A Pitcher of Sangria Please

I miss drinking. I miss meeting up with friends, ordering some cocktails and enjoying a night out. I miss unwinding with my roommate, digging into some chips and guacamole and sipping some sangria  (all homemade cuz that’s how we roll). 

I miss Monday nights with a bottle of Merlot, watching "The Bachelor" and tweeting about it. I miss ending the night (or starting the day depending on how you look at it) at Horus with shots of Tequila.

I miss my social life.

Mini Celebrations

Someone somewhere once said something about life being made up of moments - fun and otherwise - and those fun moments being the thing that makes life worth living and I truly believe that.

Some of my favorite moments are spent alone with a book or watching a show or movie that tells a great story.

But I love spending time with other people just as much.

Saturday night, I hung out with my NY girlfriends and enjoyed a number of great moments in a great city.

Then I got sick.

C'est la vie.



A night out with these girls always starts or ends at Horus which is now one of my fave places in the city.

In random news, we ran into the ladies of Big Sexy. Fun night : )

Just Another Day in New York City

Lord, this place is weird.

Costume Institute Gala 2010

As many of you know, I look forward to the Costume Institute Gala every year. I was so excited when I moved to New York because I kept on thinking "I'll be in town for the Costume Institute Gala"! Why I thought this would make a difference is beyond me; it's not like I attended the event!

But, I do get to go to the exhibit that the event was honoring, American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity.

Anyway, I looked through the pictures (courtesy of people.com, style.com and ybf.com) and basically uploaded the ones that made me stop... for good and very bad reasons. Here's my round up. Make sure you check out the rest of the photos!

Sienna Miller's Pucci dress was hands down my favorite of the night.

Tom Ford - in his design- was my favorite male. But I love him so that's a given.

People really made a fuss about Tina Fey's jumpsuit.
I liked it. It's Yves Saint Laurent.
Jennifer Lopez in Zuhair Murad. This is the only ball gown I'm showing because I personally think, while beautiful, they are boring boring boring. Ball gowns are for the Oscars people; let's try something different. Must we all look like Barbie princesses?

Beautiful dress though.

On to the dresses that made me choke on my soymilk...
Katy Perry in Cute Circuit. Yes, it's a glow in the dark dress.

Rachel Zoe in Marc Jacobs. Yes, it's velvet.

Doutzen Kroes in Zac Posen. Yes, that is a whole lot of... tulle?

Demi Moore in Lanvin. Eh...
January Jones in Yves Saint Laurent. On one hand, she took a chance. On the other hand this is just awful. I don't understand the gloves...
Elizabeth in Gucci. I really don't think I need to explain why I don't like this...

Moving on to dresses I did like!

Zoe Kazan in Peter Som.
Stella McCartney in her own design. It's simple but it flatters her.

Jessica Szhor in Atelier Versace; it's the closest I came to liking a ball gown at the event...

Jessica Biel in Ralph Lauren Collection. Some people were bored with her choice; I was not .
Emma Watson in Burberry; she looked fresh.

As did Donna Karan in her own design.

Diane Kruger in Calvin Klein. How does she always get it right? I want her clothes! And her body. And her boyfriend...
Anna Wintour looked classy in Chanel Haute Couture but I love what her daughter Bee Shaffer wore: Balenciaga.
And Alessandra Ambrosio in Versace.

So the above are the dresses that made me stop and look. If you're into fashion, I encourage you to check out the other outfits people wore.

I actually kind of hate pointing out the dresses and outfits I disliked. I think more than any other event, the Costume Institute Gala is about "real fashion". It's about taking chances and having fun and celebrating fashion as a form of expression.

I also want to stress that just because I didn't care for something, doesn't mean it's ugly. They are often the most detailed, intricate, works of art.

I just happen to really dislike ballgowns unless they're short (I don't even think I would wear one to my own wedding).

But I happen to know that Jennifer Lopez is making a lot of "best dressed" lists.

To each her own.

Enjoy : )

Photos courtesy of People.com, Style.com, YBF.com

To My Partners In Crime

I was never one of those girls who had this tight group of girlfriends I went to with all of my problems. I figured since I lucked out in the family department, I didn't get that. So there was never a Samantha to my Carrie, never a Thelma to my Louise, a Christina to my Meredith.

