Dear Bridesmaids,

Dear Bridesmaids,

I know you have been worried that I will put you in pink tafetta or puffy sleeves or a long gown. Please put your minds at ease. I pray that you know that I want you to be sexy and comfortable for my wedding. Does this mean you will have a free for all? Not exactly. Will you get to wear something that makes you feel pretty? Absolutely!

I envision a chic black cocktail dress vibe and my utmost concern is that you are able to wear your dress again and again. Trust me, I have 4 bridesmaids dresses in my closet that have never been worn again and it burns me up to know that I was willing to purchase a royal blue gown at the age of 20 when I know that I would never have a chance to wear it again.

So with that said, God and I have come to an agreement to allow you the freedom to choose your dress with the following inspiration board in mind. Should you purchase before emailing a picture first? Of course not, but if it's black, sexy, fitted and chic, chances are I will say yes.

I have no intentions of making you looking like evil stepsisters. I don't even want you to all wear the same exact dress. That can't be fun. As long as I have final say, the dress is black and the shoes are red, I say go for it! You all know that I must have a pop of color in everything I do. Just pick a pair of red God's Favorite Shoes and be happy!

With that said, enjoy this inspiration board. This just serves as a little guide to follow as you shop or sift through countless websites and bridesmaid catalogs. I had you in mind...not completely true...I had my wedding pictures in mind. I know you all personally and I know that you all could use another LBD (little black dress) in your closet. By all means, don't spend all your duckets on your dress...you have to save that to buy us a wedding gift!

Enjoy...feel free to ask questions. Oh, a word of advice...don't even think about going to one of those cookie cutter bridal shops that have a section just for bridesmaids. I rebuke that in the name of Jesus. Think chic, cocktail, sexy and comfortable.

*** update...I found these great alternatives to the above bridesmaids dress. These are BCBG dresses from Nordstroms. I love the fact that they complement each other. LOVE LOVE LOVE...Dreams do come true:)

Amen!

Oh...MISTER, mother dear and mother n' law dear...God has a special word for you coming soon too:)

P.S....Dyeable shoes are a no no...A real shoe please! Go all the way Sex and the City with the shoes please...Just make sure it's not a shoe that I will wear, I will win that battle. Toodles!

I Want to Be a Rapper...

Well, that's not completely accurate. I want to be a Wrapper as in the owner of all things that wrap my body...as in Wrap dresses.

I am a supporter, endorser and all around believer in the wrap dress. The wrap dress in general is so forgiving of all of our imperfections while accentuating the positives...if we wear them right.

I have been seeing these One Size Fits All/Can be Worn in a zillion ways Wrap dresses for a while and I have finally come to the conclusion that I love them. Do I own one? Of course not...not one like these...but we are in a recession, right? *snicker,snicker*

Would I love one? Certainly.

I have just discovered this wonderful website called Etsy where crafty people sell anything from wrap dresses to custom doormats (if you are into that kind of thing). These sellers put items they make with their own hands on the website and cut out the "middle man" from making a profit.

*Disclaimer: I don't really know if there is a "the man" when trying to create a business but in my head there is...and because this is an equal oppurtunity blog from my brain..the man can be green, purple, yellow...heck "the man" can be a woman for all I care). I had to throw this disclaimer in there...people are TOUCHY about certain stuff. Ay' carumba!*

I digress. (again).

We all know someone who makes their own cake toppers, dresses, hats...heck even their own curtains and pillow cases. We say to that person "you should really think about selling that"...well Etsy is for that type of person.

Anywho, as I was looking for wedding dresses...who am I kidding?

I already know where my wedding dress is at. I should say I was surfing for cute dresses and I stumbled upon the Wrap dress that can be worn in multiple ways. I immediately thought about all of us who have hips and curves galore and want to be sexy and comfortable. Well this is the dress, all WRAPPED up in one.

I love the multiple ways these dresses can be worn and can be dressed up or down. The possibilities are endless. And doesn't this just make our hearts feel like we are buying "smart." Instead of buying one dress, buy a dress that can be worn 10 different ways. Throw on a blazer, add a belt and just be.

I want to be a wrapper...doesn't everybody these days:)

....While I was perusing Etsy, I discovered that they have one of my desires...a KIMONO ROBE!

