over my heart

via my instagram: byalisoncooper

over the last few days

// the weather skipped spring altogether

// i spent a lot of time walking around my neighborhood

// blooming trees bloomed

// i ate a lot of clementines + warm, buttery naan

// i went back to ohio for 12 hours, cut my hair, saw funny friends, supported my brother's show, & spent more time in the car than not (but it was worth it)

// herman melville and i developed a love/hate relationship

// i took pictures of strangers

// i watched sidney crosby play hockey

// glen hansard continued to win over my heart with his music

// i spent too much money on candles

// i thought about using the pen name hickory st. james

// i refused to put my favorite snow globe away

// and i totally neglected my blogging friends' wonderful blogs (sorry!)

what have you been up to?

xo alison

where would it be

sid is back.

(which makes me so happy i can't even talk about it)
community is back.
(ditto)

i've put my heavy sweaters away.

i've given into iced lattes.

the weather is outstanding

and all i want to do is write in my favorite cafes

and eat semi-sweet chocolate and mandarin oranges for dinner

and maybe spend a day in nature

a day totally void of sidewalks and bus stops,

cigarette butts and car alarms,

just red buds on trees

fields of something

and maybe a babbling brook or two.

doesn't that sound nice?

if you could spend a day doing something small + simple

what/where would it be?

xo alison

nights with allen

via my instagram: byalisoncooper

tonight was a french onion dip + ruffles for dinner kind of night.
the apartment smells like vanilla and amber and my brain feels full.
the weather is supposed to be warm + rainy all week
which i'm more than okay with.

i'm also more than okay with
smith's rosebud salve
really friendly bus drivers
yogi's green tea kombucha decaf
saturday nights with allen ginsberg
striped tops for spring
being four points away from the top spot in the east
and having an extra hour of sunlight in the evening
to walk around my neighborhood
and capture small moments like the ones above.

so what are you doing with your extra hour of sun?

xo alison

miles away

via my instagram: byalisoncooper

it's been a cycle of work-class-study recently.

picking out ciabatta for customers, taking notes on the black plague, reading melville.

pricing plum tomatoes, discussing 1960s marxism, writing about writing.

it sounds pretty swell.

and it is.

but being so close to finishing up this bachelors degree thing...

it's also pretty exhausting.

i know in my head the finish line is really not that far

but right now it feels like it's miles away,

which is how these things usually go.

anyway

i've been trying to chug along with some help from things that make me smile

like a dozen mandarin oranges in the fridge

sephora super supreme body butter

a weekend with my mom

green tea on cold nights

netflixing doctor who

and sid being cleared for contact

you know, the little things.

what are your little things?

xo alison