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Skating this weekend

If you have not already heard, tomorrow (Sunday) is Councillor Janet Davis’ 10th Annual Skating Party

Sunday, February 10th
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
East York Memorial Arena
888 Cosburn Avenue

Cookies, face painting, crafts and of course skating.

Kids under 6 need to wear a helmet.

Speaking of skating, if you are around East Lynn Park this weekend and can help to shovel off the rink, our sources tell us that a bit of elbow grease is needed to get the rink back to skatability.

This just in: “skatability” is now a word.

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Share the Love: February Pop-Ups

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They have only been open a few days and the twittersphere is already buzzing with love for the newest crop of pop-ups. If you’re not a tweeter or twitter-er or one who tweets, fret not. You can still have a real conversation with your neighbours about the love you have for these new shops by checking them out in person!

Shop names, summaries, locations and hours are posted below. While you’re out shopping this weekend, let us know what you think. Tweet us (@DECADiaries) or leave a comment on this blog or on our Facebook Page. And don’t forget to tell your neighbours too.

Repetitions Fitness | 1803 Danforth Avenue
Monday 10-7 | Tuesday 12-4 | Wednesday 10-7 | Thursday 10-4 | Friday 10-7 | Saturday 9-5 | Sunday 10-3
A full service health & wellness studio offering semi/private personal training, boot camps, nutritional counseling, meal planning and personal shopping services.  Nadia is offering a variety of 35 minute fitness classes happening throughout the week for $17/class in addition to semi/private personal training.

  • Monday: Plyometics (10:30 am), Cardio Conditioning (5 pm), High Intensity Interval Training (6 pm)
  • Wednesday: Strength and Conditioning (10:30 am), High Intensity Interval Training (5 pm), Upper Body Blast (6 pm)
  • Friday: Power Yoga (10:30 am), Metabolic Training (5 pm), High Intensity Interval Training (6 pm)
  • Saturday: Power Yoga (9:45 am) High Intensity Interval Training (11 am), Coregasm (12 pm)
  • Sunday: Lower Body Blast (10 am), Running Clinic – 45 min (12 pm)

Krystle Lee | 1801 Danforth Avenue
Monday 12-6 | Tuesday 10-6 | Wednesday Closed | Thursday 10-6 | Friday & Saturday 11-7 | Sunday  Private Appointments
Personal Shopper * Stylist * Private Sales * Wardrobe.   Krystle Lee’s designer pop-up offers a curated selection of new and gently used high end clothing & accessories.

Fa Real Designz N Prints | 1898 Danforth Avenue
Tuesday-Saturday 12-8
Urban/retro inspired clothing and custom print clothing shop.

For more information about these pop-up stores, the DECA Pop-Up Shop project and DECA, please visit our website.

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Fun Events, Neigbourhood Watch, New Food and…a Salt Cave?!

This is a hodgepodge posting that almost needs a table of contents! Hopefully you can take the time to read through it all, because  there’s definitely something for everyone.

Earl Beatty Community Centre Family Skating Party

Sunday, February 10th, 2:oo-4:00 p.m.
Monarch Park Rink (right beside the pool)Come out and have some fun with the whole family, courtesy of the Earl Beatty Community Centre advisory Council:

This is our 12th annual SKATING PARTY, and we invite the whole neighbourhood!

Come out with your family to have fun with music, games and a crazy scarf contest – can your scarf be the most colourful? The longest scarf? The weirdest? Come out and find out and win a prize. Games include spot skates and races for all ages.The Advisory Council also puts on a great spread – coffee donated by Red Rocket, hot chocolate and marshmallows, and home-baked goods. Lug-a-mug for a greener event! Children under six must wear a CSA approved helmet.

Pegasus Studios – Dances of Offering, February 10, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. (reception to follow)

The first Dances of Offering benefit concert began in 2001, the vision of a Pegasus student who wanted to combine her desire to help children and youth with her love of dance. Since then Dances of Offering has raised thousands of dollars each year for non-profit organizations dedicated to improving the lives of young people locally and globally.

This year’s Dances Of Offerings will be held on Sunday, Feb 10th, at 5:00 pm, and is approximately 60 minutes in length with a Reception following. This is a family-friendly event.

Pegasus event

www.pegasusstudios.com

Community Safety – Let’s all do our part

According to police and residents a number of homes and cars have been broken into in our neighbourhood lately. Make sure to keep valuables out of your cars, and ensure that all entrances to your home are secure. If you have a back or side light on your home, turn it on in the evenings, or equip it with a motion sensor. And if you don’t have a light, think about installing one. It may seem like an added expense, but I bet it’s WAY less than your home insurance deductible.

