The Black Halo Jackie O Dress and all the other Vegas stuff...

How could I forget, in that last post, to include a few of the pics from Vegas?!?!?! You remember that Black dress I fell in love with back in December during my trip to New York? Well, I finally got to wear it in Vegas to the Paris Hotel where the very elegant Omega Psi Phi Lifetime Achievement Awards were being held. I paired the dress with Cherry Red patent leather Stuart Weitzman stilettos and a multi-colored embroidered clutch. Simple and chic! Here are some pics of my friends and I hanging out over the weekend... the professional quality photos are courtesy of my friend John - I'm not that good yet!

   

 

Paris Hotel

New York, New York

 

Mandalay Bay

 

Hilton Hotel (off the Strip - where I stayed)

Excalibur Hotel

 

MAC Presentation at Fashion Show Mall

 

Snowed in...

And yet, once again, I was snowed in all weekend. While it may not have started as an ideal weekend, it was VERY productive. I cleaned my place, I folded and washed every dirty dish and item of clothing, I read and listened to music, made another painting for my bedroom wall and browsed online for hair products.

My friend Summer mentioned making a few Carol's Daughter purchases this weekend and she got me to thinking about some of the products out there that I place on my "to try" list and I never buy. So this year, I'm going to try and branch out a bit. For years I have been stuck on John Frieda Frizz-Ease products for my curly look and I still absolutely LOVE them, but these "natural" hair mousse/gel/creme/pomades are really catching my eye and sparking an interest...

So after doing research on numerous hair websites, reading Amazon reviews and taking notes from lists I've compiled through random people in stores and on planes, I have decided to take the plunge and go for these two products made for 3B curlies like me - Curl Junkie Coffee-Coco Curl Cream and Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding. I can't report back on them until the Spring, because I don't do curly hair very often in the winter. But as soon as the weather warms up (or I take a vacation) I will be sure to post the results!

If you want to find the products that work for your curls check out one of my favorite hair sites - NaturallyCurly.com!!

On the fashion front - gazing at the 7" of snow that accumulated over the past 48 hours made me LONG for warm weather, sun and sandals. I wandered around the Saks website today and found a collection of dresses that would make anyone wish for 70 degree temperatures! Enjoy!

 

My favorite story about Sharon :)

My childhood best friend Sharon is one of the most inspirational people I know. She is the Oprah to my Gail and the source of so much of my laughter. When I call her to tell her my latest adventures the conversation usually starts off with random giggles in preparation of what's to come.

So after 22 years of friendship you can't imagine the things we've been through and laughed about. Sometimes we laugh loudly and shamelessly and other times (when we probably should not find humor in the situation) its more of a barely audible giggle that tells the other one "DO NOT LOOK ME IN THE EYE RIGHT NOW OR WE'LL BE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE".

So needless to say, this blog entry of hers from a week ago sends me into a laughing fit complete with tears (and she tells the story EXACTLY the way she told it to me when it happened). After you have finished laughing, feel free to browse her page and read some of the more serious stories of life and love and the pursuit of happiness...

Sharon's Blog - Don't Cha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me

P.S. No, that's not an engagement ring!!! Sharon wears all kinds of bling-bling on the regular and this was a pic where I had stolen her ring so I could play "Princess" for a minute!!!

Coming Soon, to a blog near you

OK, I am getting all the request for a Vegas All-Star Weekend blog - but sadly enough, I didn't take very many pics! I don't have any pictures of celebs on my camera but a few friends may have caught a few so I will try to get some of their photos.

I did see Russell Simmons, Steve Harvey, Tom Joyner, Joe Torry, Yao Ming, Shaquille O'Neal, Cee-Lo, Gayle King, Mya, Bobby Brown, Julius Erving and few other people around town.  But my favorite non-celebrity sighting came on Friday night when I was experiencing severe foot pain from my 4" platform peep-toe shoes. I stopped in the Gucci store to see if I could find a pair of shoes to replace the ones I was wearing. Yeah, I know. I was out of my mind, huh? OH WHATEVER!!!! Don't act like yal knew Gucci didn't have a clearance section!!!

After checking a few price tags I gave up on purchasing and decided to just look. I found these cute sandals from the Gucci 2007 Cruise Collection...

Love/Hate Relationships

I have been in a very serious love/hate relationship since May of last year. Before you start gossiping, no, its not my boyfriend - but it is a direct result of me dating him. He made me get this "computer-phone" contraption that, at the time, was absolutely amazing - The PPC-6700. As a gadget geek I was so excited to have my very own Pocket PC complete with internet, Microsoft Office Mobile, Bluetooth technology, camera and video recorder. The phone (which my friends refer to as my "laptop") was glued to my ear for weeks and the slide-out keyboard was constantly visible as I enjoyed text messaging and emailing anyone who would respond. (This was shown in my previous post about the family Christmas card photos where we were all "in action").

