Okay maybe there is a little more to be said but for this event I will let the pictures do most of the talking. Before the photo reel though, let me give you a little background. The Best of DC Fete is a celebration of Washington City Paper’s Best Of 2013 winners from both their editorial and reader votes in over 300 categories! For one night they brought together 50 Best of D.C. winners and finalist restaurants, local breweries & other artisans to wine and dine us. To set the mood, they also had 5 live entertainment stages in addition to all the food and drink to make this one of the Best D.C. event of the year! A portion of the ticket sales will be donated to Food & Friends to help deliver hope, one meal at a time the Best of DC Volunteer winner. Food & Friends is a local nonprofit that provides meals, groceries and nutrition counseling to children and adults in the Washington region living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses.
First I have to shout out South Moon Under for this gorgeous dress I got at the Fashion for Paws fundraiser!! It is super soft and comfortable and went perfectly with my new Stella & Dot Fiona Bib Necklace that I am OBSESSED with. Of course I had to rock THE BAG I scored at Violet boutique (another obsession of mine which is why it’s THE BAG)
When I first arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of familiar faces!!! Chef Karida Celestine and Chef Steven Hughes making some delicious bites from B. Smith for everyone to try.
Yum!!This bite from Zenga was also DELICIOUS!! (I may have gone back a couple times…)
PJ Clarke’s was cooking up some delicious mini burgers that were BOMB!!!
Best Mixologist Gina Chersevani showed us why she was the best with her “Rye Not? cocktail” that was delicious!!! Continue reading →
Some of you may have seen my previous Luri & Wilma post about their Jan/Feb Love, Food Edition about two months ago… wow times is really FLYING!! Anyway on March 16th we mixed, mingled, nibbled & toasted for the debut of the first printed edition of luri & wilma. We spent the evening at Meeps in Adams Morgan shopping the looks from the issue and snacking on some of the homemade treats made from recipes in this edition as well. (That were quite yummy!!) I really wanted to support the cause so I bought my own issue (over 100 pages, printed in DC on 100% recycled paper) as well as a tote bag and all the spring punch I could handle! (well before we shut the place down lol). But I digress… Luri & Wilma’s mission is “to deliver an eco-friendly-edited mixture of fashion & lifestyle reader content that is as equally “in style” as it is earth-conscious.” They are a “way of life” and while I am not a DIYer (yet – want to be but I’m just not crafty lol) but other than that, it’s a lifestyle I can agree with!! They are a group that believes in vintage, handmade and eco-friendliness, I lifestyle we could definitely all afford to go back to more!! In support of this, there were some wonderful ladies there selling their wares.So once I got past the food lol, I feel in love with a Fascinator and it’s maker, Nina O’Neil!!! The more I learn, the more I think she’s a rockstar!! Above you can see some of the wonderful pieces from her line, Ciao Nina. The only one not above is the one I literally bought off her head cause I loved it so much!! It was a tough choice because I fell in love with two similar pieces, the second one being a more unique color and had some feathers… Which I may end up returning for later lol… but I figured for my first fascinator, I should go with something more traditional that I would get more use from (first wear was the following Sunday and the church ladies loved it!!! I had 3 ladies ask to borrow it for tea so I told them where they could buy their own!!). I also found myself encouraging a stranger to buy one cause it looked so darn good!!I mean that was made for her and could be worn in a variety of ways! After playing dress up for a bit, I moved on to the other Esty store present, Handmade Habitat. Amina makes delicious smelling candles and beautifully died scarves.
“My inspiration from my products comes from what I personally enjoy in life – simple luxuries. I am tote bag addict, cozy sock fiend in the winter and candle addict. Also, my cats looovee catnip and making toys for them myself is far more fun and cute. To make these items in a sustainable fashion became my mission. ” With the exception of the cat part (#doglover #sorrynotsorry), I totally agree with her view of the simple luxuries!!
I also ran into the gorgeous and super fashionable Kimmie of The 2Fs. Who is she you ask? Well in her own words… “I’m just a Washingtonian who is trying to take over the world, one sequin and one taco at a time. So please follow my journey with the 2 fs of my life, fashion and food. But, only if you dare. ” Little did I know our paths would cross again soon… I did know that she was killing it with those shoes!!
