Not Paving Paradise...

I'm a little bit behind the curve on this one, but it is such a fantastic idea, I have to talk about it.  The newest parking lot for downtown Kelowna opened last month, and it has nothing to do with cars. That's right.  The newest and coolest way to visit downtown Kelowna is by boat.

This is an idea long overdue.  Despite having only had one summer in the Okanagan, my husband and I - newby boat owners that we are - have often talked about how great it would be to be able to boat downtown, moor up and do a little shopping and lunching. Well now we can.

Developed by Westcorp, Downtown Marina and Public Pier boasts 68 pleasure boats slips, with hourly and daily rental available.  Some of the slips will be first come first serve, but some will also be open to reservation, ensuring that your lunch reservation doesn't go to waste because you can't find suitable 'parking'. Prices are reasonable too, ranging from $5 for a quick 15 minute or less trip to the 'offie' (that's liquor store in Canadian) should you want to pick up a bottle of wine for your on-the-water picnic, to $50 for up to 8 hours; a two hour lunch window will set you back $20. (Full rental rates can be found at http://www.kelownadowntownmarina.com/moorage.html .)

The Marina also has raised piers for commercial boats, fuel and toilet facilities (hurrah! on both counts), boat and Sea-doo rentals, and the 350 foot floating pier is also accessible to pedestrians, hosting a number of benches from which to sit and watch the world go by.

Yes, in Kelowna, cars are so last year.

...

You can find out all about Downtown Marina and Public Pier at:
http://www.kelownadowntownmarina.com/

Look Global, Shoot Local

I love a good fashion shoot, and in my time as a fashion stylist/editor I have been lucky enough to shoot them in London, Paris, New York, et al.  The creativity that comes into play creating beautiful photos is totally inspirational - and addictive - so imagine my delight in being able to stage a world-class shoot here in Kelowna, using nothing but home grown talent.

The planets must have been in alignment, because I managed to connect with Lindsey Fisette, a wonderful 23 year old Kelowna-raised fashion photographer who is now based in Australia, but was just home for a month on holiday. Lindsey then hooked me up with the fantastic Bri Stein, a local - and really talented - makeup artist, and models Emilee and Matt from local agency Deja Vu.  My Icon Okanagan connections netted us hair styling from Annah at Cream Hair and Make Up Lounge, and clothes from MacDermott's Menswear and Justin Paul Fashions. And lastly, we were able to organise a simply amazing location in Bo.tegga Farm Inn - a boutique hotel and working alpaca farm.

Next thing I knew, Go Okanagan at Shaw Cable were interested in what was going on, and decided to pop down and shoot the shoot - if you know what I mean.

It was a wonderfully exciting and productive day for all involved, and the results were - if I do say so myself- pretty darn gobsmacking.  But if you don't believe me, you can see for yourself... the shoot is in the new issue of Icon magazine, which you can pick up from numerous locations around the Okanagan or online at http://www.icon-okanagan.com/articles/. You can also see the shoot, and learn more about Lindsey on Go Okanagan's website at http://www.shaw.ca/ShawTV/Kelowna/Shows/ShawTV/ .

All-in-all, it was a good days work, and - hopefully - the first of many to come!

Looking at the World Through Fabulous Glasses...

Once upon a time, I was working in Paris and spending some free time roaming around that gorgeous city.  I found myself outside the Alain Mikli store, utterly entranced by the coolest eyeglass frames ever.  They were a wonderfully geeky rectangular shape, but the biggest selling point was the fact they were made from polished, beautifully grained wood.  Sadly, they were out of my price range at the time, especially having just replaced my prescription a few months previously.  But they have never been forgotten, and they have remained the holy grail of eyewear for me ever since.

As someone who has been blind as a bat since pre-adolescence, glasses have played a big part in my life. And, being a fashionista'ish-type person, fashionable frames even more so.  I am constantly on the hunt for fabulous, flattering eyewear wherever I go - refer to above paragraph. So how happy am I to have discovered Wink i Wear in the Mission Park Shopping Centre? In a word. Very.

