Blushblog

My Congressional Black Caucus Weekend

Hey Blushing Ladies

Where did Thursday come from?  I am super exhausted. I’m still recovering from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Conference in Washington DC and a super busy week at work.

It was such a wonderful and inspiring week. My only complaint is that I had to figure out which panel to attend.  One great panel will be from 12-3p and another from 2:30-5p.  So much wonderful information in one place.  Here are some of my favorite highlights from the conference. If I wrote a review on everything, you’d be here forever, so I’ll just highlight a few things.

 

I was part of the Emerging Leaders group and this allowed me to meet many bright, smart, and driven people from many different areas and industries. 

One of my favorite Emerging Leaders events was held Thursday.  This was the Instant Apprentice Power Lunch.  I love this lunch because you get to pick an “Emerging Leader” from an available list outside.  Let me tell you, they have someone from every industry you can think of.  Sports, Marketing, PR, Science, Education.  Got a passion?  They’ve got you covered.  So once you find someone in the industry that reflects your passion, you grab a pre-packaged lunch (now this, I could’ve skipped.  The sandwiches are never that great, but oh well)  and you sit down with your leader.  That person then tells you how they got to this point in their career and what drove them. Then you get to ask whatever your heart desires.  You are at the table with about 7 others so it’s an intimate setting.  I enjoy not only the leader, but the thoughts of the others at my table.  You never know what you’ll learn from someone else.

I sat with Melissa Dawn Johnson.  She was fabulous.  She’s a dynamic speaker with a great story. She's written a book called Brand Me.  She told us about how she stepped out of a successful career to follow her passion and it's paid off.  She also helped to answer a question that's been burning in my head, but I haven't had the right person to ask.  If you would like to change careers, but are in your 30's (out of intern age), how do you intern?  Guess what, you shadow someone.  The difference between interning and shadowing?  Age and college credit.  So if you have been wanting to change careers and have been wondering the same thing, do it!.

One great piece of information that i'll take away from our meeting, don't only look to become the right mentee.  Make sure that you pair up with the right mentor.

One con to this lunch…Well, now, they say that there is never a stupid question.  And there aren’t. I guess.  But there are inappropriate places to ask them.  We had a woman at our table that chose to use our time to ask about stalkers on facebook and delve into Ms. Johnsons salary information.  Specific salary information.  Who does that?  But I guess if that’s what drives her….But either way, it was a great lunch.  Ms Johnson is now a part of my vision board.  I hope to meet up with her again in the future, whether it be through business or an internship, you never know.

Now most of my friends know that I’m not a big Iyanla Vanzant fan.  I love that she’s successful and doing her own thing. I just don’t appreciate the over exaggeration and all the animation.  You can say what you have to say in a regular tone.  Just calm it down.  Anyway, she headed up a panel at the conference called “Not for Sistas Only” with Representative Gwen Moore. The session it’self was pretty good and I can usually feel the info that Ms Vanzant gives out.  But the delivery.  Welllll.  Do what you do Ms Vanzant.  It’s just not for me. 

I left that session to go to my 2^nd favorite session of the conference (the lunch being my first).  IMPACT hosted a Roundtable with Young Elected Officials and Policy Professionals.  There were several wonderful people on the panel.  There was Biz Scott, Jamal Simmons, Karen Richardson, Melvin Carter, Anton Gunn, Tishaura O. Jones, Maisha Leek, and Cornel Belcher. Whew.  That was a lot of people.  But Dynamic. Fabulous.  Energetic.  Thoughtful.  Inspiring.  Did I say Fabulous?  And I must say, that Jamal isn’t too hard on the eyes.  They spoke about what drove them to their perspective positions within government.  It made me think about the fact that I am not making money off of what I love.  I am making money off of what I fell into.  That needs to change.

Some of my favorite quotes and thoughts from this panel:

“You can have the best idea.  If you can’t communicate it, it never gets out”-Jamal Simmons
“A leaders job is to build power through others.”-Anton Gunn
In speaking of where to use your power politically.  “Things that affect you are in city hall.”-Melvin Carter
“Never be too good to do anything.” Karen Richardson

There is one thing that I heard throughout a few sessions and that’s “Opportunity meets Preparation.”  You need to always be prepared so that when a great opportunity presents itself, you’ll be ready. 

And I have to say this.  David Johns was the moderatorof aforementioned Roundtable.  Let me tell you why he was a great moderator, when it was question and answer time, if you didn’t have a question, you might as well just sit in your seat.  A lot of people used question and answer time in various sessions to become sub-panelist.  They gave you their life story, their cause, and almost seemed to be in campaign or recruitment mode.  This made the sessions way too long and we couldn’t hear the thoughts of the people that we came there to see.  So kudos to you Mr. Johns. 

I don’t even think that I have to tell you about the Presidents speech because, whether you loved it or hated it, I’m sure that you’ve heard it.  If not, take a listen.  Oh and by the way, I loved it.
 

Like I said before, I couldn’t possibly highlight everything, so if you missed it and want to see what was going on, you can search for #41stALC, #alc2011, and @YGB2011 in twitter.  If you didn't make it this year, come next year and bring a friend.  You'll love it. 

Blushing Ladies, did you go to the conference this year?  What did you think?

 

Comments and Happenings for the week

I'm sorry if some of you didn't see your comments posted. We appreciate them all and would love to see more. These dang spammers make it hard for us all. The issue has been fixed so bring it on! The legit people only. The spammers can bite a big one.

