Dreidel Cookies!

Over the weekend I had lots of holiday cheer sprinkled on me and I went to my very first Dreidels & Drinks party! I worked in higher education for 7 years and left with 2 grad assistants that are like my family. Leah is Jewish and she’s been very cool about teaching me about her faith and her holidays so I was excited for a little pre-Hanukkah celebration.

The Hostess & Me

Can I say that if I’m the black Martha Stewart, Leah is the Jewish Martha Stewart. Everything was so adorably decorated that I didn’t want to eat anything it was so perfect!

The thing that cracked me up the most was before the party she asked me if she’d make it on the blog if her party was a success. LOL I didn’t know getting your own post on the The Art of Accessories or Crumbs & Creativity was a life highlight but I’m going to oblige her.

Another added bonus of the evening, I got to see a couple of former students and catch up. Cait (pictured above left) was wearing a very cool chunky black knitted scarf that she bought at the Gap. I’m now on a mission to knit one in a vibrant shade that’s just as chunky and fun as hers. I feel like I need it in my favorite shade of green…

And since tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah I thought it was only proper for me to share my first pre-Hanukkah party. Happy Hanukkah!

Here’s the honest truth, I am not meant to be a socialite. I’m just not. I don’t like parties, mingling or “networking” and without my number one party partner in crime Jess it is a bit difficult for me to really get up and go to parties and happy hours. BUT my good friend Andrea of Fly blogwas celebrating her blog turning 5 last week at the Anthropologie in Washington, DC so I HAD to come and celebrate.

2 Andreas {Stylin & Profilin on the left - Fly on the right}

If you haven’t checked out Andrea’s blog, you should. She’s a wonderful artist, graphic designer and now college professor! You might also recognize her from last year’s Gift Guide.

The party was held at the Anthropologie store in DC and I love how well the stores are styled. And they smell amazing, the candles are absolute insanity. And I was introduced to Brown Betty cupcakes a Philadelphia treat that Andrea thought DC needed to experience – and they were delicious.

I just thought I’d share a few pics from the evening and congratulate Andrea on 5 fabulous years of being Fly. For the rest of the photos you can always check out my Flickr stream.

Yesterday I had the extreme pleasure of getting to go to the White House for a Holiday Tweetup! I even got to bring the husband along as my plus one for the day. The first half of the day was spent at the Old Executive Office Building and we heard from the following White House administration staff:

• Tina Tchen, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady (Kenny’s favorite)
• Jon Carson, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Engagement (@joncarson44 & http://www.whitehouse.gov/engage)
• Brad Cooper, Executive Director of Joining Forces (@joiningforces & http://www.joiningforces.gov)
• Aneesh Chopra, Assistant to the President for Technology and US Chief Technology Officer (@aneeshchopra)
• Brian Deese, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council (http://www.whitehouse.gov/economy/jobsact)
• Laura Dowling, White House florist
• Macon Phillips, Special Assistant to the President and Director of Digital Strategy (@macon44)
• Kori Schulman, Deputy Director of Online Outreach in the Office of Digital Strategy (@ks44)
• Bill Yosses, White House pastry chef

The theme is Shine Give Share and that was seen all over the house. There was also a huge emphasis on military families and service. I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful and ornate it all was.

There were also replicas of Bo, the White House first dog, in every room. It was kind of like a game of Where’s Waldo but instead it was Where’s Bo. This version of Bo was made out of marshmallows and licorice but he was also 4 ft tall and made out of felt, tiny and made of buttons, even smaller and made out of frosting…Bo was everywhere.

And this replica of the White House…it’s made out of gingerbread and white chocolate. It was insanely beautiful. There are a lot of pictures on Flickr and you can read up about the Holidays on the White House site here but I’m adding a slideshow of my pictures to give you a better peek into the holidays at the White House (I promise to update the captions tonight, I just had to get these up in a hurry so I could talk about it!).
Enjoy!

Last night I went to a Verizon Wireless store in Washington, DC for their Confessions of a Smartaholic series last night with Gabrielle Union. Apparently last month they had Kimora Lee Simmons…I love Kimora and totally would’ve gone to that event but last night was Gabrielle Union. I met up with friends and fellow bloggers Andrea from Stylin’ & Profilin and Andrea from Fly and we were all curious what this event would be about.

I actually ended up getting a seat in the second row (almost took an old lady out…I’m not too good to elbow someone) and got separated from the girls but I was close enough to take pictures. And speaking of pictures, half way through the event when I pulled my camera up to take another series of pictures I got tapped on the shoulder and told, “no pictures.” Um…there were big flashes coming from all around the room and we’re 30 minutes in – NOW you want to say no pictures? Whatever.

Gabrielle spoke one on one with Alesha Renee, a young lady who has done some work for BET. They asked her about her career, life, Hollywood and they briefly asked her about her technology. Gabby’s a Blackberry user. They also opened up the even to questions from the audience and there was a lot of laughter, great discussion and even a few tears. I think I like Gabrielle Union even more now that I’ve been in a up close and personal kind of event with her.

What I didn’t love was the Verizon folks trying to sell some devices. I’m a Verizon customer but the deals they offered at this event weren’t any better than the standard ones they had online. As soon as you walked in the door they hit you up with tablets to “sign in” but really I’m sure they just wanted my contact info to hit me up about Verizon specials. Sales events are never my favorite.

All in all it was a nice event on a Thursday evening. I’d definitely come back to hear other women of color speak about what makes them tick and what makes them so successful. Has anyone else heard or been to one of these Verizon Smartaholics events? I’m curious where else they’re doing them.

I almost forgot! If you’re in the DC area, I’m speaking on a panel on Sunday about blogging! Check out the Evenbrite page for more details and come out!