..::Shop-a-holic's Paradise::..

This is the 1st Floor Map of the 3 story mall in Tokyo Bay that I've had the pleasure of exploring/working in for the past 4 days. There are over 500 stores and countless restaurants. I can't even begin to describe the pain my feet are in at the present moment, but lets just say its A LOT. This mall is like my Disneyland - I feel like it is the shop-a-holics dreamland. I may be working my lil tushy off, but I'm one very satisfied customer.

..::Thank You, Thank You, Thank You::..

As a child I was brought up in a house hold where manners were of upmost importance, which was a lesson that was not lost on me as an adult. I know how much a thank you note, card, email or text can really make someone feel appreciated. However, this small deed is often regarded as such a small gesture of gratitude, that most people forgo the practice altogether. On Monday my friend Erin stopped by my apartment to drop off a little something for me as a thank you for helping her. I was completely blown away when she presented me with a Thank you card and a copy of The Sartorialist book. Not only was the gesture ABOVE AND BEYOND, but what really took me off guard, was that I was being thanked for something that I hadn't thought 2 seconds about doing. I was thanked for doing something that to me was second nature as a friend who was in the position for helping another friend out. Then it got me thinking about appreciating the people in my life, especially because it was only hours later that I called in my own favor to a family member at 3am, whom I will NEVER be able to thank enough. Sometimes life is so crazy that we forget how much the little things, like appreciating those who loves us, can mean to them. So my lesson of the week is: No matter how big or small the favor or kindness payed, a thank you can go a long way.

THANK YOU to my fans, my friends, and my family for being supportive, showing up, and for loving me just the way I am. I am forever grateful for each and everyone of you.

..::Where Did You Get That Wednesday::..

Well I'm back in Japan for the next week and after a CRAZY day of travel to get here and a trek through the rain to reach our hotel, I slept for a solid 12 hours last night!! I was a wee bit exhausted. Right before I left I purchased these BEAUTIFUL cobalt blue suede pumps from ZARA - ON SALE!!! It was love at first sight and with a price tag to match, especially because I've been looking for blue heels for-EVER. I can't even express how comfortable they are on my feet, its like walking on clouds. They are making their Japanese debut tonight, can't wait!!!

..::Miso Pretty::..

I woke up this morning to a very unpleasant surprise on my lovely Monday off - RAIN. Like most people when its rainy, cold, and gloomy out you have to drag my body out of my cloud of a bed. Literally, I think I snoozed for 2 hours before finally realizing that I had to accomplish something if I still plan to board my plane for Japan tomorrow, which I do. I'm pretty excited to head back to the land of sushi and hoping that I'll have a little bit more free time this time around to do some more exploring, but as always I intend to make the best of whatever time I have and see as much as I can. This time I'll be staying near Tokyo Bay so I'm hoping that I can stumble across some amazing lil sushi spots for an authentic right off the boat experience. Jane over at Sea of Shoes just got back from Tokyo right after my last trip and compiled a nice lil must-see list on her blog. I was pretty excited to discover that I had done most of what her list entailed the first time around. Hoping I can maybe squeeze in the one or two things she recommends that I did not have a chance to do - however I will NOT be going to any cat cafes. The idea of paying to play with a room full of cats just sounds so wrong, esp considering I am not a cat person. I think I would just get freaked out if I saw that many cats in one tiny room and would immediately run in the opposite direction. At least I know I will never die alone and be eaten by my cats, because I'll never own one let alone many.

PC: Google Images

..::I've Got a Sick Obsession::..

I am a flair addict. There I said it. Step one right? In recent months my flair addiction has begun to stem around these crazy lil bedazzled animal rings, call me crazy, but its just become my thing, and every time I see one I have to have it and now my collection is at 4. Its my very own minature bedazzled zoo if you will. Lil Miss BunBun is the latest to join the ranks of my zoo and she was a hard one to capture! I had seen her weeks ago, but I was unable to buy her, but thankfully my friend was able to get it for me the following day when the store was open. I was soo excited to wear my new bunny ring today and to top it off, I had the most amazing day catching up with 2 of my besties and hitting the nail salon for a lil R&R/gossip session. I've been looking for a pale/powder blue polish all week, ever since I caught a glimpse of it in the pictures of the Chanel Cruise Collection from St Tropez. Although Essie's Lapis of Luxury isn't quite what I had in mind, its still pretty and has made me feel very springy all afternoon while the weather here at the beach has been rather foggy and, well, not so springy. Now its time to start thinking about packing for Japan...and we all know how much I like to procrastinate when it comes to packing. Le sigh, some things will never change.

