My Instaweek 12.10.12

Happy Monday y'all! Hoping you guys had fab weekends filled with holiday cheer, shopping sprees and cupcakes. No? Me either lol. See below for my weekly recap:

Holiday Fetes

'Tis the season for festive cocktails & chic attire. I party-hopped to quite a few holiday parties last week.  One was the Miss Jessie's annual holiday party. Love me some Miss Jessie's. Founders and fab sisters Titi and Miko were both in attendance.

Miko of Miss Jessie's & I (Photo c/o Glamazons Blog)

DJ DimePiece (who's gorgeous by the way) was on the 1's & 2's, and my fave bloggers and editors were in attendance shimmying down to the tunes. The Miss Jessie's salon in Soho is absolutely gorgeous. Any shindig that has me surrounded by curly hair products from wall to wall is a helluva party in my book.

Me & Gia of Curly Girl Collective

I opted for a sheer blouse, a plum lip and a top knot for the occasion. 

I also sashayed up and through the Nylon Pop-Up Shop launch event at 72 Gansevoort St, NYC. They're hosting their pop-up shop all month. They had everything from mini manicures courtesy Essie, beauty makeovers by Smashbox, cupcakes by Georgetown Cupcakes (why are these SO good??), to cocktails by Svedka and Suntory Whisky. Nylon did an amazing job of vetting out some amazing brands for their shop. You should totally check it out!

Sugar & Spice

So you guys already know I'm obsessed with my new "LoveBrownSugar" nail lacquer for LiSi Cosmetics. I've been finding cool ways of mixing. the polish with fun holiday trends like glitter polish  and nail appliques, and so have other folks. Coming up this week will be a Style.Play.Polish post about how to create the glitter-tipped look so stay tuned.

Left: My nails | Middle: LBS Assistant Grace | Right: Danielle Young of Hello Beautiful

Speaking of "mixing", I been cooking! Yes, your girl is finally embracing the pot & pan. I guess now that I'm getting older, I feel like I need to pick up the torch and start contributing more than just brownies and sugar cookies at the family holiday parties. So this weekend I made a southern meal for myself and my roomies. Fried chicken, macaroni & cheese and green beans. (*pats self on back*). And now I'll proceed to the gym to burn off those calories. Deep sigh. (It was good though y'all. Real good.)

What did you guys get into this weekend? Do tell!

My Insta-Week 9.3.2012

Happy Labor Day folks! Can you believe it's the last hurrah of summer already? I can't. I truly lived it up this summer. Hope you did too. Here's a glimpse of my last week & weekend of summer.

- My Whole 30 is officially over! Phew, what a journey. If you're thinking about doing a detox or body reset before the seasons change, I totally recommend Whole 30. Check out my post about it here - it's life changing! Even though it's over, I'm finding myself making much smarter health choices when it comes to food. That's something no "fad diet" can do. It's truly a mental reset. I know you guys are all like "Twitpic or didn't happen" so here's the proof below - before & after pics.

About 2 Weeks into Whole 30 (couldn't fit this dress before Whole 30 started)

This is 4 Weeks after Whole 30! The dress fits slimmer through the chest, waist & hips

-  I celebrated my blog's 3 Year Anniversary on Thursday! HUGE thanks to everyone who came out. Check out what a blast we had in this post or the Facebook Album. Also big up to Stella & Dot for giving me the perfect jewels to compliment my 'fit. The Renegade cluster ring on the top right is one of the pieces they gave me. I now wear it with everything.

- Made In America Festival this weekend was the perfect sweet ending to an awesome summer. I sang, I shimmied, I snapped Street Style. Twas good times. Check out the Kickin' It post for more on that.

What are you most looking forward to this fall? Soundoff below!

My Insta-Week: 7.30.12

Last week was fill up pink and turquoise. If you haven't notices, those are my favorite colors! To sum it up, here's a list of what I got into the last week of the month:

- I had the pleasure of hosting a super chic digital launch party for LiSi Cosmetics. Huge hugs to all my blogger boos who came out to celebrate. If you guys haven't heard of LiSi, don't be shy - go to the website and check out some of their products.

