Ahhh, home sweet home.  Hong Kong is such a dynamic, fast-paced destination full of wonderful sights and people.  I liken it to New York City… but on speed.  Even when we were walking around looking for a late night bite to eat past 11:30pm, clothing stores were open until midnight and tons of people were milling about as if it was mid-afternoon.

Highlights included visiting Macau so Mel could play Roulette (and win some $ which she did) at The Venetian; walking around Kowloon and seeing the spectacular “A Symphony of Lights” show at Victoria Harbour; visiting Victoria Peak, Hong Kong Museum of History and Hong Kong Museum of Art; and shopping at Stanley Market.  In addition to dropping by the H&M and Zara stores, I loved visiting Bauhaus, Initial and vintage store Retrostone.

Street style in Hong Kong is amazing and unique.  I had hoped to take photos, but couldn’t whip out my camera fast enough before seeing the stylish subject pass me by.   Since I’m used to seeing women dress better than men on a regular basis, the men stood out that much more than the women.  From the trendy haircuts down to the eyeglasses, men’s personal style in HK is, to put it bluntly, ridiculously good.  It was refreshing, and I caught myself doing double-takes while passing a good majority of the men on the streets.

As I was slyly trying to take a photo of these guys from afar, one of them came up to me and asked if I could take their picture using their camera.  Then we came to realize that yes, we are all twins.  Naturally, we had to take a twin photo because how often do you meet another set of twins?  Oddly enough, when Mel and I said that we are from the U.S., they also guessed that we’re from Los Angeles.  Suppose we gave off a Cali vibe.

Aside from having dim sum multiple times, including at City Hall, we also enjoyed high tea at The Peninsula and fanciful ice cream sundaes at Haagen Dazs.  To say my belly was happy would be an understatement with all the yummy food and desserts we ate.

Thanks so much for continuing to swing on by while I was away!  I promise to catch up with everyone this week.  As always, lots of love…

XxX

Becs

Well worth the 15-hour plane ride, our trip has been pretty amazing thus far.  The energy of Hong Kong is like no other place I’ve ever been.  Here is a sampling of photos with plenty more to come.  Hope you all are doing well.  Can’t wait to catch up with everyone next week!

XxX

Becs

I’ve decided to go under the knife… well really, it’s more like scissors and chop my hair off.  It actually took seeing the top photo for me to fully come to the conclusion my hair has gotten to the way too long point.   Suppose that’s what happens when you get your hair trimmed once every 1.5 years.  Before my hair gets its mini makeover (still keeping it just past my shoulders so it won’t be uber short), I wanted to post these recent photos as the last memories of my long hair.

Dear long hair,

I will miss you.  We’ve been through a lot.  Changes, that is.  You stuck with me when I dyed you dark brown, light brown, dark brown, reddish (that was supposed to be light brown) and now black (twice in one week since the red tint still showed through after the first time).  Through it all, you’ve endured the bleach and, I thank you for staying strong.  Except for in the shower when you tend to fall out.  Can we work on that?  I do apologize though for not brushing you more often, and the resulting large knot that is formed from lack of said brushing.  It’s partially due to laziness, and well, because you tend to also fall out onto my floor and in my brush more than I’d like.  At least I spare you the heat and let you air dry as I drive to work.   And when more than a quarter of you will be gone, I hope you hurry your ass up and dry a lot faster.

XxXx

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“Strangers are exciting, their mystery never ends, but there’s nothing like seeing your history in the faces of your friends.” ~ Ani DiFranco

It’s always bittersweet to visit home.  Knowing you only have several days to spend with the ones you love, the ones that you hold closest to your heart, you try to make the most out of your time but it always ends up whizzing by.

Reunions with high school friends; gatherings with new friends; gambling in Atlantic City and not losing money; talking to R. Kardashian on our eastcoast bound flight; trips to NYC, Maryland and Pennsylvania; paddle boating in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor;  bashing Sex and The City 2 while Chris Noth is sitting beside us (noticed this afterwards); getting my Dunkin’ Donuts fix (there are none in LA); visiting my dear 99-year old grams who asked me to put hair spray on her ‘do (love it); brainstorming screenplay ideas and getting renewed inspiration from being home; and just spending quality time with the people who know me best.

Had the opportunity to meet up with some amazing and talented bloggers who are just as sweet in person as they are online.  Mel & I brunched with James (The Mod Revival), Shaun (Port Authority, LA), Christine (N’East Style) and Gabe (The History of My World), and afterwards headed to the Brooklyn Flea Market — a recommended spot if you’re in the area on the weekends.

Mel and I also met up with Jillian from Nova Style who I adore and have been following since my early blogging days.  Through these blogger meet-ups, though we may not all know each other in the tangible sense, I felt as if we did have a history upon meeting, albeit a short one, that I hope continues to grow.

++++++++++++++++

Luckily I also caught this while I was away.  I was excited to learn I had been chosen as Weardrobe Spotlight Blogger of the Day on Saturday.  Thanks so much, Weardrobe!

Wishing you a great rest of the week!

xoxo

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If I had never started Style with Benefits, I never would have…

10.  Started writing  ’xo’ on a regular basis

9.  Been called ‘Becs’.  My real name is Rebecca and no one has ever called me Becs before March 2009.  I started using that as my signature and it just stuck.

8.  Learned my ‘strengths and weaknesses’ when it comes to posing for photos.  Mental note:  I look silly when attempting serious facial expressions, and thus, stick to smiling, the closed mouth grin or looking down in my pics.

7.  Learned how to use Photoshop, Picasa and other random photo editing programs

6.  Attempted to take my own photos with a tripod.  Major fail. 

5.  Become a shoe whore.  I was never into shoes all that much and now I probably look at shoes the most when I’m online shopping.

4.  Experimented more with my personal style.  Hello, floral harem pants.  

3.  Started questioning whether I should bring my camera to places on a regular basis just in case there is something blog-worthy to capture.

2.  Received some of the sweetest emails and comments that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside

1.  Been inspired by an amazingly supportive community of individuals who just get it. 

I suppose what I’m trying to say is thank you for getting me.  This blog is an extension of who I am, and my opportunity to escape reality, so to speak, and dwell in a place where I can be myself.  It’s a place where I can explore my style and you all just get it, without questioning why or asking what the hell I was thinking.  

And that means more to me than you’ll ever know.

Here’s to new beginnings…

* I hope you all like the new blog layout!  It’s quite a departure from the old one, but I hope you find this easier to navigate and read.  Please don’t forget to update your links and bookmarks with my new URL.  Thanks so much!