How do you support a downtown?
I—and a lot of other people—got the following email from Gordon Stevens (owner of Uncommon Grounds, Carbonstok, Sugah, etc). What …
Linz Tan’s Big Day Downtown
By Trevor J. Adams | Aug 20, 2010Recently, the Downtown Halifax Business Commission launched a promotional event called Big Day Downtown. The organization gave local bloggers and media types $100 to spend downtown, and record their experiences. In her last assignment for us, we sent hardworking intern Linz Caryl Tan. Her instructions were simple: “See just how far you can stretch that money.” In this post, Linz reports on her day.
The project invited 30 bloggers and media personalities who were each given $100 to spend on a shopping spree. The only rules were we had to spend the day only in Downtown Halifax and we had to blog about our experience afterwards. The girly girl in me squealed with delight as the offer was too good to pass up—soon I was off for my Big Day Downtown with my two sisters.
We went without a concrete plan. Trevor gave me the complete liberty to spend the $100 on anything after bidding me to “have fun and just maximize the money.” I was never one to make quick decisions but I knew that I wanted to purchase things that would mean something 10 or even 20 years down the road.
Our first stop was Boutique Joliette. Situated in the corner of Hollis and Duke Street, this barely a year old, little hidden gem specializes in vintage pieces like jewelry, clutches, clothing and antique lamps from Canadian designers. My overall experience at the store from deciding what to buy, looking around, to getting the chance to talk to one of the most accommodating salespersons, Carol Smith was one of my favorite moments of the entire day. I think that more stores should have salespersons as kind and friendly as Carol. She had that warm, welcoming aura that complemented the store and I bet, one thing that keeps customers coming back. We spent a good 30 minutes looking around and couldn’t help expressing our “oooh’s” and “Wow’s!” as we marveled at a number of their intricately crafted jewelry pieces in-store. Our tiny dilemma was the main goal for the whole day was to maximize our money and seeing as the pieces we liked were around the $50-$100 price point spending that amount on one piece of jewelry wouldn’t have really made the most sense in this case. Just as we were about to leave, I saw these simple and elegant looking freshwater pearl earrings with small Swarovski crystals for $35. I knew that it was something I can share with my mom and my sisters. I think that it is a great yet unique and timeless investment piece that’s perfect for spicing up any outfit and something that one can use for different occasions. It was a joy to know that the earrings were made by a Halifax designer, Tara Andrews. Nothing like supporting a local artist and purchasing something that really gave me high spirits for the day. ☺
For lunch, my sisters and I went to Certainly Cinnamon down by Barrington Street. Though the service was not the best (the person who took our order “forgot” that we ordered a combo and only gave us the sandwich…we later had to ask for the soup), I “certainly” would give their soup and sandwich an A.
We thought that their food gave a different yet delicious take on something as simple as corn soup or a tuna sandwich, which my sister Lizane and I split. We decided on multigrain bread for our tuna sandwich which was a good choice because the sandwich was one of the best ones I’ve had. The soup and sandwich combo costs only $8.00. What I liked about the place was that they had pretty uncommon options such as the apple curry chicken wrap my twin sister had for $5.95 and the prices were really affordable and reasonable.
After lunch, we headed to JWD Books. This place is really incredible and literally each space in store was filled with books. From Saint Exupéry to Donne, Ondaatje, Alcott and Post Secret creator, Frank Warren, the literary haven had everything.
I wanted to pick out a book that had an interesting looking spine and something that would make for a rare find. We found a huge stack of books that had row after row of interesting looking book spines. My sister randomly grabbed one entitled Through the Year with Browning. The handy little book had gold-trimmed pages which contained Browning’s choice passages for each day of each month of the year. I felt extremely lucky that among all the books, my twin sister was able to find this one. I love everything about this book. Ever since I took a Victorian Poetry class last term, the Brownings became my instant favorites. This book had no date of publication written on it so who knows how old it really is.
With its hardbound spine and an inscription I found inside dating back to 1911, this Browning book was the perfect find. It was something I can keep looking back on years from now and something I knew I couldn’t find just anywhere else. For $12.50, this little pocket book will withstand the test of time and travel with me to places.
Next, we decided to go to my favourite Halifax store, the Black Market. The moment I discovered this quaint and bohemian inspired store two years ago, I knew I found something special. Seeing the colors bursting from each corner inside and out, I felt like a kid in a candy store waiting to pick out my favorite treat. 
This store has so many one-of-a-kind pieces. From jewellery, clothes, shoes, trinkets to little figurines, masks, mirrors and accessories to spice up any bare wall, the Black Market has a wide variety of things for everyone. All the things in here come from different parts of the world.
Outside, there were racks of clothing on sale. I found this sea foam green dress with really pretty beading on the neckline and it was sold for $25. I decided to try the dress and inside the store, Sarah was there to help me out. She was really kind and even helped me pick out other colors of the dress to try on. Despite trying on other colors of the dress, I really loved the sea foam green. At home, I paired the dress with the pearl earrings.
For some Asian flare, we finished things up at Drala on Grafton Street. The store specializes in incenses, teas, Buddhism books and meditation supplies. I really loved the over-all Zen feeling inside the store. I saw these beautiful, Chinese inspired cards stacked right by the door. The card with a gold envelope and shiny Chinese dragon caught my eye. I bought the card for $4.95 thinking the price is pretty worth it for such a cool design that you don’t get to see every day. It can even make a friend’s day when I send this card overseas.
And that concluded my Big Day Downtown—I’d never have guessed you could stretch $100 so far!
Linz,
You are the cutest thing ever….we miss you!
Awww, thanks so much Lisa! I miss everyone too
I am so happy because it was really an awesome summer for me having gotten the chance to spend time with everyone at Metro Guide! 