One of a Kind Lunch Break

Introducing a new series on the blog: One of a Kind Lunch Break!

Throughout the summer, we will be testing out various restaurants in the city, and visiting One of a Kind exhibitors in the neighbourhood.

Our first stop:

Khan San Road
Address: 326 Adelaide St W, Toronto, ON M5V 1P7
Phone:(647) 352-5773
Hours: 11:30am to 2:30pm (lunch); 5:00pm to 10:00pm (dinner); closed on Sunday
Website: www.khaosanroad.ca

Khan San Road has always been a big hit with the One of a Kind team! With fresh ingredients and complex flavours, we especially love the San Roas (Chef’s Special Pad Thai).

After our delicious meals, we also stopped by Biko’s Studio Anniversary Sale!

Having been to Corrine’s previous home studio (from our Spring 2011 photo shoot), it’s great to see her fully settled into this lovely space!

Listen up!

Here at One of a Kind, we love good music! With summer just around the corner, we’ve compiled some of the most anticipated music festivals that will be hitting Toronto in the next few months!

Cross body bag by Bookhou / Blanket by Jenna Rose / Sunscreen by Matter Company / Tee by 1% Talent / Fedora by Wildhagen Hats

CBCMUSIC.CA Festival
Featuring: Sam Roberts Band, Of Monsters and Men, Sloan, Kathleen Edwards and more
Date: Saturday, May 25
Venue: Echo Beach, Toronto
Website: http://music.cbc.ca/#/CBCMusicca-Festival
Why attend: With a solid lineup of Canadian and international acts, this is a great way to kick off the summer concert season! We also love this illustrated guide entitled Rules for Festival Goers. Study it!

Field Trip
Featuring: Broken Social Scene, Feist, Stars, Bloc Party, Jason Collett and more
Date: Saturday, June 8
Venue: Fort York & Garrison Common
Website: http://www.fieldtriplife.com
Why attend:  To mark the 10th anniversary of the Toronto based label, Arts & Crafts, Broken Social Scene will come out of hiatus for a one night only performance! Built around the theme of community, the festival will also incorporate local art, gourmet food to further celebrate all the wonderful creative spirits the city has to offer!

NXNE
Featuring: The National, Big Boi, Dan Deacon, Calexico, more bands to be announced
Dates: June 10-16 
Venue: All throughout Toronto
Website: http://nxne.com
Why attend: Since 1995, this week-long festival is a must attend event for dedicated music fans in the city. New this year, NXNE Art will showcase interesting works from both local and world renowned artists.

Toronto Urban Roots Festival
Featuring: Neko Case, Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura, She & Him, The Joel Plaskett Emergency, Yo La Tengo and more
Dates: July 4-7
Venue: Fort York & Garrison Common
Website: http://torontourbanrootsfest.com
Why attend: This one is simple. Hello impressive lineup!

The Grove Music Festival
Featuring: Phoenix, Girl Talk, Hot Chip, Icona Pop
Date: Saturday, August 3
Venue: Fort York & Garrison Common
Website: http://thegrovefest.com/
Why attend: With such a diverse lineup of some of the most exciting musicians around the globe, this one will have you dancing in no time!

Not in Toronto? Here are a few more music festivals across Canada:
Sled island Music Festival, June 19-22, Calgary, AB
Montreal Jazz Festival, June 28 to July 7, Montreal, QC
Ottawa Bluesfest, July 4-14, Ottawa, ON
Keloha Music and Arts Festival, July 5-7, Kelowna, BC
Osheaga Festival, August 2-4, Montreal QC
Squamish Valley Music Festival, August 8-9, Squamish, BC

One of a Kind Wedding

Last Friday, we had a special One of a Kind wedding when Jill—our exhibitor relations and recruitment specialist—got married!

It was a beautiful day! With Jill and Brian being the creative couple that they are, the wedding was also full of fun and personal D.I.Y. touches!

Wedding date: Friday, May 17, 2013

Theme: Books & Literature

Colours: Red, mint and turquoise

Read on for some of our favourite pictures from the big day.

Since Brian is a writer, the theme for the wedding was books and literature. We think the invites made with these library check out cards complemented the theme perfectly!

