What is your favorite holiday tradition?
SL: I love making the Thanksgiving stuffing with my mom. It’s always just us doing all the chopping and prepping in the kitchen the day before because she believes it’s best when it sits for a night. I only get home a few times a year so it’s become a really special time for us where we can be in our sweats drinking coffee and girl-chatting.
Where do you find cheer during the holiday season?
SL: Honestly something that brings me so much cheer is bar-hopping in my hometown. I come from a small north east coastal town called Marblehead Massachusetts, there are hole-in-the-wall bars that have been around for so long that my parents had their heydays there. I end up running into friends that I’ve had since kindergarten, old teachers, neighbors, family friends, and it’s just a really happy feeling that comes from that. I love that I still get to visit the place that I actually grew up in, it’s probably the most cheerful moments of the whole year for me.
So speaking of gift giving, what’s your favorite gift you’ve ever received?
SL: In my early twenties my parents put one scratch ticket in mine and each of my siblings stockings, I scratched $900 and got to buy my first pair of designer shoes. They were a black YSL booties and I wore them with so much love till they died. I also loved that sweet victory over my brother and sister.
What’s your favorite gift you’ve ever given?
SL: We always do a yankee swap at my aunt and uncles on christmas day. Being from Marblehead, where there is some of the best fresh seafood in the world, I bought a live lobster that morning and kept it in a small cooler, and that was my yankee gift. Not only did it shock the person who opened it, we cooked it on the spot and all shared some fresh lobster.
If you could have a toast or a cheers with anyone living or dead, who would it be?
SL: I would toast to Oprah this year. Having Oprah be my muse for the spring collection was beyond one of my proudest moments. I will forever be grateful to her for honoring my authenticity and recognizing the craft that I have put in for 15 years in this business. I owe that amazing woman a cheers!