Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

I’m very impressed with myself right now - I managed to take photos AND get them up on Facebook in a timely manner (AKA, not several months later as I have unfortunately been doing lately). And now I’m sharing them with all of you!

Friday night began with a very special dinner at Jiraffe with a big group of friends. The eight of us met on our Birthright trip last January and in honor of our one-year anniversary, we decided to celebrate with a yummy fancy dinner out!

After dinner, we headed to Qs for my friend Blair’s birthday. Qs is not my favorite bar (always too many randoms and UCLA undergrads milling around), but we actually had a ton of fun and ended up staying til Last Call! Some highlights: not one but TWO girlfights, a sighting of a 7’5 gentleman, and finally getting the chance to meet my good friend Steve’s older brother, Sammy. Very fun!

Look at these precious faces!

On Saturday, I had brunch with Alexandra and then ran some errands with Anna (post office, Target, yogurt). Later that night, GB and Anna and I had dinner in Culver City, and then GB, Ashley and I went to our friend Matt’s housewarming party - he finally moved to the city!

That’s us posing with a very special surprise - when we walked into his new place, Matt yelled, “Jordan! I have your Hanukkah gift to give you!” I felt a little bad, since I had arrived at HIS party empty-handed, and now I was leaving with a gift! He is such a gem :)

He certainly knows the way to this girl’s heart - look at my new sassy mug! Remember when I blogged about it?! I love it!

(Speaking of the way to a girl’s heart, I need to give a quick shoutout to my dear friends Joy and Justin who got engaged this weekend! I am so excited for them - Joy texted me a picture of the two of them with the good news late Saturday night, and I gasped so loud Greene had to pull over :) So happy!)

Yesterday I had birthday brunch with Allison before heading off to check out the new Forever 21 at Fashion Square, and then it was time for some BABY HOLDING! My old coworker and dear friend Merav had beautiful Geffen Mia a few days ago, and she invited me over to meet the tiny human in person:

OH MY GOD was she precious. Naturally, I arrived with a gift (AKA, the girliest, ruffliest ensemble I could find), and the baby was absolutely adorable and SO good. I had forgotten how tiny a newborn is... good thing I had Geffen to remind me, since my baby will be arriving in a matter of weeks! (And yes, BTW, I refer to Anna and E’s baby as mine. Don’t question, please.)

All in all, a fun weekend filled with shopping, friends, fun, and a cute baby to boot :) Hope you all had fun too!

Second Chances

I, for one, am so glad it's finally Friday. I don't have much to say today - it's been a long, long week and I'm physically and mentally exhausted. Excuse the ramble...

I found this image on the internet a few weeks ago and fell for it hard. I printed it out and hung it on my wall at work and put it as the background on my computer. I don't know what it is about it, but it speaks to me:

You are only as good as the choices you make. And sometimes you're going to make a choice or a decision that you know deep inside isn't the right one for you. But the beautiful thing about life is that it's forever changing and evolving and becoming something else entirely, and you always - always! - have the power to change something, no matter how hard or scary it is.

Trust your instincts. Close your eyes and leap. If you choose wrong, so what? You get a second chance, every second.

This weekend, wherever you are and whatever you're doing, I hope you remember to be true to who you are and what you believe in.

Whatever you do, do with all of your heart.

My Heart is Filled With Love (For Juice)

Um, yum! I have a delicious new obsession, and I want to share it with all of you.

I cannot stop drinking juices from Pressed Juicery. Have you heard of it?

It’s a brand-new company that sells delicious 16-ounce cold-pressed juices, made out of the freshest organic ingredients. My dear friend/next door neighbor Amanda introduced me to Pressed - she works for them and insisted I try one for the first time a few months ago. Um, I’m so glad I listened to her - I took one sip and it was like a party in my mouth.

There are so many different flavors - it’s been SO fun trying all of them and figuring out which ones are my favorites! I absolutely love Apple Strawberry Coconut, Apple Cinnamon, and my favorite, “Detox 2,” which is made out of pineapple, pear, ginger, and mint. They are so crisp and fresh tasting - I can’t get enough.

