sgb approved: heidi klum shines.

yawl already know how much i dig heidi klum's style; she is one flyy chick. i think she's absolutely stunning ...

heidi klum at the a pea in the pod's mom's-to-be night out last wednesday in beverly hills

klum sparkled in a yellow and silver dress and studded sling-backs. anyone know the designer? the comments i read on other sites give the outfit two thumbs down. what?! what do you think?

donald duck top by junkfood clothing.

cute running-errands top, right?

junkfood clothing, karmaloop.com, $20.50

enter 15FAB for 15% off

throwback: lil benny with the rockers.

i didn't grow up in either dc, md or va so i can't claim to know much about lil benny like my hubby does. i came to school in md in '95 and it took me a few years before i could even get down with go go. on my way home from church today, they announced his passing on the radio and i could hear the shock in everyone's voice. i told my hubby and he too is shocked. so i know lil benny had mad impact in the world of go go, to say the least.
i youtube'd him and pulled up this video and immediately recognized his voice. here he is with the rockers for all my go go heads ...


click the player on the bottom of the page to mute the background music.

farewell gary coleman.

wha'chu talking bout?

gary coleman (42), the childhood actor who will always be known as the cute kid with the chubby cheeks from diff'rent strokes, died today after being taken off life support. he suffered a brain hemorrhage yesterday after falling. he was so troubled. you could see it in his face and in his actions. glad he's in perfect peace now.

i hope they play a diff'rent strokes marathon all weekend long.

classic episodes: arnold jackson on the set of the knight rider and with mr. t.

how i got introduced to minoritees.com.

something like this ...

ronnell: hey, do you know what omfg stands for?

i tell her.

ronnell: are you serious?

me: dead.

ronnell: oh my.

me: well you know this is the era of shortcuts, you know text language like lmao, lmfao, ctfu ... wow, we really like the f word, huh?

ronnell: ohhh ok. yeh, i remember seeing this now.

me: why do you ask?

ronnell: i'm on this site call minoritees.com and one of the shirts says omfg ...

omfg, 19.99

easy breezy beautiful colored girl, $21.99

year of the tiger, $19.99

work in progress, $21.99

old school house rock, $21.99

spanish fly, $17.99

stereotype, $21.99

and there's more where that came from. created in 2004, founders collin spencer and austin green sought to create conscious and stylish tees that celebrated the multi-cultural differences of minorities. they're pretty cool so check them out here.

vintage lens: ice t.

1980-something, ice t (west coast rapper/actor)rocks an adidas tee,

minimal jewelry and his hat cocked to the side. and i think that's a pager on his hip.

photographer: glen e. friedman

j. crew opens its first bridal store.

j. crews brand new bridal store lives at 769 madison ave. in manhattan. dresses range from $229 to $3,500.

says tracy gardner, "we're not fancy here. we're still j. crew, but it's an elevated experience."

nicely put. so if j. crew is your type of store (and i guess, even if it's not) you have a good chance of finding the perfect dress for you.

in addition to dresses, you'll find makeup, headpieces and perfume, as well as dresses for wedding-related occasions (engagement/rehearsal parties, honeymoon, etc.)

says iman.

when iman was recently asked about being a style icon by wwd:

"i'd rather have that than be, like, us weekly's best dressed. you know what i mean?

no disrespect to us weekly."

yes. we certainly know what you mean.

and when asked about her favorite style icon she named audrey hepburn:

"she was young and gracious. i mean, the reason she looks like that

is because she is innately gracious.

so i gravitate toward that [look], but more sexy."

i need these: studded leggings.

ca-ute.

falke studded leggings, $30, asos.com

pool time.

even if you have no plans to actually swim, you can still look good near the pool. i gotta get on my ciara diet to even think about pulling one of these off:

michael kors cutout asymetrical, neiman marcus, $243

badgley mischka, southbeachswimsuits.com, $150

mesh swimsuit, juicy couture, $160

someone said.

"don't let people drive you crazy when you know it's in walking distance."

