My birthday rolled through, so I thought I'd share a few quick photos.
I was actually lucky enough to have the day planned for me and it was truly fun and jam packed. Up in LA, I got to sift through all the goods at the Vanessa Mooney sample sale and ended up scoring big with stuff like this lovely metal necklace.Afterward, I made my way over to the new Killspencer storefront which doubles as their workshop. This guy Spencer has been making quality, handcrafted products for a few years now and since his first sale in 2009 he's been able to make a great name for his brand and now employs a team of 9 full timers. The space is pretty cool and all the merchandise is curated perfectly in a small area in the front. Past that, you can visually see their entire workshop filled with a line of industrial sewing machines and chalkboard walls with design sketches etc. It's pretty impressive.
Spencer and I ended up chatting for a bit about his brand and the types of new goals he'd now like to pursue. He definitely seems like the kind of guy that will never stop pushing for what he wants, being that he's super passionate not only about his line of goods, but he also has several other interests as well. We even talked some about 16th Colony and some of the things I'm working on as he checked out one of my handmade ponchos. Definitely a fun/inspiring conversation.
By this time I was getting pretty hungry and spotted the perfect bday lunch place there in Silverlake which was called 'Heywood'. It was a great little cafe that made grilled cheeses - they even came with little tomato soup 'dippers'. Doesn't get much better.
After crusin' down Melrose for awhile and stopping off at the GQ Block Party on Abbott Kinney, I made my way back down to OC and ended the day with the perfect dinner.
After thinking about my day I realized that it wasn't too much different than any other day that I have when I make my way up to LA. I was doing everything that I absolutely love doing which is just exploring, taking photos and learning about cool boutiques and designers. At that moment, I realized that I'm so lucky to be able to do that on my birthday and every other day of my life.
I'm also looking forward to the celebration continuing next weekend when I make my way up to San Francisco.