a minor soy miracle.

While away for a year in australia, I learned to like, then LOVE coffee. but not just coffee. Lattees, cappuccinos, mochas, macchiatos... However, ne pas de cows milk for this lactose intolerant wimp. In Oz, no problem. Every single café had soy coffees as well. Even McCafés. In montreal, not so much. Rather; hardly ever......

But today, after brunch, just when I had given up on my desire to indulge in the day's coffee, ALAS, club social had a lovely, tasty, foam-heaped-on-top soy-capp for me.

I love you Club Social. Can we be BFFs?





(oh, and also good: Chatting with badtoothed strangers about soccer.)

(and Lindt Chilli Chocolate)


photo from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cappuccino_in_Tokio.jpg

and, Lemons.

Lemons bring me no end of joy. Definately one of my favorite ten things in the WORLD.


picture courtesy my friend Sarah's AMAZING holistic nutrition Blog. This week she has a great post on making yummy Lemon Granita with sugar alternatives. F'real people, check out her blog!!

When the city feels a bit more hospitable...

I was driving my moms car up st laurent blvd yesterday afternoon, and was stopped at the light where the exit-entrance for the St Laurent metro stop is. (that's a subway stop for you non-francos) This older woman stepped off the corner from where she had been in a looong line for the Bus#55, which takes you up the steep-hill section of the road just above the metro. She approached the window of the car in front of me, then looked a bit dissapointed and started to walk towards my car.

In an instant, I did that THING that city people do, I looked her up and down in an attempt to predict whether or not she was going to ask me for money. I hate having do this, but it comes second nature after so many years of city living... She looked safe enough, and could possibly have needed help of some kind, I wasnt going to wave her off just like that.

I rolled down my window, and she asked me, in wonderful quebec french, if she could get a lift a few blocks up the steeeeeep street; the bus had never shown (quel surprise), and she was on her way to visit her sick Aunt at the hospital.

So I forcibly overcame my modern sense of paranoia, and told her to jump in. I'll admit, I had flashes in my mind of her dropping the sweet voice, pulling out a gun, pointing it at me while saying "do as i say and no one gets hurt". Insead, we had a few minutes of lovely conversation about my moms car, and her sick aunt. She hopped out a few blocks later, and that was that.

Oh delicious Pad Thai from the faubourg, how I missed you.

So much so, in fact, that I used to tell friends in Australia about how tasty you are while they were busy drooling over their 'noodle box' pad thai. bleaaagh.

ONE good thing about temporarily living at home.

So here is the thing that made me happy today (and also very frustrated and elated and angry and uncomfortable and all kinds of mixed up feelings...)

Having a conversation with my dad where we ACTUALLY bonded and connected, and I feel he knows me better now, and I think I know him a bit better too.

Back from the depths!

Well well WELL! It has been a long time. In my last post I did mean summer '08, but here we are, summer '09, and I've just returned from a year of travel around Australia! The amount of happiness in my life has expanded to epic proportions over the past year, and I hope to share it with you guys through this blog in the days..months..years to come.

Lesson #1, happiness is best when shared.

much much muuuuch love,

claire