Mlle Magpie

Rachel's Shabby Chic Store in NYC

 

 

 

If you guessed Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic Shop as my favourite store in New York, you know me well. This store is smaller than her previous one in Soho, but still utterly pretty and delightful.

 

 

 

 

Love the vintage bicycle in the front window display with pretty ribbon-wrapped gifts.

 

 

 

 

A most eco-chic way to deliver one's Christmas gifts. Indeed, completely practical as there was no snow in NYC when we were there right after Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fabulous large inspiration board a la Rachel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Could have spent a lot more time browsing and enjoying this shop but I was with my teenaged son :)  I did manage to get my bestie a couple of small things that she wanted and I got some ruffled white bedding for myself that had been on my wish list for a long time. Sigh. So romantic and dreamy...

 

Mlle Magpie

NYC After Christmas

 

 

As I mentioned, my son and I flew to New York City for a few days after Christmas. We left Montreal in a snowstorm only to arrive to very mild weather in Manhattan. Truly a delightful break for my son and me.

 

 

Look at these pansies blooming in this courtyard garden!

 

 

Our hotel was on the Upper East Side, a short walk to Laduree on Madison Ave.

 

 

What a palace of pretty pastel confections! We went twice and both times there was a big lineup.

 

 

My son bought a couple of boxes of macarons for his girlie friends back home. Unfortunately I could not taste their world-famous macarons as I have an allergy to eggs, but I sure enjoyed being in this super pretty shop. It definitely reminded me of Paris.

 

 

 

A favourite place of mine to go every time I am in the U.S. is Whole Foods. Love this shop. This is where I always go to pick up my groceries when I travel (I cannot eat out due to a severe food allergy). I also like to pick up a little bouquet of flowers from their flower section which never disappoints. We went to the Whole Foods in Columbus Circle which is on the edge of Central Park and it was a veritable zoo there. The one near Soho was far more quiet and calm. 

 

 

My son picking out freshly made sushi for himself.

 

 

On our second day there we went to Soho, my favourite neighbourhood. I ADORE the Purl Soho shop!

 

 

Purl Soho used to be two tiny sliver-like shops on a little side street in Soho but has now moved to this gorgeous high tin-ceilinged space on Broome St.

 

Such a fabulous shop filled with all the best supplies for knitting and sewing! Thankfully they have an online shop too.

 

 

And finally, I want to take you to my all-time favourite shop in New York City, but I'm going to save it for a whole separate post...

 

Mlle Magpie

 

p.s. Can you guess what it is? Hint: it's also in Soho.

Happy New Year's Day!

 

 

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year's Day. May this first day of 2012 start to bring blessings to all of you that will continue throughout the year.

 

I somehow made it to Christmas relatively intact. Did you know that I danced in my ballet studio's Nutcracker performance in December?  Both of my daughters danced in the production as well. I was an angel and even got to dance the angel dance with my 11 year old daughter - how cool is that?!! My seven year old was a party girl and my older daughter also danced the Chinese dance en pointe. I was so proud of them.

 

On the homefront our new living room sofa that we had ordered arrived just in time for Christmas. Also, the snow arrived on cue a couple of days before Christmas so everyone was happy that it was a white Christmas. As for getting "everything done" by Christmas, I did not, but c'est la vie. For example, the Christmas tree never really got decorated very much, but on the bright side, much easier to take it down :)

 

We enjoyed the holidays here at home with my family from Toronto. A couple of days after Christmas I flew to New York City for a few days with my 15 year old son for some much needed one-on-one time. We did quite a bit of walking there and it aggravated a little knee injury that I had so unfortunately I ended up hobbling around Manhattan with a terrible limp. Not very cool, but kinda funny. 

 

I'm going to post about my favourite shops in NYC soon. Can you guess what they could be?

 

Mlle Magpie

 

p.s. hope you got to celebrate more than me last night - I had to drive the family to the airport at 5:30 (!) in the morning for their ski vacation in Fernie, British Columbia, where my husband used to go skiing while growing up in Alberta (I'm not a downhill skier so I didn't go; also, I've got that knee injury now which makes it hard just to walk...)

Can't Wait for Christmas

 

(downtown Montreal on a Saturday morning in December)

 

Whew, it's been beyond busy here lately. Work, family life and husband gone pretty much for last five weeks (in Korea, Japan, France and England!). That's why I've been pretty absent from the world of blogging. Lots of stuff has been going on, some bad, but mostly good stuff. Anyways, just need to make it to the Christmas holidays...

 

Mlle Magpie

Wild Still Life

 

 

 

On the table at our farmhouse. A little bit of wildlife that I found while hunting for vintage treasures a week ago...

 

Mlle Magpie

l'Atelier de Colette

 

 

 

While in Toronto a couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate to be able to squeeze in a quick visit to artist/teacher/friend Colette Copeland's wonderful atelier. It was so lovely to see her and walk around in her creating space - really, her studio reminded me of an atelier in Paris! Even the coffee she made me reminded me of a Parisian cafe.

 

 

 

 

Colette is SO talented. She is a regular contributor to the Stampington publications such as Somerset Life. It was such a pleasure to actually look around and see all of her interesting and beautiful creations scattered about her studio. I have already collected several of her creations over the past year from her Etsy shoppe and had actually planned to choose one of her paintings to bring back home with me. I ended up getting two (!) paintings which I adore. Not only that, Colette gifted me with a few special little creations of hers to take home too - lucky me!

 

Since it's been so crazy busy at work and at home lately, I haven't had a chance to figure out where to hang my treasures from Colette but I do look forward to sharing them with you in the future...

 

Mlle Magpie

 

Anniversary Roses

 

 

 

We are back from our long weekend visit to my parents' home. These are some of the 50 creamy white roses that I bought for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. They opened up beautifully over the weekend. I'm hoping they will end up drying out nicely so that they can be kept as a keepsake...

 

Mlle Magpie

Wedding Anniversary

 

 

 

Whew, somehow I survived the ultra busyness of September. It's been just crazy at work and at home with the kids. Fortunately we will get a bit of a break as this is the Thanksgiving long weekend in Canada and we will be off tomorrow to visit my family in Toronto.

 

 

 

We'll be celebrating my parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary en famille.

 

 

(vintage wedding cake toppers from my collection)

 

 

Being married for 50 years is quite the accomplishment in this day and age...

 

 

Mlle Magpie

 

Ballet Class Day

 

Fridays are my ballet class day. I had my first class a week ago and it took me several days to recover from that - my whole body was sore for several days. I just had my second class today and again, my other classmates did not show up so I had private lessons with Madame. Madame teaches the Russian method. With no one else in the big studio, I really have no where to hide :) It is intense, but very good.

 

 

 

 

Here is a peek at the change room of the ballet studio I go to. Worn out pointe shoe hanging from a vintage locker. Only the advanced students get lockers, so no locker for me.

 

 

 

 

 

I had to peek inside one of the lockers.

 

 

 

 

 

Love it!

 

 

Mlle Magpie

 

Never Too Old

 

(vintage photo, source unknown)

 

 

In a couple of days I will be attending my first ballet class in the studio where my two daughters have been taking ballet for the last several years.

 

I took ballet for a couple of years when I was young, but it is now about 35 years later and at the age of 47, I will be restarting ballet again. For many years I thought it was too late, but I've changed my mind :)  I will tell you how it goes...

 

Mlle Magpie