Categories
Arts & Entertainment Business Local Business Spotlight

Review of Brooklyn Charm in Ventura, CA

As someone who does not live in Ventura, CA this shop was excitingly new to me. It took me around 30 minutes to get to the shop and when I first entered I was in shock. I expected the store to be somewhat bigger, but it was a cute local shop size. While in the shop, I found charms, beads, rings, bracelets, necklaces, pins, earrings, crystals, shoe lace jewelry, costume jewelry, and so much more! Upon entry, there were already quite a few people in the store picking out charms for custom necklaces/ bracelets. This is predominately a shop to make custom jewelry.

For example, customers pick their own chains and charms for necklaces or bracelets, when finished, they take it to the front of the store. The employees at the front then ask the order of the charms on the chain and put the jewelry together, which typically takes around less than 15 minutes. However, this depends on how many people have already turned in their jewelry to be assembled before you.

COST 💵

When making a custom bracelet or necklace all charms do not cost the same amount. The pricing for most charms are different they typically range from $6-$15 per charm.

  • Rings: $5 each, 3 for $10, or 10 for $25
  • Disney pins: $8 each or 4 for $20
  • Premade bracelets: $12 each or 2 for $20
  • Earrings: ranging from $5-$20
  • Stickers: $2 each, 3 for $5, or 8 for $10
  • Crystal bottles : $5 each
  • Permanent jewelry: ranging from $45-$100+
  • Mystery bags: $5-$15
  • Chains: ranging from $3-$20

RATING ⭐️

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

I would have to rate Brooklyn Charm a 3.5/5, due to the fact that there is a humungous variety of all kinds of jewelry. In general, there is so many diverse charms, chains, rings, etc. that you could easily spend 1-2 hours of finding amazing products. The service was great, staff was friendly, and the store was aesthetically pleasing, clean, and organized. This could also be a fun activity to do with friends, family, or even a date! Nonetheless, I think the pricing for most items were too overpriced. People are already paying around $35 if not more for only 5 charms on a necklace or bracelet. I do realize they are a small business in Ventura and they need to make their income, but in my opinion it is too overpriced.

Images taken at Brooklyn Charm 📍

By: Melina Ramos

Categories
Food & Beverage

Banana Cream Pie Cookies

A story about grief and how baking can help you move into a chapter of anew

Go to RECIPE

On February 28th, 2017 the longest 2 weeks of my life came to it’s peak. My Grandpa, Steven Rodriguez had died. Contrary to popular belief sometimes death takes a long time, involves a lot of people and there is a lot of sacrifice. Some people asked me what is the consolation prize I received from this experience? There has to be something you get after having such a loss. You get grief, your “consolation prize” is having to relearn how to live your life without that vital person. You learn how to make all the emotions coexist at once. I can tell you from my experience you will never forget this person, you may start to forget little details but you will never forget the core of them, you will never forget what made them them. Overall you do start having to slowly piece together what life will be like now and how you will continue to honor this person in your life. Baking was my vital key to keep my life afloat during this time and allows me to continue to honor my Grandpa, even 7 years later.

Baking has been my life for over a decade. Not to brag but I would say I’ve gotten very talented at it. I still have so much more to learn though! That’s what sold me on the baking world, things are always changing, you will never stop learning how to do something! Another thing about baking is routine, even though the ingredients may change the process is almost always the same. This is how baking comes in as a coping skill, when our brains are overloaded with emotion we need something that doesn’t take much thought/effort and can bring a level of comfort. Baking can serve as that purpose, you have a pretty straightforward process and get something delicious and comforting after. Not every baking endeavor has to be this long drawn out process that has extraordinary results. You can throw a couple ingredients in a bowl, put it on a cookie sheet, bake it and end up with something delicious and comforting.

So does baking solve all my problems and take away all my grief? No! But it gives me a creative outlet to let my feelings out and a special way to honor my loved ones. Food is something that connects us all, why not have it help you bring some healing. My Grandpa was funny, smart, loving and sometimes a hardass. But overall he was a diehard for a slice of banana cream pie, I’ve made it so many times and so many different ways. So my brain got to thinking and this is what I came up with! I hope you enjoy! 🙂

Banana Cream Pie Cookies

>1 box of yellow cake cake mix

>1 packet of banana cream pudding mix 

>1/2 cup of banana 

>1/4-1/2 cup of oil 

>1 graham cracker crust pie shell 

>Whipped Cream 

>Sliced Almonds (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350F. Into a bowl crumble up a graham cracker crust pie shell and set aside. In a separate bowl mix together your cake mix, pudding mix, 1/4 cup of oil to start and banana. Mix until incorporated into dough, if too dry add 1/4 cup more oil. Then mix in your crumbled up graham cracker crust pie shell. Take 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls and add to cookie sheet, give a little two finger press down. Bake for around 16 minutes, or until golden brown on the sides. Let cool for 10 minutes then add your whipped cream and slivered almonds. Enjoy!

