Prince Edward County wine tour

We interrupt regular Grunge Queen programming so I can tell you about the wine tour I went on yesterday hosted by the LCBO!

(Hey, it was for media so it was free, tee hee).

The goal: learn about Ontario wines.

We started having an informative tour at Norman Hardie winery - beautiful country, lovely wine and friendly host - and the lunch, made with veggies from the garden on site: amazing!




I highly recommend the County Chardonnay, unfiltered 2008 that will be coming to select LCBO stores in the Vintages section in November.





Next stop: Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co., where we learned about five different cheeses the diary makes and the best wines to go with them.

Tip from Andrew, who led the tour: pair younger, softer cheeses with white wine, and older, hard cheeses with red wine.

Pretty easy peasy tip, that's what I love!

They served the wine in these logs to keep the cups from blowing away - so Canadian cool eh?

It's only $12 to do a tasting like this, so easy on the pocketbook too.

Fifth Town is uber green, btw, with the only Leed certified green building, platinum level, outside of a couple government buildings in the province.

Last stop: the lovely Sandbanks Winery, where the equally charming proprietor and wine maker Catherine introduced us to her wines while we lounged on chairs on the outdoor tasting patio - brilliant!

Quite a bit of the Sandbanks wine is available at LCBO stores, and they're affordable.

My fave: the Riesling 2008, drier than most Riesling and yummy.

Catherine's mother, an artist, designed the labels and the artwork that adorns some of the labels and the winery shop.

Love that homegrown feeling.

Great happy energy here. Visit it if you can.

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Tabula Rasa clothing in Toronto and my new skinny jeans

Fellow grungers, I know this is going to be hard to believe ... but ... sometimes I buy new.

This is a RARE Grunge Queen moment: my entire outfit here is new! Crazy eh?

I finally took the plunge and bought my first NEW pair of skinny jeans. Now I'm an addict. I bought 'em at a hip new boutique on Broadview Ave. in T.O. that I'll share more info in in a sec.

The top, bought from Eight Clothing on Pape Ave. in Pape Village. The granny crochet top, from an old-lady shop in Pape Village. The sandals, from some shoe shop, and the bling, from Gay Isber at the Royal Ontario Museum
in Toronto.

The jeans were from this new hipster vintage-esque shop on Broadview Ave. right at Danforth in Toronto.

Tabula Rasa
owner Jennifer Park has created a nicely edited yet creative collection of new and vintage women's clothing and accessories in her recently opened shop.

A former fashion student and Ryerson who designed for Le Chateau in Montreal, Park moved back to the 'hood she grew up in to open her store.



As Park explained to me, she could have opened on Ossignton but she wanted to support her neighbourhood. And if the media attentionshe's been getting is any indication, I'd say the Ossington crown may have already made its way over the Bloor St. bridge to her.

In store you can find new skinny jeans for about $100 alongside carefully selected vintage pieces that complement them.

I mean what I say about her collections, though she is not designing or selling her own clothing - yet.

But both vintage and new pieces are carefully selected to form their own collections in store. As you can see here by the "Midsummer Night's Dream" collection (I love it that she names them), a mix of new and old beauties complement eachother in colour and style to indeed form a collection of sorts.

Park is artful yet slightly minimalist in her use of the all-white space, a design ethic the clutter bug in me admires.

Everything is carefully thought and and presented - with an eye for showing the merch off rather than obscuring it ... as is often the case in vintage shops.

I like that Park interprets "vintage" through her own lens, opting for pieces with styling that is applicable today.

Many of the looks are contemporary but are crossed with a 1980s preppy look I don't like for myself, but adore on others.

Look for new and reworked vintage jewellery, along with new and vintage handbags, shoes, and clothing.






I may go back for the bamboo and recycled polyester Flashdance sweatshirt or hoodie, super soft and in pretty blue and lavender hues, only $42 for the sweatshirt and $50 or so for the hoodie.

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Gay Isber sample sale Friday, May 21 in Toronto

Ahh, bling.

A gal's best friend.

One of my fave local jewellery designers, Gay Isber, is having a major clear-out sale - tomorrow only! If you live in Toronto it's so worth stopping by.

Gay uses vintage chains and beads, Swarovski crystal and new elements to create big, bold and beautiful neck pieces, bracelets and earrings.

For the sale, items start at $8 and many average $20-35.

Gay sells on the Shopping Channel, at the Royal Ontario Museum, and more. This is the sale of the century!

This earrings are only $15 each.

Sigh.

Wish I still wore earrings.

Funnily enough, the pieces I'm showing you here, though I love 'em, aren't really for me.

I love pretty, but I need my pretty mixed with rock n' roll.

So I spent hours there while Gay and her colleague Jess helped me find just the right pieces.




There's a whole room of samples and last year's stock for $20 a pop - I kid you not. Chunky necklaces that were selling for $100+ last summer at the ROM are now 20 smackeroos.

I loved this purple Swarovski crystal and silver tone piece. But silver is just too pale for pale moi.

I did find a huge multi-tier gold necklace made of vintage chains from the 1950s to 80s.

It was originally $100, but I snagged it for $20.

Other pieces are $30 and $35, with earrings for $5 and $15.

I can't believe I didn't buy this to go with my gold chain, for $20.

As you may know, I love that combo of rock n' roll with feminine.

It still may be there tomorrow if you drop by!

I think I may go back and get some gifts.

Gay does everything from over-the-top to more classic, refined pieces she sells on the shopping channel.




DETAILS:

Friday, May 21 from 11 a.m to 10 p.m.

55 Charles Street West
Buzz 101, Apt 1903
phone:416-515-1885

Oh, they have Interac!

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