Nail Art

My mother is a firm believer that your mani and pedi should match. She's a bit old school and has been rocking her OPI shade of red since I can remember...so I know she would be irked by my latest creation (the last time she saw my nails she told me that they looked a little "ghetto" lol...)

But I was recently inspired by my favorite makeup artist Lauren to try this out. Sorry Mom...this is the closest I can come to having matching shades. lol...

My Black is Beautiful

Saturday, May 30th the My Black is Beautiful tour will be rolling into Chicago. This free event will feature a celebrity discussion panel moderated by actress Tasha Smith (panelists include Angela Bassett, Michaela Angela Davis, Daphne Valerius and Troi Tyler), keynote speech by actress A.J. Johnson, and performances by Lalah Hathaway and Eric Roberson. There will also be various "conversation rooms" where topics such as financial management, self-esteem/inner beauty and health/wellness will be discussed. For those looking to get pampered:

~ makeovers will be provided by the Cover Girl Queen makeup studio
~ facials and skin analysis by the Olay Skin is In Studio
~ basic salon services by the Pantene HAIRmony Salon
~ color consultation by the Clairol Beautiful Collection

Other event features include:

~ healthy, beautiful smile challenge with Creast-Pro Healthy
~ style challenge by Tampax
~ spoken word in the Let it Flow Lounge by Always
~ yoga classes and health screenings in the Healthy & Wellness pavillion

Door open at 11am and the event runs until 7pm. While the event is free registration is required. Please click here to register or visit:

www.myblackisbeautiful.com/tour_events/2009/chicago.php

After the event I will be a hosting a "keep the conversation going" dinner at Leona's on Taylor St. This is a way to keep the spirit of sisterhood alive and converse about the various topics of the event. If you'd like to attend please shoot me an email.


Location:

My Black is Beautiful Tour 2009
UIC Forum - Main Hall
725 W. Roosevelt Rd.
Chicago, IL 60608

Leona's
1419 W. Taylor St.
Chicago, IL 60607
*4 blocks west of Racine

Shop & Share - 1 day left

If you shop at any Jewel-Osco store in Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin on May 25th, May 26th or May 27th, 5% of your total purchase (excluding tax) will be donated to ARFhouse Chicago, a no-kill animal shelter. Just hand the signed slip to your cashier and help ARFhouse Chicago raise money to help homeless pets.



Founded in 2006, ARFhouse Chicago is a no-kill animal shelter. The organization is 100% volunteer run and affiliated with ARFhouse in Sherman, Texas - the 3rd largest no-kill sanctuary in the United States. While monetary donations are always appreciated (ARFhouse is a 501(c)(3) status organization and all donations are tax deductible) you can always help in other ways - - adoption, donating supplies, volunteering your time as a dog walker, or even sponsoring a pet.

If you're planning on doing some grocery shopping please go on the days listed and help out this cause that's very near and dear to my heart! It's a great way to support a charity and not have to go out of your way - - simply print out a form and take it with you... and please feel free to pass this along to everyone you know!

If you'd like more information on ARFhouse Chicago click here.

For a copy of the flyer click here.

Here are a few of the wonderful dogs your donations will be helping out:

Peanut

Nadia

Dollie

Caspar

Brittany

Back in Action

It feels like it's been forever since I sat myself down and wrote a blog. Even my housewives blog was fairly mediocre and that took me over a week to post! I will blame my lack of blog writing on the fact our condo is under construction and my pc has been relocated to the kitchen. On top of having no air circulation, it literally looks like we've been quarantined in our place! I think we have 2-3 more weeks of construction and I can't wait for it to be completed. On a positive note, the construction has required me to be out of the condo from 8a-4p, therefore yours truly has been more than on time to work as of late! I actually like getting out of the house and to work with plenty of time to spare and more notably, it has made for more enjoyable bus rides. I'm not stressed out about how many times we stop, how late we're running, or how quickly I'll have to get from the stop up to my office! I don't know if the "early bird catches the worm", but you sure as hell aren't stressed out about time.

