Big Day Downtown, Part 3

Historic Properties is undergoing a bit of a renewal! We visited my friend Edie Orenstein milliner extraordinaire, who works with Turbine, designer Lisa Drader-Murphy's  fashion company on the waterfront.

The shop is full of wonderful clothing, jewellery and hats.

Two stories to explore:) Here is Edie's workspace.

Check out this hat!!!

And Edie herself with a $1000+ wooden hat block just in from Europe!  She does everything from scratch.

Then we are off again to Urban 30 on Barrington Street. Brainchild of  Alicia Melanson Hair and Makeup

This is a...

You can pop in for a quick wash and styling before that night out or book nails/makeup and do it all.

Bright and retro mod it is a fun place to hang out. Sit and enjoy a hot beverage before or after your appointment.

You can book your entire wedding party for makeup and hair-dos. I was hoping to get a manicure but alas there were no appointments available until later.

Good place to know about!

Whew, after all that traipsing around the city, time to wrap up with some cold beer at the Lower Deck.

Don't mind if I do:)
Ahhh, that's better. Sitting in the shade after a full day, enjoying a Keiths.mmmm
2015 Big Day Downtown
Part 1
Part 2

Big Day Downtown Halifax 2014 part 2

So, continuing the adventure on my Big Day Downtown, I took a friend to lunch at Scanway's new downtown location on Grafton Street, next to Drala. They've opened a bright cheery rustic cafe with open brick ,lots of light and a view of the kitchen.

Wonderful breads, frozen treats and lunches available

 Check out their Mac and Cheese sammie!

 Of course they still have sweets too:)

 We opted to eat upstairs and enjoy summer alfresco dining while we still can.
Up, waaaay up.

 They have a large patio with a view over "Pizza Corner."This was our table!

 Ever see a non-tipping glass? It won't fall over:) We tried haha.

 The menu had some salads and lighter fare and all the sandwiches were $7.50 My pal ordered the lobster roll and said it was great!

I had them make a special one for me. I'm a vegetarian who doesn't eat cheese. So, voila! Toasted garlic rosemary bread with grilled peppers ,onions and a jicama cabbage apple slaw! It was delicious:)
There were some amazing desserts and boozy milkshakes on offer but we decided to stop while we were ahead. Nutella &Myers Dark Rum, Apple Pie &Bourbon, Blueberries & vodka, Kahlua& crushed Florentines....you get the picture. Apologies to the lady who was mid mouthful when I snapped this. Those Sundaes looked great!

Off to the HalifaxWaterfront next. That's Theodore the friendly tug boat and one of the Dartmouth ferries in the background.

 I was told to go to the Lost Cod Clothing Co. and get something made for myself. We joined the throngs of people enjoying the sun and made our way to the little shack.

They have reclaimed old Nova Scotian business logos and will put one on any item you choose from their store! Very cool. I picked an apron I can use for painting in and had an old apple company logo put on it. See? You can order online too.

 Had a lovely chat with this lady. A regular fixture on the waterfront:)

Then we strolled  to Historic Properties.These are great new chairs that just appeared here this summer. Love their colours.

Find out where we visited next in part 3:)
Part 3
Part 1

Big Day Downtown 2013

So say the folk at  Ristorante aMano, one of the places I chose to celebrate my 2013 Big Day Downtown! BIG thanks to the Downtown Halifax Business Comission for allowing me to once again enjoy this wonderful city I get to call home!! This is the fourth year I have participated and this year the theme was experience. Thirty-one bloggers were given cards with experiences from which they had to randomly choose three and the ones I got were: authentic, cheerful and relaxing. Great huh? Sooooo, I decided to combine all three in each of the two experiences I chose. First up was  dinner at aMano with a good friend.

 aMano is an authentic Italian Trattoria tucked away in Bishop's Landing on the Halifax Waterfront. It is a place I have always wanted to try but somehow never have managed until now.

Inside, the decor is red and rustic with terracotta floors, warm colours and a giant brick pizza oven set right next to the bar. Old Italian films play on moniters scattered around the room. It's a friendly welcoming place.

When it came time to order, selection was difficult. Everything sounded delicious! Great choices.

We decided to share, and started with schiacciata for our appetizer, which was warm flatbread, and a garlic,sweet pepper, eggplant pesto.Yum! It's the only food I got a picture of. I got carried away with eating and the mains were half gone before I remembered I was supposed to be documenting it haha.

The delectable mains we chose were...... 

Agnolotti di Zucca, Handmade pumpkin filled half moon shaped pasta with brown sage butter sauce , Parmigiano dusting and toasted almonds
and...  
Pizza Vegitariana, San Marzano tomato sauce, Artichokes,roasted eggplant,sweet peppers, caramelized onions,basil pesto and fresh ricotta

Both were delicious!! my fave was the pumpkin pasta. Nicely scarfed down with a bottle of red wine mmmm.

I would definitely recommend aMano to anyone who loves good food:) We left feeling cheerful, relaxed and authentically stuffed with great italian food!(Somehow in editing this post,the font has changed and I don't know how to fix it, sorry)

My next adventure was solo. Well, sort of.....there was a person named Anna who made me feel like a princess:)

I decided to pamper myself at one of Halifax's most luxurious spas. Spirit Urban Spa on Granville Street. After a long tiring day standing on my feet at the Halifax Seaport Market, I thought a pedicure would be the way to go.

I drifted through the bright open appointment area into an hour and a half of authentic relaxation and cheerful bliss.

They have  a lovely lounge with couches, soft lighting and pillows that leads out onto a deck ovelooking the harbour with more comfy chairs pillows and seating. I was offered a choice of beverages and settled on a cappucino which arrived with a delightful lemon square to munch on while I waited.

Let's face it, the way my life is at the moment, I probably could have just sat here with my book for the full ninety minutes and been completely and utterly satisfied. Sigh.... Next time I will arrive early just to enjoy the wait.

But wait! There's more. A lovely young woman named Anna came out to collect me and ushered me into a room with more comfy chairs and gave me a soft neck warmer to drape around myself and plunked my tired tootsies into a warm bubble bath to soak. Ahhhhh. She then wrapped them in a warm towel and scrubbed, polished, massaged and lotioned my legs and feet until I was a puddle of contentment.

Heaven. A bracelet of polish colours  was handed to me to choose from and I chose from the new "San Franscisco" collection.

Here is the shy Anna hard at work. Look at her lashes!! She has been in the business for 13 years and loves what she does:)

Tadah! Done! Can you see the tiny splotches of blue paint on my flip flops? I wonder which painting was responsible. Haha. Spirit Spa has a full complement of services, hairstyling, waxing, facials, massage, makeup, the works! I would LOVE to spend a day here getting pampered. My feet haven't looked this good in too long to mention.

And that is how I spent my Big Day Downtown! Now it's YOUR turn. The Downtown Halifax  Business Comission is holding a contest starting September 4th  where you can win your own pre-paid Visa card to have some fun downtown! You can find more info on their Facebook and Twitter