Christmas Market 2012

Let me start off by wishing everyone happy holidays! A few weekends ago was a bit early for Christmas but I started getting into the spirit by visiting the Christmas market at the Distillery District. The Christmas market is inspired by the heritage and charm of a European Christmas market. The tradition originated in Germany but Toronto's own is a mix of European as well as Canadian, complete with stalls of perogies, poutine, and chocolate covered bacon. And with it being the Distillery District there was, of course, beer. Although the event is outdoors, the beer gardens consisted of lounge seats surrounding several fire pits to keep warm. 

On top of the food & drinks, there were pony rides, a carousel, Christmas carollers, and pictures with Santa. And if you so pleased, you could even find your Christmas tree there. All the little boutiques that make the Distillery District so unique kept open for the hours of the market too. They made for a good escape from the cold. See you next year, Christmas market!

Drake Holiday Warehouse Sale

On the same Saturday I visited the Drake General Store, I hopped over a few blocks to their holiday warehouse sale on Dufferin. Although I didn't purchase anything, it was worth the stopover. I have to admit that the location was terribly questionable at first, entering to dimly lit, concrete wall hallways. But after you pass some dodgy areas you'll come up to an inviting door with the Drake logo propped up next to it.

Besides the Drake General Store's regular merch, the warehouse sale had unique salvaged furniture and vintage/retro knick knacks. Some are functional and some are just decorative but all awesome, nonetheless.

The Beatles (not so) White Album, $10! I already have a clean one though, haha.

There were a couple of vintage mini tin amusement park rides; a roller coaster and a ferris wheel. They're still working but a little worse for wear. I was afraid I'd break it by every squeak and creak it made.

If only I had a place to put all these fun things, I'd fill an apartment with these sale pieces. It'd be beautiful to mix rustic and vintage in a modern loft.

I believe the Drake General Store has seasonal warehouse sales, so I'll absolutely be back again. And if I'm lucky I'll have a second chance at some of the things I saw this time around!

Drake General Store

Over the weekend I stopped by one of my favourite Queen st. shops, the Drake General Store. Attached to the restaurant, cafe & bistro, and hotel, the Drake General Store is a piece in the entire charming Drake Hotel entity. The store itself has a flea market feel, curated with classic and modern goodies, imported as well as a good helping of local and Canadian novelties— namely the onesie. 

The reason for this particular visit was because of the onesie. They carry a darling selection of adult onesies in a few colours including a fun Canadiana print with Maple leaves, toboggans, toques, mittens, and more. I went for this one of course. But unfortunately, the smallest adult size was too big for a small gal like me. So upon this visit I exchanged my onesie for a large kids size, and lo and behold, perfect fit!

Aside from sorting out the onesies, I went around snapping my favourite bits. It's such a confined space but to every wall and corner you turn there's something new. There was this especially neat pharmacy-type wall where all the apothecary items are cleverly displayed. Consider the bunch of these photos a visual wishlist, though I have buckets more of photos not included in this post or else it would be far too lengthy.

The Drake General Store is currently hosting a holiday warehouse sale filled with discounted merch! Expect a blog post on that next because I did swing by, but I wanted to let anyone interested to know that the sale ends in two days, Sunday, December 16th. The warehouse is located at 442 Dufferin St. Unit 'I'. I highly recommend checking it out, especially if you're already near the Drake General Store this weekend. More details and hours of the sale can be found here.

Drake General Store

1114 Queen St. West

www.drakegeneralstore.ca

lunch break

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Amongst busy schedules it's always nice to take a little break, however long or short, and have a meal with good company. We had a lunch stopover at good ol' Fran's, me being the dainty gal with a salad among boys with hardy sandwiches (or what they've nicknamed "Franwiches", hah). I later had to jet to an evening class but what's perfect about being at school at that time is always catching the sun go down. Along with a shot of the skyline, the AGO is the view in OCAD's backyard. The mirrored sides of the building are literally reflective of the weather outside; it's gorgeous.

Silver Snail: Yonge & Dundas

Silver Snail, the novelty comic book store on Queen St., has opened a shiny, new location just seconds from the Yonge & Dundas intersection. A little hard to spot, it's a slim doorway on Yonge snuggled next to a Five Guys Burger & Fries with stairs leading up to it's second floor home. Though I'm sad to see the remarkable Queen location go, the new store has racked up a hotspot and is easier to navigate now that it's all on one level. 

While comic books are an illustration student's dream, I found myself even more so drawn to the dorky collectibles. Firstly, this Lady Rainicorn plushie from Adventure Time — glorious:

I'm also a sucker for the POP! figurines, these vinyl collectibles with big heads and adorable eyes. They now have a Plants vs. Zombies series— too cute to resist!

Speaking of game collectibles, I spotted a handful of Portal 2 merch in the store. I adored this videogame and aside from ThinkGeek.com I wasn't sure where to find Portal 2 collectibles outside of the internet. Silver Snail carries keychains, iron-ons, and other fun knick knacks including the Portal gun prop replica (for a fun $199 price tag).

Inside the Silver Snail and overlooking Yonge is the Black Canary Espresso Bar. Appropriately, the store theme carries on into the cafe with a very stern-looking Batman in one corner, Spiderman in another, and R2D2 by the pastries. I didn't stop to look at their menu or order anything but I'll do a more in-depth post of the Black Canary itself when I get the chance. Their latte art looks top notch! Seems like a fitting place to burrow myself with assignments and a cup of coffee.

Although the store is already open for business, they'll be celebrating their grand opening this Saturday, October 20th from open to close with a 25% off everything sale, signings & performances, and free coffee & cookies in the morning for the early-risers. For more info on the day's events check out Silver Snail's blog post here.

Silver Snail Comics
329 Yonge St.

http://silversnail.com