One of my favourite characters from a film is Margot Tenenbaum portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow in The Royal Tenenbaums. Love this print by Stanley Chow that perfectly captures the character. And hey, I’m wearing a Lacoste shirt today, too… And I’m feeling a bit surly and reclusive. We all have our Margot Tenenbaum days, don’t we?

I’m a big fan of Bess from English Muffin. Not only is she a lovely person -  I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her – but she’s also super talented. Her illustrations, which are geared toward children, feature colours and shapes that have my imagination running wild. I can only imagine how much kids love her work. Bess’s latest addition to her online shop is a world map, which I am quite excited about. You see, world maps were my favourite things EVER as a kid; I was SO fascinated with travel and new places. So I’m seriously excited about the English Muffin version. Not that it’s on the radar for at least a couple of years, but I would really like my kids to have one of these. Someday. In the meantime, maybe I’ll buy it for me?

Ps. Also check out Bess’s lovely blog.

One of my favourite Quebec films from recent years is Incendies by Denis Villeneuve, so I was pleased that it was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign language film. It’s the story of two young adults who go back to their mother’s homeland – which is never named in the movie, but closely resembles Lebanon – to fulfil their mother’s death wishes. There are many surprises in store for them. It’s a movie about war and politics – some of the plot twists are loosely based on actual events from Lebanon’s history – but above all the film is about family and love. The storytelling is powerful and the cinematography is stunning. I highly recommend seeing this film if you can find it playing anywhere near you!

The trailer:

A few shots from the film:

Barcelona illustrator Judit García-Talavera has a lovely portfolio, among them this gem published in Elle Girl Japan.