So HOTT!!! Kinda like these beautiful ladies…
In closing, I will use the words of these lovely ladies behind the magazine. ”For ladies as hellbent on managing a smashing career as they are about baking pretty cupcakes, luri & wilma is here for you. If you’re a free-spirited gal who thinks social awareness > celebrity gossip, rock a mean pair of vintage rose-colored glasses and oh, so love on some delish food – we know one thing, you should roll with us.
So one of my current obsessions is a two year old… a two year old named Violet Boutique!! (Located in Adams Morgan). It is different from the stereotype I feel most people have about boutiques. Where many are overpriced and obscure, Violet boutique is unique and worth it’s moderate prices!! While I know some of the names I’ve found there and haven’t recognized many others, I leave every time I visit knowing two things, that I’ve gotten a quality piece and that I run only a small (like minutely small that only exists because I go to events with fashion bloggers who are in the know and shop at Violet Boutitque lol) risk of having an “omg she’s wearing my dress” moment. That cannot be beat!
When I first arrived, the first thing I spotted was this lovely spread…
Grilled cheese, crab stuffed tomatoes (that were AMAZING!!! new mission*find the recipe), macaroni and cheese and other deliciousness!!!
I arrived a little early so I had to wait on the food so I went to another love of mine, SHOPPING!!! The good thing I have discovered about arriving early to things is that you get first dibs on all the great stuff. Like a fabulous dress (to be featured in an upcoming post) that is a head turner and can be styled for every season and that was also the last one available and I guarded it with my life along with this…
OBSESSED!!! This bag and I are currently engaged in an INTENSE love affair and are deep in the honeymoon phase. First of all it is two bags in one. The inner bag keeps everything organized and also has a strap and can be used independently as a small cross-body The large outer bag has an AMAZING chain link strap that goes perfectly with the purse in all occasions. But enough of my infomercial cause he it’s mine and we are never breaking up!!
But I digress…
Another highlight of the evening is the owner, Julie Egermayer, who is one of the nicest people I’ve met, very welcoming and sweet with a hint of quiet reserve. Julie and her staff are great at what they do and whenever I come shopping solo I don’t feel alone because they are like having your girlfriends there. I’ve never felt lied to for a sale and I always get just the right amount of help, there when I need them but not annoying me following two steps behind. Hopefully they all felt the pat on their backs reading this which leads me to another point I must highlight of the night, Julie’s back!! Continue reading →
Earlier this month, a few lovely (fabulous, amazing, spectacular, I could go on…) ladies from the DMV area were honored by The Womanly Curve Magazine for Women’s History Month at Indulj Resturant & Lounge. Candice Nicole & The Womanly Curve Magazine highlighted 5 influential women in Washington, DC. All of these women have collectively defined their womanly curve through their fields. I agree with Candice’s message that “as women, it is important to celebrate the accomplishments of one another and to support each others dreams.”
Drum roll please for our honorees!!! For Health & Fitness the inspirational Caroline Jhingory was chosen to be honored. For entertainment they chose WPGC’s always Sunny Socialite Sunni (yes I did it and yes it was cheesy but she always makes me smile!! – also random but I did not know she was Bosnian, so cool, I learn something new everyday). In Communications they chose Lauren Wesley Wilson of the Huffington Post. For style the chose the FABULOUS Jennifer of Comme Coco who I totally admire but I never really tell her cause I think it makes her blush lol. Last but not least for Lifestyle they chose Maaden Eshete. The music was provided by DJ MIM, with complimentary makeup services by Plush Beautiq.
Now some of you may be wondering… WHAT DID I WEAR?!?
Dress is a print dress from BCBG and the belt is also BCBG. The shoes are from Shoemint and the bag is a new favorite of mine that I picked up in Violet boutique in Adams Morgan. For similar items see my Lookmazing Page!!
I also got to see the lovely Waverly of Pich & Roar looking fabulous as always… still a little sad that the cold and transportation prevented our usually post event food and gossip fest life updates session but next time!!!
I had the honor of meeting the Clintons a little while back and they were both amazing and gracious people but I definitely had that typical moment before heading there where I had to decide… “WHAT DO I WEAR?!?”
So I started off with a great backless lace dress that I found from Current Boutique that I made appropriate with a double button blazer from the Gap. My bag for the evening was a new favorite bag called Law from JustFab.com that comes in a range of fabulous colors
Introducing the newly redone Chevy Chase Pavilion: Thrill of the Chase!!!Last Friday I was invited by Carlis one my blogging besties and also part of the amazing duo of ladies that is Spicy Candy DC (they are definitely a dynamic duo!!!) to an event at the newly renovated Chevy Chase Pavilion.
