Seeing Stripes

A couple of weeks ago I went on a #bendelbender while attending a VIP shopping party at Henri Bendel Lenox Square. Known for its signature brown and white stripes, Henri Bendel has been a haven of hauteness for society's elite for more than 100 years. Of course I have been a Bendel fanatic for the past 12 years and jumped at the opportunity to sip and shop when the occasion presented itself.

Whenever you enter a Henri Bendel store, it's like stepping into a fantasy world of fashion and fun. For me, it's sensory overload; I don't know what to look at first. Thankfully our beverage attendant Cleveland Cutting was on hand with some delicious champagne and great conversation.


Cleveland Cutting

As I sipped and shopped, I really took my time to browse and check out the latest #bendelbaubles. As always the iconic brown and white stripes primarily dominated the collection but had vibrant neon accents. I was also interested to see that brown and white dots were slowly creeping on the seen. My new #bendelbff Jeffery showed me their edition of the Native Union Pop Phone, dawning the brown and white dots and of course I had to have it!

Sales Manager Jeffery Vallier & Moi

And with a new Pop Phone came a new iPhone case and several other pretty Bendel things. I mean seriously, when Henri Bendel has a sale, you must take advantage!!! The first 100 shoppers also got rewarded with a signature strip iPhone case. So now I have a spare! All in all I had an amazing time feeding my Bendel addiction and highly recommend you go out and explore Henri Bendel. If you don't have a store near you, check them out online at www.henribendel.com.

See you on the front row!

<3 Parker S.

#fab Henri Bendel Customer Sarah Dumas

Atlanta Mayor's Ball

Hey guys, Two-Way Tuesday will be back next week, because I had to take the opportunity to share with you my adventure this past weekend. On Saturday I covered the most important event of my blogging career so far; the 29th Annual UNCF Mayor's Masked Ball.  This event was the highlight of the social season and was hosted by the Honorable Mayor Kasim Reed. The "Who's Who" of Atlanta's black elite were all in attendance of this grand affair. Because this event was a fundraiser, entry came with a hefty price tag. Thankfully the powers that be took a chance on me and extended the opportunity for me to cover this event as an official member of the press.

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to keep you guys abreast in real-time as I normally do, but I had my fabulous photographer Phillip Dockery of MOBOC Productions capturing part of the night with me. The Atlanta Marriott Marquis served as the stage for this fabulous affair and perfectly executed the elaborate setup for this amazing event. Because this was the biggest event of my career, I decided to make a weekend of it and stay at the hotel. I was able go score a great deal on the room and have luxury of just walking down stairs when it was time for the event.  As you know from my Makeup Monday post, Celebrity Makeup Artist Shalawn Willis dolled up my face. As far as my attire, I wore a custom made Lavender's Jungle ball skirt from Twelve 24 Boutique and was adorned with a custom 

Enjeanious by Rean Fisher statement necklace. 

Me in a Lavender's Jungle Ball Skirt from Twelve 24 Boutique & Enjeanious by Rean Fisher Necklace

When I finished getting dressed, I headed to down to the Mezzanine Level to meet my photographer and begin covering the evening. After receiving my press pass, and grabbing a shot with my mom (she dropped by to wish me luck) in front of the Marriott's Christmas tree I officially entered the VIP Reception. Once inside I was greeted by a lovely group of UNCF Hostesses who were very and charming. We chatted about my amazing Rean Fisher necklace and I even shared with them some pics of me in previous looks. 

My Mom & Me

Grabbing a shot with a UNCF Hostess

Sharing some pics with UNCF Hostesses

Gorgeous UNCF Hostesses

As the evening progressed, the room to began to fill with celebrities, dignitaries and other distinguished guests. Although the Mayor's Ball is official place to see and be seen, the true purpose of the ball was to raise money for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). The UNCF is the largest minority education organization. By providing operating capital to over 38 HBCU's and extending scholarships and internships  to more than 900 other institutions, the UNCF over the last 67 years has raised over 3.3 billion dollars and helped more than 400,000 students. 

