And, We’re Marching…

Rich Central HS Band (BudBilliken.com)

I will be postponing this Saturday’s “A Little Service, A Little Brunch” because The Red Pump Project will be marching in the Bud Billiken Parade this Saturday! The historical parade celebrates its 80th anniversary this year and is the nation’s oldest and largest African-American parade. We are sooo honored and excited to be a part of this event! I can still remember marching as a child through my old neighborhood. The excitement as my mother brushed our hair, dressed us, and lined us up to march with the other kids. Started in 1929 as a way for the Chicago Defender to celebrate its’ paperboys, the parade has marked the unofficial back-to-school season for generations of African-Americans in Chicago since then.

If you’re in Chicago, the parade will travel south along M.L. King Drive beginning at Oakwood Blvd and ending at Washington Park. The city expects 1 million people to line the parade route and attend the post-parade picniv in Washington Park, so make sure that you are there in time to enjoy the festivities!

Head on over to my Examiner page to learn about the $300K in scholarship dollars to be awarded to Chicago students this year through the Chicago Defender charities. Family fun and college funding in one. Doesn’t get any better, folks!

-kb

What A Weekend! BlogHer 2k9

This weekend, I tried to keep up with the big girls and attend a couple of BlogHer events. Allow me to tip my hat to the ladies who attended the conference sessions, along with the pre- and post-parties. You all deserve some type of medal! On Friday evening, I joined bloggers at the Blogalicious/LUSH Experience in the LUSH Cosmetics section of Macy’s. The private event took place after store hours and was amazing! I am NOT exaggerating. There were drinks, desserts, and complimentary beauty treatments. Guests enjoyed arm massages, hand treatments, facials, pedicures, and more. I grabbed some pictures on my Blackberry (for Twitpic purposes).

Blogalicious Event

LUSH Goodies

Blogalicious is a conference for women bloggers of color. The inaugural conference will be held in Atlanta from October 9-11. You can learn more or sign up at www.blogaliciousweekend.com! At the end of the night, I walked away with some great goodies courtesy of LUSH. Huge thank you to my fairy Godbella, Afrobella, for inviting me to this great event. I had a blast!

Chicagonista/NY Metropolista Writers

On Saturday, I joined some of my Chicagonista gals for a sushi lunch celebrating the launch of our sister site, NY Metropolista. I must say that the founder of both sites, MJ Tam, is so amazing. She is not only sweet but she has a vision and is making it happen! MJ gathered us at Niu Japanese Fusion Lounge and we gabbed while dining on some amazing rolls! By the way, the food at Niu was delicious. I highly recommend the Sexy Mexican roll.

Pictured (Smiling L to R): Carol of NYCityMama.com, Jen of SecondCitySoiree.com, MJ

I didn’t register for the conference so I had no idea how busy BlogHer ground zero (the Sheraton) was. That was until I ventured over there post-sushi to meet up with my Red Pump Project co-founder, Luvvie. I found her gorging on Molly’s Cupcakes in the Brand About Town suite. This company identifies key influencers in the blogosphere and links them with companies and great campaigns. The Sheraton was buzzing with women, men, babies all moving in and out of sessions and gifting suites. It was incredible to watch. Did I mention that there were roughly 1500 bloggers in attendance? Let me tell you now…In case you haven’t figured it out by now, blogging is a huge business.

To end the weekend, I joined the Bright Pink ladies at BowlHer. In addition to bowling and having a blast, we were there spreading awareness about breast and ovarian cancer, Bright Pink, and the new text messaging campaign launching in October. A novel way to combine technology and healthcare, Bright Pink will launch the “Underwire Alert,” an alert system which will send women a monthly text message reminding them to conduct their monthly breast self-exam. How cool is that?

Me at BowlHer

Whew…So, there you have it! My BlogHer experience in a nutshell! All in all, I had the opportunity to meet so many great bloggers and individuals, in general! I feel like I spend so much time talking to Twitter IDs and blog screennames, so it’s good to have that human connection. I’m still going through my business cards and checking out the bloggers that I met during the weekend because definitely want to keep in touch

While there were a significant number of “moms who blog” and not enough bloggers of color, I felt that everyone was there to learn, network, and mingle. Other than the few catty situations that I heard about, I thought BlogHer was very beneficial for attendees. Next year, the conference will be held in New York City. I’ve already marked the date on my calendar and am looking forward to being in attendance!

