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!

these moments

this long weekend i…

:: enjoyed the incredible early fall weather

:: spent a semi embarrassing amount of time on netflix.com watching awesome documentaries + rare jamie bell movies

:: listened to a lot of mumford & sons // sondre lerche // heligoats

:: managed to be both productive and restful

:: remembered why misha collins in a god among men

:: drank too much french vanilla coffee + ate too many no bake cookies

:: captured these moments…

how was your weekend?

xo Alison

p.s. one month until the penguins’ regular season starts. wooooooot!

morning coffee + dying blooms

{by mwashin}

as you may have noticed, at the start of every month i post about what’s been on my mind for the last four weeks. it’s a way to recapture, remember, and solidify what i did + loved + experienced during the previous month. september is a very special month, though, so to me it deserves something a little different. even though there are technically a couple weeks left summer, with the start of school + the change in weather, the start of september always feels like the start of fall, so i figured today was the perfect day to collect a string of moments from the summer season as a whole, moments that when i look back on 2010, i will think…

that was the SUMMER when…

* i wrote my best poetry

* i let my hair get ridiculously long, like small of my back long

* i started both a tumblr + and a twitter

* i put hanson’s shout it out on daily rotation

* i didn’t get to see jack or john in concert, which ended up being okay

*i found out i wasn’t as interested in psychology as i thought

* i had my heart broken by sergei gonchar

* i traveled nowhere, except a few day trips to pittsburgh

* i purged four trash bags worth of irrelevant things from my past

* i watched a ton of movies, some good but most bad (sigh)

* i made local natives // the tallest man on earth // balmorhea // mumford & sons // damien rice // sondre lerche the soundtrack of the season

* i organized my life around my mother’s oncology appointments

*  i re-watched veronica mars + sports night + 30 rock each all the way through

* i bought an embarrassing number of purses

* i ate clementines + crusty bread consistently

* i took a thousand photos of  morning coffee + dying blooms + the sky

* i read charles bukowski for the first time

* i was convinced the NHL regular season would never come

* i learned the importance of taking risks

* i fell in love with the wonder that is IKEA

* i welcomed two adorable vagabond cats into our family

* i marveled at the beauty of brandywine falls

* i heard hanson perform madeline + save me live for the first time ever

* i didn’t post for two full weeks, and came back a better blogger

* i said goodbye to billy guerin

* i took these forgotten photos…

when you look back on this summer, what will you remember?

xo Alison

twitter | tumblr

you sail to the sky // on the crest of a wave

the plan :: to take full advantage of the perfectly sunny 70 degree weather, outrageously gorgeous skies, and open schedule by driving up to brandywine falls for the first time since early spring

the supplies :: starbursts + arizona ice tea + cheap flip.flops + a legal pad

the soundtrack :: nick drake //sondre lerche // random showtunes

the photos ::

what kind of adventure did you go on today?

xo Alison

the attributes of light bulbs

{source}

i can’t help but giggle at the fact that after i write a post about not blogging consistently, and being excited to get back into the regular posting groove, i don’t get to blog the very next day. i have a very good excuse though, and it rhymes with BLIKEA.

yep. that’s right! yesterday i made the mini-trek to the penguins’ homeland with some of my favorite people to buy plastic oddities with brands that end in offt and start with kvar. IKEA is like my nirvana. my most geeky, anal-retentive side comes out in full force, and i spend most of the time caressing the curtains and singing, to the tune of “maria” from west wide story “ikeaaaaa, i’ve just met a girl named ikeaaaa…”. obnoxious, i know. i have the pinch marks to prove it. i also have new floral place mats + grayish blue dishes, a couple of rectangular accent lamps, three canisters, and two little side tables. i was so overwhelmed by the humidity + low prices + saturday crowds i didn’t take a single photo, though. next time i will for sure. the lamp section alone was like free porn.

this weekend i also loved

one. listening to sondre lerche’s heartbreak radio as the fog rolled in from the southwestern pennsylvania topography, making me feel like i was back in california, driving down to avila beach in the weekend morning light

two. watching CATS for the first time in forever, feeling six years old as i sang lyrics i didn’t know i still remembered

three. coca-cola cake baked by the hand of god

four. just about everything over at thistle & clover

five. random conversations about m.c. escher, jason for home movies, and the attributes of light bulbs

six. late night tetris tournaments

seven. an adorable set of elephant measuring cups from pier one

eight. the mad genius of anthony lister

nine. these photos from my garden

ten. my final poem from my poetry class

Life Jackets

I closed my eyes as you traced letters
with purpose onto my palm,
guessing tortoise when you misspelled turquoise.
We waited for the moon to vomit blood,
knowing what you wanted to spell
was not orange juice or January,
but oh, baby don’t hurt me.

There was nothing sexy
about the twin bed from your boyhood,
not even its sincerity.
Not even the fresh linen
that made my skin
struggle against itself
until there was nothing else to do
but to get out of it entirely,
your whisky breath on my wrist
your pants on the doorknob.

You forgot your dress socks on our bedspread,
and I regretted the wrinkled black skirt.
You held my hand during the service
as they read W.H. Auden and told
the Arizona story,
but I couldn’t find a pulse.

I rewrote the historical markers,
changing their dates to our dates,
their history to our fairytale,
remembering when you used to slow down
so I could memorize the heroes,
imagine petticoats and count canal locks,
our dialogue replaced with the engine
of your uncle’s El Camino.

Making lists like life jackets,
as though muffin mix and coffee
would keep the salt out of our mouths.
We talked about movies like strangers,
avoiding each other’s eyes
as the check out girl tapped out the baseline
to What is Love? with a candy cane.

— by me ❤

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what ten things do you love about your weekend?

xo Alison