Learning to slow down

I am definitely getting older...

While I'm holding up very well from a physical standpoint - meaning I'm within 15 lbs of my high school weight and still have most of my thick curly hair - mentally I am FEELING the age setting in with occassional bouts of forgetfulness (mixed with hurriedness). I was most recently reminded of this after a trip to Grand Lux Cafe in Chicago...

It was raining so hard when I left dinner and I would have had to take 2-3 buses/trains to get home so I decided to take a cab. When I got home I rushed out of the cab to change out of my wet clothing and prepare for a night of Hulu and wine juice.

As I setup my computer I gathered all of my electronics in front of me as always (2 Blackberry phones and an iPod Touch) so I would hear them if they range... and play Scrabble on the iPod while I watch TV. Lo, and behold, there were only 2! I was missing my work Blackberry!! *insert gasp*

I emptied my purse, shook out my business suit, groped at my coat pockets, walked every inch of the condo in serach of this pink Blackberry. No luck. I threw on some shoes and ran down to the lobby, even walked outside to see if it were in any of the street puddles where the cab let me out. NO LUCK.

Feeling defeated, I called the cab company to file a missing phone report. They were closed and an automated message informed me that someone would contact me the following morning. In a last ditch effort I made an outline of my evening, after that last Facebook post I made from the phone during dinner...

1 - Dinner Table? (check - I had it in my hand when I bought the cookies at the carryout counter)
2 - Carry-out Counter (double check - had it in my hand when I was on the escalator, PLUS I called the restaurant and they confirmed there was no pink BB found)
3 - Valet Counter? (check, I didn't stop there since I took a cab this time)
4 - Cab? (hmmm.... don't remember using it in the cab) 
5 - Home? (can't find it in the house)

So that means its between numbers 3 and 5... which leads me to the cab ride.... I ran out the restaurant... hugged my mom... darted across the street to flag a cab... struggled to combine my bags + carryout + purse.... oh, wait.... THERE IS IT!!!!!

I jumped up, ran over the refrigerator and pulled out my carry-out bag. Sure enough... the pink Blackberry was there. Nesteled between a bowl of soup and carton of bread where I had carefully placed it, as I ran to the cab. I guess it wasn't NEARLY as bad as the Minnesota bus-car incident, but still... reminds me of how fast I'm moving sometimes.... gotta learn to slow down. Makes me think of an India Arie song that I like. The lyrics in the second verse say:

Thinking the faster that I go

The faster that I will reach my goal
The race is not given to the swift
But to the one who endureth.
I thought that all of my obstacles were behind me.
Walking around like I'm made out of diamond.
I tripped and fell and it reminded me to move over and let the angels guide me.

Take a listen:

Slow Down - India Arie

FINAL SALE at gilt.com

I'm checking out gilt.com's final sale going on.... OMG, this is pure torture for a chick on a budget! There are dozens of designers and some amazing prices. Most of the items are not "in season" for us northern/cold-climate girls, but there are some good ideas for those of you (us) who buy your classic/basic designer duds off-season when they are on sale! I liked a lot of the gowns in the SALE, and here are some of my favs...

This gown by Oscar de la Renta....

The Cairo gown by Temperley London

The Lace Tie Dress by Vivienne Tam (very cute to attend a spring/summer wedding)

If you aren't a member of gilt.com you can use this link to sign up for the invite-only website!
http://www.gilt.com/invite/cherish

Carrying over from my earlier post... I'm so obsessed with these sequin leggings. I LOVE the LaRok pair at Saks, but  $350 is a LOT for a pair of leggings, even if they do sparkle like Michael Jackson's glove did. I found a more wallet-friendly pair at Express that may have to go on the "wish list"...

Everything that Glitters…is on my wish list!

This holiday season is all about sparkle and I absolutely love it!! I was browsing the pages of Saks.com and everything that caught my eye had some sort of glitter/sparkle/sequin/metal accent to it. I can imagine myself walking to a dimly lit party, loaded with candles and accent lighting, and turning heads all across the room as the light shines off my dress…. OOHHH-WEE!!!

