The Paper Place

I first heard about The Paper Place (formally known as The Japanese Paper Place) in university. Our printmaking professors spoke of it like it was heaven. Anytime a gallery field trip to Toronto was scheduled the print students would head over to the Queen West location and come back with sheet upon sheet of beautiful Japanese paper. When I finally went I immediately understood what all the fuss was about. The store is gorgeous. Amazing printed paper as far as the eye can see. So you may think it weird that I would recommend this paper store as a great place to buy gifts. Well, you would be wrong. They have great little items imported from Japan (some things still have the yen price stickers on them!). Calendars, water bottles, ceramic, tons and tons of super cute little stationery items and nick nacks. Fantastic place for stocking stuffers. I went on the weekend... A purchase or two was made...

Let the countdown begin!

I love traditions. And Christmas brings out the child in me. So one of my favourite Christmas traditions is having an advent calendar. My Mom buys them for me and my sister every year. It's sort of our deal. I can't (refuse to) buy one for myself. It has to be from my Mom. And she will go to great lengths to ensure I get one. In university she would send Christmas care packages with advent calendars for me and all my roommates. The best was when she mailed one to me the year I was living in Japan. (She definitely wins the awesome Mom award!) The great thing is this is a very affordable tradition to continue. We get the supermarket advent calendars. I think they cost less then $2.00. So be sure to get your advent calendar this week, and let the count down to Christmas begin!

Assistance from a shopaholic...

All of my friends know that I love to shop. LOVE. IT. When it comes to buying gifts, I take a lot of time considering what to get someone. I search. I scout. I go on reconnaissance missions. I'll think I've found the perfect gift. Then I see something else. Now the debate begins. Which item is better. Which one will the recipient like more? Oh how I agonize! And yet, I still love shopping and buying gifts for people! And not to toot my own horn (toot toot!), but I think I'm pretty good at it! It's not uncommon for friends to ask for my assistance when buying gifts for their loved ones. So, I thought I'd be helpful to everyone this year! Over the next couple weeks, I'll be posting my gift ideas and favourite stores so you can easily shop for everyone one your list! And if you are searching for someone in particular, please feel free to post a question!

(the photo is part of Holt Renfrew's fabulous holiday window display. Famous fashion influencers in snowmen form. Too cute!)

It's one of a kind!

I try to go to the Christmas One Of A Kind Show every year. It's a great place for gift shopping. But it can be overwhelming. There are a LOT of vendors. A lot of stuff. If you try to look at every booth, you'll be there for ever. I like to power shop. So to help you make your trip to the show a little easier, here are some of my favourites:

There are tons of food vendors. And almost all of them have samples(!) The Bean Ladies and Tickleberry's are always crowd pleasers. Great for stocking stuffers. Wicked Gourmet makes fantastic dips and sauces - and they have some great deals available at the show. My new favourite is Sohot Sauce (Cilantro Sutra was the best!) You also can't go wrong with cookies from Mad Batter Bakers.

If you're in the market for cute baby and children's stuff, Mally Bibs makes the most adorable leather bibs. For clothes, check out Red Thread Design. And then there is Monster Factory. They make the cutest stuffed animals (or rather monsters) for your little monster!

If you like pottery and cermanics, you're in luck. There are some great vendors at the show this year. Richard Fisher Pottery makes beautiful stuff. I got one of his mugs last year. It's the perfect size for your Sunday morning coffee. The designs also remind me of being at the cottage. At The Wroot Of It makes super cute and very girly pieces. Their mugs have cute little messages at the bottom so you get to see them as you finish your beverage!

Maybe you're like me and have a thing for bling. Well they've got that too! I loved Eles Designs. Saw her stuff earlier this year at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. Gorgeous. I also love Dushka Jewellery. I bought one of their necklace about 4 years ago, and still love today! There pieces are beautiful (although the owners are not necessarily the friendliest...)

