Fashion and Arts Humanities Fete

Purchase Tickets Here 
http://fahf-efbevent.eventbrite.com/

Looking forward to another great event here in Chicago. The 3rd Annual Fashion and Arts Humanity event is coming Saturday, October 26th. No clue what I'm going to wear because its semi-formal but this should be fun. It's at a great new venue called Harmony Event Venue (1908 South Millard Ave, Chicago). 

This is a fashion and art infused awards show. There will be live entertainment, fashion segments, art exhibits, food, red carpet, media, photography and even special appearances. 


Check out more details below and join me:
Time and Schedule:
5:00pm-6:45pm- Red Carpet Media Reception hosted by Miss Black South Chicago 2014 and Good Night Buzz!!! Enjoy the pre-show festivities including red carpet affairs, paparazzi , food, beverages, art exhibits, and more.

7:00-9:00pm – Fashion and Arts Humanity Fete’s Awards Presentation infused with live music and fashion production.

After Party: TBA

************2013 FAHF AWARD RECIPIENTS***************
New This Year: All guests will have a chance to meet the winners this year during our post celebration Meet & Greet! This will be your opportunity to connect with these Chi-Town powerful movers and shakers!!

Corrine Neal and Anthony Mosley of Collaboraction
Vau’ve Davis of Anais PR
Dianna Long of Urban Art Retreat
Julie Holloway of JMH Cre8ive Solutions
LaTonya Hubbard of Designing for Sickle Cell.
***

2013 FAHF Fashion Designers
Fermented Fruit
Bella and Sophia
Elizabeth Smith Fashions
Sarah Church
Amani Skalacki Jewelry

Music Performance by
Lights Alive Band

Interview with Celebrity Make-Up Artist Gita Bass

When it comes to makeup, I love to have fun but keep it relatively simple. When it comes to skincare, I look for ways to keep my skin youthful. With that being said, you can only imagine how excited I was when I got the opportunity to interview Celebrity Make-Up Artist Gita Bass. Gita has created looks for celebs like Ashley Greene and Selena Gomez. Take a moment to view my interview with Gita to learn great, easy to follow tips to keep your skin healthy and your makeup flawless.

The interview was great, so many takeaways to use on a daily basis. Below you'll find my cliff notes!

1. What type of moisturizing regimen do you recommend to help keep skin youthful and healthy?

Gita stressed that you want to find a skin care line, like Simple Skincare that is gentle, with no dyes or harsh chemicals. Regardless of skin type, there is a moisturizer out there for everyone. 

2. When it comes to creating an everyday natural look with makeup what do you recommend?

In the fall, use a moisturizer that is a little richer with an SPF. Then add a little color to your cheeks and lips, then finish it off with mascara.

3. Great go to colors for fall makeup? Is there really a red lipstick for every woman?

There is a red lipstick for everyone…whew! Ladies with warm skin tones go for warm reds. Then for us pale ladies like myself we should look for a blue based or pinkish red. Also, deep purple and plum is totally ok for fall. Fall is also time for smokey eyes but with rich jewel tones.

4. How does the everyday woman get a flawless red carpet look that will stay put?

Waterproof and long wear products. Bronzer and gorgeous skin are key!

5. What is an appropriate meet the family look?

Whatever makes you feel the most beautiful and the most confident. Be yourself!

6. Great cleansing routine?

Gita recommend Simple cleansing wipes and eye makeup remover.  Always cleanse, tone, and moisturize nightly (note to self)!

If you know me, you know I am relatively impatient when it comes to my excitement for trying new things. To stay true to my craziness, I decided to go out and buy some of the Simple products the night of my interview with Gita. I went to the where to buy part of Simple's website and quickly was able to find a CVS right in my neighborhood. There, I found Simple's Face Care Starter Kit. What a great way to draw people in and have them try out multiple products.Well the Simple verdict is in, I love it. My face felt very clean and refreshed after using all three products.

Thank you to Simple Skincare and Gita Bass for this opportunity. I learned a lot about skin care and how to create some key makeup looks the Simple way ;) 

Fave Five Friday

Time for my 5 favorite things from the week. 

