le sigh. i am pooped. for those of us stateside, it's the eve of quite possibly the best holiday known to man. a day dedicated to gorging, gorging some more, sleeping and repeating. a fantastic day of gluttony, i mean thankfulness, where casseroles are made of green beans and pumpkins transform into pies. my friends, thanksgiving is officially upon us and watch out, because i'm cooking.

let me preface this by noting that i am by no means a bad cook. i have my trusty standbys, my tried and true kitchen concoctions that stick by me rain or shine. baked salmon, pasta...oatmeal...eggs...toast. be that as it may, i wouldn't classify myself as a person who greatly enjoys the art of cooking. however, as i pride myself in the art of eating, i was inspired to roll up my sleeves and bang some pots and pans around this thanksgiving. on the menu we have:

• gooey pumpkin cakes
• pecan pie
• classic mashed potatoes
• sweet mashed potatoes

as of this moment, the gooey pumpkin cakes are done and the pecan pie is in the oven, the sweet potatoes are baked and ready for mashing in the morning and the yukon gold's are peeled and waiting to be boiled. but don't you be alarmed, in the midst of my shaking and baking i still found time to take around 1,000 pictures of myself and redesign the blog. i'm what some people like to call, a renaissance woman. not to be confused with a renaissance fair woman. i typically try to keep my cleavage exposure to a non-offensive level.

Pants & Sweater: H&M Shoes: No 704 b Bag: Anthropologie

short work weeks always tend to demotivate me in the wardrobe department. why waste a perfectly good outfit on 2 days and no meetings? (careful, you're stepping into the deep abyss of my psyche--and there's no turning back) typically, i try and wait to bust out my jeans on wednesday, at least. monday is all business and tuesday still feels official, but by wednesday the slope is slippery and all bets are off. seeing as this is a 2 1/2 day work week, i rationalized that tuesday is actually thursday which means i'm a day late to the denim party and should be rewarded for not having showed up in sweats.

i was excited to get one last wear in, for these jeans before i gleefully pack on the holiday 45. err, i mean, 5. one must be careful with a flare-legged pant. too many flares in the wrong places can take you from retro to oh-no in a jiffy. only problem with these super-spectacular faded beauties is the wind storm they create when you walk. ruins any chance of a surprise attack.

Jeans: Paige Premium Denim Shirt: Liz Claborne Sweater: JCrew Jacket: Target

today, i found my second grey hair. i was styling as i normally do, spraying and pinning and there it was, glistening under the vanity light, right on top of my head. the first one was discovered about a year ago. same location. i had chalked it up to stress and vowed to relax (what a joke!) and moved on my merry way. but today, as i plucked out a half grey, half brown curl (it was disgusting), i was faced with the cold hard reality that my hair follicles are starting to call it quits. which was clear cause for panic and alarm.

what does this mean? has my prime passed? is my youth exhausted? am i getting old? this spawned an entirely different and equally terrifying thought web...what will i look like as an old person? have you ever thought about this? what will my face look like, droopy? will i really have grey ringlets? will fat start randomly depositing in awkward locations around my knees? how does an old person act? i already shop on QVC and get to bed by 10pm, so i have a couple of bases covered. but should i consider a subscription to AARP? what about jello? is that still popular among the elderly? should i start befriending those who are advanced in years. i once lived across the street from a retirement community. maybe i should consider moving back. being old can have it's perks. afternoon naps, loose schedule, discount movie tickets. maybe i should embrace the grey and welcome society's reward for being advanced in years.

or maybe, just maybe i'll keep on plucking until there's enough grey to dye brown.

Skirt: H&M Conscious Collection Blazer: Silence and Noise Sweater: JCrew Boots: Frye

this girl loves a par-tay. parties? not so much. but a, par-tay? yes, please. give me a pair of glitzy heels, a short dress and a reason to celebrate and i am all over it. this weekend, i had a huge reason to kick up my heels--it was my dad's 60th and we threw him a fantastical, bedazzled surprise party complete with friends, family, amazing food and enough balloons to make the kid from, Up, jealous.

a surprise party is no small effort. especially when you're trying to pull one over on the world's most perceptive man. it took months of planning and a few white lies but the look on his face when he walked through the door, made it all worth while. happy birthday daddy-o...and many, many more.

my super fun manicure

Dress: Rachel Roy Shoes: BCBG Maxazria Bag: H&M

iphone shopping chronicles

we're going to try out a new feature. iphone pictures from my random shopping excursions. because obviously one post from me a day isn't nearly enough.












shop spots: H&M and Bloomingdales

this week showed me who's boss. and by the look of the bags under my eyes, clearly it isn't me. rounded things out with an amazing dinner with one of my favorite girls. you know it's a good dinner when there's laughing and crying. in proper proportion. some people just put you at ease and make you feel amazing simply by being present. she's one of them. our main topic tonight, was how much life has changed since we met 5 years ago, as wee tykes in grad school. she's gotten married. my shoe wardrobe has tripled. and a few other things along the way.

its crazy to think about how fast life can come at you in such a short period of time. 5 years ago, i had a different job, in a completely different industry, lived in a different city, and had vastly different goals. with time comes perspective, and with that...hopefully, better choices that start to shape a life that you couldn't have imagined could exist. this was the point where we started crying. i should say, we almost started crying. we stopped ourselves. no need to ruin your makeup in the middle of a great restaurant because you're feeling sentimental. but it was a moment of appreciation. appreciation for how far we've come and excitement for where in the heck we're going next. because if the next 5 years are anything like the last...i have a feeling that we're both in for one hell of a ride. happy friday.

Jeans: Brass Plum Shirt: JCrew Vest: Rachel Zoe Shoes: Zara Bag: Gucci

i'll admit, i'm not a twitterer. i don't get it. when i'm blowing my nose at 3pm on a thursday, my first inclination isn't to broadcast it to my network of 5K followers (don't know what that is) with 12 hash tags (don't know what those are) and an extra push to facebook (is that how it works?). be that as it may, i don't judge those who do. if you want to share and there's someone who cares to read it--rock on. but for goodness sake can someone please confiscate ashton kutcher's blackberry and save him from himself. you do not tweet about your divorce. you do not tweet about highly controversial child abuse cases about which you are ill informed. and for the love of all that is good you do not sign your 140 character ramblings with, "light and love. ak."

shut the hell up! yep, that's right i said it. go drink a big old glass of shut the hell up, ashton kutcher. try having a personal life. leave a bit to the imagination (says the blogger who posts daily pictures from her living room. you know you were thinking it.). if you keep airing all of your idiot thoughts like this, you're going to screw up the misconception that you have a shred of intelligence. silence is golden and you're rusty. step away from the mass texting. society would thank you. oh, and cut your hair while you're at it. it looks a little greasy.

Dress: Anna Sui for Target Blazer: Brass Plum

i really had the best intentions of writing an amazing blog post, tonight. no really, it was going to be fantastic. unfortunately, my day derailed that plan. you see, somewhere between my 7th and 8th meeting i literally stopped being able to form complete thoughts. my brain said, "screw you" and went on strike. and here we are. at 8:30pm with my rambling nonsense. so when you can't dazzle with actual talent, the trick is to distract with something shiny. queue my outfit today. enjoy and i promise to return with editorial genius, tomorrow.

Pants: JCrew Blouse: Leith Coat: Zara Bag: Calvin Klein