Local Love: The Supply Room

The Supply Room at the Presidio Motel in Santa Barbara holds a great collection of independent designers. Curated to fit a very fresh, hip, and cool aesthetic, this boutique caters to a lot of awesomeness. We paid it a little visit a few weekends ago, ooh-ed and ah-ed at a few items, and came away with something sweet. It's a great shop that supports the local scene so if you're ever in SB, check it out.


Clothing, shoes, purses, jewelry. So much goodness.






Paper Pastries stationery!


Balancing blocks by Fort Standard.


Reminiscent of sack lunch bags, these leather Marie Turnor "the picnic" bags are awesome. They're also on my Christmas list.


We met the Better Late Than Never jewelry designer at Content in Portland. Her jewelry is so organic, geometric, and hip that hubs and I purchased a set of 3 rings.


Necklaces by local designer, Camilla Bourbon.


Tabletop Made is another Santa Barbara designer. The simple and minimal look of the stationery is something I've been gravitating towards.

I heart a place that supports independent designers :)

Local Love: Artists Making A Street Scene

Santa Barbara is not really known for any sort of street art scene. Yes, there are murals and mosaics, yet those are all commissioned by the city. Luckily the lack of cultivation on street art by local artists has been changing thanks to the organization Artists Making A Street Scene. Street art has been coming up!!

On Mason and Helena between State Street and Anacapa lies the Funk Zone. An area for the creative community, there are events held, art installations, block parties, and creative expressions. Last year there was this event, and this year's event brought a few new street art murals!

"Give Pix a Chance" by Scott Dosch.






"be love" by Vanae Rivera/Mary and the Machine.




And a yarn bombed pole!

It's so great to see the local scene continue to grow and creativity flow. How's the street art scene in your neighborhood?

Local Love: Content at the Ace Portland

During our visit to Portland one thing was very clear: they love buying local. Whether it was food, clothing, accessories, books, etc, buying local was the way to go. I loved it because they supported the designers that are part of their community, and put their money back into their community. We shopped at a lot of the local boutiques and eateries, and were fortunate enough to have stayed at the Ace Hotel Portland during their pop-up shop, Content. A one night showcase of local independent designers, Content designers took over every room on the 2nd floor of the Ace. The rooms were styled into mini boutiques by the designers, with guests able to visit, party, and purchase.

I loved the super hip and chic vibe of Content, being exposed to such talented designers, and having a few drinks in the champagne room. Below are a few favorites from the night.

Carly Mick and Susanna Hohmann was cool and blue. I need one of these dresses.


Idom. Love their style. Love/must recreate their background wall installation.


Tanner Goods had so much masculine leather goodness. I really wanted some of their stamped leather coasters.


Better Late Than Never jewelry had one of my favorite rooms. I really liked how the gold and silver jewelry was displayed on canvas boards and laid out to look like art on the canvas.


Their random shaped bracelets and rings were another favorite.


Bridge and Burn shirts and jackets. So Portland.


Content Draught leather goods range from wallets and key holders to ipad cases and knife covers.


Portland Garment Factory takes military ponchos and re-purposes them into totes, accessories, tissue box covers. There were tissue box covers in every room of the Ace.


Project Runway winner, Gretchen Jones, also had her own room where she hosted a meet and greet. She had a few garments available, including cool ombre chevron pants.


Moonwoods creates custom frames by hand from sustainably harvested hard woods. The remnants of the frames are then crafted into jewelry. I was trying on some of the rings and they were such statement makers and so light weight.

It was so wonderful experiencing a whole new scene and meeting great designers. Hooray for community, creativity, and commerce.

More photos of the event can be seen here.

Local Love: Vivier & Bentley

Clutches are my favorite style of handbag/purse to carry. And the more colorful the clutch, the better. When researching my next clutch purchase I found local LA designer Clare Vivier. In love with their wide array of colors available, simplicity of aesthetic, and made in LA appeal, I knew a Vivier clutch would be perfect. We visited the Vivier & Bentley boutique last Saturday to pick up something special.

Located off Sunset in Silver Lake, Vivier and Bentley is a small storefront with the designers' studio in the back. The boutique houses Vivier bags and accessories, Bentley jewelry, and a few curated items. Browsing through the space is a beautiful experience of classic items.












Flat clutches, fold over clutches, and oversize clutches. I spent a while fawning over the beautiful leather of each style.




Our shoes and their painted floor.


Hooray for local made and remade! I love supporting local independent designers. Not only does it strengthen their brand, it strengthens their community.


Forest green wallet and electric blue flat clutch. I'm excited to carry these around and hope to purchase more in other colors.

What is your favorite style of purse? Do you have a favorite local shop?


Local Love is a new weekly series I'm working on. LL post will hold local finds, locally made goods, local foods, local owned shops. It will focus on the Santa Barbara area and also a bit of LA and Portland.