Categories
Sports & Leisure Student Life at VC

VC Social at the Ventura College Women’s Basketball Game

I was able to go behind the scenes and interview some of the women that played in the basketball game last Friday February 23rd, 2024 at Ventura College. There are two in particular that stood out to me and would like to share their stories. I was able to speak with them pregame and I even managed to attend one of their team practice sessions where I got to do the interviews. I hope you enjoy their story as they are some very nice and friendly people that have also had their struggle to be where they are today.

This is Alexis Howery. She has been playing basketball her entire life. Since childhood, she would go to Ventura College with a friend of hers and play basketball together practicing their shots. Today both her and her friend, Tiernan Philips, are on the women’s basketball team at Ventura College. Alexis is a sophomore, and a shooting guard for the Ventura College basketball team. This year they got many new members in their team, and they seem to all get along well and have grown a pretty close friendship with one another. 

Alexis is part of the first generation in her family to go to college and it seems to be a big driving factor for her to do good in school. She has four siblings, three brothers and one sister. Alexis didn’t want to be part of the basketball team at first. She wanted to join gymnastics or do another sport, but basketball ran in her family so she kind of fell into it. She still enjoys playing basketball and takes it very seriously. 

This is Daphné LeBrun, she is a point guard at Ventura College. During one of her more recent games she was injured and will need surgery. She was in the middle of a game when she miss-stepped and ended up tearing her ACL. Due to the severity of her injury, not only will she need surgery, but she also won’t be able to play for the rest of the season. Despite her situation she remains cheerful and keeps cheering for her teammates at the games. She also said, “it’s harder to see them at practice because I want to join them and participate when they are in a game it’s easier for me because I can just cheer for them”. 

Daphné originally came to America from France and was planning on staying here for another four years. She wanted to do all of her school in the United States but since she was injured, she will be returning to France next year to recover. One of her main concerns besides the surgery itself is her not being able to play basketball the way she used to. She will most likely stay in France for the rest of her schooling and potentially play basketball over there when she recovers. 

This Wednesday February 28th, 2024 they will have their last playoffs game at (time of the game) you are all more than welcome to come and show your support at the game click below for more details!!!

https://www.vcweplayhard.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/schedule

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Sports & Leisure

New Podcast: VC Social Talks Three Seasons of Ted Lasso on Apple TV+

Ted Lasso season 3 has come and gone. Since this was one of our favorite shows at VC Social, Torrey Rodriguez and Ximena Alvear join Nick Norris to discuss the series, ranging from favorite moments to how the show has influenced their actual lives.

Follow Ximena on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/heyyximena/

Follow Torrey on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/torreyleigh3/

Connect with Nick on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickjnorris/

Categories
Local Business Spotlight

Santa Paula Trading Co.

Santa Paula trading co is located in Santa Paula, CA. I was founded in 2017 and in 2020 it was under new owner ship by Tracy. It is a cool and unique store with so many great finds. They sell so many  great finds like candles, jewelry, clothes, ceramics, and many more. This is one place everyone needs to check out, they have such a friendly community when walking in. So, if there’s one place you need to find some cool stuff, Santa Paula Trading Co is the place to go!

Categories
Business Social Media Student Life at VC

Apex Mobile Tires

I took some time to highlight a local business that a dear friend created and is loving what he does by servicing the community and helping people in their busy day to day lives. Everyone gets busy from time to time, so i can speak for myself and admit I don’t have that much free time anymore. I work a 9am – 5pm weekday job so trying to get errands done can be a hassle but having one less thing to worry about like you’re tires can be a life saver, Kyle has personally come to me and serviced my vehicle and it didn’t take any time out of my day. If you’re ever in need, reach out to Kyle on his Instagram page and you can get back on the road in no time!

https://www.instagram.com/apexmobiletires/?igshid=ymmymta2m2y%3D

Categories
Local Business Spotlight

Boutique Fashion Blog

VC Social YouTube

Categories
Student Life at VC

Spring 2023: As Another Semester is Coming to an End…

Another semester at Ventura College is coming to an end, and I’m so proud of how far the Social Media Marketing program students have come. This is now just the third time that I’ve taught the Digital Content Marketing class, BUS V52, and the VC Social brand has evolved so much in the past couple of years.

The first time I taught this class was in Fall 2021, in the midst of the pandemic. There were only 11 students in the class, and when we met, we were all wearing face masks. The second time was last year in Spring 2022, and that course was fully online with 12 students.

This semester, we’ve been back in-person again, without masks (hooray!), with a classroom filled with 24 students. Considering the nature of this course, I’ve had to adapt and make some significant changes in order to keep up with the number of students compared to previous semesters. For example, I’ve had to give up some control over the social media profiles and draft vs. publish status of posts on the website, needing to trust that the students will follow the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics we studied in week 1. As you can imagine, this was a bit nerve-racking, as the blog and social media profiles are public. And I have to give it up to the students, they handled this responsibility with respect and professionalism. Not that I’m surprised.

