So I recently attended the LA launch party for Tarina Tarantino Beauty.  One of the great things about LA is that, like New York, there is always a party so when I got the invite and saw one, that it was a beauty launch, and two, it was for Tarina Tarantino, I was instantly excited.  The party was awesome- it was in a huge space in Hollywood and I spotted the likes of Meredith from The Office and Chet Cannon from The Real World Brooklyn- who I found surprisingly attractive.  Anywho, my favorite item of the night?  Sparklicity Shimmer Dust.  Unlike traditional shimmers, this mist-on version contains no binders, so all you get is a subtle dusting of pure glitter from head-to-toe.  Love it.

So as much as I love Los Angeles, one thing that it definitely lacks is that super exciting season change that I used to experience in New York - winter turning to spring.  It's the most exciting thing EVER.  It starts with the bitter cold snow and then one day, mysteriously, it's 70 degrees and sunny.  I love it.  Anyhow, I've parterned with my favorite deodorant, Degree, as they've agreed to stimulate my senses and help me feel the seasons change, even though I'm in LA.

I had NO IDEA that a whopping 40% of women have called in sick from work just to spend time outside...ha, I thought it was only me who did things like that!  My first sense stimulated?  TASTE. I was sent a yummy orange olive cake - the ingredients in the cake are inspired by two of the new fragrances from the Degree Women Natureffects Collection - olive leaf & pink pepper and orange flower & cranberry.  YUM.  I can't wait for the next delivery.  Stay tuned.

So COVERGIRL, one of my favorite brands, is doing yet another awesome contest.  They're partnering with NYLON magazine to give customers the chance to create and design a custom decal for COVERGIRL's LashBlast Length mascara!  The winner will get the VIP red carpet treatment- a trip to LA for NYLON's big anniversary party in April and your design will actually get produced and be featured in the April issue of NYLON.

Check out www.NylonMag.com/Covergirl to enter- the deadline is February 2nd.

So I was lucky enough to get invited to an a-mazing Golden Globes gifting lounge - THE Hospitality Suite by Live Loyal PR and EMC Bowery at the Pascal Mouawad Estate.  It was at a crazy amazing house in the Hollywood Hills and I had a great time.  Check out my full report on TheLuxurySpot.com.  And yes, that IS Angelina "the Kim Kardashian of Staten Island" in the photo with the girls of Jersey Shore.

So the rain has cometh here in the normally sunny Califor-i-a.  Luckily for me, I managed to talk my friends into going on an old school 90210 tour with me last Saturday.  We laughed, we ate Chipotle, we drove all. over. Los Angeles to find the houses of the epic cast of the original Beverly Hills 90210.  Enjoy.  BTW- none of these houses are actually in Beverly Hills.  Go figure.

Yes it is.  It's Casa Walsh- home to Jim, Cindy, Brandon and Brenda and then eventually Steve and Valerie.  Yup.  I almost melted.

Dylan McKay's house which, ironically enough, was only four houses down from Casa Walsh.

My friends in front of Steve Sanders' high school house.  That Samantha Sanders did pretty well for herself, huh?

Kelly Taylor's high school house (and Jamie C. on the right).

Stay tuned- Kelly and Donna's beach house and West Bev High are on the list for this weekend!

So I'll admit that I wasn't completely "wowed" by any one dress or look but overall, the tone was safe but very girly.  Lots of purples and nudes!  Here are my four fashion favorites...

Drew Barrymore's dress isn't a color that I could ever wear but my friends and I completely fell in love with (and screamed) when we saw the beautiful adornments on her shoulder and hip.  Normally I'm not a fan of that sort of thing but Atelier Versace pulled it off just right.

Olivia Wilde is definitely my number one for the night in her Gucci (can't lose) sparkly black gown. It's sexy yet actually kind of looks comfortable.  WIN.

Jennifer Aniston showed off some serious leg in this black Valentino couture dress.  She normally plays it pretty safe but the high slit makes this slightly more daring that her usual LBD.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is definitely another winner of the night.  I'm loving the origami style front of this peach dress - RM by Roland Mouret is lesser known than all the Versaces and Valentinos of the night which is surprisingly nice.