Jill walked down the aisle with her parents. She looked absolutely stunning!

Awww!

Jill and Valerie, aka “One of a Kind Sales Department”.

Using these postcards from Penguin books, Brian hand wrote each card with a personalized message to the guest! What a great idea for seating cards!

Jill and her maid of honour hand painted 38 wine bottles to make these awesome centrepieces. The mathematical equation on each bottle was also a playful way to indicate the table number!

For wedding favours, Jill and Brian presented their guests with mini bottles of Italian lemon liqueur (check out the super sweet thank you/grazie tag on each). We love that the Limoncello also paid homage to Brian’s Italian heritage!

Jill’s beautiful fascinator was created by long time One of a Kind exhibitor/hall of fame inductee Karyn Gingras of Lilliput Hats.

Congrats to the happy couple!

It’s Sunny Out!

Victoria day is fast approaching! And it appears that warmer weather is finally here to stay (please!) to kick off the first long weekend of summer!

Here are some One of a Kind items to signal the arrival of sun and fun! Time to get outside!

Swing by Objets Mécaniques

Bird feeder by Martin House Art

Bird house by The Saltbox Shoppe

BBQ sauce by Wicked Gourmet

Piggie planter by This Little Piggy

Reversible apron by Dear Edna

Weekend is for Exploring: Toronto Flower Market

Looking for something to do with Mom after brunch on Saturday? Why not check out the inaugural edition of the Toronto Flower Market!

The Toronto Flower Market is Toronto’s first outdoor market featuring products from local Ontario greenhouses. We talked to founder (and a great friend of the One of a Kind Show) Natasa Kajganic about this exciting addition to the city!

Can you tell me a little about the Toronto Flower Market?

The Toronto Flower Market is the first outdoor flower and plant only market made up of Ontario greenhouse growers. Featuring an abundance of locally grown varieties,  we invite the urban consumer to wander the stalls, explore the flowers of our region and purchase fresh, quality and affordable flowers directly from the grower. We are an advocate of Ontario floriculture and sell Ontario grown product only — so come out, pickOntario and support the Canadian flower industry May 11th, June 8th, July 13th, August 10th, September 14th at 99 Sudbury from 10am-3pm.

What inspired you to start this project?

Last August I went to visit a good friend of mine in London, England. She knew my love for flowers and anything romantic so she took me to Columbia Road Flower Market. Just imagine this, a narrow cobblestone pedestrian road with a single pathway navigating you through green and vibrant colours with growers peaking through heckling their prices. The experience was as nostalgic and magical as you could believe, everyone was leaving with arms full of blooms wrapped in kraft paper. I wondered why a flower market didn’t exist in Toronto and I wanted it to. So upon my return I began to work on creating a similar experience for our city and truly believed others would be interested in it as well.

Any tips of finding the perfect Mother’s Day bouquet?

Bring your mom to the market and let her pick :)! But really, you can’t go wrong with any bloom as all women love to receive flowers. If your mom has a green thumb, consider annuals for her to plant in her own garden. If she has a veranda or patio, try flowered hanging baskets or potted plants. If you want to surprise her with a handful of bright colours, you can never go wrong with cut dahlias, peonies, or gerberas. But I’ll tell you, with all your options it’s going to be hard to choose!

Image: Toronto Flower Market Facebook page

What you need to know:

Toronto Flower Market

Dates: May 11th, June 8th, July 13th, August 10th, and September 14th

Hours: 10am to 3pm

Location: 99 Sudbury Street, Toronto

Website: www.torontoflowermarket.ca

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TorontoFlowerMarket

Instagram: www.instagram.com/TorontoFlowerMarket

Reminder…

If you want to apply to the One of a Kind Christmas Show, be sure to submit your application by this Friday, April 12!

Download the application here.

Got a question? Need more time? Want some advice? Get in touch!

Jill Benson
Exhibitor Relations & Recruitment
Telephone: 416 960 5399
Email: jill@oneofakindshow.com

Valérie Roy
Manager-Bilingual Exhibitor Relations & Recruitment
Telephone: 416 960 4514
Email: valerie@oneofakindshow.com