You get the picture.

Anyway, it was okay because I had my sisters and brother.

But then we all grew up and my siblings moved and started hanging out with their friends and I was kind of alone to fend for myself.

Luckily for me, I met some awesome people and slowly this world was opened up to me where I had girls and a few guys (hi Brandon) who I could talk to and laugh with and get a little tipsy with once in a while.

While I couldn't ask for a better family (they are truly the best group of people a girl like me could ever ask for), I have now been blessed in the friends department too. I can count some of the greatest women as friends.

I'm so lucky : )

Now that I'm without my favorite ladies and alone in New York (boo), I appreciate them so much more and I really miss having them around.

Instead of moping about it, I just want to say thank you for:

• sitting through The Hills, Gossip Girl, the Real World and all the other awful shows I enjoy watching. You guys never judged me by my ridiculous taste in television.
• letting me convince you that we can't watch a movie without cookies. Or cake. Or alcohol.
• convincing me that we can't watch a movie without cookies. Or cake. Or alcohol.
• letting me sleep over when I was too tired to drive home.
• baking me cakes for my birthday.
• waking me up (no matter how much I protested) and reminding me to take out my contacts.
• taking me dancing.
• eating one of my vegan meals. Actually none of you ever really ate the whole thing. Still...
• staying up with me and listening to me talk about HIM for the millionth time.
• laughing with me about everything and nothing and the absurdity of it all.

I love my girlfriends and I miss them.

What do you want to thank your favorite girls for?

I Like Curls, Curls, Curls, Curls

I’m an obsessive compulsive nerd.

This is charming to most people so it’s okay. But I know how abnormal it is to literally spend hours thinking about the most frivolous, unimportant things. I blame this on an overactive imagination and too much time spent entertaining myself as a child. Yes this is your fault mom and dad.

That was my disclaimer. On to the post!

So as I mentioned earlier, I got to go backstage at the Mackage show for fashion week. It was awesome, I had a great time and I got to interview Tippi Shorter!!!! Yes, I got to interview the lady who gives Alicia Keys every hairstyle I’ve ever coveted.

If you read the interview, you know I told her I was her hair stalker. Well I didn’t include the ten minute badgering that proceeded. I saw Tippi’s head of sexy, structured curls and I. Had. To. Have. Them.

Lucky for me, Tippi is as nice as they come and she answered all my questions about her style secrets. But I wasn’t satisfied. Seeing Tippi’s hair made me miss my curls. I have conveniently forgotten how hard it was to manage them.

All I know is I WANT CURLY HAIR AGAIN. I love curly hair. I do! What can I say? It’s epic. And straight hair is so boring to me now.

Just look at the photo of us above. Tippi: rockstar. Me: yawn.

So now I’m having a curly hair moment. These “moments” occur about every two years for me (last time it was a Josephine Baker moment).

I went home that day and proceeded to create my curly hair box because that’s what I do when I plan; I create virtual boxes. I now have 300 photos of curly haired girls for inspiration and I’m growing my relaxer out (some of the photos below are from the box). I might as well because I don’t trust anyone but my hairdresser in Orlando anyway.

I cannot wait for the weather to stop being a bipolar hot mess so I can premiere my curly hair for my spring/ summer look.

Yes, I have moments and looks.

Don’t judge me.

I’m calling it my Summer2010 Penny Lane Hippie Chic Bohemian African Princess look. Obviously, I’ve put a lot of thought into it.

When I have successfully achieved this look, I’ll share photos.

Vashtie
Yaya
Nicole Fiscella
Penny Lane: my imaginary bestie and style icon for the summer.
Gelila Bekele
Random lady I stopped at an event. Cuz that's how I roll.

Corrine Bailey Rae.

Notice that the look is less fro' and more ringlety? I'm trying to accomplish this with my very thick natural hair. Any suggestions?

How You Living?