My favorite part? I’ve been drinking one every morning to start my day, and even though I originally didn’t intend for it to be my meal replacement, I find that it curbs my hunger for hours. I keep Fiber One bars and apples at my desk at work, and on days when I don’t have a juice for breakfast, I eat one of each. But after drinking a Pressed, I’m good to go til lunch!

You’ll be in great company, too - tons of celebrities are fans of PJ as well! Nicole Richie, Reese Witherspoon, and Ryan Seacrest all drink the juices - Ryan even talked about them on his radio show last week. I was literally drinking one as he started talking about them - I got so distracted I nearly drove off the road.

They also offer cleanses, where you drink nothing but a variety of juices for either one, three, or five days, but let’s be honest - I haven’t tried that, nor do I ever plan to. I am perfectly content with sipping one delicious juice a day and not starving myself :)

I highly, highly recommend trying Pressed Juicery ASAP. If you don’t live in LA, I hear they’re starting national delivery soon, so don’t worry :) And if you’re in the area, their storefront is in Brentwood, right down the street from me - go get one for both of us and come on over!

Hollerback Girl

Let’s call a spade a spade: I have no street cred whatsoever. I am not “hard” or tough. I have basically no game. I am the girliest girl on the block - I’m a Jewish girl from the Valley, for gods sake!

But that didn’t stop me from buying these:

Um, how hilarious are they? Obviously I swooned immediately upon spotting them on the website, and clicked “Add to Cart” faster than you can say, well, holler. Maybe subconsciously I felt like they might give me some street cred? (Although I’m pretty sure that sending handwritten letters to friends does not count as street cred at all.)

I’m kinda in love with this website - I discovered Shop Furbish a few months ago and have loved checking out their collections of random yet beautiful things, including rugs, mirrors, pillows, and other home accessories. I also must confess to buying this - you know I have a thing for trays, and this multicolored chevron print spoke to me. I had to have it immediately!

So yes. I am now the proud owner of sweet hot pink leopard notecards that scream HOLLER - and they were only $20 to boot! (I already know just the person to send my first note to - my friend Serena, who, despite being a little white Jewish girl herself, DOES have the most street cred out of anyone I know.)

I love my new cards - I already feel a little more gangsta!

The Queen Goes to the Movies

I have a confession to make: this past weekend I was kind of a bum. I really wasn’t feeling that great - I was exhausted and felt like I was on the verge of coming down with a cold, so I didn’t do much besides lay on the couch, microwave leftovers, and watch TIVO. Yep, it was that kind of weekend.

It was also the kind of weekend to go to the movies. There were so many films out I wanted to see, and I was determined to cross at least a few off my list. So, I rounded up the troops and proceeded to do just that - in three nights, I saw three movies... and LOVED every single one!

My dad was out of town this weekend, so on Friday night Martha Jewart and I hit the town and decided to go see Country Strong. YALL! I loved it. I had a strong feeling I would - I can’t imagine NOT loving anything that combined Blair Waldorf herself (the talented Leighton Meester) and country music. About five minutes in, I turned to my mom and whispered “This is the best movie I’ve ever seen.” I was kidding, of course (that honor is reserved for the Tina Fey masterpiece Mean Girls, and I’m not talking about that shit they recently put on ABC Family), but I really did love it, and would absolutely go see it again. If you like overdone southern accents, handsome men, and a whole lot of honky tonk music, Country Strong is for you :)

On Saturday night, after sleeping late and basically not leaving my bed most of the day, I headed out with Blair and GB to see No Strings Attached along with every other female under the age of 30 in Los Angeles. Seriously, every theater in the city was sold out - we had to drive to the valley to catch the show! And once again, I loved the movie - it was hysterical, which I wasn’t expecting (to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much, which is why I was so pleasantly surprised.) Ladies, you can definitely take your men to see this one, ladies - lots of guy humor and dirty jokes. And once again, after laughing so hard I nearly spilled my popcorn in my Balenciaga bag, I turned to GB and whispered “This is the best movie I’ve ever seen.” Haha. Oh, how I entertain myself. I definitely recommend - it would be a perfect date movie. And Lake Bell steals the whole show!

