However, I have always heard great things about Skoah. I  remember years ago when Skoah’s first location opened in Yaletown, I met my friends after their facials and they looked amazing with this ethereal glowing skin. When a groupon for a Skoah facial came up a couple months back, I grabbed it and went for a “facialicious” treatment this week.

The treatment is 75min. long and includes cleansing, masques, skin analysis, and leg, foot, arm, hand, neck, and shoulder massages. BUT, no extractions during my treatment and while not pleasant, they are important. The Skoah experience is around customizing every facial based on your skin analysis. So, you settle into a cozy heated bed between warm blankets and are given standard set of soothing cleansing and exfoliating treatments while you gently fall into relaxed bliss as your limbs are massaged. The remainder of your facial is customized based on your skin type (apparently, I need to exfoliate more!).

Service is friendly and professional – Skoah even sends you a follow-up email after your appointment, which is a nice touch. I picked up a couple of their products to try at home – they seem quite lovely and with a 60-day money back guarantee, why not?  The actual treatment overall was well-done and executed.

While I’ll always be loyal to Breathe Spa, I can definitely see to the appeal of Skoah. I plan to try Skoah’s foot and hand facials and the “tummy and mummy” facial would have been great when I was pregnant.

A new location with two treatments rooms just opened in Kitsilano, so you have lots of location choices to relax with Skoah.

Skoah. Personal training for your skin
- Kitsilano – 2258 W. 4th Ave, Vancouver
- Yaletown (flagship store) – 1011 Hamilton Street, Vancouver
604 609 0200
*Locations also at Metrotown & North Vancouver

It was a beautiful day and I had a friend visiting from Ottawa, so we decided to drive into Deep Cove for a change of scenery. Deep Cove is a sleepy community surrounded with beautiful water and mountain views. We rolled into the village and took a lazy walk by the water and surrounding neighbourhood, eventually heading to Gallant Street, the main strip of Deep Cove where we found some amazing shops and sweets:

Room 6 - I have to say, it’s rare these days that I come across a store packed with so many amazing things! Room 6′s tagline is “special things for nice people” and do they deliver. I think we spent over 30 minutes in the small shop, which is full of housewares, toys, jewelry, clothes, accessories, and more. Here’s my list of lovely things spotted:

• Stationary from Main Street’s Regional Assembly of Text and beautiful wood cut cards from Night Owl Paper Goods
• The most beautiful wood mirrors and hand mirrors from local artist Alex Henderson of Henderson Dry Goods
• An addictive-smelling maple syrup candle in a maple syrup tin
• Identity brand t-shirts, which are excellent printed tees of Canadian symbols. For example this awesome zamboni tee. I bought my husband a Canadian Geese Identity tee years ago and haven’t seen the brand since, so I was very excited to see the tees here.
• Gorgeous wood jewelry from local artist Billy Would Designs
• Cute & crafty soft animals made by hand from Tiny Warbler Designs
• For the kids: the awesome “sockodile” kit and the crazy Monster Factory toys
• Decadent chocolates from local chocolate shop CocoaNymph

Yes, I know this is a long list. It could have been longer. If you haven’t finished your holiday shopping, this would be a good one-stop place. It’s a great mix of unique and local items that are thoughtfully chosen. I’ll be back!

La La’s Home Decor: A couple doors down from Room 6 is La La’s, another store carrying nice gifts, housewares, and accessories. I was particularly drawn to their selection of headpieces. I slipped a few fun ones on and was tempted to buy one for my next afternoon tea event.

Honey’s Doughnuts and Goodies: My dad raves about this place and it’s quite famous for having some of the best doughnuts in Vancouver. They make a cake style doughnut, and they came in honey, maple, and chocolate the morning I visited. We split a maple and a honey doughnut and they were…okay. I found them quite dense, more cake-like than a doughnut, and a tad too heavy. The honey dip at Lee’s on Granville Island is still the best in town.

Our Deep Cove morning complete, we headed back to Vancouver and to Main Street’s Regional Assembly of Text shop after being inspired by their wares at Room 6. But that’s another post.

My visits to Thomas Haas are usually on a Saturday and go something like this:

• Walk in and see huge line up
• Gently push my way through to the display window to find next to nothing left
• Decide if I want to wait in line
• Wait in line and order the amazing hot chocolate
• Stare at the chocolate boxes for sale and consider buying more
• Leave thinking “what a madhouse!”

Don’t get me wrong, it’s always worth it, but I can’t say it’s the most relaxed experience ever.

But today was a great weekday morning. I have a friend visiting from out of town who loves croissants and I took the day off work to take care of some errands. So we woke up early and arrived at Thomas Haas for breakfast. It was busy, but not crazy busy like it is on the weekend. It’s amazing how satisfying a coffee and pain au chocolat can be for breakfast. France is SO going to be my next European trip.

Lately, I’ve been braving the Thomas Haas line-ups to pick up a small box of chocolates as a holiday party hostess gift. They come beautifully wrapped and how can you go wrong with chocolates like pistachio marzipan, salted caramel pecan, earl grey tea, merlot, or balsamic honey? Other great hostess gifts: a package of the excellent hot chocolate mix (read the ingredients – you will find no disgusting chemicals here), chocolate bars, and the famous sparkle cookies.

And, if it’s your responsibility to bring dessert and you’re not in a baking mood, any of the Haas desserts will make you a star.

The cafe is open for breakfast and switches to a daily sandwich selection at 11 am every morning. A great excuse to stop for a light lunch and dessert treat.

The only drawback? They’re closed Sunday and Monday…so wait in line and get your fix.

Thomas Haas Patisserie-Chocolate and Café
2539 W. Broadway, Vancouver (b/w Larch and Trafalgar)
604-736-1848
Open Tuesday-Saturday

Also in North Vancouver:
Unit 128, 998 Harbourside Drive, North Vancouver
604-924-1847