Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone!! I just love this day so very much!  I especially love the costume parties! This is the only day dressing up slutty outside of the bedroom is actually excused! How can I not love that?! Jk!! This coming from someone who once considered Halloween a very dark and evil time and I refused to play part in any activities that hailed the devil! Ignorance is NOT bliss!! I was obviously mistaken and was limiting myself from the fun!

The purpose of Halloween was originally to mark the end of summer and the harvest, the beginning of winter and to commemorate the passing of the dead.
Halloween (or Hallowe'en), a contraction of All-Hallows-Eve ("evening"), is an annual holiday observed on October 31, and common activities include guising/trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films. Source: Wikipedia

So as you can see, there is no harm in it!! I am glad I eventually saw the light and decided to embrace this day because it has turned to be one of my favorite festivities!  Just this past weekend, yours truly was in the running for the best costume (Foxxy Cleopatra/Pam Grier) at a venue I visited! The cash prize was $1000!! Moolah baby! I needed it too! I lost to some guy in a somewhat lame superhero costume but I was gracious in my loss because it was a lot of fun to participate.

I look forward to seeing the neighborhood kids in their cute, funny or scary costumes when they get to my door for candy this evening.  In the meantime, please enjoy the spectacular display of lights set to LMFAO's "Party Rock Athem" song below! Pretty cool!!

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. It is a month dedicated to increasing awareness of the importance of early breast cancer detection. 

Earlier today, my favorite entertainment news reporter, Giuliana Rancic of the E channel announced she has breast cancer! It is incredibly sad.  She has struggled with infertility in the recent years and now faces this diagnosis!
This should be a reminder to all of us ladies to make our health a priority!! Get checked regularly and regular self-breast exams must be done.  The earlier you catch something amiss, the better the chances of recovery.


Best wishes G!! I hope you pull through and continue to raise awareness on the disease.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

RIP STEVE JOBS

Late last evening I learnt via Twitter that Steve Jobs had died.  He had lost the long battle with pancreatic cancer - a disease he battled since 2004.  Jobs had recently stepped down from his position as CEO of Apple.  This is incredibly sad!  The world has lost a genious, a visionary but his legacy will live on for years to come.


President Obama mourned Jobs passing, saying he exemplified American ingenuity and innovation "Brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world and talented enough to do it"


I LOVE Apple products and I can't be more grateful to Mr. Jobs for creating products that have made my life easier.  The iPad2 is my favorite to date!

RIP Steve Jobs. You have made your mark and shall be greatly missed.  Thank you for inspiring me to soar to great heights!!

Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week 2011

The Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week is currently underway! It is one of the major fashion weeks held around the world along with Paris, London & Milan. Many top-name designers have been showing their collections at various venues in New York City to an audience that includes editors and buyers. The event draws celebs, athletes, models, etc who want a piece of the fashion or to have a chance to be photographed in the latest designer duds while sitting front row. 
Thanks to YouTube, I too can enjoy the display on the catwalk from the comfort of my house!  For the Live Fashion coverage click here.


Supermodel Iman has been making the rounds at these shows.  I have a soft spot for Iman. She never dissapoints! What a classic beauty!!

The current Ms. Africa-USA, Nyasha Zimucha, was also spotted at the Akoo event. Is it me or does she need some lessons in poise?

The much-anticipated launch of a new collaborative line between Italian designer Missoni and Target caused the megaretailer's website to crash several times Tuesday - according to CNN. 

"Target.com is seeing greater item demand than we do on a typical Black Friday, and the excitement for this limited-time designer collection is unprecedented," the store said in a statement. "We are slowly bringing the site back online to ensure we can provide a positive shopping experience to our guests."

Ms. Selita E Banks wearing the new Missoni for Target line

I totally understand why they got an overwhelming response! I LOVE the bold prints and can't wait to get my hands on a thing or two from the collection.  Click here for a preview of the line.

Here are some more pics from the fashion week;

I can't wait to take in all the sights and fashions from NY's Fashion Week!

African Pride - Miss Universe 2011

Extra! Extra!! We have a new Ms. Universe and she hails from Angola!!  The beautiful Ms. Leila Lopes who was a crowd/fan favorite from early on was impressive in all the categories.  She mainly shined during the Q&A session that top five finalists must face.  Beauty & brains in a wonderful package!  She beat out 88 other contestants to be crowned the winner! Congratulations Ms. Angola! Enjoy the run as Miss Universe 2011!  Yaay for Africa!

African Pride - Major Endorsements

Smartwater just got a whole lot sexier!! Idris Elba has been named as the face of SmartWater.  Move over Jennifer Aniston! There's a new sexy spokesperson in town!