In the event that your home or car is broken into, or if you see anything suspicious, remember to always report it the police. If you missed it before, our post from the summer listed all the ways that you can report crime – non-emergency numbers or online!! If you see something in-progress or if you feel unsafe, never hesitate to call 9-1-1.

And while we’re on the topic of safety…

You know how we are always saying that increasing foot traffic will improve security?

On Saturday evening, a neighbour was walking by our favourite local toy store, Silly Goose Kids, when she noticed that the front door was smashed and there was a burglary in progress. She scared off the would-be thieves, and then quickly called police. She was also able to provide a description of the suspects to police.

And who was this courageous neighbour? None other than Ward 31 Councillor, Janet Davis! Store owners Shamie and Tracey are very grateful that damage was kept to a minimum and nothing was taken – and we are all glad too!

(Next time you see Councillor Davis in the neighbourhood, hold back on the complaint about how long it took for your street to get plowed, and give her a pat on the back instead. Talk about going above and beyond for your Ward!)

Pizza Anyone?

Remember in the summer, when we posted about Restaurant Takeover renovating Golden Pizza at 2360 Danforth Ave? Well, it seems that maybe we caught them doing some outside shots for the sake of the beautiful summer sunshine, because last week the real reno took place. We don’t have intel about when the show will air, or about the new and improved menu (we hear it was great to start with!), but the sign sure does look nice!!

Golden Pizza reno

Sandwich anyone?

Feel like a sandwich? If so, you’re in luck. Danforth Sandwich has opened up at 2116 Danforth Avenue, in the old True Brew location just EOW (and we all remember what that means, right?), and we hear that their tasty italian food is not to be missed. If you have tried it yourself, please let us know! It seems that it is more than just sandwiches, but we cannot confirm or deny this rumour.

DF Sandwich

Salt Cave Anyone? (for real, keep reading)

A word from our friends at AMETHYST SPA & SALON, 1472 Danforth Avenue, 416-465-3710:

Bat Cave, Man Cave, Dance Cave and now there is a Salt Cave located in your neighbourhood. Halotherapy provides restorative health maintenance, increases the overall well-being, strengthens the immune systems and alleviates physical and emotional symptoms of respiratory illness. Just in time for the flu and cold season. Salt therapy helps you to:

  • Experience relief from chronic pulmonary diseases and bronchial inflammation
  • Treat and prevent common cold and flu
  • Improve your sleep and an overall feeling of emotional and overall feeling of emotional and physical health and well-being
  • Purify and detoxify your body.

Yes, it is time to start feeling better. www.saltcavetoronto.com

amythest

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Fall In Love With February Pop-Ups

Hi everyone, Natasha here again for a rare dip back into the DECA diaries blog pool.

Shhh….I have a confession to make: The most super fun job in all of the DECA world is sitting on the team that reviews the applications and interviews potential pop-up tenants. Whatever you do, don’t tell the others because I like them to think that I’m being SO gracious giving up my valuable time.

Actually it’s an amazing opportunity to meet and talk to interesting, passionate, enthusiastic people. Every story is different and they’ve all come to wherever they are through their individual routes and it’s inspiring to meet them and take some of that excitement and energy home. For both the December and February pop-ups we came out of the interviews with the same conclusion. We need more spaces! And lo and behold, we got them. (Note: they didn’t just appear like manna. Other volunteers hit the streets, knocked on landlord doors, worked the phones and convinced building owners to get on board. It’s no easy task and about 100% harder than reading applications and interviewing the tenants.)

Without further ado, DECA is delighted to introduce you to three new pop-ups opening this weekend! (um, well either this weekend or this week…it’s hard to get a store up and running in less than a week, so just a keep an eye out for them o.k?)

1898 Danforth – Fa Real Designz N Prints. www.fareal.com

You want a little extra energy in your life? Drop in and visit Allister and Tracy. Together this fun couple own Fa.real. Fa.real is an urban, retro brand of clothing that uses graphics and illustrations inspired by the 90s hip hop, Boom BAP era. Fa.real has established its own look of artistic, urban simplicity and a nostalgic retro feel that stands out from the common overdone street styles. But that’s just a sideline really. Fa.real Designz N Prints makes custom printed t-shirts, sweatshirts and pretty much any other piece of clothing you can think of. If you can think it, they can print it. Fa.real has a long list of regular clients including festivals, concerts and other events. They provide good quality and good prices for one custom shirt or 1000.

1801 Danforth – Krystle Lee. www.krystle.ca

Personal Shopper * Stylist * Private Sales * Wardrobe

If you love shopping, you will love Krystle. If you hate shopping, you will love her even more. If you have champagne taste on a beer budget, you might want to sit down. In spite of the fact that Krystle walked into our interview at Seb’s Cappuccino looking like she was at a cocktail party in Yorkville, she’s down-to-earth and full of fabulous and fun ideas.

