Eating & Shopping My Way Through Unique LA!

A couple of weekends ago, I attended the 6th Annual Unique LA Spring Show in downtown Los Angeles. This genuinely unique event takes place on both Saturday & Sunday at the California Market Center. What I especially love about this event is that it is the largest Made-in-America shopping event in the country!

I had attended a couple of these shopping events in the past – both Spring & Winter shows, but that was before I was a blogger. You know what they say, if it isn’t on Instagram or some other social media, then did you really attend it? Lol… 🙂

My husband & I made the trek on a Saturday morning to DTLA. Fortunately my hubby works down there & we’d been to the CA Market Center before, so the commute wasn’t so bad from the Valley. Disclaimer: The day before the event I had entered a contest sponsored by Agapantha Jewelry, who happened to be giving away a ticket to Unique LA. Guess who won?! Yep, that would be me – score! So all we had to pay for was my hubby’s ticket since kids 12 and under are FREE.

As soon as we got there, one of the first booths I looked at was Eco Apothecary. I was admiring (i.e. smelling & using) the custom bath & body products when the owner (Danielle) came up to me. We started talking & within a few minutes quickly realized that we had worked with each other back in the day at a catalog company! Small world…  She is a fellow Valley girl & I love that her products are organic & vegan as well as paraben AND sulfate-free. Check out her website peeps!

One of the first booths that my daughter set her sights on was the Mallow Mallow S’more Shop. These folks are based in San Diego & it’s probably a good thing because I know I’d probably hit up the store every other week if it was in LA. This place won my “best booth” award because it was decorated to look like a camp. I mean, look at it…

Check out this blender! Just gold…

My daughter ended up eating The Scout (naturally since it had her favorite peppermint flavor) & hubby got a The Classic.

I opted to get my sweet treat from The Square Treat booth. These are the ladies who run The Square Treat which is based in the Valley.

These sweet treats are made with a mixture of graham cracker crumbs, marshmallows & coconut. I mention the coconut because my daughter is allergic to it, so when I asked, they said they could do special orders without the coconut. The Square Treat also makes a gluten-free version & when I sampled it, the GF version tastes equally good! Apologies for the slightly blurry photo, but I was so busy sample tasting to take a better photo. Take note Valley peeps, they make FREE deliveries to Valley residents!

One of my weaknesses when I go to street fairs or these types of shopping expos is to buy specialty stationery. So when I came upon the iLoot Paperie booth, I just had to purchase a couple of cards! I actually bought my Mother’s Day card from them – it’s the flower one in the bottom middle.

My daughter & I spent considerable time at the Bloom Honey booth, where we sampled different flavors of honey. We both decided that White Clover was our favorite; however, I couldn’t resist purchasing 4 small jars of various flavors for the deal of $16! I gave one small jar to my mom for Mother’s Day.

One of the very last booths that I checked out was Agapantha Jewelry. I had wanted to take a photo with owner/designer Dani Paquin, but her booth was just so darn crowded! That’s a good problem though right?! You’ll want to check out her jewelry site. I mean, look at these pretty & delicate pieces.

Lastly, I wouldn’t be a good blogger if I didn’t mention Freut Camp’s blogging workshop. These cards (see below) were ALL over the place at Unique LA! I have no affiliation with them, but I have a lot of blogging buddies who might want to check out their boot camp in June. Sadly I won’t be able to attend due to a prior obligation. However if you do go, let me know how it went because it looks fab!

I took a lot more pictures & ate/shopped at a lot of other booths. These were just a few of my favorite things! (Nope, I’m not Oprah & honestly this was my short list of faves at Unique LA!) I do want to give a few shout outs to Bon Bliss Beauty, The Awesome Candle & I Heart Pies. You guys have awesome products!

Disclosure: I won a contest that provided a free ticket to Unique LA. Though a post was not required, I wanted to share my experience. All images are mine unless otherwise noted. My thoughts & opinions are 100% my own.