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Tag: catherine

  • Cleaning Out Your Closet (and Shopping Your Wardrobe)

    Cleaning Out Your Closet (and Shopping Your Wardrobe)

    5 Guidelines to Discard Items + 6 Classic Pieces to Keep When Cleaning Out Your Closet

    cleaning out your closet
    PHOTO: Sex and the City.

    Admit it. It’s the middle of the summer, and you still haven’t gotten around to spring cleaning. If you read All’s Fair in Love & Wardrobe (or even just my book report on it), you might have the urge to edit your wardrobe (before editing your love life). The good news for you slackers is that I just did a major overhaul of two closets thanks to my move, and I learned some things in the process.

    Cleaning out your closet is beneficial for a) making room for new things, b) taking inventory of what you might have forgotten you have, c) making a little extra cash, and d) feeling emotionally lighter. A well-edited closet gives you the opportunity to know exactly what you have and streamlines the getting ready process and your options of what to wear. Now where to start? There are the tried and true rules for what you should discard, but where can you draw the line? Read on for your guide to what must go as well as what should stay in your wardrobe.

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  • The Single Diaries Guide to Online Workout Videos

    Four free fitness channels to follow on those busy days

    If you want something done, give it to a busy person. When I left my full-time job, I thought I would have all the time in the world to do everything I wanted to do: read books, soak up some sun, and work out twice a day. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Class times often just didn’t fit into my funemployment schedule. However, I realized that doing 15 minutes of focused activity is enough on days when you just want to move your body. There is a ton out there, so here is your starter kit to free videos that are good enough to add into your weekly routine.

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  • Single Girl Reads | All’s Fair in Love & Wardrobe

    Why you need to add Stephanie Simons’s All’s Fair in Love & Wardrobe to your shopping cart immediately

    all's fair in love and wardrobe
    If you love The Devil Wears Prada, read Vogue religiously, or know every episode of The Rachel Zoe Project, you MUST pick up this book. Written “to all the girls who’ve ever wanted to shop, dress, eat, party, travel, and Instagram like a fashion editor; now you can date like one.”

    With a crash course on how to date like a fashion “editrix” (“channel a front row state of mind—don’t settle for being a back-row babe who’s constantly shuffled around and buried out of sight under the proverbial exit sign”), guides to the 7 phases of waiting for him to call and throwing the pity party of the season (“do create a stellar guest list; don’t open less than three gift registries”), a history of the relationship between love and fashion, how to master the “signature walk” of shame, a collection of closet confessions (assumedly Simons’s own dating anecdotes),  and over 100 cheeky rules, All’s Fair in Love & Wardrobe makes you want to makeover your wardrobe, your romances, and your life to appear as casually cool and easily put-together as an editor off-duty. Here are 5 points why you should pick up a copy, read, reread, and personify All’s Fair.

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  • My Computer Crashed, and I Survived

    My Computer Crashed, and I Survived

    Catherine reflects on a computer crash and packing up the last nine years

    PHOTO: JJ Jumoc-Casas.
    PHOTO: JJ Jumoc-Casas.

    There are times the worst case scenario pops into your head. “Wouldn’t it suck if it rained on our picnic?” And then it does. This week I put my computer to sleep for an hour, and it never woke up the same. Just earlier that day I was thinking about how much a crash would jeopardize my work. And when it happened I was in disbelief over the coincidence. A computer crash is the most feared catastrophe for someone who is self-employed and relies on their beloved laptop for nearly everything.

    My first thoughts were of the supposed devastation. My next were of a tinge of relief: in light of my move from Los Angeles to San Francisco, maybe I have a chance at starting fresh. Completely.

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  • What I Love About My City | Catherine’s Los Angeles

    What I Love About My City | Catherine’s Los Angeles

    Catherine reveals her top ten in the Los Angeles Westside

    PHOTO: Catherine Abalos
    PHOTO: Catherine Abalos

    Welcome to a special edition of What I Love About My City—a series in which our favorite single girls dish on everything from the best places for a single girls weekend to the secret spots only the locals know about. This time I’m taking over with a twist, bringing you the best of Los Angeles from my perspective.

    If you haven’t heard the news, I’m in transition moving from L.A. back to my hometown in the San Francisco Bay Area. In an ode to my home of nine years (I spent the first four in college), I wanted to share my City of Angels. Los Angeles is made up of over 80 neighborhoods, and mine is part of the beautiful Westside. One of the best things about this major U.S. city is its diversity and space for everyone to create their own version of the city. You can be a struggling actor (literally) or a multi-millionaire and find activities, food, and people that appeal to you; granted, it takes some work. I love that Los Angeles is something different to every single person that lives there. I love how much flack it gets from people who don’t truly understand the hidden nuances. I love how you can drive to a different neighborhood and feel like you’re somewhere new entirely. You never run out of places to explore. Each of those 80 neighborhoods has its own character, and I’m so excited to share some of the best things about the Westside.

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