Wassup home skillets!?! What's poppin' lockin'? Yo...
Sigh.
It is so nice to be writing again.
I've been feeling awfully disconnected without putting words down on paper, typing something. It's funny; I never really thought twice about pursuing journalism or any kind of writing career growing up. It was my mom who encouraged me to go this route. I wanted to be a fashion designer!
Anywho, I have to update you guys on the last month. For someone who loves writing so much, I was gone for a while. I hope you’ll bear with me as I play catch up for the next few days. It’s been insane fun for me here in New York. I’m learning a lot at Harper’s Bazaar and I was finally in town for New York Fashion Week! When Fashion Week takes place in the fashion capitals of the world, I am happier than a jock during March madness. I am attached to my computer, constantly refreshing Style.com, Fashionista.com, ANY website with photos of designers’ lines. So I’m going to attach two of the articles I wrote for your reading pleasure. I hope you guys enjoy them : )

Harper's Bazaar You Say?

With the insanity of the last two weeks, I forgot to share my wonderful news: I am interning at Harper's Bazaar magazine this spring. I am incredibly happy about this.

Many of you know how worried I was about finding a job once I moved to New York.

While this isn't a job, this internship will make finding a job that much easier.

And it's an opportunity I would have shaved my head for.

So thanks to everyone who told me I'd find something.

Thanks to everyone who told me I wasn't cut out for:

New York

Fashion

Writing

(because I am the kind of girl who'll say "I told you so").

and thank you God because I know who answers my prayers.

I'm going to watch the Grammy Awards now.

Buh bye.

I said goodbye to a lot of good people this week as I made my move to New York. I considered staying but I just didn't want to so away I went.

So this a proper shout out to my loved ones: you guys are too special to forget: )

That's me and my hairstylist/confidante/mentor Yolanda. She's a Betty, right?

The other pic is of me and Brandon; one of the best people I know.

Anyway, I'm back to blogging from New York. I hope you'll stick it out with me as I transition from student to badass _______

I haven't found a job yet so that part's blank.

Stay tuned...

New York, I Barely Knew You

Readers, this past summer has been one of the best of my life and leaving New York was one of the most unnatural things I’ve ever had to do. Sorry for the dramatics but it just felt wrong.

Sigh.

I’m going to miss taking the subway everywhere and walking everywhere else. I’m going to miss hearing about nine different languages being spoken as I make my way to midtown. I’m going to miss passing the New York Times offices and the Parsons School of Design. I’m going to miss talking to random people who always surprise me with the kindness that is stereotypically not New York.

I’m going to miss the mariachi bands that would come in the subway cars and entertain the passengers. I’m going to miss coming home from a night out when everyone else is going to work. I’m going to miss all the vegan restaurants.
I’m going to miss laughing to the point of tears with my sister; I’m going to miss her awesome friends. I’m going to miss feeling at home when I’m surrounded by thousands of strangers.

Looking back at this summer, I realize all those moments of complete panic and sleep deprivation were cushioned with these amazing moments of satisfaction with the work I was doing. The summer I once felt I was wasting away on my sister’s couch with my laptop was actually filled with these great little excursions.

My last day in New York was spent writing posts for Lovelyish.com. It almost feels wrong to say I was working when I enjoy what I do so much. I’m really blessed that "work" happens to be something that encompasses so much of what I love. So yeah, I blogged most of the day away, baked some chocolate chip cookies, got in the shower about an hour late, loaded up some bags with the goodies Amber put together and took the R and D trains into the city.

While it was fun going to Times Square and doing all the other “touristy” things, my favorite moments in New York were spent just chilling and enjoying my surroundings. So it was fitting that I spent my last night eating some vegan cookies, enjoying the perfect summer weather and watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind on a big screen in Bryant Park.
It was awesome; the perfect way to end a perfect trip people. We got to the park about three hours before the movie even started and there were already shitloads of people sprawled out everywhere. So we took our blanket, found a pretty good spot, spread that baby out and chatted as we waited for my sister and the moon.

The movie is a favorite from childhood so there were no surprises there but watching it again with a bunch of people who all had the same appreciation for it was just nice.

After the move and a tinkle, we headed to a bar called Hell’s Kitchen (in Hell’s Kitchen) for a few late night drinks before heading back to Brooklyn.

And that my friends, was my last night in New York.

