A Diva State of Mind

The first Brunch For A Cause in February was so much fun! It’s time to prepare for the next one

Bobby Pen invites you to escape your busy life for an afternoon of pampering.  Guests will enjoy a brunch station, manicures & eyebrow waxing by Sassy Nails Salon & Spa, chair massages by therapist Sean White and more!

Gather your girlfriends for a fun afternoon of pampering!

Date: Sunday, April 6, 2014

Time: 12:00pm - 4:00pm

Location: Penn Social (801 E Street NW Washington, DC)

Tickets: $35 click here to purchase

I came up with the idea in December to host a charity brunch and it finally happened this past Saturday, February 1st. Over 30 fabulous folks gathered on the second floor of Ulah Bistro to enjoy good food, great conversation and unlimited mimosas!

Upon arrival, attendees were checked in and received raffle tickets. I gave away a $50 gift certificate to The Tailored Man, a gift ceriticate to the VIP Mobile Day Spa and four OPI nail packages. At each seat, there was information about Safe Shores along with index cards. Everyone was asked to write the name of a charity they believed could benefit from Brunch For A Cause (if you know of DC area charities that would be a great beneficiary, please let me know). Ulah Bistro put together small tables, creating two long rows; what you’d expect if you were going to a large family dinner. It was cozy, the atmosphere was great and everyone who attended had great energy.  I’m sure it helped that our waitress made sure our glasses were always full!

 Since we didn’t have the entire upstairs space, it was a little noisy so unfortunately the Safe Shores Executive Director Michele Booth Cole couldn’t give a formal introduction. However, she did talk to everyone in smaller groups. I was also able to connect her to a friend that’s currently in grad school; she’ll need an internship this summer and Safe Shores does offer internship opportunities!

Through brunch attendance and generous donations, $500 was raised and donated to Safe Shores to help them continue their mission! What’s even better is that this event created exposure for Safe Shores. According to the Michele, while donations are great, gaining exposure, having people attend Coffee for Kids and gaining new volunteers is what really helps them thrive. I encourage everyone to visit www.safeshores.org and sign up to attend Coffee for Kids, a one hour in-depth introduction to Safe Shores and a tour of the facility.

Brunch on Saturday was a lot of fun! There wasn’t an official program (besides giving out raffle prizes) and I’ll probably keep it that way. We all love to brunch so I want this event to serve as a way to get together with friends like you normally would on the weekends, but expose attendees to different charities in the DC area and also give people the opportunity to network. You just never know who you’re going to meet!

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone that attended, made donations and spread the word about the first A Diva State of Mind Presents: Brunch For A Cause!  Since announcing the charity brunch, the response has been so positive and I really appreciate it. Saturday proved that we not only love sipping on mimosas but we also enjoy giving back too. Collectively we can make an impact in the community. You all have helped bring my vision to life!

I hope you’ll join me for the next brunch which will be mid-June, right when summer begins :)

In the meantime, please check out more pictures from brunch HERE. If you are a local business interested in providing raffle prizes for the next brunch, please contact me!

While women have asked what to wear to Brunch For A Cause this Saturday, I figured the guys would like some inspiration too.

Fellas, while you could wear a sweatshirt and Jordans to brunch, I encourage you to try other options! You don’t have to put on your Sunday best, but you can experiment with prints, boots, sneakers other than Jordans and accessories like scarves (yes men wear scarves).

This first look is for the guy that likes a simple outfit; no fuss. This is an outfit I’d definitely style one of my clients in for brunch. Pair black jeans with a nice printed hooded. In case you get hot and want to remove the sweater, wear a printed tee or long sleeve shirt underneath the sweater. It’s more interesting than a plain black or white tee. Complete the look with high-top sneakers, a black belt and watch. Don’t forget your to spray on your cologne!

This second look a great casual winter outfit. Switch things up and put on corduroy pants instead of jeans. Pair the pants with a printed sweater or cozy knit cardigan like the one below from J.Crew.  Layer either piece with a chambray shirt. Shy away from sneakers and complete the look with brown combat boots, which is a little edgy. or pair the look with Clarks Desert Boots. To show off that nice watch, slightly push up the sleeves of your sweater and shirt.

