Last week I shared some favorite images from our two days spent in Québec City, today I’ll share some favorites from Montréal.  We had only a day and a half to spend there but oh what a marvelous city!  We were equally charmed by our explorations around town on foot.  

There are wonderful sculptures and fountains around the city, which gave it a European feel but it reminded me of a combination of Paris and San Francisco too with its winding streets above town, vibrant shopping districts, and energetic vibe.

There’s a wonderful old section of town which will transport you to another place in time, it felt just like Paris with its street artists, cafes, and classic French architecture. 

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If you follow me on Twitter, you know our return flight was canceled on Saturday and we were delayed in New York City until Monday morning, but violins played for about 5 whole seconds when I realized the delay meant we had an entire extra day to explore the city.

Matt and I split up for a few hours on Sunday after a perfect brunch, him taking the kids to some mega toy stores, brave soul.  Funny how the critters don’t complain one bit about walking 12 blocks when the destinations are: 1. Lego, 2.  American Girl, and 3.  FAO Schwartz.   I left Matt at Lego in Rockefeller center after I witnessed my boy giving the Legos the same look as Carrie Bradshaw does to Blahnik pumps.  Priceless.

I spent the afternoon (alone, amen) visiting stores all over the upper east side, from Fifth to Park to Madison Avenues, to stare at the fall fashion.  I popped into three favorites for designer labels: Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdales, and Barneys where price tags go up into the thousands, but just like in home design, I love shopping high end to get the look for less back home.

Most of the fashion this season felt very 80s inspired from cropped leather jackets to colored jeans, but it’s been reinvented and is more tailored this time around.  Here’s a look at some of the big trends in fall fashion spied on the streets and in the stores in New York City !

Lace - There were so so so many lace dresses and tops in the collections this year, I’m sure we will see a lot more of it during the holiday season, lace is back big time, the skirts and dresses were especially flirty and fun.

dress/top/skirt/blue dress/red dress

Electric Blue.   Wow this color was in 80% of the stores, I couldn’t believe how much of electric blue (or royal blue) was on display in both men’s and women’s fashion, and it was mostly paired with black.  It’s a saturated or vivid version of cobalt and it’s everywhere.

sweater/bag/dress/shoes

When I see this color I can’t help but think of the scene where Miranda lectured Andy in The Devil Wears Prada  on how her blue sweater is cerulean blue.   Didn’t you love Meryl in that movie?  Brilliant as always.

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Last week, we were on vacation on a whirlwind trip to New York City and then a road trip north across the border to two places we’ve always dreamed of visiting, Montréal and Québec City.  We loved both!

After visiting, I have discovered Québec City to be one of the most beautiful and charming places in all of North America.  (Pics from Montréal next week).  Québec City is so European in feel and flavor, we absolutely loved our days spent roaming the winding brick and cobblestone streets.  It’s one of those places where if you allow yourself to wander, around every bend you discover something new and completely enchanting.

We spent most of our time in the old part of town which is filled with colorful homes and small hotels with European flair, the architecture featuring dormers, lanterns, and window boxes aplenty.

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Meander down the streets and you’ll find block after block of historic buildings, restaurants, and shops to explore.

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We’re sightseeing today in a mystery city, and I’m so excited to be exploring the architecture here.  Summer is the height of travel season, and in years past we would forego a faraway vacation - not this year!  One of my good blog friends toured Spain recently and his pictures of Barcelona took me back to our travels there many years ago.  No doubt since we’re all watching the Summer Olympics, you’re admiring the modern structures built for the event in London.

I’ve had a long time love affair with grand architecture.  We used to travel abroad a lot before the babies were born, once I even I climbed all the stairs to the top of the cupola above St. Peters in Rome (while six months pregnant!) and the stairs to the Eiffel Tower too.  Earlier this week, we took the kids to another famous monument and they loved it!  They’ve got their father’s climbing syndrome, he’s always looking up and asking “How fast can we get to the top?”  :)

We try to grab a souvenir of monuments, some are small, others are art prints still in tubes waiting to be framed someday.  We’ve seen some iconic structures over the last 15+ years, my favorites include La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Il Duomo in Florence, and the Coliseum in Rome.

Photo series via Third Floor Design on Etsy

The two l want to see in my lifetime are the Parthenon in Athens and the Taj Mahal.

watercolor by Bohemian Habitats

Today I thought I’d feature a few architectural watercolor prints and city views found on Etsy – be sure to check out the shop portfolios, they have a lot more to see!

Flatiron, NYC by Ilker Cocahan

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