I know this is the part where I say it’s been an incredible journey and thank everyone for coming along for the ride. Puhleeeaaaasssseeee, I didn’t get to blog about half the stuff I did this summer. There are loads of experiences that I wrote about in my journal that I will be sharing with you all in the next week. Not to mention the fact that I am still working for the boss lady.

That’s right, my internship has been extended into the fall peeps! My story isn’t close to being over : )

Click here for more pics.

I'm Too Old for The Warped Tour

Sooo...

Where do I begin? The beginning? Fantastic idea!

While it's not easy to make friends when you spend most of your time in front of a computer blogging about your irritation with skinny jeans being around for yet another season, I've met some cool people through my internships. One of those people happen to be Jamella (yo girl)!

Anywho, Jamella and I have tried to hang out and enjoy our time in this awesome city together. She told me about the Warped Tour taking place in Uniondale, NY and I thought why not? I've never been and it beats staying home on a Saturday.

After getting some work done for the boss lady, I put on what I thought was concert-appropriate attire (for someone who is too vain to be sensible). Donning a khaki hat, gray halter from Plato's Closet and a cute floral skirt from Target, I was ready to rock out like Penny Lane.

Let's fast forward through the ridiculously long commute to Uniondale shall we?

I get to this incredibly normal suburb (they have a Bravo there) and stroll up to the venue of the festival/concert and two of the vendors asked if I was there to pick up my kids. Blank stare. I'm sorry, what? Me? Really? Wow. This is going to create so many issues .

Once they saw the look of shock on my face, they asked me how old I was? I answered with a bit of an attitude but don't judge me until someone asks you if you have teenagers when you're only 23. The men (women wouldn't be so cruel) ofcourse backpedaled and told me I looked great but the damage was done. I am officially on a strict anti-wrinkle regimen.

Moving on...

I meet up with Jamella and we walked around a bit before heading over to the stage where one of her fave bands were playing. I should probably mention now how young everyone around me was. I'm not talking 18. People, I'm talking hormones, braces, acne and underage drinking. I was among adolescents, jail bait, kids. Yes, children. I had to be one of the oldest people actually attending this event. No wonder why those men thought I was middle-aged; they were surrounded by preschoolers all day.

Anyway, we squeeze ourselves in with the rest of the crowd and wait for Breathe Carolina to get on stage. When they did, everyone went wild. I'm not really familiar with any of the bands on the tour so it was cool to hear some different stuff and I was really enjoying myself. Then something happened. It was confusing really. Still is. I'm not sure what to make of it.

The guitarist/ keytarist Josh spit into the audience.

Spit.

And he was really into it too. His whole body participated as he inhaled and cleared his throat to really let a good one out. And it traveled quite a distance as well, not hitting the girls in the front but the girls behind them.

My time in New York has shown me that there's an art form to spitting. Since people here insist on spitting on sidewalks, on the road, outside of cabs and in the subway stations, I've had time to study different techniques. It's something to do when I forget my ipod. Sometimes I get lucky and I'll have a spitter on the actual train.

But back to the spitter on stage.

I was shocked that he spit. I was FLOORED when I heard the squeals of joy his snot-hawking elicited. What the hell is wrong with America's youth?

Moving on to the next band we saw, Escape the Fate. Well before they came on stage, me and Jamella were waiting - with more children- and then I felt something wet splash on my arm. I freaked. A little. I thought it was spit. Irrational? Maybe under normal circumstances.

Turns out it was water (I'm hoping). Besides the water splashing, actual bottles started descending from the heavens. Along with trash, barbecue sauce packets and everything else that had any weight at all. I was the lucky recipient of a bottle stuffed sock. It hit me on my head. See, the children around us were so bored that they decided to pass the time by throwing things into the crowd.

Because that makes time actually go faster.

Once the band came on stage, the bottle throwing stopped and they started a mosh pit instead. Me and Jamella elected to skip the moshing and watched the band's performance from the safety of the back.

I once again started listening to the music and I liked them. Then the lead singer had to go and ruin it by asking all the ladies in the crowd to climb up on a guy's - any guy- shoulders and let the band see their boobs.

And some girls did.

I've been holding it in but I have to ask: what the fuckity fuck?

The concerts ended and Jamella and I headed to the golden arches for some grub and then made the long journey home.

