Sunday Events

Event: The Urban Marketplace (TUM)

Where: The Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, UMD, College Park, MD.

Summary: Not a stranger to TUM (check out my '11 recap here), I decided to check it out again mainly because my dear friend was a vendor. More about her business later. My experience at TUM was pretty similar to the last time I attended the event: lots of cool vendors, a nice sizable crowd, and a great swag bag to take home. I also ran into a number of bloggers - Stella of Jadore-Fashion, Chi Chi of Supple Chic, and Nife of Skinny Hipster. There was a vendor whose clothing rack caught my eye. It was filled with cute ruffle crop tops made from ankara material. The maxi skirt she was rockin', also made from ankara material, caught my eye, too. She mentioned that she was also selling the skirts. I later realized that I was talking to Eni of Enibaby4 and was checking out her clothing collection, Puksies Wardrobe. 

Like I mentioned, I came to support my friend, Funmi, an independent consultant with Usborne Book Sales. USB provides books at affordable prices that are geared towards the ever-growing child. The books are fun to read and most importantly, educational. It comes in a variety of subjects and different activities to keep the child engaged. Yes, I'm definitely not within the age range of which these books are for but when one sees a fashion coloring book, one must take it home for herself. Simple. But, really, Usborne Books are for 9 months to high school years. I highly recommend the books. Also, Funmi loves what the books are doing for her son, who just turned 2 years old on Sunday! For more information please click here. 

Funmi with her books. 

My sis checking out the selection.

Event: Yelp's 10 Year Anniversary Event

Where: Anacostia Arts Center, DC

Summary: I couldn't stay long at the TUM event because I had to quickly make my way to DC for Yelp's big shindig to celebrate their 10 year anniversary. I met up with Elle and also ran into Kristin and Trisha. Yelp went all out with the vendors, so we sampled so many different types of food, drinks, alcohol and engaged ourselves in activities including a Paint Bar (create a small painting) and Flower Bar (create your own bouquet). But my favorite of all was definitely making faces at their two photos booths c/o Snap Fiesta and Photo-matica. The DJ definitely cranked out some great ol' dance tunes. I had a wonderful time.

What I Wore:
Dress: thrift
Wedges: Avenue

Gettin' my Picasso on c/o of Creative Carousal

Goofballs.

 

For more photos from the Yelp event click here. 

Oriental Floral

I'm still trying to get a feel for Fashion to Figure. The brand's clothing is way too trendy for my taste. But a few of my friends insist that I should give the brand a try; ease up a bit. So a couple of weeks ago I hit up a FTF near my workplace with the intention of leaving the store with a few items in hand. From my naked eye, I remember checking out FTF a while back and noticing that, yes, it goes up to a 3X but it definitely didn't size like a 3X. Lots of their clothing items are cut very narrow. Pretty much the main reason why I didn't care for FTF. I did ask an associate why that was the case and she explained that FTF buys from a number of vendors hence the strange sizing.

My visit to the store was a success, though. I bought two dresses. The dress I'm wearing in this post is the Sweet as Roses Dress. It's made from a scuba-ish fabric but it's very light-weight. I've worn this dress a couple of times, most recently during the July 4th weekend. I'll probably wear the dress repeatedly before the end of this year runs out (In other words, get ready to see it again here. But styled in a different way, of course.) Another plus for this dress is the scoop neck in the front and slight deep v-cut at the back. And I'm convinced the fit and flare shape was meant for me. Absolutely convinced.

Fashion to Figure Dress

Sandals: Avenue

Bracelets/Ring: Lane Bryant

Glasses: Goodwill

Watch: DKNY

Clutch: ALDO Accessories

Have a great and safe week ahead. 

Just Peachy

Tunic: H&M+

Skater Skirt: ASOS Curve

Sandals: Simply Be

Sunglasses: Goodwill

Bracelets: Avenue, Lane Bryant, Charming Charlie

Rings: ASOS, Avenue

Watch: Michael Kors

Happy 238th Birthday, United States of America! Enjoy this holiday weekend, folks. For everyone else outside of the States, enjoy your weekend!

