Chanel - ing Pretty Woman

When we moved to London back in 2015 it didn't take me long to figure out that we were suddenly very small fish in a very large pond.

Not that I had ever really been a big fish. But back in Murfreesboro, TN , former beauty queen, married into a prominent local family, and minor local celebrity from having been a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - I was about as close as you could get in a small Tennessee town.

All of that changed when we got to London. No imagined celebrity status here. Topping the list since 2014 of the world’s most expensive cities, I don't think we even qualify as middle class. Everywhere you look people are richer, thinner, better dressed and more sophisticated than I could ever hope to be. And then of course, there is the Royal Family. Sigh.

I could just be paranoid, but I always feel out of place when walking around London. Everyone is so fashionable, so fancy, so fabulous - it can make a girl from Tennessee feel downright unworthy!

So.... I have a new move. I call it the Pretty Woman Effect.

It works like this: Put on a decent dress. It doesn't have to be expensive - just fashionable. Add a pair of booties or wedges. A little bit of nice jewelry. Maybe even a hat.

And your final accessory? Grab a couple of designer shopping bags. Almost anything will do but I prefer Chanel, Dior, and Gucci, Stuff them with something substantial along with some tissue paper and Voila! You have suddenly turned into Miss Vivian walking down Rodeo Drive smugly telling those shopgirls "Big mistake - huge!"

I promise that people will look at you differently. You'll be offered smiles and glasses of champagne wherever you go.

Don't have the budget for Louis or Dior? Me neither! I snagged this gorgeous Chanel bag from the top of someone's trash as I was walking by - Chanel tissue and receipt still inside! No shame in my game - I didn't even wait until it was dark out. Just grabbed it and kept on walking! The day after Christmas we scored dozens of designer bags from the 1/2 block immediately around my flat with literally no effort at all! #missedopportunity

Do I do this all the time? Of course not. But it's fun, and silly, and you might as well look amazing when you're toting around the things you actually DO buy at The Gap or the grocery. Because just like Vivian, in the end we all want the Fairy Tale - even if it's only for an hour or two.