ShopEatSleep

Emily the Strange. From SlashFilm.

Emily the Strange at Royal/T: Starting today through Nov. 11, Emily theStrange — the ever-moody black-haired cutie cartoon — will be at the center of a pop-up shop and exhibit at Culver City’s Lolita-inspired Royal/T cafe space. During the exclusive retail engagement, books, artwork and one-of-a-kind collectibles will be on sale. Proceeds from the Emily the Strange pop-up shop will support the brand’s altruistic efforts — encouraging teens to be empowered individuals. When it’s time to take a break from shopping, you can order up a Strange Brew Chocolate Pangea Tea and Emily the Strange-themed black kitty cupcakes by Hot Cakes Bakes. The official opening party will take place on Friday, Oct. 26.

Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232

Macy’s Shop for a Cause: On Oct. 16, donate $5 to charity online or in-store and get a shopping pass that gives you 10 percent to 20 percent off items you purchase that day. You can also use the in-store shopping pass for 25 percent off one regular, sale or clearance item in men’s, women’s or kids’ apparel or accessories (some exclusions apply). In any case, you’ll save. Sounds good to me!

Junior Drake Warehouse Sample Sale: Clutches for $40? Bags for $60? Yes, please! Head down to the South L.A. warehouse this weekend for a cornucopia of bags, wallets and even belts. Make any purchase on Friday or Saturday, and get an additional 10 percent off to spend on Sunday. You can enter a raffle to win a free handbag, and if you spend at least $150 you’ll get a free canvas tote. Munch of free hot dogs, cookies and drinks, too.

Friday, Oct. 15, 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 16, 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 17, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Junior Drake Warehouse
740 E. 60th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90001

Still working on that list of Christmas/Hanukkah gifts? Here’s a hodge podge of shopping and gift options for you to consider:

Gap slipper booties

The Grove: I did some of my holiday shopping at The Grove earlier this week, and I saw some decent stuff at the Gap for decent prices. All necklaces were $10 and all bracelets were $4. Scarves with large flowers on them, which apparently aren’t offered on Gap’s Web site, in purple, turquoise and green were $10 (other colors were more expensive). And slipper booties, originally $29.50, were $19.99. J.Crew and Banana Republic didn’t seem to have a lot of sales going on, though there were some jewelry sales at J.Crew, and the sale rack in the back of Banana Republic was pretty full.

Royal/T: This art space and cosplay cafe that is currently hosting the latest incarnation of LudoBites also has a Winter Wonderland pop-up shop just for the holidays. The space has Christmas trees decorated with items from tokidoki, Hello Kitty, The Valley of the Dolls, Be@rbrick, and Momiji that shoppers can pick off and buy. The Hello Kitty one is really cute, I must say. There are other gift ideas in the space, too, including under the Christmas trees, which you can use to create your own customizable holiday gift boxes ranging in price from $50 to $200. And with any $20 purchase, you’ll get a hand-painted gift box for free (you can also purchase one for $5).

Maven Collective: For those of you south of the Orange Curtain, Maven Collective, a company that holds sample and pop-up sales in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco and New York City, is holding just such a sale in Costa Mesa at The Boathouse (1638 Pomona Ave.) this Saturday, Dec. 19, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 20, from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Expect to see clothing from Mike & Chris and B.B. Dakota, shoes from Balenciaga and Lanvin, shoes and bags from Jil Sander, and much more for up to 80 percent off retail prices. Cash and credit accepted.

I was so excited to finally — finally! — eat at LudoBites, which eluded me in its last incarnation at BreadBar over the summer. So when Esther of e*starLA generously opened up her reservation to a bunch of her blogger friends, I happily signed on. And I had never been to Royal/T Cafe, the location for this LudoBites pop-up, so I was expecting all kinds of new experiences.

And then I got sick.

Now, I felt fine except for a ridiculously stuffy nose. After making sure I didn’t have a swine flu-like fever, I decided to still go to dinner. After all, who knows when I would be able to eat at LudoBites again, especially since reservations for the 2.5 week run sold out before opening night? So I went, determined to make the best of it.

I arrived at Royal/T not really knowing what to expect and was pleasantly surprised by the eclectic art installations and gift store that had Hello Kitty Rubik’s Cubes on Christmas trees. The night was already off to a good start.

And then I took my first bite of food and realized I couldn’t taste anything. Damn you, stuffy nose!

So I’m at LudoBites, and I can’t taste anything. Other than running to the restroom periodically to blow my nose in the hope that I would clear enough to be able to taste again, what was I to do? I decided to make the best of it and make the experience an exercise in textures (!).

Keep Reading