It’s been a weird winter in Calgary. With temperatures above freezing for weeks now, there’s no snow left on the ground. Our ice rinks are melting. But one thing that we can rely on around here, no matter what scary signs of global warming abound? Dryness. And no one wants to pucker up to someone with peeling, chapped lips.
ChopSaver Lip Care to the rescue! It keeps your kisser soft without being greasy. I like it, although the no-nonsense, non-sensual scent would not be my normal go-to. Kind of makes me think of camping. Which is why I think this chapstick is great for the guys. And also musicians on the job — the Arnica oil-based ChopSaver was created by professional trumpet player, Dan Gosling. Available with or without SPF.
Kickstart these Kicks!
I love me a good shoe. Even though these are only for the boys, I have to say hats off to these hand-crafted, yet affordable, toe-tapping tootsie toppers.
Marketing an Italian-made $600 luxury shoe for $200, the Kickstarter Campaign for Ace Marks begins today.
Not only is Ace Marks aiming to help the modern male professional step up his swagger, the company will take back worn pairs and give customers a $60 credit toward a new pair. The oldies are donated to help men in need get back on their feet and rejoin the workforce.
Those look pretty comfy, Ace Marks! Perhaps you could build brogues for the ladies.
Not only is Ace Marks aiming to help the modern male professional step up his swagger, the company will take back worn pairs and give customers a $60 credit toward a new pair. The oldies are donated to help men in need get back on their feet and rejoin the workforce.
Those look pretty comfy, Ace Marks! Perhaps you could build brogues for the ladies.
If the Ace Marks campaign is successful, I predict some happy feet. Indeed.
[photos submitted]
Secret Sounds Society: Soon to Soiree
It’s coming! The second event of the Secret Sound Society — the sleek, secret club that parties in honor of the Calgary Folk Festival. They’ll fete again this Thursday, February 11th at 7:30 pm.
Need some incentive? Try cocktails by Jameson, crafted by Sugar Water Bar. Nibbles light enough not to mess with your buzz. And a command performance by an amazing Canadian band. Hint: they rocked the Twilight Stage at the Folk Fest back in 2013.
Last time, guests who stalked the SSS Insta and Twitter came appropriately dressed for the Día de Muertos-themed event, held in an Inglewood location revealed at the absolute last minute. Well… ok, two days before. Enough time to get your sequins and sombreros organized.
Where will Thursday’s party be? The photo above is a major clue. But if “what should I wear” is still an elephant in the room for you, don’t take your style tips from the sidewalk pachyderm. With Block Heater weekend almost upon us, go mad with plaid and toss on a toque. The dress code is as pure as maple syrup and the driven snow: Canadiana all the way. SSSee you there! Wait, not a member yet? Here’s the secret knock.
Golden Year of the Monkey
Celebrate the Year of the Monkey in 24 karat! This isn’t a sponsored post, it’s obviously not my photo and I haven’t seen this personally. But since this breaking news rolled through my inbox, I thought I’d share.
To commemorate one of the luckiest years in the Chinese Zodiac, Goldgenie has launched a special limited edition iPhone 6s, featuring a laser-engraved Monkey symbol on the actual phone. Although just 99 are available, you can also request rose gold or platinum finishes. A luxury cherry oak display box is included, in case you don’t actually want to use your gold phone.
I haven’t upgraded my 5s yet, which is still sporting a case from Tmart, so I’m glad to know I have options. However, I hesitate. But if you’re feeling the gold monkey, good news — only 50% deposit is needed up front:
£1,248.50. Even though they offer it, don’t cheap out with the 16 gigs.
Sneak Peek: Calgary Home Show 2016
Who doesn’t love an airplant? The experts at Blue Grass Nursery know when you put one into a hanging terrarium, along with some strategically placed lava rocks, they’re impossible to resist.
That’s probably why their table at the Calgary Home + Garden Show sneak peek was packed with enthusiastic DIY-ers. As one of the 650 vendors who’ll be packed into the BMO Centre next month, the folks from Blue Grass will be offering up instruction for anyone interested. Stop by the Corral to make your own. They’ll have moss, ferns, succulents and other goodies if you’re not feeling my minimalist design in the photo above.
Meanwhile, over at the Amborella Floral Studio table, do-it-yourself took a decidedly Chardonnay turn, thanks to host Last Best Brewing & Distilling. Since I’d never been in their lovely 11th Avenue location, I was surprised by both the decor and the breadth of their drinks on offer. Delightful and delish.
After finishing my floral crown, I was ready for a luau. Not really the chic flower girl look I was going for. The vintage mirror at Last Best added its own effect, just to take my selfie down a double notch.
Reformation PR’s creative director Amanda Haines played it smart, getting the professional guidance of Amborella owner Misha White.
Success!
