'Hoods #26, 27: A Hidden Gem Thrift Shop in Sunland & Top Filming Location in Tujunga

To check two more 'hoods off my list, I headed to the sister cities of Sunland-Tujunga for Sunday dinner at Aunt Marcy's.  (As quaint as that sounds, she's actually three months younger than me...but she can cook up a storm).  In addition to mooching a meal, I felt I needed to "experience" these 'hoods just as I would any others.

Sunland and Tujunga are located north of Burbank/Glendale on the edge of the Angeles National Forest. I lived in Sunland very briefly years ago.  While I'm sure many love the area and call it home, truthfully, there were really only two things I liked about it:  1) having family nearby and, 2) Sun Thrift.

Sun Thrift, located on Foothill Blvd. right off the 210 Freeway, is one of those hidden gems of a thrift store.  In fact, I hesitate to even mention it here for fear if word gets out, it will be swarmed by hipsters.  It's large, cheap and always jam-packed, and the fact that my very cool 19-year-old cousin shops there underscores that among the piles of junk there's some great stuff at bargain basement prices.

We only spent about 20 minutes poking around, but honestly, you could spent hours.  There's row after row of clothes, dishes, furniture and PILES of misc.  Right now I'm in a downsizing mood so didn't buy anything, but I'll definitely be back—especially right before Burning Man when I'll be stocking up on clothes I can use as costumes.  Can't believe I'd forgotten about this place.

On to Tujunga...

To check out the highlight of Tujunga, on the suggestion of my aunt we  stopped at Verdugo Hills High School, which—due to its proximity to Burbank, its 1930s charm and (most likely) its need for studio dollars— has been the location for more movies, TV shows and commercials than any other school in the world.*  Among them: the TV shows  Felicity, Beverly Hills 90210,  Quantum Leap, My So-Called Life; the movies Heathers and 10 Things I Hate About You and many, many more.

The nice thing about this challenge is that I love stuff like this—yet even though I lived minutes from Tujunga at one point, I never bothered to find out anything about it.

Due to it being a weekend the school wasn't open, but I at least got this pic so I can cross-reference it later with any TV shows & movies I might see:

Oh, and for dinner Aunt Marcy cooked up bbq chicken, roasted potatoes and asparagus & cousin Dani made an amazing salad—at least for me making Sunland/Tujunga definitely worth the drive.

*According to the school's website