A week ago last Sunday I had the pleasure of taking part in a new series of events here in Sacramento called the GOOD: street food + design market. Taking a page from the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco and the Dose Market in Chicago, GOOD features the best in local artists and designers.

Unseen Heroes and inFORM, the geniuses behind this project, have joined with the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership to create a very vital, visually striking marketplace that drew over 2,500 people on its opening day. The building was buzzing with excited visitors who were sampling fabulous food and drinks from the local area while perusing a wonderfully curated selection of vintage and handmade goods.

My immediate neighbors were the lovely Marosi White of Accent Décor, Vanessa Lopez from Heart Clothing Boutique, and Bridgette Maldonado of Gypsy Mobile Boutique. What a wonderful group of women! They were friendly and welcoming, and I loved the variety of items they were offering. Though related, each of our booths had a slightly different vibe that offset and complemented the others. It was really quite a fabulous setup! I must admit, I had the best spot in the house, under a quite architectural, imposing black iron rack originally made for holding large rugs. It was a great backdrop and wonderfully delineated my space.

I was so busy during the day that I didn’t really have time to visit the other vendors much, though I did say hi to my friend Danyelle Petersen of Schiff’s Estate Sale Building and got to meet the very talented Rachel Sprinkle-Strong from Popcycle, with whom I happen to share a mutual friend! BTW, thanks, Rachel, for sharing your amazing ice cream creations with us. They were just the ticket for a warm summer day. And who would have thought of coconut curry ice cream? Rachel, of course! Though I was busy nonstop and thought I’d miss out on all the amazing food on offer, my friend Mary was kind enough to get me the yummiest lamb gyro from Fuzion Eatz – savory and spicy, cooled down with yogurt. Fabulous! For more information about the vendors involved, you can visit the GOOD vendors album on Facebook.

I had a fabulous day selling at this innovative new marketplace, which was more like attending a party than working (that’s in part due to the great music being spun by the guys from Phono Select!). From start to finish, everyone involved was friendly, creative, helpful, and really excited to be there. I have to say, I’ve never been involved in a show where the staff not only helped me unload my car but helped me set up my booth. That blew me away! This is a really stellar group of people doing amazing things to revitalize an area of Sacramento that can really use it, while giving the folks of Sacramento a great destination to look forward to each month. Kudos to everyone involved, and thank you to all of the lovely folks who came out to see us — especially those of you who followed me from other shows! I can’t wait for the next one, and hope to see you all there!

This series runs the first Sunday of each month through November at 1409 Del Paso Boulevard in Sacramento. For more information, you can visit the GOOD Facebook page, or stay tuned to my Facebook page.