‘Tis the season for events, parties, gatherings and (the all too infrequent) catching up with friends over dinner. For the last few weeks I’ve been buried in planning two fundraisers, and have attended some sort of social soiree nearly every night.

There’s a lot of fun to be had sharing cocktails with like-mind guests, but as we push further into the winter season a pang of dread floats over me. Picking out what to wear to events in the winter has always given me a headache, I hate nude tights and I try to shy away from all black. This leaves me in a tricky place-I could go for pants, but unless you have a stellar tuxedo-inspired arrangement, I always feel underdressed. (I notoriously over dress for everything; a lesson I learned during my primary school photo day when Lauren wore a delicious pink and blue party dress and I wore a purple corduroy skirt with Mary Jane loafers. I could have killed my mother that morning.)

Then there is the problem of keeping that “fresh face” despite the countless glasses of wine and late bed times (especially tricky for me, because I religiously wake up at 6:00 am). No one wants to look haggard in a photo, and I’ve sadly been the victim of this on two separate occasions. In one, I managed to make my size 4 body look like a Thanksgiving Day Parade float and the other I looked like I could use a month of hibernation (subsequently I wound up getting sick the day after that photo was taken, so I’ve cut myself a little slack). The only way to avoid this is to get your rest, drink plenty of water, and eat healthy, which isn’t exactly easy during the holidays (and even harder when you have the stress of party planning).

A tricky predicament for a girl, if I do say so myself. The first I manage to work out by eventually leaving only 5 minutes to get dressed; this way I can pander about and just throw on whatever will keep me the warmest. And as far as the dull-looking, bloated, party-girl face, well, first of all, don’t fall into the trap of too much socializing, but if you must, invest in Dior’s capture totale multi-perfection creame…it works MIRACLES. And of course…get your beauty sleep…