Burst of Color

Blouse: Avenue

Jeans: Old Navy

Sandals: Avenue

Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim x Target

Welcome to the month of July, everyone!

BET Awards '14

Using the search button on my blog, I typed in 'bet awards' and was shocked to see that I had no results. Almost 4 years of Heart, Print & Style and not once have I recapped a BET Awards show? Wow. Bad, Vivi. Bad. Especially considering that I always look forward to the BET Awards. And for the past few years, it has been far better than the Grammys and the MTV Music Awards.

Oooh. A reason just popped in my head.

Maybe the main reason why I never created a post on the BET Awards is because of its red carpet. When I recap an awards show, the main billing is really the red carpet. Who wore what? Who was my favorite? Least favorite? That sorta thing. BET Awards show red carpet is usually a hot-ass mess. Or very uninspiring. Or both. And what's the fun of having a blog post just blasting everyone? Not so much fun, at all. (Behind closed doors, that's a different story. As many of my friends would tell you.)

BET Awards '14 was televised last night. The memo for the evening was 'Wear white on the red carpet! Wear plaid on the stage!' I was convinced. Chris Rock was the host; he did a good job. There were lots and lots of performances but my main highlights were Usher, Chris Brown, Lionel Richie tribute (which was too short), and the 90s throwback segment featuring Troop (All I Do is Think of You), Color Me Badd (I Wanna Sex You Up), and Silk (Freak Me). I was in late elementary school years heaven! Yes, my 10-12 year old ass definitely knew the lyrics to each and every one of those baby-making songs. Don't ask why. Thanks. I think my night would've been made if Jodeci appeared on that stage. LAWD! But, alas, it never came to be.

Red carpet time. You ready?

Regina Hall
I think Regina is highly underrated on the red carpet. 9 outta 10 times she looks really nice.
I'm liking this white pant suit look.
Mainly because, I'm still infatuated with the whole AWE (All White Everything).

Kerry Washington in Dolce & Gabbana
She looks very pretty in this lovely floral dress.
Not feeling the footwear. Mainly because, I'm not a fan of the white pumps/heels trend.

Lartasha Rose in Alice + Olivia
Great look (minus, of course, the white heels).
The vibrant abstract skirt belongs in my closet.
Nitpick: the crop top is a smidge too small. 

(l) Stephen Bishop (r) BJ Britt
The men were trying way too hard on the red carpet...
...so it was nice to see these two men looking nice, handsome and normal.

Raven Goodwin in Yigal Azrouel
She looks good. Great dress. Smart choice in heels.
Just wished that her lipstick and clutch didn't match.

Lil' Mama
I really like the dress.
Too bad it matches with her hair...and her skin.
She just looks orange all over.

The Mirror Gang
(l) Keke Palmer in Alon Livne (r) Charli Baltimore
Out of the two, I would pick Keke as the winner...? I mean, is there really a winner in this?
But, for real. Keke's dress isn't all that bad. The sheer panels were totally unnecessary, though.
Charli is suffering from the same problem as Lil' Mama: wearing a dress that blends too much with her skin.

Gabrielle Union in Maria Lucia Hohan
Not one of her best looks.
Then again, it's been a while since she had a 'best look' on the red carpet.
The dress is bland, the hair is wonky, and the thigh high boots in June in LA is just a no.
No.

Ashanti in Michael Costello
Once again, I'm always happy to see a celeb wearing a Michael Costello design.
But this dress is not working. At all.
Doesn't help that Ashanti is wearing a horrendous lace front wig.
It's like she's forever stuck in her heydey. Y'know, between 2000-2004.

Zendaya in Emanuel Ungaro
Oh, 'Daya.
This is such a huge misstep.
The fishtails, the snapback, the athletic blue shade.
Everything seems forced. And that's not usually the case with Zendaya on the red carpet.

*photos c/o Hollywood Life, IBTimes

Did you watch the show? Catch the pre-show? Check out the red carpet? Thoughts?