Idris (British born actor; born to a Ghanaian mother & Sierra Leonian father) is a great choice for the Smartwater ad campaign.  He is every bit good looking and a really nice guy.   *My fellow blogger, Shoppatunistic & I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years back and he was very gracious! We were somewhat star struck!

The Smartwater brand, which is owned by Coca-Cola, is featuring Elba in a print ad campaign that will run in upcoming issues of GQ, Essence and Men's Journal magazines.  Get it Dris!!

...and in other endorsement news; South African born actress, Charlize Theron who's the current spokesmodel for Dior has graced the latest ad for J'Adore perfume.  But she wasn't the only memorable face in the spot.  By splicing footage through CGI, legendary actresses Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich exchange glances and even some conversation with Charlize backstage, making the spot both eerie and fascinating.

Check out the ad below;


Story credit:  http://www.eonline.com/

TV Minute - MTV Video Music Awards (the recap)

Another night, another award show!  This one on MTV honoring the best in music videos.  An odd thing  considering MTV hardly plays any music videos in favor of reality tv which seems to have revolutionized television in the recent years. That being said, the best had to be honored last night at this annual event.

The show started out with an hour long pre-show that showcased some music, celebrity interviews on the black carpet, fashion and all the outrageousness that go along with a show of this magnitude! The set design was a little odd for me for a pre-show.   
Minutes before the actual show began, Beyonce confirmed that she was pregnant by flaunting a baby bump and actually rubbing it to further prove it!!  MTV immediately sent out a tweet confirming that the chosen one was indeed with child! Seconds later, the world was abuzz with the news!
Beyonce pretty much upstaged everyone by making that announcement!  She was positively glowing!

The show did not have host.  I guess after Chelsea Handler last year it was their best bet to go host-less! She sucked really bad! Kevin Hart did some behind-the-scene video clips that a regular host would have done.  

Lady Gaga opened the show with a perfomance of You and I.  All this while in drag.  She played her male alter-ego through the entire show.  While she did great as always, it was odd to see her this way!  We are used to Lady Gaga showing up at award shows in outrageous garb/vessel! I expected no different but I guess that does get tiring after a while!  But this didn't do her any favors given the fact that there have been doubts about her gender! No doubt, she was born that way - which ever it is!!

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music, Lady Gaga

There were several noteworthy perfomances during the show which I will highlight below. 

• Neyo & Pitbull performed their smash hit dance record,  Give Me Everything Tonight.  I absolutely love this song!!  Seems like every collaboration Pitbull does turns to a smash hit! 

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music, Pitbull

• Jay Z & Kanye West performed Otis from the album Watch The Throne that's currently leading the charts in record sales.  The duo have the most over-zealous fans! Some dude in the audience had the balls to bum rush the stage while they were perfoming before quickly being whisked away!  Is that you Lil Mama? lol!!

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music, JAY Z and Kanye West

• Adele was simply put, AMAZING!!! No frills, no shrills just thrills & pure talent! Oh how I love thee Adele!

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music, Adele

• Beyonce finally hit the stage with Love on Top after setting the twitterverse ablaze with her announcement on the black carpet!!  It was great a perfomance and those lyrics really hit home for her! Wait for the big reveal....  Congrats B & Jay!

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music, Beyoncé

• Chris Brown was by far my favorite of the night! His was quite the perfomance!  There is no doubt that Breezy can dance his ass off but this performance was exciting and had elements of danger with that high flying trapeze act!  Way to go Breezy! If only JayZ could have at least applauded that act because it was GREAT! Still bitter about the Riri saga? Let's get over that already!  She has!

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music, Chris Brown

• Amy Winehouse's tribute -  The tribute was good but lacking!  While I love totally swoon over Bruno Mars vocals,  British songstresses Adele (who was available) & Duffy should have been part of the tribute!  Let's hope the Grammy Awards will honor Amy, right.

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music, Bruno Mars

The WTF moments went to the entire Young Money crew!!  Nikki Minaj was doing way too much!! That whole getup was weird and a total fashion failure!  Drake had on a button down sweater! Stop raiding your grandpa's closet!  Lil Wayne on other other hand was just a mess!! From his awful getup to the angry performance and mic hurl! Was that really necessary?! Yes, the world is well aware that you're beefing with Jay Z but please spare us!!  From the wise words (terms used loosely) of PaulyD from Jersey Shore please STD - Stop The Drama!!  ...and for for goodness sake, kill the auto-tune already!

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music, Lil Wayne

Honorable mention goes to Jessie J for her amazing perfomances going into the commercial breaks!  Even with a broken leg, she had more stage presence than most able bodied folks!  She has some great vocals!!

For a list of all the winners click here.
For the fashion pics click here.