After everything was said and done, more than 1 million dollars was raised at the ball . These funds will benefit four Atlanta HBCU's as well as he other's that UNCF supports. Covering this event has really effected me in a positive way. Seeing so many African American men and women in positions of power all working together to support something that is benefiting so many was absolutely awe-inspiring. I am truly thankful to have had the opportunity to cover such an inspirational event and hope to be able to do so again. For more information on the United Negro College Fund, visit www.uncf.org . 

xoxo-

Parker S. <3

Therese M. Badon, UNCF VP of Development and Me

Me & 2012 Miss National UNCF Brittany Taylor

Me & Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed

Dawnn Lewis & Me

Me & Angela Hargro, Co-Owner of Twelve 24 Boutique

Mr. Fonzworth Bentley & Me

Makeup Monday: 2012 Atlanta Mayor's Ball

This weekend I had the most amazing time covering the most important event of my blogging career thus far. I had the tremendous opportunity to be able to cover the 2012 UNCF Atlanta Mayor's Masked Ball this past Saturday. Because this is "Makeup Monday" I won't go into the full specifics of the Ball in this post, however I will show you my makeup journey.

As soon as I knew I was confirmed, I called non other than Celebrity Makeup Artist Shalawn Willis to transform me into something spectacular. She arrived at my hotel room at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis around 4:00pm and went to work. As the time passed by, she completed my look and I felt and looked absolutely amazing. Stay tuned for the rest of the fabulous deets from that night!

xoxo-

Parker S. <3

Brighton Your Holidays

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to attend a VIP shopping event at one of my favorite accessories stores, Brighton Collectibles. Many of you may remember my mention of Brighton a few weeks back in my #forward blog post, where I designed a charm bracelet in support of President Obama and was one of the winners of their nationwide contest. But charm's are just one element of Brighton, and now I'm going to introduce you to more of the collection.

Brighton Collectibles, is privately owned by high school sweethearts Jerry & Terry Kohl. The original pieces created by the dynamic duo were under the Leegin Leather Brand and were beautifully crafted leather belts. The brand began to expand in the early nineties with the introduction of  the Brighton line for women. Originally, Brighton consisted of a few handbags, belts and their signature leather loafer. I acquired my first piece of Brighton in 1995 when I was 15 years old and have been hooked ever since.

Brighton Dawn Loafers... The shoes that started my love affair! 

Let's fast forward 16 years later and I am still a Brighton girl. I have amassed quite a collection over the years and still enjoy the beautiful products. Brighton differs from most design houses in the sense that everything starts off as a hand sketch and then gets transformed into a three dimensional composite before becoming a finished product. They use the finest Italian leathers and have the most intricate finishing process for their silver products. Brighton also stands behind most of their products with at least a 1 year warranty on manufacturers defects.

Once you experience a visit to the Brighton store you'll wonder what took you so long. Although I love all of my Atlanta Brighton stores, my store of choice is at Perimeter Mall. Pop in and visit Store Managing Partner  Danielle Apea. She will give you the tour and introduce you to the Wonderful World of Brighton!

See you on the front row-

:) Parker S.

Two-Way Tuesday: The Peplum

Hey Guys! I hope your week is going well. I have to be honest, the past couple of weeks has been full of ups and downs, but the highlight was being asked to write a guest blog post for my blogger buddy Tish Foster of Curvie Birdie.  The topic I chose to discuss with her readers was the peplum trend. Now, I'm not going to rehash the same blog post, but it did inspire my Two-Way Tuesday post this week.

Many of you may remember when first I dawned my navy double peplum ASOS top this past August while covering a book launch. Well, I have been dying to wear it again, but the opportunity didn't present itself until last Thursday night while covering a holiday concert. Originally I wore the look with a gold pencil skirt from Talbot's, nude Jessica Simpson Pumps and an AMAZING Enjeanious by Rean Fisher necklace. I really didn't think the look could get any better than that.

