The Common is a great addition to the Little Portugal/Dufferin Grove neighbourhood.  There is plenty of bustle around this super cute coffee shop, located on College just east of Dufferin.  The coffee speaks for itself and they offer free wifi if you can find a seat, although not enough power outlets to geek out for long.  

The Common was opened by a couple that moved to Toronto from Victoria and saw the need for more small high quality coffee shops.  Their vision was right on target.  When I first went to visit the brand new shop, one of the owners was the sole employee making espresso drinks.. every day, all day. At that time his father made all the baked goods each morning before opening.  Their dedication and hard work has paid off.  Go Common!

I went to the Rushton in Hillcrest Village for the first time last week and was thoroughly impressed.  The prices were a wee bit on the high side, but more than compensated for by the lovely decor, delicious food, and truly pleasant atmosphere.  They also have a fantastic patio — the kind that calls your name on these beautiful days of September. 

In case you were looking to spruce up your wardrobe and save a little dough while doing it…

Here’s a coupon good until the end of September.  Meg is a cute shop started by Canadian designer Meghan Kinney located on Queen West in Toronto.  She comes up with some amazing designs that are often very flattering to the female figure.  She now has stores in Toronto, NYC, LA and Dublin. 

Check out this cute little shop.  EyeSpy is located at 1100 Queen Street East and carries all kinds of eye candy and home decor… ideal for gifts.  (That’s code for “you’ll probably find all kinds of things for yourself”.) They carry beautiful table lamps, high design kiddy items, jewelry, cards and some furniture. 

Hi All,

Quick technical nerd note:

Up until now the Mukodu blog has been running on blog software called “Typo”. We hit a number of technical problems with Typo, and so today we made the switch to a different software package: WordPress.

From what I can tell the transition went smoothly, so hopefully you don’t notice any glitches. But if you do see something wonky, please let me know by commenting on this blog post, or by sending an email to mukodublog at mukodu.com.

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The Clothing Show is nearing once again. As usual it is on the weekend of September 29th - 30th starting at 11am on both Saturday and Sunday at the Exhibition (in the Automotive Building).

Since this show is built to appeal to a wide market, there can be a fair bit of stuff that is unappealing to any individual. You are likely to discover some great clothes, but more through serendipity than by hunting for any one particular thing. I went last year thinking I’d escort my buddy and maybe pick up a gift, and… well, I came home with a heap of fantastic stuff. This can also be a great place to get unique gifts made by local designers.

I’ve had my best luck at the Clothing Show when I’m feeling broke. If you are flush with cash and ready to shop… no guarantees!

P.S. buy your ticket online and save two bucks

[tags]clothes, gifts[/tags]

Balzac’s… oh how I love this Distillery District gem. The atmosphere they have created is so relaxing, the lattés are good … it just feels like the perfect place to go in the Fall as the leaves begin to turn, in your cozy striped sweater, to enjoy an espresso and read the New York Times. Not that I execute on this vision often, but hey, it’s my vision, scram if you don’t like it. Balzac’s has just opened another beautiful space. This one is in Liberty Village, on the corner of Hanna Ave and Liberty Street. Now West-enders can get a piece of the Balzac’s action without traveling all the way to the Distillery. Yay! Let’s explore a few more sizzlin’ coffee shops and then debate who gets highest ratings in which category. Stay tuned.

Technorati Tags: Distillery District, Liberty Village, coffee