Downtown Los Gatos

Since I have been focusing on local downtown areas I decided to explore Downtown Los Gatos yesterday in a new light. I have been to Los Gatos a zillion times. I even worked at the Banana Republic there a year ago. I wanted to focus on only going to stores that reflect the image and style that I want to portray for my Etsy shop Event Shop Design. To start my little afternoon adventure I had to fuel up at one of my favorite Japanese restaurants, Kamakura on N. Santa Cruz Ave. I enjoyed one of my favorite things to eat, sashimi tuna yum!!! The quality of the food at this Japanese place is excellent and a pretty good deal at lunch time.

After a light lunch I strolled down the street and popped into the candy store "Lolli and Pops". This sweet little candy shop is so inviting and apparently is worldwide. I was drawn by all the cute displays and beautiful pastel colors. It made for a great color palette for inspiration. I was amused by the large gummy bear display they have. I think a "Gummy Bear" themed party would be fun! I love how they incorporated party items with the candy displays. It was really tempting to want to purchase one of their fancy bars of chocolate such as the "Give S'more" chocolate bar, but I refrained. I will definitely come back again to pick up a little gift for a friend. 

Moving along from the candy store I went to my favorite bakery in Los Gatos, "Icing On The Cake". Not only do I love all of their baked goods I also am excited about their party and gift merchandise. My favorite cookie there is the "Crumble Bee"and my favorite cupcake is the "Swirly Cake". It reminds me of the Hostess cupcakes that we grew up with. To go along with all of their sweet treats they have cute little labels. The one for the "Rainbow Sugar Cookie" has the "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" book illustration. So cute! It is one of my son's favorite books. 

Along with all the delicious treats in this bakery I am also drawn to all the bright colors of the merchandise. The one display that especially caught my eye was of the "Fiesta Wear" which I love! These colors would make a great color palette. I am thinking of doing some "Rainbow" party inspired items; flag banners, cupcake toppers, invitations, and more... 

I am inspired by the story behind this little bakery that has been around for thirty three years. It all started with the owner owning a turquoise Easy Bake oven in 1965. I never had an Easy Bake oven but I did have a Holly Hobbie oven. She also had a love for baking which l do as well. My grandmother taught me how to make Toll House chocolate chip cookies when I was eight years old.  She definitely was responsible for my love of chocolate. Here is a photo of their post card that I picked up while I was there. It is on her turquoise Easy Bake oven and my favorite Swirly Cake cupcake. So much goodness!

To end my sweet little adventure day in downtown Los Gatos on the way to my car I noticed a little shop called "Out Of The Envelope". The window display for valentines caught my eye since I love all the cuteness during this season. I do not know how I never noticed this store before. Not only do they have gift and stationery items but they also do printed invitations, screen printed items, and embroideries. I spoke to the owner and she was really friendly. As I do for every store that I blog about I asked if I could take photos of her shop. She was interested in what I was doing so I proceeded to tell her about my Etsy shop. She wanted to look at it while I was in her store so she pulled it right up on her computer. She even asked if I sold wholesale which was flattering. I guess I need to look into that aspect. One thing I have discovered in these little blog adventures is that many of these shops sell items from Etsy, which is pretty exciting.  I ended the day feeling inspired and excited about what the future holds for my little party business!