Jewelry Jaunt to California

Our first stop on the trip was a visit to Lancaster, CA to meet a relative that my bestie connected with after doing one of those at home DNA tests.  The drive to Lancaster from LAX was beautiful!  The best thing about our time there was the people that we met just walking around the city.  They were so nice!  It was just like being at home in the south.  One of my favorite finds in Lancaster was a personal size Vornado fan at the local Goodwill.  I know, sounds strange but if you don’t already know, Vornado makes amazing fans with great warranties so if this fan breaks in the next couple of months, they’ll send me a new one.  I also fell in love with Nantiquez Vintage Flair, a fun, eclectic shop right on The Boulevard in town.  I bought a few things from Nan including a yellow vintage rotary phone!  Honestly, since I’ve brought it home, on two different occasions I actually picked it up to call my mom before realizing what I was doing.  And this may sound surprising, but my favorite meal by far came from Wienerschnitzel!  Apparently, they have these in Houston, but I’d never heard of them.  Fast food hot dogs including plant-based options for my travel partner who does not eat meat.  Delicious.  Who knew! 

Homage also had the coolest Cloudnola clock I’ve ever come across.  The time is written out in words, and I think if I could have fit it in my suitcase, it would have been an easily justifiable impulse buy.

A noteworthy jewelry stop was Place Vendome.  The proprietor, Max, introduced us to the brand Gas Bijoux, a French fashion jewelry brand that has been around since the 1960’s.  I absolutely loved the look and feel of the pieces.  Their website describes their “gold” pieces as gilded metal which is a process that I would love to learn more about.  In a nutshell the jewelry is fashioned by applying a thin layer of gold on top of a base metal, commonly brass.  I’m not sure yet if they use a proprietary method or one that is more generally practiced in fashion jewelry manufacturing.  I asked Max to find out if they could make an Aida necklace for me that was a bit longer and I’m looking forward to adding one to my collection.  (Jewelry photo credit to Gas Bijoux) 

We left Pasadena for an overnight stay at Le Parc Suite Hotel in West Hollywood. The staff at the hotel was so courteous and the room decor was phenomenal. It even had a teal record player! The next morning, we walked to the Melrose Place Farmer’s Market.  I love California farmer’s markets and the market on Sunday was so refreshing.  This one had an amazing collection of vendors; everything from jewelry and handbags to delicious cookies that I keep kicking myself for not noting down the name!  I needed another carry-on bag since I’d bought so much during the trip, and I picked up this great handmade bag made from recycled plastic bottles.  Both my friend and I ordered probably way too much vegan cream cheese from Misha’s Kind Foods, but it was the best I’ve tasted, and they ship nationwide.  I had something called a Pink Latte from Alfred at Glossier Alley which was probably the weirdest coffee drink I’ve ever had, but hey, it was an experience.

I was pleasantly surprised while in the Los Angeles area that there was a lot of affordable gold-filled jewelry available!  Much of it is manufactured locally which I appreciate.  People sometimes make negative comments about gold-filled jewelry or jewelry that isn’t solid gold.  I wore one piece of real jewelry during my trip and every time I looked at a piece of fashion jewelry, I would compare the color to what I was wearing.  If the color was comparable, I would go ahead with the purchase.  If it was too yellow or too light, I set it back down.  This is a great way to expand your jewelry wardrobe and support local designers.  As long as you don’t shower or swim in gold filled jewelry, don’t spray it with perfume or get oils and lotions on it, you’ll be fine.

 By the time Sunday evening rolled around, I was ready to go home, but I was so grateful to have had the chance to get away.  I had a great time, and it showed me that my family is okay without me there directing everything!  They were probably glad to get a break from me too.  We tend to think, no matter what our job is, that if we’re not there, things will fall apart.  But if you never step away, you’re the one that starts to fall apart.  I hope to inspire all of you to take that trip, be spontaneous, and pick up some jewelry along the way!

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