Celebrating Lynda's Birthday

    
I took my friend Lynda on a belated birthday adventure yesterday. 

We began our day at my friend Jurgen Kading's magical shop "Corner's Of The World"*.

This shop is housed in a beautiful 90 year old building that was long ago a bank. 

When you first arrive you will see a beautiful fountain. It is a replica of the "Fountain of Neptune" found in Bologna Italy.

  I tell my friend Lynda "Let's pretend we are in Italy today!" 

I love this shop. When you enter you feel like a child in a candy shop. There are so many beautiful things to look at.

I met Jurgen years ago in an Italian language class. We have been friends ever since that time. I adore this man!

 Jurgen is such a gifted person with many talents. He has a special way of seeing life which I absolutely adore. You will see his talent for spotting a wide range of beautiful and unusual items he sells from around the world.  His store is as charming as he is. 

This year he celebrated his 25th year in business at this site. That speaks volumes about how loved this shop is by customers locally and from afar.

I was so happy to introduce my friend Lynda to Jurgen.

After finishing our shopping with Jurgen we headed to the next destination: LUNCH!









Continuing with our escape to "Italy" adventure we had lunch at the fabulous "Locale 90**" featuring Neapolitan style pizza. 

 At Locale 90 they use 00 flour from Italy, San Marzano Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella, Italian Sea Salt and imported Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  They bake their  pizzas using the time-honored method of open flame cooking in their imported oven that reaches temperatures of over 900 degrees.  The pizza is done in 90 seconds! (Locale (local in italian and 90 for 90 seconds and your pizza is done!)  It's so delicious and truly an authentic taste of Italy!

After lunch Lynda and I window shopped and visited some cute shops on Catalina Avenue.     A very cute shop very close to Locale 90 is "Fringe***" A fun shop featuring home decor furnishings, jewelry and specialty gift items. We spoke with one of the owners  Laura Hofmann as Lynda was inquiring about a local resident in area who designed gift cards long ago. Laura remembered the artist as well.
Lots of beautiful items at Fringe!

There is also another wonderful gift shop on Catalina Avenue near to Fringe. It's "Ten Thousand Villages****" and features  global artisans and craftspeople. Their mission has been to create opportunities for artisans in developing countries, to enable them to earn income by bringing their products and stories to our markets through long-term, Fair Trade relationships.  The staff consists mainly of volunteers. This is a wonderful place to shop. 

Our final stop of the afternoon was at one of my favorite spots in the south bay area, "Roman Aroma Caffe`Bar****". The elegant ambiance and authentic Italian feel of this cafe always makes me feel as though I have been swept away to Rome!  Sorry I missed seeing the owner Francesco Martone and his delightful mother Flavia but we were greeted by the friendly and warm staff  and served a great coffee and cream filled cornetto.  They serve italian wine and beer as well as a great variety of savory and sweet treats, sandwiches, housemade lasagna and gelato.  My highest recommendations go to Roman Aroma Cafe!

 

A lovely way to end our day and say arrivederci to our wonderful birthday adventure today.  
Happiest of Birthday wishes to my dear friend Lynda! In my realm she is "the Queen of Everything!" 

 *Corners of the World
1 Malaga Cove Plaza
Palos Verdes Estates, Ca. 90274

Call for hours

(310) 373-5096

**Locale 90

1718 s. Catalina Avenue

Redondo Beach Ca. 90277

(310) 540-9190 

***Fringe 1806 South Catalina Avenue

Redondo Beach, Ca. 90277

(310) 316-9100

****Ten Thousand Villages
1907 S Catalina Ave
Redondo Beach, CA 90277

(310) 465-1600

*****Roman Aroma Caffe`Bar 

901 N. Catalina Avenue

Redondo Beach, California 90277

(310) 318-1746