since we last met

i took these photographs…

find the rest on my flickr

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…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 :)

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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!

this weekend i

took these photos

check out the rest on my flickr

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finished this poem

Bridesmaids

Stuck in the hallways of our unplayed pianos
while you read Yeats in the bathroom
like some slow, backwards foreplay
we fast forward through until
it’s just cold linoleum in natural light
instead of brunch with phantom bridesmaids,
thinking of the undiscovered country
in the marrow of your expatriate bones,
the rug burn I mistook for a birth mark,
the scars you mistook for laugh lines,
until we are hypnotized
by our own dying diamonds,
coughing up our own dust.

— by me

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listened to this song (a lot)

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loved these things

// watching the pens beat the canes despite being without sid + geno

// the fact that ALL of my classes transferred from my current university to the university pittsburgh (yippie!)

// adding several lovely images to my tumblr

// spending my friday night in cleveland watching my brother play in the pit for a show at playhouse square

// snacking on baked chips + strong coffee + baby carrots

// lusting after this gorgeous onyx gold leaf necklace

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what were you up to this weekend?

xo Alison

p.s. there’s a new-ish post up on my personal blog!

yet we still walk

A POEM + AN ANNOUNCEMENT…

Pine Cones

That was the night you talked about the moon
telling me it wasn’t really a moon,
but the Earth in the future
suspended in prescience,
as we ignored the baleful warning
and hung our wet stockings
on the goodnights of little children,
mistaking its foreshadowing for tidal waves.

And that was the morning I believed
in your gravity more than my levity,
when we watched geese re-alphabetize themselves
above our 3-speed Gran Torino,
unwrapped the plastic of a gas station
cheese danish and ate it
off the dashboard, writing the ballad
of the gum wrapper paper airplane
that crashed on its maiden voyage
out the back passenger window
into the pine cones down below.

We didn’t know that the calendar
would bring winter that would break
through The Sun Sessions record
into a soft, perpetual night
that chides my shoulders like a schoolmate,
when all the dogs have gone to bed
yet we still walk like lovers do,
naming every star Elvis
and every street sign home.

— by me

photo credits: one. two.

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hello, darlings! i thought it would be appropriate to post a some of my own work today because i have an announcement to make:

yesterday i received a very wet + crinkled acceptance letter from the university of pittsburgh!

i decided quite some time ago that i wanted to look for another university than the one i am currently attending to finish out my undergrad in creative writing. i decided on pitt (for many reasons) last year, but haven’t mentioned it too much because i am a huge believer in jinxes and messing with the universe. but the letter finally came, so i can finally share how THRILLED i am with you all. i’m going to pittsburgh!

i’ll be moving in august, and living on my own for the first time ever. i’m the standard amount of nervous + excited + nervously excited, and i’m also uber happy to know that i have all of you to share my upcoming adventures + experiences with. so thank you for all your love, support, and congratulations in advance! i wish we could have one gigantic meet-up so everyone could partake in the celebratory risotto + wine we’re having at my house, but since we can’t i’ll just send out several virtual hugs to you all :)

hope you’re all having a brilliant day!

xo Alison

this week…

I LOVED

remembering MY roots

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small, SPECIAL things

// hot cinnamon tea + pineapple sherbet + mexican rice (not together)

// solutions by real simple a.k.a. the #1 book on my wish list

// my new mp3 player that’s a lovely shade of purple + clips on my coat

// discovering just how wonderful charles wright’s poetry is

// browsing the beautiful pieces over at sumiko shop

// my medieval europe course, which is my favorite this semester so far

// this equally delightful + beautiful stream of photographs

// the words remnants, volcano, prescience and indigo

// watching jordan staal reach a whole new level of awesomeness during the game against the habs last wednesday (which we won 5-2)

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three GORGEOUS images

{untitled by kyle scully // 226 by julian  bialowas // vintage 60s dress by persephone vintage : via EZ}

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well, that’s one week of the spring 2011 semester down, and fourteen more to go. i’m happy to report that professor/classmate/logistics wise things are, overall, pretty dandy. :)

what did you LOVE this week, my darlings?

xo Alison

bury the beat no. 17

today i love…

// the fact that i’m pretty smitten with all my new classes this semester

// this amazingly gorgeous ring by fuss jewelry

// making it home safely despite the horrific snow storm we’re having

// the little things in life, like a rug i’ve been wanting forever going on sale

// that the penguins get a chance at redemption in montreal tonight

// reading charles wright poetry and drinking hazelnut flavored coffee

// looking through gorgeous artwork by julianna swaney

// this canadian indie rock band i just can’t turn up loud enough…

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE

here’s where you can find broken social scene

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how are you doing today? is it dreadfully snowy where you are?

xo Alison