The second annual Social Media Week was a success. There were lots of good panels and interesting people. I heard people got job interviews, made business deals and garnered new friends and followers.

Monday, I attended the Branding The Future With Social Engagement panel which was sponsored by Pepsi Refresh. Kelly from Media Post covered the event.

Wednesday, I was like chasing a dragon but there were no drugs involved. Four stops in one night started with Next New Networks party, Women in Social Media panel, Sound CTRL event and drinks with Brian Solis.

Lunch with Jeff Pulver and 50 people at the Roger Smith was fun. I met MWW’s Alex Payne. I also met  Joe Mulligan and Art Jones. Thursday evening, I went to Keen Kong party and Obliterati.

Friday’s food and social media panel at Whole Foods was good. I stuck around afterward to hang out with @db @joemull and @rklas for sushi. Joe created the Bowery Roll.

Tomorrow I am leaving for Seattle, Washington for Cinnabon for a sweet retreat. All I know about Seattle is what I see on “Grey’s Anatomy”. I am excited to be a part of a special mission along with other bloggers to sample new treats from Cinnabon which includes CUPCAKES!

Update: Here is the list of bloggers who will be going.

Amanda Acuna, Mommy Mandy

Alice Currah, Savory Sweet Life

Cathy Danh, Gastronomy Blog

Tanya Gordon, Mommy Goggles

Carey Jones, GigaChef.com

Elita Kalma, Soul Parents

Shara Lawrence-Weiss, Mommy Perks

Nichelle Stephens, Cupcakes Take the Cake

Erin Zimmer, Serious Eats

I will be blogging about this here, Cupcakes Take The Cake and on Twitter.

[Sponsored Post.] A few weeks ago, I got an email from Andy at FSC Interactive asking if I wanted a King Cake from Sucre, a bakery based in New Orleans. A King Cake is a Mardi Gras Cake that is a coffee cake. It is usually a ring of twisted bread similar to that used in brioche topped with icing or sugar usually colored purple, green, and gold.

The cake was delivered via UPS on Thursday in a special King Cake box.

The King Cake came Mardi Gras Beads, and they were the good ones not like the cheap one from 99cents store.

I brought the cake over to my friend Anita’s place. She is from New Orleans, so would be a perfect person to share the cake with. She heated up the cake for 10 minutes, and we ate with tea. The cake was delicious with a cream cheese filling. If you want to order a King Cake from Sucre, then you can order it online. The cake is $19 and the shipping is $9.95.

First off, I don’t hate “Social Media Week”. It just reminds me of those made up Hallmark holidays like Sweetheart Day. I will be attending a few Social Media events next week which is like pre-gaming for the big orgy of tech networking, SXSW. I will be there, too.
Anyway, these are a few fun events for the first week of February.

Feb 1. Valentine Craft Night at Etsy Labs (55 Washington Street) with Rachel Johnson of SwapBot. 4-8PM. FREE

Feb 2. Summit Bar on Avenue C is making fancy drinks. Free tastes and $6 cocktails. 6-8PM

Feb 2. Aziz Ansari is back in town to promote his new comedy CD and to answer questions at the Soho Apple Store. 7PM

Feb 5. Carolyn Castiglia’s Splurge. It is a comedy show with LIVE music (Adira Amram), funny comics and a video. Happy Ending. 8PM Free

Last night, I went to the Paley Center for the first time in years. It was so cool to see a screening of VH1’s new Rock Doc, “Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America”. I danced in my seat watching the footage of The Jacksons, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, The O’Jays and many others performed on Soul Train. Don Cornelius is a fearless legend who produced the show which ran for 35 years. Growing up, I watched the show on Saturday afternoons and it was a tradition to watch it with my family. Speaking of family, I was pleasantly surprised to my cousin, Imani Perry, in the documentary as one of the “talking head” experts. Yay!

