My sexy new laptop case

While I was splurging, I decided to buy this. My goal is to streamline all of the stuff I lug around. Not on this trip, when a very kind Virgin America staffer named Elmer helped duct taped my luggage, but when I get home. How pretty is this? I'm in LA, may have to change hotels because I mistakenly booked one night, but it'll be an adventure. I'm just so happy to be in one city in the sun for a few days and to finally focus on the writing I need and want to do. I love traveling and exploring and seeing old friends and exploring new things, but the pace of the last few days was a little crazy for me. I wasn't up or out very late but I fell into bed exhausted, and I have 3 days to promote the hell out of this reading Tuesday night (at Coco de Mer!) and not take the subway and just have some room for my brain to mellow out. And learn the quirks of this computer. Also: the Gotta Have It trailer is debuting very soon! So proud of it.

My new mittens, Kate Spade Christmas light bondage, and Mexicue

To either reward you for making it through my overly long, overwrought post (feel free to skip it - trust me, even I am bored by my heart/mind sometimes, but the hope is that putting it "out there" will be cathartic, though time will tell) or to give you something more fun to look at than a bunch of words, here, in no particular order, snapshots from the last few days (see also: my personal Flickr account):



I traded winter coats with my cousin; she was digging my Brooklyn Industries puffy black one with a hood, while I admired her black and orange wool coat. I went to Brooklyn Industries in Chelsea to find a hat, but instead, came out with gloves. And lust for their purple down coat. Their hats were also super warm, but I already have a hat, I just couldn't find it. I am hoping I can hang onto these until at least January; I don't have a great track record with mittens/gloves. Or umbrellas.



Window of Kate Spade SoHo



Barbecue brisket slider with spicy slaw and avocado and pinto bean taco from Mexicue, a Mexican BBQ-themed food truck you can follow on Twitter @Mexicue, which I plan to buy lunch every Thursday (Water and Broad!).