West Elm Market

If you are a West Elm fan, here is some exciting news for you: This past week, West Elm launched a new concept store called West Elm Market in Dumbo (I used to live there!), New York.

The Market concept is focused on comfortable, affordable, well designed items for kitchen, garden and personal care.

More West Elm Market stores (in shop-in-shop) format will follow in Toronto, Nashville, Philadelphia, Dallas, Los Angeles and Seattle.  This looks pretty exciting for all you West Elm fans.  I hope to visit the Toronto store when I am back in March.

Photo Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 

DAVIDsTEA

There is no secret of this blogger’s love of tea.  While in Toronto the week before last, I frequented, on numerous occasions, the newest location of DAVIDs TEA which opened at Bayview Village, in North York.

The new store is filled with bright colours, lots of light, a wall full of fun tea accessories and a second wall full of all of their colour coordinated tea.

I never leave this shop empty handed.  It is great for host/hostess gifts, and to stock up on new and interesting tea flavours.  Of course I am still loyal to my dragon pearls (jasmine tea) and sencha tea but on this visit, I did try an interesting watermelon flavoured tea and even enjoyed my fiance’s flavour of choice, a tea with gold flecks that has a cinnamon flavour mixed with black tea that was refreshing when iced.

DAVIDsTEA even has a cute little patio in front of the store where you can watch the beautiful shoppers of Bayview Village pass you buy while sipping tea.  In other exciting news, in the last shot, Aroma, the Israeli espresso bar/cafe chain that has taken Toronto by storm, will be opening across the “street” from DAVIDsTEA this year.  I think the two businesses will complement each other as one is a specialty tea store and the other is more well-rounded cafe-espresso focused.  Bayview Village continues to impress and astound me.  It’s come a long way in terms of evolving its retail mix from what it was in the 80s!

Lastly, if you are American and are reading this post, DAVIDsTEA opened its first two US stores in New York city this year.

Milkmade

Isn’t it the best when you can combine work and pleasure?!  I think so.  Today as I was putting the finishing touches on my slide deck for class, I was searching for some extra examples to illustrate different e-commerce platforms that small businesses could use to get up and running fairly quickly.

I learned that one of the newer e-commerce solutions on the market that caught my eye was a company called Goodsie, (competitor to Shopify), whose site showcased several examples of small businesses that use its service.  Milkmade was one of them and I am now in love with this adorable ice cream company and happy that I found them.

Like every good entrepreneurial story, Milkmade was started by a girl named Diana in New York who was looking for better quality ice cream.  So she launched Milkmade the end of 2009 with an ice cream subscription model.  In return for the yearly subscription from customers, you get one or two pints of artisanal ice cream hand delivered to you in New York and Brooklyn.

With flavours like carrot cake, salted caramel, key lime pie, and pop tarts, Diana’s ice cream will certainly sound innovative and exciting.  I’m sure my taste buds would appreciate the local ingredients in her frozen treats.

What a fun treat one a month and something lovely to look forward to along with bills.  I wonder if she will do airmail to Prague!?

Photo Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Emerson Fry

I am not one to blog about fashion but this entrepreneurial story I like and feel there is value in sharing the brand!  There is a great “up close and personal” story with the designer, Emerson Bethany Fry, in the New York Times Insider Style blog here, which is how I was introduced to the company.

Why this is relevant you ask?  Because Emerson Fry’s new spring line is out today:

Here is a handful of my favourite pieces from the collection-

Photo Source: Emerson Fry (NYC)

Macaron Day Toronto March 20th

If you have been following my blog, you’ll know I have a soft spot for macaron.  I’ve blogged about some of my favourite macaron shops around the world including MadMac (NYC), Adriano Zumbo (Sydney), Bottega Louie (Los Angeles) and Thurel & Thomas (Mexico City) to name few. There is something about their colour, size, texture and taste that I just can’t get enough of.  Macarons were also part of my scavenger hunt marriage proposal that my fiance organized last February.

Toronto macaron lovers rejoice.  The city wide event you have all been waiting for is almost here.  On March 20th, over 15 bakeries around the city will be offering free macarons in support of the Red Door Shelter. The list of participating bakeries in Toroto include several of my favourite shops in the city (I have blogged about a handful of them over the years).

(photo via Macaron Day TO)

The macaron day event, is not new to the world stage.  In fact it started in Paris back in 2005 under the name “Jour du Macaron” by Pierre Herme. The event has spread to far reaching cities such as Berlin, Brussels, Luxembourg, Tokyo, Alsace, numerous cities around France, and  New York.

(photo via la fuji mama)

If you have never tasted a macaron in your life, this is a terrific opportunity to broaden your palette and see what you have been missing for so long.

(photo via The Culinary Life)

(photo via Girl Eat Girl)

Macaron Day TO participating bakeries include:

La Bamboche (my blog post)
Petite Thuet
Patisserie La Cigogne
Butter Avenue
J’adore Cakes Co.
Rahier
Patachou
Moroco (my blog post and my marriage proposal macarons came from these guys)
Bobbette and Belle (my blog post)
Ma Maison
Ruelo Patisserie
Cake Opera Co. (my blog post)
Daniel et Daniel
The Sweet Escape
Julio Bonilla
Frangipane
Patisserie 27

caligraphy

Bella Figura, letterpress company extraordinaire in Syracuse, New York has a way with caligraphy.  Their sister company is Smock who I’ve blogged about before, and the company has a great blog to showcase there work here.

Below is a sample of my favourite styles and invites from their lineup of products.

via bella figura

via bella figura

via bella figura

something a bit different from Bella Figura