-kb

Sunday Funday! Bright Pink and Bears

Bright Pink Gals

On Sunday, I spent my day walking around the city and checking out events held by two great organizations! First, I payed a visit to The 900 Shops on North Michigan Avenue. Bright Pink was hosting its charity shopping event, and I stopped by to grab some pictures and say “Hi!” From the giant sign out front to the smiling volunteer wearing a pink shirt, there was no mistaking the point of this day. DONATE…SHOP…SAVE…ENJOY!

Participating stores featured signs in the windows to highlight the deals AND also had a pink arrow leading patrons in. When I arrived, lululemon was hosting a free yoga class on the first floor while makeup artists beautified some faces under hot pink umbrellas.

Makeup and Yoga!

DJ Rock City played a great mix of music including a MJ tribute, which still makes me light up. Guests made their way throughout the stores grabbing great deals and taking advantage of all the free treats. Williams-Sonoma had a run on their free pink cupcakes, and guests enjoyed free mini-manicures courtesy of the Mario Tricoci Hair Salon (amongst all the other goodies). Look at all those cute pink colors below!

ZOYA Nail Color in shades of pink

Afterwards, I mosied on along to Erie Park for the Taste of River North. Bear Necessities, a great pediatric cancer foundation here, had a booth at the riverside festival. While children played on the hill and live bands entertained the crowds, we volunteered at the booth signing up people to help Bear Necessities’ programs. During my shift, I worked alongside two gents, one an intern and the other was a great volunteer like myself!

BN Table!

All in all, I had a great day seeing the city and meeting new people. Another summer Sunday Funday entered in the books

How were your weekends?

-kb

KB’s Journey: Meetup Success!

Hey, folks! How was your weekend???

I had a BLAST here in Chicago. The weather is finally heating up, and there are so many events to attend

On Saturday, The Red Pump Project hosted a meetup/fundraiser at the lovely Three Peas Art Lounge. The event was designed to raise funds for the Chicago Women’s AIDS Project AND welcome the beautiful Afrobella to Chicago. Let me just tell you all that we had a ball mixing and mingling for a great cause.

Afrobella and KB

It was great meeting so many bloggers in town for Blogging While Brown, talking to CWAP board members/staff, and telling folks about The Red Pump Project. We were pretty amazed when Rev. Rae Lewis-Thornton, renowned AIDS activist, stopped by our event and chatted with our guests. Our raffle winners walked away with some great gifts, including condom cases from Just In Case, Inc, a delicious chocolate mousse cake (donated by a bakery), some great jewelry, and an AKIRA gift certificate. Yay!

At the end of the night, we’d raised over $500 for CWAP, and emptied an undocumented number of wine bottles. Thanks to the 50+ people who escaped the heat for an evening of cool conversation and cold drinks! We had FUN!

I didn’t take that many pics personally, but I threw in a few below!

Luvvie, along with CWAP staff

Blogging beauties!

Crowd shot!

-kb

Goodwill (Dress) Hunting

This weekend, my sister and I drove down to Alton, IL to watch our aunt and uncle renew their vows in honor of their 25th wedding anniversary. The ceremony was beautiful and we had a great time getting reacquainted with our mother’s hometown. Yesterday, we decided to do some exploring and check out some of the shops.

Across the street from our hotel was a Goodwill store. While we went in there just to look around and possibly shop, we ended up falling in love with one particular section of the store…The wedding gowns!

I don’t know if it was the nuptial theme of the weekend, but we spent more time fawning and feigning over those gowns than anything else in the store! When many women dream of walking down the aisle, they never think of walking down the aisle in a stranger’s dress! But, with times the way that they are, and the growing recycle/reuse movement, there is a growing number of women who have no issue purchasing a second-hand gown.

