As someone who does not live in Ventura, CA this shop was excitingly new to me. It took me around 30minutes 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
Crystalbottles : $5 each
Permanentjewelry: ranging from $45-$100+
Mysterybags: $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.
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!
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!
Do you know there is an organization that helps our community? Have you ever felt that you could do more for your community? Listen to my podcast. During our interview, Jason Hurst shared with us what Action VC is all about. How Action VC helps our Ventura County community.
Social media is a growing multi-use tool for everyone. Surfers and skaters have been able to capitalize on social media as a way to grow their audience and earn money by promoting brands. It can be tough, for local surfers especially, to get good quality clips showcasing their skills. This is where False Front Media can help. False Front Media records clips of surfers, skaters, and more on a high quality camera and creates video edits for their social media feeds.
Here’s a YouTube video that takes a behind the scenes dive into False Front Media.:
Filmed and edited By Schuyler Arevalo
False Front Media was created by Noah Gilbert, an Oxnard local. Him and his team help create and promote high quality videos on social media, they primarily operate on Instagram and YouTube. My experiences working with False Front Media have been positive. The process no matter the project has always been quick, enjoyable, and productive. Noah Gilbert has great ideas for video creation, once his vision is set and the video starts coming together I’m always able to appreciate the art of putting clips together to make a video a little bit more.
My interview with game designer, Sekoya, at Two Trees Escape.
Two Trees Escape is a Ventura-based, family owned business that describes themselves as “a unique venue for playing, exploring, and bonding. Our escape rooms are designed for players of all kinds: young, old, brave, curious, friendly, and eager to learn something new about themselves and their team”.
Use code “VCSOCIAL” when you book an escape room for 10% off!
The art shown above is the work of Sunimari Madrigal, a student at Ventura College. The art was made for her small business called The Moon’s Canvas. The art was made on a canvas about 13×9, made up of different art mediums such as paint, gouache, paint markers, and acrylic paint as well. The inspiration for this piece came from the beauty of the land we are lucky to have on Earth and also the beauty of the stars in the Universe.
Below is a video of her showing us how she created their piece.
Get ready to be inspired by this exclusive interview where the student Ana Zanin had the opportunity to have an insightful conversation with Andria, owner of Andria’s Seafood Restaurant. In this discussion, she reveals the remarkable story of this hidden gem. From its humble beginnings to its success, as voted #1 seafood market in Ventura.
Andria shares the struggles, secrets, and family traditions that have shaped the restaurant’s legacy. With a careful selection of fresh fish, secret recipes passed down through generations, and a consistent commitment to great quality food. This undeniable passion is what makes Andria’s Seafood Restaurant so loved by its’ community for almost 41 years.
L->R: Lexi Quolas (VCS), Sarah Fox (VCS), Jennifer Smith (co-owner), Sophia Smith-Grunder (co-owner), Kelyla Nelson (VCS)
A Family That Creates Together, Stays Together.
Ventura, California is home to many local small businesses, but there are none like Ex-Voto Chocolates and Confections. Offering handcrafted chocolates, organic based ice cream, toffee, house made nut butters, fresh caramel, espresso drinks and much more. This gem has captured the hearts of their patrons using gourmet chocolate that is fair trade and is of single origin.
Owned and operated by the mother daughter duo, Jennifer Smith and Sophia Smith-Grunder, it took time for them to come up with a name that would fit their passion for confections; that is when they settled upon Ex-Voto. The term “ex-voto” is Latin for “milagro” and by definition, it means an offering given in gratitude for an answered prayer.
This small but mighty business started in 2015 with Jennifer selling her decadent chocolates at the local farmers market in Ojai, California. Two years later, they opened their storefront and flagship business in Midtown, Ventura. Initially, Jennifer encouraged her daughter to focus on a cooking and baking career of her own. It just so happens that Sophia makes a phenomenal caramel, amongst other things, better than Jennifer could of dreamed. Thus, Ex-Voto grew into a run and operated family business. The business has boomed since the duo settled in Ventura and have been making history ever since.
VC Social got the chance to sit down with Jennifer and get to know the history behind the business and what ignited their future. First things first, a bit about Jennifer: she began cooking when she was just 5-years old and is completely self taught. Her passion led her to culinary school in San Francisco studying pastry and bread making. Although, she continued to educate herself, take specialty classes online and certifications courses in hopes to figure out what avenue truly felt right to her. Jennifer’s intuitive spirit led her to chocolate as she started to see the word popping up in more ways than one. It was enough to spark her interest to teach herself the craft.
