nina simone said.

i would like a man now who is rich, and who can give me a boat - a sailboat.

i want to own it and let him pay for it. my first love is

the sea and water, not music. music is second.

-nina simone

tougher than leather.

this jacket is tough.

jean paul gautier, $3,995

neimanmarcus.com

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a bit of a hiatus.

... but i'll be back! wait for me.

j. lo and her twins pose for gucci.

i think this is the first time i've ever seen j. lo with her babies.

but anywho, she and her super cute 2.5 year old twins, max and emme, struck a few poses for gucci's new kid's line. adorable.

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whip my hair.

yawl know this knocks. i wish people would kill the noise about willow smith (daughter of will and jada smith) being exploited. i watched her last night on one of the news shows and she's such a cute kid. she's not trying to be too grown or anything. she spoke about her dad covering the youtube comments so she couldn't read them. my perception is that the smiths are stellar parents who are blessed enough to let their kids express their unique and fabulous talents to the world. under supervision. you wouldn't do the same?

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usher does ebony.

another commemorative cover to celebrate ebony's 65th anniversary. usher remakes sammy davis, jr's cover. can't wait to see the others. bravo, ebony.

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rainkissed leaves from bath & body works.

yawl know i love my lotions - soft, supple skin is a must. the hotel we stayed in last week offered bath & body works toiletries. a plus. the scent was rainkissed leaves and i'm a fan.

let me digress for a moment and reflect on the genius of bath & body works. i think it'll be around forever. it has to be #1 in sales during christmas. i know each of you get at least one gift from b&b per year.

anywho, there's a little something for everyone there. some of the scents are a little too much. back in the day, smelling like a georgia peach was sexy to me - i rocked the peach scent faithfully. but now i go for less bold scents. well sometimes. it just depends.

rainkissed leaves is a part of their signature collection. it's subtle, light, fresh and clean. there's a hint of a grassy, cucumber smell that's great to wear in the spring or summer or just a sunny day. i use it as a hand lotion but at some point i may pick up the eau de toilette or fragrance mist to wear as an every day scent.

just thought i'd share. what are your favorites from b&b?

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lauryn hill said.

"... they didn’t understand how female and strong work together.

or young and wise. or black and divine.”

-lauryn hill

coach returns to class.

some folks, after all these years, still love a coach bag. i walked past the outlet store last week and it was packed like they were giving something away. while some folks feel like coach fell way off some time after they went crazy with the monogrammed c collections and the other super trendy styles. i identify with the latter group.

back in the day, my mom was on coach hard. so naturally i had a thing for it, too. i remember thinking i was cute when my mom sent me a big, black coach bag for my birthday during my freshman year in college. my housemate (what up regan!) rocked a big(ger), red one. hot. i always saw the coach brand as classic. a bag that you could pull out of your closet year after year and it would still be as rock'able as when you first got it. but it lost that at some point.

i say all that to say that coach just may be returning to the basics, according to the ladies over at fashionista. they previewed the spring 2011 collection and it's looking pretty good. i'm going to keep an eye out for the rest of the collection. here's a small preview. i'm a sucker for a big bag so i could dig these a size or two bigger:

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mary j. blige does ebony.

mary j. blige will grace the cover of ebony's 65th anniversary issue. the cover is a remake of diana ross' 1970 cover. the cover was gorgeous then and it's gorgeous now. love it.

i hear that taraji henson will also grace a cover as diahann carroll.

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i love the ciphers.

i look forward to the bet hip hop awards for the ciphers alone. while i read a significant amount of disdain from my facebook friends about the awards and bet in general, i kinda enjoyed the show. for one, with all due respect, my expectations weren't tremendously high. i mean, it is what it is.

but how can you not like the old school tributes? salt n pepa! i wanted to be those chicks when i was a young girl. although i would have liked to see bet bring the new school ladies of hip hop out on stage to sing some of s n p's old hits, i still appreciated the tribute. i learned that their asymetrical hair do's happened by accident thanks to a bad dye job from pepa's cousin. i also remembered just how many trends they set with their fashion - ripped jeans, bodysuits, etc.

of course, i liked the surprise visit from digital underground and the tribute to pac. b-o-b was good. host, michael epps was hilarious especially when he came out in the shiny suit and was imitating diddy. the dude from roc nation - what's his name? - was good, too.

but my absolute favorite are the ciphers. it made me text my brother and thank him because i really owe my love for hip hop to him. big ups to bet for the father son cipher. loved it. but the absolute best of the night was the g.o.o.d music cipher with kanye. kanye is tough. if you ain't convinced by now ...

and the father son cipher with ice cube and sons + run and sons:


see the other ciphers here.

and no i won't mention the wacka flacka and antoine dodson foolishness. oh, i just did.

