I must confess, I didn’t grow up eating a lot of salad. My dad has a traditional salad he likes to make with dinner — tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, maybe an onion sliced up with salt, pepper and a little vinaigrette. It’s a good addition to every meal, but time and repetition led me to take…
Life
Making Your Own New Year’s Traditions For Luck, Love and Resolutions
I used to celebrate New Year’s Eve in a raucous way. Lots of drinking, lots of noise, lots of people around to toast with and kiss at the stroke of midnight. Party like a rockstar and recover all day January 1. I’ve got some great memories from those years. And honestly, I’ve also had some…
So I Met Anthony Bourdain Last Week
Last week was kind of a whirlwind. I was just coming back to Chicago after a funeral. My husband was spending some extra time with his family so I was flying solo. I got back home and didn’t yet have my bearings before I had to head across town to the Ravenswood Event Center for…
Lessons From A Very Different Thanksgiving for Two
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” as John Lennon sang in his ode to his son Sean, Beautiful Boy. If you saw me a month ago and asked about my Thanksgiving plans, I would’ve started gushing about recipes and table setting ideas. I was planning a fabulous Thanksgiving for…
Professional Makeup Artist Tips, Tricks and Advice From The Makeup Show’s James Vincent
Let it be known far and wide that James Vincent is one of my favorite people in the beauty industry. I’m not the only one who would proclaim that anywhere. He’s one of the most accomplished MUA’s I know, but if you know James, if you’ve met James, then you know that he is warmth…
All About The Purple Purse! Why I Joined the Allstate Foundation’s Important Awareness Campaign
Bellas, if you know me then you know my love for the color purple goes back long and far. It’s been my favorite color since I could first say the word. It’s become my signature shade, in lipstick and in life. And now, I’ve found a new reason for loving and respecting purple. The Allstate…
5 Reasons To LOVE Baltimore, By Oyin Handmade’s Pierre and Jamyla Bennu
I’d say that Baltimore has an image issue. There are sweeping perceptions of the city based solely on news headlines and fictional representations in TV and film, that don’t begin to capture the complexity, the reality and the beauty of Baltimore as a whole. Baltimore clearly is a city with real issues that need to…
Come With Me to Black Girls Rock!
I make a point of watching the annual celebration of amazingness that is Black Girls Rock every year on BET. My favorite actresses hanging out with my favorite singers, paying homage to incredible women who uplift and inspire on every level. Tributes to ladies who work hard every day, who are living legends, rock stars,…
In Case You Need a New Copy of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings…
There’s a reason why Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the #1 best seller in American poetry on Amazon. This book has made an impact on so many. Since its release in 1970, it has changed lives, saved lives, inspired new writers to pick up a pen or a computer keyboard to…
5 Reasons You Should Visit Jamaica
Growing up in Trinidad, I believed that intra-Caribbean traveling wasn’t necessary.When you’re born and raised in a place with 80 degree weather, coconut trees and sandy beaches of its own and you’re the last of 5 kids, a “vacation” is a trip to someplace foreign and exotic like…New York. Or Los Angeles. Or Miami (all…