Hand painted and crafted chocolate truffles.
Chocolate, Chocolate And More Chocolate!
Jennifer fell in love with how complex, scientific, challenging, and creative chocolate can be. In turn, she draws inspiration from culture, food and nature resulting in truly complex flavor profiles that otherwise wouldn’t be found elsewhere. Her creations take form of one item and converging it with another. This can be seen in Ex-Voto chocolates, like the Sweet Pecan & Chili Gianduja (in dark chocolate) or the Key Lime (paired with white chocolate ganache).
Jennifer has developed close relationships with her patrons; she pays close attention to what customers are asking for and most importantly when they want it. This has played an important role in their business model and identifying their target market. Ex-Voto began focusing on seasonal items to pay homage to the time of year and most importantly what the seasons represent. Almost all year around you can find your favorites like their Turtles (salted caramel with slow roasted almonds) or the house-made peanut butter buddhas in milk or vegan dark chocolate.
Salted Caramel & Roasted Almond Turtles
Seasonal Easter themed chocolates
Sophia airbrushes flower mold for truffles
It’s Springtime here in Ventura and the Ex-Voto team has been working hard on their seasonal selection; it comes in different shapes, colors and textures including: eggs, bunnies and flower molds. A few of their Spring seasonal items include the Baklava Caramel eggs (using honey cinnamon caramel and pistachios), Pomegranate Rose in dark chocolate, Orange Blossom in white/dark chocolate, and Bananas Foster in milk chocolate, just to name a few.
Is your mouth watering yet?
Featured Ice Cream menu and additions.
The Unique Ice Cream Flavors
Both Jennifer and Sophia come up with recipes by combining different notes, textures and complementary flavors that are well balanced to make heavenly combinations.
Ice cream is a childhood favorite for Jennifer and she has created each one offered at Ex-Voto to perfection. We asked her how she comes up with the recipes for her batches and she shared that most is trial and error. Like her banana honeycomb recipe, Jennifer explained that she had to experiment to find the best way to bring out the banana flavor considering its rather starchy. Her first initial idea was to do banana and peanut butter but she realized that both flavors were too flat. She tasted, processed and talked with Sophia and other employees, bringing up potential matches until they came up with honeycomb. It gives the banana a complementary sweetness, crunch and bitterness.
One of the flavors VC Social favored was her in-house made Queso Fresco y Miel ice cream. Jennifer explained that it took her over 15 tries to find the perfect balance between the Mexican based salty soft cheese and sweet notes of honey. The flavor has become one of their best sellers and permanently remains on their ice cream selection. The combination is almost cheesecake-like and pairs well with house-made marshmallow creme that is lightly toasted with a torch in front of you.
Honey Lavender ice cream with marshmallow creme and rainbow sprinkles in a scratch-made waffle cone.
By keeping up with customer demand their business has created a sufficient following. Most importantly, Ex-Voto takes pride in the relationships that they form with each and every customer that walks through their door. We spoke briefly to a customer, Arlene, who told us that Ex-Voto is one of her favorite places to frequent. She loves the quality of their products and whenever her grand-daughter is back in town from college, they make it a point to stop in and grab a scoop of ice cream. Their patrons genuinely feel like they are part of the family and their support in the business continues to other generations.
Supporting Our Community
It was an absolute pleasure chatting with Jennifer and getting to know the ins and outs of her and Sophia’s daily routine and life at Ex-Voto. As we continued to chat after the interview, Jennifer shared another reason why she works as hard as she does. Her son Seth, 21, a student and surfer, has an extremely rare form of cancer called Synovial Sarcoma, one that has very little research on. If you’ve ever wondered why it’s important to support our community and small local businesses, this is why.
Seth during his new test trial.Seth’s fundraising surfboard sticker. Artwork by Christine May Brand.
Please visit Seth’s website for more information about his journey, treatment and the cancer research fundraiser his family has set up. If you would like to help contribute to their cause for a cure, you can donate directly or find Seth’s custom sticker at Ex-Voto’s storefront location or online here.
Thank you again Jennifer, Sophia and Ex-Voto team for giving VC Social the opportunity to get to know you and discover some new favorite sweet treats!
VC Social 