So along with everyone else in the world, I've decided to try and get in shape this January as part of the "new, healthy Jamie" plan 2010.  We'll see how it goes...but for now, I'm pretty obsessed with my latest guilty find- Champagne Truffles from Teuscher Beverly Hills.  Each chocolate is a delicate truffle blend of fresh cream, butter and chocolate with a champagne (um, Dom Perignon, btw) cream center surrounded by a dark chocolate ganache, enrobed in milk chocolate and dusted with sugar.  It's pretty much heaven in your mouth.  I stumbled upon Teuscher Beverly Hills when I attended an event on Rodeo Drive a few weeks back and I could literally smell the chocolate from down the street...I was being called in.  It was fate.  These truffles also happen to make the perfect hostess gift for any New Year's Eve party...or just for you.  Mine are for me and I have no intention of sharing!

So I'll be the first to admit that I have a wee bit of a temper.  Along with this, often comes road rage and now that I've been driving again (after not driving for almost 5 years), I've been getting reaallllly frustrated.  First of all, I'm a phenomenal driver...no matter what any of my friends or family might tell you.  Second of all, my biggest complaint about LA drivers is that they are completely inconsiderate.  Examples, you say?  OK.  Let's start with today- I stopped at my bank and went right to the area for "compact cars."  Now I'm no car expert but a Cadillac Escalade is in no way, shape or form a COMPACT CAR.  I sat and watched this Ed Hardy-wearing douche bag pull into the compact spot and just nearly miss cars on BOTH sides.  Now most people would've just murmured "asshole" and kept driving.  No, not me...not today.  I waited and watched him open his driver side door and figure out that he couldn't, in fact, get out because he was THAT close to the car next to him.  He saw me laughing at him...which is probably when I should've driven away but no, not me...not today.  I continued to sit there and watch as he pulled out a bit and rearranged himself so that now he was about half an inch away from the car on his right side so that he could now open his driver side door enough to slip through.  The best part?  There were plenty of regular-sized spaces just a few rows down but this particular ass bag was just THAT lazy and obviously didn't want to walk.  As he squeezed through the crack, all I could think about was "if that was my car, I would cut this guy..." and then I rolled my window down, laughed, and said "that's a really nice 'compact car' you've got there" and then drove away.

I laughed to myself and thought "my GOD, I am crazy" and was reminded of these little printed notes (above) that I used to keep in my car during High School when finding a parking spot was like war.  My friends and I used to get so many laughs out of leaving these little sarcastic notes on the cars of other high school students who were either stupid, bad drivers or just didn't give a shit.  Well now I'm brining them back and I had to share.  Print them out and don't let these a-holes get away with being an inconsiderate driver!

haa, Happy Holidays, right?

So I actually haven't "done brunch" since I left New York so when I heard about the new "Not Just Brunch" promotion at XIV on Sunset, I basically began telling people that they were obligated to check this out with me.  I managed to convince my friend Sarah to dine a la circus freak with me before a little Christmas shopping at the Century City mall and we were both really and pleasantly surprised with how fun and amazingly delicious the food is at XIV.

I didn't really know much about XIV except that it's super close to my apartment and that I saw Maria Menounos walking in there when I first moved to LA and was walking down the street on my way to Chateau Marmont.  Anyhow, the atmosphere is masculine but in a really chic way and the menu has yum things on it like deep fried french toast and falaffel burgers.  Yeah, I had a hard time deciding but I settled on the falaffel burger (comes with fab fries) and a mimosa cause hey, it was brunch right?  The performers, or, as I liked to call them, "circus freaks" just kind of roam around and do their thing.  We saw some fire breathers, a guy who juggled some fire sticks, a girl on stilts and plenty of ballerinas.  It was hilariously funny yet really classy at the same time.  I'll definitely be going back and especially when people are visiting from New York because this is definitely one thing I can say I never saw in the city that never sleeps.