The Mart Collective Venice, CA - Part Two

If you know me, you know I love vintage.  Well, almost any kind of vintage.

Especially if it's well made, colorful and has a patina.

I'm always surprised at the wealth of goodies that L.A. harbors, considering that it is a relatively

young town, in the historical scheme of America.....and so far from so many other places in America

where all of these things might have been carted, shipped, shlepped from.

I have to remind myself that L.A. is the site of one of the biggest ports in America.

That it is a place people come to to reinvent themselves - maybe more so than the rest of the U.S.

And that the movie industry is a voracious borrower and purveyor of material culture.

Hence cast offs, re-coups, collecteds, cadged......Treasures, and treasures......

Of every sort.

I don't need to own them.  I don't want to DUST THEM!

But the hunt, the hunt...the multiples and the patterns...the history.  It speaks to me.

the MART COLLECTIVE Venice  

A magpie paradise

Have I Mentioned Vintage Shopping in Venice? Mart Collective, Part One

If you are looking for your hearts desire.......

In Venice you need only to go looking in your own backyard.

What they don't tell you on all those gossipy TV shows about Los Angeles

and in the course of those glitzy promotional campaigns for the latest Hollywood offering...

Is that L.A. is h-e-a-v-e-n for vintage shoppers.

 You might have the impression that Venice is only about personal-style-at-the beach

or glam-architects and a certain kind of post-modern relaxation......

It's true that Venice is about those things and ocean sunlight.....but that's not all, folks.

There's more!  (And more!)  Come back for the other Parts?!  Of the Mart Collective, Venice.

SEE YOU!

Sorry For the Radio-Silence These Last Two Weeks

I managed to smash my screen and had to send the computer

for a bit of a rest cure.

I must say, I was happy to be reunited with my pics.

Nice to be back with you all too.  Hope you are enjoying lazy, sweet, final summer days.  More soon.

UNTIL THEN - have a very  HAPPY WEEKEND!

Because Lunch is Important! - Lemonade on Abbott Kinney, Venice CA

You WILL get hungry wandering up and down Abbott Kinney.

You will have plenty of eating options.

(Pineapple chicken: coconut, green beans, chicken, chilis and jerk sauce YUM! with melon and radish salad)

But can I recommend?

(tuna with watermelon radish and mediterranean bean salad)

Save the fancy-schmantzy places for a dinner reservation.

For lunch, in the sunshine and the gentle beach-ey breeezes

Lemonade is the Place!  Tasty, superfresh, healthy, comfy and very affordable eating.

Why do they call it "Grasshopper Pie"? Mr. Paradis (British, remember?) had to ask.

"Well I guess cuz it's green, honey."(Sorry photos don't entirely show the mint-green top layer.  Recipe for  grasshopper pie here.)

Honestly though, it doesn't matter what it's called.  It's all about how it tastes:  "VERY GOOD!" says Mr. Paradis.......BAM!

BON APPETIT and have a WONDERFUL, TASTY WEEKEND!!!

Break for Summer - On Abbott Kinney Boulevard, Venice, CA

Once one of those arty backwaters, Abbott Kinney Boulevard is now approaching peak glam

with (tear down) homes in the neighborhood starting at a million dollars, and a boho chic atmosphere

where bicycles, flip flops, bespoke coffees and

pizzas reign......

Where flowers are sold from the backs of camper vans.

And modest little gates lead to secret hideaway retail destinations......

Of course the flip flops are not your dime store variety.  They have to have a little attitude

  and atmosphere and BRANDING - a Brazilian flag doesn't hurt in that regard.

The plantings on Abbott Kinney Boulevard are more elegant and more tidy and more

d-e-s-i-g-n-e-d  than anywhere else in L.A.

And the exotic cement tile rage has taken hold big-time.

Abbott Kinney is only about a half a mile from Venice Beach so it's never not the season for bikinis.  Especially if they're in bleu-blanc-rouge for Francophiles and all those other Frenchies who flock to this seaside neighborhood.  (And open lovely little Francophone schools for preschoolers.)

Some are trying harder than others to evoke the atmosphere of summer holidays.

This location was in transition - shall we put it nicely?

Making a stand commercially, on Abbott Kinney can be very expensive and if you don't get the formula quite right....it might be ruinous.

Making a stand horticulturally

or artistically - not so much!  (That's the good news.)

You will find lots of lanky and handsome shoppers on Abbott Kinney Boulevard.

Abbott Kinney is as much now a destination for tourists-from-abroad as for lucky locals.

 (Thanks to Suzanne at SakuraSnow who reminded me of this artist's name)

It can also be a showcase for artists and makers such as Makoto Kagoshima, a Japanese ceramicist.

 - I also loved how he did the walls with scraps of blackboard paint.

Could you - or I - do this at home?  Yes we could!  I would like that!

You will be tempted by both the luxe and the

laid-back.....

The glistery - AND always the green

The new

and the notable.

On Abbott Kinney Boulevard you will be inclined to feel that

LIFE IS A BEACH and that a visit there is like a summer holiday.  Wherever you're coming from.

Yes.  I'm talking about: Happy Faces All Around.  

Abbott Kinney is worth the detour on your next visit to L.A.  Be prepared for great visuals and bring a generous credit limit!  It's a nice complement to seafront wanderings (Previous Venice posts here).

I hope your summer is going well.  Wherever you are!