On to more exciting news. We're on our way to the Congressional Black Caucus in DC. Are you following us on twitter? If not, then get with the get good and join us. I'll pass on our whereabouts and interesting tidbits. There are so many workshops and braintrust, I need 3 of me to go to everything. Our twitter name is @blushblog.

If you're there I hope to see you.

What I Learned and Bought at the Nordstrom Cosmetic Trend Show

I was confident that when I set our departure time at 6:30am and estimated our arrival time at 7:00am we would be the first ladies on the scene to begin a morning of makeup decadence.  I was wrong.  When we arrived at the entrance of Nordstrom at Pentagon City Mall for the celebrated department store's fall Cosmetic Trend Show, we were struck dumb by the line of women who turned to us with triumphant smiles. My sister, who was experiencing the glorious show for the first time, was not prepared for the line of determined women who screamed when the opening gate lifted or the gazelle like speed of these same determined women as they raced for the front row of the red carpet. I must say I was right there with the pack, showing no more restraint than any other.  Once we pleased ourselves with front row seats, with renewed decorum lined up for coffee and danishes.

From the beginning of the show to the end of the show, women screamed and clapped and oooo'd and ahhhh'd at all the new treats the presenting cosmetic lines had to offer.  Chanel, Dior, Smashbox, Estee Lauder, Jo Malone, and so many more kept us on the edge of our seats praying to heaven above for free giveways.  The host informed us that 700 women strong were in attendance for the affair.  As the show ended, we made our way to our makeover appointments and to the makeup artists who hoped to sell us on as much product as possible.

My appointments were with NARS and Dior.  I declined to have a full face from NARS and elected only to sample its blush offerings.  I happily decided on Torrid.  After lunch, I eagerly made my way to my Dior appointment.  I had been craving it all morning.  I mean, I had been drooling over the Dior eyeshadows, the air flash foundation, and beautiful red lipsticks.  Ahhh, hindsight is 100%. I should have a full face done by NARS.  I was so disappointed with how my Dior makeover turned out.  There are a few possibilities for the debacle. Though the foundation felt great, it did not work for me so either the artist was just plain inexperienced or the line does not offer a good color selection for black women.  To make matters worse, the eyeshadow though beautiful was not applied well.  In short, I looked horrible.  I do have complete faith in the eyeshadow (3 Couleurs Smoky Eye Palette in Smoky Black) so I did buy it and will do a better job applying it than the artist.  Unfortunately, my sister had the exact experience at the YSL counter.  Her eyeshadow was beautiful but the foundation match was horrid.

Just when I was concerned that none of the high end brands were catering properly to black women, my coworker displayed her beautifully matched foundation from Chanel.  Chanel just launched more colors with the goal of providing quality product for black consumers.  Her match was phenomenal.  She did not look orange like me nor did she look ashen like my sister.  Dior and YSL, I am calling you out.  Step up your black woman color game!

I will be back in the spring to partake in the festivities again.  Hope to see you there.

Did you attend the show? What did you think?  How was your makeover?  What did you buy?

(Credit for images: Merlisa Lawrence Corbett)

50/50 The Movie

 

I had the pleasure of seeing a preview of 50/50 last night.  Let me tell you.  This movie is AWWWWESOOOMMME!.  It stars Joseph Gordan-Levitt.  Everyone kept saying, "where do I know him from?"  It was 3rd Rock from the Sun, in addition to other movies.  Let's take a second here. How do guys get hyphenated last names?  With women its usually their maiden and married name.  What is it for men?  There's a guy in my office with a hyphenated last name.  I'm going to get to the bottom of this.

Back to the program.  The movie also includes the super funny Seth Rogan.  Bryce Dallas Howard (Ron Howards daughter) and Anjelica Houston, who I didn't even immediately recognize.

The movie is inspired by a true story that was experienced by Seth Rogan and his friend/co-worker Will Reiser.  According to the movie website, Will developed cancer while they were working together on Da Ali G show.  As ill equip as the guys were to deal with Wills sickness, they couldn't keep ignoring all of the funny things that kept happening.  And this movie definitely projects that.  It's Emotional, Funny, Deep, and Entertaining all at the same time.  I laughed the whole time and appreciated the darkness in the theater at one point because I welled up with tears.  I didn't actually cry, I kept my G.  But it was definitely coming.
 

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  Go to see how a young, straight laced, time conscious, boyfriend becomes a weed smoking, joke cracking, girl friend dumping guy who learns to live life with a little umph.  Oh with cancer.  It's worth every dime!  You can access the movie website here.  Let me know how you enjoy it once you see it.  Also, leave the kids at home.  I can't count the number of times the words blow job were used.

Nordstrom Cosmetic Trend Show is Back

Hi ladies!  Since my children are spending some quality time at my brother's house, I thought I would take a few moments to let you know the fall season of the Nordstrom Cosmetic Trend Show is upon us, so be sure to go to the Nordstrom website to check the date and time of your local store's event.  For those of you unfamiliar with the event, the show begins before the store opens for business and highlights each lines' new offerings for the season.  Each individual line may choose to highlight skin care and/or cosmetics.  There are giveaways and continental breakfast is served.  Tickets are $15 (in DC/MD/WA, at least) but that $15 goes toward any purchase of a product.  For example, a $30 Dior lipstick would be $15. You can also set an appointment with any line to get a makeover.

This past April's event was my first time attending and I fell in love, so I will be back and in the front row. Gotta get those freebies. I am going with my sister and my friend.  Between the three of us we will be getting made over by Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Nars, and Smashbox.  

If you attend, please be sure to tweet us or send us a comment about your makeover!

If you cannot attend, be sure to follow us on Twitter to get the play by play of all the hottness. My tweets will start as soon as I arrive.