What I've learned so far in la la...

- Saying “I’m cold” becomes a relative statement very quickly.

- It’s not uncommon for salespeople to hug you hello & goodbye – ok admittedly, after you discovered you were separated at birth.

- Visitors are as good as a visit "home".

- Don't rely on having cell service at LAX, Dodger Stadium, the Rose Bowl - or anywhere with thousands of Los Angelians.

- Spanish is second nature for anyone who grew up here. French really throws people.

- Asking where the washroom is is the same as tattooing a maple leaf on your forehead saying "I'm Canadian".

- You can mapquest things on foot.

- Beware of “boot camp” classes & exercises called “GI Janes”.

- The beach is well worth the price of time and loss of patience sitting in traffic to get there.

- It’s worth the drive to Laguna.

- The yoga in California isn’t always better, you’ve got to find it.

- San Francisco isn’t necessarily a 6-hour drive...

- Fires, earthquakes and other natural disasters are a given.

- When you hear & see a helicopter circling overhead, it’s probably not the next celebrity wedding – there was likely a murder.

- Don’t always trust your GPS.

- Avoid Santa Monica Blvd, Fairfax, and a few other choice streets like the plague – they’re all anyone's GPS knows – and 95% of the city is using one to get anywhere. Beware of congestion...

- There are places you just should not go - EVER. Don’t let the gas light come on when you’re Southeast of anything.

- Runyon is almost always the highlight of my week.

- Boys in LA date date date.

- My trainer would use another word for date…

- If someone wears a blue or red bandanna, they’re likely a blood or a crip. If you ask them and they say no, go with your gut.

- More than half of the cars on the road are ones you’d want to own. People just need to learn to drive them!

- Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.

- Rain REALLY shuts the city down.

- What goes up, must not always come down.

- Whole Foods should be called “Whole Paycheck” - if you have one!

- You could eat out every night and never tire of the restaurants here.

- Nothing beats Rodeo. Avec holiday decorations - even better!

- The Grove really is heaven on earth – or "adult Disneyland".

- Time is different here, 15 min late is on time. Don't ever be early, you'll be kept waiting.

- Anything in the car takes at least 3-4 times longer than mapquest, googlemaps, or your GPS says.

- Valet is cheaper than parking tickets.

- You don’t really appreciate free apples until they’re gone.

- Ryan Seacrest really does run this town. And I love him.

You can take the girl out of Canada, but you can’t take Canada out of the girl. Who'd want to?! Please.

k

PS - That's it for this year... and what a year it's been.

Happy Holidays!! See you in 2010 - with bells on. xoxo

Not so Clueless...

I recently bought and read Alicia Silverstone’s “The Kind Diet”. It caught my eye from its initial release this fall, but having mixed feelings about veganism – I held off. Well I bit the bullet last week, and I read it last night – all of it – in one go. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at meat or animal/ by-products the same way again... I’ve read many books on diet, wellness, cleansing and so on – but this one really resonated. Animal cruelty issues are one thing – but the hormones and other toxins in the highly processed food we eat are another. I haven’t eaten red meat since I was 15 (aside from a few unenjoyable instances I can count on one hand) – I initially cut it out for health reasons. And then as you can imagine, if you try eating something your body hasn’t seen in over a decade – it well – rejects it. Ewa. I don’t miss it, and I rarely crave it. Although filet mignon was my favorite meal until age 15.

Having issues with dairy, I’ve wanted to become vegan for a few years. My main concern being that also having sensitivities to corn and gluten – once you take out chicken, fish, turkey, eggs & anything with animal by-products - there isn’t much left. Reading Alicia’s book, she said a lot of people who adopt a vegan or macrobiotic diet are able to reintroduce whole wheat and gluten products after they’ve practiced clean eating. I’ve never seriously considered macrobiotic. I know Gwyneth and Madonna are fans and clearly look fantastic – I also know they have personal chefs and the extraordinary resources to hardly notice such an extreme and dramatic change in everything they put into their bodies.

Without quoting the entire book – Alicia raves that she easily lost excess weight when she changed her eating and has more energy than ever. Her struggle with acne vanished, she sleeps better and hasn’t been sick once. The list of health benefits seems is endless. The lighter footprint of organic and locavore eating (making an effort to eat only foods grown or harvested within a 100 mile radius of your home), and the cruelty-free animal existence are all added benefits.

So after careful thought and consideration, I’ve decided to try going macrobiotic, and primarily vegan for 2010. A close friend was diagnosed with celiac last year and swears she doesn’t miss the foods that used to make her so sick – food for me is a daily struggle and I’d love to get to a place where it offers more than taste. If you’re going to do something do extreme with everything you consume, LA’s the place!! I’ve looked into a macrobiotic meal delivery service – for a somewhat reasonable price you can have 5 entrees delivered each week – allowing you to add variety, convenience, and ease to your new clean existence.

Some notable celebrity vegetarians, vegans and macrobiotics are:

Macrobiotic fans: Kim Kardashian, Madonna, Gwyneth

Vegans: Ellen Degeneres & Portia de Rossi, Woody Harrelson, Ginnifer Goodwin, Tobey Maguire, Alanis Morrisette (also Canadian!)

Vegetarians: Anne Hathaway, Anna Paquin, Brooke Shields, Claudia Schiffer, Kate Winslet, Brad Pitt (yum)

So yeah - I’m officially LA crazy... Go clean or go home.

k

What did you do last weekend?