The first thing we noticed in the section was that some of the gowns in the store were very, hmm…let’s say dated. There were definitely some poofy sleeves and crazy necklines. The second thing we noticed, and the most important thing, were the amazing trains and beading on a few of those gowns. So intricately designed…and at such GREAT bargains! Of course, any one who purchased a gown would need to have it worked on (i.e., altering, cleaning, etc). That is with the exception of one gown…

There was a gorgeous Cinderella dress that was my size and absolutely beautiful. I tried it on and was borderline obsessed with it. My sister almost bought it for me! It would have definitely been my reception gown.

So beautiful and only $125!

Here are some more pics from our excursion:

We didn’t buy any wedding gowns, but at the end of the day, my sister snagged four dresses (including the silk Banana Republic dress below), two wrap sweaters, and a pair of sunglasses for about $34. Whoo hoo!!!

All purchases at Goodwill stores benefit the job training and other programs supported by Goodwill Industries. You can find your nearest Goodwill store by visiting www.goodwill.org!

June-time Is Here!

Summertime Chicago!

Hey, guys…I’ve missed you all so much! It’s been over a week since my last entry, but I had to rearrange and reorder my life! Lol. My TFG staycation gave me time to work on plans for The Red Pump Project, plan for some new ventures, AND start cleaning out my closets! A new season is upon us, and like they say in church, “You have to get your house in order!”

I’m actually really excited that we’ve reached June. It means that we’ve made it halfway through the year! It’s never too late to start giving or to start volunteering. Don’t think about it…Just do it! Whether it’s participating in a charity softball tournament or planting flowers in a community garden, the outdoor volunteer opportunities increase!

As a firm believer in sunlight and sunbathing, you can rest assured that I will be on the lookout for plenty of “golden” opportunities to have fun while giving. As I come across great outdoor activities, I will definitely add them here on the blog. Have a great June 1st…Summer officially arrives in 20 days! Start the countdown now

-kb

Happy Birthday, TFG!!!

OMG…I’m such a bad blog mommy! The Fabulous Giver officially was “born” one year ago on May 13th! I’m so happy that I’ve been able to share these events and my journey with you guys! I’m very grateful for each of you who takes the time to read my blog, retweet an entry, or tell your friends to check me out! 

Seriously, you all keep me working and trying to build my vision. I plan on really turning things up a notch in this new year. So, be on the lookout for a site redesign, interviews with some AMAZING individuals, events, vlogs, and MORE! 

Again, THANK YOU for all of your support and please continue to spread the word about The Fabulous Giver!

-kb

KB’s Journey: Partying for a Cause

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of hosting my favorite ladies for my Johnson and Johnson Cause Party. The idea behind the event was to gather my girlfriends for food, drinks, laughter, and, of course, a great cause.

My ladies gathered at my place around 1:30p, began introducing themselves, and started digging into the snacks! For all of my Chicagoans, if you have not had the fresh salsa and guacamole from Hyde Park Produce (1226 E. 53rd), you have not yet lived! Of course, with me being completely scatterbrained, I was still running around the morning of the party picking up tables, chairs, and other random items. So, I actually spent the first hour and a half of the party in the kitchen cooking with a sweatshirt and baseball cap on. Looking pure crazy! Hahaha!

As far as the menu was concerned, I prepared my take on a Mexican fiesta. You know, fajitas, black beans, rice, etc and the wine was definitely flowing! As we talked and ate, it became clear what the objective of the event was. J&J wanted to our gathering to really focus on nurturing our bonds in a relaxed, comfortable, and fun atmosphere!

In between the girl talk convos which ranged from dating to Beyonce, I gave my guests some background on why J&J believes in these cause parties and some information on the Chicago Women’s AIDS Project, the party’s beneficiary, and women and HIV statistics in Chicago.

If you’re familiar with The Red Pump Project, then you know that Luvvie and I adopted CWAP as our Chicago AIDS organization. The funds that were raised on Saturday will help offset the cost of CWAP’s annual conference for HIV positive women which is this Saturday, the 16th.

