Of the many places I want to see in LA before we move I was able to see one today... the garment district in downtown LA. It's not an attractive tourist spot by any means, but I did want to see this place I have heard of for so many years. I have a friend who sells clothing out of her home by hosting shows and letting friends come over to shop as well, who makes frequent trips to this place. By the way, she also sells those modest camisoles and cap sleeve tees.
Last Sunday I tracked her down to let her know I wanted to come along on her next trip. That trip came today and off we went in her Odessey with her 1 and 4 year olds. Our first destination was not what I expected. It looked like a large 2 story outdoor mall but all the stores were the exact same small size with clothing in them with either Asian or Latin employees. We went to the stores that Mandy had been to before and any that seemed to have merchandise that she was looking for. She would immediately decide if she wanted anything and then discuss cost and the minimum quantity the items came in. All the while we had 2 squirming children to keep happy.
Several very large bags and hundreds of dollars later, we drove to our 2nd destination which was more of what I was expecting (more ghetto). We parked on one of many blocks of streetside stores of tons of clothing and accessories. You definitely had to know where to go because most stores sold worthless stuff. So as we browsed our last few stores, I could not help but notice people selling dvd's on the sidewalk that were movies still playing in theatres for $5! I then noticed a ripple of these "vendors" down the street wistle to each other that a cop was driving down the street and quickly conceal the pirated videos.
In a 3 hour trip downtown, we packed the Odessey full of bags and headed home. It was kind of overwhelming but I would definitely go back with her again. Since it wasn't my money, I had a blast picking out tops and skirts and helping order 6 to 12 of everything! When we got back I was happy to pick out a couple things for the wholesale price since I helped out (basically I got to play dress up!). Anyway, the main things I learned from this trip was 1) boy is there a huge markup on retail, and 2) this friend of mine in gutsy and crazy but doing extremely well with her home business.
Ok, I'm done with my story now. Sorry we haven't posted either lately, but like you it's just been ordinary day to day stuff here. Oh, and Tracy... I found those Teva's on their website and ordered them directly from it (love flip-flops!).
Brent and I are more and more sure that I should do my final 12 week internship with the clinic in Vancouver. Brent might even beat me up there if he finds the right job and has already been contacting potential employers. I have a week and a half before school starts and am thoroughly enjoying sleeping way past my future 5:30AM wake up time!
K, I'm really done now... TTFN!
Buffy