We set her up and she slithered out after a good amount of hesitancy.

She checked out the kitchen and went straight for the Art room and hung out in the window for a while checking the brick and city top. We left her to sniff it out and met my parents (and hopped in their cab!) at a delicious family run Italian restaurant in Little Italy called Pizzeria Napoletana. (Thanks for the recommendation Uncle Pete. You nailed it) Pizza and pasta. Apportez votre vin. Cal brought such nice vin and the restaurant had that exciting warm vibe coursing through it. Thick Italian men winking at the customers, pasta, gnocci, blue cheese, buffalo mozzarella, thin crusts and triple helpings. Fifty and fabulous tastes delicious! Thanks for the amazing meal. I haven't felt like I was in Italy since I was in Italy! Well done, Montreal. Then we got into a cab on the way home, laughing and already missing each other, we walked into our home with a cat. Right where we left her.

Lila? I think she could be a Lila. She is so mysterious. Eventually she made her way to the bed with a certain quietness about her and then hopped on up into the piles of soft with out question. Oh hey girl, there you are. She has a nice home I think. I think she will be happy here.

Here are some photos from the neighborhood. Does anyone recognize these types of flowers? Aunty Karen, I am banking on you! They are beautifully resiliant and age so well. This photo was taken in the middle of October (keeping in mind it has been cold). Mauve is all around us, surprisingly so. I love fall. Speaking of mauve, I found another wedding dress today. Oh dear. Good thing it was cash only because I didn't have the cash. But it was quite a dress, tucked away in the back of this red vaudevilleish vintage clothing shop. At first when I sped past it in the rain it looked like a costume shop. Not so. I tried on the best hat, this incredible hat. Fifty dollars for the perfect hat! Oh dear. Then I saw the pink dress, hanging in heavy layers from high above. Antique silk, beads and sequins, flapper, drop waist and heavy. I wanted to try it on but didn't since I knew I wouldn't be taking it home. But it was quite something. I am still thinking about it. So mauve's the word, I guess.