..::Mother Goose::..

Sugar and Spice with a Heart Carved of ICE. Gotta LOVE Mother Goose... and her clever lil rhymes. I miss bedtimes stories like these - le sigh, off to dreamland with visions of cocktails dancing in my head.

PC: ffffound.com

..::Twitterpated::..

Follow the adventures of Lolita on TWITTER!!

..::Flavorful Favors::..

I've been a very bad Domestic Goddess lately. Partly because I was working nights last week and surviving off cereal and popsicles and partly because I still need to get my gas turned on...oppsies. I know I've beeeeen SUPER busy and all over the place and I'm about to take off to Japan again on Tuesday, but I promise when I get back I'm going to get down and dirrrrty with my new kitch....what better way to get acquainted? Speaking of popsicles, though, the other day I was feeeling a lil under the weather, and by under the weather I mean I was a tad hung over after gossiping late into the night with a friend over some vino. I went into my kitchen to grab a sugar free popsicle that I knew would instantly cure me, because that's what popsicles do for me and thus I try to keep them on hand at all times. I noticed as I grabbed one, that there was only one left after that. Naturally, as I do with popsicles when I'm hung over, I finished it while laying in bed and as I started to feel cooled down and happy I thought about having another one to further the curing process of my wine headache, but I stopped myself, knowing that I would be really upset if I came home the next day to a freezer full of vodka and no popsicles. But then a few days went by, and it wasn't until last night that I thought about popsicles again. You can imagine my astonishment when I opened the freezer and saw the VERY LAST TANGERINE popsicle in the box just waiting for me!!! I was SOOOOO HAPPPPPY. Its funny because I live alone, but it was like I was doing a favor for a roommate by not eating the last popsicle because I knew how sad it would make me the next time I opened the freezer to get one. When I realized what I had done, I smiled and thought, "That's pretty cute of me to be so nice to myself. Oh and must buy popsicles next time I'm at the market."

PC: ffffound.com

..::Where Did You Get That Wednesday::..

Often I'll buy something and live in it for a few weeks straight unable to part with my new beloved article of clothing aside from laundry day, where the cycle begins again once it's clean. Working in the fashion industry and having an innate LOVE for clothing (I blame my mother for dragging my brother and I around on countless shopping trips) my closet grows by leaps and bounds. Honestly in the past 3 weeks of moving and getting settled in my new place I've donated at least 4 large bags of clothing and shoes to the Good Will only to supplement with probably 2 shopping bags full of new goodies as replacements (its a serious problem). In my quest for always finding the perfect outfit for every occasion, I've been stopped along the way and asked the same question repeatedly...."Where did you get that _______?" A seemingly simple question, yet the answer is not always as easy as I would like it to be because sometimes I just can't remember. Yesterday while on my lunch break I was running errands and a girl at the drugstore asked me where I had purchased my dress and thus "Where Did You Get That Wednesday" was born.

Today's feature is the dress in question:

A Coral Tribal Print Maxi Dress from Heritage 1981

(Forever 21)

$19.90

PC: Forever21.com

..::Blah Blah BLAH::..

Been feeling a lil blah, Blah, BLAH this week...been thinking of changing up...SOMETHING. However I just can't quite put my finger on it....but I did get my fingers all over this lovely Elle. LOVE this cover, everything about it and it kind of makes me yearn for the days when I was younger and dreamed of being an Art Director of a fancy Fashion Publication. Not that all hope has been lost in that arena you see, but I've simply taken an alternate route in the fashion industry which I happen to love as well. Its always good to have dreams tho, right? Well at least that's what they tell you in college, but really they just want your $$$.

PC: Knight Cat

..::Ditching the Nude::..

