North Park Shops

A small floral shop in the North Park area of San Diego, Sage Sisters focuses on quality and seasonality over volume. The careful selection of flowers is constantly changing, and no two bouquets are ever the same. But the overall aesthetic doesn’t change: natural, unpretentious designs that lean into the season. The best part of Sage Sisters, though, is that any flowers that aren’t sold by the end of the day are made into arrangements and donated to local nonprofits.

Pigment is one of those stores that makes us want to throw out everything in our home and start over. Beautiful artisanal candles you’d have a hard time finding anywhere else, elegant prints that would elevate any living space, pillows, throws, stationery, notebooks, cutting boards, cocktail glasses—Pigment speaks to the good life, and a well-curated one at that. But where Pigment really thrives is with its greenery. All manner of pots, plants, succulents, and flora that look more like pieces of art than pieces of nature. You can also design your own terrarium, which—no lie—was the most fun we’ve had in a long time.

You’re only about seventeen miles from the border, a fact that is apparent everywhere from the food to the language. And one of the most authentic places to dive into Mexican culture is Artelexia, a boutique and event space that specializes in beautiful, highly curated wares from all over Mexico. Cookbooks, dishes, chocolates, textiles, toys, cutlery, ornaments, candles—it’s far more a lifestyle shop than a souvenir one. It hosts dinners and events all year (and can even help you plan a trip south of the border), but Artelexia really comes to life in the late fall during the Día de los Muertos festival.