Finally, late Sunday afternoon, Anna and Greene and I saw The King’s Speech. I owed it to them - we had discussed seeing it a few weeks ago, and for some godforsaken reason I convinced them into seeing Somewhere instead. Uh, worst mistake ever. That movie was horrible and Anna and GB proceeded to yell at me as soon as it was over. So we were overdue for The King’s Speech... and let me just say I am SO sorry I didn’t see it weeks ago. This is a movie I could proudly say “This is the best movie I’ve ever seen...” and of course I said it - I loved everything about it! Colin Firth was absolutely phenomenal and deserves every bit of Oscar buzz, as does Geoffrey Rush and even Helena Bonham Carter (who I am personally terrified of because in my mind she is ALWAYS Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter). Seriously people, if you’re going to see one movie this year, make it The King’s Speech. It was amazing.

So! There you have it. Movie reviews by the Queen. You can call me Her Royal Highness Ebert if you like :)

Have any of yall seen anything good lately? Leave me a comment and let me know... gotta start planning my next trip to the movies!

A Birthday Post for Beanut

Good morning - hope everyone had a delightful weekend! Mine was lovely - filled with movies, which I shall recap for you tomorrow, so that’s something to look forward to :)

However, this weekend something far more momentous occurred - my darling little sister celebrated her birthday!

I cannot believe Bailey J is 24. Seems like only yesterday she was small enough for me to dress up in snazzy overalls and boss around. My, how time has flown!

In honor of Bay’s 24th birthday, I thought I’d dedicate a special post to her... so without further ado, please enjoy this list:

24 Things About Bailey!

1. Every single night since she was a toddler, Bailey sleeps with her pink teddy bear, Beary Bear.

2. From the ages of 14-18, Bailey refused to go to the doctor because she was “scared.” This may have had something to do with the fact that my mother once told us we were going to the mall, and after we eagerly hopped into the car, she drove us right to the pediatrician for shots. (Mind you, we were teenagers at the time.)

3. Bailey hates Las Vegas. The few times we’ve gone as a family, she takes the money my dad gives us for gambling and heads straight for the mall. She doesn’t understand how my mom and I can spend hours at the slot machines.

4. When she first moved to New York, it was to be an intern at Helmut Lang. She got promoted after SIX days!

5. Bailey doesn’t really eat carbs...

6. ...but bagels are her favorite food.

7. Her 2nd favorite food is spicy tuna. She eats it on everything - in salads, carpaccio, sushi, you name it.

8. From the ages of 3-5, Bailey would not leave the house unless she was wearing a pair of hot pink spandex shorts, which she called “Pink Pants.” We owned three pairs. She even wore them underneath dresses on Shabbat.

9. After standing in the sun for only minutes, Bailey gets freckles ALL over her face.

10. Whenever my sister sleeps in bed with me, she refuses to get up in the morning unless I scratch her back for a minimum of three minutes.

11. Bailey owns more sunglasses than anyone I know. She literally must have 100 pairs.

12. For months, Bailey could not decide whether or not to go to the University of Wisconsin or Boston University for college. She visited both and couldn’t make up her mind til a few weeks before the final deadline. She ended up a proud Badger!

13. As recently as a few years ago, Bailey was TERRIFIED of big dogs. She called them “horses” and would run away from them on the street. Now, however, she LOVES them and will go right up to one and pet it, no matter how big.

14. Speaking of dogs, Bailey and her boyfriend JM are planning on buying a bulldog in the next few months.

15. My sister is fond of “late-night eating.” When we go out (especially in New York!) she always convinces me to end the night with pizza, falafel, or in special cases, a Philly cheesesteak sandwich that she convinces a random guy to give her.

16. Bailey loves vintage clothing and jewelry and can find the best stuff in any secondhand clothing store of anyone I know, hands down.

