The Mannequin Is Our Muse

Bits of My Imagination In The Form of Headbands

Chills and a sense of pride

Yesterday my former ASU marketing professor, Dr. Beth Walker (who is now the dean of the MBA program at the W.P. Carey School of Business) took me to the Spirit of Enterprise luncheon as her guest at the Biltmore.

The event honors entrepreneurs and small time business owners.

They began the ceremony with someone singing "God Bless the U.S.A". That song always gives me goose bumps!

My dad loved that song, so 1) it reminds me of him and his journey from Thailand to America to pursue his Masters degree in architecture and 2) it reminds me of every time I go through customs and they say "Welcome back to the USA."

I am not overly patriotic, but it does send a jolt of pride when I get in line behind the sign that says "Citizen". I have a lot of foreign friends and they often complain about the US and all its faults and the agonizing process of entering the US for extended periods without a VISA or Greencard.

And I agree America is far from perfect, and I am not one to think that this is the only place to live, but I have done a fair amount of traveling to both really nice countries and to some places that still operate in "third world states". And at the end of the day I am glad I live here and I feel honored and blessed by all that this country affords me. And no matter what "I LOVE THIS LAND, God Bless the USA"

Discounted Designer Threads

Eek! I love a good find. I just googled the Sue Wong beaded dress I found at Last Chance, and it is selling at Neiman Marcus for $355! Needless to say I paid next to nothing for it!

I took my friends Jamie and Dee on Wednesday night. Dee found brand new Prada Suede Heels for $99, Jame found Seven Jeans for $29 and I nabbed a pair of camel-fur DVF heels )that are so Mad Men) for $69. AMAZING!

I love nice things but I love them even more via the bargain hunting method :-)

Pushing it to the edge

Most girls are not daring enough to strut something like this on their head. I am sure the average girl would feel absolutely ridiculous walking down the street, especially if they were outside of NYC, Paris or Milan. However, what I love about fashion, is that eventually we will see a weak, watered-down version of these headpieces over time. Just watch -- Forever 21 will come up with a VERY TAMED down version. Or maybe Jennifer Paige Designs will draw inspiration and push the envelope a bit this next season and come up with a collection that is a big more daring.

Stream Line

How does one person collect soo much stuff!!!???

I moved my items out of storage this past week and I have a ridiculous amount of items. And I have not even packed up my New York City apartment yet! Of course, prior to living in NYC I had a 1600  sq ft condo and most of what was in storage used to be housed in that condo, and there is also a lot of nostalgic leftovers from my parents, that I am not willing to part with, but still, oh my goodness this is too much clutter!

Putting things up on shelves just for the sake of "decorating" has never been my thing. I love the minimalistic look, and a piece of art has to really move me for me to want to display it. I am over all the knick-knacks and tacky collectibles. And going forward I want to stream line not only my decorating style but also my life. I want to declutter and weed out the unnecessary!

Whether it is situations and projects that I should NOT be involved in, to buying more than I need, I want to stream line it all.

Some Pictures From My Photo-Shoot