City to City: Tamarack General Store

Hello strangers! Jenni and I have been busy being aunties to the cutest little newborn boy around. (You can argue this, but we think he's the cutest!) We've been a bit busy spoiling him. Excuse our absence!

A little while ago, owner Richard Anderson was kind enough to let me snap some photos at one of Saskatoon's most unique stores. I had heard of Tamarack General Store before they even opened, and was excited to see the specially selected items they would bring in! I've visited a few times, and they are all about good quality items that people want to have. And my goodness, I want to have it all! 

Another unique feature about this place is that its entry is in the alleyway. Luckily, it's located just off Broadway, so foot traffic is plentiful, I'm sure. I love the idea of a hidden away store that has to be found to be enjoyed! 

If you pop in, you have to try this Marou chocolate. Crafted carefully from cacao trees in Vietnam, this company is seeking to show that the small, family farm really is a more environmentally friendly business model.  I identify with this as I know this is most often the story for quality coffee. 

And did I mention it tastes amazing? Seriously. Dark Chocolate at its finest. 

Check out their fine line of men's products from Prospector Co. That labelling. I love good labelling!

 

Speaking of good labelling, Common Good knows what that's all about! This company from Brooklyn seeks to eliminate the excess in plastic, and has created a household cleaning line with bottles that you can take to refilling stations! I love this idea. They also give a very well written list of ingredients that are in their products on their website, eliminating the mystery of the more widely used cleaning product ingredients! Smart people, right?

These shelves, love the industrial metal backing and the simple wood shelves!

I see future gifts for my nephew! He will be the coolest kid in school. 

After all these beautiful products from a little further away, I loved seeing these spoons made by a friend! Joel started burntwood makery, hand carving and wood burning unique spoons. We now have two burntwood makery spoons in our house, both so beautiful.

Hope you enjoyed seeing some beautiful items in a beautiful space. If you want to see more of their ever-changing general store, head down there yourself! 

Tamarack is open:

Wednesday-Saturday

11am-530pm

#10 - 638 Broadway Avenue (alley entrance)

Saskatoon

facebook: Tamarack General Store

website: Tamarack General Store (in the works!)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Kristen

City to City: Walrus

Last week, Kristen shared one of her favourite retail shops in Saskatoon, and today I get to share one of my favourites here in Vancouver! Walrus is a small boutique shop that celebrates design of well-crafted, playful and functional items. They focus specifically on Canadian design and many local designers' goods can be found within the shop. When I first discovered this lovely little space, I was drawn in by the amount of visual eye candy there was to look at, along with the super friendly owners, Daniel and Caroline, who seemed so passionate about their work. There seems to be a community surrounding the space and that can probably be discovered more in the many events they hold to celebrate design. 

As I was going though my pictures that I happened to shoot the other day, I realized that I have no wide shots of the space itself! So that will just have to be a surprise for you Vancouverites or for those visiting :). Until then, here are a few of the interesting, whimsical and lovely things you might find when stopping by. 

These mugs were designed by Cathy Terepocki who is my absolute favourite ceramic artist. Her work is incredible! She used to reside in Saskatoon and I was so happy to find small pieces of home here. 

A Vancouver necessity, lots and lots of Herschel backpacks! I have yet to nab one, but it's on my birthday list (hint hint...)

The hubby loves these Freud teapots from outer space...I think I know what to get for HIS birthday ;)

So much goodness, right? And here's the best part for those of you that can't get out to Vancouver- they have an online shop! And for those that can stop by, they are open every day of the week- you can find all hours on the website. Find the link below:

Walrus

3408 Cambie Street

604-874-9770

Website: Walrus

Instagram: @walrushome

Facebook: WALRUShome

Thank you, Walrus, for letting me photograph bits of your beautiful space! 

Oregon Coast Love

I had never been to Oregon before...in fact, I haven't been to many states before, aside from California and Washington. But M had expressed to me how much he thought I would enjoy Oregon, and he knows me so well. I LOVED each and every part of our small trip! We only had 3.5 days to explore and I so wished we had more, but we packed a lot into that small amount of time. 

Our first stop was Astoria- a cute historic old town along the coast filled with so many antique shops! M found his long lost cultural brotherhood- this town has a huge Finnish community! We also climbed this massive column on the top of a hill overlooking the area (Ok...I only got halfway up before I chickened out. But M conquered it even with his fear of heights!)

You may have seen a photo on Instagram, but my favourite part of this whole trip was the surprise that my husband had planned for us- horseback riding along the coast at Nehalem State Park. I haven't been horseback riding since I was 10, and have been begging M to take me! It was incredible. Like, really incredible! I think that it goes on one of my top ten experiences in life. And I'm not even exaggerating! M begged me to not put a picture of him on a horse on here, so you'll have to settle for a cropped view of our horses, Lucky and Boogie. 

After the coast, we shot up to Portland and I think we were both pretty excited for this part of the trip. M had been before, but he loves it and knew that I would too. And as soon as we started to drive through, I immediately fell in love. (It probably helps that our whole weekend was sunny and gorgeous!) This city is the perfect mixture of cool, trendy places and small city, friendly feel. There were times when I felt like I was in Vancouver and Saskatoon at once! It was great. Here are a few snapshots: 

We did a lot of exploring, but truthfully we did a lot more eating- I mean, it's Portland! How could you not?! I think we both threw caution to the wind and consumed as much as we could without worry of diet or money... We're feeling the effects of that now, but it was so worth it! A few food highlights:

1. Our first night we stopped at Cha Cha Cha in The Pearl district (picture above is from another location). Yummy mexican food and tasty Horchata (uh oh. Here comes Vampire Weekend stuck in my head again...). We wanted dessert, too, so we drove around a while until we stumbled across Luce. We both hadn't heard of it before, but it was a cute Italian restaurant with a great dessert menu. Hazelnut chocolate cake? Yes, please.

2. Of course food carts had to take place. We stopped by a lot on Hawthorne. M collected a tasty pork gyro from the meat heavy, Lardo. I went for a slightly lighter option and ate a fancy grilled cheese from  PBJ's Grilled. I had trouble deciding what to pick but ended up with a delicious blend of walnut butter, caramelized onions, capicola, brie and pear butter...heavenly. We finished things off with a healthy dose of deep fried potatoes, also known as fries, from Potato Champion.

3. Supper at Bollywood Theatre. Not much to say other than, YUM.

4. Ok, we ended off this trip with a bang. We wanted to do brunch (obviously), and we ended up settling on Broder. I'm so glad we did. It was AMAZING. It's a Scandinavian restaurant (so, of course, M was immediately drawn to it!). I've eaten a fair bit of Finnish cuisine now, and have grown to love beets. And this menu is filled with beets! We had to wait a short while to get in, but this place has it figured out. Rather than waiting in a line on the sidewalk, they have access to the pub next door where they had a waiting area with coffee (see M above). But our breakfasts were worth the wait- the perfect mixture of everything tasty. 

5. Special shout-out to the coffee shops we found... Heart + Stumptown and spent a long time trying but failed to find, Tea Chai Te. (Next time, I suppose!)

I'm so glad we chose to do Portland this spring break and that the weather was so beautiful. It showed me the beauty of the city. People were so friendly and the culture was so laid back. It made it easy to relax, even with all the running around we were doing. We took so much in, but I already can't wait to go back!