Well, that's until I made the switch... While taking advantage of the ASOS Black Friday 30% off sale, I scored an awesome ASOS Curve Tulip Skirt amongst many other things. Something about this skirt stood out. It appeared to be the same material as my double peplum top. I was totally elated when it arrived and it was in fact the same material. That gave me the idea to combine the two and create what looked like a peplum dress!

I rocked this look while covering the #LiveFromtheLoews Holiday Jingle Jam hosted by Rene Miller (full recap coming later this week). I paired it with my new ShoeMint 1st Anniversary Zoe pumps, Brighton Cover Girl Bowler handbag, watch and bangles. Of course I also had to dawn my new Henri Bendel Pop Phone as well. So, there you have it top worn two fabulous ways! I hope you enjoy!!

xoxo-

Parker S. <3



Brighton Bag & Banbles/ Henri Bendel Pop Phone



ShoeMint Zoe Pumps

Makeup Monday: Beauty Essentials

I know I'm a little late with this post, but technically it's still Monday!! Being an on the go fashionista, I always have to have some beauty essentials with me. Two of the my favorite makeup items that I have added into my beauty essentials for the winter are my new Tom Ford Ultra Shine Lip Gloss and Eye Color Quad.  Unless I'm covering an event or doing a photo shoot, I prefer to keep a more natural look. Therefore I chose the Peach Absolute lip gloss and Burnished Amber eyeshadow palate while on my latest visit to Neiman's.

One of the best thing about the Tom Ford Eye Color Quad is that you can make the color more subtle or saturated, depending on the desired effect. The Ultra Shine Lip Gloss also looks great on it's own or can be combined with Tom Ford lip color to create a more intense look. Last week I promised to show you how the color looks on me, so here I am today at work. I chose to go more understated with the colors. In the future I will share the rest of my beauty essentials with you guys.

Until then, to purchase my products visit my Tom Ford Beauty Representative Bina Ramchandani at Neiman Marcus Lenox Square. She is absolutely amazing and will assist you in finding the best colors for you.

See you on the front row!

xoxo-

Parker S. <3

Tom Ford  Beauty Eye Color Quad  & Ultra Shine Lip Gloss

Burnished Amber & Peach Absolut

Two-Way Tuesday: Kami Shade

This summer, I scored the most amazing dress from Twelve 24 Boutique. I kept the dress for almost 2 months because I wanted to be sure to wear it for something really special. I finally dawned the look in September while attending a birthday dinner with some of my BFF's and then jetting over to a local celeb's birthday party. I paired my Kami Shade Mosaic Tile Dress with an oversized #stylesteal clutch from Target  and some black and gold suede peep toe pumps from Sole Society. All I can say is that this look caused stir and people were buzzing for days!  I vowed that day, that I could probably never wear this dress again as not wanting to be a "repeat offender", but when it came time to host my #HauteHoliday event at Twelve 24, I thought, why not wear the look that started my relationship with this FAB boutique!

The day I scored my Amazing Kami Shade Dress @1224boutique

Backyard Photo Shoot courtesy of my Co-Worker AMB



Sole Society Shoes, Target Clutch, Brighton Bangles & Ring



Blogger Buddy Charee Lenee' & Me at Breck's B-Day Dinner

Me & My Fave Celebrity Chef, Gregory Dulac (@bowtiechef)

Now for the switch... For my #HauteHoliday Soiree, I decided to turn this #fab mini dress into a tunic. I paired it with my basic black leggings from Forever 21+, gold cropped #stylesteal jacket from Chico's (scored it last season for $49 but it's still available online) and gold glitter pumps from Sole Society! There also happened to be one dress left in the store that one of their regular clients tried on.

Ladies, just because we have a little bit more playground than our straight sized sisters, it doesn't mean we can't be fabulous and sexy. Pulling off a look like my Kami Shade dress is all about being confident in yourself. If you believe it, you will project it to the rest of the world and draw people in to you. 

"Make the world your personal runway and I'll see you on the front row!"

xoxo-

Parker S. 