Cuz I got bangs. And to those who remember my highly publicized decision to first get bangs last May – it was talked about for weeks… months for a lucky few! And sadly after the big unveiling - no one noticed! They weren’t really bangs at all. Having the same blunt hair cut since I was 15 (after unsuccessfully trying the Rachel – Jennifer Aniston layered look a few times and realizing it doesn’t work with my wavy hair) these small decisions are more than a bit major for me.

Sidebar – like most young girls I had bangs from an early age till I finally grew them out at age 12. They basically started at the crown of my head and complemented my bowl haircut very well. I’ve blocked it out. I don’t want to talk about my first true bang experience thank you.

So these bangs 2.0 aren’t your long layered swept behind the ear type of thing. They are just below my eyebrows, still side swept – but only falling about 4 inches from the top of my forehead. They aren’t deep (I’d say they’re between a quarter and half an inch from the front of my forehead back) - it’s a small and somewhat subtle start, and definitely noticeable. Especially when they decide to stand straight up… I kind of love them, and kind of hate them. They are the change I wanted. Although I’m not sure I need more help looking about 18 – still carded – everywhere! And let’s all remember when I took my California road test back in birthday month, I was asked if I was just getting my license for the first time. Uh – yes, 13 year ago that was the case.

Overall I think we’re in a natural adjustment period. They’re higher maintenance - which was to be expected, requiring a daily blow-dry to cooperate – and I use that term loosely. Working out with them is also a challenge. I’ve tried my lulu headbands (with the rubber grip – I added the faux denim navy one to my collection this weekend in their honor - LOVE) and they do the job for as long as it’ll stay on my head. Next will be the plethora of bobby pins and clips I plan on buying at the Grove.

I won’t include a picture as it'd conflict with my poor attempt of keeping the anonymity of “Style Guru” in tact. That and we’re still adjusting. ☺

k

"Holiday" High Tea

My favorite Christmas movie of all time is “The Holiday” (2006) – actually it’s easily on my short list of favorite movies EVER. A surprising admission, because I don’t like Jude Law… but his character – and Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet and Jack Black - all more than make up for it in this fantastic flick. If you haven’t seen it – watch it. You'll love it. Really. The story lines take place in LA and England over the holidays – two of my favorite places. And I can say that Cameron Diaz’s movie wardrobe is by far the BEST OF ALL TIME. From the Miu Miu white and wool cashmere coat, TSE and Ralph Lauren cashmere scarves and sweaters – to her chocolate brown and white Dior shearling coat. It’s all just fantastic.

With yesterday marking the first Sunday in December, LA is in full-on Christmas-mania (The Grove started this epidemic weeks ago...) – it’s on and it’s time to get festive. With this in mind, my best friend, her boyfriend and I had “Holiday” high-tea at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills yesterday. The list of famous movies filmed here (for $14,000 USD/ day) fills an entire page. The most exciting for me being “The Holiday”… but not at a small price. The Director, Nancy Meyers, wasn’t happy after the first day of filming so the studio paid another $14k to get it right. You really do have to spend to save.

After an hour and a half of chatter over tea, biscuits, various treats and champagne we went on a tour of the mansion– seeing the “dining room” where Cameron Diaz and Jude Law shot the scene where he takes her to lunch (ironically set in England in the movie). It was pretty cool. Some other notable favorites in good company were Ghost Busters, Air Force One, and The Bodyguard. The park ranger who lead the tour said when you see the white and black marble floor in a movie it’s a dead giveaway – I’ll definitely be looking for it in movies to come.

Feliz Navidad!

k

thank you, thank you, thank you, you’re far too kind

After a quick trip to T, I’m back in LA - already home. Thankfully it was unseasonably warm on the East Coast for late November – but that didn’t stop me from wearing SEVERAL layers at all times. It wasn't just an excuse to enjoy my winter wardrobe. I refused to get sick and waking up Thursday morning I could not get warm – eating breakfast with a hat, scarf & earmuffs was quite the sight for my beloved parents. Miss me? ☺ You’d think after 40 below on Everest I wouldn’t turn fair-weathered so soon... Think again. My four days were a whirlwind, the highlight of course seeing as many of your beautiful faces as possible.

Thanks to RH for an incredibly warm, albeit short homecoming and an offer to have my old spot back starting yesterday – greatly appreciated (DUN for life), but it looks like the team is doing just fine… congrats G!! Thanks to the girls for closing the rest as I knew we would, R for brunch “just like old times”, JC for a house I thoroughly LOVE, and MRT for well… Triple T!!! PAW for my fav downtown spot (syrup all around!). K, miss you despite talking every five seconds…. love, love, love AKC, need more of her in my life – Dr PhD, you rock – KRob & JS who isn’t reading this, love you both. LKA you're the BEST. Little red ballers – thanks for th entertainment as always. JD, JF & co - Tgiving 2.0 avec la familia was tres fantastique. M/N thanks for filling my bags - I made it. And L – my #1! Forever & always.

The tough part about seeing people after four months is it makes you miss them more – the silver lining being that I’m back in December for the holidays in uh... three weeks today. We won’t talk about the fact that after that it’s unlikely I’ll make another appearance until cottage season 2010. There will be MANY boathouse roof dates required.

“Good friend are like stars… you don’t always seem them, but you know they are always there.” - Anonymous

Thanks for being my stars, love you!

k