17. I like to describe Bailey’s fashion as “designer hippie.” She will wake up and put on the strangest outfit in the world and make it look fabulous. She is also a big fan of the DIY look - and by that I mean she does not hesitate to cut or rip or shorten something in order to make her fashion vision come true. You will find literally dozens of things in Bailey’s closet with the hem torn or cut, or the sleeves ripped off, no matter how expensive or fancy the item of clothing.

18. Would you like a poached egg? Bailey can make you a perfect one!

19. Bailey spent the second semester of her junior year of college abroad in Australia. She came home with a great tan and a love for olives, which she had previously hated.

20. Speaking of Australia, while she was there, she BUNJEE JUMPED! To this day, I cannot watch the video without getting so anxious I nearly wet my pants. Can't believe she actually did it.)

21. Bailey spent every summer at Camp Ramah (while I stayed home and shopped with Mama) and came home every single year as an “uber-Jew”, meaning she would say the Shemah before bed and practice Israeli dancing with her friends. This always lasted about six weeks before she reverted back to normal (at least until the next summer).

22. Everyone in my family calls Bailey “Beanut the Peanut”, which is sometimes shortened to “Beanut” or “Beans.” This is because when she was little, she was the tiniest little thing who ran after me and copied me, no matter what I was doing. (This also led to her being nicknamed “Little Miss Me Too”, because no matter what I did, she would yell “ME TOO!”)

23. My sister HATES/DESPISES/ABHORS/SHUNS/DETESTS mushrooms of all kinds. If there is a mushroom on her plate, she will literally BURST into tears and cry until the offending fungus is removed. I have never met anyone who hates anything like she hates mushrooms.

24. Bailey has the best hair out of anyone I know!

Happy happy birthday to my little sister, my other half, my biggest fan, my fashion icon, and my best friend! I love you so much and hope you had an AMAZING birthday weekend!!!

Flower Child

Forgive me for a moment if I brag, won’t you?

For the past week, it has been absolutely GORGEOUS in Los Angeles. I’m talking sun shining, blue skies, 75 degrees gorgeous. And even though I am more of a fan of cold weather than hot, even I can’t find anything wrong with a week of summer weather in the middle of January. Especially because it’s giving me a chance to break out some new clothes that I had thought would have been staying in my closet til at least April!

Something about this weather is getting me excited for spring, and I can’t help but drool over all these pretty candy-colored pieces that are rolling out all over the place. Remember, it’s a well-known fact that I love prints, and right now, I’m really feeling flowers – big ones, small ones, on dresses, shirts, skirts… you name it, I want it all!

I wore this sweater at my White Elephant Party a few weeks ago and got a ton of compliments. It’s one of those pieces that I admired on the Anthropologie website, but when I saw it on person, I KNEW I had to have it. I’m so glad I bought it when I did, because it’s now sold out everywhere – sorry pals! Aren’t the colors and the huge blooms gorgeous?

Speaking of tops from Anthropologie, I came across this one today and have a feeling it will be making its way home with me, too. I love the loose shape and the bright poppy colors – it would look fantastic with skinny jeans or a pair of black pants and heels. Love it!

I can’t resist including one more top from Anthro – this silk top is a dream, and perfect for people who tend towards darker colors. The little bursts of flowers add just the right amount of color, and it’s totally appropriate to wear to work, too. I could see this shirt looking great over a simple pencil skirt in the spring. Beautiful!

I saw this black flowered skirt in Forever 21 over the weekend and it almost came home with me – I was too lazy to try it on so I left it behind, but I’m seriously considering going back for it. And the ruffly pink one - well, that has Jordan Marisa Rose written all over it, doesn’t it?

I bought this Free People dress last month and knew I wanted to wear it to Anna’s baby shower. I assumed it was going to be cold, so I had planned on wearing it with tights, boots, and a big sweater. In reality, I wore it with a short-sleeved black cardigan and sandals, but it was still a hit. I love the metal beads/sequins at the top, and it also comes in shades of pink – plus, it’s currently on sale on the Free People website. Fits like a dream - I highly recommend it!

