I was a little skeptical about the journey from LA to NYC to spend under 72 hours in St Barth. But it’s amazing what 2 1/2 days in a hot climate lulling away on a yacht can do for the soul.

I left off on our night out on Le Ti St Barth…The following day it was a hike from Colombier beach where the boat was anchored to Hotel St. Barth Ile de France for a spot of tea and a bit of shopping. The stunning vistas all across the hotel makes it clear why it’s one of the most romantic places to stay on the island. We took a tour of the grounds and saw several of the chicly designed rooms and the super saturated colored furniture all across the property.

Taking the same root back, we clocked about 5 miles of hiking. Colombier beach is a natural preserve and absolutely drop dead gorgeous. From there we swam to the yacht to cap off a stellar morning of working out and retail therapy.

The shopping didn’t end there. Later that evening we attacked Hermes for a second day, picking up bags, sweaters and fogged up the tiny boutique by spraying the new Eau de Pamplemousse Rose fragrance. Linen, a not too far away boutique that makes linen shirts, shorts and pants in every color also saw some good business from my crew. All the men thought it was the perfect uniform for their yachting lifestyle.

We also checked out Le Christopher hotel, a super luxe recently renovated property that looked like the perfect perch for international hipsters. The boutique at the hotel sells a well-edited selection of Linde beachwear and vintage Courreges sunglasses and Rick Owens separates. Then it was off to the interior design legend Christian Liaigre’s Le Sereno hotel for Pinky cocktails and passion fruit magaritas. Liaigre’s minimalist style best defines the mega-wealthy enclave’s design sensibility. He also owns a charming boutique near the port that if you’re lucky to catch while it’s open, sells charming Ted Muehling objets d’arts and Liagre’s own home accessories. A spin around Nicki Beach for some souvenir t-shirts and French designed kids clothes capped off an unbelievable trip to one of the world’s toniest islands.

The flight from New York to St Maarten was a short and sweet 3½ hour flight on a private jet. This is the kind of airline travel that can really spoil you. After landing, we were hastily whisked away to a tender then to another boat that took us to the yacht docked at the port in St Barth. The 12-mile transport on the boat was a choppy ride with major swells that had a couple people in the party feeling a little queasy by the time we arrived in St Barth.

This kind of travel calls for discretion but what I can say is that this yacht I’m staying on is like the size of a cruise ship. We wasted no time to hit the town. Members of my party are regulars here and we literally dropped our belongings and headed to the stores. We raided Hermes and Calypso stores right by the port and snapped up a few goodies.

We were celebrating a birthday so it was dinner on deck and then we headed off to Le Ti St Barth for a bit of dancing. The season hasn’t started yet but the club was pumping with a Nascar party and a couple supermodels (Doutzen Kroes and Alessandra Ambrosio) were in town shooting with Antoine Verglas. We danced the night away and then stumbled back to the yacht about 1am.

I’ve come to terms with how busy this time of year gets. It’s good to see that big spending is back (at least in my circle) and it’s been fun to come up with all sorts of unusual presents for clients. Within the last few days, I’ve nipped up to Palo Alto to work with a client who just had a baby. Dressing becomes something entirely different when your breasts increase three sizes, you’re breastfeeding and six inches are added to your hips…. and you have formal events to attend. Dolce and Gabbana, not one of usual go-to was a godsend. They can make a woman look sexy at any size.

It was then back to LA where I combed the racks of any store that matter before nipping out to New York on Monday night to do some shopping at Takashimaya and Bergdorf’s. I particularly wanted to wrap up the bulk of shopping before heading off to St Barth this morning. I had to travel out to White Plains to a private airport I’ve never flown from before and I’m now on the plane writing this dispatch.

I’ve never been to St. Barth. Its one of those places I’ve been invited to numerous times but the timing was never right. Everyone I mention the island to goes crazy about how beautiful it is, how chic the people and how fabulous the restaurants are. I’m only there for four days and staying on a yacht so don’t know how much of the island i’ll get to experience but ill keep you up to date via Twitter, Facebook and this column.

I can normally manage my stress. I work for myself and set my own schedule and I’m a big believer that it’s not necessary to get rattled; it’ll all get done. This week though I have that pit in the stomach feeling where I don’t know if I can get it all done. I’m in thick of readying the site for a relaunch and also our new Trend Report, but it’s the tons of shopping I have to do that’s stressing me out. I have to shop for gifts for husbands to wives, wives to husbands, daughters to mothers, parents for babies. It’s hectic.

I can’t write much this week but I can still share. My friend Kristina Dryza sent me these shots from the Hermes “Silk Caravan” located at the bottom of Tokyo Midtown that I think are pretty fab. Thanks Kristina. Enjoy.

