The Perfect Sunday Brunch Dress

Since I started reading style magazines as a teenager, I've always had a secret aspiration that is rather embarrassing to admit: to look like I walk out of a magazine all the time. Shows like "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Gossip Girl" give me adrenaline rush because of their wardrobes. I want to look like those girls every day!

But who am I kidding? It takes far too much energy (and money?) to look flawless every single day. Sure, I have my own style, and try to look good most of the time, but I also have more than my fair share of bad hair days, wear-my-yoga-pants-everywhere days, and whatever-just-please-don't-let-me-run-into-my-ex days.

Anyways, I digress. What I wanted to talk about today is, this. dress.


I gasped when I saw it on the Lane Crawford website, and then gasped again when I saw it on the rack in store. It's SO PRETTY! It's got a "Blair Waldolf" feel to it, but just imagine how perfect it would be for a Sunday brunch with girlfriends en printemps! I love the color, the print, and the sophisticated feeling that it brings.

So you think for sure I'd have bought it on the spot - but no. As much as I wanted the dress, I didn't buy it. It wasn't crazy expensive - I have many items that cost more than it does - but then in a split second I thought (with a sigh), I didn't really need it. So I walked away.

I guess this is what they mean by growing up.

Be Professional. Be Happy. Be Kind. (And Look Good!)

This was a snapshot of what my desktop looked like a few years ago, when I was still at INSEAD (I took it to use in a self-introduction presentation at a job interview). I really loved this image. They're probably too small to be seen clearly here, but next to the silhouette, there were three lines of small text that said: Be Professional. Be Happy. Be Kind.

Long have these words been my mottos to live by. Of course there have been numerous occasions where they were forgotten, and I acted less than professionally at work, or let myself be overcome by self-pity, or had mean thoughts about other people. (Wait, I think I did all of those just yesterday!) Nevertheless, these, I'd like to think, still define who I want to be (which, I'm aware, is quite far from who I am today, but you know how writing things down make them more real? So here you go):

- Be professional in what I do
- Be happy regardless of circumstance
- Be nice to others without expecting reciprocity

Oh, and look good. All the time. More on that later.