Big Day Downtown - Numero Tres

Left-to-Right: Krisa Comeau, me, Melissa Dube. Photo by Krista Comeau/Melissa Dube

I was really excited to be chosen by the Downtown Halifax Business Commission to participate in their third annual Big Day Downtown promotion. (Pssst...you can read about my First and Second outings here and here).

In a delightful (and cheeky) twist, we were all randomly paired with another blogger to share our downtown experience, and I was paired with the lovely ladies of Fashion East, which just so happens to be one of my favourite local blogs, not to mention it is about one of my favourite things (aka. fashion). As Chandler Bing might say, could this partnership BE any more perfect?!

No, no it couldn't.

Not only do these girls curate a wicked blog, but they are also very nice and have great style themselves. AND they take beautiful photos, so not only did I get to have a fun day exploring our awesome downtown, but we have great photos to show for it instead of the decidedly non-professional, slightly awry pics that I normally take and post here (win!).

Since there were three of us embarking on this BIG downtown adventure, we decided to choose one favourite for each of us, plus one place to grab a snack (adventuring does make one hungry).

Love you too, B (photo by me)

For my favourite, I chose Biscuit General Store. This is hands-down my favourite boutique downtown - they have so many cute things to wear and put in your home, I could browse in there for days. I had the pleasure of interviewing owner, Wendy Freidman, for Hip Urban Girl last year and it was a great experience. I had to hold back from spending my entire $100 Visa at our first stop!

I haz a cute! (photo by me)

In the end, I settled on a set of 4 moustache kitchen clips (for the boy AND me) and a tin of Smith's Rosebud Salve - this stuff is the BEST! One tin seriously lasts like 2 years, it smells like a rose bush and you can use it for basically any kind of skin issue (chapped lips, blisters, burns, etc, etc, etc).

Photos by Krista Comeau/Melissa Dube

Then we decided we needed sugar and caffeine (again, I will stress the importance of snacks) and we headed around the corner to Le French Fix, a new cafe we had all heard a lot about and had been meaning to try. This cafe is very cute (and tiny!) and my cappuccino was delicious. We shared a few small sweet treats and they were all delicious also (I finally tried a real French macaron!), plus we had a chance to chat a bit, get to know each other.



Photos by Krista Comeau/Melissa Dube

Newly energized from all the conversation, espresso and sugar, we rambled down the hill to Barrington Street, and to a place which provides some stiff competition in my "favourite downtown boutique" category - J&R Grimsmo.



I really want that airplane table (photos by me)

First of all, this boutique is beautifully curated - they have a few very special items that you feel were lovingly handpicked by the owners, and everything is arranged in a very artistic way. Yet, it's also very cozy with the light streaming in the big windows at the front, and the sofa, pillows and interesting tables arranged throughout. It feels like the apartment of an impossibly cool friend (you know the one - the one whose outfits you are always coveting).


Photos by Krista Comeau/Melissa Dube

J&R was celebrating their one-year anniversary on the day of our visit - so exciting! I hope they have many more. They had a great promotion where you could pick a piece of paper from a jar and on that paper would be a % discount off your purchase - I chose 10% (better than a kick in the teeth) and Melissa got 25%! Great idea.

We spent quite a bit of time in here browsing and deciding what to spend the rest of our money on. In the end, I decided on a pair of thick black polka-dot tights and a gold necklace with a ballpoint pen charm. I LOVE that necklace and have worn it every day since buying it. The items in this store are a tad pricey, I can't lie, but they are great quality and many are made by local artisans, so it feels good to support their hard work with a few extra bucks.

Photo by Krista Comeau/Melissa Dube

I can't thank the Downtown Halifax Business Commission AND Krista and Melissa for the great Big Day Downtown. Now, I suggest that all Halifax residents get your butt's downtown and start exploring!

I showed you mine, now you have to show me yours *wink-wink*