I’ve never understood this black Friday thing. Choosing to duke it out with throngs of shoppers in crammed stores for the best bargains is my idea of the greatest form of misery. The stores that promote this get-in-early-to-snap-up-the-best-deal system are usually the gargantuan ones. They merchandise for all kinds of customers and count on black Friday’s high traffic to propel business out of the red and into the black for the year.

I get the concept and understand the marketing value of identifying the shopping day of the year. It helps to create those scenes of shoppers camped out in tents days in advance outside of Best Buy, Target, or whatever department stores that promises huge savings if you get in early.

But the fact is that I’m not a big department store shopper. I prefer curated boutiques where the proprietors know their customers and merchandise with specific patrons or type of patrons in mind. For my private clients, I love Mameg in Los Angeles and If Boutique in New York because they consistently buy for that adventurous woman with an arty bent. For my own shopping, Atelier in New York, are personal favorites. These kinds of stores don’t promote Black Friday, they inform their clients of impending sales and make you feel valued. Getting elbowed by an over zealous shopper in a mad dash to scoop up a Dana Buchanan sweater is a bleak Friday indeed.

It’s Thanksgiving morning and I am in Carmel, the gorgeous, wealthy enclave in Northern California. I took the 6-hour drive from LA by myself on Tuesday to the ranch that I’m spending the next few days with a couple of my clients and their families. Whenever I’ve mentioned Carmel to friends before, they’ve cooed about the beauty, the rolling hills, and the fabulous homes. Now I get it.

The 4000-acre estate where I’m staying is an amazing property with horses, hundreds of cattle and charming little barns dotting the landscape. I was able get a full view of the acreage and the surrounding regions when a helicopter swooped down to whisk a couple of us to Silicon Valley to visit a friend who just had a baby. These days I don’t make a move without a trove of clothes in tow for clients and friends. I loaded up on oversized Stella McCartney clothes and shoes and mega-wattage jewelry from various designers for some post pregnancy looks.

I was stunned by the aerial views of the property in the Silicon Valley region. Of course, you hear about all the technology millionaires and billionaires who live in the area but seeing the scale of the properties from the sky was stunning. The more i see the more i’m falling in love with California.

It’s a satisfying job to sniff out fantastic fashion finds on the backstreets and boulevards of any city in the world. Some of the best finds though are just for myself, and I have a stellar personal track record of scoring big. I remember right after university my friend William Keh casually mentioned to me that his father had closets full of Gucci he hadn’t worn in years and he was about to get rid of everything. Forty pieces of gorgeous silk shirts, leisure suits, leather jackets and a 5-figure priced maxi fox Gucci coat later and just like that I was singlehandedly on track to resuscitating the still out-of-fashion house at the time. I’ve found $3,000 Carol Christain Poell boots on sale in London for $100 and equally breath-stopping suits for peanuts at a Lane Crawford closeout store in Hong Kong. Over the years, I’ve happened upon to-die-for-vintage YSL, Versace, Lanvin, Alaia—all at rock bottom prices in the most unexpected places on the planet.

I was lucky again in Zurich this weekend. On the hunt for some great deals for designer clothes, I headed to the Trois Pommes outlet stores at Trois Pommes Luxury Vintage at Seestrasse 463. Not totally satisfied with the discounts at the store, one of the attendants who was charmed by my interest in a pair of John Galliano pumps clued me in to a drop off that Tina Turner made at one of their other boutiques at 27 Schaffhauserstrasse. Apparently Tina and Trudi Goetz, Trois Pommes’ owner, are best friends and when Tina wanted to unload some of her castoffs, Trudi suggested she put them in her boutique that doesn’t normally sell used clothes. As the second person to check out the selection, I scored big time: a below the knee length Issey Miyake brown leather coat, elephantine sized Dior pants from a recent collection, a Bolero Yohji jacket, and other covetable pieces from Tina’s private collection. Who knew that Tina was into all the oversized looks from the Japanese?

Back in LA, Rona Gaye of Coquette, the appointment only vintage outpost invited me to a gathering at Toni Wald’s house in the Sierra Towers for a viewing of furs and accessories. I don’t buy furs and I explained that to whomever would listen, but I do buy select high-end bags, day dresses and tops from the house. The amount of furs was shocking and while I couldn’t deny the beauty of the natural animal patterns, I was more enthralled by the Peekaboo croc bag and the unusual view of the Wald’s home overlooking the Hollywood Hills.

