Newsletter No. 28: SPRING 2005

On this Valentine’s Day, we are writing you a virtual LOVE LETTER. Imagine you hold in your hand a sappy, bright pink, heavily-perfumed (but virtual of course – we strive to be scent free or at least scent-sensitive!) love letter, thick with lace and bows and little tiny red ribbons. We appreciate you every day of the year and we love you, and we don’t say it out loud enough.

The best part of Come As You Are is our clientele. The day-to-day people who wander into our store, the lovely mail-order people we know only by voice, and our web customers who we can only distinguish by font and occasionally emoticons. Sometimes you have questions. Sometimes we have long memorable conversations about anything and everything – sex or not. Other times you just want to have a conversation about sex that is easy and less confusing (because relationships are confusing and we all need to talk to someone on the outside now and then).

It makes our day brighter to help ease an anxiety, to shed some light on confusion, or to just remind you that we all have our bad moments (awkward bedroom mishaps) and we all have kinks (that just makes us normal).

We count ourselves lucky for having the best customers around, and this Valentine’s Day we want to praise you.

We love our “bend over boyfriend” couples coming in to buy their first strap-on. The first time you come into the store all full of nervousness. You come back three or four times before settling on your purchase. Then three days later you come back to say, “It was great, we had fun, and it wasn’t so scary after all”. You rock!

We love our mail-order customers who have placed orders like clockwork every other month for the last eight years. You have stuck with us all these years and we feel like you are part of our family. We get excited when you place your orders, wondering where this wacky world will take you next.  We get more excited when we receive new merchandise we know you’ll like and we call to tell you, and you’re just as excited as we are!  You make us giddy.

We love our customers who come in as a couple, come back after a break-up, and then are back again with a new partner (sometimes more than one).  We love our really really young customers and our really really old customers, who feel the weight of social expectation but come in anyway.  We even love our high maintenance customers: you who keep us on our toes, who point out typos and outdated web references, but who keep coming back to talk, email, order.  

On this holiday of roses, chocolate and endless soul-searching around love, we’d like to reach out to you. Our customers: who inspire us with courage, humour and honesty. Keep fighting the good fight of love and sex - the sex-positive way. We’ll be here right with you for the ride.

NEWS

Customer Survey
Now that we’ve got your attention with our sappy LOVE LETTER, we’re wondering if you’d allow us the opportunity to get to know you better. To this end we are embarking on our very first customer survey to find out how we’ve been doing, and figure out ways to serve you better.  We know that we have customers of all varieties, young and old, radical and shy, poly and mono, sexy and single or blissfully tied down (and up)….but what do you like? What can we do better? What do you want more of? Every completed survey receives a discount on your next purchase, plus you are entered to win one of a series of fabulous prizes (see the survey for details).  You can submit your survey by mail, fax, or complete it online at:  www.comeasyouare.com/survey

Free Shipping Across Canada 

Worried about how to charm your sweetie this Valentines or any other time of the year? Well now you can get all your love parcels shipped free all year round and everywhere in Canada on orders over $80. Yes, free Canada Post Express Shipping for all you romantics. Free for the cynics too! We love you too. So place your orders early and get excited for the postperson. They are cute and they have a package for you!

Midnight Mayhem 

We were blown away by the success of our pre-inventory party last year that we’re bringing it back, bigger and better!  Our Midnight Mayhem Sale will be on March 25th from 9:30 pm to 12:30 am. It’s our year end so help us avoid too much counting, and save a bundle in the process. 15% off everything in the store, door prizes at midnight, our infamous Toonie Toy Bin, and what every late night sex toy shopping experience needs…a live DJ.

Big Blow-Out Video 

Ok, so my co-owners told me I couldn’t have a big blow-out video sale because we’re not a warehouse in the middle of an industrial mall. But because we are a co-operative I just stacked the votes against them (it’s not a bribe if chocolate is involved!).This February we are offering all VHS (excluding educational titles and independent features) for $20 just for the month of February! Believe it! It’s true! Video titles for $20! And they’re going fast! Basement bargain prices! We’re dropping the prices! Sometimes I just want to be a used car salesman(woman?). Ok, I’m over it.

BOOKS

Never one to let us get bored, Marcy Sheiner's newest anthology is comprised of 17 new stories. Best Women’s Erotica 2005 is more daring then the last few, especially in "Trailblazers", where a woman finds herself stranded in a cabin with her adventurous gay male friends. Or how about “Just Passing Through", where a young woman dresses up as a man to go to a bar and gets just the response she was hoping for? This year’s edition of another well-written anthology combines fun, wit, literate writing and is just a touch more taboo this time around. $20.95

Finally, after reading the last sizzling Penthouse collection, and waiting with baited breath for the next, we have a new one is our hands! Penthouse Uncensored IV is along the same lines as its precursors, however this time it contains more stories and more juiciness. Run yourself a hot bath, unplug the phone and sink your teeth into these wild stories told only as Penthouse can tell them! Everyone loves the “letters to Penthouse” and this collection is just that much hotter! $22.95

Discover a plethora of dating tips wrapped in a graphic design masterpiece! Heidi Fleiss, the infamous Hollywood madam, bestows on us her knowledge of dating and the art of the one night stand in The Player’s Handbook. Combining practical, realistic advice with intense artwork and a fun attitude, this book is a great gift for the single gal in your life! $20.95