After the screening, there was a panel discussion that was moderated by Danyel Smith. Panelists were Soul Train dancer Tyrone Proctor, Big Bank Hank from The Sugarhill Gang and Questlove from The Legendary Roots Crew.

The Soul Train documentary will premiere on VH1 on February 5th. Check local listings!

Jan 28. Witstream, Michael Ian Black’s curated comedy twitter feed is having a live comedy show at 92YTribeca. 9PM  Free wifi  $12 Adv. $15 Door [BTW, loved MIB's guest performance on Mercy]

Jan 30. Molly Crabapple’s Dr. Sketchy’s class will have a tribute to Paul Pope. It is @The Slipper Room (167 Orchard St.) from 4-7PM. $10 adv. $12 door.

Jan 30. Sweet Revenge (62 Carmine Street) is having a Haiti fundraiser and will be debuting a special Haitian inspired cupcake with guava buttercream. All Day Saturday. Festivities start at 11AM.

Feb 1. Freestyle Love Supreme @Comix (353 West 14th St.) 8PM $20 Adv. $25 Day of Show.

Last night I attended a screening at the offices of Women’s eNews. It was for a screening of the documentary, “Crisis In The Cribs” which is about African American infant mortality. Tonya Lewis Lee is the producer of the film and she is also the spokesperson for the U.S. Office of Minority Health’s A Healthy Baby Begins with You campaign.

I was struck by how devastating the rate of infant mortality is for African American women. It crosses socioeconomic status, so it effects all African American women. Infant Mortality for the African-American community is a pressing, but often overlooked, public health issue. The rate of death for African American babies before their first birthday is twice the rate of white babies and greatly outpaces the national average.

Attending the screening, there were bloggers, Kimberly Seals Allers from Mocha Manual, Nikki from Mommy Factor and Lucinda from Corporate Mom Dropouts. I also spotted actress Tamara Tunie whose friend works with a nonprofit that helps homeless mothers.

What can you do? Spread the word. Get a copy of the documentary and have a screening. Be healthy. Even if you don’t plan to have kids, set the example.

It is an extra special show. It’s the blog show. Chez Pim will be on the show.

Sitting next to The Sophisticate Gourmet and 55 Secret Street.
Chez Pim is making Pad Thai.

Jennifer Koppleman Hutt from Whatever Martha, just played “Let’s Get Physical on her recorder.

Andrew Ritchie has a blog called Martha Moments. Andrew and Martha are making cute “yarn cards”.

Briana Campbell has a blog devoted to get hired at Martha Stewart.

After the show, I took a picture with Nichelle Pace and Nichelle Gainer! Later I had coffee at Stumptown Coffee at the Ace Hotel, and lunch at Ma Peche. It’s been a glorious day!

Found this photo on iStockPhoto and it is personifies what I want to say here, “Haiti has a face”. I have never been to Haiti. I know several Haitian Americans, and can only hope that their families are OK. If you are on Twitter, you should follow Wyclef who even before this earthquake has been leading humanitarian efforts in Haiti for years. I saw him at the 140Conference last year and he was great.

Here are some useful information that lists ways you can help from NPR.

Jan 14 Book party for Louisa Shafia’s new cookbook, Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life. at Jimmy’s 43. $22.50 adv. $25 at the door. It is also a fundraiser for Just Food. Price of admission includes a signed copy of the book and an sampling of small plates.

Jan 19 Stained glass artist Joseph Cavelieri is having an artist reception at THINK coffee. Work will include The Simpsons “Missing Episode” series and the Muscle Man series. (1 Bleecker St near Bowery) 7-9pm FREE

Jan 21 Jami Attenberg is back with a new novel, The Melting Season. Her first reading in Manhattan will be at the Barnes & Noble Tribeca (97 Warren Street). FREE

Not time sensitive but interesting: I love this song by Childish Gambino (AKA Actor Donald Glover), “Bitch Look At Me Now“. He raps over Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks”. Wow! Next, I hope he raps over the Dirty Projectors’ “Stillness Is The Move”.