I am currently spending the holidays at my parent’s home in Ottawa, ON. I always look forward to this time of year, not only for the fridge stocked full of foods, but being able to spend time with my family. That has really become something special to me – now that I have lived in Toronto for the last 5 years. Ottawa to Toronto really isn’t that far of a distance, but you would be surprised to know how difficult it truly is to find time to see each other. I always enjoy coming home to see my brothers and our 3 family dogs, decorating the tree with my mom, watching old Christmas movies and baking (also eating) delicious treats – this year we are making a real red velvet cake, with beets and all, and a pumpkin dump cake (it is not quite clear to me what this is yet).

My mom had heard about the Tin Barn Market, and asked me if I would come with her to check it out. The Tin Barn Market is a pop-up shop located in the small town of Almonte, about 1 hr outside Ottawa. Originally, it was only opened from November-December for the holiday season, but this year they had opened for the summer and decided to extend their shop until, well, now. They sell antiques, but focus mostly on re-worked and re-purposed antique/vintage housewares. I probably got my love for antiques from my parents, as they get just as excited about these things as I do. It’s nice to share something like that with them. We ended buying quite a few things, which I think will be nice additions to our homes.

After the Tin Barn Market, we took a little stroll around Almonte. It is a historical town, with a lot of it’s original buildings still standing. They have been turned into modern restaurants and banks, but their exteriors still look to be in their original condition. We checked out the falls by the old mill, and I of course had to check out some of the downtown vintage stores. There is always something wonderful about small town vintage stores, not as many hands have picked through the racks, so you can always be sure to find something pretty great.

I hope you are all enjoying the holidays. It may be a little quiet around for the week as both Meg and I are spending what little time we have with our families until we return back to the much warmer city of Toronto. We are however, both very excited  to share our Larkspur Winter Vintage ’13 photoshoot with you all this coming Thursday. So be sure to check back.

Happy Holidays!!!

Posted by Alex