- I've been scouting out locations for my big end-of-summer LoveBrownSugar 3 Year Anniversary Bash which I can't wait to share more details about! Everything is hush hush for now, but just know makeup, sweets & cocktails will be involved.

- Since I had been doing so much traveling during the first half of the month, I spent last week (and the weekend) catching up with friends & family. I had one of my good friends over for cocktails in my garden. Learning to appreciate little moments like this in life. Sometimes you need a break!

How was your weekend? Do tell!

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My Insta-Week: 7.23.12

The last few weeks have been quite eventful! So much that I haven't had a chance to post one of these in over two weeks. So here's a super brief rundown of the majority of my July. Still about a week left in this month, let's make it great!


- So I went to Miami the week before last for a much-needed (real) vacation. Though I have been traveling alot lately (from Los Angeles for the BET Awards to New Orleans for Essence Music Festival), I hadn't had a real break to just, well, chill and not work! So I packed up my things and headed down to the shores of South Beach with some friends.

This is me pretending to be rich in my new bathing suit - from the H&M Plus line!

So among beach bumming on South Beach, I partied, ran into both Lil' Scrappy and Stevie J (hello Love & Hip-Hop ATL), pool-hopped and posed for group photos. Best way to spend a weekend getaway.

- I discovered a few old things and few new ones recently. I went home to see my parents and ended up cleaning out an old drawer with souvenirs from my past study-abroad travels. Don't you love those moments? I also discovered my new favorite shoe line Ron Donovan. Sexy stilettos. I nearly fainted. And I did my very first Berry Mango smoothie all by my self. Yep yep, big girl now...

Demetria Lucas (ABelleInBK.com), Jessica Andrews (GlamazonsBlog.com)

- Yesterday I co-hosted an amazing brunch with women of color who work in the social media space. It was so awesome being around such beautiful women who are trying to make change with their social media presence. The lovely Kim Coles (you may know her as Sinclair from Living Single) showed up and ate and talked with us. The lovely folks at Shea Moisture sponsored. I love them and I love her.

How was your week/weekend? Talk to me!

My Insta-Week: 6.18.12

Last week was fun. Putting this recap together makes me excited about the cool things to come this week. Here's a rundown of all I got into this week (clockwise from left):

- My hair is growing! I took my makeup off and my hair down for an au naturale pic on Friday and I'm so surprised at how fast it's growing out. It's been about 1.5 years now. Remember my Big Chop?

- I've been thoroughly enjoying my new backyard & garden. Had a few business meetings out there this weekend. Look out for a new Home Improvement series post this week.

- I'm crazy for Neon this summer. On Instagram, I hosted a giveaway/contest with this pic asking if my followers thought I opted for Essie Bright Tights or Funky Limelight:

Turns out I opted for Essie's Bright Tights! Congrats to Kara Johnson for winning the giveaway.

- In beauty product previews, I tried out Ojon's Rare Blend Oil this weekend and was thoroughly pleased with my results. It left my hair silky soft and moisturized. Full review coming soon!

How was your week? 

Follow me on Instagram @LoveBrownSugar for my daily updates, giveaways & more!

My Insta-Week 6.11.12

Last week was quite eventful. Here's were some highlights:

- I went to an Ojon Beauty event and hung out with Melanie Fiona

- I feel in love with this California Coral nail color from Essie at the salon

- I was gifted this super cool Gold Black Label Leaf ring from BomBom Jewelry

- I took a break from my all-gold-everything jewels and opted for silver for a day.

How was your week?


Follow me on Instagram @LoveBrownSugar

My Insta-Weekend 6.8.12

It was everything a great summer weekend should be - sunny weather, bright clothing, brighter drinks and sale shopping. This weekend I...

- Spent too much time shopping at Joe Fresh (love this shop, I literally spent 2 hours browsing, trying on clothes and sampling their nail polish bar)

- Got cheap margaritas at this amazing outdoor mexican spot in midtown called Blockheads

- Indulged on a childhood favorite, Mister Softee

What did you guys get into this weekend?


Follow me on Instagram! I'm @LoveBrownSugar