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lala in christian lacroix.

lala vazquez arrived to espn's body issue party last night in this christian lacroix dress. i'm not loving this dress. at all. but i love lala's glow. she looks happy and comfortable and i give her one "i know that's right girl" for showing off her new body. gunnar peterson hooked her up.

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my new favorite perfume.

while on our beach vacation last week, hubby and i decided to replenish our smell-good inventory. i fell in love with christian audigier (you know, the guy behind the ed hardy collection) and decided that it had to leave with me.

i wasn't quite sure how to describe the scent to you other than to tell you that it smells good. but the experts describe it as: "top notes of blackberry, pomegranate and tangerine; middle notes of coconut, magnolia and orchid; and a base of indonesian sandalwood, amber and woods."

so yeh, what they said. i can also add that initially i thought it was an evening scent but i am now convinced that it can be either day or evening. it's not too heavy.

what's your favorite perfume?

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at last: the magic potion for zits.

ladies (and gents), that 1 oz bottle pictured above is the not-so-secret solution to zit control. trust! it's acne treatment gel by mary kay. a dab goes a long way and dries up blemishes within a couple days. note: i recommend using it directly on blemishes, not all over your face - it'll dry you out.
7 bux. cop it here.

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blogger erased my follow list.

i was following a gazillion blogs and now i'm not. thanks a lot, blogger. %$*#!

i'll re-follow you. eventually.

pnkElephant.

when i first checked out the pnkElephant, a hot accessories e-shop, i had no idea that kijafa frink was the owner. who is kijafa you ask? the fiance of one of the best quarterbacks (don't hate) in the nfl, michael vick (e-a-g-l-e-s).

i'm a fan. it's a cute and simple site with cute and affordable rings, bracelets, earrings and necklaces. did i say affordable? glad to see that someone hasn't forgotten about the every day fashionistas (with every day bills) who still want to look cute without skipping their car note payments. right?! right. here's some of my favorites:

black stud bow bracelet, $12

spike ring, $10 (also available in silver)

cage ring, $14 (also available in pew and gold brass)

long layers neclace, $20 (also available in silver)

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mama needed a new pair of shoes.

so what did she do? she bought 2!

so what's up with the peep toe craze? i can dig it but i can barely find a shoe without an open toe. like these suede wedgies by bcbg. it was love at first sight. i guess i better stock up on some opaque socks and fishnets.

and i'm sure you've seen what i like to call the nana shoe trend. you know the shoes that look like someone's great, great grandma used to wear. not sure how much justice my iphone snapshot does for these but they are quite sexy. it was also love at first sight.

oh how i love shoe shopping.

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bundle up.

double breasted trench coat

by bcbg

$279 (enter columbus10 for free s&h)

love this.

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oak my gosh.

omg.

(oak my gosh)

oak letter panel high waisted jeans

by oak

$264

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coco chanel said.

"fashion is not something that exists in dresses only.

fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas,

the way we live, what is happening."

-coco chanel

vintage music saturday: anniversary.

365 days! tomorrow marks me and my hubby's 1st year anniversary. we plan to celebrate quite properly. but of course.

love my baby from head to toe. my best friend. with benefits. blessed is an understatement.

here's tony! toni! tone! singing anniversary (1993).

"tomorrow will come and [boy] i can't wait, it's our anniversary."

click on the music player at the bottom of the screen to mute the background music.

breast cancer awareness month starts today.

do good and be cute with this simply vera wang coin purse. proceeds go to charities that fight breast cancer. comes in grey, light pink and fushia (as seen above). $10.
purchase here at kohl's.

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dr. seuss said.

"you know you're in love when you can't fall asleep

because reality is finally better than your dreams."

-dr. seuss