My new ride, a Ford Escape.No scraping windows in this part of the country. Yeah! It has been 75 and sunny since I arrived! Still sleeping on my kid's sofa while my apartment bathroom is being remodeled. Can't wait to show you the before and after. Hoping to move in this weekend.
My new home in Larchmont Village Los Angeles CAI have been learning my way around town. I am still a bit nervous when driving and parking. No big suburban parking lots here. Thank goodness for back-up cameras. I managed to find the fashion district in downtown LA for my fabric needs and have visited a few spendy antique stores. Need suggestions on salvage yards, used restaurant supply stores, thrift shops and bargain vintage hot spots. Am looking forward to the Rose Bowl and Long Beach Fleas in a few weeks. Any tips are welcome!
Spent the weekend with Heather Bullard in Riverside CA shooting the cover for Flea Market Style. It goes to print this Friday and we have begun working on the Fall issue. Be sure to head over to the Flea Market Style blog for a host of great give-a-ways!
Wish me luck! Big City living is gonna take some getting used to. Thank goodness for the kids!
Cheers,
Ki
I live in Nor Cal, but I've always wanted to check out the stores Dana posted on her website MADE a while back. You might find her resources helpful. http://www.dana-made-it.com/2010/03/fabric-shopping-downtown-la-fabric.html
ReplyDeleteKi, I love your car, as I have one
ReplyDeletemyself and it's so much fun to drive! I gave up a pick up also for it. Have you ever been to
Vintageweave Interiors. It's a fun
place for ideas. Not bargains, though. They are very nice and I
believe they sell to the movie industry. Their website is
http://vintageweave.com/. If you
don't know them already take a look. Your apartment looks fabulous! Know you will enjoy LA
Jane
Flora Doora
I'm fairly new to the Monterey Peninsula(a transplant from Australia); I also drive and love my Ford Escape. They're great for driving and hauling.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite shop in LA is French General.
Cheers and luck with the move,
Marjorie
Glad you made it to your new home all safe and sound.
ReplyDeleteYour new home looks lovely! Can't wait to see it.
Happy hunting for treasures.
deb
Congrats on the move - keep us posted on good vintage hotspots and flea market finds. Looking forward to the magazine in February!
ReplyDeleteSlightly jealous of your weather, (being a California native myself!)
ReplyDeleteCynthia from http://beatnheart.blogspot.com/
is in Calif and has mentioned
Wertz Brothers in Santa Monica...
Good luck, Ki!! Can't wait to see the new bedroom. Before long, you will know all of the great bargain spots!
ReplyDeleteGood luck Ki in your new neck of the woods! I have to admit I am a little envious of your new adventure. Long Beach is where my roots are. Have been in NE now for 19 years... wow how time flies! Love & miss going to the flea market there in Long Beach. Maybe one day if Cammie comes out to see you I'll hitch along! Can't wait to see you new place of residence & the magazine!
ReplyDeleteBest of everything!
Laurie
How exciting! I totally want to move to where my kids end up some day! (Hopefully somewhere warm!) :)
ReplyDeleteBTW, I went to a huge flea market in Anaheim CA about 19 years ago. It was fabulous! Have no idea what it was called, but my friend took me and that was my first flea market experience - been hooked ever since!
-Andrea
Welcome to California:) I live in Ventura not too far from LA!!! There truly are sooo many wonderful places to find sweet treasures. March 5th there is a sweet flea market called The Little French Flea Market in Trazana.. Santa Monica has a nice flea market. Look up R.G.Canning they host most of the larger flea markets here. Again Welcome:)
ReplyDeleteJuanita
Welcome to the west coast. Your new home sweet home looks so relaxing! I wish I were in sunny California but I am in cold and rainy Seattle.
ReplyDeleteGood luck in your new home, Ki. I can't wait to hear about your CA junking adventures. I think you'll like your Escape - I drive one and it's amazing how much stuff you can pack into it. (It was put to the test in Oronoco last year!)
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Pam
Lucky you, love love love L.A.
ReplyDeleteYou can get used to no window scraping...right:)
apartment sweet apartment-- can't wait to see your new home!
ReplyDeletehave fun with it--
What a beautiful new home. Happy junking on the West Coast-- I'm sure it won't take long to find awesome treasures.
ReplyDeletehttp://6petals.blogspot.com
Welcome to la-la land - 3 suggestions for treasure hunting - the circle at orange (not to be confused with the block at orange) off the 5, chapman @ glassell; downtown pomona, off the 10, garey @ pomona mall st.; downtown ventura, off the 101, california @ main, the ventura mission is at the end of the shopping district, it's small & quite beautiful in it's simplicity. i look forward to hearing about your adventures
ReplyDeleteLove your new ride!
ReplyDeleteWhen I transitioned from a pickup to a SUV, I got some handy dandy crossbars (Yakima) for my roof rack and was sure to check the roof rack limits (100 lbs) before I loaded up on swap meet goodies.
Laundry baskets and a big cooler work great for the back. A black car in LA can get really steamy while parked and I believe I have saved more than one treasure from meltdown with a cooler.
Welcome to the West!
I've spent a lot of time in Riverside as we have an apartment there at our factory. But I am super curious as to what you would be doing in Riverside. It doesn't seem the slightest bit interesting as far as shopping goes in that particular part of beautiful California...... what am I missing?
ReplyDeleteOld Downtown Torrance has a great street fair, lots of antiques and such... and very nice sellers. Long Beach also has a wonderful flea market, although i didn't see much furniture when i was down there. There's a swap meet/flea market in torrance that's open every saturday, but it was $12 to get in and at the time i lived down there i didn't have the money to pay for my husband and I to get in AND to actually purchase anything. Gotta love being on unemployment.
ReplyDeleteThere's a place in West Hollywood called That's a Wrap, i think. They sell clothes and sometimes props from movies and tv shows. it's hit or miss with the bargains, but sometimes it's just neat to see what they have.
The fashion district is great to find all those little embellishments that might help finish something off. I suggest Bergers especially since they carry a lot of jewelry items and strange filigree that you can do some really neat stuff with. Micheal Levin's is also down there and their upholstery store is wonderful!
The Super Marukai stores are great too. They're japanese owned and carry a lot of odds and ends from Japan. THey have both super markets and $1 stores, both with better quality items than you'd find in an american dollar store.
Also, since it's warm year round, there are garage sales year round.
I loved living in Torrance, i really miss it up here in NorCal. I'm sad that i didn't have money or room when I lived down there to buy or work on any furniture. I grew up in the midwest where my mother and I would scour garage sales and were constantly refinishing things!
If you DO get down to torrance, i recommend eating at Lucille's BBQ on Hawthorne or Pollo Inka, also on hawthorne.
Hello Ki. I met you in Atlanta a few years back when you did an expo--got a picture with you :) Can't wait to hear more about junking!
ReplyDelete