Sam James Coffee Bar

I went to Sam James Coffee Bar for the first time, and I was so impressed with their decaf. I've had some feeble decaffinated slush before, but this was different. My friend, Ben, who's eating the muffin above replied, 'Well yah, it's decaf. He (Sam) will still try and make it good.' Sam James offers other items as well, like 'new school' items with vanilla and soy lattes, and 'old school' classics, like americanos and lattes. Their locations are a bit tucked away in the city, but it's worth it. So worth it. 

Enjoy!

Jen.

Sam James Coffee Bar

297 Harbord Street + 688a Bloor Street W.

Mon-Fri 7-7, Sat 8-6, Sun 9-5

(photos with my camera phone)

Mother's Day, Belated

Mother’s Day took place a few weeks ago. I came across an awesome book I saw at the Drake General Store called My Mom, Style Icon, which started as a wonderful blog documenting old pictures of mothers in all their amazing outfits. The tagline is ‘Their style was born before we were’ <3

It reminded me of a photograph of my mom that I always keep on my desk. She is 17 here, achingly beautiful and visibly vibrant. The year is 1972, she is in medical school about to marry her medical school professor (my lucky dad!) and move to a new country. I keep it on my desk as a reminder that if I were to be even half of what she is, then I am set for life.

And so, this is how this little personal project came to life, along with the help of Jen who truly captured the essence. As the years go by, it will be interesting to look back on this and wonder about the many similarities and many differences.

Starting your week with a touch of nostalgia,

Ish

Graffiti at College + Spadina

Somebody spray painted this at College + Spadina. To which I say: true enough. Happy Friday and have a good weekend!

Street Style: 1

Ish's pick: The lady hand-made her whole dress. I love that she took the time to infuse her own creativity and add a touch of herself to her clothes! Beats any trend.

Jen's pick: The lady had beautiful long fringe earrings and wicked crackle nail polish over a yellow coat. Looove it.

Victoria Day 2011 @ Harbourfront

Going down memory lane: bP Nichol Lane

There are some streets that bring back memories. This street is one of them for me. It’s the street that reminds me of the many university boys and many cigarettes smoked. But it is much more than my personal memories. This is BP Nichol Lane, named after the famous Canadian poet who left behind a huge archive of interesting poetry. Though, it is the four line poem carved into the concrete that leaves the largest impact on me.

To the left of me is the Coach House Press, a publishing company who has gone out of their way to publish literature that pushes boundaries. The cream building behind me, once used to be known as Rochdale Collage in the 60’s, a student run alternative educational institute/hippie commune which was closed down due to… well… neighbor complaints of out of control hippies. Given that the residents were made up of hedonistic idealists and clothing was optional in certain areas, I think it may have been a fun place to hang out.

The poem is so simple while at the same time, it conveys such large ideas and leaves me with a tinge of sadness. While hanging out there, Jen actually bumped into the guy who comes down and waters down the words once in a while. Our lake overflowed…

 During gorgeous summer nights, I find myself on this street often and I wish there were more streets in Toronto named after poets and authors. So that when we find ourselves on a random street, we suddenly come to remember a million little memories filled with stories, faces and words caught in time. For now, I will leave you with these words to ponder:

And remember,

Rainy days bring Sunshine!

Jen and Ish.

bp Nichol Lane
Bloor + Spadina

manic coffee: on a casual saturday

Beautiful latte art. Coffee by Intelligentsia (Award-winning Chicago roasters)

For those days of double fisting, this is a way to do it with a touch of beauty.

Much love over the long weekend!
Ish and Jen

Manic Coffee

426 College St @ Bathurst and College

Monday – Friday: 7 am – 7 pm

Saturday, Sunday: 8am – 8pm

growing herbs: basil

I got a new basil plant for my place! It was $2 at a convenience store next to the gum and condoms aisle. Go figure - only in Toronto. The plant is suppose to be low maintenance, so I hope it lasts longer than my resolution to quit caffeine. It also grows extremely fast. Yay!

Sabon Bath and Body smells amazing + works!

