did it

So If any of you read this post from January 1st. where I rant about re-doing a tutorial I did in school, well that I was supposed to do in a web design class but didn't, I did it, again. I got around to it after I graduated, when I wanted to sharpen my web design skills so I can build The Magazine website myself but that was over a year ago, and I've not done a thing toward website since a little after that till now. I re-did the tutorial, not as precisely as the first go round but I got the point while doing it, again :) just to prove to you all (all 2 of you) and myself that Im not as much of a slacker as I was all of 2010, check out the screenshots below.


Okay thats not exactly proof, but you'll have to take my word for it. While your taking that take a sneak peak below at a photo shoot I did yesterday. 2011 has no other choice but to be my year.8:09p.m.Model: Tameka Make-Up: Tiana Location: West Side Chicago

If I were A Rich Girl: January Edition

Jeffery Campbell, Tasman $160. Spotted on WhereDidYouGetThat.com, the link to purchase is on her page at the bottom of the post from January 30 2011, Love Karen.



Alexander Wang Noemi combat booties, $685. Spotted at shopbop.com

Bod & Christensen, $130 at discount retailer, would go for about $350 original pricing. Seeing this suede jacket was my first time hearing about the brand. They are a Canadian leather goods supplier based out of Montreal, is what I gather from google.

Jessica Simpson $50 at discount retailer.
Cynthia Steffe, at discount retailer for $130, not marked down to $99. It's gorgeous, its black and it's soft, reminds me of luxury.


L*Space $141,Stardust Print One Piece. Spotted on shopbop.com. Now honestly, this is only kind of cute. I really like the potential of this piece, if the print was a bit darker and the fringe in one of the colors of the print, with another modification here and there this would be an amazing swimwear piece.

10:32p.m.

Concert cont.

So umm yea, I got to see Lauryn Hill finally. My own personal review, it wasn't awful because its Lauryn of course but what would have been wonderful was if she hadn't turned every song of hers into 10 minute long, semi- rock, non sing along, versions of themselves. The only person who should be singing 10 minute long songs is Erykah Badu! I don't really mean that, just wanted to say it.
Either way I didn't get to do the video thing that I wanted to do for the concert , but I'll of course try again next concert around. I've seen him a bunch of times so I don't know why but I'd love to see Jay-Z this year, that would make a good behind my scenes video.
Also I didn't get good photos at all of anything and I wouldn't be in a rush to see Lauryn again unless she put out some amazing new music and it seemed like she would actually perform the songs the way or somewhat close to the way they sound on the album. It's a waste if I can't sing along or hardly understand what song is even about to start, but thats just me. I wore what's in the picture from the last post below, nothing spectacular, but cute non the less.
10:05p.m.

Getting Ready -Concert Lauryn Hill

On my way to see Lauryn Hill, if I get to sneak my camera in I'll be letting you see what I see soon, running behind now so I'll update tomorrow if I can, still deciding what to wear! It's freezing but I can't resist the urge to wear these grainy looking leggings, should be okay if the boyfriend drops me off at the door.

8:10p.m.

Balance

I've always had issue's with time management. The latest big thing I'm including my time is love. That's right LOVE. I really need to find some kind of balance to being there for him and being there for me, how do people do it?1:57p.m.

material things

My three favorite rings, some shoes I have. If this were one of those popular fashion blogs, I would have done a give away for the natural colored Sam Edelman sandals pictured below, but since no one reads it, I just returned them to the store and used the store credit for other cute things, so that worked out nicely. The scarf is my latest impulse buy. It was love at first sight and $13. The nail color is Teal Envy by Klean Colors.
The scarf again, while at the Amel Larrieux performance this past Friday.5:48p.m.

