New Year, New York

Shanah tovah and a very happy new year to all my Jews out there! (AKA, 98% of you. If you’re in the 2% of people who found me by googling “sparkle hair extensions”, welcome and when it’s time for Christmas, I will do something special for you.)

I spent the holidays in New York -- we just got back last night. Our trip was nice - a lot of praying, a lot of food, a lot of shopping, a lot of fam time. I’ll skip the recap of the hours I spent on the couch with my cousins watching Jersey Shore reruns (my first time seeing the show... and yes I am now obsessed) and get to the good stuff!

what does Rosh Hashanah mean to me? KASHA VANESHKES.

No trip to New York is complete without a stop at White Castle for some good old-fashioned white trash food. After the first day of Rosh Hashanah services, my cousins and I blew off the diner with the rest of the family and hit up White Castle for an OBSCENE amount of food. My cousin Ryan devoured 8 WC hamburgers and went back and ordered two more, which slightly nauseated me but mostly just filled me with pride. Here he is making a pyramid with his empty meat boxes:

And here we are showing our appreciation outside of the restaurant. I highly considered submitting an application (just because I enjoy the symbolism... the Queen of LA working in an actual Castle) but was talked out of it in the end.

You know when you meet someone and you instantly like them and want to hang out with them for hours on end? Well, that is how I feel after having a wonderful brunch with my friend Robin! Robin is my friend Stacy’s bestie from home, and she is also an avid reader and fan of this blog. Lately she and I have been chatting and emailing back and forth, and decided to meet up when I was in NY for brunch. It was SO FUN - she picked a delicious place right down the street from where Bay lives, we ate tubular meat and biscuits, flirted with our odd gay South Dakotan waiter, and laughed til our stomachs hurt. I am already looking forward to our next playdate - it was sad to say goodbye to her! (But weirdly enough, that was not really goodbye... an hour later, I literally ran into her on a street corner like 20 blocks away from where we had brunch! SO weird.)

Don’t worry, I also picked up some great stuff while in the city. Among them: a leopard print case for my phone, a leopard print blazer from H&M, a leopard print tunic from Topshop... do you sense a pattern? :) I also got some great jewelry from carts off the street that I can’t wait to wear.

Speaking of shopping.... how lucky am I that I was in New York for Fashion’s Night Out? When I realized that the dates overlapped, I was SO excited. When Friday night dawned, I put on my party pumps (actually wedges) and Bay and I headed off to Soho for the night!

It was amazing. The streets were packed with people - I could have happily just sat on a stoop and watched everyone walk by... I love the style of New York girls! After All Saints and Scoop (where I posed for photos at the step-and-repeat), we hit Bloomingdales -- I pre-ordered a gorgeous ring, ate a few cupcakes, and then walked outside to find the coolest thing - a Marc Jacobs TRUCK parked outside, selling accessories!

We kept walking - past Madewell, Kate Spade, Chanel, Intermix, etc -- because we were determined to find the brand-new Piperlime pop-up store! When we got there, it was crazy - a line around the block. Guess everyone had the same idea we did... and everyone wanted to see Rachel Zoe! (Bailey claims she saw her head. Hmmm.)

AND THEN.... we walked a few blocks and headed into the J.Crew party. I dragged Bailey to look at the shoes (sparkly) and the jewelry (also sparkly) and then headed to the main section to look at the clothes. As I examined the racks of blazers, something caught my eye - a woman’s huge, gorgeous, mint green Chanel bag. I poked Bailey and motioned for her to look at the bag. And then the woman turned around.

And it was Jenna Lyons, the creative director of J.Crew! Just standing there, enjoying the party, ROCKING her insane purse. I had a bit of a fashion heart attack and totally geeked out. I don’t particularly care/wouldn’t talk to a celebrity when I see one (unless it was Brit, obv), but Jenna Lyons? I introduced myself right away and told her what a fan I was of her work, her talent, and even her interior design! (I am obsessed with her NYC apartment). She was so sweet and modest - it was a great moment.

We did other fun stuff on this trip but those were definitely the highlights :) I miss BJ and the rest of my fam, but will be back soon to visit, shop, and eat!

Hope you all had a nice weekend!