"To all the ladies in the place with style & grace." - Notorious B.I.G.

I figured it out! I figured out what it is that I'm lacking in DC that I had almost total fulfillment of in New Jersey, especially living so close to New York City. No, no it's not proximity to all of my immediate family members, talking and hanging out with my oldest and dearest friends weekly, my dog, or my car...nothing like any of those silly things...I'm lacking GLAMOUR. Washington, DC while it is uber important and very cool, there is very little about it that screams, "Living large in the big city!" Sure, the Prez and Michelle are glamorous in their own way, the White House, and the monuments are impressive but they are hardly sexy. This city is full of intelligent, politically-minded, and sometimes pretentious folks who think that having style means rocking flamingo pants at Smith Point. Actually, to be really honest, I don't think most people in this city actually think about style at all.

New York City, while it is many things, some might call it dirty, too big, even weird in certain neighborhoods...there is no doubting its incredible energy. Since I've never lived there, I can't say that I would really be able to handle it all the time, I don't know, but what I can guess is that I would feel more at home in the fashion district there than I do on H Street here. Whenever I get dressed to go to work or go out, I consider what neighborhood I'm going to and dress accordingly. If I'm going to a more hipster part of town, I'll wear black skinny jeans and tougher boots for walking around, definitely more casual than I would normally dress. If I'm going out in midtown I can dress it up a bit but I know no one else around me will be dressed up so I have to tone down the usual sass. Whereas in New Jersey or New York, I could wear black all the time and not worry about it. The LBD worked even for a Thursday night out but in DC you would look like a fool on a Thursday night. Going to clubs in Hoboken was expected and looked forward to: who's booking the limo, who's getting the bottles of Goose, and who's in charge of champagne? In DC, "Ohh, you like going to clubs? One of those types huh?" See where I'm going here? Like for my birthday, the possibility of going to a club was out there, bottle service, the works, but I didn't push for it because I didn't want my friends to be all like, "what the h-bomb are we doing here?" (Even though we did end up at a club, I LOVED IT, and so did they!)

Anyway, I feel like I'm trying to find my style in DC even though I was pretty happy with the one I was rocking further north and throughout college. Sure our style changes as we grow up but I should just get dressed in clothes that I like, not because I'm going to be surrounded by hipsters.

Back to my birthday, it really hit me last week when I ordered a pink Herve Leger dress from RentTheRunway.com. I ordered it knowing that I would be incredibly more dressed up than anyone else I would be with and way overdressed for any restaurant or bar we would go to celebrate. However, it was MY freakin' birthday and I could dress however I wanted to. Although, I couldn't help but reminisce on times when this was the norm. Going out used to be an event with hair, make-up, little skirts and tanks but now it is routine and boring (in terms of my style, of course, not the actual act of going out or who I'm going with). I also thought about the new heels I ordered, which I love, but know that I won't be able to wear them on just any old weekend night if I expect to keep up with anyone walking around DC. When I decide to dress as my old dressy self, I end up regretting it because we'll sit at a chill dive bar or I spend the night in pain trying to keep up with everyone walking all over town. So I don't do it. I'm lazy. It's to the point that I don't even blow dry my hair half the time. Oh sure, just let it air dry, who cares!

So these days I get excited talking to HilHoro Babes about Miami or Dallas with Tanya because these cities seem so G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S to me! As much of a party animal as I am, I know the constant clubbing in Miami would make me stressed and being an actual plane ride away from my friends and family in Dallas would make me nuts so my solution to this problem is not to move to New York City, Miami, or Dallas but I need to visit them more often. I want to make this the year of, "JUST BOOK IT AND GO." Years from now I won't remember the few weeks or months after each trip where money was a bit tighter than usual. I will remember the kick ass time I had with mah ladies, dressed up in stilettos and bandage dresses having a fabulous time.

I see those types on facebook. I'm sure you have friends like that too who seem like they're traveling constantly and I think, "how do they do it?" Well, it's very simple. They go online and book it!

Sassarella Says...if I'm staying in DC for awhile, I need to get my glamour elsewhere. I need to take more trips with glamorous people to sexy cities knowing that I will always come back "home" to comfy and casual DC.