So, back to my Vancouver trip! Sorry it’s taken so long for me to continue this; summer is turning out to be just as busy as the school year. You can see my other posts in this series here (the general stuff) and here (walking my way through Vancouver).
Personally, I didn’t do much shopping. I told myself beforehand that I really didn’t need anything, because– let’s face it– I have enough stuff. I only bought one thing, which, I think, is pretty good considering the number of stores we went into. Anyway, enough about my shopping habits, you want to hear about all the cool stores I saw!
As I said in my last post in this series, there were a few streets which were really packed full of shopping, but mostly big name brands like Adidas, lululemon, old navy, etc. we didn’t really go into those because we weren’t interested this time around, and because we have those in Seattle.
However, we did find some cool stores:
This one was a small clothing store in gastown. The clothes were pretty basic, in the sense that they were just one color and mostly shirts, dresses or sweaters. Most of the clothing was not cheap (like $50 for a tshirt or dress), but a lot of it was on sale when I was there. This is where I bought my one item of clothing: a gray tshirt. It is loose and very soft, and will be great to wear with leggings and for layering. The design and layout of the store was very welcoming and had a lot of open space. I find I tend to like these stores much better than a forever 21 type model, which to me is crowded and unorganized.
I know I said we weren’t interested in the big name brands, but we don’t have topshop in the States, so this one was foreign. We’d been to topshop before, in London when I went a few years ago, but this one was much bigger. I didn’t buy anything here, but my sister found a few tank tops. Also, I just have to say that not all people are tall twigs. I was going to try on some pants that I thought would be good for nice occasions, butt quickly decided they were a no when I couldn’t get them past my knees. I mean, I know I play soccer and so my legs are pretty muscular, but they aren’t that big. My friend who was up there with us also had this problem, but hers was a slightly different case since she’s 5’11. All in all, though, we found success here. Or at least my sister did.
My mom always goes into this store whenever we go to vancouver. It is a really cool store, with modern style furniture, and it’s fun to walk into each separate display and imagine it is your house. We were on our way back to our side of town when we visited CB2, after a long but fun day of biking (Biking my way through Vancouver coming soon) and walking. I was worn out and luckily there were lots of places to sit in here. However, all of the chairs were hard. Even if they looked soft. It must be in style. I don’t think I approve.
Boutiques and home stores
You know what else is in right now? Air plants! In nearly every Home store we walked through there were air plants or cactus on display. My sister is super into these right now, and my friend loves cacti for some reason, so we were drawn through a lot of doors by the allure of the plants. I like them too, but I’m not the best at keeping them alive. I tend to forget about them and then not water them… And then they die. On a happier note though, there were lots of cute little stores selling furniture and home supplies (ie napkins, tables, vases, etc.; you know what I’m talking about) and there was even one in gastown with all sorts of owl things, like mugs and photos. I’ll be explaining my relationship with owls in a future post.
I didn’t get to spend too much time in here, since we entered about a minute before closing time, but there was one series in the gallery that I really liked. The photographs were of hundreds of bouncy balls falling down a street in San Francisco. I wish I had been there when they released them all down the hill! All of the colorful balls look so cheery, and the photos reminded me of the movie Up.
This is the Vancouver Location, in Gastown.
credit:http://covetingchichi.com/kit-and-ace-gastown-shopping/
You know those stores that you walk into and you want everything on the shelves? For me, those stores are Athleta, sometimes Nike, and now Kit and Ace. Technical Cashmere™ is their thing. The clothes have an outdoorsy-but-city look to them, and are all so soft. I wanted to pet every shirt, dress and skirt in the store, but I refrained. It all looked elegantly simple and unbelievably comfortable. Plus the design of the store was very open, with a big wooden table in the middle, and a wall of windows looking out onto the street. And we found out while we were there that they just opened a store in Seattle! Yay!
A must for all tea lovers. This is a Canadian chain, and it’s got much better tea than Starbucks (though to be fair, Starbucks does specialize in coffee). They’ve got something like over a hundred-fifty types of tea! Herbal, black, green, oolong, etc. I got an iced vanilla matcha, and it was so good that my mom bought a bag to bring back home. The woman who was working the counter the first day we went in (yes, we went a second time) was extremely friendly and helpful. And she made some awesome tea.
And, last but not least:
Edible Canada at the Market
This is the store on Granville Island that I talked about earlier. A gourmet food shop and cafe. I knew it was a good place when I saw the ice cream in a jar (brilliant!) right by the door. And all sorts of flavored honeys and peanut butters. This is also where my mom and I found our favorite vinegar. She’d gotten a bottle of it as a gift for Christmas from one of her friends and we coveted it. It is delicious on salads, and ever since it ran out we’ve been looking for it. Turns out it was from Canada, that’s why we couldn’t find it at home!
Vinegar!
Ice cream in a jar.
Cotton candy in a jar.
Honey in a jar.
Stay tuned for the next post in the series: Eating My Way Through Vancouver. I promise it won’t be as late as this one!
Bells and Whistles 
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