*please, don’t wake me up yet*

While the party dress I bought for my November homecoming event doesn’t glisten, I‘m slowly beginning to wish it did! Guess I’ll have to find another party to attend! Here are some of the beautiful, bauble-like items that I’m over here dreaming about…

         

For the item of the day, this is a “dress” style that I wish would vanish from the fashion industry all together… BCBGMAXAZRIA calls this the “blouson” dress… I love BCBG + Max Azria but THIS, needs to go…

Wing Stop issues parking tickets in Chicago… or not

If you have lived in Chicago for any amount of time, you have probably received a parking/red light violation notice… A.K.A. ticket. I would venture to say if you’ve lived here at least a week, since I managed to get a boot AND a parking ticket, on separate occasions, both within my first week of relocation. That big orange and white envelope is cause for horror, making blood pressure instantly go up and sweat beads form as you open it and peer inside to see how much they will charge you for parking 57 seconds longer than your meter allowed for.

Poor “Bobby” has had it even worse than me. The first month he moved here his car was towed at 7:02AM. As he walked outside to retrieve it from the 7AM NO PARKING zone he couldn’t find it. I swear they must have had it hitched at 6:58AM ready to go. While I take the bus/train regularly, he is a driver. All day everyday. In sales, its a requirement and his territory reaches well beyond the “metro area”. The signs here can be difficult to read/follow at times and since the city sold the parking meters in a hasty move to raise money, the situation has been worse. So he’s definitely has his share of parking violations, which add up quickly and can cause tons of problems in the meantime. So one nice summer day, less than a week after he finally resolved a huge ticket fiasco with the city, he calls me laughing in the phone with this distinct laugh that I only hear from him when he realizes he’s been punked…

Photo of the real parking ticket I got this month

 Photo of an orange and white “Wing Stop notice” (taken from Chicago Now’s Parking Ticket Geek blog).

When Bobby was walking to to his car, he saw this notice on his windshield and nearly flipped out, thinking he had been awarded ANOTHER ticket… knowing good and well that the place he was parked in was perfectly legal and acceptable. Turns out, a local restaurant called Wing Stop, decided to try a new marketing tactic and play off of the parking ticket mayhem by creating flyers that were NEARLY IDENTICAL to the tickets with the wordings adjusted to reflect menu items and discount offers. As the person whom I would have expected to drive over to Wing Stop and start a fight, Bobby laughed hysterically at what was, for him, the ULTIMATE prank… and I joined in the good hearted laughter, sad only because I wasn’t waiting behind the bush with a video camera to see his priceless reaction.

Read more about the views on these flyers here: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/parking-ticket-geek/2009/10/fake-parking-tickets-selling-hot-wings-but-raising-tempers.html Some of the various opinions that were expressed include:

"At first I was shocked. I thought 'Oh my God'--a parking ticket," said new Wing Stop patron Cindy Huerta. "I got my free wings and been going there ever since. If it were a basic flier I would have thrown it away. I thought it was really cool."

"Advertising taking the form of parking tickets can be confusing to motorists," explains Chicago Department of Revenue spokesperson Ed Walsh. "Sometimes it generates complaints. As such, we ask businesses to refrain."

So what do you think?? Good marketing?? Bad idea?? Kinda risky?? Unfair?? Totally cool??

Since we’re posting pics of Bobby now, this is what I imagine his initial expression was… before the curse words… LOL

 

Item of the day: I currently have 2 Blackberry phones, one for work (Curve), one for personal (Pearl). I have considered upgrading my personal phone to the Blackberry Tour, honestly, for no reason other than to have a newer phone. But all of that will go away once I get the BLACKBERRY WATCH!!! Here is a pic I snapped from Crackberry.com 

Check out the reviews here at Computer World… I’m sure I’d use it all of 2 weeks then find it 6 months later in a drawer, but by golly, those two weeks wuld be awesome!

