Gold Bug is a deco and curiosity shop tucked behind Old Town Pasadena’s main drag, just a block off of Colorado Boulevard. Brimming with entomological rarities, heart-stopping artisan jewelry, toys, knick-knacks, spider-adorned dishes and hilarious taxidermy, this place is a total treasure trove. Forget kid in a candy-store, when I walked in here I felt like Marie entering the magical kingdom in The Nutcracker [really]. It’s easy to get lost amidst gilded walnuts stacked in candy dishes beside brass jumbo teeth and towering old-school hourglasses, delicate golden keys hanging in bunches from porcelain display hands and stacks of tin crowns inviting customers to play dress-up. Though the prices can get a bit steep, the merchandise is precisely the kind you’d actually want to save up for. Perfect example: a huge oxidized silver ring with shimmering blue butterfly wings under glass. In the words of Garth: “One day, it will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.”

Words and photos by Zoetica Ebb