If you love wearing sport coats and blazers but don’t want to look like you’re going to work, wear them with jeans! Pair a navy blazer with light jeans or a grey blazer with dark jeans. Add a long sleeve shirt underneath the blazer and have fun with accessories by adding a printed scarf (I was inspired by these looks here.) You can wear casual shoes like Clarks; a great alternative to dress shoes and more dressy than sneakers.  If you’re not a fan of casual shoes, pair this look with sneakers like converse or Polo high top sneakers.

Fellas, would you wear any of these outfits?

If you haven’t purchased your ticket yet for A Diva State of Mind Presents: Brunch For A Cause! please get yours today at http://brunchforacause.eventbrite.com. It’s going to be a great time!

Many have asked for suggestions on what to wear for Brunch For A Cause this Saturday. The dress code for a Saturday afternoon charity brunch in the middle of winter should be casual chic (we’ll save the sundresses for this summer). Have fun with color and textures; pairing looks with boots or booties.  Regardless of what you wear, you should look well put together.  Below are four outfits to serve as inspiration when you’re going through your closet Saturday morning to select an outfit.

Since it’s still ridiculously cold outside, all of the looks feature winter items (sweaters, boots and fur). The first look is an easy one to recreate. Pair your favorite skinny jeans with a long sleeve shirt and fur vest. If you don’t have a fur vest, you can pair the top and jeans with a blazer or add a printed scarf to add visual interest.  For those who love heels, pair this look with heeled booties. If you want to take a break from heels on the weekend, pair this look with flat black boots. Since the color palette is so dark, add a pop of color with bright lipstick and your handbag.

You may find that you wear a lot of black and grey during the winter months. Brighten things up my wearing a cream sweater with green cargo pants (or skinny pants). If you think you’ll be too hot wearing a sweater, especially after you have had a few mimosas, pair the green pants with a cream blouse. Layer the look with a fur vest which can be removed.  Although they are lighter than black and grey, colors like cream and green are still neutrals so you can add a pop of color with a bright statement necklace. Keep the makeup light and natural.

This third look is inspired by a client appointment I had last week. While going through my client’s closet, I found a sweater dress and put together a similar look like the one below. I told her it would be perfect for the charity brunch. This is a great look for the woman that isn’t big on heels but still wants to look chic. This is also great for women who are bigger on the bottom. The blazer and scarf bring the eyes up and help balance the lower half of the body.

Pair your favorite sweater dress with a blazer. Instead of wearing a necklace, switch things up and add a printed scarf to break up the solid colors. I know what some of you are thinking “do all of these colors go together?” Yes they do! Grey, navy and brown are all neutrals so they mix well together. Because they’re neutrals, you have the option of wearing any color scarf and handbag. Complete the look with blue eyeliner, blush and a nude pout.

This final look is the ladies who love to rock a sporty chic outfit. We all know that leather joggers were very popular last year. And since leather is becoming a staple, this style of pants will be around for a while. Pair your leather pants with a printed sweater.  You have the option of wear booties or wedge sneakers. Dress up this outfit with accessories like stacked bracelets and your favorite watch. Complete the look with a dark polish (I love wearing dark nail colors in the winter)! This is a great option for those days where you just don’t feel like wearing jeans or a dress.

What do you think of the looks? Have they sparked some ideas on what you plan on wearing to brunch on Saturday?

If you haven’t purchased your ticket yet for A Diva State of Mind Presents: Brunch For A Cause! please get yours today at http://brunchforacause.eventbrite.com. It’s going to be a great time!

To date, $150 has been raised to support Safe Shores via ticket sales and donations. But I know we can do much better than that!

Last month I had signed up to co-host a charity happy hour. The guy who was coordinating the event had submitted a proposal to a venue. I had called him a week before the scheduled happy hour only to find out that he hadn’t heard back from the venue after attempting to reach them multiple times via phone calls and emails. I’m not one to do things last minute so instead of scrambling to host the happy hour somewhere else, it just didn’t happen.

