Daily Gems & other musings — East Bay

We recently announced our outreach in our Berkeley community here on the blog, and this week we're sharing more about Dorothy's Closet, the thrift shop we'll be helping to open to support a special program here in our hometown. Opening this spring, Dorothy's Closet has been developed in partnership with Rebuilding Together East Bay North and will be a store that provides workforce development, social services and shopping for those in need. With our own experience in opening our flagship location in Downtown Berkeley, viv&ingrid was asked to help open Dorothy's Closet, which will accept donations and provide a shopping...

“The church has an obligation to feed the poor, and we cannot spend all our money on buildings [in speaking of Cathedral in SF] . However, there are many kinds of hunger. There is a hunger for bread, and we must give people food. But there is also a hunger for beauty – and there are very few beautiful places that the poor can get into... a few places where the poor can go and sit down and be with God in beauty.”  - Dorothy Day As we move into the new year, we'll be sharing with you our latest...

Spent our Sunday at the Downtown Berkeley Roller Boogie event, and it's safe to say it was a great way to end the weekend - what's better than roller skating, music and good vibes? 

The inspiration for the original viv&ingrid "Bonbon Box" came from the idea of treating yourself to a box of little luxuries, something we dreamed up in our small upstairs design studio before we opened our flagship shop in Downtown Berkeley...fast forward a few years later, and after we opened viv&ingrid at Oxford Hall, our idea evolved into creating little boxes of edible treats featuring our local friends and artisanal candy creators. The viv&ingrid Bonbon Bar was one of our favorite endeavors, and we loved partnering with different small makers to bring locally made and sustainably sourced products and women-owned businesses...

We're beyond excited to share one of our favorite Bay Area #localgems with you this week - FLOWERLAND, "an old fashioned nursery and gift shop for the modern gardener."  We couldn't love the description more, combining both the traditional {think great, friendly customer service in a charming neighborhood} and modern {the best products from gardening to gifts, all in one convenient spot}, and we'd like to think of ourselves in a similar way! Nestled in a quiet but accessible spot in Albany, California on one of our favorite streets, Solano Avenue {home to our original design studio!}, Flowerland is our go-to...