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!

Eye Spy Oliva Palermo!

That’s right, Olivia Palermo (of MTV’s “The City” fame) and renowned fashion blog Refinery 29, hosted a holiday shopping party at TopShop’s flagship Chicago store. The bigger than life, luxe fashion hub is located on Michigan Avenue downtown Chicago on the historic “Magnificent Mile”. Yours truly was in attendance snapping pics, sipping delish non-alcoholic cocktails and schmoozing with all kinds of impeccably dressed style hounds. Caution: This is a very pic heavy post!

Let me start by saying that this store is three stories of completely FAWESOME glass/mirror and wall-to-wall dreamy clothing, accessories, footwear and makeup nirvana! There was so much to see, so much to look at that I do believe I went into sensory overload! I wanted several of everything…and that’s no exaggeration, lol. The best part about this store was the tall sizes department. Though very small (ha, a small tall department, lol) I was super impressed that they had it at all. Most stores only carry their specialty sizes online. I foresee a TopShop shopping spree in my future.

Now let’s get on to Miss Palermo and her styling session. Though I think her looks are a 50/50 mix of hits and misses, many style hounds love her. The event opened with Olivia bringing out 4 models that she’d styled using some of her favorite TopShop pieces from the latest collection:

Close up on the model wearing the chainmail-esque...thingy that I loved...

Closer...

Slightly better pic...

I loved all the looks the models wore…with the exception of the fugly furry pink clutch the purple velvet bootied/goldenrod ankle trousers adorned model is wearing. Oh, those purple velvet booties and goldenrod ankle trousers? I want! I actually want all the pieces the models are wearing, jewelry included, lol. Olivia herself was wearing a very interesting combo:

They aren’t pieces I’d wear together, but I’d mos def wear them. How do I look standing next to Olivia?

I'm wearing: F21 tribal top, Crossroads Trading Company blazer, Alloy stretch super skinny twill trousers, F21 tribal scarf, thrifted gifted necklace, gifted triple row spike bracelet, F21 single row pyramid bracelet, Crossroads Trading Company keyhole ring, Crossroads Trading Company clutch, thrifted tribal earrings, ASOS open toe booties and black Target socks.

She's tiny compared to me, lol. Here are some of the abfab mannequins:

To entice attendees into a buying frenzy, there were free manis, makeovers by professional makeup artists and even hairstylists. I partook of a makeover by a wonderful soul named Matthew. I swear he reminds me of the YouTube “guru” Wayne Goss (GossMakeupArtist). Matthew took me from this…

To this…

I felt pretty damn glam when he was done. Matthew was a true sweetheart and I’m mos def going to keep in touch with him. here are the two of us together:

He resembles Wayne Goss (GossMakeupArtist from YouTube) right?

My homegirl Liesbeth also had a makeover:

My homegirl Nicold (blogger and up and coming Chi-Town accessories designer) had her nails madeover…

After my makeover, I made my way around the room snapping some shots of some snazzily dressed Chicago style hounds:

Jason (in the fur vest) and Bryan both work for the H&M reginal office. They stopped by TopShop to see the haps.

Brittannie (blue beanie and fab Marc Jacobs sneakers) and Bretagne look like Chi-Town style hound royalty.

Kaira(a contributing fashion editor for Design Bureau) was giving me everything in her almost totally vintage shopped 'fit. She's super duper fly!

Sarah (a fashion editor/stylist/fashion show producer) was werrrrrking! You probably can't see them, but her shoes were killing it! Awesome sauce! Her accessories were awe inspiring too...

 

After eating, drinking and seeing my fill of the first floor, I made my way to the lower level shoe haven. Wait until you see all the goo gobs of shoegasmic shoe porn this place has to offer! Wait for it…wait for it…

Want more?

I thought I’d pass out from the sheer awesomeness of it all! I want E V E R Y T H I N G ! ! !

After I just couldn’t take anymore, I made my way back upstairs to the first floor (I didn’t check out TopMan on the third floor) and snapped some shots of some of the accessories…

The jewelry looks like the fare at F21 (although F21is much much cheaper). The prices were too exorbitant IMO considering it’s costume and it'll eventually turn.

And the hit spinning DJ (she was dope)…

And shortly afterwards it was time to go. I hated to leave without spending a single penny, but I spent mucho dinero on Black Friday (post to come later). After being zipped back to the north side by my wonderful BFF, we decided to hang out at my other homegirl’s house and dish on the haps. And that my dears, is a wrap.

Is there a TopShop in your area? Have you been there or bought from the TopShop website? Let a sistah know!