Open since April of this year, owner Laura Draycott has amassed an amazing array of fashionable frames from around the world in her eyewear boutique. Lines like JF Rey (France), Etnia Barcelona (Spain), MOSCOT and Le Rocher (both New York) are flying off the shelves and onto the noses of Kelowna's fashionable.  Frames generally range in price from $250 to $500, but - if you are feeling very flush and exclusive - can range up to $1600 for a pair of glasses made from real gold with 0.45K of diamonds and buffalo horn temples.  Now you won't get that at Specsavers.



As a big fan of retro eyewear, I especially love that Wink i Wear has a whole section devoted to vintage frames. Authentic vintage frames, that is, not modern knockoffs, sourced mainly from Germany and the UK. "I have always loved vintage eyewear, it makes me feel connected to the past. I have collected it for years," says Laura.  "When entertaining at home I would break out my vintage eyewear collection for our guests to try on and play with.  It was always a huge hit, and I felt that I was not alone in my love for classic eyewear."



Laura's mission is to provide cool flattering frames to the Okanagan, and she is succeeding at pace. "All customers are looking for something that looks great on them," explains Draycott. " Many want eyewear that makes a statement, and sets them apart from the crowd.  I've had many customers who have been everywhere in the Okanagan, and come defeated to my store because they cannot find something they love.  It's so fun to help them, because their new issue becomes having to choose just one frame, and in some cases they end up purchasing multiple pairs of eyeglasses!"

Yup. I'm already worried that I may well fall into this final category. Better get talking to the bank manager.

Wink i Wear

Mission Park Shopping Centre
#7 - 605 KLO Road
Kelowna V1Y 8E7
Phone: 250 862 WINK (9465)
www.winkiwear.ca
Hours: Mon - Fri - 9 to 5
Saturdays by appointment only.
Closed long weekends and holidays.

You can read more about Laura and Wink i Wear in the new issue of Icon Okanagan, out the second week of October.

Release Your Inner Surfer Dog...

Oh, but I love finding cool new things, and when it's cool news things for my dog (read 'surrogate baby') I'm even happier. And... finding a cool new things for my dog in my neighborhood, well, SCORE.  I love my neighborhood (Lower Mission), not least for the fact it has some great little local shops.

One of my favorites is Green and Bear It which is one of those wonderfully eclectic local shops that is part gardening store, part gift shop, part home store and part clothing and accessories boutique. This may sound a bit schizophrenic in print, but believe me, in person it works.

But... back to the aforementioned cool thing for my dog.

Green and Bear It are carrying the coolest beaded dog collars, like, ever.  Made by a Vancouver-based company called FurryBeads, the collars feature wooden beads strung on to vinyl covered stainless steel cable with a nylon webbing and plastic click fastening. According to the company's website, FurryBeads are: 'waterproof, stink proof, stain proof (do not discolor your dog's hair), massages your dogs neck as they roll, do not break or matte your dog's hair, do not tangle in long haired dogs, do not rust in salt water, look good as they age/ weather, and also make "intimidating" breeds appear more friendly and  acceptable'.

The collars, $35, come in a variety of colour combinations, and in sizes small, medium and large. Muddy the Whoodle is currently rocking a teal, turquoise and grey combo that makes him look truly 'surfer dog'.

Star Fever...

One of the coolest things about living in places like London and Los Angeles is that you never know what fabulous person you might find yourself standing behind in the supermarket queue or next to in the pub.

Sadly, I am really useless at noticing celebs. Apparently, I have stood behind Dudley Moore in a cinema lineup ('You mean the really short guy?' I asked my bemused boyfriend at the time), and also have photographic evidence of myself sitting behind Kanye West at the last fashion show I attended (and, yes, I had to ask my friend who he was). However, the fact that I can now have these same brushes with fame here in the Okanagan Valley just further confirms that Kelowna (and area) is the place to be.

So just how happening is the Okanagan?  Well... actor, director, producer, screenwriter, humanitarian and all-round heartthrob George Clooney is currently ensconced in Enderby filming his new film, Disney's sci-fi 'Tomorrowland'.

Okanagan. George Cloony. Need I say more?

Actually, I will. The movie also stars Hugh Laurie as the villain, which - for any Brits or fans of 'House' - is every bit as cool.