It was the VIP Grand Reopening Party and they went ALL OUT!!
We checked in upstairs first and enjoyed the open view and got our photoshoot on at the step and repeat next to check in!!
Following that we headed downstairs to the lounge that they had built in front of the Starbucks kiosk that was all leather couches, white rose and bubbly, just our style!
*Warning, you may pee yourself laughing once you get past the horror* So I totally love to travel!!! I have wonderlust, the chronic disease edition!!! It’s bad and it is probably why I don’t have a massive savings account but I digress… I say that though to make clear that I am no newbie to traveling. I started flying solo pretty much when I hit double digits. In fact I remember one trip that was particularly traumatizing for my mother when I was about 12 and I was accompanying my 7 year old sister on our way to Michigan to visit my grandmother. All we had to do was walk from the one plane to another during our layover and my mom decided not to pay for us to be accompanied by the flight attendants. Of course for some reason that I could not tell you these many years later, we were bumped from the flight and very far from home. These were in the precell phone days so my mom demanded that was stay near the payphone as she slowly lost her mind and feared the worst. We were fine and totally unfazed but I now understand why she was so worked up. But again I digress…
So on to the point… why do I love United’s flight attendants? Let me first say that this is a new and fragile love because we had a fight a couple weeks ago when I had to change a ticket and got over charged but I will let that story wait… Let me instead tell you a story about my trip to Seattle, Washington this weekend. I went up there on Saturday for the long weekend to visit a friend. On my way home, I was getting onto my flight and the woman before me had multiple bags and was making no attempt to hide it. She had 2 purses, a tote bag and a roller bag. As she walked by, the counter attendant told her that she was going to have to check her roller and she was not happy about that but she let her tag it. Now the baglady/hobo chic thing she had going on should have been the first indicator that she might not be stable but it was late and I wasn’t analyzing (first mistake).
Once we got to the end of the ramp, she proceeded to try and take it onto the plane anyway. I was busy texting and did not even notice at first. She got a couple steps in before the attendants on the plane asked her if these were all her bags. She had already walked past here and I didn’t think she had heard so I casually said I think she was supposed to leave that one outside. Oh if looks could kill, I would have been dead on that floor!!! She gave me the nastiest look as she tried to get her bag to the flight attendant to be taken off. I had my headphones on so I just ignored it. As we began walking towards our seats, I realized she was saying something to me so I removed the headphones to see what was being said (second mistake).
Apparently she wanted to inform me that I need to mind my business and she doesn’t like people that don’t know how to mind their business. To which I responded, well I don’t care and quickly made to decision to engage as little as possible because my spidey sense was tingling. She continued anyway telling me that I needed to learn my place. At this point she was at her seat rearranging at her stuff and blocking the aisle so that I could not continue on. I waited patiently as the line behind me continued to grow longer and longer.
So at this point, I am laughing and smiling because it is so ridiculous that this is even happening… I mean isn’t it 2013?? Also don’t forget that the whole plane is lining up behind me waiting to sit down. Well apparently my smiling confused the flight attendant, Michelle, who got the impression that everything was fine. When Michelle finally approached to ask the woman to step in, she learned things were not fine when the lady responded with “I’m not moving for her” (aka me). The flight attendant immediately turned around to return to the back at call up front.
The baglady continued with her small mind rant next telling me that she was obviously better than me, “I mean look at us”.
Pause…
Now let me give you a little more information about this lady… she was a much older white woman with stringy hair, age spots, and a horrible outfit… I was looking at us and I hate to be superficial but she asked me to look so I did… and I will just say. I’m not sure what she was seeing but again I digress…
So back to the cray cray moment… After Michelle called up front, she began to return to the area and seeing her approach baglady having nothing left to rearrange finally sat down and said “I guess you can go ahead by now and sit down darkie”.
Pause…
So Dave Chappelle’s Killing Me Softly is one of my favorite stand ups and I had a flashback in that moment!!! I was shocked!! I finally made my way to my seat and got settle and tried to eat my fried rice, only to find that my hands were uncontrollably shaking… so I got up and went to the back. Michelle told me not to worry, she had already called up front but she didn’t have the whole story. When I told her she was appalled and immediately got back on the phone to the front. She apologized which I told her was unnecessary since this was not her doing. She told me that she did not like the attitude she got when she approached her and that this was the end of a 4 day tour and that they did not stand for that. She also told me to wait in the back, that I had done nothing wrong but that she did not want me to be subjected to any more abuse.
