Want to interact with people who love shopping as much as you do? Want to have a place where you can share all of your best fashion finds and retailers who have the best threads? Come join my newly created Not A Shopaholic Facebook group page. A lot of friends were leaving comments about my blog posts on my Facebook page and try as I might I just could not get them to visit my blog to leave their comments. Then I thought, why make them go there when they are very clearly quite comfortable leaving their comments on Facebook. So I have created a group page for Not A Shopaholic. Now there is a place we can all share information about favourite Canadian and international brands, retailers, discounts and sales. I look forward to input on this page from people all over the world. Unleash your best shopping secrets with people who will really appreciate them and not tell you that you shop too much. In fact, we encourage you too!
Go to Facebook and join the Not A Shopaholic group page now!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Mixing Shopping With Vancouver 2010
Depending on how you know me and how you came across this blog, you may not know that in February I was a part of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. A willing and able participant in spectating and displays of exorbitant amounts of Canadian pride. Yes I was in Vancouver to see and experience it all. It was a fascinating experience and very special to me as I have always wondered what it would be like to be at the Olympics. I started another blog to capture everything leading up to and at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. You can read my 2nd blog Journey to Vancouver 2010 – Diary of a Fan to get more details on everything that happened there. I was also guest blogging for Inside Vancouver which was great fun for me and gave me a chance to meet some great people. I was also grateful for the opportunity to have my writing reach a different audience.
In getting ready for Vancouver 2010, I knew I was going to want to spend some time looking for shopping places that I could write about in this blog. I did find a few, although not as many as I would have liked. I simply ran out of time and energy! I do hope to go back to Vancouver soon, possibly in the summer to explore the shopping areas I didn’t get to this time around. The ones I did see were great and I will definitely visit them again whenever I am in Vancouver.
The first area I went to was Gastown. It was a short walk on a beautiful day from our condo to the Gastown area. Quite a few souvenir shops occupied the area, as well as furniture/decor stores. I was on the hunt for clothing stores. The first store I went into was obakki. Their collection is manufactured locally in Vancouver. The clothes were beautiful, I loved their accessories and in particular their jackets caught my eye. Unfortunately for me, the prices were out of my comfortable range and I had to be happy with just looking. I checked out their website and they do sell online as well as wholesale their collection so there may be an obakki garment in my future wardrobe yet.
Next door to them was Ishara. Another store with beautiful clothes and accessories from many different brands like: Modern Amusement, Smythe, Joe’s Jeans, Ella Moss. I was fortunate to find a sweater on sale that I liked from brand Modern Amusement, a multi coloured stripe sweater that I see myself wearing with my Second Yoga jeans and silver Steve Madden flats. The store was recently located to Gastown from a mall and I’m glad they did otherwise I may never have come across them. There were some other tourists in the store while I was there. It was nice to see some other Olympic travellers getting away from events and street parties long enough to take in other parts of Vancouver.
In our last few days in Vancouver after the Olympics were over was when I was able to do most of my shopping assignments. One store that caught my eye when I was shopping on Robson Street was Plenty. They had a great mix of price points, merchandise and brands. You could do one stop shopping there from tops and bottoms to shoes and accessories, even an Olympic souvenir if you wanted to! There were some familiar brands in here like Kensie, denim brands and their own in house brands like Propaganda. I tried on many things, mostly looking for something funky I could take home from Vancouver and because I feel like I am always so conservative. Well I tried funky and I think maybe it’s not for me. I ended up with a few tops that I think I can make funky with belts and accessories. Plenty is definitely a funky store and I really enjoyed shopping there. I’m trying to convince them via Twitter that they should open a store in Toronto but they don’t seem to be going for it. They have suggested that I come back and it’s a pretty sure bet that I will. I’m keeping an eye on their website, if it becomes an ecommerce site, I will be the first one to purchase from it.
