Apologies all! I thought this was posted mid-July, but it wasn’t. Here it is now, without further ado!

Summer is festival season in Montreal, as many of you many know, and so we’ve been trying to hit as many as we can. I mentioned a couple entries ago that Jon’s sister, Ashley, fresh from high school graduation, has come to stay with us for a few months. She’ll be taking classes in Ohio for a couple years before transferring up here to get a degree in photography. While she’s here, Jon has set her up internships with photographers so she can get her feet wet while learning the city.

Yesterday, she watched the set-up of the International Jazz Festival while shadowing a photographer from the Montréal Gazette. It’s huge (the largest jazz festival in the world),  attended by 2 million people each year according to Wikipedia. I also learned from the Wikipedia entry that there are more than 500 concerts typically offered, with 350 of those outside and free to the public. The festival started June 30 and ends July 12.

The festival opened with the legendary Stevie Wonder on June 30, which we definitely had to check out. He was actually one of the outdoor, free-to-the-public concerts. Can you believe it?

Stevie Wonder (photo thanks to the Montreal Jazz Fest website, linked here.)

The concert was packed by the time we got there, so we ended up on a spill-over stage with a giant screen showing the concert. It was awesome, even if we had to watch on a screen. We left mid-way through after it started to rain, but still enjoyed the show. He made a beautiful tribute to Michael Jackson, and even played a few Michael Jackson songs.

more after the jump

For more information, including maps, travel and accomodation information, concert listings, and even free desktop wallpapers, check out the official website here.

We did attend a smaller music festival last weekend in Old Port, and found that the smaller stages that were tucked away actually had the better musicians. Isn’t it funny how that works? We were also highly entertained (at least I was) by a street magician whose act I still can’t figure out.

We’ve also seen two movies being filmed, both of which we think must be smaller films. One was downtown near Old Port, and they were trying to transform Montreal into New York for the movie, complete with posting a sign in a park that read “Central Park”, NYC cabs (not official ones), and cars with New York plates parallel parked along the street. The other movie was actually being shot in our neighborhood, with a very long line of trailers parallel parked down the street for a couple days. One was marked “make-up”, and others had the actor’s names on them, which was definitely exciting. No one we recognized, and we’re not all that hopeful that we’ll find out what movies were being filmed. If you know, though, please leave a comment!

Since there was a long hiatus in our posts, I’m going to try to catch up on what we’ve missed. First, we went to a Marché du LABoratoire Créatif, a fashion sale featuring designers from Quebec at Ailes de la Mode, held by LABoratoire Créatif. Check out their website for a listing of designers, future fashion shows, events, clothing and products to buy, and more. The sale was awesome, though not nearly as big of an event as we were expecting. Without knowing what to expect, though, we definitely enjoyed it and I’ve become a fan of LAB Créatif. At least several of the designers featured were actually at the show, and I did end up buying a really cute dress/tunic. The designers featured included:

Meg Couture | Cluc Couture | Ève Gravel | Grob | Judy Design | Lilidom | Station 8 | Ysol | Annie 50 | J’bouj | NKI | Mir Handbags | Mode Cherry Bobin | Valérie Dumaine | Véronique Miljkovitch | KSL | Atelier B | WillBe Design | Dita & Bella | Extenso 14 + | Ruelle | Oöm Ethikwear | Atelier Héricher | Ressac

All of the above are links to each designer or company’s website, so check them out! Click “more” for a sneak-peak of the designs.

Typically there are well over 500 concerts offered during the span of 10 days, from noon to midnight, about 350 of which are outdoors and free to the public

So we apologize, yet again, for falling off the wagon with the blog. Jon’s sister, Ashley, who just graduated high school, has been staying with us for the past few weeks and will be with us a few more weeks. She’s checking out schools in the area and is interning at a few photography studios, as she plans to move to Montreal to study photography. She’ll begin classes this fall back in Ohio, but wants to transfer in a couple years.

In other news, Beau is badly behaved as ever and we’re trying desperately to get him into obedience school. Between not getting calls returned and other complications, we think he will be able to start soon. Thank heavens!

Quebec flag, Canada flag, Montreal flag

And, last but not least, it is Canada Day again (tomorrow), and then the 4th of July a few days later. Funny how that works, isn’t it? Since many of our readers are American, and since I’ve heard jokes about how Canadians don’t know the national anthem (possibly the same way some American’s don’t), I’ve decided to post the lyrics. Here goes:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Thanks to Canadian Heritage for the lyrics, and to Flickr user P M M for the flag photo, taken in Old Montreal.

Tomorrow, which is officially Canada Day, we’ll be taking Ashley to the Canada Day parade that we loved so much last year. We blogged about it, so check the archives for pictures.

