Remembering Allie
Allie’s Favourite Things
Whenever we remember Allie’s favourites we can remember her, and the way she savoured life. She loved the beach, good food, music and dancing, exploring new countries and art. One of her favourite musicals was The Sound of Music, and we have borrowed from one of Maria’s songs to say: “When I'm feeling sad, I simply remember (HER) favourite things, and then I don't feel so bad”. We would love to hear about any more of her favourites; please share them in our Share Memories section.
Beaches
Santa Monica Beach in Los Angeles where she lived as child, Sunset Beach in Vancouver and Crystal Cove in Newport Beach, California.
Travel Destinations
California, Vancouver, Italy, France, New York (the picture above is from Central Park in 2010). In fact, anywhere with a beach or museums and good food.
Bands, Singers and Songs
Barbra Streisand - Memory. Allie sang this song at her high school graduation dinner and attended a Barbra Streisand concert in Toronto with her mom in 2006.
ABBA - Dancing Queen, or any ABBA song! Allie was a famous dancer in flash mobs and at parties. We will always associate this song with her joie de vivre and love of music.
Adele, Crash Test Dummies, Annie Lennox
TV Shows, Musicals and Movies
The Oscars, The Good Wife, Mamma Mia! (movie and musical) Cats, and A Chorus Line which she saw on Broadway as a teenager.
Authors and Books
Any book by Isabel Allende; The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence and as a child Boxcar Children and Nancy Drew series.
Quotes
“Less is more” -Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Architect; “Lefties Rule!” - Grade 7 yearbook; “Not all those who wander are lost” - JRR Tolkien
Colour
Purple and all of its shades, including mauve and lavender.
Flower
Calla lilies, she had white ones for her wedding bouquet in 1996.
Artists and Architects
Frank Lloyd Wright, Kandinsky, Le Corbusier, and Klimt , especially the painting “The Kiss”
Museums
The Guggenheim Museum in New York although she also loved The Louvre in Paris and any modern art museum.
Foods
Italian, Sushi, Thai, Seafood ,Omelettes on Air Canada, Black Forest Cake, Cherry Pie and Trifle. Allie enjoyed cooking and baking for friends and family alike, nothing more famous than her homemade Tiramisu.
Things to Shop For
Unique gifts for friends and family, fashion, food and wine and bargains of any kind.
Ways to Play
She loved to play Tennis when she was growing up and Yoga, Running and Swimming especially after her cancer diagnosis in 2010.
Playing the Piano and Puzzles! She loved jigsaw puzzles and famously never looked at the box to solve them. She loved word games and valued all those that required quick thinking and quick acting.
Mythical Creature
Allie was an optimist and problem solver at work and in life. She was once famously told “It’s not all rainbows and unicorns!” but it only served to strengthen, not dampen her spirit. It is fitting that she is now forever linked to the unicorn, the most rare of earth’s creatures.
This word cloud was made from words from your condolence posts on her obituary. Thank you, we think you captured her spirit beautifully.