Black Friday Best

Club Monaco maxi dress and denim jacket, Marc Jacobs bag, Sam Edelman shoes, Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses

Black Friday for me is always the worst shopping day of the year.  I really don't see why people are hustling out before the crack of dawn on Friday or nowadays even right after cutting into their turkey on Thanksgiving to go out and buy really cheap crap.  Everybody knows that the stuff on Black Friday sale is never the freaking amazing suede leather jacket that you have been praying would go on sale on Black Friday.  No way.  It's ALWAYS that stuff that you looked at a thousand times in the store and thought was totally roach.  But, now that it's on mega sale you'll buy it because well, it's on mega sale.  No thanks, I'd rather sleep in and have some more leftover turkey and stuffing, also known as Thanksgiving 2 on my Black Friday.  Also, I wonder if these people know that technology has advanced such that you don't even have to actually leave your house to shop on Black Friday. Hello, you can use this wonderful thing called the internet and online shopping.  This is the essence of why online shopping was established--to not have to stand in line on Black Friday to buy a $20.00 fringe purse that you'll never use.  No, I've still never used it.  

Switched my sunnies to Ray-Ban aviators

Hermes, David Yurman, Anarchy Street bracelets, Melinda Maria, Anarchy Street, Brandy Pham and Cartier rings, Michele watch, Marc Jacobs bag

I'm Going Downton

Tea pot, teacups, saucers and sugar jar all Anthropologie

i am a HUGE fan of Downton Abbey.  Don't ask me how a Vietnamese refugee born in the eighties can feel so akin to the pre-war (now post-war) upstairs/downstairs crew at Downton, but I do.  Plus, I love me some drama.  I usually have to watch it by myself;  my husband and most of my friends don't like it because it's "too slow".  It's true the drama does unfold at a trickle, but I don't think that's the reason why some people don't like it.  There's a process to watching Downton Abbey and people are not following the rules!  There are preparations that need to be considered. First and foremost, is there tea?  Don't even think about starting an episode without tea, and I don't mean tea in your nasty Google mug, I mean in a real teacup with one of those worthless saucers.  And that's just the beginning.  You also have to think about if the are gingerbread cookies? Petit fours?  Tiny sandwiches with the crusts cut off?  Is someone calling you Lord or Lady Grantham?  Who will be serving your tea for you?  Can you speak in an English accent and can someone else speak to you in an English accent?   Will you root for Lady Edith to succeed and then secretly root for her to fail because the truth is we love watching her be a hot-ass mess?  Are you being the most snooty and vile self that you can be?  These are all important considerations if you want to really enjoy Downton Abbey.  I mean if you're just sitting in your dirty underwear and grandpa robe with a Sunday night Corona about to fire up an episode of Downton Abbey, of course you're going to hate it, because you'll hate yourself after watching all these rich bastards ordering everyone around.  But turn yourself into one of those rich bastards, and the world will be your Downton.  

Autumn Mini-Skirts...For 3 Hours

Club Monaco jacket, skirt and graphic tee, Prabal Gurung x Target shoes, Ray-Ban sunglasses, Chanel bag

The greatest thing about fall is that it is not yet winter, which means that you have a few hours in the day to show off some leg without them becoming completely frozen ice sticks.  That's why I plan accordingly.  Everyday, I look at the week's weather schedule and check to see if there's a picture of a sun or a picture of a sun with some clouds sweeping by.  Either of those and I'm good.  Then, I check the hourly report because it's no good to me if the sun comes out at 3:30 pm on a weekday because where am I going in the middle of the day in a mini-skirt and heels.  But, on a magical fall day, when all the stars come together and it's sunny--or almost sunny between the hours of 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, I don't care who you are, I will hunt you down and force you to have lunch with me.  Since lunch is the only appropriate activity to do during the day, you'll probably see me eating a Cobb salad completely overdressed in full blown heels. But hey, you find me another appropriate activity to do in a miniskirt on a Tuesday afternoon and I am there...for at most three hours!

Comfort Zone

Club Monaco chambray shirt, vintage jeans, Ray-Ban sunglasses, Gucci bag

People are always telling me to get out of my comfort zone and I'm starting to get a little resentful about it.  Why would you want to go out of you're comfort zone?  That's where you're comfortable!!  You wouldn't tell someone who was in their fuzzy Uggs, on the couch, drinking hot cocoa and watching bad tv in the middle of a snowstorm to get out of their comfort zone would you?  No, because then they would be frozen and dead.  Well, I'm thinking twice, maybe even three times before I step out my fashion comfy place, especially since yesterday's outfit debacle. I was about to head out for some tapas and had the bright idea to try something "different." My little "different" moment lead me to, not only go out of my comfort zone, but I was fully living large in my own fashion "Discomfort Zone."  Without having to go into too much detail, there was a baseball tee, some red heels and a ton of bracelets involved. Why I thought it would be cool go to a Tapas restaurant as "Crazy Baseball Fan In A Thousand Bracelets Lady" was truly beyond me.  Of course, there was a definite a spiraling down moment between bracelet #6 and the possibility of saving the outfit by putting on a cap and wedge sneakers where I should have stopped, but my crazy side completely took over!  My lesson of the day: it's pretty hard to make a severe bob haircut look both sporty and chic at the same time--maybe even impossible.  

As a result, I thought today I would go into my MOST comfort zone and stay there in a button-up and jeans.  It is denim on denim though so you can see a little of my crazy peek through.  Plus, the jeans are bell bottom so that's pretty mind-blowing.  And that's about as much experimentation as I'm prepared for. As a rule of thumb, if you ever want to go out of your comfort zone, take the crazy in degrees and you should be fine.  I jumped all in and I immediately jumped back out.  For me, it's like they say, an old bob can't learn new tricks. 

Anarchy Street, David Yurman, Baublebar, Hermes bracelets, Michael Kors watch, Maison Martin Margiela, Baublebar, Anarchy Street and Cartier rings