I was just reminiscing the other day as I chatted with Chris Cater of Knickerbockers (as she unpacked boxes of yummy inventory) who has just opened a 2nd location in the Sidney Pier Hotel just in time to be a part of the celebrations this week.  The memories of my first weekend grand opening are sooo vivid for me and it was such fun!

So I wanted to be sure to invite you to celebrate our 19th year with us.  It’s been a fun ride.  I’ve enjoyed all of you customers over the years dropping in regularly to say hi.

Our anniversary sale kicks off today and tomorrow is the day that you can stop in and have your choice of anything regular priced for 15% off.  After tomorrow enjoy savings on a variety of goodies we have priced specially for our anniversary sale.  Our hours tomorrow for Canada Day are 11-5:00pm.

The Sidney Days Parade is tomorrow at 11am-you’ve got to come!  It’s such fun!  These are some snapshots from last years parade to get you in the mood and convince you to come on down and enjoy the fun–and shop a bit in the store if you wish at the same time!

What are your plans to celebrate this special holiday?  A family dinner or picnic?  Have you hung your Canada flag yet? Or will we be seeing you IN the parade?

What ever you choose to do to enjoy the day we at The House Dressing Company wish you a lovely day and thank you for your kind support over the years.

I apologize for the lack of postings on the blog here but I managed to sneak off to Europe for a couple of weeks and I plan to share some dreamy photos on my next post.  So stay tuned.

See you in the shop:)

While I have you here, I thought I might as well share something pretty with you–would you like that on this very windy day?  These are a few photos from the gorgeous tulips that Ingrid and I enjoyed at Butchart Gardens one evening last week.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.  There were still plenty that looked ready to open so they may be just right now for viewing if you thought you might venture there this long weekend.

I hope you have a lovely week.

Julie

Don’t you love Maxwell & Williams dishes?  We sure do!

The selection of items that they produce is mind boggling.  You haven’t seen the half of it if you haven’t peeked at the Maxwell & Williams website right here. We can order most any thing but if it is not something we stock we ask that you take the minimum quantity that we need to order.  This number is determined by the catalogue details that we have in the store so just give us a buzz and we can work it out for you.

To honour all of you Maxwell & Williams fans we have a special offer for 1 week only.

Get 15% of your purchase back

in Gift Cards when you buy Maxwell & Williams dishes.

Redeem your gift card with your next purchase on anything in our store or on more Maxwell & Williams dishes–your choice!

NOW  Thru  Thursday, May 27th

If you are not a fan yet you might want to check out these affordable lovely white dishes that are sold open stock in a myriad of designs to please and complement your daily recipes or your special entertaining menus.  I chose the coup below for it’s large plain surface and our family loves using these new fresh super white dishes.  Food looks even yummier on it too–bonus for the chef!

Thank you to all Maxwell & Williams fans for supporting us this past year.  Because of you we have grown–we offer you the largest Maxwell & Williams collection in Victoria!  If we don’t have your favourite items,  we’ll get them for you!

Last year when I wrote about these dishes I featured the coffee cups and at the same time I hinted at Jim from Fresh Cup to carry almond milk for dairy free Lattes.  He took the hint, brought in the product and he still serves it.  Yeh!  Thanx Jim!  I guess I buy enough of them to keep the almond milk on the shelf!!  They are honestly quite delicious–if you haven’t tasted one yet for a change, be sure to ask.  For some reason there isn’t an obvious sign (unless I missed it)  but he does have it hiding back there!

Jim and his gang are preparing madly and selling tickets for their up coming launch of the 2nd volume of Feed the Soul, a music CD called “Second Helping” that has stemmed from his successful Thursday night live music events featuring local talent.  The drive behind this project is the Sidney Lions Food Bank.  Jim is passionate about contributing and supporting the local food bank and has been very successful in doing so with the last CD.  At The House Dressing we too have focused on the needs of the local community and share a passion for contributing like we did with our Decorating Contest this past December.  We gladly support Jim in his efforts to make a difference by sharing this event with you.

If you are looking for some fantastic musical entertainment for a good cause this event at the Mary Winspear Centre on Saturday, May 29th Friday, May 28th is sure to deliver.  Tickets are $45 and include a CD ($15 value), an Appetizer Buffet and over 2.5 hours of Live Music!  With a variety of 20 Musicians performing there will be no shortage of energy.  Tickets are available at Fresh Cup on Beacon Ave or in Saanichton.

Get your tickets before this event sells out like it did last time!

Have a great week and we hope to see you in the dish department!

Julie

It’s also my birthday this weekend- Yeh!  I love April!!  Hope it’s sunny, it usually always shines on my day!  What are you up to for Easter?  Family dinner or a quiet weekend?  Be sure to do something just for you, sneak in a spa visit, or a nice walk or take some time to read a favourite magazine–I just picked up the Coastal Living Mag, it makes me dreamy for summer!  You might even like to tip toe thru the tulips!!  Take a peek at these tulips!

Vantreight Farms is offering u-pick tulips at their farm market stand on East Saanich Rd.   I went today and plucked an armful at a mere 40 cents a stem!  They are so fresh and lovely.  I rather felt Dutch– just needed my bicycle and a carrier basket with the tulips piled high!

I hope you might stop by our shop with a friend since this is a rare ocurence that we have an excellent promotion like this one.  Just in case you do decide to, our store hours this holiday weekend are;  Good Friday 11-5,  Saturday 9:30-5:30, and Sunday we are closed to enjoy Easter. On Easter Monday we are open 11-5.

One last thing.  Ahem…. we love your comments but I think we have confused you as to how to reply to us.  I often receive comments, but in the form of an email (vs a comment on our site) replying to our method of sending out our recent posts.  It was my goal for you to see the pretty images in your in box vs just the text.   However, if you click the title of the email in the body or the link at the bottom it will take you to the site and there is a comment box at the bottom of the post.  We luuuuv your replies, suggestions and ideas on our site.  It inspires us to keep on writing.  Sooo, just to encourage you to send a little message- don’t be shy, we have a prize that we will randomly award to one of you by April 11th.  The prize is 1lb of Jim’s fabulous coffee over at Fresh Cup Roastery.  So drop us a line and enter to win, you never know, it could be you!

Hope you have a Happy Easter weekend:)

Julie

The hot, blazing sun forces Moroccan’s to bring the outdoors inside, where they can enjoy the beautiful landscape from their cool inside oasis! They are able to achieve this environment by using energetic colours, beautifully embellished furniture pieces, potted plants, bold patterns and soft lighting.

Due to Moroccan decor truly becoming a prominent design style…..we at The House Dressing, of course had to bring in some great pieces in order to create our own “Moroccan” Look!!

I love it………so cheerful and strikingly different! It’s nice to have a punch of colour around! I’m really excited about this look as I’m sure you will be too!

Make Sidney your destination for the day…..Come explore with a girlfriend, walk along Beacon Ave and down by the water, have lunch at a great cafe, grab a coffee in the afternoon and don’t forget to come into The House Dressing Co…..our vibrant display is right at the front!

Let me know what you think?