Word on the street says that  'Tomorrowland' will be filming on and off in Enderby until mid-September. I sense a short road trip in my future - now, where did I put my binoculars?

~

Image sourced from Time.com.

The Boating Life For Me...

If you're gonna live in Kelowna, you better get a boat. Or so my husband thinks, and I can't say I disagree. So, we crunched our numbers and toddled along to Dockside Marine's July 'Customer Appreciation Day' to see what our limited budget might afford us.  The answer?  Something pretty damn good.

Thanks to Dale and Chris, two weeks later we were on the lake in our own (second hand, but in pristine condition) SeaRay feeling like true Kelwona-ites.  Or is that Kelwo-no-nians? Or maybe its Kelownans. (Answer on a postcard please!)

We couldn't have asked for more friendly and helpful service, all the way up to our 'on the water' induction (the boating version of the 'test drive') with the lovely Cap'n John.  Furthermore, there was a problem with our trailer on the way to the marina (the left wheel decided to low a ball bearing enroute) so Dockside organised weekend mooring for us at their Manteo Resort facility, took the trailer away, fixed the problem, then picked up the boat and delivered it to us Monday afternoon. Very impressive.

As for the boat, we love it, and being on the water is just amazing.  As one of the sea dogs in the marina said to us, 'Kelowna opens up in a whole new way when you have a boat'. Popping over for coffee also takes on a whole new meaning. Of course, like all new boaters, there are a few tricky bits - like launching and loading your boat.

Our local boat launch is the Eldorado, right beside the (normally heaving) patio, where patrons consider watching boat launchers making complete fools of themselves as part of the venue's entertainment.  I know this because my husband and I have been two of those cruel people pointing and giggling when it all goes horribly wrong for some hapless captain.  Now it's going to be us providing the chuckles.  Gulp.

Though... we may have found a way round this.  Want to watch our launching learning curve? Come down to the boat launch any morning at 6am. Yup. We are only launching when we know that NO ONE is going to be around. Now we just have to figure out how to get the boat back out of the water and onto the trailer under the cover of darkness.

***

PS: We are also busy discussing names for our boat.  The current favourite? 'Mywifeletmebuyit'.

Church & State

Considering that I tell all my British friends that I have moved to 'the Napa Valley of Canada' as a quick, shorthand way of describing my new home, I can't believe I have been blogging about Kelowna for over four months and have yet to write anything about a winery. Well, I am about to rectify that.

One of the first things my husband and I did when we got back to town was to spend a day exploring and re-connecting with the area.  This included a pilgrimage to the place that produces one of my very favourite wines - Church & State's utterly yummy Chardonnay.

Located just south of Oliver, Church & State is a wonderfully modern winery, nestled in the Coyote Bowl vineyards, which is in turn nestled in the Black Sage Bench of the southern Okanagan.  Not only is the wine wonderful, the winery's contemporary architecture is to utterly fab. Can anything be more modernly fan-tabulous than wood and polished concrete? It's like a match made in thegood(new)life heaven.

Now let's talk awards.  The aforementioned Chardonnay - described thus: 'great intensity on the nose, with lanolin, honey, spice, dried lemon zest and vanilla notes. Big and bright, the palate carries a lot of oak flavour, with spice and a touch of smokiness' -  won a Silver Medal at the Wine Access 2011 Canadian Wine Awards, and Church & State is no slouch in the reds department either.  It's 2010 Coyote Bowl Syrah was awarded Bronze for the best red wine in Canada at the Canadian Wine Awards, 2012, and the same awards saw the Syrah, the 2008 Quintessential (red blend) and 2011 Voignier all achieving gold in their categories. All of which added together to place Church & State as the fourth ranking winery in Canada. Can't argue with that.

Prices range from $20 to $35 (the Chardonnay weighs in at $27), with the uber-special 2008 Quintessential (a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec & Petit Verdot, which won gold at the 2012 San Francisco International Wine Competition) costing $55. 

For slimmer wallets, Church & State also produce the Church Mouse series, a Chardonnay and a Gewerztraminer both priced at $17.

Through the summer, the tasting bars (indoor and outdoor!) are open daily from 11 to 6.