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Jun 19th
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Thrift Stores, Shops and Bargain Hunting

indie_shops_dpIndie stores with great spirit boast stellar deals and more.

Bargain Barn
Appreciate a good rummage? Don't mind getting your hands a little dirty? The Barn is a score and a half. This hot spot is open daily from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 292 Pioneer Street,  Santa Cruz, (831) 423-8611.

Bill’s Wheels
Voted Best Skateboard Shop in GT Readers’ Poll, you can’t really go wrong here. 1240 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, 469-0904

Crossroads
For last-minute outfits Crossroads is hard to compete with, whether you're looking for basics or fancy dress wear, they are bound to have it. This is also a great place to sell old clothes. 811 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, (831) 458-0555.

41st Avenue Thrift Store District
There are all sorts of thrift and vintage clothes jammed into a few stores on 41st Avenue, just a half-block from Pleasure Point Pizza in Capitola.

Front Street Thrift Center
Books, Clothes, Furniture and more, Front St Thrift has a great deals on everything. Two stories of merchandise and it's almost always 50 percent off the clothing! 428 Front Street, Santa Cruz, (831) 457-0229.

Goodwill
There’s everything here—even if you're in the market for a nice pair of jeans. The selection is always plentiful and reasonably priced and there are always super deals if you spend the time looking.  Also a great spot to drop off unwanted clothing and household items. 204 Union Street, Santa Cruz, (831) 423-1078.

Moon Zooom
A classic Santa Cruz fashionista pit stop. The assortment of old treasures hidden within the depths of Moon Zooom is sometimes fascinating. If you desire beaded cardigans, vintage flannels and rare doc martins, Zooom on in. 813 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, (831) 423-8500.

Monthly Sunday Antique Street Faire
An extra special day for all you bargain hunters and antique/fashion fiends, at this monthly occasion you will always find a vast array of historical relics and fun rarities. The Antique fair is held every second Sunday of each month on Lincoln Street (Between Pacific & Cedar) in Santa Cruz. (831) 476-6940.

O’Neill Surf Shop
Good deals here. Best of all the clothing is durable and nice looking. 110 Cooper St., Ste. 100D, Santa Cruz, 469-4377

Salvation Army
Open six days a week, (closed on Sundays), this is definitely the local hot spot for scoring beautiful and inexpensive furnishings. Perfect for decking out the college crib. Wednesdays are 50 percent off clothing and this place has racks upon racks of perfect party get ups. Sweater party anyone? 812 Pacific Ave.,  Santa Cruz, (831) 429-8118.

Santa Cruz Surf and Skate Shop
With local hunger advocate Danny Keith at the helm, this shop is geared toward locals and has an amazing support for local causes, in general. Beyond that, the boards—surf and otherwise—truly stand out—clothing too. 912 41st Ave., Santa Cruz, 462-3120

Sky View Flea Market
A historic and bargain brimming spot, the Sky View Flea market has a rare selection of vendors. Expect to find everything from fresh produce, bikes, toys, furniture, clothing, records, crafts and animals. The Skyview is open Friday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. 260 Soquel Drive, Santa Cruz, (831) 462-4442.

Retro Paradise
Looking for a mod look? This place has got the goods. You can find adorable vintage dresses, brightly colored sunglasses and killer cowgirl boots all in one stop. Paradise might even be an understatement. 1010 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, (831) 460-9960.

Stripe
Fun and festive and often off ering monthly get-togethers for the community, this furniture haven is great for fi nding items to load in your dorm. There are some nice clothing options here as well. 107 WalnutAve., Santa Cruz, 421-9252

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CYNDI

On the eve of Cyndi Lauper’s Mountain Winery gig, we dissect the woman, the icon, the creative beast. Plus: Her thoughts on the music industry, equal rights and those sparkling ‘Kinky Boots’ Few performers possess the kind of fierce, she-bopping tenacity Cyndi Lauper has become famous for. Equal parts free spirit, civil rights activist and Grammy-winner, Lauper is one of the few creative artists able to successfully marry her cutting-edge verve with a heart-of-gold panache. It certainly has helped fuel the remarkable career resurgence she has been experiencing lately.

