Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Taking it to the West Coast!


I'm putting the finishing touches on the itinerary for the Coastal Romp, and I am sooooooo excited! This will be the first vacation (real vacation!) that I've taken with my Mom in a loooong time. It's been a minute since I've taken a trip that didn't involve work, and this will be a welcomed week of adventure!

We'll begin in San Francisco, cruise along with the drive down the Pacific Coastal Highway, dip down into Los Angeles, and make our way back up to San Fran. I'm an itinerary planning fool - but I'm always up for suggestions!!! If you've got any thoughts about must-dos, must-sees, or must-gos, please tell me!!

Here's a quick overview of the trip so far:

Saturday – San Francisco
· Land in SF and pick up the convertible (thanks Mom!)
· Golden Gate bridge and park /Sausalito / Muir Woods
· Sunset Cruise - $30 per person -
http://www.rendezvouscharters.com/itc.htm
Sunday – San Francisco/Los Angeles
· Leave for Los Angeles (8:00 AM) -
Drive 1.5 hrs
· Arrive in Santa Cruz (9:30 – 10:30) – Breakfast and tour -
Drive 1.5 hrs
· Arrive in Big Sur (12:00 – 1:00) – Lunch and tour -
Drive 2.5 hrs
· Arrive in Pismo Beach (3:30 – 4:30) – tour -
Drive 3 hrs
· Arrive in Los Angeles (7:30)
Monday – Los Angeles
· Venice Beach / Malibu
· Santa Monica walking around
Tuesday – Los Angeles
· Beverly Hills ogling and driving around other parts of LA
Wednesday – Los Angeles/San Francisco
· Leave for San Francisco (10:00 AM) -
Drive 2 hrs
· Arrive in Santa Barbara (12:00 – 2:00) Lunch and Tour -
Drive 4 hrs
· Arrive in Monterey (6:00 – 7:00) Dinner and Tour -
Drive 2 hrs
· Arrive in San Francisco (9:00)
Thursday – San Francisco
· Allyson – important meeting at a California foundation...YAY!!!
· Museum of the African Diaspora - $10 per person – http://www.moad.sf.org/ or maybe the Victorian Home Walk - $20 per person – http://www.victorianwalk.com/
Friday – San Francisco
· Fisherman’s Wharf
http://www.fishermanswharf.org/ or Angel Island http://www.angelisland.com/
· Yoshi’s Jazz Restaurant & Club to see Me'Shell NdegéOcello (the second concert I've been to! the first time I saw her live was in Boston in like 2004 - can't wait to see this show!


So that's the lineup for the trip. I know I'm missing lots of things, and your suggestions would be VERY valuable! Keep in mind this is a trip with my Mom, and so we need to do Mom-friendly things.....any ideas?
ciao y'all!
a

Women's Power Circle

Charleston Couture Fashion Show and Fundraiser
2005


I LOVE HAVING THINGS TO DO. AND MY FRIENDS DO, TOO.

Now that that is out of the way, I'm really amped about having a summer project. Some friends and I got together and were talking about planning a fashion show this September. It brought up great memories of a show that my very good friends M. Renee Williams and Stephanie Glover organized back in 2005 in Charleston, South Carolina. It was amazing!!!!!! The energy, the makeup, the clothes.....

Needless to say, the group here in Ottawa was smitten with the idea....till we realized that 1) We're not here in Ottawa collectively as a group for the entire summer, which would make planning difficult, 2)Neither of us are from Ottawa and are really familiar with the resources that we could be tapping into, and 3)We're not in the fashion scene enough to know what's going on already......

BOOOOOOOOOO reality check!

With that, we decided to re-gig ourselves and create something smaller, more intimate, and that gets at the true purpose of what we want.......

We're not sure what that looks like, but it will likely be:
  • Something that focuses on women spending time together in a fun, enriching way (guys do it all the time! they can walk into ANY bar in ANY country at ANY time of year at ANY time of day and have something in common - SPORTS!). What do women have as an equivalent common bond? Hopefully, we'll find it!
  • An event with lifestyle/fashion/beauty thread throughout it
  • Sometime in July......

Are there events going on in your city that bring women together to celebrate themselves? I know there are TONS of volunteer, fundraising, church-related, and service events and organizations....book-clubs, too! But when do women get together to just talk? If you know of something, please share! Finding a formula that works means we don't have to reinvent the wheel:)

ciao y'all!

a

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Carivibe is Coming!




