What a weekend.
I’d been working most of the weekends in May, so I felt that I needed to get all of my play into this one free day I had. So Jenn, my sister Twiggy, and I went to the Patchwork show in Downtown Santa Ana last Sunday.
It’s a bi-annual indie craft/art fair and it was, simply put, awesome. Even in the 90+ F weather that day.
The fair was held blocks from the Santa Ana Arts District, in the Harvey’s (the seatbelt bag company) parking lot (1 AND 2), and it was *the* indie hipster hotspot. Boys in skinny jeans with tats and 0 gauge piercings, AND girls in tanktops with tats and 0 gauge piercings, all over the frigging place, mmmm…
Scroll down to see the awesomeness in under 1 minute.
Live Music!
Crafts!
Ridiculously cute jewelry…
… That I caved in and bought. D’oh.
Puppies!
Gorilla suits!
On-site silk screening shops!
Art for sale! (Ain’t this print absolutely cuuuuute???)
Since this blog is a food blog after all, I guess I will mention that there was a Memphis Cafe booth. They served peach sangrias and their famed pulled pork sandwiches.
I’m not sure if the peach sangria saved me from dehydration in this 90-sumthing weather, but it was gooood.
The Costa Mesa Memphis was one of my favorite hang out spots when I used to go out drinking a lot because at night, they put away all of their tables and turn the place into a dance spot. They play indie dance hits, some soul, some electro, and other stuff you don’t normally hear at dance clubs, which is nice (I have this aversion towards krunk music). Plus, their drinks are pretty stiff. The Santa Ana one, however, has a more diner feel to it and is a nice place to chill after looking at arts during the monthly Santa Ana Art Walk.
Feeling rejuvenated from the sangria and now developing a honkering for a pulled pork sandwich in a seated setting, we decided to go to the Artists’s District to go to the real Memphis Cafe. Unfortunately, after a mile and a half walk under the baking sun, we found out that Memphis closed early on Sundays. So we went to the Gypsy Den, which is in the same plaza as Memphis Cafe.
The Gypsy Den is a pretty famous hang out spot among the hip/artsy/hippy locals. Everybody who works there looks like a tortured artist, and customer service is obviously not their forte, but the place has a nice, chill, bohemian feel to it.
Besides, they have awesome chai.
They also serve vegetarian friendly foods like their Gypsy Rice, which is brown basmati rice with nuts, veggies, with a tamari-olive oil dressing. A bit bland on the dressing but it’s a fun crunch party of a salad.
Their Baked Mac n’ Cheese is good too. Onions, bell peppers, and the parmesan crust gives a flavor profile which is reminiscent of pizza, although nothing to write home about.
They had a bunch of desserts as well, so we ordered a slice of the coconut layer cake. The cake was dry, but the butter cream icing was crispy with sugar-coated coconut flakes and was quite good.
Sometimes, a Sunday with friends is all you need to beat the May blahs.
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The Gypsy Den
125 N Broadway
Santa Ana, CA 92701
(714) 835-8840
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Aww that tea cup necklace is so cute … me want!
burumun>> cute non? it weirded me out a bit though, because the teacup is a product from my last company. ha!