since we last met

i took these photographs…

find the rest on my flickr

➳ ➳ ➳

…and did these things

// signed a lease for a tiny studio apartment in the heart of shadyside, an awesome pittsburgh neighborhood

// listened to + bought a bunch of my favorite artists on vinyl, such as the swell season, coldplay, sarah vaughn, and joni mitchell

// bought ballet flats i won’t be able to wear for weeks

// wondered how i survived this long without watching penguins hockey in HD on a plasma TV

// became giddy with excitement when it was announced that billy collins will have a new book of poetry out in april, and sondre lerche will have a new album coming out in june

// watched this video over and over and over:

// survived some of the most unpredictable/insane/annoying winter weather we’ve had in ohio in quite a while

// lived on breakfast blend coffee, string cheese, + handfuls of almonds

// wrote three papers, took five quizzes + two exams, and made, like, a thousand and one notecards to study

// missed all of your blogs terribly :)

➳ ➳ ➳

what’s been going in with you, my dears?

xo Alison

p.s. thank you all so so much for the outpouring of support over what happened to gabby. it made the healing process manageable, and means the world to me to know i have such a strong supportive group of lovely blogging friends. hugs!

hushed.

RAINY/GREY

the world feels hushed in my corner of the world. it’s been dark + dreary all day, and in the afternoon it started raining cold, november rain, the kind that tries so hard to be snow. i’m thankful to be tucked up inside, writing about the role of mimesis in Thomas Wyatt’s poetry, and partaking in these rainy day staples ::

// a mug of extra hot tea with sugar + half’n'half

// damien rice, the swell season, quiet coldplay, and acoustic john mayer

// an excessive amount of fig + spiced pear candles

// slippers, sweatpants, a huge penguins shirt, and several blankets

// a fresh batch of creamed chipped beef on toast

// jane eyre, a moleskine notebook, and katharine hepburn movies

// these lovely images

{photo credits: one. two. three. four. five.}

☁☁☁

what are your rainy day necessities?

xo Alison

random/love: taking down balloons

hello my friends + comrades + darlings. how are you today?

it has been a surprisingly cathartic weekend for me. i ended up doing some serious house cleaning, which led to several trash bags being filled with things i at one point thought i would never throw away, but now seem so silly to have kept + stored so chaotically for so long. i’ve always been a pack-rat, a collector, and saver. it’s in my bones. but that doesn’t always make it right, just because it’s an instinct, especially when the things i’ve been keeping have become nothing more than useless relics + loose ends tying me back to times in my life that in every other way are firmly in the past.

so, i saved things that have already stood the test of time: movie ticket stubs, love letters, photographs, videos from my childhood, birthday cards, art projects, postcards, journals, and random oddities that are too specific to my life to describe. but this weekend i suddenly became not afraid to throw out my old prompt books from the years {and years and years} i spent stage managing at local theatres, disposable cameras i never got developed, notebooks from school i’ve never used since, gifts + mementos that are now wildly irrelevant…

and it felt really good! i realized that i have my memories + my stories, and i don’t need the merchandise. my space is cleaner and my mind feels clearer. and the best part is that when i had thought about what it was going to be like to go through those bins + boxes, i had always assumed it would be this big event, that it would be some nostalgic movie montage, where i wore a high pony tail and sipped a cup of strong coffee, with coldplay + regina spektor playing in the background, and me sitting with my legs crossed, running my fingers over each item, thinking about how it came into my life, about the songs + people around it, about the things i miss + cherish + the things i don’t regret, before placing it solemnly in the hefty black trash bag with a quiet goodbye + a quick prayer.

it wasn’t like that at all, though. except for the pony tail + tunes, it was so simple. not rushed, not hasty, just…ordinary. not like cleaning old newspapers off the kitchen counter or cotton balls from the bathroom trash, but something more akin to vacuuming up confetti + taking down balloons after a party. it was a good party, it was fun + memorable, but it was over. it was completed. it was already the next morning.

hmmm.

so that’s the kind of head space i’m in today. which means some random/loves are definitely in order…

these photographs

one. // two. // three. // four.

❤❤❤

this music

❤❤❤

these spaces

one. // two. // three.

