Today is World AIDS Day. Do something.

Today is World AIDS Day.

How wonderful that people and organizations are taking action and making progress in the fight against AIDS.

How sad that the epidemic's become so great that an international Day is warranted to recognize it.

Visit World AIDS Day to learn more.

Support the cause with your daily coffee fix today via Starbucks.

Find out what the (RED) campaign is doing to help.

Do something.

in it to WIN IT: food, fun and freebies from NORMS Restaurants

If you live in LA...and you leave your house...ever...you have driven by a NORMS Restaurant. The big, block, all-caps lettering is iconic. As is the food inside.

Here are just a few reasons to love NORMS...

1. They serve breakfast all day. Any place that will serve me an omelet when I'm drunk at 3 in the morning is good in my book.

2. They are 'Open 24 hours a day-Every day of the year!' I have called to verify and yes, that does include St. Patty's Day, Rosh Hashana, and Secretary's Day. This is astonishing dedication to service.

3. Cool, musical hip people like NORMS. And because I am a sucker for trendy things, if Friendly Fires likes NORMS, then so do I.

4. The Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Another restaurant might try to come up with some new-fangled version of this classic dish for its menu. NORMS keeps it real. We all like the Kraft version. Why mess with success.

5. NORMS is giving away free grub to 1 very lucky reader of this here blog. And we all love free grub. Because we're hungry and not yet very rich.

Entry form must be submitted by Monday, December 14th at 12 pm PST. One winner will be chosen at random and notified on Tuesday, December, 15th.

Follow NORMS on Twitter.
Become a NORMS fan on Facebook.

Shop: Whatever you do, don't buy these pants.

I peeked into Black Friday sales this weekend. Online. Because no handbag/denim/stiletto heel is worth live and in-person pushing through sweaty mall shoppers still smelling of pumpkin pie and turkey gizzards.

And on Intermix's website, I found these pants. If there is one thing I'd like to implore you not to buy this holiday season...or ever...it is these pants.

These Elise Øverland Metallic Stretch Pants Were: $1,495.00 and are Now: $1,049.00.

The item description reads as follows...

The ultimate in slim pant/leggings chic. These skinny beauties from EO are styled in heavy knit with pieced knees, and are completely overlaid with a coat of matte gunmetal metallic. The black backing does peek through somewhat here and there. The waist is 1 1/2" of heavy black ribbing and they have a side zipper. Unlined. In silver, which is really a more muted gunmetal.

a. I don't care how 'ultimate' these pants are. Unless these pants are overlaid with 24 k gold, anything over $100 is retail robbery.

b.Does a price reduction qualify as a sale if the cost of the leggings are still over a grand?

c. Does designer Elise Øverland know that American Apparel sells these same pants for $49?

Giving thanks for: knowing enough to be grateful.

In addition to my gratitude for sugar, sunny LA skies, and other small pleasantries, I am also hugely thankful for so many significant and wonderful things in my life.

Things I give thanks for (in no particular order)...

My friends. I am so lucky to have met so many wonderful folks on both coasts and in between. Thank you for being entertaining and funny, for helping me and letting me help you, for telling it like it is and sharing your wisdom.

My home. I may wish I didn't live in a studio apartment in a dirty neighborhood with no parking. But I am fortunate to have any home at all and I know this.

My family. Thank you for conceiving me, for bearing me, for tolerating me over the last few decades.

My options. I am hugely thankful that I have had the opportunity to shape my own life. I have made mistakes and I have made wonderful decisions and I am all too aware that many of the globe's inhabitants are not so lucky. Having free will keeps every day exciting. I wake up daily--astounded by, and grateful for, the choices that are mine to make.

Food Find: Shojin offers organic + vegan...sushi?!

Thanks to good pal Renee, I discovered Shojin Restaurant this afternoon. It's organic and natural. It's vegan. It's...Japanese?!

A totally strange concept, but a delicious one.

Amongst the many things I'd thought might belong in sushi, I had never considered barbeque seitan. But I'm into it.

The prices are reasonable. The food is fresh. And it's housed on the 3rd floor of a rad Little Tokyo shopping center. Which means you can get fed and get a tour through Japanese shopping culture.

And if you're not booked for Thanksgiving, neither are they. Make a reservation now for your vegan faux-Turkey Day meal.

Shojin
333 S. Alameda Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

[I would] give thanks for: room and board at Art Basel Miami Beach.

I understand that wishlists are reserved for the December holidays. That Thanksgiving's a time for gratitude, not requests. I get that. And that being said...

Thing I [WOULD] give thanks for No. 4: Round-trip airfare to Miami, hotel accommodations (nothing fancy--maybe the Gansevoort South or the Ritz Carlton South Beach), and a pass to Art Basel Miami Beach.

While it does make me sad that Shepard Fairey seems to be the only LA artist represented in the Art Salon panels (and they spelled his name wrong - 'Fairy' - and he is probably only on because of his recent legal woes), I could surely get over this. And quickly.

Esteemed musical artists, LMFAO, describe the Miami scene best in their recent hit single...

Drink all day
Play all night
Let's get it poppin
I'm in Miami Trick
Drink all day
Play all night
Let's get it poppin I'm in Miami Trick

I'm sure they had Art Basel in mind.

Art Basel Miami Beach takes place December 3 - 6, 2009. I am available to attend.

[Image Credit: Rosemary Laing, a dozen useless actions for grieving blondes #5, 2009]

Giving thanks for: a frosting frenzy.

How thankful was I to have a day-old Crumbs cupcake in my fridge tonight? Very.

Not much beats skimming the frosting off a cupcake with a fork. No cake, no carbs, I tell myself. And telling yourself is half the battle [toward denial, ignorance and pretty happy bliss]. Because everyone knows the frosting alone is, like, totally not bad for you.

Thing I give thanks for No. 3: Sugary, buttery, awesome desserts.

If you happen to be near any of the locations of this growing sugar empire this week, I'd like to try the 'White Hot Chocolate' cupcake next. Scoop that up for me by Thursday and I may even throw you onto the list of things I give thanks for.

A champagne for weight-watching merry-makers.

Finally, there's a sparkling wine for every eating disorder dietary restriction. Just in time for the holidays.

Laurent Perrier's low-sugar Ultra Brut bubbly has a whopping 18 calories less per serving than the regular stuff.

And, according to VitalJuice, 'Kate Moss is reported to be a fan!' What a surprise that the model recently quoted as saying that 'Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels,' should have a diet alternative to even her booze. Because even mild anorexics like to have fun.

Buy Laurent Perrier Ultra Brut NV.

[via VitalJuice]

Giving thanks for: looking forward.

Thing I give thanks for No. 2: So many things on the horizon.

Main Entry: excited state
Function: noun
Date: 1927
: a state of a physical system (as an atomic nucleus, an atom, or a molecule) that is higher in energy than the ground state

[via Merriam Webster]
[Image Credit: Getty Images]

Giving thanks for: agreeable temperatures and mountain trails.

It's officially Thanksgiving week. Sure, the holiday's not for a few more days. But the spirit of a short work week has already overcome me and I'm feeling thankful.

Thing I give thanks for No. 1: Blue skies and warm weather in Los Angeles.

It is not everywhere that one can go hiking. In a tank top. In late November.

Some pics from the trek up Griffith Park yesterday...

Warm weather fosters growth: cold weather destroys it.
- Hung Tzu-Cheng

[Image Credit: Jessie B. R. via her very crappy Blackberry cam]