This Just in...

SHOPS AT DON MILLS
[flickr.com]

CC and I stopped by the new shopping complex in Don Mills. The outdoor mall is gleaming, sterile, pale in its colour scheme and not someplace where I'd choose to hang out for the "atmosphere", which it sorely lacks. Still, shopping is the objective here and on that front it delivers with recognizable brand name retailers like McEwan (below), Anthropologie (below), Michael Kors (link below), Aldo, Aritzia, Banana Republic, BCBG Max Azria, Browns, Calvin Klein Underwear, Coach, Eddie Bauer, Guess?, Mendocino, Mexx, Tabi, Tommy Hilfiger and Town Shoes. If I ever do come back, it'll be for the gorgeous McEwan, which is the only store here that doesn't have an outlet located minutes from where I live.

Michael Kors is Now Open!
This week, the new 1,800-sq.-ft. Michael Kors store opened at Shops at Don Mills. It is the company’s third store in the Greater Toronto Area and its sixth store in all of Canada.
blogTO review
I was skeptical about The Shops as well, but it is surprisingly walkable. There are a few small lots and "street" parking which gives the illusion of a quaint neighbourhood (emphasis on illusion: this is a nice idea, but feels forced).
Spacing review
I have mixed feelings about Shops at Don Mills...There’s something vaguely Disneyish about the place, almost something out of the Truman Show.

McEWAN



Specialty vinegars, I think



Some sort of seasoning...maybe dried flower petals?

I love fancy tea tins

I could eat every single one of these

Can't beat chocolate in tubes

Decadent white chocolate cake topping

McEwan Food Store (vid)

ANTHROPOLOGIE
I tried on the blue dress on that mannequin and it just wasn't me. As it turns out, I'm not an Anthropologie girl, but I do like taking pics of their pretty displays: everywhere you look there's a wonderfully colourful pile, row or stack just begging to be rifled through.













BLOOR ST. W.
Shoes Gallery Calendar 2010__Bata Shoe Museum

Related
Virtual Shoe Museum

ALLIANCE
The lobby of Alliance's new home on King St. W.; they also share the building with a mining company.

I had a job interview here for the position of a personal asistant, which sadly - or gladly - I didn't get. It sounded like an easy gig at first, but in actuality the job involved a lot more than fetching coffee - as in long hours, detailed work and cranky bosses. In other words, not my cuppa.

Alliance's actual office space looks nothing like its building's quietly elegant, minimalist lobby. Think flourescent lighting, gray carpeting, 3-sided cubicles and movie posters everywhere.


Wave "hi"!

MORTON'S
Dinner with Mr. Movie at Morton's. I had to get a pic of this kitschy-cute sleeping pig oil lamp, as well as...

...this adorable card holder; I wanted to swipe it but I restrained myself.

I believe Mr. Movie made his "O" face when he tried one of these scallops wrapped in bacon. They were divine.

YORKVILLE AVE.
This is - by far - the ugliest painting I've ever seen. And yes, that's our CN Tower in the foreground__Impressions Art Gallery

Teatro Verde all decked out for Halloween



Y5

MANULIFE CENTRE
Girls' Night Out wine__LCBO
One of three new marketing-driven Girls’ Night Out wines. Not to deny the gals their own wine (or a good time), but where’s the Boys’ Night In vino? This is a simple, cinnamon-spiced, apple pie–flavoured chardonnay. A touch sweet, even confected. Good to very good length.
Price: $12.95
Type: White
Varietal: Chardonnay
Vintage: 2007
Region: Lake Erie North Shore
[TorontoLife.com]

Looks like the Guggenheim on the cover__publ. Masterworks?__Indigo Books

Lovely Nanking vase featured inside

noi.se__Indigo Books

If I ever pay $20 for a fashion magazine, it better have photography of this calibre.






On a side note, a recent controversial French Vogue editorial has brought the term "blackface" back into the spotlight when really, I just wish it would die, along with the image of Aunt Jemima and the word nigger. I believe some words and images ought to stay in the past until they dissolve completely from our collective social memory.

Having said that, if I'm going to consider a thoughtful, photographic depiction of racial identity, I prefer it look something like this.

Here, the model isn't immitating or caricaturing another race, but rather masking herself with another colour in such a way that you still see her. In fact, many layers of interpretation can be derived from this photo: Is it about racial identity? Dark vs. light aspects of her soul? Hiding from reality? Or as her outfit seems to imply, is she merely acting the fool, like a clown or court jester? [via]

SHOPPERS DRUG MART
Janet looks great on the cover. Lord knows, her surgeons are worth every penny.

Loud gurgling and cackling sounds made my skin crawl, and when I looked around the corner there was this automated witch retailing for about $240. Her hips swivelled and her head wobbled as she stirred her cauldron and one guy nearby couldn't stop laughing and staring at her.

Cheezy "Get Well" greeting card

SCREEN TIME
Shark Tank is the new American version of the original Japanese series, Dragons' Den, and it's produced by Mark Burnett of Survivor fame.

Robert Herjavec, also of the Canadian Dragons' Den version, plays "good cop" shark to...

..."bad cop" shark Kevin O'Leary, another Canadian Dragon.
Kevin adds a scintillating touch of evil to the panel. One example of his many foot-in-mouth quotes: There's never a better time to upsell than when a family is stricken with grief...that's why the funeral business is so great.

DOUBLE JEOPARDY (1999 w / Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones & Bruce Greenwood)
Plot: Framed for murder, a woman seeks revenge.
How long were you and Angie fucking before you decided to get rid of me?

Uhh...

KILLING ME SOFTLY (2002 w / Heather Graham & Joseph Fiennes)
I finally broke the seal on Killing Me Softly, the $5 DVD I bought across the street a couple of months ago. Seen above is Heather Graham as Alice, an American living in London. On her way to work, Alice exchanges glances with...

...Adam (Joseph Fiennes), a mysterious mountaineer. A few hours later, as is the case with all hot strangers who bump into each other on busy streets, they end up...

...fucking. Not entirely implausible!

Natascha McElhone (the hotter blonde, IMO) plays Adam's sister.

A surprisingly erotic bondage sex scene...
Adam: Do you trust me?
Alice: Yes.

I won't give away the ending as I'm sure there's a dusty copy lying at the bottom of every rummage bin in every DVD store on the planet. Wait a minute...here it is. If it costs more than $5 then it's too damn much because Oscar material this isn't. Nonetheless, I was kept engaged until the end probably more because of Joseph's hot body and big brown eyes than Heather's acting "ability", which between the blank stares and mute nods, had me convinced she was borderline mentally challenged.

AND FINALLY...
Yes, that's a storm cloud outside my window. The "storm", however, was more of a 2 minute spit up.