I'm talking about a real one. I have been longing for one of these every since I saw Carrie Bradshaw rocking one on Sex and the City years ago. Every since then I have been looking for an authentic Kimono with an obi sash. Yes, I am serious too. MISTER (as in the Color Purple; as in my fiance') questioned me endlessly about where would I wear it...doesn't he know by now that I MULTI-PURPOSE everything? It's main function would be a robe...but don't think I won't shorten it to knee length and where it as a cocktail dress or throw some skinny jeans on. Don't you tempt me...I will do it!

So, now I just have to wait for a holiday to roll around to beg for one...do people get gifts for Memorial Day? I think I am going to start a new tradition in my household!

*I didn't put a direct link to each item, well because I am lazy. But you can just go to Etsy.com and put in key words like wrap dress or kimono robe and it will direct you to the correct link. While you are on there...buy me something:) Anything.

I went to FASHION WEEK!!!!!! I am important!!!

Actually, the title is a little misleading. If you call sitting on your sofa at 6:30pm in your pajamas eating and blogging before a friend calls and invites you to a fashion show free before 9pm...then yes I went to Fashion Week. The truth is Boris Kodkoe, the hottie from The Soul Food Miniseries, was launching a clothing line and invited the public (the first 100 people could get in free). Let me tell you, I like FREE. I am proud yet embarrassed to announce that my friend and I were literally el numero UNO y DOS (first and second for all you slackers:)

My friend knows I am into clothes and invited me. Long story short, we got there first, we people watched, I got sleepy, took a couple of pictures and was back in bed to watch Will and Grace. I wish I could say that I am getting old but I have never been one to go out.

It was kind of cool to pretend that I was part of the media as a pretend blogger although I don't even have a camera but you couldn't tell me nothing. This was my 1st LEGIT fashion show. Church fashion shows don't count.

Supposedly Kid Capri was supposed to dj but when we got there, of course it was BUTT early so they had other dj's. I would call it a party if people were dancing and if the DJ didn't have a penchant for playing 80's Old School R&B. I am talking about songs like " Ain't nothing going on but the rent. You got to have a J.O.B. if you wanna be with me". (You have to be over the age of 30 to know that one right there).

Anywho, the show started and Sir Hotness...aka. Boris introduced the line. I am not quite sure how Boris is tied into the company but he was hustling. He even encouraged the average person to become representatives/consultants for the company...I guess kind of like selling Avon but not so much?

I don't know if it was his own brainchild or if he is just the celebrity spokesperson but he seemed genuine in his interest. The line is called ZIAMI and it is for men and women. I think the niche is for the everyday person to wear affordable custom fit clothes. Some of the stuff was cute...especially the men's line. Shirts were 30 bucks and suits were around $100 and up. The line also monograms all the orders for you...if you are into that sort of thing. It sounds like a great idea but something tells me they probably only go up to a "certain size' for custom clothes but hey everyone in the world can't be Real Woman sizes:) It's definitely worth looking into though because the prices were phenomenal and I actually like the stuff.

Anyway, I scooted my first in line tail right up there with the professional photographers and whipped out my camera phone. I dared anybody to make me move or I was going to get really loud! Not really...I would have scurried away like the coward I am:( But luckily, I saw other camera phones too. By the way, this Blackberry Pearl camera phone is pretty darn good!

I took a few shots and then the sleep started to really creep up on me. We decided to leave but I would have called it a successful night out anyway because otherwise I would have been home watching reruns of Project Runway until I fell asleep on the sofa...basically my nightly routine.

As we were leaving, we ran into Kid Capri. WTH? How are you the DJ and you are just walking in the door! We stopped him and let him know that Houstonians partied on time. His response..."We do it all night long in New York". That's when I glanced at the time and felt embarrassed...it was only 11ish.

That didn't stop us from chopping him up:) He was cool and took a quick pic with my trusty camera phone and we were out.

All the pics in this post were taken by me, obviously, with my camera phone. So if a pic is not clear...let's just call it "artistic". Heck, I am so gangsta, I am going to use only the pics I took for this post meaning I am not going to shoplift more professional pictures from the internet or Boris's website. I believe in me. YES. I. CAN.

Here is the link to Boris's clothing line for your perusal. http://ziami.com/ws/

So in the end...I did go to Fashion Week! HA! By the way, that's me on the red carpet. Granted my friend took the pic with my phone and we were first in line so we had time to play celebrity...but it's stil the red carpet...actually it was blue:)

You know, the more I think about it...the clothes in this line look alot like the clothes sold at Zara's (in the Houston Galleria and they have more in NY). The clothes are cut more European style which I am not completely convinced works for us curvy women but it would be a great gift/investment for the men in our lives:)