Perhaps my favourite purchase was courtesy of Ophelie Hats. They make the most fabulous (slightly over the top) hats and hair bands. I bought a felt flower hair band from them. It's very similar to ones I've seen in fancy shops on Bloor St. but it only cost $20! Score!

I also loved the clothes from Luved. They make super comfy and stylish tops and jackets. Sweatshirt material but way nicer then a plan old hoodie. Perfect weekend wear. I sadly didn't buy one, and am now kinda kicking myself about it. Fortunately, they sell at stores downtown and online. So I can still get something!

Those are my favourites vendors from the show, but they have SO MANY things, you're sure to find something for everyone on your gift list! The One Of A Kind show runs until Dec. 6. I recommend going around dinner time as the crowds aren't as crazy. Happy Shopping!!

Say cheese!

So last Friday at the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo my cousin Sarah and I tried many great wines and samples some REALLY GREAT cheeses! They were so good that we had to buy them right then and there. One was a soft surface ripened cheese called Sir Laurier D'Arthabaska. The second was a ash covered goat cheese called Le Cendrillon. I've happily discovered both are available at Loblaw's

On Monday night I had dinner at my friend Traven's. (He made a fantastic batch of chili!) I decided to bring my yummy new cheese purchases for snacking. I think it's fair to say we were both glad I did! Upon trying the Sir Laurier Trav's only comment was "Wow!". I had to agree. It was even better then I remembered. Same goes for the goat cheese. However, I do agree with Traven's observation - it's delicious if you can get past the fact that it looks rather unappetizing. (The ash on top looks a lot like mold). Fortunately, we were able to get past it. Both cheeses were amazing!

Equally enjoyable was the movie we watched after dinner - The Brothers Bloom. Funny and completely charming. Made me fall in love with Adrien Brody again. (i LOVE him!!) Traven had Rachel Weisz to enjoy, so we were both happy campers.

Good movie, good food and a good friend = good times!

Like sand through the hour glass...

So are the days of our lives...

This post is dedicated to my friend Lindsay. She and I are big Days Of Our Lives fans. Like HUGE. I blame Lindsay for my new found obsession. It started about a month again. It was the night before our friend Sibylle's wedding and we had to get together to work on our speak for the reception. I had been telling Lindsay that I had recently discovered Rogers on Demand. I was thrilled that I was able to watch Young & the Restless when I got home from work. She wanted to know if Days was also available. It was. She got very excited. After our dinner arrived (Swiss Chalet of course) I remembered that I still had a load of laundry to pick up at the laundromat. I popped out of the house for a minute to pick it up. When I got back and opened the apartment door I was greeted with the funniest image - Linds curled up on the couch, eating her Swiss Chalet and watching Days Of Our Lives. Too funny!

So I started watching with her and within 5 minutes was hooked! I had watched Days YEARS ago and it took all of 10 minutes to figure out what was going on. Linds helped fill in the blanks. One episode was all it took. I had to watch more. It's my new guilty pleasure. Now Lindsay and I send each other hilarious "Disclaimer" emails through out the week, recapping our favourite moments. We share a love of a "Dashing" englishmen named E.J. (short for Elvis Junior) Our conversations go something like this "Is he a bad boy who wants to be good? Or a good guy who does things that are bad? Either way we LOVE him!"

So if you have a desire to see really funny over acting, loads of tears and drama and at least one passionate makeout a day - I highly recommend watching a soapy soap opera!

Give a gift

It's Christmas time again! It's so easy to get caught up in the fun of holiday parties and gift shopping. But it's important to remember that there are those out there that are less fortunate. This year especially. My office organized a teddy bear collection. It's great to walk by the reception desk and see piles and piles of cuddly stuffed animals. Hopefully these will help make someones Christmas morning a little brighter. I also hope this will encourage others to give what they can to those who really need it. Like the saying goes "it's better to give, then to receive!".

It's that time of year again!