Special Sauce Sunday: Featurette Amel Larrieux

So Friday night I headed to a popular nightclub here in Chicago to see my favorite singer perform live. It was my second time seeing Amel Larrieux perform live, the first being a couple years ago, February 2007 I believe. Despite the fact that I wish I'd shared my spare ticket with someone more deserving I was extremely happy when Amel began her performance right after midnight hit.
I don't know about her other fans, but I assume like me, their first time hearing her was on the radio back in 1995 when she was part of a duo called Groove Theory, and the hit song playing in regular rotation was Tell Me. I got my copy of that CD by ordering it, along with a couple more from one of those rip out and mail in club forms that were in every magazine blaring the get so many for a penny irresistible deal of the decade. I never paid attention to the fine print but at such a young age when the club membership bill came in the mail I was happy for a piece of mail with my name on it, but had no intention of sending them the penny or anything else.
I have no idea what album I played first on my cassette/single CD boom box but I know that Groove Theory's only release is the only CD I still play to this day.
Some years after that Amel went solo and that album was Infinite Possibilities. I admittedly did not buy this album when it came out, but only because I was poor and barely out of 8th grade. But from this CD do remember some television interviews of hers and the video for the single "Get Up", both grabbed my attention, but the interview stuck with me, and I wish I could say what about it did, but I have no idea, can't remember. I do remember thinking the video was strange and don't remember seeing it on the Box to often.
Aside from my constant need to hear the song "Keep Tryin" from the Groove Theory album, to get me through many difficult moments of youth, Amel was pretty much out of sight out of mind. Then out of nowhere she was on the radio again with the most beautiful song that no one knew the correct words to, except for me by the third time I heard it. The song was "For Real" and I was on edge waiting for the album to come out. Bravebird came out in 2004, while I was in college. By then I had money enough to go get it the day it came out. The only person I could share the excitement with was my friend Senyo who drove me to Best Buy and got the album as well, if I remember correctly I had to resist the urge to purchase two copies. The album was a smash hit in my eyes and ears but much to my surprise Amel released another album while I was in college. Two years later "Morning" came out and off to Best Buy I was again to support my favorite singer and her and her husbands record label Blisslife. This time I drove myself, I still had money and was doing well enough to have a car... the same car I have today...but anyway this CD is probably my least favorite. I can't listen to it all the way through like I do the others, however there are two standout songs from the album that I listen to on repeat and a that solidified Amel's spot as my favorite all over again, "Weary" and "Gills & Tails."
Then the unthinkable happened, Amel released another album, the very next year but I didn't hear about it immediately, I don't recall seeing it in Best Buy and I missed the new music Tuesday to get it even if it was there. I was hurt, until the next day when I realized it was a Jazz album. Don't get me wrong Jazz is fine with me but being back in my usual poor form and with the Internet, YouTube etc. the all consuming furor that usually overcomes me at album drop time just wasn't there. But that same feeling was back and in full effect as I waited patiently for over an hour for her cheating short performance to begin this past Friday. Despite the constant and growing annoyance from the person I shouldn't have brought with me I must admit again that I was in complete and total bliss during the short performance. However the time I saw her years ago is what I'd call a show.
Amel's daughter Sky Larrieux on the keyboards.
Amel has done a couple collaborations, been featured on a couple soundtracks and if I remember correctly was in a Coke-Cola ad campaign years ago with other and more popular artists. Her music is categorized as neo-soul which fits but her voice is unlike any other artists in the genre and though the content of her songs from the lyrics to the beats fit the category there is still something different about Amel Larrieux. Where most the other neo-soul singers can sing each others songs of course with their own twist, none of them can attempt an Amel Larrieux song. Maybe it's that there is so little of her personal life out there or maybe it because her song's don't seem to speak to anything we may have heard or would like to assume about her, whatever it is, the music is magic, at least for me.11:49p.m.

Resolutions?...

...well not really resolutions don't really have any and haven't had any in a few years. What I have is more like plain old goals, and I have them year round. I guess its just that clearly, like everyone else, January 1st every year feels like a fresh start. The time to try again to do whatever you haven't done is upon us all and there's nothing new for me to add. I just want to actually do some of the things I've been saying I'm going to do since I graduated from college almost three years ago, damn how time flies, for real!

So for starters I'm going to work on the website for the magazine. I'll do this by first working on my web design skills, which I let rust along with most other skills in 2010. I have a project package that I saved from school, though when I had to do it for class I slacked off big time. But the hoarder in me whipped it out and started and completed it back in late 2008 or early 2009 when I was still high off the possibilities and ideas for what the near future had in store for me. The near future has come and gone and I've barely left square one, so I'm kind of starting over from the beginning, with the website. The project package is 43 pages and 8 activities long. The project gives an estimated time in which you should be able to complete each activity, for example activity two should take no longer than 20-30 minutes. I don't think there are any that should take longer than and hour, so I should basically be able to finish this in the standard 8 hour work day. I can't remember how long it took me last time but part of the reason I' doing it again is for repitition, I'd like to be able to do some of these standard tools without having to reference a tutorial. Because I know I don't have the attention span to do it in one siting, I'll try for getting it done before the end of this month, and I'm probably not going to start until next week, not to be putting it off but because I already have a few things I really need to get done this first week of the year, so I can focus on focusing and completing. Okay I'm tired Goodnight 12:49a.m.