From: closefriend@closefriend.com

To: hitha@hithaprabhakar.com

pps- r u still that skinny? U looked like Zahara last time I saw u!

There have been so many people that have tried to tell me how to eat. I’m not sure why, but my usual breakfast of Baked Lays and Diet Coke, a cookie for lunch and Serafina take out for dinner offended  people. Anyway, MANY have tried to get me to change and all have been unsuccessful. Then this little book called “Skinny Bitch”  came along. My lovely neighbor gave it to me after I went to LA for the weekend and promised me it would change my life.  And you know what? She was right! 

Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin weren’t saying anything I hadn’t heard before in their book. In fact, they sounded just like everyone else in my life for the most part. What resonated with me was their message, “you are what you eat.”  Five simple words. When I read that I thought about all the junky bags of chips (even if they were “fat free”), the syrupy drinks, the dyes, the alcohol, the processed flour, the TEN THOUSAND chemicals I put in my body just from what I eat alone not even counting all the other crap that infiltrates my body from living in NYC, and I FREAKED OUT.  Did I want to be a glowy pretty person on the inside out or just a wannabe pretty person? Did I want the rolls of fat around my ass, hips and tummy to stay put and gather momentum or did I want my skinny mini body back? I realized I was trying to cover up all the damage I was doing to my self on the inside by wearing cute outfits and throwing on a ton of makeup! I actually thought I had hit an age where I needed to wear makeup to cover up the lines on my face!! I thought A- line dresses were totally cute and therefore acceptible to wear every damn day. Sometimes OVER jeans. Ha! Who was I kidding?  I just needed to be better to my body!

For those who want a life transformation in a good way pick up this book and read it. Like, now. My diet overhaul WAS NOT EASY.  It was frustrating not having my morning coffee, or just eating fruit for breakfast. And my little sister can attest to my total bitchiness as my body withdrew from caffine, sugar, asparatame, refined flour, dairy and meat (apologies Sonj!) but OMG do I feel better and LOOK better. And yes I did lose weight- about 6 lbs. which for me is a lot!

What I also loved about my neighbor’s tactic is that she didn’t try to force anything on me. Like my two best friends in LA, she led by example with the healthy lifestyle. So peeps, if I see you out I promise I won’t preach the gospel of “Skinny Bitch” in an annoying way. BUT if you are wondering why I am suddenly happier, glowy-er, skinnier, svelter, over all looking BETTER, I will for sure divulge all the deets of my little skinny bitch journey!

(picture from shopbop.com)

I get dizzy and sick every time I look at dresses like this one. Color fade is SUCH a fad, it really makes me cringe whenever I see it. This dress is by Alice and Olivia and  usually love Stacey’s stuff but wow this dress is not cool. Notice how it is a maxi dress AND paired with gladiator sandals!! No no nooooo!!!

(Image from style.com)

EW. These are hideous and an other example of how something that was cool a couple seasons ago (Imitation of Christ Spring 2007) are now an official “summer trend.”  Definitely do not wear them with short shorts, skirts, skinny jeans, halter dresses, mini dresses OR maxi dresses!

(Images from Yahoo)

Pretty girls but ugly and played out dresses. To those who think the “maxi dress” is the hot item for this season should check the archives from two seasons ago when they were actually the cool pretty thing to wear.  Short people (like me) should definitely not wear them it just looks stupid. 

Who can forget that fantastic purple dress Michelle Obama was wearing the nigh of her husband’s Democratic primary victory speech? It was designed by Chicago based designer Maria Pinto who creates all of Mrs. Obama’s looks including the red silk-crepe dress and jacket she wore on Super Tuesday and the white-cotton top and khakis while campaining with Caroline Kennedy. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Pinto says orders for her designs are up by 35% over the past 12 months. What’s more, potential investors and employees have been cold calling.  I’m shocked none of the former Project Runway winners didn’t think of this tactic to get their stuff out there since nothing else seems to be working for them…

…you are probably wondering where the hell I’ve been the last two weeks.  Two words: On vacation.  I had to take advantage of the time I had off before things got totally insane again, so I went to New Mexico and breathed for a minute. There were so many awesome things about being home, but my favorite was seeing one of my closest friends from growing up. She lives in Oakland, CA and like me, has the craziest schedule ever. But we somehow were able to coordinate ourselves and had an amazing time just laying low. So, for all of you who are overworked and overwhelmed I reccommend taking a trip to a place where you can totally unplug. It does a body good.

There are some beautiful places on this earth and I am happy to say I grew up in one of those places. This was taken at 8:00 am as I was leaving to get groceries at Whole Foods for one of our numerous pool parties. Yes the sun was really that bright and clear.

At one point my sister and I went to visit our aunt, uncle and cousin in Los Alamos. This was taken on our drive back from Santa Fe to Albuquerque.  Look at that sky!

Yep that’s a genuine smile on my face. No makeup. No pretense. Just happy to be chillaxing.

But I flew on one Wednesday morning for a lunch at The Surf Lodge in Montauk. I won’t lie, when I first got on the flight I was beside myself with fear. But seeing the views and having one of the most beautiful days EVER out on the north shore was so worth the ride. Vogue was having a shoot with designer Tracey Feith while we were eating lunch made by Sam The Surf Lodge’s incredible chef. Thanks to V1 Jets for taking us out there!

The view at take off. We are in the East river in NYC.

Arthur Ashe stadium from the air.

The deck at The Surf Lodge. I swear we were working and not just hanging out!!

Sam’s incredible lunch of lobster salad sandwich, fava bean and lemon grass salad a crab ceviche with blueberries and popcorn.

The flight we took back to NYC. This is at the airport in Montauk. I was of course beyond frightened, but the ride back was less bumpy. Maybe I just got used to it…

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Yes, I am pretty much done talking about Sex and the City but I do want to point out one thing- if Olivier Theyskens did indeed tell SJP this dress wasn’t worn by anyone else prior to her wearing it, that means he and his team were and are dishonest. I don’t really care if La Lohan or if a random New York socialte was wearing the dress before, the point is he wasn’t truthful and that sucks.

Image from Wire Image