Where have all the hipsters gone?

where have all the flowers gone?

Williamsburg, Brooklyn may well be recognized as the "influential hub of hipster culture" but the corner of St. Viateur and Casgrain, in Montreal's Mile End (Canada's hipster capital), is hot on its heels.

Hot on the heels of a falafel sandwich from The NEW Green Panther, I headed further east on St. Viateur Street than usual last week and discovered the most amazing NEW bohemian micro-neighborhood.

Of course, I fear an imminent hipster invasion.

Like all hipster hoods, the area is in an old working class, industrial one known as the schmatta (garment/textile) neighborhood and used to be populated by Eastern European, Greek and Portuguese immigrants.

These days it's full students, artists, eccentrics and a few remaining Hassidic Jews. 

While creeping gentrification is a concern, the micro-neighborhood still features a slew of traditional social clubs as well as an old Polish church. (Though it must be noted that said church does, in fact, play host to a hipster music festival.)

St. Michael's

It's a special blend of old and new. 

Much like the hispter itself.

Appropriated from the 1940's jazz scene and used by hepcats cooler than the cat's pyjamas, the term hipster was originally used to describe "a generation (...) suddenly rising and roaming America, serious, bumming and hitchhiking everywhere, ragged, beatific, beautiful in an ugly graceful new way--a vision gleamed from the way we had heard the word "beat" spoken on the street corners on Times Square and in the Village (...)--beat, meaning down and out but full of intense conviction," Jack Kerouac.

With the hipsters leaving Brooklyn for cheaper and more bohemian domiciles, how long will it be before my new favourite micro-neighborhood gets invaded and loses its delicate balance - and cool?   

crooklyn brooklyn

But back to my falafel sandwich and whence it came.

Vegan and organic, The Green Panther is "a fresh, dynamic project whose main goal is to develop a more sustainable way of living in today's urban reality by supporting and creating local alternatives, though the use of organic produce (local when available), recycled materials and by raising awareness." 

The sandwich I shared with the Original Mile End, or OME, hipster contained an addictive mix of falafels, cabbage, carrots, pickles, sauerkraut and tahini. 

 the OME hipster

We enjoyed it outside, in the sun, at the corner of old and new.  

 

It isn't easy... being green

Just ask Kermit.

"i think it's what i want to be"

Since summer's very sudden demise, I have felt, no heard, my inner voice telling me, no screaming at me, that it's time to get healthy.

Sure... summer was fun with its hot dogs and hamburgers, its Caesars and Pina Coladas, its late nights and early late mornings, but let's face it: the party... is over. 

we can't stop

I don't know what it is about the change of seasons that makes me feel like I need to take charge of my life, both inside and out, but since the sudden drop in temperature (it feels like the entire city of Montreal took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge) I've taken a few steps to get healthier.

For starters, I've become an oil puller. In traditional Ayurveda (or Ayurvedic medicine), oil pulling is credited with everything from whitening teeth to detoxifying the body.  

If swishing sesame oil for 20 minutes is good enough for Deepak Chopra it's certainly more than good enough for me.

I'm also on a 15-day cleanse for "first time" cleansers. Even though I'm not a "first time," uh, anything, I figured a nice, gentle cleanse would be a good way to get the ball rolling, so to speak. Consisting of burdock root, blessed thistle, Norwegian kelp and more (lions and tigers and bears, oh my!), the cleanse claims to "detoxify the body through it's seven channels of elimination."

Seven???

I'll be sure to update you on the functions of my liver, lungs, kidneys, blood, skin and lymphatic system at the end of the month!

While the First Cleanse program is designed to work on its own, certain dietary and lifestyle changes are obviously recommended.

Gone are the hot dogs and hamburgers, the Caesars and Pina Coladas, the late nights and early late mornings. In their stead are cabbage and kale, water and detox tea, early nights and early late mornings (nobody's perfect).

Speaking of kale...

"it's like a really bitter spinach... with hair"

Kale propaganda (and bragging) aside, I recently came across a really great recipe for kale chips on Oh She Glows, an award-winning vegan recipe blog. While the green goddess' recipe calls for nutritional yeast, garlic powder and onion powder, I left those out and made the best nearly all-dressed kale chips with kale, extra virgin olive oil, chili powder, paprika, salt (not Himalayan) and pepper.    

They tasted A LOT better than they look... trust me!

In addition to feeding myself with foods guaranteed to help me glow for the inside, I've also been working out. 

Regularly.

Umm... for two days.

After two at-home workouts I'm confident (ha!) that I can get through one not-at-home workout without passing out. As such, I'm going to try a sweat session at the Midtown Sporting Club this afternoon. If that works out and I can still walk, I may try a free Pilates ballet bar class at Tres Studio Barre later this week.

Even though pointing my toes gives me cramps.