When she was little, Rebecca Biskaduros spent her days in the woods of Lancaster, Massachusetts, playing by the river and building forts.
“Just as a young child, I loved to be out in nature and getting dirty and climbing trees,” Biskaduros said. “I was never the little girl with the dress on; I was very much out with all the boys playing in the woods and whatnot or by myself.”
Biskaduros never let go of that passion for nature, channeling it into her store Sea + Green. Her sculptures in the store are embedded with crystals, fossils, stones and shells, combining her love for art and nature.
Sea + Green—which sells a collection of handmade goods, antique and vintage homeware, books, and plants—and Lilija, a clothing shop, share the same space in the Mission Mall on Higuera. The storefront opened in the middle of February, after Sea + Green moved from Cambria.
“Our store, we like to say that we are rooted in nature and inspired by the sea,” Biskaduros said. “It’s hard to find something plastic in here, to be honest.”
Biskaduros has a background in environmental studies and a natural curiosity about the environment. Working in San Diego in green building, she learned how to do things totally out of her comfort zone.
“It just made me realize how passionate I am still about environmental issues and doing something good for the world,” she said.
She moved back to the East Coast and eventually started Sea + Green in the small town of Bay Head, New Jersey, in 2007.
In 2020, she felt a pull to return to the West Coast, inspired by a work trip she took to San Luis Obispo.
“When I did take that business trip, I was like, ‘Whoa, I can’t believe there’s a place that looks like Vermont meets the ocean,’” Biskaduros said. “Rolling hills and cows and oceanfront and it’s not all developed. It felt kind of like ’70s California to me.”
Two years later, Indra Dunis, owner of Lilija, moved to Los Osos from Amsterdam, where she became close friends with Biskaduros. They met through their children’s school, the Central Coast Waldorf School, and decided to share a collaborative space for both their businesses.
On Dunis’ side of the store, she sells vintage clothes and clothing made by independent designers. She started small, selling clothes off a consignment rack inside Sea + Green in Cambria. She took on the name Lilija in November 2025 and now occupies a third of the space in the new store.
Dunis wants to carry more art, books, and records in the store.
“Naturally, I think it’s going to evolve into that,” she said.
Both Biskaduros and Dunis share a passion for sustainability and environmentally friendly business practices.
In her childhood, Dunis remembers thrifting with her mom, who “was kind of a hippie.”
“I basically dressed myself through high school by thrifting. There’s always so many cool and unique finds that you can’t find in a regular store,” Dunis said. “I like the idea of having something really special that not everybody has.”
Her fashion is inspired by items that are “unique and funky.”
“I really have an eclectic style where I grab bits from different era. I love the ’70s. I love a lot of the bold prints of the ’60s. I look a lot at what people have worn in the past and then grab ideas from them, like musicians from the ’60s and ’70s combined with musicians from the ’80s and then looking at European fashion.”
While she loves fashion, she does not like how the industry has become “environmentally destructive.”
“I feel like any business I have, I want it to be something that has a positive effect on our community. I want it to be something that is promoting sustainability and also supporting other designers that are doing great things,” Dunis said.
This is not her first time running a clothing store. In Madison, Wisconsin, Dunis and her husband ran a vintage clothing store before their band, Peaking Lights, took off.
“Music was always that natural, stable expression that I had in my life,” Dunis said.
The duo moved from Amsterdam in 2022 due to the changing music landscape after the pandemic. In Los Osos, Dunis was inspired by her love for fashion to start selling clothes again.
The shop is named after her grandmother.
“I’d always thought if I had a girl, I would name her Lilija,” Dunis said, “but I had two boys instead, and I always held onto that to use the name for something and so I thought, ‘perfect opportunity to use my grandmother’s name.’”
Fast fact
• Paso Robles Joint Unified School District held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Agriculture Barn on April 24. Located at Paso Robles High School, the barn gives students hands-on learning opportunities to engage in agriculture. The new facility will provide improved conditions for animals, with a temperature-regulated environment. ∆
Reach Intern Katy Clark at ntintern@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in April 30 – May 7, 2026.