Getting Out Of Dodge This Weekend

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

german chocolate cupcake at How sweet it is, originally uploaded by nichellest.

I am going to Martha’s Vineyard to pretend that I am bourgie for a minute. There are lot of things going one here in NYC that I will be missing but you should check out. First you should VOTE, the deadline is today, for the food blog panel for SXSWi. There will be cupcakes if our panel is selected!

Comedic storytelling: Meat and Potatoes tonight at the Pit.

Trivia hunting and gathering:  Pop culture scavenger hunt in Midtown on Saturday at noon.

Campy: Camp Summer Camp’s last show at PS 122 will end with Neal Medlyn DJing. A dance party is on!

Go-Go Gowanus: Check out the Yard at Gowanus on Sunday for music.

See you in September which will totally rock.

Delicious Sandwich Social and Cupcake Picnic

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

tim the golden ticket winner, originally uploaded by nichellest.

The 4th Annual Delicious Sandwich Social was yesterday at Prospect Park. It was so much fun. The weather was beautiful, and I got to see comedian friends that I haven’t seen in ages.

The point of the social is to meet other people who made the sandwiches that are exchanged. I made a portobello mushroom sandwich with muenster cheese pepperjack cheese and green pepper. Eliot Glazer got my sandwich and he loved it. We also ate cupcakes from Ivy Bakery. The butter pecan onces were my favorite.

Tim won the golden ticket which means he got a bag of cool stuff including a pretty black and white polka dot apron and glove set from Carolyn’s Kitchen. Yay!

Comfort @ O At Home

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Last night I went to the O at Home event at the Hearst Tower. The theme was comfort and the speakers were Thom Filicia, Personal Finance Expert Jean Chatzky and Chef Art Smith.

Thom Filicia formerly of Queer Eye and current host of Dress My Next advises the audience about to bring more comfort into your home with interior design. He highly recommends personalizing your home with a mix of textures. He emphasized having a plan for the space and find furnishings, colors, pillows that fit how you will use the space.

Jean Chatzky spoke to the audience about financial comfort. She has a great book, Make Money Not Excuses, and she talked about how to stop using excuses and deal with your personal finances. As an entrepreneur, you need to look at both business and personal finances to succeed in your goals.

She outlined four simple steps to be richer.

1. Make a decent living.
2. Spend less than what you make.
3. Invest. Have your money work for you.
4. Protect yourself from the unexpected. Sock away money for emergencies.

Chef Art Smith prepared the delicious food which included shots of gazpacho, mini crab burgers with bacon and tiny cups of macaroni and cheese.
I hung out with MediaPost’s Kelly Samardak and talked to some cool women including Shannon from Krupp and Danica Lo from the New York Post.

I only wish there was more food and more opportunity to talk with the crowd. Name tags would have been good because people are likely to introduce themselves when they see your name. It was a very informative event.

This Week in People

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

kim and me, originally uploaded by nichellest.

Here’s my first post in a new weekly feature where I highlight the folks I have met in the past week. Starting with last night and rewinding back to Monday, I have met and hung out with so many cool people. Last night I stopped by the launch party for Glam’s new lifestyle blog network, Black Life and I caught up with Kim. Kim (pictured above) and I met briefly four years ago at a AfroPunk event where Stiffed played. The lead singer of Stiffed is now Santogold. Kim works at a cool arts nonprofit, Making Books Sing. Kim introduced me to her friend Kelly who is an event producer from Ubiquita NYC. Before the Glam party, I went to a clothing swap at St. Margaret’s House and was interviewed by meteorologist Elise Finch from WCBS News Channel 2. Hopefully, my comments about being green and ecologically correct will air on the news.

After the Glam party, I met Marissa, stylist and owner of Ke Haas Salon on Clinton Street on the Lower East Side.

During the day, I interviewed two dynamic CEOs. I met with Aaron Patzer of Mint in person and talked to Karen Northrup of Corefino over the phone.

Tuesday, I stopped by Ladies Lotto briefly, and I met Tina who is the founder/designer of Laid Back Home.

Monday, I went to a networking happy hour sponsored by American Business Media. I met Vikas Sapra who recognized me from Twitter. He is a techie and a turntablist.

Tweetup at Yuca

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Lisa, Twanna and Nichelle, originally uploaded by funkybrownchick.

I’m back in New York City and social. I stopped by Yuca last night to meet up with Liza and Twanna. It was great to meet Baratunde, Jose and Tim.

The mango margaritas at Yuca are delicious, but I burned the roof of my mouth on the fish fritters. Patience is a virtue.

Shrimp Burger and Sisters

shrimp burger

For my sister’s birthday, we went to Parish, a New Orleans restaurant and market located in Atlanta’s Inman Park neighborhood. I had the catfish, my middle sister had trout and the birthday girl had the shrimp burger pictured above.

Today, I visited Sweet Pockets, a cupcake bakery. I had a Olympis cupcake. Monday, I had a caramel cupcake at A Piece of Cake. (More on that on later when I blog it on CTTC).

Bones, [no] Thugs and Harmony

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Saturday, originally uploaded by nichellest.

I’m in Atlanta visiting the fam. My sister has this adorable little dog named Star who is 10 weeks old.

My dad made the most tasty BBQ ribs on Saturday. They were bone-sucking good. 🙂 Sunday, my family and I went for brunch at The Pecan, a delicious soul food restaurant in downtown College Park. The pepperjack grits are so good.

I got a copy of this new eco-magazine, Boho.