 

Field to Vase

Open house provides opportunity for residents to meet their local flower growers Valentine’s Day is a high point of the year for those in the cut flower business. So when, one year in the late ’90s, the bouquet-riddled holiday failed to deliver for Kitayama Brothers Farms, the family behind the decades-old rose-growing business knew something was wrong.  “It was the writing on the wall,” recalls Stuart Kitayama, operations manager for the Watsonville-based company. “Those of us who had been hoping things would just get better finally said ‘it’s time to change.’”

 

The Price of Safety

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Community Studies 2.0

After a controversial suspension, a new incarnation of the unique UC Santa Cruz major is reinstated The UC Santa Cruz community studies lounge is a great place to have a conversation.  Housed on the second floor of a faculty building in Oakes College, just down the hall from a whiteboard that reads “COMMUNITY STUDIES LIVES,” the room has a big round table, couches and chairs, and shelves stacked with past senior “capstone projects.”

 

North Pacific String Band

Jeff Wilson, who plays banjo for North Pacific String Band, loves being part of original music experiences. “What I like about the music we play is that it’s fairly unique and kind of hard to put your finger on,” Wilson says. “We’re not just trying to do bluegrass or country or folk. It’s a mixture of those things and we try to add in a lot of musicality to all of that.” Originality and musicality aren’t ideas which are limited to the band’s exploits either.

 

Peace in the Middle East

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Muscle-Bound

Valiant cast battles loud, ugly action for the soul of 'Man of Steel' Early in Man of Steel, fourth-grader Clark, the boy who will be Superman, is cowering in a broom closet at school, eyes screwed shut, hands clapped over his ears. He can't control his super powers: his X-ray vision shows him the skulls and skeletons under everyone's flesh; unfiltered noise—dogs, traffic, heartbeats—assault him from all sides. Rushing to school, his mom kneels outside the door and asks what's wrong.

 

The Plug Bug & Corbin Dunn

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Making the Grade

The quest to identify sources of high levels of bacteria at Cowell Beach continues With straight As on Heal the Bay’s annual “beach report card” for 10 out of 13 Santa Cruz County beaches—Main Beach, Seabright, and even Cowell Beach at the Stairs, to name a few—it would seem that Santa Cruz boasts a high coastal GPA. But in recent years, one Santa Cruz beach just can’t seem to pass: Cowell Beach west of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf.

 

Flag Day, Father’s Day and Chiron

Another week of complex planetary energies falling to Earth. Mars interacts with Pluto (inconjunct), Uranus (sextile) and Chiron (square, challenge, ouch!). We won’t know how to comprise, we’ll want to be friends but our hurts will challenge that desire.
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Good Morning Maui

Goodness, righteousness, virtuousness and fairness are some of the four-score English words that attempt to describe the Hawaiian essence of pono, whose use in the state motto translates to “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.”

 

The Power of Conversation

Local author Cecile Andrews emphasizes importance of community engagement in newest book Cecile Andrews, author of the new book “Living Room Revolution: A Handbook for Conversation, Community and the Common Good,” probably wouldn’t get along too well with Larry David’s character from HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, known for hiding his face and avoiding communication with anyone he runs into on the street. Andrews is a longstanding part-time Santa Cruz (part-time Seattle) resident who says something that’s struck her about this town over the years is people's willingness to participate in a practice she’s dubbed the “Stop and Chat”—which is exactly what it sounds like.

 

Is Edward Snowden a patriot or a traitor?

He's a patriot. Anyone who stands up for the rights that we stand for as a country, that is real democracy. That would be in my book—somebody who is a patriot. Leah WeissSanta Cruz | Therapist

 

Best of Santa Cruz County

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Dancing Creek Winery

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Paying it Forward

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A Very Fine House

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Exposed

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What’s your secret to avoiding the summer swarms?