Simon Says, "Shop!"

I'm not sure if you noticed or not, but last Friday I posted a hilarious and oh-so-true quote by Simon Doonan on my page, from an article he wrote for Bazaar's August issue.

If you're unfamiliar with Simon and his artistic genius, here he is in a nutshell: the Creative Director for Barney's New York, Simon is my hero, has five books under his belt, including Confessions of a Window Dresser, discovered his true self in the 70's when he moved to London with childhood best friend/transvestite, Biddie, and wrote a wild article for his column in the New York Observer unforgettably titled, "Manscaping Takes Manhattan! Dudes Denude Their Woolly Nether Parts."

Now that we're all friends and you understand why I love him so much, I can openly admit that his Bazaar article, "Eat, Shop, Love," captivated my heart, brought chicken soup to my soul, made me laugh aloud at work and prompted me to share its important message with all of you.

You see, he's truly concerned for all of us; he believes that after we see the upcoming Julia Roberts flick, Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert's borderline-vain portrayal of finding herself during an extravagant jaunt across the world, us "normal" women are going to be tempted to squander our hard-earned salaries on a trip to Italy, Tibet and G-d knows where else. He thinks the whole idea is ludicrous and wants us to know, "Pure joy and enlightenment lurk at our local mall...Sometimes a simple makeover can accomplish more than hours of therapy or a year of spiritual schlepping. "

That's right, he's encouraging us to shop (responsibly that is) and to soothe our inflamed desire for adventure by discovering new things like fake eye lashes and cleavage glitter. "You don’t have to blow big bucks on this season’s Alaïa or Céline ankle bootie to reach nirvana. Your everyday makeup counter is easier to find and a treasure trove of tricks." Simon says.

Therefore, even though I'm not on the verge of a nervous breakdown (this week) I've come up with a list of things I'm going to do to reach my personal level of nirvana before summer ends! How about you?

1. Enter Neiman Marcus' newly announced, "What's Your Passion for Fashion? Challenge" for a chance to win a $5,000 shopping spree. A brilliant marketing plan to get girls like me to explore the department store's fall inventory, the challenge allows curious consumers to become virtual stylists.  




2. Wake up extremely early on the revamped Santa Monica Place's opening day so I can be one of the first to explore, and then brag. It opens in 8 days with a Barney's CO-OP, CB2 and Joe's Jeans just to name a few...I'm ready.

3. Go to Ebay and Bid on Chanel's hard-to-come-by jade-colored nail polish, Nouvelle Jade, that every one's apparently fighting over, even though I think it's absurd to spend $55+ on something like that.







4. Visit the legendary Decades Two vintage store and find the couture purse steel of a lifetime!

5. Write Simon to share my blog posting with him and hope for some sort of a response!