Downtown LA has changed so much since I was a kid. It’s become cleaner, trendier and, well… not a cheap place to live. One thing that hasn’t changed too much are many of the original buildings and their amazing architecture. The fiancé and I spent quite a bit of time taking pictures around the area during our last visit in December.
With all the final wedding planning to do, we didn’t have to much time to explore this time around. On the up side, we did get to browse through DTLA’s expansive jewelry district in search of the perfect wedding bands. There were so many shops to choose from we didn’t know where to start! All I can say is thank goodness for Yelp. After a bit of research, we settled on 5 different shops to check out and off we went.
Although price and quality were certainly at the top of our priority list, we knew we wanted something more. For us, our wedding bands weren’t going to be just another piece of jewelry. They were going to be a symbol of our love and commitment and when we look at them we want to remember the moment we chose them and the people we bought them from.
Out of the places we checked out, one definitely met all our standards. Eli’s Jewelry is a family owned jewelry store run by two brothers (Eli & Raffi) and their mother (Ardemis). All I can say, is that they are some of the loveliest people we’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. From the moment we walked through the door we had their undivided attention. We weren’t too sure about what we wanted, but they had no problem helping us figure it out. They had so many great and helpful opinions. To be honest, we probably spent a few hours in there, but only half of that was spent looking at rings. The other half was just talking about travel and our lives in Korea. It was as if we were all long lost friends.
I’m trying really hard not to sound like an advertisement, but it was such a personal experience and the quality of their diamonds and rings were exceptional it’s hard not to sing their praises. A friend of mine designed my engagement ring and I wanted the diamond quality to match (without costing an arm and a leg). They showed me the perfect bands in my price range! It took forever to finally narrow it down to “The One,” but when I did I couldn’t have been happier. They even engraved the inside of our rings with our wedding date and gave my engagement ring a complimentary cleaning. So, if you’re ever in the market for rings, I vouch for Eli’s 100%.
After successfully acquiring our beautiful rings, we had worked up quite the appetite. On our last visit, we had come across Grand Central Market, but didn’t have the time to eat there. We weren’t about to miss our chance this time around.
Grand Central Market is basically a giant food court in the middle of downtown LA. They offer dishes from so many different countries and I have to admit… If you don’t know what you’re walking into, the choices can be a bit overwhelming. So, after sweeping through everything once we decided that we would each choose a restaurant and go halfsies on the food.
I chose Eggslut. With a name like that, how could I not be curious? Essentially, they specialize in egg based breakfast sandwiches which is all sorts of awesomeness on its own. I honestly wanted one of everything, but I settled on a bacon, egg & cheese sandwich. It might sound pretty basic, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. My sandwich came with hardwood smoked bacon, a cage-free over medium egg, cheddar cheese and chipotle ketchup in a warm brioche bun. It was heaven! My favorite part was actually the bun. So soft, so light, so delish!
After kind of sharing my sandwich with the fiancé, we moved on to his choice which was Sarita’s Pupusaria. He was a first-time eater of this cheesy El Salvadorian dish, so I was really curious to see what he thought. It had been quite some time since I had had one as well, so I’m happy to report that we both really enjoyed it! The pupusas are all made fresh right in front of you so there’s a bit of a wait time, but if you’re not in a rush I’d say it’s definitely worth the wait.
By this point, we were once again out of time and had to move on to more wedding appointments. So much food yet so little time, but I’m glad we had the chance to check it out. Everything we had was delicious, so we will definitely be back next time to try out other spots. I can hardly wait!
- Eli’s Jewelry
- Hours
- 9:00am~5:00pm, Monday~Friday
- 9:00am~4:00pm, Saturday
- CLOSED on Sundays
- Address
- 607 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
- Located inside California Jewelry Mart
- 607 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
- Phone
- 213-623-1611
- Hours
- Grand Central Market
- Hours
- 8:00am~10:00pm, Everyday
- Address
- 317 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013
- Phone
- 213-624-2378
- Website
- Hours