Other gorgeous flowered dresses I’ve come across? This one from Topshop – I LOVE the hot pink little buds. And this pale blue one from Forever 21 – it would look so cute over leggings! I also seriously might need the Diane von Furstenberg cotton caftan, and the Rebecca Taylor shirtdress is right up my alley with those pale pink flowers!

I’m not going to lie – I want it all! I am planning on going shopping this weekend and I am seriously going to have to refrain from buying every flowered piece I see. Wish me luck on that front…

I’m off to enjoy the sunshine (I had to rub it in one more time) – hope you’re staying warm if you’re somewhere cold! Have a great weekend :)

Oooh Baby Baby

So the baby shower was great. Greene and Samantha (Anna’s friend from grad school) and I worked really hard to plan a special day, and everything turned out fantastic!

What we served: spinach artichoke dip, baked brie and a cheese platter, bruschetta/olive tapenade/goat cheese crostini, chinese chicken salad, pasta salad, chicken bites, and mini spinach & cheese frittatas. Delicious!

We couldn’t have done it without my mom’s help... I may be the Queen of LA, but she is the Queen of Parties! As usual, the Martha Jewart in her went a little overboard with the theme... I asked her to buy baby blue napkins and a tablecloth and the next thing I knew, she came home from Party City with fourteen spools of ribbon, tiny plastic pacifiers to tie into the place settings, and baby blue buckets filled with white flowers. How gorgeous does this table look!?

She also insisted on making little party favor bags for everyone and filled them with homemade chocolate-covered pretzels and oreos - in baby blue, of course!

We also had delicious desserts... my famous chocolate chip bread pudding and an adorable little jungle-themed cake:

And the WORLD’S CUTEST COOKIES - made by Gerrick! Seriously I have never seen anything cuter, and they were so easy to make - like even I couldn't fuck it up if I tried. If you want the recipe just let me know!

We really did have a great time - we ate and drank mimosas and opened presents and played Baby Bingo.... it was a very fun morning!

And now, I can’t help myself... I need to share some photos of the baby gifts. Listen people. Anna is one of my very best friends, and she is the first one out of everyone to have a baby. It is only natural that I, having a SLIGHT love of a mall, went a tad overboard in the “spoiling the baby” department. To be honest, my mom cut me off about six weeks ago from purchasing any more items of clothing for that child. But before she did, here’s what I managed to take home with me...

Let's first start off with a tiny Juicy Couture Baby cashmere sweater... with a crown on the back. Since I am the Queen, it is only natural that this child who I will love (and own 1/3 of) be outfitted in royal gear as well:

That cashmere sweater is to be worn with these tiny baby Joe's Jeans:

I love these Gap thermal baby clothes... the knees are reinforced with pads so when he starts crawling, his knees won't hurt!

Every baby boy needs a pair of camo-print Juicy Couture Baby Vans sneakers, right?

HAHA. Perfect for a 1/2 Israeli baby! (I realize that it is a tad gay to have a baby boy wearing sparkles... my friend Blair who sold me this onesie told me it was okay - "Jordan, all baby clothes are a little gay.")

This outfit is probably my favorite - a C&C polo shirt and matching khaki shorts! Perfect for a little southern gentleman!

A little jersey and a pair of corduroy pants, obviously.

How cute is this!? This is a Laughing Lily lovie and it is the SOFTEST THING YOU WILL EVER FEEL IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. When the fabulous people over at Laughing Lily heard that my bestie was pregnant, they sent over this little gift for me to give to her, and I'm not going to lie - I seriously considered keeping it for myself. I can totally see this becoming the little thing every child NEEDS in order to go to sleep at night - it's that cute and that soft. I want to thank the people at LL for giving this to me - make sure to check them out (they also have a Facebook page) and pick one up if you know anyone having a baby. It's the perfect gift!

Here’s Anna opening my gifts :) do you see the utter joy on my face? This child is going to be the BEST DRESSED LITTLE BOY in the entire universe if I have anything to say about it!

I can’t believe the shower is over... we’ve been planning for SO long! I’m so happy everything turned out great and I hope Anna loved it as much as we did!