The last shopping area I managed to fit in before leaving for home was Yaletown. I had been told a lot of things about Yaletown and I have to say that people were right. They said I would love it there and I did. They said that it was all shops and restaurants and it was. They said it was a cool area and it was. They said I probably wouldn’t be able to afford anything and they were right! On a different trip I may have splurged and bought something expensive for myself but I couldn’t do it on this trip. It was cool to see brands I hadn’t ever seen before. If nothing else it was an education into additional fashion brands out there. One store I was very intrigued by was Marimekko. As soon as I walked into this store I knew I wanted to buy something. Everything was bright colours and bold patterns. It immediately woke me up and made me feel like it was a brighter day. All fabrics are made by them and you can buy readymade pieces or buy fabric for a particular project you are working one. I didn’t have anything specific in mind that I needed for my home so I left there empty handed, unfortunately. I did get a card, will be checking out their website and will make sure I go back there if I visit Vancouver again this summer.
I did find 2 tops in the Mavi store in Yaletown. The off the shoulder style and raglan sleeve is a style I had been looking for so I bought 2 colours. The Mavi brand is sold in many stores across Toronto but we are without a store dedicated to the entire Mavi collection. Again at some point in my future I see another pair of Zoe jeans in my future, if only I could decide on a which wash I wanted.
Shopping areas I really wanted to get to but didn’t have time was the Mount Pleasant area around Main Street and Broadway and Granville Island. Think I’ll be watching West Jet for a seat sale and hoping someone in Vancouver invites me to stay with them this summer! It was amazing to be there in February when Vancouver welcomed the world, but I still have some shopping to do, or as I like to call it “research”!
In getting ready for Vancouver 2010, I knew I was going to want to spend some time looking for shopping places that I could write about in this blog. I did find a few, although not as many as I would have liked. I simply ran out of time and energy! I do hope to go back to Vancouver soon, possibly in the summer to explore the shopping areas I didn’t get to this time around. The ones I did see were great and I will definitely visit them again whenever I am in Vancouver.
The first area I went to was Gastown. It was a short walk on a beautiful day from our condo to the Gastown area. Quite a few souvenir shops occupied the area, as well as furniture/decor stores. I was on the hunt for clothing stores. The first store I went into was obakki. Their collection is manufactured locally in Vancouver. The clothes were beautiful, I loved their accessories and in particular their jackets caught my eye. Unfortunately for me, the prices were out of my comfortable range and I had to be happy with just looking. I checked out their website and they do sell online as well as wholesale their collection so there may be an obakki garment in my future wardrobe yet.
Photo: obakki website
Next door to them was Ishara. Another store with beautiful clothes and accessories from many different brands like: Modern Amusement, Smythe, Joe’s Jeans, Ella Moss. I was fortunate to find a sweater on sale that I liked from brand Modern Amusement, a multi coloured stripe sweater that I see myself wearing with my Second Yoga jeans and silver Steve Madden flats. The store was recently located to Gastown from a mall and I’m glad they did otherwise I may never have come across them. There were some other tourists in the store while I was there. It was nice to see some other Olympic travellers getting away from events and street parties long enough to take in other parts of Vancouver.
My sweater from Ishara. I can't wait to wear it!
In our last few days in Vancouver after the Olympics were over was when I was able to do most of my shopping assignments. One store that caught my eye when I was shopping on Robson Street was Plenty. They had a great mix of price points, merchandise and brands. You could do one stop shopping there from tops and bottoms to shoes and accessories, even an Olympic souvenir if you wanted to! There were some familiar brands in here like Kensie, denim brands and their own in house brands like Propaganda. I tried on many things, mostly looking for something funky I could take home from Vancouver and because I feel like I am always so conservative. Well I tried funky and I think maybe it’s not for me. I ended up with a few tops that I think I can make funky with belts and accessories. Plenty is definitely a funky store and I really enjoyed shopping there. I’m trying to convince them via Twitter that they should open a store in Toronto but they don’t seem to be going for it. They have suggested that I come back and it’s a pretty sure bet that I will. I’m keeping an eye on their website, if it becomes an ecommerce site, I will be the first one to purchase from it.
