Time well spent

Today was largely planned around visiting the Musée des Beaux Arts and taking this experiment for a test drive.

Surprised myself (hahaha) by spending $30 (real surprising) on a museum membership. IN MY DEFENSE, it's a kinda groovy deal if you do the math – membership lasts fifteen months and costs the price of two tickets. Plus, it also includes perks. Perks! (Still unclear what they are, actually, as I had myself a quick daydream when everything was being explained.)

With my newfangled pass in-hand, upstairs I went to check out the ahhhrtwork. Escalator doors parted to reveal a veritable MOB of elderly people waiting their turn to enter the exhibit, too. A kindly museum-worker informed me a tour bus had just dropped all these folks off for an excursion. 

Hell no, you guys. I struggle with big crowds. All that jostling and neck-craning and ducking around dozens of other moving bodies... not my jam. OK, I think, I’ll just zip out, take a walk, buy myself time.

Except, as I'm rounding the last corner on my way back, what do I see? A school bus parked out front of the museum, unloading high schooler after high schooler after high schooler.

It's possible the universe was conspiring against me.

I walked back down to Place des Arts, thirty friggen dollar museum ticket in my bag, and took a bus home. Let's try again tomorrow.

Bright side alert! I ate sweet potato tacos for lunch, so the day wasn't really all doom & gloom. Success! :D

Pencil shaving artwork c/o Marta Altés

Restaurant Things (Consumed Since Friday)

Friday 8:00PM -- Bombay Mahal (1001 Jean Talon Ouest)

- Samosa (because obviously)

- Veggie Thali conmprised of an ochre thing, a lentil thing, a carrot thing (note to self: get the gaddang names of the dishes, you lazy turkey) cooked a wonderful butter chicken-esque sauce, garden salad, and rice AND naan (!)

Me and the man have wanted to try Bombay Mahal for a long while. (Full disclosure: Josh had already been, but I hadn't, so I'll pretend we lost our BM flowers together.) However, Jean Talon/Acadie area is FAR when your chauffeur is a bus driver who doesn't care how inconvenient your "closest" stop is from the restaurant. But hurrah! Jdog recently acquired a car of his very own (way to go, you!) and I've been lucky enough to ride shotgun all over the place. (He even picked me up in TMR way early Saturday morning, after I was stood up for training at a children's art studio.) ANYWAY! Where was I? Food, I think. Wait, car -- yes, we had car access, and that car took us to a teeny tiny jam-packed byow (sadly we didn't know & weren't packing). Bombay Mahal is known for serving up the best Indian food in Montreal, so I should admit that my expectations were pretty high. The food was dang good! Favorite in the city? Honestly, it didn't quite edge out my number one (who said Bombay Choupati?), but it's possible that resto unfairly hogs the top spot for sentimental reasons (though I'm skeptical -- their butter chicken thali is crazy delicious). All in all, I think we both were pleased.

Wouldya look at this Slick Rick! :)

Saturday 9:00PM -- Bishop & Bagg (52 St. Viateur Ouest)

- A jerk chicken + jalapeno macaroni and cheese + cole slaw monstrosity
- Beer and more beer

Saturday, I inadvertently crashed a Boys Night. (You know the deal... all the other Significant Others bail & suddenly you're the odd wo/man out. Surely that's happened to other kids, too.) There was beer and hockey and general pub-yness, though nary a mention of boobies or bodily functions because they're gentlemen. Ordering dinner came more out of necessity than any strong desire to eat (overpriced, over-trended) bar food. But eat I did, and it tasted more than fine, so let's call it a win!