-author unknown

coach opens its first men's store.

coach has opened its first men's store, located in nyc's west village on 370 bleecker street. the store features exclusive collections, limited edition pieces and bags, accessories and apparel for your favorite metrosexual.
thanks to my sis, sha, for passing along the 411.


leather travel kit, $128 ; harrison leather slim business brief, $558
jackson boat shoe $198 ; grommet stud buckle belt, $168

fashionistas do read: tyra banks to publish modelland, a fantasy novel.

miss tyra banks can't stop and won't stop. and why should she? her latest venture is fantasy fiction. modelland is the first novel in a 3-book deal. she says: "it's for all the girls and guys who want a lot more fantasy in their lives ... and some fierceness and magic, romance and mystery, crazy and wild adventures, and yeah, some danger too. it's my novel called 'modelland' (pronounced "model land") that takes you to a fantastical place you've never seen, or heard about, or read about before ... where dreams come true and life can change in the blink of a smoky eye."

no release date has been announced as of yet but we'll be keeping an ear out.

a staple: the white button up.

there are several pretty basic items that should be in every girl's closet. like a lbd. a pair of fierce but simple black heels. at least one pair of cute flats. a white wife b (tank/v-neck). at least one pair of hoops (hush regan).

and a white button up shirt. a must. and can you ever have too many? i feel like every so often i need to re-up. i only have one now - a super cute and super long one from the gap. but i'm in search of a new crispy one to wear along with an outfit idea i have in my head.

a few cute ones all $100 and under:

rachelroy.com, $89 (click image)

robert rodriguez, couture.zappos.com, $100

oldnavy.com, $24.50 (click image)

kenneth cole, nordstrom.com, $79 (click image)

coldwatercreek.com, $69.95 (click image)

revolveclothing.com, $49.95 (click image)

vintage music saturday: party all the time.

i can't watch this video with a straight face. mr. funnyman, eddie murphy, was dead serious with his 1985 single, party all the time. did you know that the song was actually written and produced by rick james (along with kevin johnston)? maybe rick should have kept the track for himself. when usually silly people decide to get serious, it's sometimes hard to catch on. but the single actually hit # 2 on on the billboard. wow.
check out eddie and rick james ...

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

"i'll rely on bedstuy to shut it down if i die."

happy birthday to one of the, if not the, greatest of all time.

biggie would have been 38 today.

the radio showed much love for him today. i swear his songs sound

like they were just written yesterday.

pac-man turns 30 today.

and you can thank google for making folks across the map unproductive today. why? because if you visit google.com and click on the pac-man image, you can play for free.

and um, i'm still kinda puzzled that i'm actually older than pac-man. i swore he was older. sigh.

and some fun pac-man stuff:

80stees.com, $45 (click image)

fredflare.com, $9.00 (click image)

wearyourbeer.com, $9.99 (click image)

happy birthday, fool (in my mr. t voice).

mr. t turns 58 today, yawl. who all used to watch the a-team?

beauty 101: long lasting lipstick.

times are hard on the boulevard so we want to stretch our dollars and get the most out of whatever we're spending money on. like lipstick. mac's fresh brew is my absolute favorite. can you believe the stick broke on me after like a week? it's getting warmer so lipstick tends to soften. i'm still using it - broken and all.

julyne derrick from about.com shares a tip that may prevent that from happening.

she says: if you store lipstick in the refrigerator, it will last longer.

i think i've heard that before but i'll definitely be doing so.

another tip she shares: if you want your lipstick to last longer during the day, shade in lips with lip liner before applying lipstick.

audrey hepburn said.

"you can always tell what kind of person

a man really thinks you are by the earrings he gives you."

-audrey hepburn

the uniform project.

question. how many days, in a row, no breaks, could you wear the same dress? 0? 7? 30?

how about 365? that's just what sheena matheiken did. determined to raise money for the akanksha foundation, a nonprofit that helps disadvantaged kids in india receive a quality education, matheiken wore the same LBD for a year straight. her efforts raised enough to send 233 kids to school for a year.

thrift shops and designers donated accessories to help matheison create new looks each day. and before you turn your nose up do know that matheison had 7 identical dresses so she didn't have to wash every night.

cnn asked her how she got ready each day. her response: "i didn't plan the outfits ahead of time. that was very important to me to keep it spontaneous because that's how i usually get ready. i wanted to keep it that way because that's how normally people get ready that way. you sort of look around, and i sort of gravitate to a few things like a hat, belt or shoes. i'm a big tights girl. i build off of one piece and add onto it. you go with what you feel like and throw things together."

she definitely had fun with the project. like wearing the dress as a sea creature for halloween and wearing it with gloves as a tribute to michael jackson when he died.

aside from raising money for a good cause, matheison hopes that her project will help people to "realize the value in their closet. "


thanks ronnell for the story lead.

super high.

"i wanna buy my chick every bag and she ain't ever, ever, ever gotta take 'em back."

this is me and hubby's ish! this song puts you in a straight zone ... like just close your eyes, sip on your grown up drink ...

i love how rick is on his grown man. song's not full of cuss words and his videos aren't full of a bunch of boobs and butts. his videos look like someone actually put a little thought in it, not the usual rap video template. loves it. my summer jam. 2010.

