Posts Tagged ‘customers’

Spring is when you feel like whistling, even with a shoe full of slush!

A new season is around the corner, and we think that End Of Season Sales rule! If you
haven’t already, come on in and check out our 25%, 60% and 75% markdowns!

Give your denim a spring make-over by picking up a pair of our Sale Yoga jeans -40%
off.

We’ve got a range of  sizes, ’24-’34 in our High- and Mid-rise Boot Cut, and Mid-rise Straight Leg, alongside a selection of sizes still available in our Skinny, and High Straight styles.

Matt & Nat bags and wallets are marked down an amazing 60% off, too!

Environmentally friendly and fashionable! Come on by!

“Spread the Word” is a series of posts we’re writing about our lovely customers, those who consistently support what we’re doing to promote Canadian designers, and who are engaged in amazing work that in turn deserves our support. This is where we’ll spread the word about the wonderful people around us. Sarah Selecky is our second customer to be featured in this space.

Dear World,
Will you please read this book? You’ll love it, I promise.

Love,
Ashley

For serious. Read this book.

We at Shopgirls are so thrilled to have met author and writing instructor Sarah Selecky a few years ago in the shop, and these days we love calling her a friend. Sarah is a local Parkdalian, hosting writing workshops in her beautiful home, and befriending and supporting local businesses like Shopgirls and Coriander Girl. She even participated in our Walk the Walk fundraiser for Windfall last September, strutting her stuff on the runway for a great cause. And she rocked it!

Thus, as friends we are pumped to help promote this beautiful first book of hers! This Cake is for the Party is a collection of ten perfect little stories. I really couldn’t say it better than Lisa Foad, who reviewed the book for the Globe and Mail:

“Sarah Selecky’s debut is an exceptional story collection full of regret and celebration, wisdom and wit. And while the collection explores sites of emotional and physical volatility, Selecky sinks her teeth into something far more powerful than the violence of loss: she skillfully wrests devastation from its customary gloom of lamentation and regret, and bares its overwhelming beauty. Each of the 10 sharply cinched tales within This Cake pivots around this powerful inversion. Selecky’s stories are also ridiculously witty. Compelling, clever and exceptionally crafted, This Cake really delivers.”

And if that somehow did not convince you, then I demand that you read this excerpt from Toronto Craft Alert.

One of the things that so drew me in about this collection is a comment Sarah made during the launch party, where she was interviewed by writer and broadcaster Jeff Warren. Jeff shared with Sarah a deep interest in meditation, and in response to his probe regarding the subject, Sarah talked at length about her writing process as heavily influenced by the practice: the slow (and I think, daring) work of quieting the mind and digging in, in an effort to embody each of her characters so they come out true. Which clearly works for her, because funny or flawed, everyone in this book is familiar.

If you are inclined to try this kind of practice, you’re in luck! This September will see Sarah teaching the writing portion of Breathe in, Write Out, a rural retreat where participants alternate between yoga, meditation and writing; in doing so, they learn new ways to adapt to the present moment, allowing space for authentic writing to happen.

Shopgirls encourages you to go to your local, independent bookstore to pick up a copy! Closest to us here at the shop is Type Books, just on the South side of Queen Street, across from the lovely Trinity Bellwoods Park. Ooh! Buy the book and then read it in the park! Sarah would love that.

In the meantime, read Sarah Selecky’s Twitter Feed for news about This Cake, daily insights and tips for writing. Also, please see Sarah’s website for more information about her classes, her writing, and her stupendous self.

____

We leave you with more reviews of This Cake is for the Party:

“Selecky’s stories are ultra-lush and wise, wickedly wry. She is uncannily accurate about all the tender, blasted-open moments that change us for the good. This Cake… is delicious.” Lisa Moore, author of February and Alligator

“An elegant collection that weaves between life’s everyday pleasures and everyday pain…a beautiful book.” Erin Balser, Torontoist

“The short story by Sarah Selecky is everything a story should be: smart, wise, achingly poignant, its tightly sprung pages enfolding lifetimes of experience. The story is one of the highlights of This Cake is for the Party, the 35-year old’s first collection.” Rebecca Wigod, Vancouver Sun

This is the first in a series of posts we’ll be writing about our lovely customers. “Really,” you say, “You’re going to write about the people who shop there?” Yes! All of our staff have commented that the people who come into the shop are the most interesting, smart, funny and creative people we meet anywhere in the city. They are writers, artists, teachers, filmmakers, moms, bloggers, and just about anything else you can think of. They are forces of nature, women (and men) who consistently support what we’re trying to do (promoting the work of Canadian and local artists and designers) and who are constantly doing amazing work that in turn deserves our support. This is where we’ll spread the word about the wonderful people around us.

The first of our featured customers is Summer Love (what a name!), who lives right near the shop and has been dropping in ever since we opened in December 2007. We have learned gradually over the years about Summer’s film projects, and the one in particular we want to tell you about has been in the works for 7 years. 7 YEARS! She is nothing if not dedicated. Of course, she is much more than dedicated; she’s smart, funny, fiery, and passionate. We love her visits to the shop.

So a week ago, some of the Shopgirls staff attended the NXNE launch of Sounds Like A Revolution at the NFB, directed by Summer Love and Toronto-based Jane Michener. We squeezed into a packed-house theatre with over a hundred other people to catch this pro-active and energizing documentary about a new generation of activist musicians who are living proof that music is an important and powerful tool in the ongoing struggle for social change (we never doubted it!). They’re not anywhere as mainstream as dissenting musicians in the 60′s were, but the doc features people from the pop country Dixie Chicks to Michael Franti to the punk band Anti-Flag, artists from all ᠋across the musical spectrum – so important for engaging a diverse audience in this important dialogue about the role of artists in society, freedom of expression and democratic participation.

Anyway, the film is outstanding. It will at times make you laugh, and at others give you shivers. But it is always provocative, and totally relevant. GO SEE IT!

Sounds Like a Revolution – HD Trailer from Deltatime Productions on Vimeo.

And to check out CityTV’s coverage, and short interview with Summer, click here.

Check out the Facebook page to connect and share the film with others! Spreading the word through channels like these will help grow awareness of the film and get it the audience it truly deserves!

Sounds like a Revolution is playing all week at The Royal (608 College St. Toronto, ON). Here are the dates!

Friday June 25
7pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Introduction by Alan Cross + Q&A with filmmakers)
9:15pm –Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers)

Saturday June 26
7pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers + acoustic performance by Justin Sane)
9:30pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers + acoustic performance by Justin Sane)

Sunday June 27
4:30pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers + acoustic performance by Justin Sane)
7pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers + acoustic performance by Justin Sane)
9:15pm – Sounds Like A Revolution

Monday June 28
9:30pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers + acoustic performance by Jessica Stuart)

Tuesday June 29
7pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers) Mac Graham special appearance!

Wednesday June 30
7pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers)

Thursday July 1
9:15pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers)

If you miss out on the Royal dates get to the Carlton Cinemas from July 2-8, 2010. There will be a Q&A with the filmmaker most screenings.

FOUR STARS – NOW Magazine! “Terrific energy. But it’s the interviews with the articulate musicians that are most inspiring.” – Susan Cole