Makeup Monday: Tom Ford Cosmetics

Thursday I had an amazing time exploring the new Tom Ford Cosmetics counter at Neiman's. All I can say is WOW! Previously the Tom Ford counter consisted mostly of fragrances and a few lip colors and did not have prime placement with the other beauty lines. However, what a difference a move can make. With the Neiman Marcus launch of the fledgling beauty line came a glossy new counter and prime real estate, directly across from the shoe department.

When I arrived the counter was buzzing with activity. Bina Ramchandani, my Tom Ford specialist, was deeply engrossed in a makeover with one of her clients. As I watched in awe, I was able to hear bits and pieces of the inspiration of the line.  Tom Ford's main inspiration for his cosmetics brand was sensuous beauty. The collection was created to amplify each woman's individual beauty and with a variety of foundation shades, there is something for almost everyone.

Bina Ramchandani in action with a client

Lilia Sanchez with her client Lisa Adams after her makeover

From eyes to lips, nails and face, Tom Ford Cosmetics is one of the most luxurious beauty lines on the market. The brushes are absolutely heavenly and F/W 2012 color palates are to die for. I scored a fabulous new lip gloss and an amazing new eye shadow palate that I will share with you next week on Makeup Monday.

Tom Ford Cosmetics

Tom Ford Eye Palates

Tom Ford Bronzing Powder

Although Tom Ford Cosmetics are a bit of a splurge, you definitely get what you pay for. The colors are impeccable and the packaging is elegant and beautiful. The experience that you will receive from Bina & the rest of Tom Ford Cosmetics team will be unforgettable. To purchase Tom Ford Cosmetics visit Neiman Marcus at Lenox Square and ask for Bina Ramchandani.

Bina & Me

See you on the front row-

Parker S. <3

#hauteholidays @ Twelve 24 Boutique

Friday night I had an amazing time kicking off my "Haute for the Holidays" series at Twelve 24 Boutique. The focus of the evening was cocktail dresses and the fabulous ways to accessorize them. We had an amazing time checking out the latest pieces from local designer's Lavender's Jungle and Jibri, as well as some fabulous #stylesteals guaranteed to turn heads.

My good friend Cassandra Mason of Gem N Baubles mobile accessories boutique was on hand to lend her expertise in the accessories arena. She supplied fabulous designer inspired clutches and handbags that were a fraction of their designer retail price. In addition to being a style maven, she also is a culinary czar! She prepared homemade cranberry/pineapple sauce which was the essential element to my "Parker's Punch" signature cocktail.

Parker's Punch (Photo snagged from Nikka Shae)

Shalawn Willis, Cassandra Mason & Moi

As the evening progressed and the cocktails continued to flow, it was time to play dress up. Blogger buddies Tish Foster of Curvie Birdie & Nikka Shae of Oh!Nikka were good sports and let me treat them like a living  Barbie doll. Tish looked #haute in an adorable black peplum top, while Nikka was our diva for the evening in my fave Lavender's Jungle plum satin cocktail dress & #AMAZING Jibri Holiday Sweetie Dress in leopard sequin.

Tish Foster of Curvie Birdie

Nikka Shae in Lavender's Jungle 

Nikka Shae in Jibri

Makeup artist to the stars Shalawn Willis popped in and dropped off a fab Lamik Cosmetics give-a-way and my #BFF's Tia (If I Were a Brit Girl), Mari (Beyond Greatness Event Planning) & Lynn (LA Lynn's Accessories Shop)dropped in to support me and my #treatsfortroops project! I had such a great time playing hostess with the mostess and taking over one of my favorite boutiques. Thanks so much to Angela & Melanie of Twelve 24 Boutique for allowing me to share my #hauteholiday picks of the season!

Tia Lou 

Mari

 Lynn

Angela (Twelve 24 Boutique), Guest & Melanie (Twelve 24 Boutique)

Next up in the "Haute for the Holidays" series, I'm taking over Sol Oasis Nail Spa for a Polished and Pampered holiday event. Be sure to RSVP as soon as possible, you definitely don't want to miss it!

"Be Bold, Be Unique and Be Yourself, but most of all, Make the world your personal runway!"

See you on the front row-

Parker S. <3