Krystle Lee – Page 2 – Danforth East Community Association

June 13, 2013

Pop-ups Launch Weekend! (this Saturday & Sunday!)

Our FIVE fantastic new pop-up shops kick off this weekend, June 15 & 16, 2013, with a boatload of fun activities.

Be sure to join us this Saturday and Sunday for:

HISTORICAL WALKS (Saturday & Sunday) led by Danforth East’s own Stephen Wickens and Dominic Farrell. Meet up at Wise Guys (2301 Danforth) at 10 am with your walking shoes. We’ve posted some cool archival pics here for you to preview (Check out the rickety wooden Danforth bridge. Yikes.) Bonus: walkers will be treated a little something special courtesy of the good folks at LEN.
LIVE MUSIC (SAT.): Yummy Stuff (1938 Danforth) hosts the sweet sounds of the Discovery Through the Arts, Generation Ensembles (12-2pm) and then Kevin Brathwaite (5-6pm) brings the funk. Rocking out over at Cheap Thrills (1811 Danforth) will be The Note Poachers (2-3pm) and The Sleepovers (4-6pm).
FREE TREATS all weekend at the pop-ups courtesy of Yummy Stuff

And don’t forget to start filling out your Pop-ups Passport to win some seriously great swag. Scalp massages, Americanos, scones, gift certificates, cookie cutters, sandwiches–just to name a few goodies in the prize packs. Pick your passport up at the East Lynn Farmers’ Market, at the pop-up shops or print one off here.

The Summer Pop-up Shops:

Krystle Lee | 1517 Danforth Avenue
Monday – Friday 11 – 7 | Saturday 12-6 | Sunday 12 – 5

PERSONAL SHOPPER * STYLIST * PRIVATE SALES * WARDROBE – Krystle Lee’s 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 6 years and has accumulated a roster of career centric female clients. Lee assists women with finding stunning stand out pieces that compliment and enhance ones individual style.

In This Closet | 1765 Danforth Avenue
Tuesday-Sunday 11-8

In This Closet offers the best of thrift pricing with a boutique experience for quality and unique fashions for women sizes 0-20. Modern and classic quality clothing to take you from the office to a night on the town and everywhere in between…

E-closet | 1801 Danforth Avenue
Monday-Saturday 11-6 | Sunday 12-5

Our mission is to deliver top quality trendy fashion at affordable prices, for women of all shapes and sizes. Now both online and in person!

Cheap Thrills | 1811 Danforth Avenue
Monday-Friday 11-7 | Saturday 10-6 | Sunday 12-5

We sell all kinds of new samples and seconds name brand items for the whole family. New items arriving weekly, so check in regularly for bargains!

Yummy Stuff | 1938 Danforth Avenue
Tuesday-Friday 11-7 | Saturday 9-6

Yummy Stuff is a bakery specializing in all things yummy; cupcakes, pies, tarts, cookies, squares and custom cakes. Voted best red velvet cupcakes in the city!

June 6, 2013

It’s a Pop-up-Palooza!

Introducing: Five new pop-up-shops coming to the ‘hood

DECA has been working around the clock to put together the next round of Danforth East Pop-Up Shops. Many thanks to Tina Novotny for preparing this post on behalf of the DECA pop-up team!

It’s summertime, and the living is easy – easy to get great deals on fashion finds on Danforth East running between Monarch Park Avenue and Woodbine Avenue. That’s because we’re welcoming five new pop-up shops with fashion proprietors who can get you dressed to your best for less! We also have an award-winning bakery in our midst, Yummy Stuff, which will have you feeling as good as you look when you sample their wares – including the best red velvet cupcakes in the city! Morag Cleeveley and her Yummy staff have been baking up a storm since 2003, creating delights using fresh premium ingredients.

Of the cutting-edge clothiers who will be opening shop, E-closet is a women’s clothing store that delivers top quality trendy and affordable fashion, online and now in person. Cheap Thrills sells all sorts of great name items: all new, samples, seconds for the whole family and other random, neat stuff too. In This Closet: Thrift for Her offers the best of thrift pricing with a boutique experience for quality and unique fashions for women sizes 0-20. Returning popular pop-up proprietor Krystle Lee offers a curated selection of new and gently used high-end clothing & accessories.

Passport Promotion

New this season is the DECA passport promotion. Visit all the locations on the DECA Passport, then drop off completed cards at any of the stores to be entered in the draw for a prize pack, courtesy of the participating shops. Watch your mail for your passport flyer or pick one up at the East Lynn Farmers’ Market.

Launch Weekend – June 15-16, 2013

The summer pop-ups will kick off with an activity-filled launch weekend June 15^th and 16^th, which will feature:

live music by Kevin Brathwaite, The Note Poachers, Fine Grind, Emily and Jackson Steinwall, Saluki Music Ensembles, The Sleepovers and Deanna Petcoff
sidewalk artists
free treats courtesy of Yummy Stuff
guided historical Danforth East walks Saturday and Sunday, starting at 10:00a.m..

The guided walks will be led by Danforth East’s own Stephen Wickens and Dominic Farrell, the walking tours will last approximately 90 minutes; participants are invited to meet at Wise Guys at 2174 Danforth Avenue. at 10 a.m. This is the perfect opportunity for those who missed Stephen’s very popular Jane’s Walk last month. For all the details on the pop-ups and launch weekend check out the DECA website http://danfortheastcommunityassociation.com/summer-pop-up-shops/

Get to know the ‘hood like you should! And don’t forget to support all the new pop-ups and your favourite retailers all along Danforth East. Fill your passport and you can win great prizes!

