Santa Monica CA shopping help
Heather M.
Alloy.com and Underworld (the movie). We have to take it before the end of
the year (I'm taking my mom). The prize includes hair consultation, cut and
color at Salon Vivace in the Santa Monica Place mall and also $500 worth of
UD makeup and $200 to alloy.com. Does anyone have any good shopping rec's
or "must-go" places in Santa Monica? It's only for 2 nights, so we won't
have that much time to really venture that far from the hotel, but we are
planning on renting a car (cheaper than cab fare for the ride from LAX to
Santa Monica, I'm guessing). Also, we are probably going to get other
services done at the salon. I'm dying to get a Brazilian wax! Does anyone
have any rants or raves about the service there? Any rec's of other
services to try? TIA.
Heather M.
Carol
Carol
Marsan/McKinney
restaurants and shops. Not traditional designer stuff, but a fun place to
spend a few hours. It's one block to the beach too.
Fred Segal is just a few blocks from the Santa Monica Place Mall.
"Heather M." <rsbry...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:8jZmb.28949$ao4.50832@attbi_s51...
Susan in LA
I second the Main Street and Fred Segal recs. Main Street has many funky,
artsy boutiques. Great bead/jewelry store too called Ritual Adornments.
Definitely hit Fred Segal is at 5th and Broadway. 2 locations, right across
5th from each other. A great place for a chic but very casual lunch. Love to
people-watch here!
Sorry but I haven't heard anything about the salon you mention.....I haven't
ever had a Brazilian but have had many good bikini-wax experiences at
Burke-Williams Spa on 4th street, a couple blocks north of the mall you
mentioned. The just redid the entire spa and I *definitely* recommend
booking some kind of service just so you can spend a few hours there using
the spa facilities and drinking cucumber-lemon water.
Sorry to say Santa Monica Place Mall isn't actually all that interesting.
Right in front of it though is Third Street Promenade which is very touristy
but still fun, day and night, and a great place to people-watch tourists and
locals alike. There's a Sephora, Urban Outfitters, and all the other usual
mall stores but many interesting boutiques and chains as well.
Behind the Promenade on 2nd street is a nice art movie house where you may
be able to see movies not shown in your area.
Don't miss Montana Avenue between 6th and 17th....many more-upscale unique
boutiques and also well-known places like Shabby Chic, Michael Stars,
Kiehls, etc. Good place for celebrity stalking, esp. the coffee shops.
Babalu is a great and unique place for lunch or dinner. Also nice is
Wolfgang Puck cafe, Spumoni, 17th Street grill, Montana Avenue Cafe (or
something like that)...you can't really go looking for casual restaurants on
Montana. Tracey's Nails is great for a reasonable, friendly
manicure/pedicure.
There are 2 great designer-resale shops on Wilshire near 10th or 11th
St....can't remember the names right now but I can look it up if you're
interested.
Definitely walk on the Santa Monica Pier, check out the carousel and the
view of the Pacific Ocean, and Venice to the south, and Malibu to the north
(which hopefully will no longer be on fire by the time you get here). Also
plan a walk on the beach bike path, either north a mile from the Pier to my
favorite breakfast/lunch spot, Back on the Beach, where you can put your
toes in the sand while you eat, or south past some grand beach hotels and
towards Venice. Venice Boardwalk is on the bike path only a mile or so south
of the Pier and some very interesting sites here. Of course spend some time
anywhere along the beach if it's warm (checking out hunky lifeguards) but
the water is quite chilly. The Pier, bike path, and beach are all absolutely
safe and very populated during the day....I take my kid there all the
time....but I would avoid these at night just to be prudent.
My final must-do for SM is drinks at one or better yet both of these
terrific beach hotels....Casa del Mar and Shutters.
Cab fare from the airport is about $28, not including tip. You can function
fine without a car but it will be helpful to have one.
Let me know if you want more specific info.
Susan
"Marsan/McKinney" <mckje...@verizon.net> wrote in message
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Susan in LA
restaurants on Montana"......amazing how you can leave out one word and say
the exact opposite of what you meant.....
Susan
"Susan in LA" <susa...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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Claire in SF
Congrats! That sounds like a lot of fun and this time of year should be
great (especially if you go sooner rather than later). I'm not sure of what
part of SM you are staying in but the one "must do" place for fashionistas
is the collection of boutiques at Fred Segal, just a few blocks from the SM
Place Mall and 3rd St Promenade. You could spend hours of serious shopping
at Fred Segal. In fact, to make it even easier to do so they offer some OK
food in the cafe. Not sure how long it will take you to spend your free cash
on UD and alloy stuff, but personally even if you weren't short on time I'd
do FS. If you have additional time while in the vicinity check out the 3rd
St Promenade shopping area, outdoor pedestrian mall where Pee Wee's Big
Adventure was filmed before the re-do of the street. SM Place mall is no big
deal in terms of shopping opps, but it was architecturally intersting when
it was built as it was designed by the famous Frank Gehry. There are some
intersting boutiques and some dining opps on Montana Ave.
If your hotel is near the SM Place Mall then maybe you don't have to have a
car but I would bet that it's worth it to rent the car rather than pay cab
fare. Plus, if there is anything you are dying to drive around and see, the
car will get you there more quickly and easily. I just wouldn't spend too
much time driving distances because your time is short and you might just
get sucked into the black hole that is the beauty section of Fred Segal SM
;)
There are lots of other rec's possible in the LA area but given your short
time frame you should add things to your list based on your intersts and
things you've heard about that you are dying to see. For example, if you
NEED to see Rodeo Drive, then by all means you should drive over, or if
you've ALWAYS wondered about Venice Beach, you should stop by.
Claire in SF
Natasha
the jacuzzi, sauna, etc for as long as you like with any service. It's
amazing. Also great is Kenneth George on Wilshire and 19th - Suzy is a
great aesthetician.
I also second the recommendation for Ritual Adornments. If you are going to
be here during a Santa Monica jewelry show at the Civic Auditorium, that's a
lot of fun. Santa Monica Place is just a generic mall. Main Street is more
interesting because of the boutiques. Also, there's a Betsey Johnsons.
Also, since you are going to be near Santa Monica Place, I have to recommend
that you try Fritto Misto on Colorado and 6th (or is it 7th?) and World Cafe
on Main Street. Great eating!
I always take visitors to see the Santa Monica Pier and the Venice
Boardwalk. I prefer the Boardwalk only because there always seems like
there's more going on. I suppose part of it is that the street performers
have more room.
I think that the resale shop on Wilshire is called The Address.
"Susan in LA" <susa...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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fig
I'm there! I love Santa Monica.
fig
-----
Who's The Fairest?
www.whosthefairest.com
Maribeth Mason
wrote:
This is great info! I am moving to Santa Monica soon and excited
about discovering all the new places (I'd only really experienced the
mall and Promenade, but just last weekend realized I am just south of
Montana Avenue, which looks really fun!)
-- maribeth