This past Saturday, I spent the day in Los Angeles. I’m it sure it seems like it’s not that far from San Diego. But driving in what should be two hours makes for a three to four-hour drive with traffic if you don’t start early. I decided to leave at 7am, which turned into 830am once I finished getting gas, coffee and breakfast. I finally made it up to Hollywood by about 1030am, which was fantastic timing.
I first went to the Rebecca Minkoff sample sale at a store called Confederacy on Hollywood Boulevard. There was quite a large selection, so it took me about an hour to decide exactly what I wanted. I always have to remind myself that many sample sales will not have the popular colors (like black), so I really have to think about what I want out of the colors they do have. Additionally, I have to remind myself that I need to pick up everything that I think is cute, then pare down to what I will actually buy. I lost out on a black MAC that had a gold sort of wash over it because I picked it up to look at it, then put it down to look at other purses. When I went back to get it, of course it was gone. I was still able to buy a different MAC in a light grey leather with gunmetal hardware, along with a couple of wrap-around belts and a bracelet.
I later walked down the block a bit and found a crowd at a vintage/costume shop called Ozzie Dots. Once a month they have a $1 sale, and just my luck that Saturday was the day! I have always been able to get through a vintage store without any incident, but not this time. After placing my previous purchases back in my car, I went back and began to sift through the rack of dollar treasures. I grabbed a couple of dresses and headed towards the other racks. A woman approached me and said “I will gladly take that dress off your hands if you decide that you don’t want it.” I politely said I was still deciding when she said, “You’re too tiny for that dress anyway”. I then politely said that I could alter it and she said in shock “Why would you do THAT?” After discovering a small hole in the front, I showed it to her because I was about to put it back, but she still wanted it so I gave it to her.
I found another very cute dress that looked like it came straight out of “Gidget”, so I snapped it up in a hurry. The same lady came up behind me again and said, “That looks like another dress that may be too big for you. I will gladly take that dress, too if you don’t like it.” I was still polite and said, “I’m actually considering taking this dress, so I’m going to hang on to it for now”. I went inside Ozzie Dots and took my finds to the back to try things on. That lady came behind me again and said “You know, if you put your things on the counter like that, it means that you don’t want them,” to which I corrected her by saying the sales associate cleared this counter space for me to try the items on. When I queued in the long line to make my final purchases, she brought a dress in a similar color and said “I think this dress would fit you better, what do you think?” I made my last polite remark and said, “As you can see, I am going to buy the dress. Have a nice day.” She never approached me again. I have never been stalked in a store before like that! I guess the dress was that cute, so here is a teaser of a few of the things I bought for future outfit posts (after alterations). The dress I was stalked for is the green one with the white and pink flowers.
I decided to then satisfy my inner deejay and headed to Amoeba Records. One of my favorite pastimes is going to record stores because music is like religion to me. It helps me concentrate, I must have it every where I go, and I can’t seem to live without it. I featured a local vinyl store in a previous post (seen here), but Amoeba Records is a completely different experience. There are three locations in California: two in the Bay Area and one in Los Angeles. The location on Sunset Boulevard is the largest of the three and would literally take me hours to get through. Since I really had only an hour to kill before meeting up with my friend Sara, I headed for my mainstays: Depeche Mode, Recoil, OMD, Joy Division and Duran Duran.
My final purchases ended up being the album “Cookin’ on the Roof” by 80’s rockabilly group Roman Holiday, and a Depeche Mode release from 2006 called “Live at Crocs Night Club June 27, 1981”, both on vinyl. The live Depeche Mode album is a transfer of a live recording of one of their earliest concerts. The reason this is such an important recording is that it includes two songs that were never released on any type of format: “Television Set” and “Price of Love”. I’m excited to add this to my collection and will now have to ask one of my deejay friends (or my husband) to transfer this to MP3
For lunch, Sara took me to Umami Burger. It was within walking distance from Amoeba Records in a cool retail setting called Space 15 Twenty on Cahuenga Boulevard. I had the Umami Burger and sweet potato fries, while Sara had the Port & Stilton burger with thin fries. They call themselves “The Fifth Taste”, which is explained on one of the links on their site here. Whatever the reasons, this was one tasty burger! During our lunch, we also saw Rick Fox walk in. He is a very tall guy, but I guess you would have to be to play basketball. At a different outting, Sara and I saw Stephen Dorf. I think she attracts celebrities.
We chatted the day away and did a bit of shopping. When I have more time, I will go back and take better pictures because that space is quite architecturally unique. Just take a look at the Umami Burger sign. It’s so minimalist cool that they look like lips. There are a couple of major chain stores, like Free People and Urban Outfitters. But some of the stores are “revolving” boutiques, so I know when I return that the space will be different again.
Lastly, I must direct your attention to Sara’s fantastic outfit. She said that she had to look cute because she was going to be hanging out with a fashion blogger, but she definitely had me beat. What I thought was a vintage shirt, was hand-made by Sara herself! She paired the shirt with shorts, a belt and cute brown sandals and matching purse (not shown in the picture). I mentioned her skills in a previous post (seen here), and she has made good on her sewing classes by making her own clothes. Isn’t she lovely? Hope you all had a great weekend!
