I know this may be a weird question, but...

Often times when people ask me a question at Pure Pleasure, they tend to begin with the phrase, "I know this may be a weird question, but...” The question that follows is generally a very common inquiry, such as “What size butt plug should I buy for my boyfriend?”, or “Do penis pumps really work?” Similarly, many people come in the store and vocalize their fears about every aspect of buying a product from asking for recommendations to walking out the door with a vibrator-in-tow, even to admittedly being an owner and user of the product.

While these are all very common concerns (I’m sure at least half of our customers feel some sort of socially-induced anxiety around dildos), it always makes me wonder-customers are worried about inquiring about one or two toys to the lady who owns an entire store-full of them. Vibrators, anal beads, handcuffs, you name it, I got it. You may be worried about walking out of the store with a “Pure Pleasure” bag in tow, while I had my face on the front page of the local paper with a title somewhere along the lines of “Sex Still Sells”. You may be worried your friends or lovers will find your toys in your goodie drawer, or maybe even a Pure Pleasure receipt in the garbage can. I spend Thanksgiving dinners talking to my aunts and uncles and grandparents about how the store is doing, top sellers, upcoming classes, you name it.

Moral of the story: There are no weird questions at Pure Pleasure. We do not judge you for what you may be interested in or curious about, partly because that is our job, and partly because we are/were probably curious about the same thing at one point or another. In fact, some of us actually live for juicy questions and sexy stories. So come on in and ask away!

Adventures in Adult Toy Land

On June 13th, 2008, I opened a sex shop in downtown Santa Cruz right in between a public library and a family dentistry, on Church St, nonetheless. To top things off, I co-own the store with my mother. Together the Baldwin mother-daughter duo strives to change the world by selling dildos and vibrators and anything in between.

Besides being your typical family-run sex toy boutique, Pure Pleasure also offers weekly classes on everything from sensual massage to anal play. We bring in educators from across the nation to teach an 18+ crowd the ins and outs of all that is erotic. Speakers such as Midori, Jayme Waxmen, and Annie Sprinkle share their knowledge and expertise right here on the main floor of our shop. Blow-job techniques? You got it. Energy orgasms? We got that covered, too. While the classes at Pure Pleasure tend to be more 'R' rated rather than NC-17 (we use blow-up dolls for anal demo's instead of the real thing), we aim cover as many topics along the continuum of sexuality as possible.

Much like the educators that teach in our store, I am creating this blog to share my experiences and new found knowledge with anyone who is interested in learning a little something new about sex and eroticism. These are the adventures in adult toy land from the Pure Pleasure archives...enjoy!