This past month, I’ve been splitting my time between San Francisco and Los Angeles. I’ve always wanted to live and work in both of these amazing cities and it’s finally happening! Last week, during Designers & Agents for LA Market/Fashion Week, I found an amazing little surprise around the corner from my office in the New Mart. At the Designers & Agents show, I was introduced to the eat.shop guides.

The eat.shop guides were created by author Kaie Wellman in 2003. Since then, Wellman has expanded the guides to multiple cities, in the US and internationally. Because we’re California girls (total Katy Perry style all the way), we delved into  the 2nd Edition of San Francisco (written by Wellman herself) and the 3rd Edition of Los Angeles (written by Anna H. Blessing).

“The eat.shop Los Angeles & San Francisco books are built on the premise of local is good; the books are encapsulated views of the most interesting, inspired and authentic locally owned eating and shopping establishments,” says Wellman.

I started with the Los Angeles edition and instantly feel in love with the tour of Los Angeles county that was presented in these pages. From Avenue 43 to Santa Monica, Downtown Los Angeles to the best tacos in Silverlake, Anna captured our city in its finest eats.

The only thing she missed – Wooden Spoon in downtown LA off 9th and Main (Darling,  please visit!). After I gorged myself on the delectable, delightful eating; we shopped from Abbott Kinney to Melrose, Eagle Rock to Hollywood. Anna found a store I didn’t even know existed! I felt a little ashamed, as proud and true Angeleno.

My Top Picks For Food: Valerie Confections and Food + Lab. My Top Picks For Shopping:  Church, Creatures Of Comfort and Noodle Stories.

“I love a good makeover, and Los Angeles is the place for one. Anyone can do anything here, and finding yourself might mean a personal transformation that happens again and again. Transformation, evolution, metamorphosis – whatever your call it, it happens at lightspeed in this city – to both people and places.” – Anna Blessing

Moving on to San Francisco was especially exciting. I’ve visited the beautiful city by the bay numerous times in the past four years; I even had a brief stint of falling in love and living there before I met my now wife.

Now, I go back, for business and pleasure. I pour through San Francisco like a tourist.  I love to be in this city. This month, I’m going to take Kaie’s advice and take a walk over the Golden Gate Bridge.

My Top Picks For Food: Local 123 (East Bay) & Camino (Oakland). My Top Picks For Shops: Story Boxes.

Eat. Shop Via iPhone App

What’s even cooler is that the San Francisco (as well as Portland, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Paris, Montreal and Chicago) edition is available as an iPhone App! Wooo hooo!

You can follow them on twitter @EatShopGuides or buy your favorite city guide online.