garden show groupon

i unsubscribed from groupons to prevent the urge to spend money, but i re-subscribe to one or two. i know i shouldn't have, but i really missed the emails in the morning! 

i am though being really strong, and haven't bought any up until one came through for the National Home Show. It was a two for one coupon, and was heavily promoted by Bryan Baeumler. and i am a HUGE fan of HGTV and specifically Bryan.

so, i bought it. and i planned on going with my parents and boyfriend on the friday that Bryan was going to be there. planning fail 1 - turns out i misread the calendar, and not until i was on the way to the show did i notice that in fact, it wasn't until the next week he'd be there.

i shook off the disappointment though, and headed in. planning fail 2 - my boyfriend was working a little late, and the ticket was for 2 person admittance, at the same time. luckily on this one, the security guard was really understanding and let us in separately.

we first of all tackled "Canada Blooms" which was a large room of individual floral and garden displays. i don't have a garden, but i did once work for a greenhouse, so i have great appreciation for flowers and gardens - it was great, some really beautiful things. my only true complaint was that it wasn't big enough and there weren't a ton of deals on flowers - which i was hoping for. take a look at some of the displays.

There were tulips everywhere, and in really great colour combinations. i love this tulip bed - it screams spring!

In addition to tulip, pussy willows were also everywhere. 

a really eye catching garden display - certainly beats a gnome!

not quite flowers, but these succulents still managed to be the most beautiful thing i saw at the show.

once we were done with Canada Blooms, we moved on to the actual home show. and i have to say i was really disappointed! i went with the wrong expectations, i definitely thought there would be more decorative and furniture stands - given we're not doing a big reno, i didn't find a ton that was helpful to me. 

the one thing though that i did find, and that i'm really excited about was Casalife. it's a furniture store in Liberty Village here in Toronto, and they have amazing stuff - what caught my eye at the show was a sputnik chandelier. but, for my budget friendly ears, i was the most excited when she told me of their upcoming warehouse sale. it takes place April 4 - 7 out on Brown's Line - and keep your eyes peeled here as we get closer to the date.

overall, i would have been disappointed if i had paid full price. but, it was a really great (relatively) cheap Friday night out and I had a good time.