3 movies, 2 articles drafted, 2 long read Vanity Fair profiles, and 3 hours of valium-induced sleep and I finally arrived in LAX from Zurich. My flight was overbooked and my business class upgrade was not honored so it was route 66 in a bulkhead seat for 12 hours on Swissair. I survived the epic journey and can still say the trip to Switzerland was all worth it.

It’s amazing what can take place in 4 short days in a city. I was a guest of the Swiss Textiles award and I thank them for including me in the award ceremony. I’ve lobbied before to be a jury member and ill repeat that request here. My deepest thanks however goes to Gatsby Magazine’s Stefan Hottinger-Behmer for his assisted support in arranging everything from a suitable car service from the airport to upgrading my stay from the down market Ibis (where other attendees stayed) to the much superior Park Hyatt hotel. Caroline Cerny, marketing and communications manager at the Hyatt and her staff took splendid care of me. Massages were organized, exotic fruits were shipped in every morning and the overall service was impeccable. These amenities are crucial for adjusting to new environments and time zones.

Zurich was a mini-explosion of global fashion for a 24-hour period. On awards night I ran into so many fashion folks from all over the globe. Diane Pernet and Dana Thomas were in from Paris. Imran Amed and Fiona Harkin from London. Tiziana Cardini of la Rinascente, Raf Simons, Haider Ackerman, etc. Granted many of the high wattage attendees were past winners and jury members but an impressive turnout nonetheless.

Alexander Wang won the top prize award and had the jury and audience alike fired up about the win. The consensus was that he didn’t deserve it. Read more in my profile on the event tomorrow.

Julia Muggenburg was in town and in tow and we had a gorgeous time at Rive Gauche at Baur au Lac Hotel, a late night at Onyx bar at the Hyatt and of course afternoon tea at Sprungli with the Lynda Real, Marc Gysin and the rest of the Gatsby magazine crew. An art gallery visit to Kunstfokus (where you can view snippets of artists’ works as teaser before visiting their studio for the full experience), and visits to Trois Pommes’ closeout stores rounded out the visit. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the treasure trove of goodies that I scooped up from Tina Turner’s private collection.

I’m in Zurich. After touching down yesterday, I was quickly whisked off to the Park Hyatt where I had a booked appointment with a highly recommended Brazilian manicurist. I’ve mentioned before that I think Brazilians do the best mani/pedi so for the last few days I’ve been curling under my gnarled looking finger (and toenails) till I arrived here. And it was worth the wait. My nail beds are now pruned and open and ready for their close-up.

Amid the impromptu spa set up in my room, my host stopped by to check on the delivery of exotic fruits and orchids to my room and after a few cosmopolitans, the festivities in Zurich was on the way. I had planned to dine with Thakoon, Bruno Pieters, the Onithetel girls and the other designers who were already in town but due a communication snafu, I went instead to Stefan Hottinger Behmer’s for dinner. His enormous loft deserves a spread in Elle Décor. The gargantuan space was all caramel colored woods, Brazilian art and low-lying Scandanavian furniture.

This past week my upside down sleep pattern had me waking up at 3am and lights out at 6pm. It’s been a brutal schedule but I’ve used it to my advantage. I leave again for Europe today and I’m still on Swedish time. I’m headed to the Swiss Textiles Award in Zurich, which I last attended two years ago when Marios Shwab took the top prize and I’m looking forward to 10-year anniversary festivities this year.

To commemorate the occasion, all the past winners including Christian Wijnants and Bruno Pieters are coming back. With Gatsby Magazine as the new media sponsor, the event is turning the page on this important event that awards 100,000euro in cash and services to the award recipient.

To bring you up to speed on life in Los Angeles–it’s been non-stop shopping. I continue to add more Hollywood wives to my client list and two new stores have been added to my local shopping list. Zainab opened her boutique last month selling emerging American lines such as Ohnetitel, Jeremy Laing and European accessories from Alaia and Natalia Brilli. Mona Moore meanwhile opened their first American outpost on Abbott Kinney in Venice Beach in September after having a store in Montreal for nearly ten years. They sell high-end footwear from Haider Ackerman, Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester and Pierre Hardy. Long time Maxfield employee Vincent Ely runs the eponymous boutique that provides a special same day concierge service in Los Angeles.

On the social front, Mameg and Mark Borthwick, hosted what I call a “barbeque installation” on Friday night. Borthwick’s polaroids and loose prints of lazy Costa Rican days were strewn across the boutique, while outside in the parking lot, Borthwick set up a barbeque and turned out Middle Eastern sausages, Bruschetta, olive tapenade and roasted garlic. A low-key museum, architecture, and forward fashion set attended the event. Mameg is not the self-promoting kind of establishment so there wasn’t a camera in sight all night and sadly we forgot ours, so apologies for no accompanying photos.