Can you believe it’s been an entire year since the Twilight Premiere in Los Angeles last November? When I told you about the Dior makeup Kristen Stewart wore that night, I had no idea of the Robert Pattinson–Kristen Stewart craze that was lurking ahead. (Not that it would have changed anything, but I like to prepare myself for these kinds of things.) (Speaking of Twilight, will you be heading to your local theater at midnight tonight for New Moon? Bailey has already made her TEAM JACOB t-shirt and is making her way to the theater as I type. Bree says she’ll hold out one more day for her Edward fix. Sleep is more precious than vampires, she says.)

Last year at this time, according to Makeup Bag archives, I was preparing to go out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday and got some excellent packing tips from Stephanie Johnson, the brains behind Stephanie Johnson cosmetic bags.

I was also battling dry, flyaway hair and found four conditioners to quench my thirsty hair without weighing it down.

TWO years ago, back in November 2007, I had just returned from a whirlwind trip to New York where I had the opportunity to meet some of my favorite beauty bloggers and editors. In the photo above, I’m at Takashimaya with Annie from Blogdorf Goodman, Allure web editor Fiona Gibb and Allure beauty director Amy Keller Laird.

In November 2006 (I know, I’m getting ancient here) this blog was just three months old and I was over the moon with news of the new Bobbi Brown Concealer to Go. Sadly, this matchbox sized mirrored compact with Creamy Concealer, Corrector, and Sheer Finish Pressed Powder is no longer available.

Oh, I almost forgot! Last year’s 7 Days of Holiday Looks feature is returning next week. Only, this year Bree & Bailey are joining me in creating 7 days of holiday looks. Are you good at math? This means, between the three of us, we’ll have TWENTY ONE gorgeous holiday looks to share! Are you excited, or what?

Want to read more from the Makeup Bag archive vault? Check out the November 2008, November 2007 and November 2006 archives here.

My friends over at Daily Makeover just released a great gift guide that you should check out. There are categories for mother, sister, daughter, best friend and co-worker.

Here are some of my favorites:

Visit DailyMakeover.com for more gift ideas!

Today is the day REAL BEAUTY, the new beauty site from Hearst Magazine launches!

RealBeauty.com is dedicated to all things beauty related including diet and exercise, stress relief and nutrition!

Head over and sign up for a “Beauty Book”— I did! Now I’ll be getting advice and recommendations tailored specifically for ME and my needs. LOVE it!

Check out the fun at RealBeauty.com.

Last weekend my friend Julia came to visit from Washington, D.C.

We had a fun, girls-only weekend of shopping, nail painting, baking and wine drinking. Julia even brought her Anthropologie holiday ring along so we could stage a little photo shoot with matching rings!

This week I have my nails painted Zoya Ciara while Julia opted for CHANEL Rouge Noir, one of the many polish changes she made throughout the weekend (she wasn’t going to let the Valente girls show her up!)

I have an adorable video of Janey and Julia baking brownies that I’ll be uploading later today.

What’s on YOUR nails this week?