In the big-picture budgeting of life, there’s rarely room for fancy hotels. I can count my top hotel experiences on 10 fingers; among them are the Grand Hotel in Stockholm and Brown's in Lisbon. But, no  matter how you look at it, staying in a hotel is always a unique experience. A friend of mine, who’s making his first steps in hotel life, says a good hotel ‘takes care of you’, and I might add - a really good hotel creates a micro-cosmos of luxury around you. 

Being 'new' to a country or a scene often results in surprises; "I didn't see that coming" moments of sorts. I don't necessarily love surprises - they go against my horoscope sign - but I do acknowledge their affect on the ego. Spontaneous surprises are humbling and serve as reminders that hey, perhaps you don't know it all just yet. They can be quite entertaining as well, especially if you're a newcomer to a fashion scene, where knowing it all is a precondition. Like that time I went to 'some T-shirt company open house' and discovered an awesome party. 

I'm a Russian Israeli, I tell my fellow Americans on occasion. Read: I was born in Russia and when I was 8, we moved to Israel. My hometown, Moscow, has changed plenty since then, and every visit - 5 in total, since we left, it presents itself in a new light. This summer I spent 5 days there with my mom, and gained a whole new perspective on it. Moscow, you see, isn't the 'European' city tourists dream up when they go to Europe. 

Yesterday I attended the press preview for Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait, the new exhibition at the San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum. The timing couldn't be better, as  the Amy Wineouse documentary is currently screening everywhere, an it seems like there's a wave of recognition an renewed grief for the beehived bad girl who died way too young. 

A couple of weeks ago I got invited to a press preview of High Style, the wonderful style exhibition from the Brooklyn museum. It was my very first visit to the Legion, and in such festive circumstances, too! Being slightly late, I rushed up the historic stairs and found all of San Francisco's finest press representatives gathered at the reception.