Last week, I discovered Sabon and it's become my favorite bath and body stores.

I gifted the above set of hand-wrapped seaweed cleanser and moisturizer to myself to counter a case of the Mondays.

The seaweed cleanser is effective but gentle, and leaves the skin smooth and oil-free. The very light moisturizer keeps it that way all day long, which suits summer skin. By the way, it smells great and natural.

The sales people in the Sabon store are extremely helpful. You can try all of their stuff there, including other cleansers, olive oil soaps, massage oils, and others for dry, oily, combo, and normal skin types.

 I'll be going back for their best sellers, a body scrub made from salts from the Dead Sea (it was amazing. All of hand's my winter dryness disappeared after one use.) and a mud mask from the Dead Sea too. (This brand is from Israel.) On a final note, all of their products are affordable . The set above was on sale, and under $30. =)
 

Much sunshine and cheers to summer skin <3

Sabon

2552 Yonge Street, Toronto

416-485-0303 ‎ 

Monday to Friday: until 6pm

Saturday and Sunday: until 5pm

Rubix Pyramids

Alright, so this is really random (and kinda nerdy)! I know rubix cube competitions aren't on the forefront of competition-based entertainment, but it's was really cool to see someone solve a cube! University of Toronto on College St set up a a table with rubix cubes. The guy (above) solved a traditional cube in about 28 seconds. Which was apparently really slow for him.

And check out the funky pyramid shaped one. He solved it in 1 minute and 57 seconds:

The irregular cubic one is pretty interesting:

 And I only recently found out that there are inter-university competitions for rubix cubes. ...Who knew.

Queen's Park blossoms

It's cherry blossom season! The petals of cherry blossoms are expected to fall like rain this weekend. I know I'll be at High Park. I've never been before but I hear it's stunning.

Freedom March 2011

The Freedom March, or Marijuana March this past weekend in downtown Queen's Park. I stopped by briefly, and it was largely a pretty mellow affair, as I'm sure you can guess. The crowd is split into mainly two groups - people gathering to chill, and others who to legalize the product more broadly for medicinal purposes. It was neat to see 20,000 people gathered together downtown .

People brought guitars, their dogs, skateboards, and this man (photo above) brought his hoola-hoop. He wasn't kidding around - he could hoop with his shoulders, bring it around his back, and all over the place.
Overall, pretty cool.

Ellena's hair

I noticed Ellena, with a friend at a patio who sported crisp bobs for the summer. Fresh, and airy, but smooth at the same time. It's pretty hard to pull off this hair, and she does it well. It was cut at their cousin Morgan's place: Bob & Paige Salon. Cheers to summer!

Loving the signs of summer patios + fresh hair, 

Jen.

amazing macarons: La Bambouche Patisserie

... so as you can see from the bite marks in photo above, it's really hard to resist the macarons. Macarons that are made well have been really hard to find in Toronto, but I became a believer when I found La Bambouche! And they make awesome gifts! Perhaps for Mothers Day. Perhaps for Treat Yourself Day (everyday?) It's up to you.

The pastry artists/owners of this patisserie, Stephan Nason, was trained in French pastries, as well as Japanese cuisine. They specialize in fusion desserts, which is how you ended up with Asian flavors in a French pastry, like: 

Green tea and mango macaron tastes like their respective ice cream flavors. Which is awesome.

And ume (which is apparently pickled plum) with a sake filling actually tastes like sake! It's definitely odd to find it in dessert, but it's got a kick.

La Bambouche also has classic macaron flavors, like chocolate, vanilla, and my all time favorite:

 Just thinking about it makes me giddy. Hehehehehe!

La Bambouche has a patio just around Yonge and Elginton, which is ideal for coffee dates as the weather warms up since their lattes aren't bad either:

So until next time: 

There will be more flavors to try!

Much sunshine, 

Jen.

Photos by Jennifer Xu

La Bambouche

4 Manor Road East (+1 other location)

416-481-6735

Mon - Thurs: 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM

Fri - Sat: 8:00 AM  - 11:00 PM

Sun:  8:00 AM  -   8:00 PM