Now I know I don't often post pictures of myself, and that's mostly because I'm not really sure I'm all in on that idea yet as most bloggers are and well, I'm not really sure I consider myself a "blogger" at least not in the typical sense....or whatever that means. I mean is there anyone even reading this right now? Anyways, my infatuation with lipstick began long ago as a little girl when my mother would slather me in a bright shade of hot pink from one of her trusty Clinique silver sticks and send me bouncing on stage to perform at my dance recitals. I'll let you imagine how many of those tubes of lipstick I inevitably wore as my dance career spanned a good 13 years. In college I became infatuated with lip gloss, and would scowl at the mere thought of wearing any kind of lipstick as I loved the way gloss made my lips look so deliciously shiny. After college however, I had tired of my lip gloss (well let's be honest lip gloss, long hair and convertible cars do not mix) and in turn favored a more nude/pale pink combination of sheer lipsticks. Well I'm not quite sure what got into me today, but I wandered into Sephora to pick up my trusty NARS lipstick in "SABRINA" and I found myself standing in front of the Lancome display enamoured with this tube of "FUCSHIA CLUTCH" lipstick. Against my better judgement, because I know I hate the way I look with lipstick on, I purchased it knowing that I would probably never leave the house with it on. And, as if this tangent on lipstick hasn't been long enough, I'll share with you what happened next..............YES, that's right I put it on when I got home and then I went to watch the LAKERS dominate in Game 4 at one of my fav lil happy hour spots. And you know what? Even after 2 drinks and the LAKER'S sweeping Utah in the series, I still couldn't decide if I liked it on me or not. DAMN. I'll be returning to Sephora this afternoon to grab my ever reliable "SABRINA" just in case I just can't wrap my head around this FUCSHIA PHASE I've found myself in.

..::Breaking the Ice::..

Mel: "So what did you do in school today?"

Cher: "Well, I broke in my new purple clogs.."

Hmm my day went a lil something like that too seeing as breaking in my new cognac clogs was the most productive thing I could muster at work after a night of not-so-great sleep. And by not so great I mean HORRIBLE. Note to self: Do not attempt a nap on the couch at 6pm when you've been out brunching, aka drinking, with the fam all day to celebrate Mother's Day, which consisted of watching celebrities flit in and out of the Polo Lounge all afternoon while sipping on SUPERWOMAN SANGRIA. Let's just say my powers to stay awake were not so SUPER. After groggily awaking on my couch at 10:30 pm I was unable to fall back asleep and thus tossed and turned until the sun came up. Alas I couldn't be too upset this morning when I saw my new clogs still in their box in their perfect shade of cognac and ready to be worn. So I embraced the day with thoughts of a good night's sleep tonight after I go cheer on my boys in Purple and Gold to take Game 4. Ahh Mondays, they aren't that bad.... once the work day is over.

PC: SteveMadden.com

..::Turning Japanese::..

I've been home for a week now and I think I've finally recovered from my Japanese jet lag, just in time too, because I just found out I'm going back in 2 weeks! These are just a few more pics from last week including a few shots of the work we did while there. I feel like I've been playing a giant game of catch up since I've been home. I'm excited to have a long weekend to relax and have some FUN. Its been a while since I had a minute to myself, but that's what happens when you're trying to take over the world, right?

..::A Gaggle of GALA-VANTING Beauties::..

Nicole Richie in Marc Jacobs

Vera Wang and Mila Kunis in Vera Wang

Sienna Miller in Pucci

Gwen Stefani in L.A.M.B.

Naomi Watts in Stella McCartney

Rachel Zoe in Marc Jacobs

Renee Zellweger in Carolina Herrera

Blake Lively in Marchesa

Kristen Stewart in Chanel Haute Couture

Ahh there is nothing I love more than a good GALA, especially one at the Met. There was a gaggle of beauties in attendance including some of my very favs wearing some of my very fav designers. I could've browsed through the pictures all day, okay who are we kidding, since I'm working nights till Wednesday I pretty much layed on the couch and clicked through them for a good hour or so while watching Sex and the City reruns and drinking insane amounts of coffee. Its been a beautiful day.

PC: Style.com