This place was a chance discovery from last summer and now if there’s any kind of excuse to eat chocolate (Valentines, birthdays, halloween, st. patrick’s day, Fridays)…I’m there!

Schokolade Artisan Chocolate & Cafe is on an unassuming part of the East Hastings strip, up past Victoria, almost right across from the Dayton boot store. They make the most amazing chocolates – all handmade, from natural ingredients, in small runs with no preservatives or additives. It’s also all peanut-free and most of the fillings have no sugar added – they just use juice. Don’t quote me but I was told there was a cup of raspberry juice in each Dark Raspberry Jelly (coincidentally, my favourite).

If that’s not enough to entice take a look at the listing of chocolates they offer:

Dark Pomegranate, Dark Passion fruit, Dark Raspberry heart, Dark Mah-Jong with fresh orange zest, Dark & White Sunny orange, Dark Raspberry Jelly, Dark Blueberry, & Dark Cherry, Strawberry Pepper, Mango Jalapeno, Dark Brandy Truffle, Dark Crown Royal, & Dark Pear William, Dark, Milk or white Almond Clusters, Dark or Milk Hedgehog with Hazelnut, Italian Nougat with mixed fruit and nut, Pistachio nuts and Hazelnut Crunch.

You can go there and just have a coffee (also good) and a couple of chocolates, and they sell baked goods as well. They also offer chocolate workshops where you can bring a group – I’m still mulling it over but it has to be a good idea for some future event…

Schokolade Cafe is located at 2263 E. Hastings, Vancouver. Open Tuesday – Saturday : 9am – 7pm, Sunday: 11am – 5pm, Monday and Public Holiday: Closed. Map to location.

If you’re stuck on what to buy for the guy who doesn’t seem to want anything, there is one fall-back that is easy to get and something most men could use – a visit to an old-school barbershop for a hot towel shave.

In Vancouver, it seems like the place to go is Farzad’s Barbershop in Yaletown. For $25 you can get a Deluxe Hot Shave, which includes a face massage, several applications of hot towels, and getting shaved twice.

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I almost couldn’t believe it when I saw the Miss A Kit (formerly called Miss Army) in a store called Hot Box on Main Street. Not because it is a mirror, flashlight, scissors, nail file, tweezers, pen, pill box, perfume bottle, knife, ruler, bottle opener, screwdriver, corkscrew, safety pin, needle and thread, and key chain all rolled in to one, but because my (now retired) zine Turf had envisioned something called the Swiss Miss Army Knife almost 10 years ago…

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…or at least something approximating sunlight.

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My esteemed colleague Mark modeling the new office hat. Yes, we are all sharing the one hat.

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I’m a writer and producer based in Vancouver, B.C. This blog was originally created to showcase a wicked-glorious salsa song I commissioned as a gift for a couple whose wedding I couldn’t attend, and who split up before I could send it to them. Now it contains a lot of other things.

I’ve been to a lot of weddings in the past few years. We’re talking over 8 but under a dozen, just to give you an idea. Every single time it’s been a struggle to figure out what the best gift would be for the bride and groom.

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