This event being all about design, of course there was no mere photo wall. A photo lounge inspired us all to remember: the Calgary Home + Garden Show will be here before you know it. February 25-28 at the BMO Centre. See you there!
Jumping Juniper!
Looking for a libation in Vancouver? Skip the booze cruise and take a tour of Chinatown, which is fast becoming a cocktail mecca. Opening just last month, Juniper Kitchen & Bar is where you’ll find bartender Martin Corriveau mixing up small-batch gin martinis and other excellent elixirs.
Oh, this pic is making me pine for a Juniper! The restaurant’s signature cocktail, made with Aviation gin, Juniper berries and Fentimans tonic, is scrumptious. But you also can’t go wrong with the Garden Gin Smash, seen here with the green garnish, the Rad-Ish (local to BC Ampersand gin, radish, dehydrated lemon, pink peppercorn, Lemon tonic) or the Mr. Bava on the bottom (Mr. Bava Bourbon, S.O.V. Amaretto, Cocchi Americano, Aromatic bitters, Ricard).
Juniper’s Scotsman ice machine is its secret weapon. Thought to be the only one in BC, the pebble-sized ice cubes melt more slowly, and distribute liquid more evenly in a cocktail. But that’s just one size and shape in the bartending team’s ice arsenal. They pride themselves on their 18 different types of cubes.
Important to note: Kitchen isn’t in Juniper Kitchen & Bar’s name for decoration. As seen here in the Wood Platter with pickled local apples, rabbit terrine from the Fraser Valley and local Pepper Jack Jill (a feminized Monterey Jack) the restaurant features Cascadian-inspired fare. I consider myself an Intermediate Foodie, but I hadn’t heard of Cascadian Cuisine. According to the World Food Travel Association, it’s “a bio-region that includes northwestern California, Oregon, Washington, southwestern British Columbia, Idaho and western Montana.” Apparently Vancouver wasn’t digging the ol’ Northwest Cuisine designation, because YVR is in the southwest part of the province.
On this particular evening in Vancouver, we made a few more stops on the tour, but when it was time to reduce the blood alcohol level, we came right back to Juniper for dinner. If you go, start with the beets and burrata. Sublime!
Taxidermy: the Mamie Taylor’s edition
What do you do when you’re starting a hipster cocktail bar on the shady side of Main Street (that’s East, for my non-YVR-knowing friends, and I’m not referring to a tree-lined boulevard) and you want to do something different from the rest of faux-fur embracing Vancouver? You put out a call for taxidermy on Facebook, et voila: decor by donation.
The beards behind the bar loved the Mamie Taylor cocktail so much, they named their restaurant after it. Opening in 2013, it helped start the tsunami of Chinatown’s uber-hipness. Soon this city will have no grunge left.
As it’s open late, if you’re too bleary-eyed to read their extensive cocktail list including drinks like Ducati Thief, ZZ Top and Dingaling Sling, the bartender will assess you and create the perfect concoction. Apparently I appeared jetset enough to qualify for the Aviation.
Ham Grenades are the go-to if you need a little something to nibble on. The most delectable tater tots I’ve ever sunk my teeth into.
One thing to know going in: embrace any Hipster Surly attitude here as part of the charm. Accompanied as it is by infallible libations, the taxidermy adorning any spare space is all the charm you’ll need.
Chambar is the new Waffle House
Forget what you thought about waffles. Chambar is taking this traditional standby and turning it on its delectable, Belgian edge. If you go to the Vancouver restaurant for brunch, you must try them — even if it’s only for an appetizer. Do NOT try to share them. They are small, and it will cause resentment.
Wait! Wine and waffles? Not saying I wouldn’t do it, but in the interest of full disclosure, I was already a fan of Chambar. In fact, I recently celebrated my birthday downstairs at the table in front of this amazing king of the jungle, created especially for the restaurants’ owners by Seattle-based artist Justin Kane Elder, during a party (which just makes it even more fabulous). So when I realized Chambar also does brunch, I had to return during the early dining time zone.
Which, thank goodness, does not preclude booze. Chambar’s local tomato twist on the Caesar is ineffable. Why? Not content to simply mix it with fresh, organic tomatoes, Chambar’s general manager Edwyn Kumar confided that the restaurant roasts them especially for the drink. Delish.
As faithful Blue Besos readers know, I am anti food porn, when it comes to this blog, even though I regularly peruse it on others. But personal rules are made to be broken. Anyone with New Year’s resolutions feel me?
But I digress from the real quandary at hand: more waffles, or something else from the menu? If you manage to restrict yourself to just one waffle, which I do not recommend, you’ll have room for an entree. Be forewarned: you do not come to Chambar for traditional bacon and eggs. I got my meat on with the Fricasee, which revolved around braised short ribs and a side of maple glazed bacon, which is actually yummy thick pork belly.