❤❤❤

these little beauties

{source}

❤❤❤

this moment

❤❤❤

how is your weekend going?

and how do you handle the items from your past? do you store + save, or use memories > materialism?

xo Alison

midweek felicity: avocado eyes

{source}

i’ve been feeling a little off the last few days. between the penguins losing and starting summer classes, errands and friends and a late spring head cold, i feel like i haven’t sat down and collected my thoughts in a solid week. i feel like i’ve been walking around in a haze, been rushing from here to there, class // library // pittsburgh // grocery store // sleep…i’ve always been pretty great at managing my time, but not so much lately. i need to refocus. i need to plant some seeds to feel some dirt in my hands. i need to go to bed early and find my new morning routine. i need to take some antihistamine, have a hagrid-sized cup of tea, and let my mind calm itself, and become renewed.

here are some moments i’ve been able to live + collect + remember from this week so far…

these photos ::

women’s bathroom // 2nd floor // near west theatre // cleveland

ohio city, cleveland

street art

me + fire escape

keeping watch

view/love

lake erie

gray sunday

after the pens lost

lunch

“i turn my camera on…”

nick + nora + evening light

:::::::::::::::::::::

these words ::

The Stray Cat Sits

the stray cat sits on the little front porch
and tries on her name like a wedding ring
not lola, or precious
not persephone, or eartha kitt
but gabriel garcia marquez
fits her warm disposition
and her avocado eyes

she takes up court with the lily of the valley
a bulls eye in the consummate green
their tiny white blossoms like bonnets or bells
their curled edges like an old man’s mustache
like your maternal grandfather’s mustache
the one you never met

she watches the presbyterian woman across the street
with the denim skirt and habitual bow
carry in her groceries fast
to avoid the cool fat drops of spring rain
the blue plastic bags weighed down
by a dozen grade A eggs
hefty jars of classic ragu
and an apocalyptic amount of toilet paper
she watches the woman hesitate with the final bag
wrapped tight around a rectangular package
as though that salmon will be special enough
to light a fire whose ashes
have long blown away

she stiffens at the sound of the metro bus
a slow growing roar, a sudden hiss
a PSA on prostate cancer in yellow block writing
beneath a boy with a straight brimmed hat
looking out the window at the little front porch
with the cat named gabriel like a gargoyle
black and white and standing guard

— by me ❤

:::::::::::::::::::::

these things ::

:: a mid afternoon shopping spree with my big bro

:: my new electric blue swell season scarf

:: these illustrations by mischief champion that always make me laugh

:: creamy white flats with cut out flowers on the toe

:: marketa irglova’s set list from the swell season pittsburgh show hanging on my dry erase board as i type this

:: sublime new music from coldplay a.k.a. my british lovers

:: the wall stickers at studio nommo

:: stocking up on flips.flops for the summer, including a pair in whisper pink

:: the bhawks being up 2 0 in their series against san jose

:: the season finale of supernatural that was kind of, like, totally freaking amazing + heart wrenching + 18 kinds of kick ass

:: the simple, delicate beauty of susie cowie’s embroidery {via lushee}

:: passing a strip of earth filled with petunias that reminded me of my childhood as i went home today

:: funky fortune cookie fortunes

this loveliness ::

{don’t be late necklace // cocoachuchu}{old world sheleton key necklace // anorginal jewelry}

{make haste mug P & P mug // bookish}{i love you more than cards // paperwhite studio}

{tea bags w. literary tags // novel teas}

:::::::::::::::::::::

so, how do you manage to manage your time? how do you rejuvenate yourself when you let yourself wander too far?

xo Alison

obsession confession: birds + their cages

can i make a confession?

i have another minor obsession.

and it’s with anything related to birds…

{dove bobby pin // revisions design studio}{PATCH NYC // west elm}

{great & small coin purse // anthropologie}{wise guy wall art // elly nelly}

{antiqued owl // anna kiel jewelery}{chickadee paper clips // modcloth}

{gold finch rug // thomas paul}{bird in flight earrings // ruche}

❤❤❤

and their cages…

{young hearts card // the great lakes}{plywood mobile // ferm living}

{antique bird cage // soozer loser ny}{bird cage stamp set // velocity}

{fly free tee // modcloth}{aviary shower curtain // urban outfitters}

{birdcage ring // dillondesigns}{gilded birdcage tote // branchhandmade}

❤❤❤

what’s your obsession confession?

xo Alison

p.s. i’m totally handling the penguin’s defeat in stride. and by stride i mean…

waking up crying // spending the last 36hrs in sweatpants // living on carbs and chocolate // lying on the dining room floor, wrapped up in my gigantic pens blanket, with peter gabriel singing “i think it’s going to rain today” on repeat // cycling between lusting after don drapper + lee adama // listening to the saddest coldplay songs // sigh.