(Mango leather jacket and bag, Necessary Clothing dress, Forever 21 scarf, 80%20 boots, Vintage necklace)

I have to say that one thing I miss about California are the large open spaces. I can’t believe I’m even saying this, but I miss the empty parking lots, boring malls, but most of all, I miss the ability to just walk outside into a quiet neighborhood to take a stroll by yourself. Dylana, Cheryl, and I decided that we needed a major break from our work lives and so we got in the car, and did just that. I literally got off the plane from Israel, was home in NYC, and realized I couldn’t wait to see these girls and so on a whim, I packed to leave for Philly. We escaped our crazy city lives for a quiet weekend in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I swear it was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time. We drove in the car, blasting our favorite tunes (M83 was big on our playlist), en route to the local shopping mall. I felt like I was in high school again. To just do silly, stupid things like jump around the parking lot and take photos of one another felt beyond liberating. We ate home cooked food and watched too much reality television. All I do is laugh when we’re together (they’re givin me wrinkles!). This comfortable, much-needed homely break makes me very excited to see my own family at home this Christmas!

(Mango blouse, Porter Grey skirt, Matt Bernson shoes, Rebecca Minkoff bag)

I don’t know what I would have done without Gabrielle, Jenni, and Poppy! Miss them already!

So yes, there is definitely much more goodness to my trip to Israel. This evening, we navigated our way to the outdoor market, on the look out for some amazing “I HAVE TO TAKE THIS HOME” baubles. We met some interesting characters along the way, like that dude standing by his store window. How adorable is he? He almost…yes, ALMOST, got me to buy a really hideous velvet scarf (which I thought was totally cute, though Gabbi convinced me looked more like a carpet) for 70 sheks. Ummm, no thank you! But I did end up scoring a really rad silver potion necklace. I have no idea where this guy gets his stuff, but his store was an absolute treasure trove. He probably hated the idea of these foreign girls roaming around his store, oohing and aahing over just about everything in sight. But he did happily smile for photos at the end of our shopping spree…probably because he had about 80 quid in his pockets. Yes, my friend decided to buy the scary troll doll along with some other trinkets that we still believe are haunted. But really all that mattered is that we got our souvenirs! By the way, my friends are total babes, agreed? What I noticed was how effortless their style was. All of their looks were just so easily thrown together. I loved photographing them with my new lens!