Happy Halloween!

Hope you all have a safe Halloween.

Love,
Tina Turner

P.S. Do I love you? My oh my! River Deep Mountain High!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Halloween Costume Prep

Halloween is right around the corner and I've been scrambling around for costume ideas over the last few weeks. This so-called holiday is one of my faves because I love the idea of getting creative and putting a costume together. It's the funnest part. I almost always opt for DIY costumes vs buying one at a Halloween store. This way, you won't end up with the same exact costume as everyone else at a party. The second funnest part is actually getting into character the day of. Here are a few of my most recent costumes. All put together with old clothes, thrift store finds, a trip to the craft store and a little imagination.

As for this year's costume, you'll just have to come back and see! I'll give you a hint, I'm sticking with my music artist theme... I'll take any guesses...

 AMY WINEHOUSE

 LADY GAGA

GOGO YUBARI of KILL BILL

 80's PROM QUEENS

HARLEM GLOBETROTTER

I love me some flight deals...

Being subscribed to airline emails is a very dangerous thing - especially for airlines like Southwest and Virgin who are constantly advertising cheap flights. When I see deals that call out "mini vacay", they're too hard to pass up! Speaking of cheap flights, Southwest currently has a Halloween offer going on and I just booked flights to LA in December for no more than $80 RT. Check their site before they run out of flights. One way seats go as low as $30.

Anyway, can't wait to go to LA - there's never a shortage of fun things to do there. Like biking down Newport Beach :)

Sephora Friends & Family

Hi everyone,

It's that time again. Enter code FF2010 at checkout on Sephora.com for 20% off your entire order. This offer ends on 11/3 so shop now! If you really want to be a great friend, search for "sephora friends and family" on Google (or your favorite search engine) and click on a sponsored Sephora ad to place your order :)

P.S. While you're at it, download the Sephora app for your iPhone: 

 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sephora-to-go/id393328150

Love,
Melissa

DIY: Decorative Pillows

We recently bought a new couch and to add a few splashes of color, I thought it'd be great to have a few decorative pillows. I also love the added comfort of some extra cushions. After spending hours in countless home furnishing stores & websites I realized that these pillows are not cheap. They average at about $30-40 a pillow and I couldn't exactly find a print/ color I loved. Looking at these, I thought how hard could it be to make one - they're just square pieces of fabric. The next day during lunch I walk into Britex, an amazing 4-story fabric store in SF, and I find fabric I like for about $20. A few days later, I head over to my sisters house and she teaches me the basics of how to use her sewing machine and bada boom I have 2 pillow cases. I head over to Ikea, pick up 2 $7 square pillows and there I have it 2 decor pillows for under $30. They're not perfect (my sister laughed at my slightly crooked seams, but they work for me and are great for my first sewing project. Can't wait to make a few more for this couch and the other one in our den.

San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon 2010

This past Sunday, I ran the San Jose Rock N Roll half marathon. The course had absolutely no inclines. Knowing this going in, I thought for sure I would break my Nike Women's half marathon time by at least 10 minutes. Well, at the end of the race I ended up clocking in a few seconds slower than my last time! Absurd. How on earth did I manage to run this same speed in San Francisco with a ton of inclines? I must be in worst shape than I was a year ago.

As I crossed the finish line, I told myself that it would be my last and that I'm officially retiring from this 13.1 mile game but I can't just walk away that easily. I have a new goal to beat. Also, I failed to mention that this was Craig's first half marathon and he ended up beating me by 10 minutes and now he wants to run another one. So, guess my retiring days will have to get pushed back a tad. Time to train for another one. Man, these things are slightly addicting.

Philadelphia, The City of Brotherly Love

For any and every trip, I normally map out a plan. With my busy schedule these last few weeks, I wasn't able to get around to it. All I knew was that I wanted to go to one store in NY - I've been there so many times that I just wanted to go with the flow this time around. As for Philly, even though it was my first time there, I just though that I'd be eating cheesesteaks and visiting my good friend Jeff. When I checked into our hotel, I did the usual reading through the tourist magazines and hotel books they offer and realized that this city had way too many historical places to pass up on. With just 2 full days to see everything I wanted to see, I mapped out a plan to see Benjamin Franklins burial site, Independance Hall, the Liberty Bell, Rocky steps, colonial homes from the 1800's, Betsy Ross house, Love park & sculpture and eat at all of the famous cheesesteak spots. After 2 days of siteseeing, it was a success. I saw all of these places and then some. We even managed to try cheesesteaks & such at Tommy Dinics, Pat's, Genos and Tony Lukes. The only one we missed was Jim's! My favorite: Pat's. The meat was super flavorful and juicy. Not only did we do daytime activities and eat our way through the city, we managed to check out a little nightlife too.

Aside from the historical background, another thing I really appreciate about Philly is their love for sports and their home sports teams. Anytime a game was going on everyone was fitted in Phillies or Eagles apparel. Gotta love it.

Empire State of Mind

Every time I visit NY, I feel refreshed. My motivation for all things goes up x10 and I want to snap out of wearing the same outfits week to week and ramp up my wardrobe for the season. In addition, each time I visit, it makes me want to relocate there for a change of scenery. Oh New York, how I love your busy streets, tasty eats and one of a kind boutiques (rhyming here was totally unintentional btw). Another huge plus is the great friends that we have that live there. With each visit, they take time out of their busy schedules no matter what day of the week and come out for a drink or two (or 3, 4, 5, 6 - in our case during this recent visit). Until next time, NYC!

Highlights:

• Jappas all you can drink karaoke madness
• The food: burgers from Shake Shack, corn from Cafe Habana, steak & bacon from Peter Luger
• Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge from BK to Manhattan
• Bar hopping with the crew
• Hanging out with Tiffany before she moves back to Cali - and my new favorite necklace :)

P.S. Thanks to all the NY'ers - it's always a great time with ya'll