The Big Reveal

OK, ok, ok…. I guess Bobby has been a mystery for long enough… LOL. I had a few comments and emails, both here and on Facebook, asking why I’m still “covering” him up. No real reason… it was fun in the beginning since we were just dating and I didn’t want folks to “be all in my business” and know who I was dating (since we have some common circles)…. But now, its been a couple of years and things are awesome, so I guess I can start posting “face pics” of him :-)

Here’s the “real” version of the Date Night pic, along with another pic from that evening of fine dining and dancing… (wow, my heels must have been sky high and I was standing on a step or something because he’s WAY taller than me, despite the pic on the right!!!)

 

Eat your heart out ladies – this tall hunk of chocolate is TAKEN!!!

Chicago Date Night

With our busy/conflicting schedules its often hard for “Bobby” and I to do a real “Date night”. So this week we put it in Outlook and set the time aside for some food, fun and dancing! He picked me up and we headed to Flatwater, a beautiful restaurant on the Chicago River that is rated one of the “Best Date Spots” by Citysearch. Upon telling the host that it was a late anniversary celebration (I’ve kept him for over 2 whole years!) they went right to work, making sure the entire experience was enjoyable.

We started with a couple of drinks (my Mango Tango Martini was tasty but WAYYYY too strong!) and Bobby ordered a great variety of my favorite appetizers from the simple yet elegant menu – Seared Scallops (TO DIE FOR), Brushcetta (which he told me had mushrooms on it – which I hate – but I later discovered they were roasted beets) and Homemade Guacamole (I LOVE guac with flour tortilla chips any day). With so many appetizers I knew I wouldn’t be too hungry, but the soup of the day was my absolute favorite and I had to order it – Butternut Squash! Bobby, on the other hand, had more of an appetite and went with the recommended entree – Grilled Pork Chop with Fennel Slaw and Whipped Potatoes. We ended up sharing the entree and soup, actually swapping plates at one point!

Next up – The Joynt – a retro piano bar in River North. While there were plenty of music rooms to chose from, we settled in with the live band in the Swing Bar. The band was awesome, we danced a little, laughed a lot and chatted with some folks in town from Cali for the Notre Dame vs SoCal football game. All in all, it was an awesome night! Still not posting “face pics”, but here we are having a blast!! (LOL)

For the Item of the Day, I recently read, over at Stylelist.com about OPI and Dell coming together for a new line of fashion forward laptops based on OPI’s constantly changing, oh-so-cool nail polish colors! The new designs will be available in time for the holiday in Dell’s Design Studio. Absolutely awesome!!

End of Summer

An eventful and travel-filled summer has come to a close. What better way to start of Fall than with a wedding!!! One of my favorite line sisters (aka, sorority chick who was on my pledge line) had a beautiful wedding this past weekend in chilly Chicago, but the weather didn’t even stand a chance as ruining these activities!

We started with a trip to Chocolate for Your Body for $31 No-Chip manicures, as part of the Pretty City’s Pretty in Pink spa discount specials to raise money and awareness for bright pink - breast cancer research. I tried out Salon O Sixty-Five, where they were offering a Kerastase Oleo-Slim treatment for $31 (normally as much as $100!). While the treatment worked great on my hair, making it shiny and silky, the stylist Todd was not so great. He used a ROUND brush to try and straighten my wet hair (a no-no for Black women) and an inadequate flat-iron to “finish'” it. It was a waste of time AND I got a parking ticket. I ended up fixing my hair myself later that night.

Then there was a bachelorette party at Flirty Girl Fitness where we all dressed for the class in 80’s gear with the theme FLASHDANCE. We walked to Red Kiva for $5 Absolut vodka specials and flat bread pizzas, then we then rented a HUGE party bus limo and cruised the town, causing lots of trouble!

Friday we had a “girls’ brunch” at Flattop Grill in West Loop (not one of my favs but this time my food turned out pretty good) and then a rehearsal followed by the rehearsal dinner at Captain Hard Times – a South Side Chicago, family-owned soul food restaurant. The wedding was held at Apostolic Church. Saturday was the BIG DAY and many of the girls went to get their hair done and we all met up at the AKA Community Center for makeup and hair retouches. There was a makeup artist (not to be named) who was scheduled to do most of the bridal party but a few of us opted out and used our soror Kiana (who has done makeup for years but hasn’t set up a professional name yet). It was like a battle. Them vs us. In the end, we won. While the hired makeup artist went for a palette of caked-on foundation, dark smoky eyes, BRIGHT round over-blushed cheeks and burgundy lipstick on ALL THE GIRLS; Kiana went for a more neutralized look that matched the eyes and lips to the personality of the person, keeping the overall look very neutral and “pretty”. I felt like a super model!