It seems the Christmas season starts earlier and earlier every year. This year I saw stores that still had Halloween decorations out when they started setting up their Christmas displays. (That is a little too soon for my liking) Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE Christmas. The decorations. The caroles. The presents. The treats! LOVE it all!

And as always, my beloved Starbucks has it's own take on seasonal treats. Every year they bring out Holiday themed lattes. I like the Peppermint Mocha. It's like a candy cane in coffee form. Delicious. But my favourite thing to get is the Holiday Turkey Sandwich. It's got cranberry sauce and stuffing. Just like the holiday dinner leftover sandwiches I make at home. So good! My friend Sibylle and I had these goodies at the Santa Claus parade this year. Perfect way to kick off the holiday season!

Stop and smell the roses. And daisies. And tulips...

I love fresh flowers. They just make a space look... well... fresh! Pretty. Cheerful! They make me happy. Especially as the weather gets colder, it's lovely to come home to a beautiful arrangement of flowers. But, as with most things, I've very particular about what I like. I like to keep my arrangements simple. Sticking with a single type of flower in different colours, or a couple different types of flowers in the same colour, or the same flower in the same colour. Some might find this boring. I think it's simple. Elegant. Chic. Displayed in a simple glass vase, it's the easiest way to add a little cheer to any room.

There are two places in Toronto I go to buy flowers. The first is along Avenue Rd, just South of Davenport, there are a string of little flower markets. Each shop has buckets and buckets of beautiful fresh flowers. Tons of variety and fantastic prices.

My second favourite is a little store on College St. called Pink Twig. It's adorable. Girly and modern. The store owners remind me of me and my friends. If I were to own a shop, it would be like Pink Twig. They always have a great selection of seasonal blooms and other pretty home decor pieces like vases and pillows.

Cheers!

Are you legal drinking age? Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Don't worry, I'm not trying to proposition people. But if you like good wine and good food, you should check out the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo. My cousin Sarah and I went last year, and are going again this year. It's great! Fantastic way to try a lot (repeat a LOT) of different wines. We like to start with champagnes, then whites, then reds, then finish with a port. The vendors are very informative and can offer great food pairing ideas. Be sure to take a card of the wines you like. After a few samples its hard to remember what you had earlier. (wow, sounding like an alcoholic here...)

The show is on all weekend. You can buy tickets on their website: www.foodandwineexpo.ca

The Best in the World!

It's hard to believe that there was a time in my life that I didn't like olives. It seems hard to believe now. But I used to HATE them. I think it was because my Mom doesn't like olives (yeah, when in don't, blame the mother...). Then one afternoon last year I was having afternoon drinks with friends at the Hyatt. They served these spicy olives. I thought I'd try one. Boy am I glad I did! They were amazing!! I think I ate the whole batch. I was so happy to discover that Whole Foods sold a similar spiced olive. Pretty soon I was buying olives every week. I became a woman obsessed! So imagine my delight when I heard there was a place on the Danforth that claimed to have the world's best olives! They were even so bold as to name their store "The Best Olives In The World". Well, my friend Sibylle and I decided we'd be the judges of that! So on Saturday (after the Santa Claus parade!) we headed over. The store is located on the Danforth, just West of Donlands. What did we find?

Spicy Red Pepper Olives...

Lemony olives...
Mixed olives...The shop keeper was delightful. Super friendly, very informative and offered to let us try every variety of olive in the store. We were in HEAVEN! They were all so unbelievably good! We finally settled on three varieties to take home and proceeded to eat them until we had stomach aches. Well worth it! And, it should be noted that the store also sell the most amazing olive oil. I will be coming back here often...

Have hoop, will hula!

I like to try new things. I try to live by the motto "I'll try anything once". Well, almost anything... (Let's not be ridiculous now!) So when my friend and fellow blogger Running Shorts (check out her fantastic blog here) suggested we try a Hula Hoop exercise class, I eagerly accepted. Now, it should be noted that this is not the first time Running Shorts and I have done a crazy workout together (and I'm not talking about half marathon training runs). Last year we took a group strip tease class. This was easily one of the funniest workouts EVER! After learning how to do a sexy walk, wind our bodies like a snake, and whip our hair around we left with a new found respect for exotic dancers. (That's seriously tough work!) The day after was far less sexy as we had sore backs and bruised knees. Try discussing that with male friends and co-workers... You've never seen such interest!

