This past Halloween I dressed up as a mummy. I painted my body white and then carefully wrapped myself up. The minute I walked outside of my apartment I started to come undone. And there was hardly a taxi cab in sight that night. sigh.

I always think that maybe I should just buy a costume and forego the pain, costs and drama of the DIY, but nooo. I’ll probably never buy a pre-made costume. Anyway. Hope you had a fabulous Halloween. My Oliver was a gorilla and his father was a big banana. Xx

Have a wonderful Christmas & an amazing Hanukkah everyone!

No matter how you plan on celebrating (whether wearing a typical and terrible holiday sweater, a Juicy Couture sweat suit, or a sexy little Santa suit and new Louboutins), spread the cheer to everyone around you. Here’s hoping you got everything you wished for and more! Xx

For Christmas my son asked Santa for a blue sled, and for the last week or so, he has been asking me constantly what I asked Santa for. And while this seems like a fairly simple question, I’m having a very hard time answering in a way that is satisfactory to my child.

What do I really want? I want my son to always be happy, healthy, and love me unconditionally forever – when I told him that he said, “No Mommy. What do YOU want for Christmas?!” as if I didn’t understand the question at all. Then he tells me that perhaps I should think about it and tell him in the morning.

Now I thought about telling him that I wanted a new pair of shoes, but then I realized that if a beautiful new pair of Louboutins, Pradas, or Viviers don’t magically show up on Christmas morning, he’ll realize that I’ve been a bit naughty this year and I’ll probably never, ever hear the end of it.

The other day I noticed this on Style.com’s homepage and my jaw sort of dropped. Why?

Because the bottle shown next to the headline of “Holiday Gifts Under $100″ is really a $1,500 limited edition bottle of 50 hand painted by artist Sophie Matisse for Killian Hennessy – and I would know as I personally went to Matisse’s studio several weeks back to take a closer look at those exact bottles. WTF? I though this was a story about Holiday Gifts Under $100? Anyway, stay tuned for an intimate interview and look inside her studio that I’ve been meaning to post here for a while now…

I’m really trying to pound through my holiday shopping and have made some serious progress. If your list is long and you’ve barely begun shopping, you may want to take advantage of some of the deals retailers have going on today:

• If you don’t know Kirna Zabete, it is time you get acquainted with the ultra chic boutique. – and today is the last day to snag 50% off of great designers like Giambattista Valli, Rick Owens, Nina Ricci, and many more (psst – if you are shopping for me, go here!)
• Today only, take 40% off (and an extra 10% off if you shop online) practically all full-priced merchandise (sweaters, jewelry, etc) at Banana Republic – you know, great sweaters for dads, jewelry for your sister
  
• Barneys is having yet another designer sale – definitely worth scrolling through (marni tights for $19 instead of near $100), plus take advantage of free shipping
• You’re probably going to stop reading my blog after you read this, but here’s hoping you don’t: Now through December 3rd, save 50% on the entire Lauren Conrad collection (yes, I’m talking about the collection by Lauren or LC from The Hills/Laguna Beach), which makes it all quite affordable. Ok, so the designs are all ripped off from Ella Moss, Vince, James, etc., but the fabric is super soft, the styles are all really easy to wear, and yes, I am placing an order. Makes for pretty good giving whether they know Lauren’s history with Brody or not
• Net-a-porter’s super sale is still going on and going strong…
• and of course, BCBG is on sale, on sale, on sale – this time with free shipping on everything purchased today

December 1st is an exciting date – not only is it Cyber Monday this year, but it is also the first day to start opening our Advent calendars.

Growing up, we had the same Advent calendar each each year – a cute fabric one that looked homemade but probably isn’t. My mom would fill every little pocket with Hershey Kisses for both my sister and I to eat each night leading up to Christmas.

The opening up of an Advent calendar is definitely one of the holiday traditions I plan to always uphold, but (as usual) I’ve been looking to find one just like my mother’s for years now and have never been able to find just the right one.

Advent calendars have been around since the beginning of the the 19th century and now come in a wide variety of styles from very basic to super elaborate and life-sized; In Gengenbach, a town in Germany’s Black Forest, the Rathaus (town hall)—which luckily has 24 main windows—is turned into a giant Advent calendar each year. Each window features a scene or painting by an artist, often an illustrator of children’s books.

Last year we bought our advent calendar from Starbucks (which we refilled with stickers and small toys for my son), but this year we discovered the greatest Advent calendar – the Lego one (we have quite a collection growing). See below for my Top 5 Advent Calendars for the 2008 Holiday season:

My tree is up, my stockings are hung, and the mistletoe is ready! A bit early you say? Nonsense! I’m sitting here looking at my tree filled with memories and twinkling lights and thinking that it should never ever be taken down.

It is safe to say that I’m filled with the holiday spirit. I’ve been shopping for gifts for a while now and have decided to share some of my favorite finds and ideas with you via my Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide.

See that cute little Kidrobot reindeer off to the left? He’ll be here all season and whenever you click on him you’ll go directly to the page with all of my gift ideas. Some are naughty, some are nice, all of them are great! I hope you enjoy and check back often as I’ll be adding to it often…Happy Holidays!