My tops from Plenty on Robson Street. I should have bought more! It's a great store.
The last shopping area I managed to fit in before leaving for home was Yaletown. I had been told a lot of things about Yaletown and I have to say that people were right. They said I would love it there and I did. They said that it was all shops and restaurants and it was. They said it was a cool area and it was. They said I probably wouldn’t be able to afford anything and they were right! On a different trip I may have splurged and bought something expensive for myself but I couldn’t do it on this trip. It was cool to see brands I hadn’t ever seen before. If nothing else it was an education into additional fashion brands out there. One store I was very intrigued by was Marimekko. As soon as I walked into this store I knew I wanted to buy something. Everything was bright colours and bold patterns. It immediately woke me up and made me feel like it was a brighter day. All fabrics are made by them and you can buy readymade pieces or buy fabric for a particular project you are working one. I didn’t have anything specific in mind that I needed for my home so I left there empty handed, unfortunately. I did get a card, will be checking out their website and will make sure I go back there if I visit Vancouver again this summer.
Kissanminttu pattern from Marimekko, one of their many fabrics Photo: Marimekko website
Shopping areas I really wanted to get to but didn’t have time was the Mount Pleasant area around Main Street and Broadway and Granville Island. Think I’ll be watching West Jet for a seat sale and hoping someone in Vancouver invites me to stay with them this summer! It was amazing to be there in February when Vancouver welcomed the world, but I still have some shopping to do, or as I like to call it “research”!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Back to Not A Shopaholic
My deepest apologies for ignoring this blog the last few months. As most of you probably know, I was preparing for my trip to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. The trip was everything I thought it would be and more. Now that I am back, I am focusing my attention back to this blog. I still have a few brands and stores on my list that I need to write about. After that, I'll be on the hunt in Toronto and the GTA for cool, unique brands, stores and shopping districts. If you have any suggestions for places for me to check out, leave a comment or send me an email. Again I am very sorry for ignoring you, but I'm back and anxious to bring you great places to shop and to support our independent retailers.
If you are interested in reading about my Vancouver 2010 Olympic adventures, please visit http://www.journeytovancouver2010-fandiary.blogspot.com/
If you are interested in reading about my Vancouver 2010 Olympic adventures, please visit http://www.journeytovancouver2010-fandiary.blogspot.com/
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Update on The Retail Challenge
It only seems fitting that the end of 2009 should include an update on The Retail Challenge, one of my more popular posts to date. If you remember back to earlier this year, I was in a state of unemployment and just sick to my stomach with all the news stories about the latest companies laying off workers. No one was spending any money, even those that were still employed. Thus, my simple idea to get people spending to stir up our economy a bit so the unemployed would have a chance at employment.
I'm not going to explain the whole challenge again, you can read the earlier post by clicking here. My own personal challenge was to spend $1000 in the retail world once I started working again. That happened back in April and I have been working to fulfill that promise while also trying to pay for a very expensive trip to the Olympics in Vancouver next year. Because of that trip, it took me a very long time to complete my own personal Retail Challenge. And if you want to know the truth, there are many things I should not have bought, but it's done now and someone has benefitted from it so I guess I can live with it.
I was going to list everything that I bought, yes I've actually been keeping track, but I think that would be too long. So I will list certain items and you'll just have to trust me on the rest. I Blogger swear to you that I spent at least $1000 if not more. You'll have to trust me on the amounts too! For my own safety I have decided that I should not disclose prices.