If you’re feeling more Benedictish, try the Gaufre Au Saumon, where (bonus!) the eggs come on more of those amazing waffles.
Chambar provided so many details for my aesthetic obsession to delight in, thanks to co-owner Karri Schuermans, who did the interior design and is the driving force behind Chambar strategic ops. The Americano, served in this beautiful cup. The wood on the table, echoed by wood details on the walls. 
Even the restrooms were resplendent. Althugh I can only speak for the women’s.
I didn’t take a picture of our exact eating coordinates, but it was a lovely corner table by the window. Green tufted leather seats. See the red round booth back there on the left, then the window next to it? And you can’t really make out the table beneath it? Yeah! Ask for that one.
I finished the meal dreaming up more ways to eat the waffles. Shown in the top photo, I tried two toppings. The fig orange marmalade was lovely, but I was blown away by the bacon caramel. Chambar doesn’t do whip, but I’d like to try the yoghurt. And dark chocolate. Or milk chocolate lavender. Of course now I’m wondering how amazing white chocolate pistachio rosewater might taste… Guess I’ll be planning a return brunch.
What’s that you say, Edwyn… another round before we leave? Don’t mind if I do. See you again soon, Chambar!
Room 701 at Opus
When you plan to ring in the New Year in high-heeled style, you need the right room to rest your toes after the countdown. Suite 701 at Opus Hotel in Vancouver, with prosecco proferred upon check-in, fit the bill. Not only was the boutique hotel one of the hippest destinations in the city when it opened in 2002, it’s still keeping up with the Forbeses, achieving the mag’s coveted four-star rating from 2013-2015 — the only boutique hotel to do so in YVR. 
The rooms are each decorated for an imaginary muse. Taking it up a notch from the average imaginary friend, Opus’s hypothetical pals include a rockstar, a doctor, an actress and a food critic. The foxglove blue walls of 701 were inspired by Susan, a fashion exec from Toronto. I am happy to report that Susan prefers a padded headboard. However, she didn’t leave behind the Rebecca Minkoff bag and Cole Haan heels — those are mine.
The generously proportioned bathroom not only came with a walk-in shower and separate soaker tub…
it also came with goodies I haven’t tried before. Verdict: yes.
The Yaletown location means you’re walking distance from everything: the seawall, fabulous shopping, a kazillion coffee shops, restaurants and nightclubs.
The proliferation of late-night partying in Yaletown at the aforementioned clubs means this view, while not that scenic, was especially soothing. If you’re a princess and the pea type of sleeper like myself, request a courtyard room. 
If I could change just one thing about Room 701, I would send the desk chair back to Office Max. I feel like Susan would want a different option to perch on while she perused the in-room iPad, waiting for her Keurig coffee to brew.
Overall, a lovely stay, and a lovely way to ring in 2016. Happy New Year everyone!
Putting on the Ritzville for Xmas
This was supposed to be a holiday gift guide, not a story about my unexpected visit to the town of Ritzville, Washington.
But when you see a dozen accidents on I-90 in an hour, the black ice starts to speak to you. Go forth and find a motel.
The wifi, mini fridges and Direct TV at the Top Hat joined the conversation.
I have never been so happy to see a $48 room. 
Family owned, the people who run the Top Hat Motel in Ritzville are super-friendly. Although the walls are paper-thin, the rooms are clean, with a homey Holly Hobby thing going on with the decor.
Which became the perfect backdrop for this jolly Crabtree & Evelyn holiday gift set. Nothing is better to counteract extreme winter dryness than C&E ultra-moisturising (spelled with an S to honor the brand’s British roots) hand therapy. This box brings it to you in three scents — Caribbean Island Wild Flowers, Pear and Pink Magnolia and Evelyn Rose.
Another last-minute stocking stuffer idea: more hand lotion, Apple Snow this time, tucked inside this Christmas cracker.
With time on my hands and a delightful dinner of Spokane Trader Joe’s takeout the future reward, I decided a brisk walk was in order, despite the blizzard. The aptly named Ritz Theater was one of the first historic buildings I passed. A walking tour sign informed me its smooth stucco is a sample of 1930s modern style.
But if you missed out on the Star Wars sleeping bag action this week, don’t go thinking you’ll be able to do it here, just because it’s opening a month later.
With church bells peeling as I walked the deserted streets, it seemed like everyone was off praying for the blizzard to break. But further down the road, I found a Carnegie Library. And if you’re wondering, yes, that Carnegie.
Inside was the loveliest library I’d seen since the one I used to frequent in Gates Mills. Except that one didn’t have birds of prey guarding every shelf.
Back outside, a tumbleweed was headed for the Railroad Depot Museum. It was time to get back to the Top Hat…
… where thin walls don’t matter if you’re the only one staying there. One more shopping day everybody! Are you ready?