ONE - I got to FaceTime with my nephew Charlie. He is such a smart little guy. He'll be two in a month. He always says, "I love you, aunt cole", and it melts my heart. He knows his aunt lives in Chicago and loves to FaceTime!

TWO - I purchased my iPhone 5s in gold this morning. Is suppose to ship next Tuesday. Hoping I get it next week! 

Random shot of me today.

THREE - Had a great night out with friends last night. Makes me realize how lucky I am to have such an amazing and diverse group of friends that can mix within different groups and all have a great time. 

FOUR - Downloaded iOS7 and it's pretty awesome. That is all :)

FIVE - Had a great meeting with a restaurant for a potential side social media project. Have to work on a proposal for them. A side project or two is always great for extra spending money. Plus, I love staying busy and connecting. It all eventually comes full circle. The more people you know the more you'll grow all around professionally. 

I have another favorite thing and its from the entire month. My salon introduced me to Bumble & Bumble Dryspun Finish Spray and Seaweed Shampoo. They make my hair...ahhhhmmmaaazzzing!! Love it. Not flat. Volume.

Friday's Five Faves

Today, I am jumping on a cool trend I noticed this morning. I saw at least 5-10 bloggers that I follow sharing five good things that happened to them this week. I will try to keep up with this every Friday, and call mine Friday's Five Faves. Don't be shocked if you sometimes see this posted on Saturday ha. 

1. I made Crockpot Chicken & Shrimp Gumbo and it was delicious. Super easy to make. I created a recipe and shared it here. By "created" I mean I took variations of about 5 different recipes then added and subtracted to make my own!

2. iPhone 5s announcement - Yep, I'm a dork. I am so ready for a new phone. I have the 4s still, so it's time for an upgrade! Now I just need someone to wait in line with me September 20th. 

3. Talked to one of my favorite friends on the phone today. Her and I have kept in touch for years and we always will but today was a great day where we finally sat down for a phone conversation. I hope to go visit her in NYC soon. She has always not only been a mentor to me but also just like a big sister. 

4. This may seem super insignificant but the blinds in my new apartment went up this week. I had paper blinds for two weeks. They did the trick but looked tacky. Now I have really nice heavy blinds up! My place feels very completed.  

5. My old best friend added me on LinkedIn after not talking for 3 years. Ok, this one sounds weird, I know. I met my best guy friend in college, he quickly became like a little brother. We stayed close for about 5 years after I graduated college. I am extremely close with his family to this day. About 3 years ago he met a girl, who I feel brainwashed him OR something. He stopped talking to me and his family when they got serious. I stopped trying to call a year into him never responding. A year ago I tried to email him but never heard anything. This past week I added him on LinkedIn thinking maybe he'd add me back and then I could email him. He connected. I emailed him. No response, yet. We shall see. 

Happy Friday Everyone! Have a wonderful weekend :) 

Puppy Love

And they called it puppy love 

Oh I guess they'll never know 

How a young heart really feels 

And why I love her so

Ok....so I'm being slightly dramatic. I have wanted a dog for so long but the timing and situation was just never right. Now I live alone and work from home...it's TIME! My apartment has pretty strict pet rules about "aggressive" breeds which bums me out. Dogs when raised right are not going to be aggressive. So a pit bull is out, which was my initial want. 

I started my hunt one Saturday at one of Chicago's adoption facilities. Found a dog that I fell in love with. This little guy was so cute. He is in the picture! His sheet said Boxer/Shepherd. Boxers are ok. Shepherds not so much. I felt like that could be hidden because it wasn't part of the look. I get home and realize they changed the breed to American Bulldog...sucks. Can't have that breed either. I went up there Sunday and talked to a woman who worked there to learn more about the breed and why they kept changing it. She gave me several other it could be. None of which it looked like in hundreds of photos online, but I was stuck. Hands tied. She was wrong and I could do nothing about it. Unfortunately, the dog just was too much of an unknown breed wise so I would not have been able to pass him with my apartment. The woman also was hinting to me that if it was even questionable that they would deny me for the dog. 