But back to the Hula Hooping. So we had registered for a class with Hoop Toronto's Feel Good Friday. The classes take place at World TKB on Bloor Street. I really had no idea what to expect. The little bit of their website I had read promised a class that would release stress, boost our self esteem, and increase our libido (?!) What sort of class had we signed up for? When we got there, Running Shorts informed me that she had checked out the website earlier and discovered that there would be dancing involved. Now I was nervous. If our last adventure in "dancing" was any indication, this could go terribly terribly wrong... Fortunately, our hooping instructor Sadie immediately put us at ease. After teaching us the proper hooping technique we were off to the races! What a work out - we were sweating profusely after only 15 minutes. Then it was time for the interpretive style dancing. We were all given blindfolds. Normally this would not be something I'm into, but it actually put us at ease. We could be free to dance around with our hula hoops like circus freaks, and not worry about what other people thought. Genius! We then got to try hooping and dancing together. Surprisingly fun and easy. Sadie even showed us how to do a couple of simple tricks. Twirling while hooping. Jumping and hooping. Catching the hoop. We were starting to get pretty good. Although, (and I think Running Shorts will agree with me here) there were other, more experienced hoopers that looked WAY better! The class was an absolute blast and I would definitely go back! It really helped stretch and loosen our bodies. But in keeping with our tradition for strange post workout bruising, our hip bones did suffer a little...

So what's next for Running Shorts and the Little Honey Bee? Well there is talk about going to circus school to try our hand at trapeze and trampoline. Stay tuned...

(Photo not included in this post to protect the innocent...)

Beauty on a budget

I love shopping at Sephora. LOVE it. And while I buy a lot of products there, I don't buy all my makeup there. I've never been able to justify spending $50 on foundation. And you certainly don't need to. I often find a lot of great products at the drug store. Here are some of my favourites (all SUPER affordable):

Revlon Beyond Natural Skin Matching Makeup. It's a sheer liquid foundation that blends really nicely into your skin. Feels great and stays on all day. And it has an SPF!

CoverGirl Outlast Lip Stain. Now I love a good lipstain, and this stuff is great. Applying it is very easy and feels like a felt tip marker. The colour is super intense. A couple swipes of #415 Teasing Blush and it looks like I've had one too many cherry popsicles (in a good way)! It's my tribute to the red lips on Mad Men.

CoverGirl Lash Blast Mascara. I naturally have long curled eyelashes (tough life, I know...) so I like mascaras that are volume boosting. And this stuff delivers! Two coats of Very Black mascara and my lashes are blasted!!

Oh how I love thee. Let me count the ways...

I had loved Anthropologie's website for years. Coveted the clothing, accessories, and home decor. But the shipping costs to Canada were rather steep. And I wasn't sure how the clothes fit. What if I ordered the wrong size? So I was left to look at the site over and over, but not buy anything. But then earlier this year the local blogs went buzzing with excitement. Could it be?! Was it really true?! Anthropologie was coming to Toronto?!?! Yes! It was true! And we've been blessed with 2 locations! The first one to open was at the Shops at Don Mills. The second flagship store opened a couple months later in Yorkville. It's a stunning two floor retail space. The store is BEAUTIFUL! The Anthro merchandisers really know what they're doing. I would like to live in their window displays. The store is jam packed with pretty girly objects. I could spend hours and hours wandering around there.

I've purchased several pieces from Anthro, and I LOVE them all. Vintage looking shirts. Statement necklaces. LOVE LOVE LOVE! And note to the Frugalistas out there, they have a fantastic sale section on the second floor. But be warned... Anthropologie can become an addiction. A beautiful, pretty, girly addiction!