Krystle hosts a few pop-ups a year and her clientele flock to these sales in droves. Her designer pop-ups offer a curated selection of new and gently-used high-end clothing & accessories. Krystle has been a personal shopper and image consultant for six years and has accumulated a roster of career-centric female clients. Krystle helps women find stunning stand out pieces that compliment and enhance their individual style.

1803 Danforth – Repetitions Fitness. www.repetitionsfitness.ca

Repetitions Fitness Studio: ‘The Foundation of Fitness’

Nadia is ready to work with you. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, get toned or shed some unwanted body fat, Repetitions Fitness has just what you’re looking for! From boot camps to fitness challenges and from meal planning to a healthy meals delivery package, Nadia is offering a range of services geared toward overall health and well-being. Drop by the website to see what Repetitions has already done and then drop in on the shop to see what they can do for you.

Pretty great right? The exact hours of operation for all these shops are still being worked out, check out www.danfortheastcommunityassociation.com for up-to-date info.

And, if you’re wondering how LEN is doing, stay tuned, they’re looking to find a permanent home and we hope to be able to share good news soon!

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Get to know the Danforth Mosaic BIA

BIA Meeting Information

We got a few comments on our recent Cozy Cafe post that conveyed some frustration about landlords, the BIA, and what to do about our empty storefronts.  DECA is really taking on this problem, and our February pop-ups are being announced one-by-one on our Facebook page, which is also linked to our Twitter account! (We’ll post about them here too, but all in good time.)

You may or may not know this, but for many years, DECA has worked with the Mosaic BIA.  We have consistently appointed one Board member to be the BIA liaison to attend their meetings and flow information between the BIA and our Board, just to keep apprised of what we’re all up to.

Recently, we asked ourselves why we have never used DECAdiaries to let all of you know when the BIA will be meeting. The answer?  No reason at all!  So, here are the details of their next meeting:

Monday, February 4 at 7:00 p.m.
Toronto Model Photography, 1840 Danforth Avenue
(This is the business owned by BIA Chair, Jason, where the BIA will now have their office)

There is also a new BIA-DECA sub-committee, that the BIA formed.  Our liaison, Susan, is co-chairing it and she would welcome any new members!

If you want any further information about the BIA, the BIA-DECA sub-committee, or Monday’s meeting, please email Susan by clicking here.

(Remember, we are not the BIA – so if you go to the meeting, you are not going to a DECA meeting!)

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East Side Represent!

There is a certain section of DECA’s area that sometimes doesn’t get all the love it deserves. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about the area known as E.O.W. – or east of Woodbine. (Okay fine, nobody calls it that, but I think it’s definitely going to catch on now that I’ve coined it.) Here is some of the exciting news from DECA’s east end…

Sandwich anyone?

We were all very sad to see the shuttering of True Brew Cafe in November, but rumour has it that a new sandwich shop is getting ready to open up in that space in the very near future. Stay tuned!

Bell’s Martial Arts

In early November, Tristan Bell opened Bell’s Martial Arts in the newly renovated building at 2200 Danforth Ave. New classes are being added all the time for children age 4 all the way up to adults, so call to find out about what classes might work for you and/or your family. The focus there is on building self-confidence, self-reliance, awareness, and strong bodies. You can contact Tristan to arrange a free trial class for you or your kids. What have you got to lose? To send an email, click here.

Bell’s Martial Arts
Monday-Friday: 4:00pm – 9:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am – 4:00pm
Sunday: closed
2200 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4C 1K4
Bells Martial Arts

Kia Dealership

It’s really coming along, and it’s looking like it might be quite beautiful!

Danforth Village BIA

DECA is pretty connected to the Danforth Mosaic Business Improvement Area (BIA), which spans from Westlake Ave and west all the way to Jones. There is, however, a second BIA in our boundaries that goes from Westlake Ave and east all the way to Victoria Park Ave, called the Danforth Village BIA. They have an excellent website, which shows you all the businesses in that area, broken down into categories and there is even a map for ease of reference. DECA is planning to reach out to this BIA to get to know them better and see how we might be able to partner up. (And no, we’re not just cozying up to them because Target will be moving into their zone in a couple of months!)

Safe Crossing at Last

Many thanks to City Councillors Mary-Margaret McMahon and Janet Davis for extending the green lights at Woodbine and Danforth so that there is actually time to cross the street. Walking E.O.W. has never been so easy. (See? It’s catching on.)

Coming up: We’ve had some chatter on the blog about the BIA and the relationship between landlords, the city, the businesses, and our struggling storefronts. We’ll post more about that soon, along with exciting news about our ongoing Pop-up project!