The Rundown: New Year's Eve (the movie) & Other Things

How you dewin'?





Don't you just love Wendy? I do, lol. Anyway, I'm better than good and working on GREAT and I hope all you loyal readers are doing the same :-)


Last week and the weekend were sooo fun and busy for me! I went to the Refinery29 and TopShop Chicago holiday shopping party last Tuesday, a People Magazine premiere for New year's Eve on Thursday and out thrifting/craft supply gathering/partying/clubbing with my girls on Saturday. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was exhausted, lol.


Let's start with what I wore to the People Magazine premiere party for the new film New Year's Eve...

FOTN (face of the night) = Make Up For Ever Water Proof Eyebrow Corrector in "No 4 Dark Brown Black" (LOVE this stuff, full review to come soon), Mabelline Bronze Glitz Eyeshadow Trio, Mabelline EyeStudio Master Drama Cream Pencil in "Midnight Master" (last blogged about here, full review to come soon), L'Oreal Paris Voluminous False Fiber Lashes in "Blackest Black" (tweeted about the fawesomeness of this mascara, full review to come soon) and Lancome Paris Color Design Cream Lipstick in "Front Page" (fave lippy, soon to be blogged about).

Outfit Deets:


Earrings = F21
Bracelets = F21 & Old Navy
Rings = eBay (seen here) & Charlotte Russe
Necklace = Unique Thrift Store
Scarf = Dollar Tree
Orange Cardi = Alloy
Leopard print blouse = Unique Thrift Store (seen here)
Black Leather Belt = Gap
Dark Brown Super Skinny Twill Pants = Delia's
Brown Booties = Kohl's (seen here)
Leopard Print Satchel = Alloy (seen here)
Black Leather Jacket = Wilson's


I really liked this outfit for a casual night out. I wound up wearing a different coat though because it was freezing that night. Now on to the movie...


NYE is a feel good family oriented film (rated PG-13) directed by Gary Marshall. The ensemble cast features the likes of Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffer, Halle Berry, Ashton Kutcher, Common, Zac Effron, Sarah Jessica Parker and many many more of Hollywood's elite. Now, you would think that with a cast like that the movie would be a hit right? Wrong! This movie was snore city! Both me and my girl Kristena fell asleep during the movie. What's more, when leaving the theater and talking to other movie patrons, we discovered many of them fell asleep too. Not a good sign. I just have to say that the acting was bad, the script was worse and the overall flow of the movie was like a clogged drain. I'm so glad we saw this movie for free. The People Magazine swagg bag provided very little icing on the cake. Here's what it contained...

In the bag: An issue of People Mag, sample of Halle Berry's perfume "Halle", a bar of Dove soap, a sample of Taster's Choice instant coffee and various coupons (not pictured). Very underwhelming.

Not much to be excited about right? I didn't think so either. The perfume smelled good though. Here's a pic of me and the girls...

L-R: Liesbeth, Ericka, Kristena and Moi. Naimah couldn't make it.

We were happy to be out of that theater, lol.


The movie was Thursday. On Saturday I went with my homegirl Naimah to the fabric store for some crafting supplies. I picked up some buttons...

I saw some earrings just like this in the thrift store today (blog to come on Thursday) for $10. These buttons were marked for $1.75 but after 50% off and 9.5% sales tax, they were a whopping 95 cents. I'm planning a sweet DIY earring project for these babies. My one regret from Saturday's thrifting adventure was not buying this beautiful piece of awesomeness right here...

It physically hurt me not to buy this vintage sequined blouse, my goodness it was beautiful! It cost $40 and I just wasn't prepared to spend that kind of money on one item. I'm now stalking it until the price is reduced. I hope no one steals it from me.


After the adventures in thrifting, my homegirl and I grabbed some pre-party food at nasty ass Taco Hell. I don't usually eat garbage, but I was STARVING. Good thing we went there too because I found something in the restroom...

Yep, it was my lucky day, lol. I wish it had been a $50 instead. After Taco Hell, we both had to rush home and prepare for the night's festivities: a holiday party and a night of house music at Output Lounge. I only have one picture from the fray...

This was me in a cab on the way to the club from the wack holiday party. No offense to my homegirl or her people who threw the party, lol. It wasn't my type of party though. At the club I had a Long Island Iced Tea (after the Bailey's spiked hot cocoa I'd had at the party) and proceeded to get it in on the dance floor until my knees ached and my legs quaked. It was a great night.


And that was my end of the week/weekend rundown. How  was your weekend? Have you started your rotation on the holiday party circuit yet? Let a sistah know!

My album review of Common's "Be" (Originally posted Wednesday, May 25, 2005)

I copped it yesterday evening and I've been listening to it ever since. First and foremost I just have to say I am tired of Kanye West. He's an aiight producer and he's in demand, but lyrically, he's wack. He has no flow and he's just fucking annoying. Don't get me wrong, he has made some good songs and I respect him for it but anyone can speed up a sample and play it over some drums and shit. Anyway, back to "Be".....isn't it amazing how brothas that hook up with Erykah Badu wig out but after they break up with her they come back hard? Common shines on "Be" with the efervescent "Go" which I'm diggin' like vinyl addicts. "Testify" (and other songs) feature the famous sped up sample by Kanye West (thanks KW, we needed more of those). Testify is both clever, funny (imhoa), well written and nicely produced. "Faithful" puts me in the mind of "I used to love her". Both great songs with double meanings (for me anyway). Bilal lays down some really nice vocals on "Faithful", damn I miss him. "The Corner" and "Chi-City" bring the gritty, pretty but ugly side of the Chi out for a stroll down memory lane. Listening to it made me think back on things I saw and heard growing up on the South and North sides of the city. "Love Is" makes me feel sentimental...I wanna play this during the summer while I'm chillin' by 35th Street beach watchin' people watch me. "The Food" is a live duet (can I describe it that way, lol?) of Common and Kanye featured on the Dave Chapelle Show. On this song Com reminds me of Jay-Z for some reason...I dunno, maybe it's just me. Anyway, it's a good song but Kanye annoys me singing the bridge and doing the hook. "Real People" is lyrical food for thought like only Common can serve up. The track makes the gems he's dropping so easy to digest...if I were a smoker lighting a dutch to this would be a plus....mmmm groovy. John Legend drops some nice vocals on "They Say" another feel good, gem dropping, lyrical feast. I love songs like these...they make me think, make me want to be even more pro-active. Kanye ruins the song with his corny ass lyrics, no-flow having self. I'm not a hater, I just ain't jumping on the Kanye bandwagon. "It's Your World (part 1 & 2)" makes me think of the Art of Story Tellin' 1 & 2 by Outkast and several Goodie Mob songs. Just good fucking songs. They inspire nostalgic melancholy but also impart a sense of hope.

Overall, though this is Common's shortest album to date it is incredibly refreshing and reminicsent of a pre-Erykah Badu Common we ain't seen in a minute. My only hope is that the commercialism of Kanye's Tracks and reputation don't detract from the reemergence of one of Chicago's biggest and brightest Hip-Hop (true Hip Hop not rap) greats. "Be" will be a huge commercial success because of Kanye West.

That's my 10 cents. Rest easy y'all.


P.S. For the most part, production on this album is tight. Especially the tracks featuring Jay Dilla (that Detroit playa).