LOS FELIZ—On Sunday, August 23, Chop-It-Up Sundays, a monthly brunch event, will be happening at the Desert Rose in Los Feliz from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Chop-It-Up Sundays was started in December 2014 by Traci Goldstine of TAG.UR.IT. Events and Jaimi Alexander, two entertainment and business professionals who are passionate about helping others connect.  Their brunches present an opportunity for people of different backgrounds to make friends, as well as business and creative connections, over great food.  Canyon News spoke with Jaimi, who emphasized that the brunches aren’t “networking events” in the traditional sense: “It’s not like everyone in tech wears blue name tags, everyone in sales [wears a different color name tag]…we’re people first, and I think that’s what works.”

Jaimi came up with the idea for the event after returning to Los Angeles, having lived in New York for three years. “When I came back to LA, I was here for a year just to relax and get back on my feet,” she told Canyon News. “New York can be very tiring and I just wanted to see my friends, so I started a brunch.” After the first event, she got in touch with Traci, with whom she wanted to work on a project with since meeting her three years ago; they decided to make Chop-It-Up Sundays a joint project.

The brunches were originally held at Madera Kitchen, a restaurant in Hollywood. This week’s brunch marks the first one put on in a different location. “This is our new home, Desert Rose,” said Jaimi. “We started [at Madera] but then our crowd got so big that [our event became] too big for the venue!”

When asked why Chop-It-Up Sundays is a different experience than going out to a regular brunch with friends, Jaimi responded, “I definitely have a knack for bring people together. It’s my passion, and it’s the same thing with Traci. Our goal is to have people leave an event happy…That is something that feels good to us. We like people to feel like they’re at home at our event.” In addition to the friendly atmosphere, there are giveaways from local entrepreneurs with prizes such as Studio 84 lipstick and meal plans from a personal trainer.

Tickets to the brunch are still available on Eventbrite. Admission is $5; food is not included in the price. There will be $15 limitless mimosas, $5 bloody mary’s and $5 sangrias available, as well as hookah. For updates, follow Chop-It-Up Sundays on Instagram.