"andele ... andele ... baby move fast ..."

rick ross and neyo

make-up shelf life: how long has that make-up been in your bag?

i bet we all have about 3-4 items in our make-up bag that have been there for way too long. we either sometimes use it or swear we'll use it one day. well I'm declaring today "national clean out your make-up bag day." it's time to let go and replace because make-up does have a shelf life. and if you're having a hard time parting with that old mascara that you're keeping for whatever reason consider throwing it away as a good excuse to go make-up shopping. i'll definitely be cleaning mine out today.

courtesy of julyne derrick over at about.com, i'm sharing a list of the shelf life of our favorite make-up products.

concealer: up to 12 months
powder: 2 years
cream & gel cleansers: 1 year
pencil eye liner: sharpen regularly. will last up to 3 years
eyeshadow: up to 3 years
sponges: wash weekly and discard monthly
foundation: a water-based foundation will last up to 12 months, oil-based will last up to 18 months. if your water-based foundation dries out before it's expiration date, add a few drops of alcohol-free toner and shake to mix it in. you won't need to do this to oil-based foundations. because they contain oil, they will tend to separate; you just have to shake it.
brushes: wash every 2-3 months in a mild detergent
lip liner: up to 3 years.
lipstick: some experts say 1-2 years; others say up to 4 years. if it stinks, throw it out! it's spoiled.
mascara: mascara expires the fastest! throw out after 4 months. to keep it from expiring too soon, don't pump the wand in and out. this exposes it to drying air.
nail polish: up to 12 months, depending on the quality. i am definitely guilty of holding on to nail polish way too long. like i'll probably never wear that bright orange polish that I bought a year ago. why do i still have it?

a mean shoe game.

christian louboutin, $865

a lip liner tip.

i love this beauty tip from julyne derrick over at about.com. thought you would too:

skip the push-up lipliners. they're expensive, tend to break and you never really know how much you have left until you run out. no need to spend money on lip liners, there's no secret to greatness for this product. save your money for powders and foundation.

agreed!

his style: dior homme spring 2010 high-tops.

fresh.

$800

the odd couple: katie spade and the beastie boys.

no, not literally a couple. but this fall kate spade will put out her beastie boys-inspired bracelets. if you came up in the 80s you remember the "no sleep till brooklyn" song by the trio. it used to rock.

$78

james stephens said.

"originality does not consist in saying what no one else has ever said before,

but in saying exactly what you think yourself."

-james stephens

the kelis i know and love.

gotta love kelis. she marches to her own beat, whether you like it or not. for a minute there, kelis was looking a little out there. even for me, ms. sui generis. but it looks like she got her twist back. i'm loving her look here, leaving a london hotel.

she's rocking a gold studded black leather givenchy jacket ($2,176), a vivienne westwood bag ($888) and mickey mouse adidas sneakers ($300). i can't stand the bag but i'm loving everything else.

keri hilson in pucci.

keri hilson was spotted at a dinner last night in la hosted by peter dundas, the creative director of emilio pucci.

keri is stunning. and the pucci dress is so interestingly flyy. it's one of those dresses that looks like a huge no-no while on the hanger. but when you put it on, it's a winner. loving her entire look from the hair to the shoes to the bag.

will someone please tell oscar de la renta that you catch more bees with honey.

... than vinegar. duhh.

last year in april, i wrote a post about high profile designers, like oscar de la renta, whining over the first lady's fashion choices. several designers felt like they deserved a chance to dress the beautiful mrs. obama. instead, she had the nerve to mostly opt for up and coming designers like jason wu or j. crew. i dare she.

de la renta recently told the washington post that he'd love to dress our nation's first lady. he says that first ladies are "an american phenomenon....this country has always been very different about that. and it's a learning process. he was elected president. she wasn't. but at the same time, there's an expectation about her that perhaps she was not even ready for."

can we say spoiledbrat.com? has it occurred to mr. de la renta that mrs. obama may not care to subscribe to the expectation of how a first lady should dress? for some reason, i don't think mrs. obama cares one bit that that de la renta has dressed nancy reagan, hillary clinton and laura bush. i don't think she feels that she has to be anyone but who she is.

am i the only one who is turned off by his audacity? i absolutely love the fact that she dons looks by names we've never heard of as well as names that are easily accessible at the neighborhood mall.

sorry, oscar. she isn't obligated. and she's still one of the classiest women in the public eye. someone needs to get over himself. hmph.

hey mon.

roxy, $82

throwback: lena horne on the cosby show.

claire suprises cliff by taking him to a performance to see lena horne for his birthday:

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

farewell, ms. lena horne.

“it's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.”

-lena horne

singer. actress. dancer. legend.

1917-2010