Luckily, the makeup artist was unable to attend the wedding, so back at the church, the other girls did not hesitate or even feel guilty as they started wiping away at their faces. They convinced Kiana to soften their looks too, and in the end we had a BEAUTIFUL bridal party!!!

 

The reception was held at the Grand Ballroom on Chicago South Side. A true hidden gem. This ballroom was big, elegant and had an awesome staff! The reception was very interactive with games being played throughout and, lets not forget, an open bar (which we took FULL advantage of)!!! As always, I had a wonderful time with my beautiful sisters of Alpha Kappa Alpha… next month, we celebrate our 10th year as members of the sorority with a huge weekend of fun at TSU’s homecoming!

Item of the day is the “Homecoming party dress”…. I tried on a number of dresses to determine which would have the best “party effect”… I think I have made my decision, but you won’t find out until November!!! Here are some of the contenders that didn’t make the cut but deserve some attention… (A lot of them were by Rachel Roy as she has seemingly taken over Macy’s Young Contemporary Department, and with good reason!)

Rachel by Rachel Roy 24 Hour Dress…. it just did not drape right on me

Rachel by Rachel Roy Studded Sleeveless Dress… had issues with the band at the bottom

Rachel Roy Art Deco Dress… one of the top choices. I tried it belted with a wide black belt and loved it.

French Connection Wizard Cotton Dress – I’ve loved this dress in every color over the past year, but the top just didn’t fit right, no matter how far up in size I went! Macy’s had the Red and the Color-blocked Red-Black-Navy versions on sale for about $80.

BCBG Tulip dress… not flattering AT ALL on me… or the girl in the pic for that matter

BCBGeneration Halter Wrap Dress… the fit just didn’t work for me and the pattern was a bit much for me. I prefer solids for my party dresses.

Ladies get those dresses together, Nashville is gonna be a blast!!!

Detroit Walks to Cure Lupus – and Team Cakesy Helps

A while back I mentioned the blog my best friend Sharon and I teamed up to create, after April signed us up for the ALR Walk for the Cure. Thanks to my family and friends, along with the awesomeness of Facebook and Twitter, Team Cakesy raised well over $4,000!!! The support was phenomenal! I had a lot of folks come through in the end with some great donations. Sharon designed a t-shirt that the walkers wore to show our unity. Featured on the back of the shirt are the names and logos of a number of people who donated to the cause. Here are some of our “corporate sponsors” as I like to call them… LOL:

Roy Wood Jr – comedian and awesome friend

MoDaddy’s Seasoning – My cousins TASTY seasoning mix. I use it on everything!

Game 7 Entertainment / Team Bravoh – My little brother’s company

Let’s Get it Records – For those who like hip-hop here’s an artist who is pretty popular in Chicago (FYI - music plays loud when link opens)

One Sweet Lady – The best Rum Cake and Lemon Cake you’ll ever find in the Detroit area (website coming)

All in all, the walk was fantastic. The weather held up, although it was a bit windy (see hair below) and chilly in the morning (thus the sweatshirt). Thanks to everyone who spread the word about the walk. We got a lot of supportive emails and blog comments over at Team Cakesy. If you want to donate to ALR and missed the chance to help Team Cakesy, there are more walks coming up and the ALR is always accepting your contributions. I also noticed there is a team CHERISH for the New York City Walk. You can contribute to their walk here…. I don’t know anything about them except they have a cool name and they are walking to cure Lupus so I hope you’ll donate a few bucks, if you can!

Here are a few pics from the event… there was a balloon laden finish line, a dj who played the violin and tons of people from all over the country who came out to support Sharon and the other walkers!