Vacation Day in My Town

I took last week off. I turned off the lights and closed my shop up. Sometimes you just gotta do that! Of course in typical me fashion I made a to-do list that was ridiculous when the object of my time off was to recuperate my mind and body. But I did a couple of awesome things…

1. I got a fab haircut from Jamie at Sykea. It was first time with Jamie but he came highly recommended. And rightly so. He was perfection.

2. Skated the Oval. How cool is it that Halifax is the host of the Canada Games in February and that we get to skate the Speed Skating Oval!

3. Ate lunch at one of my favorite restaurants Morris East. I had the most amazing salted caramel tart for dessert. OH!

4. Check out some shops that I never get to because I am in retail and so are they and we all seem to have the same hours and same ball/chain/store life. I finally got to venture into Liquid Gold. I am so excited about this new business – an olive oil and vinegar bulk shop. My friend Shelagh did a whole post on Liquid Gold.

Anyhow if find yourself with a day or so off, I encourage a little “vacation” in your own city. It can be very renewing. There is always work to do. Lord knows I have piles of it. And there is always house cleaning. I have piles of that as well. But a day to explore with only perhaps a rough agenda and a zest to see where the day takes you can be an amazing gift.

Friday Love: Jenn Grant and the North End

Back in September I wrote a post about one of the many reasons I love my city of Halifax. (I say “my” city b/c I truely feel at home here – with just under 10 years under my belt – but the reality is that I am a “come from away”.) In that previous post I talk about how colourful Halifax is. Another reason I love living here is because, for the most part, the people are unpretentious. You can go to a fancy restaurant in town in jeans or out to a movie all decked out and no one does those big city sideways glances. No one gives a hoot if you are wearing a skirt AND carrying a rucksack. In fact the “anything goes”  fashion has become a bit of the city’s signature style. (Funny that this a post about Haligonians being non-judgemental is following my last post about my feeling fashionably boring lately.) Anyhow, one of my favorite Halifax musicians posted a You Tube video for Getcha Good a few days ago and it has gone viral here in the ‘Fax. This video really shows the colour and vitality and unpreteniousness of our fair city, or at least the North End.