(Necessary Clothing sweater, J Brand jeans, Persol sunglasses, Vintage Cole Haan boots)
There is one city out there that is just captivating, and that is Jerusalem. It was probably one of my very favorite parts of my Israel trip. You won’t believe it but I literally woke up exactly 5 minutes before our tour bus was about to take off! I have no idea why I decided not to call the front desk for a wake up call…on the most important morning of all times! So yes, I panicked, literally screamed “shit, shit, shit” to myself as I hopped out of bed. I didn’t get to do my hair..but just brushed my teeth, packed a lipstick, and threw on this outfit (which I also wore on the plane). Not too shabby for a 5 minute fixer upper. I go down to the lobby in record time and everyone is still waiting for the bus. HALLELUJAH. Oh, but things do get more crazy. I was told I had a few minutes to grab a coffee and of course I stupidly believed them and left to grab one, only to come back to an empty lobby and NO BUS IN SIGHT. I freaked. Did everyone get abducted by aliens or something? Luckily my friend called me to tell me to hop in a cab and make it to the next hotel where the bus had left to pick up the other editors. As you can see, I DID end up making the bus. The whole morning was absolutely insane, but in the end, I was just sooo happy I made it. The 8:10 am call time was definitely worth it. I had the most amazing Thanksgiving in Jerusalem. We ate holy food, drank wine, and did all sorts of crazy things (like sneak away from our tour guide…more on that later) The one day felt like a week, as we saw so many things, met so many people, and basically had an out of this world experience. You probably want to know what went down when we actually got there. Well, now you’ve got me exhausted and I will explain later! The never ending day comes with many more photos 🙂

(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!