Strapless Printed Dress - White House/Black Market
Purple Samsura Bag - Trixie (Bloor West Village, Toronto)
Second Yoga Jeans - Trixie
Polka Dot Dress - Trixie
Sterling Silver Ring - Vivah
Cosmetics - Mary Kay
Sutter Crossbody Bag - Fossil
TV Bench & Coffee Table- Ikea
Headband - This is J
Long Gold Necklace - Moonrox booth at OOAK
Various Clothing Items - GAP, they had great sales what can I say?
Olympic Gear - HBC, Rona
Area Rug - West Elm
Colin - Monster Factory booth at OOAK
Shortbread cookies - The Shortbread Factory
Suitcase - Samsonite
Canada tee and Hoody - Roots Canada
Seven for all Mankind Jeans - Holt Renfrew
Coffee - Gold Star Coffee
Waterproof Boots - Browns
There you go. That is the majority of the list. I'll try to include photos of whatever I can.
Where I failed was in my ability to buy from independent retailers. That was a condition for myself in the challenge. The only thing I can say in my defence is that I was trying to cut down on shopping and did not find myself in as many areas to buy from independents. For 2010, I will create another challenge for myself, perhaps the exact same one and I will spend all that money with independent retailers. They are an important and vital part of our economy and deserve our support. I will keep my eyes open for new places to shop in 2010. I promise once my Vancouver Olympics trip is paid off, I will take up this challenge with gusto!
Happy New Year everyone. May 2010 hold many wonderful things for all of you.
Thank you so much for reading.
Christina
I'm not going to explain the whole challenge again, you can read the earlier post by clicking here. My own personal challenge was to spend $1000 in the retail world once I started working again. That happened back in April and I have been working to fulfill that promise while also trying to pay for a very expensive trip to the Olympics in Vancouver next year. Because of that trip, it took me a very long time to complete my own personal Retail Challenge. And if you want to know the truth, there are many things I should not have bought, but it's done now and someone has benefitted from it so I guess I can live with it.
I was going to list everything that I bought, yes I've actually been keeping track, but I think that would be too long. So I will list certain items and you'll just have to trust me on the rest. I Blogger swear to you that I spent at least $1000 if not more. You'll have to trust me on the amounts too! For my own safety I have decided that I should not disclose prices.
Strapless Printed Dress - White House/Black Market
Purple Samsura Bag - Trixie (Bloor West Village, Toronto)
Second Yoga Jeans - Trixie
Polka Dot Dress - Trixie
Sterling Silver Ring - Vivah
Cosmetics - Mary Kay
Sutter Crossbody Bag - Fossil
TV Bench & Coffee Table- Ikea
Headband - This is J
Long Gold Necklace - Moonrox booth at OOAK
Various Clothing Items - GAP, they had great sales what can I say?
Olympic Gear - HBC, Rona
Area Rug - West Elm
Colin - Monster Factory booth at OOAK
Shortbread cookies - The Shortbread Factory
Suitcase - Samsonite
Canada tee and Hoody - Roots Canada
Seven for all Mankind Jeans - Holt Renfrew
Coffee - Gold Star Coffee
Waterproof Boots - Browns
There you go. That is the majority of the list. I'll try to include photos of whatever I can.
Where I failed was in my ability to buy from independent retailers. That was a condition for myself in the challenge. The only thing I can say in my defence is that I was trying to cut down on shopping and did not find myself in as many areas to buy from independents. For 2010, I will create another challenge for myself, perhaps the exact same one and I will spend all that money with independent retailers. They are an important and vital part of our economy and deserve our support. I will keep my eyes open for new places to shop in 2010. I promise once my Vancouver Olympics trip is paid off, I will take up this challenge with gusto!
Happy New Year everyone. May 2010 hold many wonderful things for all of you.
Thank you so much for reading.
Christina
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Roots Never Goes Out Of Style
Right: Michael Budman,Johann Olav Koss and Don Green address the crowd.