I now know how much I want a dog though. The hunt continues. I think I want a boxer mix for sure. They grow up kind of ugly but that gives it character. I know I will fall in love with the dog and not care if it's a little less attractive as it ages ;) 

Crockpot Chicken & Shrimp Gumbo

By no means is TheSavvyBrunette.com a food blog. Mainly because I cook like... NEVER. Ever since I moved into my new apartment I have had the urge to cook. Well this is the second time in a week so to me that is a huge urge ha. Anyhow, about a month ago I had chicken gumbo for the first time ever and it was delicious. Since then I have wanted to recreate it and add shrimp. I love shrimp. I'm relatively good at following directions so I figured I could pull this off. My only issue is that I don't like specific things so I always find about 3 recipes and chop them apart to make my own. This is what you see below. My version. I completely forgot to buy cornbread, which would have been amazing with this. Oops. Don't you forget. If you try this let me know how it works out and if you put your own flare to it. 

Before

Crockpot Time - 6 hours
Crockpot Temp - Low
Prep - 20 minutes
Makes about 4-6 servings!

Ingredients

Meats
1 lb uncooked shrimp
1 lb boneless chicken - cut into small cubes

Veggies
1 package frozen okra, thawed out
1 chopped green pepper1 cup chopped red onions 
2 chopped celery stalks


Spices
1 bay leaf

After

1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon of Creole Gumbo File (don't really know what it is, but the package said it was "great on gumbo")

Bases
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups tomato sauce (thin)

Grain
2 cups cooked rice

Directions

Pull out that trusty crockpot of yours. Add in EVERYTHING but the rice and shrimp. Mix everything well, cover and cook on low for 6 hours. The last 30 minutes add your uncooked shrimp. When you're ready to serve then serve it over rice. Do not put the rice in the crockpot unless you like mush. 

Whoop there it is....

....and it was damn good ;) 

If you aren't a gumbo person but want to try something you should try my Baked Mac & Cheese which I know is pure perfection! 

Online Dating - Can Women Make Moves Too?

How is it that online dating still has a relatively large stigma attached to it? It's 2013, a third of couples getting married met online. Lets all get over it. Shake it off. It is just online dating. Do not be embarrassed that your Mr./Mrs. Right didn't just fall off the turnip truck. Effort isn't a bad thing. People aren't meeting in grocery stores and at church as much as they use to. By the way, in the history of love did anyone really ever meet at the grocery store? I don't believe it. I want proof.

Today, there is a dating site for everyone - paid, free, straight, gay, second time around, and even sugar babies. I know about that one because my co-worker use to look at it (you know who you are). I'm sure somewhere out there there is a dating site for people who are gluten free. There really is a site for every type of person. Not only websites but now things like groupers exist and apps where you can swipe through potentials.

Here is maybe my biggest issue with people and online dating. Women who sign up for online dating sites and even pay for it but REFUSE to ever say hi to a man or even "flirt" or "wink" whatever the case may be. I do not understand the concept. Oh wait, there is more. These same women will complain that not enough men are contacting them. At this point I normally wonder if their parents dropped them when they were children. I completely agree that a man should take charge and event court a woman BUT to get to that point he has to meet you. There are thousands of people on dating sites, especially in big cities. Why not say hi to a guy who looks like a great fit. Spark a conversation. Don't worry that does not mean you have to propose and buy the ring. The weird thing is that I see this mainly with older friends who are still single. Break out of your shell. If things haven't worked your way yet, give something else a try. If you absolutely hate trying it then don't do it a second time.

I personally think a great match for everyone is out there. Maybe several. I don't think they all have to be in our backyard or just so happen to see you first and say hi to you first. If you want love and happily ever after and all that wonderful stuff put yourself out there more and maybe even say hi to someone first. It doesn't hurt. I mean no one likes when someone is not interested back but geez its online its not like it was a face to face rejection. Nut up ladies.

If you're one of these women I want to understand why? What is the harm in a hi to get the conversation started? You could be missing out on a wonderful catch.