As time went on the newness wore off and the problems increased. Daily resetting in order to pull down my work email, screen freezes during some incoming calls so I am not able to answer them, Caller ID strikes that leave me hesitant to answer the phone because I can't tell if its one of the many names listed under DON'T ANSWER, and an extended battery that I keep finding at the other end of my purse when I want to make a call.

It doesn't help that everyone around me seems to be getting newer, cooler, and much SMALLER phones - the gadget geek in me wants to stay in the forefront of the technological game and still maintain the convenience of a phone that actually fits in my clutch purse. So, my items of the day are two of the hottest smart phones available - the Samsung BlackJack and the Motorola Q (click the photos for their websites). My power-couple cousins just bought one of each - the Black Jack for him, the Q for her. We spent the last two weeks reading reviews and online comparisons, but I'm really excited to see how they compare in real life for them! I'd love to say that I'll go with whichever phone seems to work best, but honestly I'm waiting for the Apple iPhone to hit stores this summer!!!

 

As for my recent shopping... I picked up a black flowy top with cute little buttons in the back ($25 from $185) and black wrap dress ($55 from $415), both by Theory from Macy's last week. The top is pictured below, but when I took a photo of myself in the wrap dress I didn't realize how disorganized my living room was... so that one went in the recycle bin!!

And after my birthday - the freebies came pouring in! I must sign up for a LOT of stuff! Some of the coupons/discounts I received were:

Free surprise at Famous Dave's

Free meal at Bar Abilene with purchase of a meal

Free entree at Tejas

$20 off dinner at Palomino's

Two $10 off coupons for Victoria's Secret

$5 off at DSW

BOGO Movie Passes - Crown Theatres

The Palomino discount got used the day after my b-day!!! I love that place! For my Detroit people - if you go to the Greektown Casino on your actual b-day, when they scan your driver's license through the machine it will play Happy Birthday out loud! I wasn't home this year so I couldn't do it, but it happened last time and it was kinda cool!

And on that note, I'm out - Have a good week!

And Life Goes On...

So my day of glory, filled with countless cards, emails, calls, text messages, flowers and balloons, has ended. I felt soooo incredibly loved! It was fun while it lasted (disregarding the fact that I spent majority of it at my desk). I treated myself to a nice dinner at Olive Garden where the extremely fine, young Keanu Reeves look-a-like bartender hooked up a couple of Berry Sangrias and kept me company. I enjoyed the convo so much and I hated to leave him but I had to rush home to watch ER. I'm kinda sad now that Forrest Whitaker won't be in any more episodes since he killed himself. He definitely brought a brief rush of over-the-top, stalker-type excitement to the show.

I had a list of personal shopping to do for Granny and Sharifa so I headed back over to Macy's for their "Extra 40% off Sale and Clearance Sale". I didn't see anything good for Granny but I did great for my best friend! I normally just do a guess-timate of my savings, but this time I was so convinced I had racked up amazing savings that I pulled out the calculator immediately. Total retail tag prices came to $1454. Total spent - $312 (no tax here!) That means an overall savings of 79%. And I was actually a little disappointed because I was aiming for 85% but that one Tahari blouse was only marked down 45% and it messed up my curve - that ended up being the most expensive item at $53, but I couldn't pass it up - I knew she would love it! Here are some of the great finds that will be gracing her closet shortly...

Anybody wearing an XS want to buy the last dress off my hands? (Sale price was $49) She's scared of the belt so I'm not even going to waste my postage sending it to her... it's in my return pile now because I sure don't need yet another little black dress.

As my "shopper's fee" I threw in a cream Calvin Klein knit vest and a pair of Laundry by Shelli Segal skinny pants that I'm keeping for myself ($15 - marked down from $128). I can't wait to wear them!

On another note - I decided that I'm not leaving the house all weekend. We have a wind chill advisory in effect until MONDAY!!!! The Accuweather "Real Feel" temperature for today is -31! If I go anywhere this weekend it must involve parking in an indoor garage and taking the skyways so I can't feel the wind outdoors.

So... onto the fun part! My item of the day is the BEAUTIFUL Julie handbag by Bottega Veneta. At $1550 you still couldn't wear it tomorrow because its on pre-order for the spring. But this bag is absolutely gorgeous and would look even better on my arm...

P.S. - I get a few people who email me about the item of the day being so expensive. Its usually just a "dream list" item. Something I would (could) never actually buy, at least not at the regular price :)

P.S.

Is anybody looking at the temperature (in the column to the far right) when they view this site???? The predicted HIGH this weekend is...

ZERO. 

The Minnesota natives at work make jokes about my coat being a comforter with a zipper, but I don't care. That type of cold is not a good feeling at all!

That's me "performing" in my comforter coat (First Annual Winter Blast in Detroit - 2005). Don't hate - that's Via Spiga, baby - and its good in temperatures as low as -20! (I refuse to leave my apartment if the temperature gets lower than that...)