Hey y'all!


This summer's gonna be a BLAST and one of the things I'm really looking forward to is CARIVIBE, here in Ottawa (Orleans) this Saturday. Suzan Lavertu, the awesomest of awesome women (and director of The Cultural Arts Studio School Of Afro-Caribbean Dance - where I shake my thang every Sat) is putting together an amazing opportunity to both have a blast during Carivibe AND raise some awareness and funds for earthquake victims in Haiti. Some information is below - take a browse and e-mail or call me if you're interested. It'd be GREAT to have you join in!

Love and hugs!

Allyson


Date: Saturday, June 19, 2010
Time: 9:00am - 11:30pm
Location: Ottawa (Orleans)
Street: St. Joseph Blvd. & Belcourt Blvd.
City/Town: Orleans, ON

CARIVIBE is an annual celebration of Caribbean culture in the Nation’s Capital. It offers a diverse array of tropical rhythm, cuisine, carnival and culture. The parade will feature a wide variety of floats depicting various themes and creative ideas.

The Carnival for a Cause Band will be participating in the parade portion of the festivities.

WANT TO LEND A HAND???????Talented handimen, artsy crafters, and festive folks, join in!!! Here are some ways you can join in the fun!

*DANCERS - A $25 fee (all proceeds to benefit earthquake victims in Haiti) gets you a group t-shirt, all the bottled water you need, and an awesome group of dancers to play mas with! Let me know if you're interested and I can send you the form (due by June 4).

*ARTSY FOLKS- Like makeup? We need folks to "sparkle up" the dancers. All the sparkles and glitter will be there - we just need your fancy touch!

*HANDS ON HGTV KINDA FOLKS- We've got to build a wooden hut the night before. Any construction folks in the house?

*BIG GUYS - The Marshalls keep everyone safe and look out if people need water etc…We need at least 2 broad fellas.....cute ones preferred:) Let me know if you're interested!

Monday, June 14, 2010

G(irls)20 Summit in Toronto this week!


How necessary! A public conversation about how we can work towards strengthening the role, providing access (economic, political, educational, and BASIC, etc.) and ensuring the well-being of women.

What I wouldn't give to be in Toronto at this very moment!!!!!

At least I can represent virtually - and so can you! Leave your solutions at The Change Room. Though I'm thinking I might have more detailed ideas to submit later today, my first was:

"Empower girls and women to be in leadership positions to make decisions around how financial capital and other resources are allocated. Connect them with investment courses, financial managers, and monetary know how."


Hope to read your solution soon!

Balancing Acts - Waking UUUUUPPPPP


So balance is the blog's theme for June, and I'm so much more in tune to creating balance than ever before!

Balancing emotions, time, and physical energy is a fault of mine - I'm always at one end or the other, and this exploration of BALANCE has been pretty helpful over the past few weeks.

This morning, I was determined to wake up with clarity and begin the day from a balanced point. I woke up, said hello to God, wrote in my journal (while still in bed:), then had more in-depth knee time with the Savior, and took my vitamins. This process took like an hour, but it really shaped the tone for the day.

I've got to make more mornings like this!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

All White Party - check!

Just saw a post on Wearing White over at Fashionalities, and I HAD to share these. I'm not in the habit of wearing all white very often, but it's great to see how it can be done in practical ways. I've since added a few white pieces to the arsenal...hope I get lucky enough to rock 'em out soon!


Kareem Rashid is in the habit of wearing white, silver, and hot pink, and he does it very well - could be an inspiration for a men's line, I think!


ciao y'all!

a



The Neat Ice Cube Dilemma



Scene: Allyson and the Polar Bear making breakfast.

Me: (Filling in the ice container in the freezer with cubes from the tray. Proceed to fill up the tray, making sure that the water does not pass over the walls of the ice cube tray, ensuring that neat ice cubes will result; place tray back in freezer.)

Polar Bear: (Retrieve ice tray; filling tray full of water.)

Me: I filled them half way on purpose. That way you get neat ice cubes.

Polar Bear: But they won't be big enough.

Me: Yes they will. When do you ever need huge ice cubes? If you get huge ice cubes, it waters your drink down anyway.

Polar Bear: You're right.

Me; Plus, they're neat.

Polar Bear: You're right.

Oh, amor. We're getting there.

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