I spent Saturday afternoon exploring my new neighborhood in LA. The Melrose Avenue shopping district is full of colorful walls and graffiti art. The neighborhood has been hit hard by the pandemic and damage from the protests and some of the small businesses have unfortunately remained boarded up. After extensive cleaning up and rebuilding, stores are slowly starting to open back up. The neighborhood is less lively but it’s reassuring to see that people are still coming out with masks on and social distancing.
A local artist who goes by Jimmy Paintz is well known in West Hollywood for his colorful smiley face murals. He also paints his distinctive smiley faces on random sidewalks in the neighborhood. I love seeing his art all over. The colors and the vibe are really uplifting. His Instagram account is a great one to follow @jimmypaintz. He’s a really positive person. He and his dog even have matching haircuts!
I live 2 blocks away from Melrose Place. Melrose Place is a little side street off Melrose Avenue. Every Sunday there’s a lovely farmer’s market there from 10am-2pm. It’s an iconic street with local favorite coffee shop Alfred. Alfred started the famous “but first, coffee” slogan. It’s a great place to relax and people watch. Also on Melrose Place is Balmain whose walls are painted a distinctive army green. Other famous stores include Mansur Gavriel, Moon Juice, Glossier, and Golden Goose. There are always lots of trendy people (influencers, models, actors) walking around drinking their Alfred coffee and snapping pictures for their fashion blogs.
I unfortunately broke my favorite Ray Bans after taking this picture! Luckily there’s a Ray Ban store nearby and I took them in to get the lenses replaced. I switched out the original lenses for mirrored ones. It was an unexpected but nice change for my favorite old aviators.
The infamous pink selfie wall is actually just the outside wall of the Paul Smith store. The wall had to be fully repainted after the protests to cover up all of the graffiti. It attracts lots of selfie takers, influencers, and wanna-be influencers (myself included!). There’s never a dull moment outside of the pink wall. There’s a cute cafe across the street with outdoor seating that’s ideal for “influencer” watching.
There are lots of other colorful walls along Melrose Avenue that are great for Instagram and selfies. The East side of Melrose Avenue has a lot of small business and quirky boutiques. The Melrose Place side is full of luxury retail shops, trendy restaurants (like Nobu), and see and be seen places like Alfred coffee. Melrose Ave. is definitely worth checking out the next time you’re in LA. On a side note, I was wearing a mask but took it off briefly for these pictures. Remember to wash your hands, stay 6 feet apart, and wear a mask whenever you are outside your home!
Here are my favorite picks for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. Early access preview for cardmembers starts August 4, 2020. Cardmembers can shop starting August 13, 2020. The sale is open to everyone August 19-30, 2020. Happy shopping!
PS: You can shop all of my looks by following me on the LikeToKnowIt app or click here: liketoknow.it/thefriendlyepicurean
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