Double Exposure

As predicted, my second weekend was just as lovely and languid as its predecessor.

Firstly, can we talk about how nice weekends are? I miss A LOT about being in school, but one thing I do not is the lack of guilt-free weekend time. My last semester especially was devoid of an entire day off ever (I only took a weekend of reading-week off, aside from that it was my carrel for 10 hours each day), so doubling up as I just did was especially delicious and delectable.

On Saturday I slept in, spent some time on the interwebs, and then hightailed it over to Lilly's fabulous back yard for some extra doses of sangria and friendship. Lilly, Nathan, Kesha, and I then took in the sights and sounds of a closed-off St. Laurent. This has to be one of the highlights of Montreal in the summer. I love a closed-off street, be it for block parties or big summer festivals. We took full advantage of Café Republique's makeshift patio and the open doors of a Yeh Yogourt whilst on our little meander too. The long walk up and then back down (through more pedestrian streets and parks) was also quite called for after a healthy (read: not healthy) dose of waffle fries and frozen yogurt.

St. Laurent - not packed but definitely popular

Montreal is certainly good at green space, no?

Sunday fell upon much the same lines. More sleeping in (apparently my internal alarm clock is tuned to 11:00 and no other time), and then un peu de shopping and then eating at the lovely Café Theatre. This lovely little endroit is just around the corner from my place, and it makes a killer club sandwich, y'all. I'm talking avocado and cranberry sauce all up on that mother. It becomes a bar at night too, so the gang are thinking of making this our Cheval Blanc of the west.

Café Theatre in all its kitschy glory

Love the decor of this place!

I didn't entirely bring the house down, but I did find the dress I'm going to wear to Lindsey's wedding later this summer and a killer 50s-inspired nautical shirt. I seems as if, at least in the realm of fast fashion, 60s and70s are à la mode maintenant and the only way to get your hands on 50s-inspired stuff is through lingering nautical trends. There are some styles I quite like from the later decades (especially in hair) but clothing-wise the best for me is definitely mid-century.

Everything that summer calls for: halters, sweethearts, gold buttons, stripes, and cinched waists

I think it has a lot to do with what I studied. I know it's super simplistic, but the 50s just seemed like such a magical time in Canada. There was booming post-war population growth and construction, and at least in film and visual media (my areas of historical specialty) a very simple, positive, optimistic, and hardworking ethos pervaded throughout. It also seemed like a really interesting time to be a Canadian. There were still really strong ties to Britain, but on the whole the nation was trying to figure itself out as it's own independent place - much on the back of Canadian soldiers' heroism and good work during the war.

All of this to say, I like my new shirt.

Dreaming of stripes, florals, heels, and requisite manhattans,

Your friend Lina