So while I sat at my desk that afternoon, the idea to have a charity brunch came to mind. Since I and so many others love brunch and I love giving back to my community, why not combine the two? That day, I literally came up with the name, a list of restaurants to consider and a date. I ran the idea past a few friends who loved it, so I moved forward with planning my first Brunch For A Cause.

The feedback has been great since I started promoting the event. Folks love the idea! However, that excitement hasn’t translated to many ticket sales and that makes me nervous. I know a lot of people, my friends included, are waiting until the last minute to purchase tickets (y’all like stressing me out don’t you? Lol).  I also know people can be forgetful and I worry that if they wait until the last minute, they’ll forget all together to get  a ticket. I often wonder, if “so and so were promoting this, it would probably sell out by now.” But I know I can not compare myself to others. It’s unfair to me; after all “comparison is the thief of joy.” But I can’t help it sometimes. *shrug*

I envision Brunch For A Cause becoming a signature quarterly event (speaking it into existence); it can not only serve as my way of giving back to the community, but also  encourage others to be involved and make an impact as well. Especially for those who may not have the time to volunteer as frequently as they’d like.

This may sound like I’m begging and maybe I am. I have no shame doing so! As you all have been so supportive of my blog and styling business, I humbly ask that you help me make my charity vision come to life. With your help, Brunch For A Cause can make a major impact in the DMV!

I hope you’ll join me on Saturday, February 1st—> http://brunchforacause.eventbrite.com. The last day to purchase is Wednesday, January 29th.

<3

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the African Pride Ultimate Beauty Social at The Beacon Hotel in DC with Krystin of Be Loud Be You.  This invitation only event was hosted by Erin Bailey of Scandalous Beauty, Joi-Marie of The Fab Empire, Lianne Farbes of The Makeup Girl (FYI she partnered with MAC to create the Hocus Pocus eye shadow) and Panana Jackson of Very Smart Brothas.

The Ultimate Beauty Social featured brunch, an introduction to the new African Pride products and a very candid discussion about hair.  Some of the topics included natural vs. relaxer, popular hair trends in DC, hair in the workplace, whether or not men play a role in women’s hair decisions and more. It was VERY interesting to hear the different perspectives and stories about these topics; especially the men’s point of view!

Overall, I had a great time attending the event. The brunch was good, the discussion was candid and of course it’s always great catching up with other bloggers and industry folks I hadn’t seen in awhile. I look forward to trying these new African Pride products, especially the Shea Butter Miracle Shampoo (great for those who are natural or transitioning) and Olive Miracle products.

To learn more about African Pride and the available products visit www.african-pride.com

Saturday I attended the Divas, MPH “New Year, New You” Brunch at Ulah Bistro. Along with enjoying food and unlimited mimosas, the brunch served as an opportunity to network with other women and discover how we want to better ourselves in 2013.

Following the ice breaker activity, we were all given a list of 30 questions to ask each other.  Now normally when you play this type of game, you are expecting to ask each other simple questions. But given the brunch was titled “New Year, New You” these questions really made you think.  I was not prepared! Some questions included:

• What is the biggest fear that has held you back from accomplishing a goal?
• What are your grateful for today?
• In reflecting in 2012, what’s one thing you wish you could subtract?
• What does success mean to you?

Following the questions activity, we enjoyed a delicious brunch. I had the breakfast sandwich which was pretty good. Other brunch options included steak and eggs, omelets and flat bread pizza.  Caroline Jhingory served as the keynote speaker; she shared her story on losing 150 lbs and some life lessons she learned along the way.

We concluded brunch by writing down three goals for 2013; our equation to success. After writing down our goals, we sealed them in a self addressed envelope. Divas, MPH will mail them to us at the end of the year and we’ll be able to see if we accomplished our goals for the year.

Attending brunch is always a good time, but brunch with a true focus on self empowerment and supporting one another is even better! I look forward to attending another Divas, MPH event in the future!

For more information on Divas, MPH visit www.divasmph.org