Take a gynecologist mom and a writer daughter, put them together and what do you have? A brilliantly written, informative guide to the one subject many of us have in common but rarely talk about. In Vaginas: An Owners Manual, mom gives the scoop on everything having to do with vaginas and daughter writes it all down in an easy to follow and catchy way. Full of interesting tidbits and invaluable resources, we recommend this to everyone wishing to get to know their very own vagina better. $21

Toronto based illustrator Bernice Lum has brought her creative pen over to the lighthearted sexual side! A tiny little book stuffed full of sexy cartoons and captions, 12 Steps to Heaven is a kooky look at some of the daunting faces of first time sexual encounters. Give this as a fantastic gift, or buy it just to make yourself chuckle. It’s a wonderfully illustrated collection, and it’s sure to bring a smile to your face! $9.95

TOYS

Have you ever been caught between spontaneity and the heady difficulties of scheduling? These fabulous Sex Cheques provide an assorted number of fun activities for all preferences. From mild to raunchy, get new ideas and pre-book that time with your busy lover. Give a Sex Cheque and wait for the fun to ensue. $10.50

The Flex Master Flash measures in at a beautiful eight and three-quarter inches of purple jelly. It has a bendable shaft that holds its position, and for size queens and kings, this new waterproof vibe will keep the disco going and the jive grooving long into the night. $40

The Mystical Mini Ring is a great gift for any guy in your life, and whoever he’s having sex with. This tiny double ring goes around both the shaft and the scrotum and its clear material and sleek design make for non-intrusive but highly stimulating fun. $42

Want to add a little more magic to penetration sex for two? The Mini Dolphin Double offers cordless vibration for both partners. Ring fits easily over penis and vibrates nicely against the testicles and up against the partner. With this handy contraption, penetration play becomes a vibrating good time. $42

Our newest best-selling vibe Flashy has even more bells and whistles than the infamous original duo, the Rabbit Pearl. Providing both clitoral vibration and rotating penetration this toy takes the cake with extra features of a flashing multi-coloured lightshow and changing directions of rotation. Wowzers! Who thought you could improve on such a good thing? $130

DVD’s

Necromania is the long lost Ed Wood pornographic film about the sexual awakening of a young couple at the hands of a coven of witches.  Made in 1971 (over three days, with a budget of $7000) this was Wood’s last film.  The DVD contains both the soft-core and hardcore versions of the final film by the director of such cult classics as Bride of the Monster & Plan 9 From Outer Space. DVD $45

In Naughty Bedtime Stories, veteran director Bud Lee brings us a fun and sexy romp through fantasy scenarios (including King Arthur, shape shifters, an Aladdin story with a twist, among others) that proves you can offer hot sex and a little bit of humour without a lot of hair pulling and saliva (not that we have anything against hair pulling and saliva!).  Great performances by many of our favourite adult stars including the incomparable Nikita Denise, Aurora Snow and never-say-die Randy Spears.  DVD $45

Little Lace Panties does away with stale plot lines and dialogue to let the viewer enjoy a variety of cute girls with natural bodies that just happen to wear explosively hot lingerie right before a romp in the sack. Not so much an "art-core" film, this title gets right to the point while keeping the focus on the interaction between partners. Beautifully filmed with beautiful actors. DVD $45

Score XL DVD plays homage to the big and beautiful girls in porn, straight outta the pages of Score's XL magazine. Hilariously cheesy most of the time (complete with the pizza delivery scenario), and with excellent film quality and POV filming making you feel like you're actually part of the scene. This one's worth a try just for a peek at Paige Pin-up, the Bettie Page look-a-like (with an extra 50 pounds on her!). Big girls, big breasts, big sex, big fun! DVD $45

No one does kinky quite like the British, and even when you’ve been living in LA for so long (as director Suze Randall has) you never lose it.  For fans of Andrew Blake this new Suze Randall title, Dark Side, is a must-have.  Beautifully shot, artistically directed, lit and costumed, Dark Side is also full of kinky hot sex. Five scenes including fetish pin-ups, a real life dominatrix and a great male submissive.  DVD $45

WORKSHOPS

February 7 
7:30 – 9:30pm
Sensual Massage
With Sonia Osorio & David Altmann
A good massage can do wonders: as relaxation, stimulation, foreplay or afterplay. This workshop will teach the basics of sensual massage for couples by exploring the sensual potential of the whole body. $30

February 8
7:30 – 9:30pm
Sacred Sexuality: 
An Exploration of Tantric Yoga
With Sonia Osorio & David Altmann
Tantra teaches us about connection, enjoyment of life and honoring the body. This workshop will situate the role of Tantra as part of a yogic discipline wherein the body is honored as a vehicle to unite with the sacred and the sensual. $30

February 16 & 17 
7:30 - 10:00pm
Erotic Photography
with Christine Ablett & Leanne Gillard
This course will satisfy all different levels of photographers who are interested in exploring the art of taking erotic photos. $75

March 8
7:30 – 9:30 pm
Waking Up the Neighbourhood For Girls Who Do Boys: 
An Anal Massage Workshop
With Paul Barber
Discover how to give a great butt massage and observe techniques to seduce the sphincters painlessly and sensually. Learn all about the pleasures of the prostate in a fun interactive environment (with a demonstration). Women only. $30