cafe névé.

 montreal was the time and place when and where i became solidified in the person i am today (definitely not even close to perfect and not entirely self-assured, but more solidified, sure...). there are things i remember more clearly than others. living with women who became inspirations to me. drinks and dancing in bars with friends. bike riding everywhere, absolutely everywhere. catching the 144 on snowy, messy days to arabic class every morning. my bed arranged so i'd wake up with the morning light on my face.

one of my most prominent memories exists in cafe neve, the little cafe just around the corner from our apartment, on Rachel. i went to Café Névé almost every day during my last year at McGill, when we were living up in the plateau on hôtel de ville.

i was worried that a return to Café Névé would burn me like so many other good memories that reach an unattainable level of perfection as they grow more and more distance in the past. however, once i was back in Café Névé, i felt incredibly filled with joy. i didn't want to leave.

i'm so happy i am able to share this beautiful café, memory, and stage of my life with you.
thank you for reading.
xoxo
Cara

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5 Things I Love Wednesday (Thursday?).

1. With Roots Jewelry.

image from With Roots Jewelry.

2. budding flowers

3. "every day" on Vimeo

EVERYDAY

from Gustav Johansson on Vimeo.

4. midi rings

image from shefinds.com.

5. meditation.
I started meditating recently at the recommendation of a friend. Specifically, I followed the Oprah & Deepak Chopra 21-Day Meditation Challenge. I found that this was an extremely helpful to for transitioning into meditation practice. I usually meditate before I go to sleep and I've found that the benefits of meditation have extended into the rest of my next day in that my stress level has reduced.

april 2013 mix-tape.

april mix-tape. from cara.m.hanley on 8tracks Radio.

"Ghost Train" - Summer Camp

"Red Sun" - Peter and the Wolf

"Cold Girl Fever" - The National

"A Girl in Port" - Okkervil River

"Life is Good Blues" - Laura Viers

"Made Up Love Song #43" - Guillemots

"Lift" - Doug Martsch

"Knotty Pine" - Dirty Projectors and David Byrne

montreal, finalement.

Montreal is one of my favorite places in the world. Having studied there for four years during my undergrad, Montreal became a home away from home. While back in Albany over the summers during college, I found myself finding any and every excuse to pack an overnight bag and cruise up the Northway.

My Montreal weekend started with meeting Jill, one of my best friends from college. We walked around the city and did a little unproductive shopping. 

After shopping, Jill and I crashed in our hotel room for a bit before dinner. Then we headed to Aux Vivres up near Avenue Mont-Royal. Aux Vivres is a restaurant that specializes in vegan cuisine. The food was so fresh and delicious. The flavors were so powerful and different! We met Mar, my old college roommate who I hadn't seen in over a year, at the restaurant.

Dinner was very late, as we waited in line for over an hour! We went out on Crescent that night and had a blast on the dance floor. Our night, as planned, ended eating poutine at Altos.

Jill left around noon the next day, so after dropping her off at her bus stop, I met up with Mar and we went poking around the Plateau. We used to live in the Plateau, near Rachel, so it felt so comfortable to be back.

We made sure to visit my favorite cafe in the entire world: Café Névé. We used to live right around the corner from it and I went there almost every day. Needless to say, I was a VERY happy camper! This cafe was such an important and wonderful part of my life in Montreal that I am going to dedicate a separate post to it!

The rest of our day consisted of walking through the Plateau neighborhood and stopping at vintage/consignment shops, the Souk, and an adorable tea shop.

An awesome collection of vintage Playboy magazines!

Once Mar had to return home, I couldn't bare to leave la belle ville just yet. I felt so alive there, like I was filling a void I wasn't entirely aware had existed beforehand. I walked down the familiar streets with my camera in tow and tried to capture the essence of a city which I realized I had missed more than I knew. It has been decided that I mustn't let such long spans of time go between visits. I plan on returning during the summer to romp around in the warmer weather, enjoy the Jazz Fest, sit outside on the back patio at Saint Sulpice, and go to Tam-Tams on the Parc Mont-Royal! I'm also tempted to go to Osheaga again... Anyone interested?

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Cara