Brooks Brothers 40% off Today

When everyone is out shopping for gifts, it's a gift to shoppers when quality stores have sales not on Black Friday, but on a regular Friday like today!

Brooks Brothers is having a one day 40% off sale on all women's Fall apparel both in stores and online until 11:59pm tonight; if you spend $200 or more, they will also include free shipping on online orders. Yes, this includes the fabulous no-iron dress shirts featured on Oprah, which you can buy today for $53.70. The sale is only for women's dress shirts, merino and cashmere sweaters, and trousers, but does not include their black fleece items. The selection is so wide that you will find blouses, tunics, dresses, and evening gowns, so if you can't find the perfect present for a woman in your life here, maybe you can find something from Santa for yourself!

San Pedro Cafe & Deli

Some of my friends live in San Pedro and every once in a while (once a year) I make the drive to them so we can eat in their neighborhood. San Pedro Cafe has been a favorite lunch spot for decades. Their menu says that it is "Monkey Approved" whatever that means; I think it probably means that monkeys love their food as much as humans do.

What's not to love? They roast their own turkey and they grill their own chicken for all their dishes. The cafe uses fresh vegetables for their salads, and their menu includes everything anyone could wish to eat at an American breakfast/lunch cafe, including omelettes, salads, sandwiches, and full plates of fish & chips or burgers, most for under $10.

My friend Dar had their grilled chicken salad because she loves their salad dressing, and yes that is half an avocado you see in the salad next to a huge portion of chicken breast.



Since I had just gotten up, I was craving bacon, so I ordered the turkey club on sourdough toast. The turkey was moist and tasted as if it was made that morning; and even though they tasted as if they had been frozen, the fries were salty, crispy and a little spicy.

Somehow we both managed to finish our lunches and go on to work all afternoon without taking a nap.

It may only be an annual trek for me to go to San Pedro, but if you are in the area or go there often, the San Pedro cafe is worth a stop for basic American food done the old fashioned way, with fresh products and pleasant service.

Like American Bandstand, some things never go out of style.

$50 Runway Dress $500 Glass Shoe

If you saw the movie "The Devil Wears Prada" then you have heard of Bag, Borrow, or Steal where you can rent an authentic designer handbag for a week or several at a fraction of the cost of buying it. The concept is that you get to carry a handbag worth several thousand for only a few hundred (or less) so you can test drive it and see if you would like to actually buy it or exchange it for another model at the end of your rental. This is a great idea if you have an event you want to attend with a special accessory, or if you would like a taste of living as one of the rich and famous without having to mortgage your house.

Now you can also rent a dress straight off the runway starting at $50 from Rent The Runway which offers a similar concept for clothes; you get designer fashions the same way you get your movies from Netflix, in a prepaid package, and they will send you two sizes so you don't have to worry about the fit. Use the promo code INSTYLEFREE, and you will be able to rent one dress and get one free rental.

For those of your who want to indulge your Champagne tastes with actual Piper-Heidsieck Champagne, then $500 will get you a bottle of the Cuvee Brut and an actual Christian Louboutin black stiletto (made of crystal) so you can perform the ritual of drinking Champagne from a "glass slipper".

Now nearly every woman can be Cinderella and nearly every man can be Prince Charming without having to worry about the clock striking midnight.

Global Gift Cards

No one really wants another tie or another set of gift soaps, but everyone wants to help others. For the last decade I have given holiday gifts to charities for the holidays instead of buying things for people I love. I still give gifts on birthdays and throughout the year as I find things as "surprise" gifts", but I no longer give physical gifts when other people give them at the end of the year.

I don't remember exactly how or why I started this tradition; I probably heard of someone else doing it or I was simply too frustrated trying to find parking and gifts when everyone else was trying to do exactly the same thing at the same time. But now my nontraditional tradition has roots and branches as others have adopted this holiday twist over the years.

Some people would like to both give to charity and also have something tangible to give to their loved ones, so Global gift cards may be the perfect solution to provide both a 100% charitable solution for all your gift needs and at the same time providing a physical card you can give people showing your gift in their name to a charity of their choice. You can send an e-card which will be delivered on the date you specify or you can print out your gift at home and insert it into a card or stocking. Depending on the amount of your gift card, Global Giving will also give you a hand crafted scarf from Nepal when you donate $75 or more, and you will get a complimentary copy of the book "Growing Up Global: Raising Children to Be At Home in the World" when you donate $100 or more with the code "GROWNUPS" at checkout.

So for all of you who hate to shop but love doing good for the global family, this is a great way for your recipients to choose the charity they would like to receive this year's holiday cheer.

Free $100 Meal at New Aria Restaurant

Here in the US I am used to paying for all my meals (and often also paying for the meals of my dinner companions), but in a faraway place called Europe there are still restaurants which give the women menus without prices (because it is assumed that the men are paying for the meal); ah what a wonderful place to live, where meals at fine restaurants are literally priceless!

How wonderful to find a special deal with MGM in Las Vegas that gives everyone (yes men also get the deal) a $100 fine dining credit at one of the new Aria resort fine restaurants when you book a stay at the MGM! Just use code INB304 when you book. Since I am going to see Cirque du Soleil's Viva Elvis in January and staying at the Encore, I decided to stay an extra night just to eat at the new Jean Georges Vongerichten restaurant in the New City Center. Just make sure you reserve your table when you make your room reservation.

Since a week-end room in the new West Wing was only $119 a night, that means my extra night will only run me $19 for my room since I intend to spend the entire $100 credit eating and drinking at Jean Georges! I guess you could also look at it the other way and consider you meal free with a week-end night cost of $119.

You may choose to use your dining credit at any of the fine dining restaurants at Aria, so you can choose New York chef Masa Takayama, whose Japanese cuisine will makes it's debut in Las Vegas with Barmasa, or James Beard award winning Chicago chef Shawn McClain's new American cuisine, or Micheal Mina's fifth Las Vegas restaurant, or famed Spanish chef Julian Serrano of the legendary Picasso, and a nine-time recipient of the AAA Five Diamond Award.

Hmmm maybe I could also do what I did once in NYC...have appetizers in one, entree in another, and dessert in a third restaurant:)

Comme Ca Repeal Week-End

This deal is too good not to pass on, so I'm writing on a Saturday!

Comme Ca is having a repeal day week-end with your first drink at regular price ($11) and your second one only 76 cents if you say the secret password "Roosevelt".

Go drink and be merry, just make sure you have a designated driver or take a cab home.

Best Parking Rates & Parking your Tweets Permanently

When I was driving my French friends around I realized that I know where to park in the neighborhoods I frequent, but when I traveled outside my "known areas" I was just like any other tourist looking for parking that was convenient but not too pricey.

There is now a website which allows you to find the best spots by the day or by the month at most of the major airports, and some of the major cities across the US called Best Parking. For the cities, you can search by address, cross street, neighborhood or attraction; for the airports, a map shows you the location of each structure and allows you to specify the dates you want to find parking.

If you are addicted to Twitter and have some tweets you would like immortalized in print, check into Tweetbookz which will print and bind your last 200 tweets (one tweet per page) from your twitter account, and yes, you can choose which ones to include or not in your book. All this costs $30 for a hardcover or $20 for a softcover, and takes between 3-5 days depending on the type of cover you want for your book. All covers are full color and all pages are printed on recycled white paper in black. If you want pass out your tweets as a holiday gift, order yours now so you can say, "I wrote this book".