Sunday 1:00PM -- Pâtisserie Rhubarb (5091 de Lanaudière)

Fracken everything...
- Pumpkin & cheese focaccia with cream cheese
- "Continental Breakfast" (egg with soldiers, whipped yogurt with granola, vanilla apple sauce, and the yummiest/most buttery ham & cheese muffin thing)
- Crunchy caramel apple pastry thing

Love it or hate it or think it's stupid, BRUNCH HAPPENS SOMETIMES. And if you're gonna brunch, Rhubarb is the place to (over) do it. During the week, Rhubarb is a dainty little café slash pastry shop. Come weekend, they also serve this crazy-ass table d'hôte breakfast made of dreams (and butter, so much butter). Because the food looks so small and pretty, you don't think there's any way to leave full -- wrong. I made that rookie mistake on Sunday. Crammed every dish into my face thinking Imma need McDonald's after this. But by the time dessert rolled around (they just GIVE YOU FANCY DESSERT you guys!!), my stomach was stuffed and fighting hard against the extra grub. (I ate it anyway.)

Truthsicle: Sure, you get tons of tasty things for a fair price. Very cool. Even better, though, is the very scrumptiousness of the food. Great ingredients, interesting combinations, all delicately put together. Every dish is a pretty little present!

Holy crap, right?

Monday 3:30PM -- GaNaDaRa (1862 de Maissoneuve Ouest)

- Veggie bibimbap with tofu (yes, I'm that person)

GaNaDaRa (is the capitalization really necessary?) is straight up packed every time I pass by. So, color me thrilled when I passed its door yesterday afternoon and there wasn't a line! There were empty tables! I zipped right in. The bibimbap was pretty tasty, probably could've benefitted from more seasoning and/or meat. (The only other time I was there, I ordered the chicken katsu and it was off the hook tasty.) No photos of food this time, mostly because I was busy eavesdropping on the table of teenagers beside me. Drama was going DOWN.

Soooo that's that, folks. A certifiable food diary & testament to my deep-set aversion to cooking. The great news? You can eat at any of these places for under twenty bucks. Bon appétit!

Chilly walks

When I first embarked on work-leave (which wraps up real soon) (cue me freaking the frack out), it was so nice out! Sunny, hot even! I was walking galore & my jeans were starting to fit looser & life was every shade of magical. These days? Not... quite. It's fully cold out there. Upside: Hats, scarves, layers! Downside: Looming threat of winter.

Enjoy some photos of local rainbow trees while I go put pants on. If you squint hard enough at the first one, you can see the cross atop Mont Royal. I'm a goddamn artist, you guys. :P

Color Full

Wouldya get a load of these colors? The early afternoon was positively bursting with 'em! That is... until some rude, angry clouds came along and started spitting all over the place.

Top: Atwater market. So many future jack-o-lanterns (also, if you're my mom, thanksgiving table decor).

Middle: Yknow, some flowers.

Bottom: Stained glass at Charlevoix metro. Who knew a place that smells so strongly of urine could look so pretty.

Bonus round!...

Because after a girl meets her boyfriend across town for lunch, if said girl had zero willpower re: desserts (but mostly just frosting), then there will be cupcakes on the way home. I want to apologize so bad for being that person, sitting in a cupcake shop, taking a picture of her stupid order, but I'm not gonna say sorry. Even though I'm rolling my eyes at myself, I should also just embrace the fact that this photo happened and then the cake did and it was fucking delicious. You should go have one, too!

15 // Swish swish tap

Happy Tuesday, Martha Fockers! Recently, Montreal has alternated between raining us out and attempted murder by deep freeze. Who said you can wear sandals in August? Not me this summer, that's for sure.

 

But we sure kept ourselves busy this weekend, regardless of the mucky weather forecast. There was lots of at-home fun to be had: movies and tv shows, face masks, tea... you get the idea.

Among the weekend highlights was a tap show held last night at the Rialto Theater. What a stunning, exciting, and gorgeous dance form! Thanks to Josh and his extended family of hyper-talented artists, I've been lucky to see a nice share of tap performances. And yet, at the end of every show, I always wish there was more.

Sunday night was no exception. The upbeat energy was infectious. And the dancing! Not even my most deluded dream-dancer-self can imitate those moves. Truly incredible!! Congrats!