Highly Touted

I know. I know. I know. I haven’t been here very often. So imagine my surprise when I realized it was time once again for the Halifax Downtown Business Commission’s Big Day Downtown event. I had such a great time last year. I got my Converse Chuck Taylor’s, a Nathan MacKinnon numbered T-shirt and went to a Mooseheads’ game last year.

So this year when I heard I was going to be getting $100 bucks to spend at any downtown businesses, I was stoked and had an idea of what I wanted to do. But hold it! This year they put a twist on the event. Each blogger was going to be paired with another blogger and you would have to show off your downtown to your partner.

I got partnered with Katie Tower who blogs about lifestyle and design at katietower.ca. We have of a bit of different twist on things, but that might have made for a great match.

I had immediately thought, “Sweet, I’m going to get me a Moosehead jersey!” But that would have blown my whole $100. Actually I still would have had to add another $30 for the jersey and $65 for name and number. I was originally going to get the jersey and do the name and number later, but after chatting with Katie, I realized that we each had a different experience to share.

I figured it would be great if I baptized Katie in the sports scene of Halifax. Cool thing is, I also got to add to what I started last year. I used my first purchase to get Katie the same MacKinnon shirt I got last, and I decided to compliment my shirt with a red Jonathan Drouin shirt.

We were off and shopping and trying to figure out how we can show each other something a little different. Katie had the next stop, but she seemed a little hesitant. Apparently her choice was going to be a little girly, and she wasn’t sure how Mr. Sports Blogger here would react to that. Well seeing as I had just taken her to Antlers and bought her a T-shirt, I figured it would only be fair.

So we headed down to J & R Grimsmo, a neat little boutique. Katie knows Jessy and Rachael, the ladies that opened the store about a year ago, and loved having some free money to hand over to them. She ended up walking away with come really funky socks and I think some other goodies. Me? I thought it was a great opportunity to show Mrs. Highly Touted that she’s still my top prospect despite being out on the town with a young girl. Jessy and Rachael had just the right thing for me: a pair of calla lily earrings.

All this buying had built quite the appetite. Luckily, Katie knew a great little spot I had yet to try. We hoofed it down to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. No we did not eat artwork, although the alcohol concoctions from Jeff the bartender certainly tasted like pieces of art. The place was actually Untitled Eats. Turns out Jeff had just recently won a bartending competition and is heading to Montreal for another competition. He had also had just got a case of a bittersweet Italian liqueur made from Artichokes. After trying his Prescription, I was feeling better. I’d also suggest you check out his blog: Dash of Dartmouth. The drink only whet our appetites and it was a good that they had just revamped their menu. Katie enjoyed a beautiful duck confit while I couldn’t resist the lure of seafood chowder and fish cakes. Everything was delicious, and I will be certain to try this place again.

So, I had a great time. I gave Katie a bit of an introduction to the sports world in Halifax and she showed me some great places of style and flare. This was a great Big Day Downtown and I hope that it spurs some others to get out to the wonderful businesses I tried.