Southern Callifornia Bead Shop Hop Day 0

We arrived in Southern California from Las Vegas (home) about midday on Thursday.  I was so eager to start hopping that I decided to take the advice of a couple of friends and check out the bead district which is part of the fashion district in downtown Los Angeles.  One friend had given me the address of a store called Bead Factory, which is actually two stores in one.  The other store inside the store is Bohemian Crystals. 
We worked our way through the narrow crowded streets passing the produce district on the way to the fashion district.  We passed blocks and blocks of what looked like sidewalk sales everywhere.  When we found the address, Gene pulled over and dropped me off.  I decided to start in the store on the corner and work my way down.  I was somehow under the delusion that we would be able to look at most of the 20 or more stores that I had found listed in the area.  That first store (that I never really figured out the name of) was so crowded and so overwhelming. 

As I took a few pictures, Gene tried calling me.  My phone decided I was too busy, and sent Gene a text asking what's up.  He couldn't find me, and I finally had to call him and he made his way through the maze to where I was.  We staggered to the next store:  Beads and More.  Thinking that I had plenty of time, and I was going to compare prices, I started taking notes. A girl said, in her broken English, that I should buy it now, because they would change their prices tomorrow, and she didn't want me to get tired.  I thanked her, and finished my notes as Gene talked to the Owner who was from Iran if I remember correctly.  We assured them we would return, and moved on to the next store.  We finally had made it to the one that had been recommended to me, and I started looking around.  It was more crowded with people, an organized store, but more filled with people.  I was finding charms and other misc. materials when I asked about the Swarovski... I was pointed to the Bohemian Crystal corner of the store....and the rest is history.  WOW!!!  That tiny corner of the store had soooooo many crystals, and the prices were great.  You guessed it.  I bought a lot of crystal rivolis.  You know what that means right?  I have a lot of bezeling in my future.  We closed the store...the sign says they close at 4:00, and they kept finding me crystals, and we left after 4:30. 
After I spend my fortune at that 2 in 1 store, we headed back to Beads and More.  I found some fabulous deals there as well, and I believe they closed at 5:00   I had my list, and so I rushed around the store grabbing the things I wanted.  We were able to get back to the car before the lot charged us for the next several hours. 
So there we were in downtown LA, finished with our shopping for the day, and we realized that it was the peak of rush hour.  Instead of heading to Oceanside where we are staying and  grabbing dinner at Ruby's on the pier, we decided to wait out the traffic a bit and stopped at Jack in the Box.  We made it to our place in plenty of time for me to make 4 macrame bracelets before bedtime. 
I know I promised that I would list a lot of new things on Etsy this week, but I'm afraid I'm going to be a little bit tardy on that.  I'm afraid if I don't blog about this trip while it's fresh in my mind, I'll forget everything.