good egg

This post is long overdue.  There is a fabulous store in Toronto that has all my favourite things: yummy smelling candles, millions of beautiful cookbooks (I think I could buy all of them if my budget permitted), great house gifts, le creuset products and the list goes on.  Good Egg is located in Kenzington market and while I was on my lunch break a couple weeks ago, I stopped in the store and snapped some pictures with the intention of getting them up a bit sooner than today.  Unfortunately, I lost the cable that connects the camera to the laptop which delayed the process.  Without further ado- Good Egg: 

marimekko

I found the mecca of Marimekko in Toronto.  There is a little shop on Queen West called Paloranta Art and Furnishing and affable owner, Teemu Paloranta ,who is from Finland, carries a wide variety of my favourite Finnish brand. 

I was astounded to see so many SKUs of Marimekko.  Typically you may see a platter here or a bowl and some wallpaper there but not the whole kit and kaboodle!  Chez Paloranta, you could easily accessorize a kitchen and yourself.  Teemu is also and artist and paints.  He sells his work in the store and will customize a piece for you.  

A bit about Marimekko if you are not familiar: It was established in 1951, and soon became the leading Finnish textile and clothes design company, which is easily recognized by its bold floral prints. 

If you are looking for some hostess gifts for spring (Marimekko and flowers are synonymous = spring) or bridal shower gifts, go check out Paloranta.  I personally like the large platter as a gift idea,  either way, Teemu will help you choose, he is a wealth of knowledge.

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omg baked goodness

Tonight I attended a great dinner party and to end off the night, was treated to a trio of mini desserts from Toronto bakery, OMG Baked Goodness.  We tried their cheesecake with a ginger crust, a light cheese taste, not too sweet or dense flavour (like a NY cheesecake) and some citrus.  We also tried the apple caramel pie-one word: amazing.  Not too sweet, drizzeled in caramel, oatmeal crumble on top and lots of apples, no junk/gross filling.  Finally we tried a maple syrup type tart- think butter pecan but made out of maple syrup. 

I would recommend this place 100% if you are looking for a place to pick up desserts for a party instead of making it yourself.  The consensus among the seven guests this evening was that OMG Baked Goodness’ mini desserts were better than Dufflet.  Could the queen of dessert have some competition?

Try them for yourself.

cherry blossoms

Today is the first day of spring.  Happy spring.  I am spending the weekend out east in Cobourg (about an hour drive east of Toronto) relaxing with family, good food and lots of magazines! 

To celebrate the first day of spring, I wanted to write a post about one of my favourite flowers that put on a big show in spring, cherry blossoms.  Blooming anywhere from January in certain areas in Japan to May depending on climate, these delicate pink flowers are not to be missed.  I plan to coordinate one of my Asia trips to coincide with the cherry tree blossoms one of these years. 

In Toronto’s High Park, there is an annual cherry blossom walk late April- early May if you want to check out the spectacular colours and fragrances.  Vancouver also has a cherry blossom festival, with all the event information and activities here.  One last festival to check out is the National Cherry Blossom festival in Washington that starts the end of next week info here. 

Guess Who Is Coming to Toronto?

Entertainers rejoice!  I was reading the CB2 blog a couple days ago and noticed a very exciting news- CB2 is opening their first store north of the border in Toronto, downtown in the old Big Bop.  I can’t wait.  I think it’s fantastic Toronto is slowly becoming the choice of expansion of creative home retailers from the US.  Now if only a couple European stores would look this way, the home decorators and consummate party throwers would be in business.  For now, I will start my unofficial count down for CB2. 

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the rooster coffee shop

It is family day in Toronto today.  Businesses are closed and it is a time for families to spend time together/an excuse for a long weekend.  To celebrate a day off work, I went to explore a new coffee shop with my mom and boyfriend that opened not too long ago, called The Rooster Coffee Shop.  I remember driving by the space on Broadview south of Danforth a couple times over the past five months and noticing construction and something new brewing in the neighbourhood.   Well the word on the street is that it opened in December 2009 by Shawn Andrews and her partner Dave.  The result of their hard work and entrepreneurship is a super cute, modern-meets-French subway tile-meets-vintage looking coffee shop with fun board games, magazines and coffee table books met set in the backdrop of  communal and individual seating.  Two cappuccino and one hot chocolate later, the three of us felt satisfied and warmed by our selections.  I loved the hot chocolate.  It was rich and creamy and was generously covered with marshmallows.  The two opposing coffee palates both decided that Rooster Coffee House’s coffee was “nice,” “dark,” “flavourful,” and they loved the little “leaf milk designs” on top.  I can’t comment because I have never had a cup of coffee in my life.  My favourite thing about the Rooster Coffee House is its view through the big storefront windows overlooking the valley adjacent to Broadview.   For the non-coffee drinker, they serve tea from Tealish (Queen and Walnut)Go check it out- it’s a good alternative to Broadview espresso which is tiny and Si which is also tiny. This is a place where you can sit comfortably for the afternoon and have a meeting, lose yourself in a book or catch up with a friend.  It’s full of life and interesting things to look at.  Rooster coffee shop is located at 479 Broadview Avenue and is open seven days a week early in the morning until dinner time.

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