And that was my first Warped Tour experience. I obviously didn't love it but I had a great time hanging out with Jamella. I always love meeting new people and it was fun doing something different. But you won't be seeing me at another Warped Tour anytime soon.

Old folks like me are better suited for venues with a no - spitting policy.

Here are more pictures; video to come!

Anyone feel like fast food (there's some illegal substances involved for your time)?

Hi everyone! How’s everyone doing? Good? Great, okay let’s do this blog thingy. I have more than five projects due preferably before tomorrow morning so we’re gonna do a quickie, fast food style.
Well my friends, the rain stopped so yay to that. Thank God, I couldn’t take another day of bad hair and soggy flats.
I still love it here and I’m now working on my plans for the big move in December. My expenses aren’t really going to increase surprisingly so yay to that as well.
But who cares about that stuff? Let’s get to the good stuff like getting offered cocaine and being propositioned in the same breath (I have so much respect for multitaskers).
I was in serious need of some bad dancing that couldn’t be blame on alcohol consumption so my temp roomie Dave, his boyfriend Jesus and I headed to the East Village to a club called Pyramid. We met up with their friend Charlie and Shola met up with us later. Anywho, we’re standing in front of Cock… and this guy comes up to us and says something. I’m thinking the guys know him or something but noooo. Turns out he was trying to sell us "the powder". Ofcourse the guys turned him down and then he looked at me and asked if I was gay. I was tempted to say yes.

I mean really; why do people go around asking that question? It’s like me going up to a random person and asking if they’re straight.

Anyway, said no and he said I was “fine” and asked what my name was. I then did what I always do in situations like this (ha, cuz it happens all the time) I put my arms around Charlie and Jesus and said I was with my boys tonight.
On to Pyramid, where 80s music played and people danced with abandon. Let’s put it this way, I didn’t look like a bad dancer among this group : )

It did have me thinking about crazy encounters when going out. What's the craziest thing that has happened to you during a night out; when all you wanted to do was knock back a few and drop it like it's hot?

P.S: How funny is it that I'm at a bar in New York and the bartender is a blonde-haired boy displaying his O-town love for the world to see?

A 4th of July Freakshow

Hola amigos! How did everyone enjoy their fourth of July festivities? Did you go to the beach or bbq at home? Did you blow something up? Oh the great American way...

I usually don't do much for the 4th of July but decided I wasn't staying home. I'm in New York bitches! What the hell am I going to stay home for?

No, I went out in the hot weather and walked my ass off (literally, I do believe I dropped a size on Saturday). While this great, magical place we call NYC offered up such entertainment as Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2009 and fireworks, I opted for the unbeaten path and went to the International African Arts Festival with my sister Shola and her awesome friend Shuf. It was a lot of fun; I haven't laughed that hard in public in a long time! And the pieces (jewelry, clothing etc) were incredibly authentic. I'll be featuring a lot of the artists in future blogs so keep your eyes open for that. I also had amazing food (it is me); vegan red velvet cake, vegan meat pies.

It was an all around good time and I'm glad I had a chance to go.

On Sunday, I met up with a friend at Coney Island. The first thing we did was attend the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. It was really entertaining in that campy way and I think they were going for that so mission accomplished.

The highlight of the show was definitely Heather Holliday. The cute as a button chick swallows swords and breathes fire; every guy's dream girl right? Serpentina's set was a snoozefest! She came out on stage looking wasted and proceeded to walk around with her disinterested snake.

Moving on to the rest of the day; am I the only one who didn't realize Coney Island was on the beach? The place was packed but it was beautiful out; great 4th of July weekend weather. People were even fishing and they were catching everything from crabs to cat fish to empty bear cans. But they weren't throwing these poor animals back which made me think: are they actually going to eat what they caught? I mean cool... I guess. Why not? Ignore the third eye that fish has, it probably has nothing to do with toxic chemicals. I actually saw one man using a chicken lap as bait because that's normal. Let's forget evolution and the food chain and feed a chicken's carcass to a fish. Yep, makes sense. I'm sorry, I know I'm getting all "tree hugger" on you guys. It's a free country.

You couldn't pay me to put a toe in that murky water though.

P.S. Here are some pictures if you'd like to sneak a peek