DECA would like to extend special thanks to Manzer Hair Studio (2171 Danforth Ave), Danforth Sandwich (2116 Danforth Ave), Silly Goose Kids (2054 Danforth Ave), Cake Town Cafe (2039 Danforth Ave), Better Bulk (2044 Danforth Ave), Madame Gateaux (2034 Danforth Ave) and Circus Coffee House (7 Woodmount) for supporting the Pop-up Passport. A big thank you also to Malcolm at Home Hardware (2151 Danforth Ave) for providing materials for our pop-up signs.

March 8, 2013

Be a better you and support local businesses

Was February really only 28 days long? Holy moly! If you are like me, motivation has been at an all-time low. Just in the nick of time, here are some local options that will get you out and about.

Get Artsy

Julie Glick, who is an extraordinarily talented local artist and all-around wonderful person (who is an invaluable member of our Arts Fair team of volunteers) is teaching oil painting on Tuesdays at Artisans-At-Work, starting THIS Tuesday, March 12 for 8 weeks. There are only a few spots left. Details below!

Get Moving

We blogged in January about fitness options in our neighbourhood, but CareerFit Mom has some new classes coming up that we wanted to tell you about, including a free run club on Sunday mornings along the Taylor Creek Trails!

Get Shopping

This is not a pop-up shop plug. This is a personal story about my best shopping experience ever.

On Monday afternoon, on a day off shopping for sinks and toilets for my new bathroom, I finally made it into Krystle Lee’s pop-up at 1801 Danforth Avenue.

I expected to go in, casually browse through items, make polite conversation, and then leave. That is exactly the opposite of what happened.

Krystle was warm and welcoming, and I explained that I am recently back to work after having twins, which was my second pregnancy, so all of my clothes are either too tight, too old, or both.

Krystle literally took me through almost every garment in her shop. She encouraged me to try things on, even things that I didn’t think would look good. I learned that all of her clothes are Canadian-made – no sweatshops and as much as possible, Toronto-based designers. (What? Designer? Who do I think I am??) So I tried on many, many beautiful clothes. Krystle and I honestly assessed each outfit and she gave me tips and advice about fashion that I had no idea about. (If you know me, you will not be surprised that fashion info was all new to me.)

I was playing it cool and not looking at price tags, but when push came to shove, I had to start caring about the bottom line. Beautiful spring blouse? $35. Gorgeous black button-down dress? $95 Softest and best fitting camisole ever? $20 The prices were totally reasonable. (She has higher end stuff too, which is also steeply discounted, if your budget has a bit more give than mine!)

Krystle is a personal stylist and usually sells privately to clients who know about her almost exclusively through word-of-mouth. She buys her clothes with deep discounts, and her lack of overhead means that she can pass those savings right to her clients.

I left there with a great work dress, a georgeous sweater, and some really beautiful tops. Even more amazing was that for the first time in 15 months, since my twins were born, I am excited to get dressed in the morning and I feel better about myself than I have in a long time. To me, you can’t put a price on that.

You can find Krystle at 1801 Danforth Avenue for the month of March. www.krystle.ca

March 7, 2013

March Pop-Up Shop News

Did you hear? Two of the February pop-up shops that we fell in love with are sticking around another month! Now, they are the pop-up shops formerly known as the February pop-ups. (Thankfully, they have much catchier names:) Fa Real Designz N Prints and Krystle Lee will be gracing our neighbourhood with their awesomeness for the entire month of March.

Fa Real Designz N Prints | 1898 Danforth Avenue
Tuesday-Saturday 12-8
Birthday celebrations are happening. We hear there will be cake to celebrate owners Allister’s milestone. And this weekend only you can get custom tee’s for $20 (regular $30) and toddler/baby shirts for $10 (reg $15). There is also a end-of-winter season sale on FaReal clothing (hoddies, long sleeves and tees) and if you spend over $50 the toque is on them!

Read more about Fa Real owners Tracey and Allister from an interview they did with the Scarborough Mirror and check out what local resident, DECA Board Member and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee recipient Catherine Porter has to say about her experience with the shop below. And if you too would like to be the best gift giver in your family, you should visit Fa Real this weekend.

I am a good gift giver. I pride myself on this. I’d say I have the record in my family as the best gift giver.

I give thoughtful cool presents.

Allistar and Tracey at Fa Real Designz N Prints have helped me keep my record. I am in love with them. You will be too.

Let me explain.

Seven summers ago my husband’s family built a lop-sided cabin at the cottage. I was up on the roof too. The project ran over time and budget. So, for Christmas that year, my husband and I got everyone in the family (the Burt family — I kept my last name, thank you very much) custom-made shirts for the Burt Building Company. On the back it says: “We may not be smart…. but we’re slow.”

The shirts were a hit.

My sister-in-law just had baby number three. I needed to get little Ollie a gift. An AWESOME gift. So, I took a photo of the T-shirt — both sides — and emailed it to Allistar and Tracey, who specialize in custom-designed shirts. They have one of our pop-up shops on the Danforth, where the old jewellrey place was.

I asked them to approximate the design — use a triangle instead of a house, you know, whatever. It’s the idea that counts.

Tonight, I picked up a dark blue onesie that matches EXACTLY my own T-shirt — except I don’t have clasps at the bum, but you get the idea.

Allistar and Tracey are geniuses.

I got two more — three custom-made shirts for $50.

This place is the BOMB. It’s around for another month, as one of DECA’s pop-up shops. Lucky us.

We’d like them to stay even longer.

Don’t you have a gift to give someone? A soccer team to outfit? A street party coming up?

For more information about these pop-up stores, the DECA Pop-Up Shop project and DECA, please visit our website, and follow us on twitter @DECAdiaries.

February 1, 2013

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!