Models for the evening, joined by Michael Budman, Don Green and Johann Olav Koss.I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch party for the Roots Canada Collection on November 5th at their flagship store on Bloor Street in Toronto. As you all know I’m headed to Vancouver in February for the Olympics. Since I secured my final tickets back in June, the thought of what I am going to wear has been on my mind. This party was the perfect opportunity to check out stylish “Canada” apparel to help me build my Olympic wardrobe.
The evening consisted of very smart looking people taking in an introductory speech from Don Green, co-founder of Roots, later joined on stage by his counterpart Michael Budman. It’s amazing to me how long these gentlemen have known each other, been in business together and are still great friends. That alone speaks volumes to why Roots has been such a successful, sustainable brand. A portion of each purchase from the Canada Collection will be donated to the charity, “Right to Play”. Started by Norwegian speed skater Johann Olav Koss, Right To Play gives children all over the world the opportunity to be introduced to sports and the positive aspects that go along with playing on a team. Johann also spoke briefly about his move to Canada and his partnership with Roots and Mastercard.
The Collection was then modelled by a variety of athletes and really, what can I say other than great job Roots! I like this collection much better than the one I saw in the summer. There is the standard Roots fare in T-shirts, zip hoodys and accessories; the best one being the Canada toque for $10. My favourite piece is the Yukon Jacket, a cross between a fleece top and lightweight jacket. It comes in Black or Red and would be great to layer with additional pieces from the collection. I'm thinking of getting the Black one for me and the Red one for my brother. A few special edition leather bags round out this Canada Collection.
Ninety percent of the collection was made in Canada, which is so nice to hear and something I definitely want to support. When the planning process began, the founders were adamant that the pieces were to be made in Canada. It’s quite impressive that they did so and were able to keep the pricing extremely reasonable. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the prices; I really was expecting them to be more expensive.
It was a great night and I am so grateful to have been a part of it. The evening was about celebrating Canada, celebrating Roots and its history and its partnership with Right To Play, but most of all, it was about celebrating great style and clothing! I hope to be wearing that Yukon jacket come February 2010. I want to announce to the world that I am from Canada!
For more information on Right To Play, visit their website: http://www.righttoplay.com/
The Roots Canada Collection is available at your local Roots store or shop online at: http://canada.roots.com/.
The evening consisted of very smart looking people taking in an introductory speech from Don Green, co-founder of Roots, later joined on stage by his counterpart Michael Budman. It’s amazing to me how long these gentlemen have known each other, been in business together and are still great friends. That alone speaks volumes to why Roots has been such a successful, sustainable brand. A portion of each purchase from the Canada Collection will be donated to the charity, “Right to Play”. Started by Norwegian speed skater Johann Olav Koss, Right To Play gives children all over the world the opportunity to be introduced to sports and the positive aspects that go along with playing on a team. Johann also spoke briefly about his move to Canada and his partnership with Roots and Mastercard.
The Collection was then modelled by a variety of athletes and really, what can I say other than great job Roots! I like this collection much better than the one I saw in the summer. There is the standard Roots fare in T-shirts, zip hoodys and accessories; the best one being the Canada toque for $10. My favourite piece is the Yukon Jacket, a cross between a fleece top and lightweight jacket. It comes in Black or Red and would be great to layer with additional pieces from the collection. I'm thinking of getting the Black one for me and the Red one for my brother. A few special edition leather bags round out this Canada Collection.
Ninety percent of the collection was made in Canada, which is so nice to hear and something I definitely want to support. When the planning process began, the founders were adamant that the pieces were to be made in Canada. It’s quite impressive that they did so and were able to keep the pricing extremely reasonable. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the prices; I really was expecting them to be more expensive.
It was a great night and I am so grateful to have been a part of it. The evening was about celebrating Canada, celebrating Roots and its history and its partnership with Right To Play, but most of all, it was about celebrating great style and clothing! I hope to be wearing that Yukon jacket come February 2010. I want to announce to the world that I am from Canada!