To catch everyone up, last Thursday I did a little club hopping with Sexy and the Chi and had a pretty good time. We started our night off at Griffin Lounge (formerly Climax) and was met with tons of *crickets* and *tumbleweed*. I must say that I love the layout of this venue and know that once people figure out the dj is good, the ac stays on (no sweated out hair) and the staff is friendly it'll fill up in no time. While enjoying a drink we eyed a really tall guy (swag completely off) and I was smiling his direction. Bad move...he mistook my "talking shit about you while keeping a friendly smile on my face" as an invitation to come over and chill out. Since there were only about 30 people in the place it wasn't like we could play his ass to the left w/o looking stuck up so we talked to him. Long story short, he said that Religion was down the street and was better so we decided to be adventurous (though we drove our own car...we aren't stupid) and went to Religion.

Since we met dude there we didn't have to pay... which was a beautiful thing since this club managed to have even FEWER people than Griffin Lounge. We looked at each other and kind of sighed and chuckled at the same time. When clubs are free you can be adventurous and hop around. We sat in the VIP (which meant nothing since there were no people there) and drank our free drinks, vowing to stay at least 20 mins just to be polite. lol. After we downed our drinks it was time to leave and we made our way to Butterfly Social Club.

At this point in the night I was just thrilled to be in a spot that actually had people, but walking into Butterfly Social Club I instantly loved the vibe. The club was small but able to comfortably fit the crowd. The DJ was nice and the fact that there was no cover put a huge smile on my face.Topping my experience off were great shots of patron and watching Purple Rain (one of my favorite movies) get screened on the wall!! I would recommend this spot to anyone that is looking for a laid back, hip hop spot on a Thursday night and wants to be around the 25-32yo crowd.


Thursday Night Spots:

Griffin Lounge
326 W. Chicago Ave.

Religion
720 N. Wells

Butterfly Social Club
722 W. Grand Ave.

New Housewives on the block

(Pictured L-R) Jacqueline, Dina, Danielle, Caroline, and Teresa

In the 4th installment of the "Housewives" series, we find ourselves in New Jersey and a fly on the wall in the lives of 5 new women:

1. Teresa Giudice - The mother of 3 adorable girls that spends money like we aren't in a recession, and is a definite "stage mom" in training.

2. Jacqueline Laurita - The level-headed peace maker of the group. She is married to the brother of Dina and Caroline Manzo and friends with both Teresa and Danielle.

3. Dina Manzo - Her sister is Caroline (sister-in-law is Jacqueline) and they're married to brothers...talk about keeping it in the family. She has a teenage daughter and seems to enjoy living the fabulous life.

4. Caroline Manzo - She is my favorite character and definitely an "old school, Italian mother" as she says. She's all about her kids, husband, and being the best wife/mother that she can be. She assists her husband running "The Brownstone" one of New Jersey's premier event facilities and is also the sister to Dina.

5. Danielle Staub - The definite wild card of the season, on the first episode we meet Danielle as she prepares to finally meet the guy she's been having a 2 year internet fling with. She says that the "phone sex was amazing" and mentions that she met the man on a site for millionaire men. She brags about being the first person in New Jersey to have an American Express Black Card (she's divorced now so I wonder if that card left along with her husband)

Catch episodes of The Real Housewives of New Jersey at 9p on Bravo!!!

First Fridays Chicago - June Boat Cruise

The summer is quickly approaching and to change things up a bit First Fridays Chicago will be hosting their June event on the Odyssey Cruise Boat @ Navy Pier. The party starts at 11p with the boat sailing until 3am. There will be a VIP Ciroc & Don Julio hosted cocktail party on the rooftop deck (only 25 tickets left) as well as a comedy show.

I have never done a boat cruise in Chicago so I'm not sure if the event will be a hit or if you'll look around at 130a and realize you're stranded in the middle of Lake Michigan with a boatload of women! lol... (every woman's nightmare)

General admission tickets are currently $35 (going to $45 after 12p 5/14)

VIP tickets are currently $50 (going to $60 after 12p 5/14)


To find out more information visit the First Fridays Chicago website here.