Perhaps the biggest change I made, though, was giving control of the final project to the students. Rather than assigning a topic and making rules about groups, we agreed collectively to let the students decide what type of content they wanted to create and with whom. Some students decided to work in groups, while others opted to go solo. Content ranged from reviewing local businesses to showcasing artistic skills, with a variety of multimedia created for the blog, Instagram profile, and YouTube and podcast channels. From a quality standpoint, I didn’t micromanage, but instead asked students to push their boundaries and create something they could be proud of five years from now. This led to some incredible articles, graphics, videos and more.

I could ramble on about this semester forever, but since I know the students reading this are waiting for their prompt to reply to, I’ll bring this to a close by saying that I think Spring 2023 has been a huge success, and while I know I have a lot of work to do to continue making this class and program of value to the community, I believe this cohort of students is so incredibly talented and will go on to do great things in life. I only hope to be able to keep in touch with them over the years so I can continue celebrating their achievements. 

Now here’s the question that I’d like students to answer in the comments section…

What is the one thing you learned from that class that you’ll take with you to the next stage of your career and/or education?

Categories
Food & Beverage Local Business Spotlight

Boccali’s Pizza & Pasta

Last week, Melissa, Ella, and Davey of Ventura College, visited Boccali’s Pizza & Pasta in Ojai, California. Continue below to read about their experience!

18 miles north of Ventura, is Boccali’s, a family owned and operated eatery that has been around since 1986. The menu at Boccali’s, features a variety of choices including hand tossed pizzas with all the toppings you can think of! There is also a list of pasta’s, ravioli’s, salads, and sandwiches to choose from. Boccali’s also has its own wine vineyard on property, in which you can take part in an exclusive wine tasting experience, available Saturday’s and Sunday’s from 12-5pm.

We decided on ordering personal sized pizzas which were much bigger than we expected them to be! (as you can tell in the image above) The outdoor seating made our eating experience extra enjoyable, seeing the beautiful green aesthetic of Ojai on our left and right.


For dessert, we ordered Boccali’s most famous dish, which is the strawberry shortcake

This delicious treat left us incredibly satisfied, and eager to go back for more. Who’s joining us for our next trip?


Overall, our meal at Boccali’s is one we will continue to praise, and recommend to all looking for their next place to visit.

Check out our Instagram Reel to see our experience!

Ella
Davey
Melissa
Categories
Student Life at VC

3 Easy Ways to Decorate Your Graduation Cap

Graduation season is just around the corner! Decorating your graduation cap is a fun way to add a personalized touch to your big day. Let’s talk about 3 easy ways to decorate your grad cap, so that you can get inspired and make your cap your own!

The items needed to make each cap can be found at your local craft store or even on Amazon, so they are all easily accessible. Customize the colors and design to your liking… let your imagination run wild!

1. Photo Cap

Items needed:

  • 3-D Stickers
  • Alphabet stickers
  • Polaroids or other small photos
  • Double-sided tape
  • Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Our family and friends play a huge role in our success as students. What better way to honor them and their support than on your grad cap?

Grab some Polaroids or print out small photos and get to work! This one is super simple. Arrange the photos however you’d like, leaving room for text or other decorative elements. You can stick the photos onto your cap with double-sided tape or using a hot glue gun!

Note: Your stickers should stick right on, but feel free to use some hot glue if they don’t feel secure. You don’t want to be worried about them falling off during your graduation ceremony.

2. Cardstock Cap

Items needed:

  • Glitter Cardstock Paper
  • 3-D Stickers
  • Alphabet stickers
  • Scissors
  • X-ACTO knife
  • Double-sided tape

Add some personality to your cap! Show off your interests or academic major with a design like this. Grab a piece of glitter cardstock in a color of your choice and use your scissors to cut it into a square that fits your cap (mine was 9.25” x 9.25”). Then, use an X-ACTO knife to cut out a circle in the center of the cardstock that fits the button on your cap (mine had about a 1″ diameter). This will be the base of your cap. 

Now for the fun part! Add a phrase or quote using alphabet stickers and decorate using 3-D stickers. You can find a variety of colors and designs at your local craft store, so the options are truly endless. You can even go with patterned cardstock paper instead of glitter, if that’s more your style! Attached the decorated cardstock to your cap with double-sided tape and you’re ready to go.

3. Flower Crown Cap

Items Needed:

  • Alphabet stickets
  • Artificial flowers
  • Hot glue gun and glue sticks

This flower crown design is simple but adds a fun element to your graduation day outfit.

Pick out some artificial flowers in your favorite color. You should be able to pull them right off of the stems, but trim off any excess parts of the back side of the flowers if needed. Add some hot glue to the back side of the flowers and press them firmly against the bottom of the mortarboard (square part on the crown of the cap). 

When you’re done, feel free to add a phrase with the alphabet stickers or other decorative elements on the top of the cap. I kept mine simple with a short phrase, but let your creativity flow!

Final Note

Before you attach anything onto your graduation cap, don’t forget to check the inside of your cap! Most caps will tell you which side is the front of your cap. This will help you make sure your design is right-side up.

Have fun creating and congrats, grad!