Style: Pumpkin Prey

Halloween has long been my favorite holiday but with the devastation on the East Coast from Hurricane Sandy and my sudden onslaught of the flu that is lingering now for its third day, it looks like this year may be my most relaxed and dare I say "grown-up" one of them all.  Boo.  And not in a fun Halloween way.  Regardless of my ailing body, I'm so excited to share these photos with you that I took last week with a new friend, amazing photographer, and inspiring woman, Annie Vovan.  Annie enjoys capturing beautiful moments at weddings, and has found her true passion in portrait photography and in empowering women.  Annie and I are teaming up in an effort to give all women the opportunity to feel beautiful and confident through her Just B.E. (Be Empowered) photo sessions. More on this later but I definitely recommend checking out the amazing work she is doing!

There is the cutest little pumpkin patch located quite close to my apartment in Santa Monica.  The day Annie and I shot these photos it was one of the chillier evenings we've had this year and it felt perfect for a fall themed shoot.  The men working at the patch were so friendly and even offered their direction as to what the best backdrops and landscapes would be to shoot.

As the weather gets (slightly) cooler in Southern California, I love making the switch to wearing tights with all my dresses.  Because I'm 5'10, some of my dresses can ONLY be worn with tights (this statement was questionable during my sorority days) so it is like having an entirely new wardrobe and a plethora of options to choose from.  Because the leopard print on this sweaterdress is so busy, I paired it with a basic Levi's denim jacket to dress it down.  Plus, denim screamed Pumpkin Patch to me and reminded me so much of growing up in Long Island, NY... probably because both my mom and I work denim overalls about 85% of the time.

I'll be scanning my Facebook and Instagram news feeds looking for all of your creative Halloween costumes as I lay recovering in my bed for the third day in a row.  Sending my prayers and positivity to my East Coast friends as well and hoping everybody can still be in the Halloween spirit amongst all the chaos!

Photography by Annie Vovan

Leopard Sweater Dress- Victoria's Secret; Denim Jacket- Levi's; Black Tights- Target; Leopard Face Ring- Nasty Gal; Brown Booties- Target; Cascading Earring- Target; Red Lipstick- Makeup Forever Rogue Artist 42

Please Stop Asking This Question

(Originally published: November 4, 2010)

I hate when people ask me what kind of music I like.   If they ask me that initially, I know it’s not going to work out between us.   It is a sure fire way that you will be judged and placed accordingly.  It is similar but not directly related to someone asking your Astrological sign.  If you are someone that is going to judge our compatibility based on me being the “twin” and you are the “scorpion” (Is a scorpion a sign or is that Chinese New Year?) we clearly have different interests in life.

It’s not that I don’t like music.  Music is nice.  It is just that the question of asking what kind of music I like is so critical.  It’s up there with asking me which Hanson brother was hottest.  Can’t I just be honest and say my Pandora is still set to J-Kwon’s Tipsy and call it a day?

I don’t even know what this question means.  There are so many variations and ways to answer it.  What song do I most commonly enjoy karaokeing to?  What kind of music did I lose my virginity to?  What kind of music do I pretend to like to impress whatever person I am trying to impress?

This question is usually asked by someone who listens to some hip, underground, alternative group that no one listens to and frankly isn’t even good.  At work, I have made the conscious decision to never be the one whose laptop plays our 16-hour a day soundtrack in the office.  It’s a lot of pressure and god only know that with my luck my iTunes will get stuck on something like Dashboard Confessional.

I think people should listen to whatever music tickles them in that special way…

On that note I’d like to include a playlist that I like to live my life by and that you should probably listen to:

1. Bed Intruder Song- Antoine Dodsen  Bed Intruder Song
2. Cameltoe- FannyPack
3. Teardrops on My Guitar- T. Swift… because no matter how old you are you have sat and listened to this song and imagined the person in your life who caused all those teardrops that stained your new guitar… kidding… kind of
4. Teach Me How to Dougie- Cali Swag District
5. Milkshake- Kelis
6. That’s Not My Name- The Ting Tings… only because I used to pretend I was a Victoria’s Secret model in front of my mirror repeatedly to this song
7. Graduation (Friends Forever)- Vitamin C
8. Play- David Banner… The lyrics just always tug at my heartstrings
9. My Dick- Mickey Avalon…. This goes out to my friend Val…
10. The Theme Song to Full House
11. Blue (Da Ba Dee)- Eiffel 65
12. Summer Girls- LFO… I remember thinking this song was so cool cause it had the words “Abercrombie and Fitch” in it… I know you did too
13. Mambo #5- Lou Bega… I rewrote this song with lyrics about my cheerleading team in 6^th grade and performed it for everyone at practice.  So that’s comfortable.
14. Stay- Lisa Loeb
15. Who Let the Dogs Out- Baja Fresh Men
16. Empty Apartment- Yellowcard… I used to listen to this in high school when I wanted to pretend I was emo and had a lot of serious life issues to deal with.
17. Who’s That Girl- Eve… I liked to play this in my headphones while on family trips and pictured myself owning the Newport Beach sidewalks with paw print tattoos on my chest
18. Purple Pills-Eminem… Same scenario.  Family Road Trip.  Had no idea what it was about.
19. The Day I Fall in Love-  This is the song from Beethoven’s 2^nd when Ryce gets a ride from Taylor Devereaux in his convertible after school and she is so speechless she has to run up to her bedroom and collapse onto her bed with only Beethoven to console  her.
20. Trapped in the Closet- R. Kelly…

But seriously, what kind of music do you like??