Huguette Clark

I came across this story this summer, it's pretty awesome. So, Hugette Clark is 103 and living in a nursing home or a hospital currently, no one really knows except her lawyer. She owns some of the most insane real estate in the country, yet hasn't lived in nearly any of them for about 50 years. They look untouched, which they should since staff is still paid to maintain each one.

Her father was a miner who struck it rich owning copper mines, silver, oil, coffee, sugar, etc, etc. His wealth rivaled Rockafeller and was estimated to be worth the equivalent of $1.4 Billion in today's money. When she was born in Paris in 1906 her mother was 23, her father 62. Her father, who was also once a senator of Montana, built them a $7 million mansion on 5th Avenue in NYC which cost about 3x the price to build the first Yankee's stadium.

It's a very interesting story my brother came across on MSNBC and I just rediscovered it. Here are a few of her properties:

Her $100 million estate in Santa Barbara, CA

Her 42 room, 15,000 square foot 5th Avenue apartment overlooking Central Park, which was never moved into:

Her father was a huge art collector and in 2003, she sold this Renoir for a reported $23.5 million

Just a pretty amazing story that should definitely be checked out. So much history, yet very little is known.

Christmas Wishlist

After over a week hiatus, I figured I would share some things I have picked of from J Crew. Although if I don't hit the text books a little harder all of these posts will be the closest thing I get to having this items..

I have the peacoat in black already and I love the way it fits. It's the perfect length and exactly how I like my coats in the shoulders. This year I going for the navy.

Daphne Guinness for Zoo Magazine

She's so insane, but no doubt a genius.

The shoot was done by photographer Bryan Adams. It's a little too edgy for my usual taste but this spread is amazing.

Lady of the weekend Tuesday

So obviously it's been a while since I've posted and I missed Saturday, the designated day for lady of the weekend. No worries, I will make up for it with this post and you will be gifted 2 ladies of the week. Happy Thanksgiving..

This post goes out to Victoria Beckham. I will keep my words minimal as to not take away from the beauty that is Posh, but c'mon. Who isn't drawn to Mrs. Beckham, women and men alike?

Her style is so sick and exactly how I would want my wife to dress. David is definitely a lucky man.

Her cars are just as sick as her style..

And what makes her even more amazing is that she was hired as Land Rover's creative design director to lend a hand in designing the interior on future special editions of Range Rovers. Her first project is the Range Rover Evoque.

Yes please.

Ralph Lauren Holiday

My favorite thing about the Ralph Lauren holiday collection is the amount of plaid, simply because he doesn't just stop with shirts, but rather he comes up with plaid everything, i.e. picture frames, iPad cases, bags, etc. I don't know where or how my love for plaid developed but it's definitely present.

[Again] I am in the process of unwinding after another stressful week with classes so I decided I would buy myself something nice, which happens far too often. After looking through the holiday collection I was hit with the idea of publishing a post on what I found.

Here on the west coast plaid is an effortless surfer look, which works great. I can't say that I haven't bought plaids from the likes of Quiksilver and Insight but there's definitely a difference in functionality when looking at something picked up at Becker and one from Ralph Lauren or J. Crew. The look achieved by the latter two brands is a more classic, casual get together look that's exactly what you need for a holiday themed party or a fall/winter dinner party. On cold nights, like those I am about to experience when I'm home, a flannel button-down is typically what I go for when I'm getting ready to meet up with my friends.

I feel as though I can form such an opinion of the superiority of RL or J. Crew over the more laid back brands simply because I own enough of both to know the difference. Nothing is better to me than lacing up my Red Wing boots (see "Eyecatchers Cont.."), throwing on a pair of J. Crew jeans, a nice plaid shirt and a peacoat for a dinner party or just going to hang out at a friend's house.

I never dig for compliments from people and I suggest every guy do the same. My big thing is that I wear things because I like them, not because I want others to notice. If they so happen to notice, it's out of your control (aka--nice work).  I always dress the part for where I am but I'm definitely not overdressed. People also make the assumption that I have taken hours to get ready when I legit put it all together within minutes. And this is how I've come full circle with this post. Plaids are my favorite in the winter because they're something to throw on and still stay warm without looking like you sacrificed necessary body heat in order to achieve a certain look.

Here are just a few things I found on the RL Holiday website:

 
I couldn't help but pick out a few accessories (I hate the lack of masculinity in that word) that carried out the plaid idea. Basically, you just can't go wrong with plaid (madras is obviously one of my go-to shirts in summer), especially in winter:

It's that time of year...

The Los Angeles Auto Show opened to the public today! Even if it seems as though I'm pretty excited about it, I was a little disappointed. As I browse the pages on Autoweek and other car news websites I tend to get pretty excited anytime an auto show takes place. I like to think I appreciate the automobile in what it's supposed to represent: beauty, self expression and a way to get people talking. Okay, so maybe that last one could just be a personal one, but really though. When you see a car that makes you think whether you like it or not is usually what I go for. Bright red Audi anyone?

With that being said, I didn't see much of that so far with the coverage of the LA show. Porsche Panameras, Infiniti QX56s, G WAGONS!, Chrysler Crossfires, etc. are some of my favorites that usually don't coincide with my peers.

Here are my favorites from the show:

And since I mentioned it:

 Just doesn't get any better than that....

Ready for a break.

I wish I could say I've had my "nose in the books" these past few days that I haven't posted but that would be a lie. I have gotten to a point in the semester that I am so over school. I'm hoping that will pass once I've gone home for Thanksgiving break but if it doesn't, I guess I still have face the music.

Next to Halloween, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I come from a huge [extended] family and I have such an awesome time when all of us get together for the holidays. We [my brother, sister, mom, dad, 4 aunts, 4 uncles, 6 first cousins and 5 second cousins] spend the holiday at my Granny's (remember, I'm from the south) house and it's always a good time when we all get together. My siblings, first cousins and I are very close in age and we do nothing but sit around and laugh at everything going on in the house as well as in our lives.

I have come to realize that Thanksgiving is a holiday that gets better as one gets older. The idea behind it is for everyone to come together and be thankful for the blessings God has given each and every one of us...like you didn't already know that. Like maybe most of you, I always knew that but never really saw how it comes into play until basically last year. Now that the aforementioned cousins, siblings and I are all away at school, grad school and out in the working world it is tough for our schedules to match up just perfectly, thus a pretty significant amount of time goes by before we get to catch up.

Though I don't feel like this blog ALWAYS has to be about cars, girls, clothes, etc. I feel like this would be the time to tie this post in with others in some way.  I have kind of gotten a head start with my Christmas list (for myself) and I want to emphasize that I did not intentionally skip over Thanksgiving with the J Crew post.

With that being said, this one goes out to my family, as they've clearly been on my mind lately. I can't wait to see you all in such a short amount of time. Love you guys!