My guests were really pleased with their J&J gift bags! They received samples of Johnson and Johnson’s Be Radiant Cocoa and Shea Butter Lotion and Body Wash. I’m smiling because I’m a huge fan of both cocoa and shea butter in itself and have a fetish for any product which includes them in their formulas.

Hours later, when the last guest left, I was super-tired but in a great way. I had a great time catching up with old friends and sharing stories with new ones. Thank you, J&J for sponsoring this event. And, thank you, ladies for coming out and supporting CWAP (and me)!

I’ve included more pictures from the event below! To learn more about Johnson and Johnson’s Body Care line, visit www.johnsonsforyou.com.

Recap: Target Bullseye Bazaar Opening

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend two preview events for the opening of the Target Bullseye Bazaar store in Chicago. Located in the Tribune Tower, this store features an amazing selection of items for the spring and summer! You can read a full recap over at Chicagonista.com.

I’ve included some pictures below for your viewing pleasure…Enjoy

Target and Tulips!

Celebrity Makeup Artist, Sergio Lopez-Rivera

Spotted: KB and Jessica (aka Vanessa from GG)

Target donated $25K to fight hunger!

Very satisfied!

-kb

“No. Thank You.”

Within the past 72 hours, I’ve been blessed to say that to two individuals that I’ve helped and it’s been the most AMAZING experience. On Saturday, I joined my BFF Ash, her mom, aunt, and another family friend at The Glass Slipper Project. The Glass Slipper Project provides  prom gowns to high school girls who might not be able to afford them due to financial circumstances. Actually, let me correct myself. The Glass Slipper Project provides a gown, shoes, a handbag, accessories, and even makeup for the girls.

 

Ash, Mama Tate, Auntie Iris, KB, and Miss Audrey

 

 

I had the pleasure of being the personal shopper for Miss T. After 3 trips to the dressing room and 10 gowns later, we found a gown that she loved and felt amazing in…Score! Moving on to shoes, she found a pair of heels that wouldn’t cramp her style and (of course) matched her dress. After we conquered accessories and makeup, our time together was up. I’m not going to lie…I kind of wished that the day would continue on forever. Or at least the feeling. We spent over an hour together, and for that hour, NOTHING else mattered. It was all about helping her get dressed for a night that she would hopefully remember forever.

As we hugged goodbye, she said “It was fun hanging with you. Thank you!” My response…”No. Thank You!”

Smile

Fast forward to yesterday…While strolling to Kinko’s, I was approached by a 40-something year old woman who told me that she was just laid off and while waiting for her unemployment, she needed food to feed her children at home. As her voice cracked while explaining her situation, an instant lightbulb that told me, “Do this.” As we were walking the few blocks to a neighborhood convenience store, she told me about her oldest daughter, a freshman in high school, who was celebrating her birthday on that day. 

“Mom, I know you’re waiting for your unemployment, but do you think that you could bake a cake for me today?” the daughter asked earlier that morning.

“When she told me that this morning, I just broke out in tears,” Miss Rose told me. I’m not going to lie…As Rose was talking, I felt a lump forming in my throat. As the daughter of a mother who often had to choose medication over clothes, or scrounge up dollars for our school field trips, I was familiar with the tears of a mother who wished that she could do just a little more…Give just a little more.

When Rose and I arrived at the store, she asked if I could just get her a can of chili for the kids. “Absolutely. And, don’t forget the supplies for the birthday cake,” I replied. After our mini-shopping treat was complete, we walked back outside and I gave her an extra umbrella for her walk back home and two hugs.

She said “Thank you.” I replied, “No, thank you.”

In both of those experiences, I don’t know who was more grateful. Me or them. Giving is not just a transaction of dollars or products. It is a demonstration of the human spirit. As we continue to hear stories of our neighbors, our friends, or even strangers going through hard times, none of us can afford to act like we’re living in a bubble. 

While some would say that the emotion tied to both of my experiences is directly related to my past and how I grew up, I have to say that it’s more than that. I’m reminded why I love to give. It’s not because I want you to read my blog or for the tax credit, it’s because I’ve been the recipient of kindness and my donations are the price I pay to be alive. There’s no other way to describe it…

-kb