Santa Claus is coming to town...

You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout. I'm telling you why... Santa Claus is coming to town!! No need to check your calendars. It's not December 24th yet. But this Sunday Santa will be making an early visit to Toronto to take part in the Santa Claus Parade! I LOVE the Santa Claus Parade. I have ever since I was a kid. I remember my Mom and Dad bundling up me and my sister, buying us hot dogs and hot chocolate while we sat on the curb watching the floats come down Yonge Street. In highschool my friends and I would take the GO train down, singing Christmas carols with the other passengers. Nowadays, I'm lucky enough to live near the start of the parade. Each year I get to see all floats lined up at the end of my street. Then me and my friends get bundled up and stand with the little kids along Bloor Street watching the parade. It's sometimes hard to tell who is more excited - us or the six year olds.

It's also a day that we get to enjoy many of our favourite seasonal treats. We get hot chocolate and Christmas sandwiches from Starbucks. Following the parade, we head home and decorate gingerbread men while watching Christmas movies. And finally, we top it all off by ordering Swiss Chalet Festive Specials! I can't wait for Santa to come to town!

Let's get something straight

So I've mentioned before that I wish my hair was wavy. But it's not. It's straight. And if I'm going to have straight hair, I want it STRAIGHT! And smooth. And shiny. Which means using a very hot flat iron. I LOVE my Chi hair straightener! It gets very hot. Repeat, very hot. (Side note - I've accidently burned my neck a couple of times with this thing. It ends up looking like something else. Something far more scandalous then a flat iron burn. Try explaining that at the office...) And while this heat is necessary to get your hair poker straight, it can also be damaging. So to combat this, I use Loreal's Tec Hot Style Iron Finish cream. You rub a pea sized amount through dry hair before styling. It makes your hair frizz free, super smooth, super soft and SUPER shiny. I won't straighten my hair without it. And that's the straight up truth! You can find it at Trade Secrets.

Put your High Beams on

"Why does it feel like your putting nail polish on my face?" These were the words uttered by my dear friend Sibs while I was doing her makeup trial for her wedding. In all fairness, she did have a point. High Beam by Benefit does look and feel very much like nail polish (it's the bottle, the colour, and the applicator brush). I told her "Stop worrying. I know what I'm doing". And I did. And she looked AWESOME! So beautiful. Glowing. That is the beauty of High Beam. You brush a little into the inner corner of your eyes and along your cheek bones. Then blend blend blend. Your left looking like you have a naturally glowing, ethereal, dewy complexion. And HELLO cheekbones! In a word - gorgeous! And who doesn't want to look like that?

Pick it up at Sephora and Shoppers Drug Mart.

Start Smudging!

I love finding products that are versatile. Multi purpose. That's why I LOVE Stila's Smudge Pots. It's an eyeliner and eye shadow all in one. The colour can be applied light, or built up for a more dramatic eye shadow look. When used as an eyeliner, you can apply it with a small shadow brush for a smoky, smudgey effect, or with a flat liner brush for a precious line. I love this look. I had long been a fan of the liquid liner look, but never had a hand steady enough to achieve it. This stuff makes it a snap! And it comes in a variety of great colours. My favourites are grey, black and bronze. Find it at Sephora!

It's Here!!!!

So I was walking around this morning after my run, enjoying the beautiful weather, when something magnificent caught my eye. Could it be? Was it really here? Yes friends, it is. It is here. The Martha Stewart Holiday issue has arrived in stores!! This years issue is all about sweets. And my oh my, do they look GOOD! I will be pouring over this magazine for the next few weeks. Deciding which recipes to try out, which ones to take to holiday parties, which ones to take to work. Thankfully there are many MANY recipes to choose from.

Now I know we just finished with Halloween. But I can't wait to put on a little Bing Crosby and start baking!

(and yes, I bought 2 copies. One for me, and one for a certain sister of mine for when she returns from Australia...)