When it comes to money, I’m almost Suze Orman good at using it. Note that you just read ‘using’ and not losing. Of course, it never used to be this way. I was once a dumb teenage mall employee making unnecessary purchases left and right. Who knew then that it wasn’t necessary to be buying 10 shades of the same thing? I certainly didn’t. Fortunately, over time, my spending habits have become more refined and I am less likely to make frivolous purchases. More »

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Like every other person, I love chocolate with every ounce of my being. Chocolate when it’s packaged ever-so-cutely for the holidays? It’s all over. As in, Max Brenner, I don’t know who you are because I live in Southern California, but you can pretty much own my soul now. That’s how bad I have it for these chocolates in these pictures that were submitted to me. More »

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Being from sunny Southern California, my perception of what the winter season should be like is completely skewed. Out of whack, even. It’s been over a decade since I’ve seen snow, I don’t own a coat and temperatures below 60 F degrees require a good amount of emotional preparation. Luckily, Orisinal.com has just released “Winterbells,” a winter-themed bunny flash game! More »

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Not only do people drive everywhere and our store-front display windows suck, it doesn’t even get cold enough in Southern California to justify wearing knit mittens, scarves or beanies. People still do here, but it’s kind of embarrassing because they bust out the knit-wear when the weather is in the low 60s. As I’m blogging it’s currently 54°F and I’m wearing LAYERS under sweats. I’m sure I just painted the most glamorous picture of myself just now. More »

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And yet another reason has been made known to me why New York City is so much cooler than where I live now. Apparently, retailers spend tons of money on store displays and it’s quite the big deal there. In Southern California, window displays are more of an afterthought. This is largely because walking is deemed a highly offensive crime. Well, not really — people spend more time in their cars than anything else. Thus, the window displays of most stores in Southern California aren’t as decadently cute as the one pictured. More »

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By now I’m sure a lot of people are thinking that I’m from New York. That’s hardly the case. I’m actually in Southern California — land of the aspiring actresses and models, where it’s never cold when it’s winter or hot when it’s summer and people use their own cars as a means of transportation. And the subway steps are uninspiring. Believe it or not, California has subway systems. They’re not nearly as exciting or cute as they are in New York. Take the picture of the subway steps recently submitted to me above. More »

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There’s probably one, and I repeat one, reason to justify continuing the overly-trendy wayfarer sunglasses trend. It’s not because you saw a pap snap up your favorite D-List celeb or because the cool kids in school are wearing wayfarers. It’s because said wayfarer shades are made by Luella (F/W 2009), they’re now on sale for $65 USD (instead of $300), they’re pink AND they have the cutest heart cut-out detailing on the sides. Given that I live in sunny Southern California and I just scratched up a pair of sunglasses, I think I need the Luella wayfarers in my life.

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Living in Southern California isn’t exactly conducive to wearing fleece. Whenever an Old Navy Performance Fleece commercial is on the tube, I’m often left wondering about situations in which I’d have to actually use fleece. I’ve only narrowed it down to two situations: 1. Hell really does freeze over, making California legitimately cold. 2. I somehow start working in a subzero freezer, at a slaugther house. Or the most probable of situations, 3. I come across Hair-mo, a kawaii accessories brand from Taiwan and immediately want a Hair-mo pouch. More »

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