Shortly after that the attendant in the front who was also an angel but I didn’t catch her name. She went to baglady and told her that Customer Service was on the way, that the young lady in the back was very upset and that they would be accommodating her on another flight…. OH SNAP!!!
She whined but they were not having it and not budging and sure enough Customer Service showed up shortly after. That’s when the water works started but it was definitely too little too late. She protested but they were resolute. She cried that she had been traveling for over 48 hours and just wanted to get home and that she had no where to go. She also said she didn’t want any problems only to be informed that was she was already a problem and that it as time to go. She finally got up to leave only to be told no, get your things because you won’t be returning. As I watched this from the back, Michelle asked me where my seat was, a middle spot towards the back. Baglady had an aisle seat, which Michelle decided should be mine after she was booted. #Instakarma
Parting shot… BYE BYE BYE
I watched from the back and snacked with slightly less shaky hands as she was escorted from the plane. I had to fight the urge to begin a slow clap as she departed. Once she was removed, I was allowed to go to my new seat and had many much needed laughs with my new seatmate as we exchanged stories about the experience. That was when we decided that we had an SNL skit on our hands!!
Okay, so the glow is just starting to wear off, I’ve posted the pictures on facebook but now it’s time to talk about it. This holiday I was selected from thousands of entrants to have Celebrity Chef Michael Voltaggio, owner of Ink in LA and winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Season Six, come to Washington, DC to cook a holiday feast for me and my family. I am going down in the books as giving the greatest gift and it was definitely not a gift I could have pulled off on my own so special thanks to Buzzmedia’s Celebuzz, AT&T and Chef Michael!!
My mother is quite the hostess and I knew she would be all aflutter preparing for Chef Michael’s arrival. And prepare she did, cleaning everything from top to bottom and washing every dish in the kitchen just in case he might use it. Unfortunately due to the timing of the dinner in January my sister was already back in California and then my brother got a cold but the show must go on so a couple family friends were able to join us instead and boy did they luck out. One of the upsides to having the dinner in the district is that his brother Bryan has a wonderful new restaurant called Range located in the newly renovated Chevy Chase Pavilion. That is were Chef Michael was able to do all of his preparation for the dinner and raid their supplies. That afternoon he showed up with his sous chef, Todd from Buzzmedia and a couple tubs full of supplies!!
It takes quite a bit of stuff to pull off a five course gourmet meal for four, especially when you are a creative culinary genius!!! Chef Michael will probably not admit to being all of that. He is surprisingly humble and very very cool. He was a pleasure to have in my house and my mom was overjoyed! That is is exactly why I picked this prize when I entered, because it was a gift that had meaning to my mother and I. My mother is a self proclaimed foodie with years of food experience and travel to back it up so I knew this would be an experience that she would treasure. “The holidays often become more about giving gifts you can’t afford than giving something meaningful,” said Michael Voltaggio. “Thanks to Buzzmedia, Celebuzz and AT&T, I was happy to be able to able to give something that puts the focus back on the important things: family and food. There’s nothing that gives me greater pleasure than sharing my love of cooking.” And share he did!!
Shortly after they arrived and while we waited for them to set up and begin dinner, Chef brought in some snacks for us. It was homemade Doritos from fresh corn from California and homemade pork rinds. I don’t even like pork rinds and I had to hold back so everyone could try some!! It was delicious and I couldn’t wait for what was next to come!! Shortly after this we moved to the dining room and the tea lights in the middle were the perfect centerpieces for the night.
After we got settled, the culinary journey began!!
First I have to shout out South Moon Under for this gorgeous dress I got at the Fashion for Paws fundraiser!! It is super soft and comfortable and went perfectly with my new Stella & Dot Fiona Bib Necklace that I am OBSESSED with. Of course I had to rock THE BAG I scored at Violet boutique (another obsession of mine which is why it’s THE BAG)
When I first arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of familiar faces!!! Chef Karida Celestine and Chef Steven Hughes making some delicious bites from B. Smith for everyone to try.
Yum!!
This bite from Zenga was also DELICIOUS!! (I may have gone back a couple times…)
PJ Clarke’s was cooking up some delicious mini burgers that were BOMB!!!
Best Mixologist Gina Chersevani showed us why she was the best with her “Rye Not? cocktail” that was delicious!!! Continue reading 
