We are so lucky to have the Lindt Chocolate Outlet Store come to town. This chocolate company started in Zurich in 1845 and then acquired the famous Rudolf Lindt’s company in1899 (he was the one that invented the “conche” melting method). This European chocolate shop offers you all the Lindt classics including 6 kinds of Lindor truffles (intense orange is there) and for the “health conscious”: dark chocolate in 70%, 85%, and 95%. The left half of the store is 25%-75% off and the chocolate still tastes wonderful at these prices. You can buy baskets of Lindt or Ghiradelli and there are usually free tastes on the counter.Yum!

Location: Mega Centre des Sources, 58 Brunswick Blvd., Pointe Claire
Corner: Sources Blvd. (look around the corner from the Towne Hall restaurant)
Tel: 514-695-3392
Hours: M-F 9:30-7, Sat 9-5, Sun 10-5

How lovely to have a diaper fairy who comes in once a week, takes your bag of dirty diapers and hands you a fresh sweet smelling pile of soft cotton diapers. For smaller babies, (about 80 diapers) it’s $26 per week, and bigger kids (50 large), $22.50 per week. They are sent to be done to the same place where hospital clothing is cleaned and are washed in very hot water with a peroxide soap which is not at all irritating to the baby’s bum. In fact, cloth diapers are 5 to10 degrees cooler than paper ones, so less bacteria grow and babies have less rashes.

Name: Couche Maman Ecolo
Tel: 450-474-3550

Naturino are well constructed high fashion comfort shoes for kids (0-16) made in Italy and we have a shop here in Montreal. They are designed with a “walking on sand” cushioning. The Rainstep line is waterproof, warm and dry and the shop also carries the lines Falcotto and Nowali. Nowadays Birkenstocks for the whole family have been added to the mix. So you can start your kids out early with these comfort shoes.

Naturino-Birkenstock
1325 Greene Ave. Westmount
corner: de Maisonneuve
Tel: 514-939-0363
www.naturino-mtl.com
www.birkenstock.ca

Owned by a manufacturer of corrugated boxes,  Magasin Festival Store is the place to buy (ask about the used ones) boxes (1.5 to 6 cu. ft) for moving, storing and shipping, with special ones for mirrors, artwork, lampshades, golf bags, bicycles, dishes and crystal and wardrobes. Protective packing supplies are here, like bubble wrap, inkless newsprint, tissue paper, foam chips and huge plastics for mattresses and sofas.

Location:  8310 Cote de Liesse, Ville St-Laurent
corner: Montee de Liesse
Tel: 514-340-1119
Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30-5, (Sat 9-3 from April 1-July 5)
www.festival.ca

If you are in a panic, getting some kids ready to go off to sleep-away camp and you haven’t gotten around to getting those pesky name labels for all their clothing, help is here. Centre de Couture Snowdon can make up name labels for camp in minutes.
People have been coming to this well-stocked notions and trimming shop since 1950 to choose from one of the best selections of buttons in the city. If you are handy, you can come here to find ribbons, snaps, bra cups, zippers, patches, boas and appliqués. They can also cover buttons, do pleating, make belts, cover buckles, sell you wool and needlepoint yarn, and repair sewing machines. You can even get your knives, scissors and pinking shears sharpened here.

Location: 5137 boul. Decarie
corner: ch. Queen Mary
Tel: 514-486-0544
Hours: Tues-Fri 9:30-6, Sat 10-5

We have our first Marlies/Dekkers store, though they are located in twenty countries around the world. The fashion lingerie designer hails from the Netherlands and touts the lines as “bras straps that are meant to be seen”. Their underthings called Undressed cover bustiers, backless undies, corsets, bra and panty sets and there’s the Sundressed swim suits too. Another line is called Nightdressed and there is a bit for the men and Special Sized too. The brand has been enjoyed by Janet Jackson, Kylie Minogue, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, The Pussycat Dolls, Courtney Love and Nelly Furtado.

Location: Les Cours Mont-Royal
Tel: 514-303-8599
www.marliesdekkers.com 

I often get calls about where someone can have a party – for a shower, special birthday, anniversary or whatever. I have found a decently priced yummy restaurant that fits the bill for this. Pasta Tutti Giorni started out in DDO with 2 guys and some Italian family recipes. Eventually they joined up with partners that wanted to franchise their concept. It worked for awhile but a little over a month ago, those partners went bust and their stores had to be shut.

However all is not lost as the original location in DDO is still open and at lunchtime on the weekends they are open for private family celebrations. Imagine, you can get the whole restaurant to yourself for the afternoon. You can make up your own menu for your guests by selecting meals off of the menu. The restaurant will print it up for you to hand your guests at the table.

For under $20 per person, you can have soup or salad, main course, dessert and coffee. Our family favorites are anything that is covered with their rose sauce (we take it out by the litre) and their special recipe for eggplant timbale (not on the menu but available for parties – it’s like a tender eggplant lasagna). The restaurant is licensed if you want to add any drinks to the mix. They seat about 100. You can of course, dine there anytime – even if you aren’t having a party.

Location: 3343 Boul. des Sources, DDO
corner: Boul. Brunswick
contact: Peter Klaiman
Tel: 514-421-3266
www.ptg.ca

Sephora is here. Sephora is here. I have shopped at Sephora in the U.S. and wondered how come no one had thought of the idea before. The concept is to take all the possible brands of makeup and skin care products and put them all together in one store so you can shop and compare them side by side (instead of feeling awkward in the “battling booths” of the major department stores).

Salespeople are trained for a month in ALL of the brands so you don’t feel like you are going over to the enemy when you look at other names. You can mix it up and buy one brand of moisturizer another of shadow and still another one’s lipstick – and you can compare prices along the way. You can look for Philosophy’s Hope in a Jar moisturizer, Bliss, Makeup Forever, Bare Escentuals, and on and on and on…

Location: Fairview Pointe Claire, 6815 Rte Transcanadienne
corner: Boul. St-Jean
Tel: 514-630-6100
www.sephora.com

Other location: Promenades St-Bruno

Every end of June, or thereabouts, on a Saturday from 8 am to 2 pm, Le Panier gift store holds its only sale, called The Lemon Sale. Everything (gourmet food, toys, gadgets, kitchenware, home decor) that needs to be cleared out is sold really cheaply from 50% to 90% off. Come early – things go fast and it’s cash and carry – no cards.

300 Bord du Lac, Pointe Claire
corner: St-Joachim (sale is in the rear parking lot)
Tel: 514-695-7038
Date: Sat June 21 8am-2pm, Rain date is Sun June 22
www.thepanier.com

Just opened to the public for the first time (due to their move to a brand new state-of-the-art facility), Expresco, a manufacturer of brochettes, is offering you chicken and pork souvlaki. You must buy it in bulk of 40 skewers to a package. The chicken ones are 90 g each for $48.00 and the pork ones are 100 g for $36. They say that these would sell for about $2 each in the stores. You let me know.

Location: 8205 Transcanadienne
Tel: 514-344-9499 ext.252
Hours: Mon-Fri 8-5
www.exprescofoods.com