As anyone who has been away from a loved one can attest, the more you buy the more you are thinking about them, am I right? At least that’s what we told ourselves every time we bought something for Elodie. Actually in the end it seemed like we bought more than we actually did. So that’s good, at least for our wallet.

A book about a cat (we surmise). A wooden car that plays music when you move it.

This happened. Mother / daughter hats. Couldn’t help myself.
Last year we went to see the cherry blossoms in High Park. It was about a week after Elodie was born and she was asleep in her car seat. This time proved more difficult with a toddler. It’s just so amazing how much they change in the first year. From tiny blob to fully mobile and four times the size. Elodie became more preoccupied with pushing her stroller around than looking at the blossoms.

After yet another amazing lunch at Santouka–best ramen in Toronto, maybe because our inaugural ramen experience was in Sapporo, Hokkaido–we headed over to the Textile Museum to finally visit Marimekko, With Love (on until May 12, you still have time!).

There is plenty of historical eye candy for fans of the label, and an interesting joining together of artifacts from the local owners of Karelia, the Toronto shop that originally brought Marimekko (and many other Finnish brands) to Toronto back in the 1970s. We particularly enjoyed this portion of the show, since we are doing similar things with Japanese craft.

I just have a small sampling of what is in the show, as it’s best to visit if you can!

Fabric samples, fashion photography…

Vintage slideshows from both Marimekko and Karelia. The Karelia slideshow was of particular interest to us – it was so neat to see their exhibitions and parties. Is this what it will be like for us 30 years from now? All I know is they looked like they are having a good time, and so are we!

Personal letters and internal memos.

My two favourite pieces of clothing in the show (naturally).

Last Saturday we had many guests up to our cottage for the Kinfolk Toronto Dinner. This particular Kinfolk dinner was extra special because it involved an entire day of eating, chatting, preparing, swimming and relaxing. We started with coffee from La Merceria and delicious pastries from Stoney Lake Baking Co.,which provided a perfect opportunity to catch up with the Toronto crew and get to know the out of towners.

Post breakfast Emily and Melinda got to work in the kitchen. Baking cookies and mixing strawberry parfait for our dessert later, I give them full props for enduring the heat!

Post lunch it was time for another swim and then on to dinner prep. Nikaela and Thom prepare a delicious salad.

Baby party! Elodie and Eloise happily hung out on a quilt made by Sarra, and pillows printed with illustrations by Melinda Josie.

As the sun set, we sat down to our communal dinner.

 

Nikole Herriott‘s fresh Georgian Bay fish dish.

 

We can’t believe it’s time for the Interior Design Show already. Time sure does fly! After a really great dinner at Bannock (ok, to be honest we were trying to go to The Keg because we had a gift certificate but it was so rammed with after work suits, we headed over to try Bannock at The Bay, and it was well worth it!), we scored a prime parking spot at the convention centre, grabbed our passes and headed up to the Prototype section.

We immediately wanted to check out our friend Thom Fougere‘s new Tyndall Table, made of tyndall stone which is common in the Canadian prairies. Those organic lines are actually made by fossilized shrimp when the prairies were a tropical jungle.

On the left is Anthony Frank Keeler‘s Pivot Lamp. On the right is Anna Buechin‘s Moonlight Lampshade.

Dale’s Bench by Tomas Rojcik. The bowl acts as a catch-all when your taking off your shoes in the entrance to your home.

On the left is the Norb Rain Barrel by Nicholas Herling, complete with hand pump and spigot, and can do double duty as a bench in the garden. We’re also fans of Herling’s Tempus Fugit bedside table which we saw last year.

On the right is the ceramic Tiffin Lunch Kit by Lorea Sinclaire, which we couldn’t resist, as it reminds us of bento take away boxes.

Heading over to the Studio North section, we ran into friend of the store and recent graduate Tyler William MacKenzie. His concrete and wood shelf is simple, and would be a lovely backdrop to special little objects.

