What a year, 2015! (Part 1)

It's that time of year when you reflect somewhat and look forward even more, this is exactly what I did when I realised that it'd been a few months since our last blog!  Oops - there's a New Year's Resolution right there!  Must do better!

2015 ... WOW!

What a great year!  As a young business we are always looking for the next milestone, perhaps even the next reassurance that we are on the right path.  You could say it's a little needy, but you pour your hopes and dreams in to the business you create and so it helps to seek reassurance that they're not just going to crash and burn.

January

The year started off in a great way, continuing to create fabulous eyewear for folks to wear.  When

we say create, we really do mean that we can individually make one-off custom frames exactly to the desires of the wearer.

A great example of this is shown with local designer Bethan.  We had a definite look in mind, and starting with a slightly cats- eye  shaped frame, we weaved some wonderful design magic using the TD Tom Davies Supertool CAD system.  The end result - nailing exactly the look we were going for.

One of the great things about working with TD Tom Davies is that not only do you get to have fun with the creativity of designing the frame, you also end up with a beautifully fitting pair of glasses.  Like a made-to-measure tailored suit, the glasses just feel wonderful to wear.  This really set the tone for the rest of the year.

Then do you remember what happened next?  How can you forget!  Snow!  Snow, snow, snow, snow and snow.  With a side of ice.

 

The first few months were brutal and there's no getting away from it, there were some hard old days in those first few months for Downtown Halifax.  Sadly some of our friends on the downtown business scene were not able to make it through.

Getting out in these days and exploring the downtown is an incredible support for all of the many wonderful local small and independent businesses that make up the vibrant scene in Halifax.  If the weather happens again in 2016, you know what you've got to do.

March

On the night that the worst snow storm rolled in to Nova Scotia, our two docs (and owners) Dr. John Wilson and Dr. Euan McGinty headed off in to the wilderness.

Well, not quite, but they started an epic road trip to head to New York.  Driving cautiously in a blizzard all the way through New Brunswick, then travelling further on driving right through the night to get to New York, was definitely a moment which cemented the friendship of the creators of Ocean!

Why were they doing it?  Did they really stop to have a snooze at LL Bean?  Did they learn their lesson that when meeting border guards you are not the one allowed to crack the first joke?  In a snow storm?  At midnight?

The simple reason - to bring the finest independent eyewear from throughout the world back to Halifax.It was time to venture to the Big Apple again, on one of our buying trips looking for incredible eyewear to have exclusively at Ocean.  We seek out independent manufacturers who can produce eyewear which meets our exacting standards.  What are they?  They must be high quality, superbly designed, well made and have that 'X' factor - that they excite us.The trip to New York is a real highlight in our calendar and there is so much that we could share with you about it, here's just a few pictures:

May

Finally the weather started to warm up and, as you know, the sun is always shining on Blowers Street!

As the weather started to play nice, the city started to wake up out of hibernation and one of our favourite events came around - Open City.

This year we were joined by Humble Pies from Dartmouth who came across with a warmer and their most delicious pies.

If your in Dartmouth and looking for some fine food, then definitely check them out - http://humblepiekitchen.ca/It was a lovely day and we met lots of new people who we kind of new through the Twitterverse, as well as spending a fun day with the Humble Pie folks.  Humble Pie is a lovely new business creating the most delicious New Zealand style pies, if you haven't experienced them already they now have a permanent home over on King Street in Dartmouth, they also have a regular Friday pop-up in Fred, Halifax.It really wasn't long before we were starting to enjoy some beautiful evenings as well, as well as working hard, at Ocean, we like to enjoy life and relax as well.

Spending time with the people you love doing the things you love is incredibly important, don't forget to do it.  We love Nova Scotia and the fact that in the winter you can be skating on the lakes, but when summer rolls around you'll be swimming in them. The first six months of the year aren't over and already so much has happened, but to top it all, in May we were also honoured to meet Mayor Mike Savage.  First Dr. Euan and Dr. John were privileged to go to his office and then Mayor Savage came to Ocean to find out all what we were about.I'm not sure he quite got what he was meant to be doing during the eye examination, but it really was a wonderful experience meeting him and we are humbled by the time that he shared with us.

Through out all this busyness we did also manage to help some fabulous folks into some fine, fine eyewear!  We love regularly featuring them as our "Catch of the Day" through our social media feeds, so make sure you give us a follow on FaceBook, Twitter and  Instagram.

Stay tuned, we're only half way through 2015 ... more to come!