I knew exactly who I wanted to interview for my first Life With column as I soon as I got the job here at Fashionista, my old friend Elizabeth Kiester (pictured here with one of her besties, Loven.) I’ve been very blessed in my 11 (gasp!) year career in this business to be able to work with some amazingly talented and wickedly smart and funny people. Eliz pretty much tops that list. And I was lucky enough to get to work with her twice, at Jane and YM.

But it’s not because she’s my friend that I wanted you all to meet her. She truly has had one of the most interesting careers in fashion—going from magazines to trendspotter for A&F to creating collaborations with Stella at LeSportsac.

As of late last year, she is a full-fledged designer, selling her wares at her incredibly colorful store, Wanderlust, in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Yep, Cambodia.

Unfortunately, a trip to Cambodia isn’t exactly in the Fashionista budget, so I talked to Elizabeth via email about how she ended up where she is today and how a life in fashion in Siem Reap is so very different from the one she used to live in New York.

Monday, we’ll chat more about what’s selling out in her store, what she misses most about New York, where Wanderlust is going next, and how to rock 5 inch Marni pumps in a Cambodian village.

Recently I’ve been lamenting the loss of my once stellar flea market skills.

And while I vowed to get back in the swing of all things vintage, I am still incredibly grateful to Madewell for making it even easier.

The Manhattan and East Hampton stores will be featuring finds from the Brooklyn Flea starting this Thursday and going until at least Labor Day, though possibly longer.

Fashion Director Gigi Guerra and stylist Lisa Schulner will be scouring the Ft. Greene and Brooklyn Bridge locations for pieces that will complement Madewell’s collections. And everything will be less than $100. I’ve had the pleasure of working with both of these ladies (at Jane and at YM) and I can totally vouch for the fact that they both have extremely keen eyes for hidden treasures.

We can’t wait to see what they dig up. But we still highly recommend you all make a trip to the Flea yourselves too.

It’s been a lonely month here at Fashionista and we’re so excited to have Abby Gardner on board! I might be shy, but she’s a totally open book - so if you want to know where she’s been and what she’s done up until now, read on for a mini-Life With in which she answers questions I thought you might ask.

Hello!! So I’m the new girl here at Fashionista and I couldn’t be more excited to be here. And to finally lend Britt a hand. She’s been doing an awesome job, basically solo for weeks now. So, we were trying to think of how best to introduce me to you and decided to go with a modified “Life With” column. It’s one of my favorite new things on the site. Feel free to leave questions in the comments section.