For more information on Right To Play, visit their website: http://www.righttoplay.com/
The Roots Canada Collection is available at your local Roots store or shop online at: http://canada.roots.com/.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Everyone Loves Miz Mooz
I love checking out my blog stats on Google Analytics. It's so interesting to me to see what people are reading on my blog and where they are coming from to do so. I really do appreciate the time anyone takes to read one post or all of them. Thank you so much for reading my thoughts and for those of you who leave comments, keep them coming!
By far, the most popular post has been Luv Your Shooz Miz Mooz. Seems that I am not the only woman madly in love with this brand. That post has been my most popular one and it is the one that I receive the most comments for. Thank you everyone for letting us know where we can find Miz Mooz in Canada.
I recently received a flyer from Town Shoes and guess what I saw in there? That's right, Miz Mooz is finally available at Town Shoes. I don't think it is a huge assortment but its a start. If you can't make it out to your favourite independent shoe retailer, we now have an option at the mall. As to how many stores carry the brand I'm not sure. I will stop in at Sherway sometime soon and see if the brand is there. You can also search by the Miz Mooz brand name on the Town Shoes website. Right now I only see one style available, but I'm sure they will have more. How can they not? I say we encourage them to buy more styles of Miz Mooz. It is obviously loved by Canadians judging from the amount of views I'm getting. Send your request to customerservice@townshoes.com and hopefully we'll see tons of Miz Mooz styles soon.
Happy Shopping!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Have Your Coffee, and Guilt Free Too!
A few years ago I was looking for the perfect gift for my coffee obsessed friend Kim. I won't tell you how much coffee she drinks but trust me when I say, if Kim says it is good coffee then it most certainly is.
I started out by looking for a sort of "coffee of the month" type club. Wouldn't I be the bestest friend ever if I gave her a gift of coffee that lasted throughout an entire year? Well, when I saw what that cost I quickly changed gears and decided to focus my efforts on something I could afford. That is how I found the quaint darling coffee/cafe establishment Birds and Beans Coffee. Birds and Beans offers an exotic variety of coffee from all over the world that is "certified organic, shade grown, fairly traded and Bird friendly." Coffee is offered from such places as Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia - I think this one was Kim's favourite, Houndaras and Nicaragua to name a few of the choices.
The website provides lists of which coffees are Fair Trade certified, Bird Friendly and Rainforest Alliance certified so you can buy knowing you are being a responsible consumer.
I liked being able to order the coffee online and have it sent to Kim. It was a nice surprise for her and she got to enjoy the scent of the freshly roasted coffee for a few days. From what I remember delivery was quick and inexpensive. Their retail location is not too far from me so now I go there and purchase it. This was definitely a great find and cool to discover it close to my neighbourhood.
In case you were wondering, Kim LOVED the coffee! That's enough to make me a fan for life.
I started out by looking for a sort of "coffee of the month" type club. Wouldn't I be the bestest friend ever if I gave her a gift of coffee that lasted throughout an entire year? Well, when I saw what that cost I quickly changed gears and decided to focus my efforts on something I could afford. That is how I found the quaint darling coffee/cafe establishment Birds and Beans Coffee. Birds and Beans offers an exotic variety of coffee from all over the world that is "certified organic, shade grown, fairly traded and Bird friendly." Coffee is offered from such places as Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia - I think this one was Kim's favourite, Houndaras and Nicaragua to name a few of the choices.
The website provides lists of which coffees are Fair Trade certified, Bird Friendly and Rainforest Alliance certified so you can buy knowing you are being a responsible consumer.
I liked being able to order the coffee online and have it sent to Kim. It was a nice surprise for her and she got to enjoy the scent of the freshly roasted coffee for a few days. From what I remember delivery was quick and inexpensive. Their retail location is not too far from me so now I go there and purchase it. This was definitely a great find and cool to discover it close to my neighbourhood.
In case you were wondering, Kim LOVED the coffee! That's enough to make me a fan for life.
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