One more note, for Pam, Mom, Dad, and all the family members who have requested–we have not forgotten to post pictures of our apartment. We’ve been working on a few final details, but do promise to get pictures up soon. We’ll try to get at least a few posted this week, and more to come.

Thanks for your patience, and stay posted!

http://spacingmontreal.ca/2009/05/19/il-est-interdit-dinterdire/

Just to show everyone that Montreal isn’t QUITE the land of rainbows and butterflies that we sometimes portray it as…I read this disturbing article on one of my favorite Montreal blogs “Spacing Montreal”.

A 38-year old law student and mother of two was briefly arrested (read, handcuffed) and fined for not using the handrail on an escalator in the Metro.

Wow.  That’s all I can say.

To the uber-strict officer’s credit, it turns out it IS technically illegal to not use the handrail, which seems like another strange matter all it’s own.  But really…?  I guess from now on I’m never going to walk around with my shoe untied, since I certainly can’t afford a 500 dollar fine!

Wow, it’s been YEARS it seems since I’ve posted anything, so in order to avoid my account being deactivated or something I figured I would send out a brief update. Jen and I have been frantically working on the finishing touches of our apartment. We made much progress over this past three-day weekend (Victoria Day, for all you non-Canadians) and we’re as excited as EVER about our home.

We purchased a small herb garden and even a raspberry bush, and we got our fancy library set up and our guest room just about finished.

We’ll hopefully get some pictures up soon.

In other news Beauregard is still misbehaving, but certainly has enough good points to make it worth the trouble.

We will be heading back to Ohio in a few weeks for my younger sister’s high school graduation.

That’s all for now. If anyone is interested in understanding a bit more about why we have relocated to Montreal, I ran across this great little post this morning.

http://newurbanshapes.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/41/

Scroll down for the English version.

Beauregard and Jen

Meet Beauregard, our new Boston Terrier. He is 7 months old and filled with energy and kisses. It seems that now we see Bostons everywhere, but it’s probably just one of those things.

Jon and I started looking at different dog breeds not too long after we lost Zorro, just to ease the emptiness. We decided that a Boston Terrier would be a perfect fit, so we started looking. Since Bostons have a signature black-and-white coat, making them look like they are wearing tuxedos, the breed earned the nickname, “The American Gentleman”.

Thinking that a gentleman (or gentlewoman) deserved a distinguished name, and that an alliteration with the letter “B” for “Boston” would be appropriate, Jon and I put on our thinking caps and started to think of names. I picked Bernadette for a girl, and Jon picked Beauregard for a boy dog. (More than one person since then have mentioned being thankful the dog was a boy, fearing for a poor little girl dog named Bernie. But that’s beside the point)

More after the jump…

We found a promising listing on Craig’s List and took the bus out to St. Jean-sur-Richelieu to take a look at the puppy. We didn’t know the gender of Bernadette/Beauregard as we took a cab from the bus stop. Looking down at the map as we neared, Jon and I noticed that the house stood on a street named Beauregard. It also happened to be a few streets away from a street named St. Bernadette.

Our very uncanny choice of possible names definitely seemed like a good omen. Regardless of street names, though, little Beau won us over with lots of kisses and the rest is history.

Although, we did toy with the idea of getting two Boston Terriers, so there may be an epilogue to this story. Also, Jon became taken with this painting from Etsy, and it would be perfect to hang in the apartment if we had two Bostons. For now, though, Beauregard is plenty enough to handle on his own!

Boston Terrier thieves trying to get some bones

print of original painting by Brian Rubenacker, $12.99, rubenacker.etsy.com

Jon and I are so sorry for yet again another break in entries, but we are back and ready to post!

It has been crazy and eventful, to say the least, since our last entry. Our beloved dog, Zorro, died on March 24 from heart disease. Zorro was a part of our family and we miss him terribly, but we truly appreciate all the kind words and sentiments we have received from friends and family.

Zorro

We both wanted to post in the blog about him, but haven’t gotten around to actually posting an entry until now. Even beyond the grief of losing the little guy, this past month has been a whirlwind of navigating through the process of renewing our work permits (more on that later), handling taxes for both countries, a week-long business trip for Jon, and various other craziness.

More to come very soon.

We’re back! We are officially completely moved in, though we are still rearranging and settling in. Finally, we found a new tenant for our old apartment, and our lease is officially transferred (yay!). Also, Jon and I are both now on Twitter! My username is jen_in_montreal and Jon’s is jknodell. Feel free to follow us!

Yesterday, Jon and I tried Ange & Ricky, one of two Haitian restaurants (and small markets) nearby. We have already tried Marché Meli Melo, which is a Haitian grocery store with a carry out and a few tables in the back. The food is great, and Jon and I have quickly become fans. We figured it was time to try out Ange & Ricky, and it was amazing!

