New Year’s Day at Fashion Island

On New Year’s Day My Mom, Meghan, Emily and I have a tradition. While the guys watch football, we go to Fashion Island in Newport Beach and fill the first day of the year with makeup, shopping, lunch and chocolate.

First we show up at Bloomingdales, stripped of all makeup, to get professionally “dolled-up” by the various counters there. It is a great way to get tips and try different products. Every year I learn something new. It doesn’t cost anything but they expect you to buy a little something (at least.)

(My Mom at the Clinique Counter–Meghan had Perscriptives and I did Lancome.)

Here we are freshly “done” and ready for lunch.

(This is how my friend Vicki would like to see me everyday. I wear far too little makeup as far as she is concerned. Look what SHE got for Christmas for the love of Chanel.)

Next it was the Bloomie’s Cafe for their Mango Salad. Meghan is so good. When I was preg it was all cheeseburgers and burritos.

Anthropologie is the biggest outing of the day. We spent about an hour rumaging and checking price tags. I had read in Style Scoop, The OC Register Blog, that American Rag had opened at Fashion Island and so we went to check it out. I used to shop at AR in San Francisco when I was in college and loved it. Their vintage items were hand-picked and perfect for The City and statistics class–not so much for SoCal Carpooling. I didn’t see anything of interest and the “house” music blaring made me want to run screaming to Muttropolis and shove one $10 dog biscuits in each ear —Oh, but what was this? A home section? Eureka!

(Their assortment of glassware was astonishing–very unique.)

(The most popular accessory at Fashion Island is your dog.)