On the left, we can’t resist some Canadiana with Contact Voyaging Co.’s modern take on the paddle. We’d love to get the black and white cross version since it matches our business cards.

On the right, are Lori Harrison’s lovely soft toned Ward Occasional Table and pillows. You can by her work at MADE in Toronto.

Of course, it’s not IDS without a visit with Shawn Place.

I can’t believe he has the time to introduce 3 beautiful new works every year.

Mjölk was happy to oblige Williamson Chong Architects with helping them to furnish the booth they designed for Tiltco Fenestration.

The beautiful Mundo Lounge chair (it darkens every day…will be a lovely cognac brown one day) and some Eero Aarnio rocket stools and Alvar Aalto light.

Another highlight is the How Do You Live? shipping container special exhibition. Above is The Last Supper by Quadrangle Architects. The chairs represent the 12 design apostles.

Of course Mazen Studio‘s space caught our eye, with all its midcentury modern goodness (including a Børge Mogensen sofa).

We were blown away by neighborhood design studio MASON‘s entry Our Home and Native Land.

We loved the use of charred wood, the water feature that ran through the table top and into the garden, the neon sign and the colourful foods.

Above, landscape architects Earth Inc. have also used charred cedar in their display.

And that was just a small sampling of IDS12. This was certainly not a definitive list! We sadly ran out of time and completely missed the student work which has relocated to another floor. Regret! But we had a great time talking with friends new and old. We wish the best to all the participants!

I don’t think we’ve ever shown a tiny bit of our temporary apartment. Here’s a tiny peek while sharing an early Christmas present to ourselves.

We first saw Carly Waito‘s collection of mineral paintings at a group show at Narwhal Art Projects on Queen Street. Later in September she finished her first solo show called “Specimens”. Unfortunately it just wasn’t our time to purchase one of her works.

Just recently Carly made 2 new works, a smoky quartz and a watermelon tourmaline. There was something about smoky quartz that we really connected with… The strong contrast, the blacks and grays and the way the light was reflected in the painting. When the opportunity arose to get this piece we decided not to hesitate and risk the painting selling. Now it’s sitting above our dining table so we can look at it during each meal.

Also! Visit Narwhal’s new Junction location at 2988 Dundas Street West. POM POM has a great selection of small items (perfect for holiday gifts) by Alibi, Alicia Nauta, Andrea Glenn, Bad Day, CryWolf, Diana VanderMeulin, Douglas Brown, Eric Quebral, Elizabeth Knight, Erica Weiner, Fieldguided, Ginette Lapalme, Hunter and Cook, Jennie Suddick, Julie Moon, Kiel Meade, Laura Lombardi, Lara Vincent, Lazy Oaf, Maryanne Casasanta, Noel Middleton, Selena Wong, Shannon Gerard, Species by the Thousands, Tania Sanhueza, The Regional Assembly of Text, Touch the Dutch, Wool and the Gang, Yellow Owl and more magicians TBA.

Well we were a little late getting David Chang’s Lucky Peach magazine, our friend Gord first told us about the issue, and ever since we’ve been trying to get our paws on a copy.

The first issue was of particular interest because it’s the “Ramen” issue, something we’ve grown addicted to since our trip to Hokkaido. The Momofuku book was loaned to us by Kai, a friend of the shop. He always comes in and talks about his experiences in Japan and abroad and thought we’d appreciate the story telling in the cookbook.

On that note we have some news! We’re going to making another trip to Japan during the 2nd week of September. We’re going to be traveling around Kanazawa, Kyoto, and a couple days in Tokyo. After planning this trip and reading all about ramen we thought we’d have lunch at Kenzo, arguably the best ramen in Toronto!

We both ordered the miso ramen. We ask to get some additional garlic paste and spice to get it a bit closer to Asahikawa ramen, our white whale of ramen. The place is bustling with Japanese students at lunch but we got a table, and it didn’t take long to get our order of gyoza and ramen.

Besides the social aspects of traveling, our favorite thing is always food so we’re excited to try new places and share them all with you. Hopefully we’ll have some great workshop tours as well.