The above picture is only 1 of many that my brother and I took for our gift to our parents for Hanukka. We spent a little under an hour at Santa Monica Beach to take some pics and choose 1 to frame for our parents. My friends, and amazing photographers, Paul Dunkan and Emma Hopman-Fuller took the pics and did an outstanding job. And yes, we went for the "white top / khaki bottoms" clean cut look - never would I be caught dead in this outfit for real.
As for my Hanukka gift this year from my parents, I decided to get myself a heavier coat -- yes, that's correct -- a warmer jacket for southern LA. If it's one thing people know about me, it's that I love warm weather and I hate to be cold. So the jacket I have now is fine, but honestly at night, I have found myself shivering - yes physically actually shaking, in my jacket. Believe it or not people, it gets chilly at night here!! Now of course it's not like NYC chilly, it is bearable .. but I'd like to be a little more comfortable. It's not like I sought out to get one of those puffy jackets, like for skiing -- I still want to look like a functioning member of society. So I started my search in Loehmann's. After getting distracted in the shoe section, I finally found my way to their Coat section ... or lack there of. I was shocked by the limited selection, not to mention the selection in my price range and taste. After trying on several, I found myself in this nice grey peacoat by Marc by Marc Jacobs. I was almost gonna buy it until after walking around in it for a bit it started to itch my neck -- and I had a scarf on .. so, back onto the rack it went, and I walked out empty handed. ( And yes, I still hadda pay for parking - ughh). Then I tried Bloomingdale's, Nordstroms.. and J. Crew ..and Abercrombie -- NOTHING! The selection out here is very slim - I get it, it's not like it goes below 0 out here, but still, this is America, a capitalist society, - people at least travel to colder climates!... right?? or are like me and want to be warm in a grey peacoat so that it'll match with everything, and preferably with a hood. Not too hard to ask for.
Finally I remembered this little store called H&M. I saw a few coats up front on their sale rack, but nothing perfect. Until I reached the back corner of the store, and (Cue angels singing "aahhh") - a shit ton of peacoats!! I went crazy and tried on nearly all of them. Unfortunately my cell phone died so I couldn't take pics and send them to my mom for approval, so I went on my gut instinct and bought 2 - 1 grey one and 1 brown one, anticipating to possibly return one later on. After a few days of them hanging in my closet, I decided to check out Nordstrom Rack, the very last store to resort to - if there was nothing there, then there was nothing else in the entire state of CA for me.
Side note - It was going to be my first time at Nordstrom Rack out here, and many of you know parking can be confusing. So I pull into what I think is the proper lot, only to find a security guard standing there telling me it's only for CVS customers. So I said where's parking for NR? The sign for it is right here.. this doesn't make sense. After shamefully pulling out of the one-way lot, I circled around, and voila - a metered spot opened up on the street, so I grabbed it, without thinking twice of driving around once more to explore. It might have had something to do with the fact that I was on the phone with my aunt, so my brain was only half paying attention. I gave myself one hour on the meter, and aimlessly walked around. I found myself at a weird deserted underground parking lot, that looked more like a construction zone. I walked all the way across it to the stairs, walked about half-way up to discover none other than construction workers - clearly not NR. So i quickly tip-toed away, and then climbed this other set of stairs that was outside, but that led to a loading zone for Marshall's -- wtf?? .. Finally decided to walk through the CVS parking lot, and down the sidewalk ... finally I found "Beverly Connection" with it's own parking lot (of course) .. and followed the signs to NR.
Their selection was much more what a jacket selection should be. I saw several styles that I liked, so I tried them on right there in front of one of those mirrors they attach to the pillars - I didn't even bother with the fitting room (who does for solely jackets anyway, am I right??).. After many rational scenarios playing out in my head for each coat, I decided on a grey peacoat with a hood by Miss Sixty - yay!
The next day I went back to H&M to return the other grey one, so I'm finally set with my Hanukka present - 2 jackets. I wore the brown one tonight actually, and lo and behold, a button already popped off ... luckily it came with a spare one sewn on the inside, so I was able to fix it right away, but usually those always last the age of the coat, so I gotta be careful!
Anyway, tomorrow is Christmas Day ... stay tuned for my blog on my movie marathon and Chinese dinner! haha
Thanks for reading,
Harley's Hype
Ha! If I only knew the story behind the damn coat when I complimented you on it.
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