I'm Back!

Well, back from cali. It was so wonderful to see my mummy and my little brother (at over 6ft and 250lbs, not so little anymore). I was lucky enough to make it out weds morn (before the big huge snow storm that was coming.....) and totally stoked that I got a direct flight to SFO. The trip overall was kinda uneventful, it was cool to see our old house and downtown Lost Gatos but more then anything it was kinda depressing. I dont think I'll be going back anytime soon. Anyways, one of my absolute favorite, favorite, favorite things about traveling is that it gives me a block of time when I can just sit back relax and READ. Reading is a guilty pleasure that never gets old. My grandmother instilled in me a love of reading that is like a gift of gold. One of my life goals is to spend a whole summer on the beach, just reading away, just the thought of it sends a wave of excitement through me. So I cherish these rare times when I get to really delve into my reading list full throttle. On this trip I read...

Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan (not the kindle edition, as I hate the idea of the kindle, except for the prolific traveller in which it is a great necessity. Otherwise, it is for the birds, in my humble opinion) 

This story started off a little slow, but I was intrigued by the characters (one is described as a lilly pulitzer wearing southern bell) however, the all girls college lesbian, feminism stuff was a little too much for me. I keep on with it though because I loved that it was written with the point of view of all four girls, so just when you were getting immersed with one, the chapter ended and you were on to the next. THEN it gets REALLY good and you just dont want to put it down. A very strong finish and in turn an awesome read. 

Next up, was Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner (the old fashioned hardcover edition) Now this book was much like so many of the "chick lit" books I have read before but for some reason that even now I dont understand I kept reading it, it was a pretty quick read so I just kept going. Nothing fabulous but it was ok. 

Then I started on a wonderful book that I have had on my list for a long time and was so excited to receive this x-mas from fellow blogger and prep extraordinaire (check out her blog Social Climbers) This book is simply a hilarious and fun read. The main character "Elizabeth" is full of vim and vigor and a sharp wit. I can't wait to finish it. 

Preppy Porn

I believe it was The Trad that coined the phrase, but it certainly applies here. First of all Lax Bro is completely hilarious, secondly that kid is devastatingly handsome! The last video I originally saw on A Duck Gets Dressed and 
rolled on the floor laughing. I wonder if Frank Lapacone is still available? Just Kidding...

Goin' Back To Cali...

So I dont know if I've put it out there but I grew up in Northern CA. I say grew up because I was born in upstate New York and lived there until I was 5 then my dad got a big IBM promotion and we moved to silicone valley. Needless to say I absolutely hated living there, Im not a cali girl whatsoever and to make it worse I went to public school, which first of all the education sucks, the kids are terrifying and they are not on the track to get kids to go to anything more than community college.
I remember coming home from my first day of kindergarten and telling my mom "These kids dont even know where New York is..." So that is why I hightailed it to the east coast the moment I graduated from high school and have remained there every since. My parents dragged me home kicking and screaming every christmas break and by the end of the 6 weeks I felt like I was going to die. However, my little bro (lucky enough to have an amazing private school education... he's a genius so the public school could not handle him) is graduating from college on weds. He told me he will never speak to me again if I do not attend. So for the first time in 5 yrs I am making the trek back. Its a short 3 day trip but will include lots of travel between San Fran and Los Gatos and some other godforsaken town I have never heard of. The one thing I am excited about is going to the fast food places that we dont have on the atlantic seaboard. First stop...

Jamba Juice, while a healthier choice then the others, this place has the most AMAZING smoothies! I used to live on these in high school and I have been dying for one lately. (Ohh P.S. when I googled jamba juice it came up that there is one on comm ave in Boston. I'll still be going to the one in Lost Gatos but now I know I can get them right here at home) 

Now this is sure to derail any hopes of avoiding weight gain while on this trip but I have not been to a jack in the box in a hella (cali slang word, only used by the nor cal bros) long time so I am excited to get one (hopefully only one) of their awesome (grease laden) tacos and some of the best curly fries I have ever encountered. My friends and I used to spend every fri night hanging out outside of the JITB so its a sentimental stop too. 

Then for some of the most awesome pizza ever Pizza My Heart is a must stop. 

Baby bro also works there so got show them a little support. 

Then the be all end all has to be in-n-out burger. This place is heaven on earth. I would never touch another fast food burger other then these little masterpieces. They have a HUGE following so much so that it is to be expected to wait up to an hour or more to get your order since this place is always jam packed and time of day. I cannot wait! 

I am glad to report that chipotle has finally made its way (most conveniently 5 mins from my house) to the east coast so I no longer have to make sure that it is waiting for me at home when I arrive from the airport in cali. 

Austin Jeffers

One of my absolute favorite parts of my job is that I get to custom design all of the Eliza B flip flops, headbands, belts & keychains that we carry in the store. There are probably 1,000 ribbon and hundreds of fabric choices. I have a huge binder that I love flipping through, coming up with new combinations for each season. Sometimes I cheat a little bit and use the Eliza B website for inspiration or to see if there are any new fabric or ribbon choices. So last week as I was browsing through I noticed that they had a new line (Eliza B is part of the original Leather Man company) called Austin Jeffers which is a line of mens (could work for women as well) leather belts. They have some great styles here.... 

The very popular hoof pick belt

The winchester belt ( I must get this for Dad!) 

They also have a selection of needlepoint belts (retailing at $150) 

nothing overly creative but cool.