When I was a kid, Black Friday wasn’t a thing, but the day after Thanksgiving was still my favorite holiday. Aunt Lassie would ditch the dishes and take us to Northern California’s best boutique shopping destinations, like Sausalito, Yountville, and Aptos. I rarely had a dime, but the magic of browsing small businesses stuck with me.
As an adult, I’ve advocated for locally owned independents for decades, first as a columnist for The Davis Enterprise, and now through Downtown Nor Cal, which I began in 2019. My original goal was to bring you hidden gems, but the 2020+ pandemic necessitated more serious coverage. With the public health emergency now behind us, I’m back to breezy content reinforcing small, local shopping habits.
Communities are dependent on Main Street for many assets like tax dollars, jobs, charitable donations, and overall quality of life. I don’t even want to think about a world without same-day retail where products are tested and chosen by friendly faces who know your name, needs, and price point.
As you consider my mission, I invite you to think of shopping choices the same way we consider elections. How we spend our dollars is akin to voting—the more we support our hometowns, the more they flourish and thrive. That’s why my motto remains: Go Big & Shop Small!
I hope you’ll join me in championing local businesses and cultivating sustainable communities through our shopping choices. Together, we can save these precious resources.
Thanks for stopping by!
A word about racial equity and inclusion:
Downtown Nor Cal is working toward antiracism. In addition to advocacy for small, locally owned, independent businesses, I appreciate the chance to highlight and support Black-owned businesses as well as businesses owned/managed by people of color and other marginalized communities. We must also question why there is a scarcity of these businesses.
About Me
Married ballroom dancer, mom of a UO 2020 graduate (Go Ducks!) and two rescued dogs. I’m civically promiscuous, prefer the indoors, great R&B, and the second gin and tonic. I’m also a Muscular Dystrophy and Tarlov Cyst Disease patient.
Rasputin (aka: Raspy) had some terrible horrible, no good, rotten, bad families before us. Thankfully, the pandemic was the perfect salve for his separation anxiety. So long, Prozac!
Meet Batman. He came to us just 2 weeks after a limb amputation while still healing from three pelvic fractures and a gunshot wound. Despite everything he has a strong spirit and a gentle soul.