Canadian Quest.

The Interior Design Show is Canada's version of ICFF and it's the country's largest contemporary design fair. Since the doors first opened in 1999, IDS has been visited by over 500,000 design professionals and served as an industry hub for thousands of design-forward businesses. So we were thrilled when they asked us to be a keynote speaker at this year's show in January. This is our first trip to Toronto so we asked Shauna Levy, Vice President of MMPI Canada and the director for IDS to give us a few tips on what we should see and do while we're there. She must know us pretty well, because we can't wait to check out all of her suggestions:

-Art Gallery of Toronto (Image 1): Founded in 1900 by a group of private citizens, this is one of the largest art museums in North America, with a physical facility of 583,000 square feet. The AGO recently underwent a facelift under the design direction of Frank Gehry and the new look includes an iconic spiral staircase, a titanium and glass south wing and a new glass and wood facade.

-Corus Quay (Image 2): We'd definitely like to check out the lobby of the new Toronto headquarters for Corus Entertainment. Outfitted by Quadrangle Architects Ltd. the building features open floorplates, raw ceilings, exposed ducts and cabling and also showcases a twirling slide that runs the length of the building. Looks pretty cool...

-Domison (Image 3): We're always looking for cool furniture showrooms and this definitely looks like one we need to investigate. Minimalist and contemporary in its aesthetic, Domison was opened by brother and sister design team, Thien and My Ta Trung. They not only present locally made furniture, but promote local art and design through a selection of artistic books and designer accessories. (Better bring our checkbook...)

-Avenue Road (Image 4): We're also eager to visit this showroom designed by Yabu Pushelberg. Established as a showcase for seductive, sophisticated furniture, AR is one of Canada's premier venues for classic and contemporary furniture designs. With a showroom of rotating innovative designers, they're currently housing eco-friendly furnishings which we're excited to see.

-Commute Home (Image 5): We also want to run by this shop, which has been described as a mini-museum housing beautiful sought-after pieces from beds to bar stools to vintage and one-of-kind furnishings. This looks like a good resource!

-Cafe Belong (Image 6): Finally, we want to be sure and eat at Cafe Belong. Designed by John Tong of 3rd Uncle Design, the airy dining room was apparently inspired by Argentinian cafes with reclaimed wooden beams loaded with red, orange, and yellow tones. We love the design, but it's Brad Long's food we're really looking forward to trying...you know we love to eat!

Thanks to Shauna for these great tips...be sure and check back in a few weeks to find out which exhibitors we're most excited about seeing at the show! For more information on IDS click here!

The Great American Woody.

We've had an incredible time over the past year traveling across the country with The Great American Woody, but now we're in the homestretch and sadly the journey is coming to an end. However, we're thrilled at the possibilities of raising much needed funding for DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS.

As many of you know, The Woody is being auctioned off as a part of DIFFA’s “30 for 30” auction on charitybuzz.com. You can learn more about it here, but you better act fast because the auction will close Monday, December 19th.

We would greatly appreciate it if you could help us spread the word by blogging, tweeting, facebooking or simply e-mailing your contacts about this unique project and auction. Our goal is to continue to drive interest in bidding so we can raise as much money as possible to support DIFFA’s groundbreaking work in the fight against AIDS. So far the bid is up to $36,000, but we'd love to double or triple that by next Monday.

We'd like to especially thank Moore and Giles for making this happen and everyone else out there who helped support this project over the past few months including: Traditional Home Magazine, Architectural Digest, Luxe Magazine, GQ, Garden and Gun, Avenue, Pernod Ricard, Effen Vodka, Bulleit Bourbon, and Banks Rum. You can learn more about our journey (and get some great cocktail recipes from PDT's insanely talented mixologist Jim Meehan) at www.followthewoody.com. It's truly been an amazing ride and one we'll never forget...Hope everyone's enjoying the holiday season so far. Now, let's all raise a glass to DIFFA. Cheers!