Check out my Boston MenuPages interview in which I dish about the best Harvard Square eats and my favorite Boston-area restaurants, including Peach Farm (for mother-approved Cantonese), Temple Bar (my recommended date spot), Blue Fin (my favorite sushi), Berry Line (my daily sugar fix), and more.

Also, if you’re in need of hot, original tees, the $10 Threadless holiday sale is still going on and smaller sizes are beginning to sell out, so grab your desired design via my link. Mine are arriving this week and I’m psyched!

The Cocktail Party on a Tuesday Night Outfit

At Tara and Tiff’s after a cocktail party, originally uploaded by lenachen.

Home from a cocktail party, originally uploaded by lenachen.

Rebecca Taylor Tea Dress in Black
Naturalizer Sequin Net Pumps in Gold
Casual Corner Blazer in White
Kate Spade Wellesley Quinn Shopper in Brown

Blast from two weekends past. Random list of things I did and places I went (mostly in the company of Jess Gold):

* Drinks and late snacks at Continental
* Dual spa treatments at Jean Madeline Aveda Institute
* Saturday brunch at Marathon
* Day trip to New Hope, Pennsylvania with Jess, Arielle, and Mike. Found great boutique A Beautiful Life where I picked up this kickass “Cocaine Blows” tee. Dinner at Karla’s.
* Sunday brunch at Rx (probably the best brunch I’ve had in the history of brunch). Ordered french toast brioche with blueberries and chorizo frittata. It was amazing and everything on the menu was under $10. Pretty incredible.

Sunday brunch at Rx in Philly, originally uploaded by lenachen.

So I get a lot of heat for spending too much on clothes (not justified since I work year-round during college and every summer since age 15!) But beside the fact that this is my money I’m dropping, I should also be redeemed by my bargain-hunting tendencies. I may have $300 shoes, but I also own $30 blazers. Really. Here’s a significantly more affordable edition of Anatomy of an Outfit from a night (11/09/07) in Philly:

* Tristan & Iseut Denim Blazer ($30, from a consignment store)
* Express Zelda Skinny Jeans ($27 down from $60, on sale + a $25 off coupon + a pal’s employee discount)
* Henri Bendel Cashmere V-Neck Sweater in Black ($120 down from $300, on sale for 60% off. Kind of a splurge but I wear it all the time)
* Element Knit Tank in Cream, layered under above sweater (gift)
* Urban Outfitters Button Fingerless Gloves in Charcoal ($16)
* Audrey Brooke Kitten Heels in Brown ($25 down from over $60, on clearance at DSW)
* Leather Tote Bag with Gold Hardware in Medium Tan ($30, off a street vendor in NY. Mistaken for designer by a reader.)

Going out in Philly, originally uploaded by lenachen.

At Broadway Market doing grocery shopping with CK

Last night, I decided to don a dress for class even though the weather had already moved past “brisk” into “freezing” (literally 32 degrees). I managed to borrow a jacket from a guy friend to keep me warm enough to make to journey to visit my old roommates. Ended up crashing around 1 a.m. at Terra and Sue’s apartment with a pounding headache. Woke up in excruciating pain, popped Terra’s migraine medicine, and hibernated until the afternoon. Around 2 p.m., I put on my clothes from the previous night and walked into my lecture an hour late in the above outfit. Walk of shame on Thursday afternoon? Truly a class act.

Wearing:

BCBG Max Azria Black Dress
Echo Supersoft Braided Muffler in Merlot
Henri Bendel Navy Blue Cashmere Cardigan
Salvatore Ferragamo Varina Satin Bow Flat in Pink
Coach Hamptons Vintage Leather Large Carryall
Mossimo Men’s Track Jacket

So I know half my readers dislike my posts about Kate Spade, yoga mats, shoes, and general consumer whoredom. But since I’ve been fielding numerous inquiries about what I was wearing at the True Love Revolution discussion, I decided to oblige with a blog post. Forgive me?

At the discussion, this was the outfit:

Photo courtesy of The Harvard Crimson

And here’s the breakdown:

White silk cocktail dress, BCBG MAX AZRIA

Black heels with lace-up back, Stuart Weitzman

Cocktail ring, Second Time Around on Newbury St.

Coat (laying over my chair), Milly

I’ve been trying really hard to reign in my spending habits, but I landed two new writing assignments last week so I let myself splurge when I walked into a Kate Spade sale on Saturday morning. I picked up this beauty below while doing post-brunch shopping on Newbury St. with Summer Guy:

It’s a great buy because its size is perfect for my petite frame (unlike those overwhelming bulky bags) but just roomy enough for my Powerbook. The salesgirl showed me that it was made to fit manila folders and magazines length-wise. So functional! How could I not take it?

Well, for starters, not only do I already own more than enough purses, but this is the fifth Kate Spade I’ve obtained. Highly unnecessary since purses are not quite like stamps. Even though I should probably branch out, I just can’t help the brand loyalty. Kate Spade purses have impeccable craftsmanship, sturdy hardware and fabrics, and classic designs that are beautifully simple (I don’t believe in logos for the most part). So I basically justified this purchase by telling myself that 1) it was on sale, and 2) it was exactly what I needed for my summer job. Besides, I missed the last sample sale and this is just making up for it.

Until summer. I’ve decided that I need a bright tote to mix up the brown, black, and white color scheme of my handbag collection. Do send suggestions!