After walking in the door, we were greeted by Ange, who apologized for her English (once we informed her that our French is nonexistent), and offered us samples of the food. We ordered two trios: the goat and the vegetable with beef. Each came with rice and beans, two fried plantains, and salad. We stopped the minute we felt full, and managed to save half of each assiette (platter) for lunch. Thus we both had delicious lunches two days in a row!

Goat with rice, fried plantains, and salad; photo courtesy of Midnight Poutine

inside Ange & Ricky; photo courtesy of Midnight Poutine

Click below for the rest of the entry, photos, and location information for both Marché Meli Melo and Ange & Ricky.

Jon and I treated ourselves to a jar of spicy peanut butter, direct from Haiti (said so on the jar), and these dense little cookies fresh from Ange & Ricky’s kitchen. We first tried the cookies at Marché Meli Melo, and thoroughly enjoyed them, so we grabbed those as well! The peanut butter sounds strange (Jon loves almost anything with cayenne pepper) but is actually quite good. The burn is slow and more part of the aftertaste than the initial taste. I was skeptical, but a quick convert. Jon said it reminded him of the spicy peanut butter and banana sandwich platter at Surly Girl in Columbus, Ohio, which is served with marshmallows and chocolate milk.

outside view of Ange & Ricky, courtesy of Midnight Poutine

Ange & Ricky
195 rue Jarry Est, Montréal, QC H2P 1T4
(514) 385-6094‎

Marché Meli Melo
640 rue Jarry Est, Montréal, QC H2P 1V7
(514) 277-6409‎

While this is a Montreal blog, since I mentioned Surly Girl, it would only be fair to include its information as well. If you’re in the area, Jon and I highly recommend a stop. Order a Lindeman’s framboise for me!

Surly Girl Saloon
1126 N High St, Columbus, OH
(614) 294-4900

Lindeman's Framboise

Okay, sorry everyone for the lapse in action here at the blog.  Our schedules have been pretty crazy since Christmas.  We promise some updates soon as news develops.  The biggest news to date is the acquisition of a new apartment!

There was plenty of drama in our search, which is a blog post in itself.

In short, we found a great new neighborhood north of Petite Italie called Villeray.  It is an extremely diverse community with a mix of young and old representing 75 ethnic background! (another blog post in the making…)

I will close with some preliminary pictures of the place.  These images come straight from the classified ad.  The apartment is on the 3rd floor of a triplex.  And is a quintessential piece of Montreal architecture.  We have a nice front balcony as well as rear balcony, a master bedroom that will double as an office, a spare bedroom for guests, a nice entry way, living room, and large kitchen.  In addition, we’ll once again have our own washer and dryer!

More details to come.

Stay tuned!

Jon took me to an amazing Salvardoran restaurant in Villeray for my birthday yesterday. It may have been more casual than a traditional birthday dinner, but it was a perfect choice. I have wanted to go to Latin America, South America, or Africa to do (non-religious) missionary or relief work since high school, and El Salvador was the country I had originally planned on going. In short, Jon’s choice of a Salvadoran restaurant was just perfect.

The decor was very homey, the service quick and friendly, and the food delicious. I ordered for us in Spanish, which was very exciting for me, since I rarely get a chance to practice. We ordered off of the Salvadoran specialties menu, and ordered two tamales con pollo (chicken tamales), an order of fried yucca with steak and salad, and an order of platanos con frijoles y crema (fried plantains with beans and sour cream).

Fried yucca with steak

Platanos con frijoles y crema

For dessert, we ordered cemita con piña (a thin, dense cake with carmelized pineapple) and tres leches cake (a very moist cake made with three kinds of milk).

Tres leches cake

When Jon has his birthday in a few weeks, I’m definitely going to be making this for him. With how much he loves milk, it’s no surprise this dessert is a new favorite of his.

If you want to check out Las Palmas, don’t get it confused with the Columbian restaurant in Mile End, Las Palmas Cafétéria, which is also very well-reviewed. To get to Restaurant Las Palmas, get off at the Jarry metro and go right down Rue Jarry. It’s less than 2 short blocks on your right.

632 rue Jarry Est, Montréal, QC H2P 1V7, Canada‎ – (514) 270-7334‎

In case you’re interested in some Salvadoran recipes, check out this link.

I had a great birthday overall, though I know my family would have loved to celebrate it with me. My mom sent me a “birthday party in a box” complete with decorations, birthday plates and cups, and all the (shippable) ingredients for my favorite kind of birthday cake (and our traditional family birthday cake), chocolate lemon cake.

Thanks to everyone for all your birthday wishes!