Post 7 – Christmas Shopping on 104th Street
I thought it would be fun to explore 104th street this winter. I had 2 reasons for wanting to do this. First, I’m usually on 104th street in the summer during the farmer’s market, so all of my attention is usually on the stalls instead of the permanent stores on the street. So, I wanted to take a good look at all of the interesting stores that have been popping up along 104th without the distraction of the farmers market. Second, I thought it would be fun to get some ideas for Christmas presents while browsing the stores, although I’m actually done all my Christmas shopping, so I really just ended up getting inspiration for future presents. With Christmas less than a week away, I thought it would be fun to share my 104th street adventure on the blog!
My friend Lana was more than happy to join me on my adventure, so we headed out this past Saturday afternoon to see what 104th street could offer us. We met on the North end of 104th street by the Mercer Tavern and Roast Coffeehouse, both of which are located in the Mercer Warehouse. We contemplated grabbing a coffee to go at Roast, but decided against it as we didn’t have a ton of time to do our shopping. I’ve been to Roast before for coffee, and it has a really nice atmosphere, so I think it would be a fun place to go for a Christmas coffee with friends. As well, I took a minute to check out their website and they have some interesting looking Christmas coffees, such as Gingerbread and Jack Frost Chocolate Mint, that could make a good gift to the coffee lover on your list.
On the way to our next stop, I saw that Ric’s Grill has officially changed to the 104th Street Grill. I thought it was a little funny that it was “by David Bowie.” Likely not the David Bowie I am thinking of, but funny, none the less. 🙂
We stopped in at the Carbon Environmental Boutique to see what they had to offer. I noticed some pretty looking Christmas decorations right when we entered. The wreaths were made from recycled bits of rolled up magazines, pretty cool! I thought those wreaths could make for an interesting Christmas decoration and then I also wondered whether I could make something like that myself…. mmm, probably not. While Lana found some greeting cards to purchase, I browsed through the rest of the store. I came across a super cute, tiny cast iron frying pan. It looked like it wouldn’t hold much more than a quail’s egg, so maybe not that practical, but adorable none the less.
Then as we were leaving, we noticed some lovely smelling gingerbread man shaped soaps. They could make for a nice little present, although I do sometimes wonder if environmentally friendly soaps have the same cleaning power as their environmentally unfriendly counterparts.
Next up was Evoolution, a boutique olive oil and balsamic vinegar store. It was my second time in the store and I just love it in there. It’s so much fun to try all of the wonderful olive oils, balsamic vinegars and other culinary treats. I did a lot of tasting and browsing, but I didn’t end up buying anything and that was only because I couldn’t justify getting anything for myself and like I mentioned before, I really didn’t have any more gifts I needed to get. Evoolution did have a great selection of items that would make excellent presents though. From bottles of high quality olive oil, to uniquely flavoured balsamic vinegar (white peach) and salts (mmm… bacon salt), there are many interesting items that could be a great present for your favourite foodie or a lovely hostess gift.
I also liked that Evoolution offers sampler packs, where you can select 6 small bottles of any of the different olive oils and balsamic vinegars in the store, to create your own perfect gift.
We crossed the street and went into Dauphine (formerly the Queen of Tarts). It was surprisingly quiet there, especially when I know somewhere like The Duchess would have been insanely busy on a Saturday afternoon. It made me wonder why Dauphine wasn’t busier. I really don’t know why that is, but it had me feeling a little concerned for Dauphine’s future. Maybe it was the weather?
Either way, I was determined to get myself a little treat and settled on a meringue with cocoa nibs. It was very light and airy, and had a nice amount of little cocoa chunks in it. The perfect snack to keep me going.
Lana settled on a snowflake cookie that was much more holiday (and weather) appropriate. As I was leaving I noticed that they had a excellent selection of bagged treats that could make for a nice little present, stocking stuffer or hostess gift for over the holidays.
Our last stop was at Coup Boutqiue, a fancy lady’s clothing store. There was some interesting looking clothes, however everything seemed like it was out of my price range. What did catch my eye, however, was a beautiful display of colourful Glassful hand blown glass tumblers. I had actually noticed theses beautiful glass creations before online, but they were even more beautiful in person. Unfortunately they didn’t have the colour I was looking for (thistle) and the clerk at Coup said that the company was going to be going out of business. Sad. 😦 I thought that the glass tumblers would make for a really lovely gift, but maybe they won’t be around long enough for me to ever do that!
I had a wonderful time shopping on 104th street with Lana. It was great to explore so many wonderful stores that are unique to Edmonton and now I have some great inspiration for future gifts!
Happy Tuesday! Only one week until Christmas!
Life is Better Red 