Love, love, love this chic boutique! It was one of my favorite stops in Tuscaloosa, and now bevello celebrates its grand opening at the Summit this Wednesday!
The grand opening party is this Wendesday, March 23 at 5:00 P.M. Guests will enjoy a DJ, photographer, complimentary drinks and light bites from Seasons 52 and Zoe’s Kitchen, plus 20% off purchases!
The new store is located at 214 Summit Boulevard, Suite 400.
Happy shopping!
What? You didn’t think I spent ALL my time shopping and gallivanting, did you? I haven’t been able to read for enjoyment the way I did before graduate school, and am just getting back to it. These are all great reads, whether your tastes run to highbrow, lowbrow…or somewhere in between.
Get INformation: Becoming Beyonce, by J. Randy Tarraborelli. Three stars and a bottle of hot sauce for this juicy read. Does it lay out what happened in that elevator in 2013? You’ll have to read it yourself.
Real Housewife of Barnes and Noble: American Housewife, by Helen Ellis. Four stars. Witty, strange and definitely funny. Ellis and her characters are women I’d love to have a cocktail with. Fun facts: Ellis is an accomplished poker player and was reared in Tuscaloosa.
HERstory: My Time with the Kings: A Reporter’s Recollection of Martin, Coretta and the Civil Rights Movement, by Kathryn Johnson. Three and three quarter stars. Johnson became an AP reporter covering the civil rights movement and the King family during a turbulent time in history. She had a front row seat to many things, including Dr. King’s funeral, and was even allowed into the King family’s intimate spaces. She was present for the University of Alabama’s Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, and her recollections on that alone make this a read. Her resourcefulness, quick thinking and gumption gave her access many could not have gotten.
And one to grow on: I Had a Favorite Dress, by Boni Ashburn. This was a pick for my niece, who loves to be read to! (And also so she doesn’t become a semi-hoarder like her aunt.) The illustrations and story are lovely.
All images via Amazon
Hello darlings! Is your look in need of a pick-me-up? Here’s a list of events to get you in fashionable formation from head to toe this season:
The Aveda Institute is celebrating its customers! Join them Thursday, March 10 for their Guest Appreciation Event, where you can receive 20% off Aveda products and services booked through June 30, 2016, as well as complimentary pampering. (Here’s one of my all-time favorite products!) RSVP HERE.
Belk hosts its Spring Girls’ Night Out in-store and online on Thursday March, 10 from 5 -8:30 PM. Enjoy 20%with limited exclusions on regular and sales-priced items in select departments, as well as light bites and music. For more info, click HERE.
Visions Health and Beauty Distributors presents its annual Natural Hair and Health Expo in the BJCC North Exhibition Hall on Saturday, March 12 from 10 AM-6:00 PM. Expect plenty of vendors, a pageant, a panel, a performance by Vivian Green and an appearance from natural hair vlogger Taren Guy. Purchase tickets HERE.
Enjoy!
I am so glad that groundhog’s forecast was for an early spring! My wardrobe needs a breath of fresh air and sunshine, and that’s what this season’s style has in store. I’m ready to break out my culottes, expose a little bare shoulder and tuck my coats and boots away. If you can’t tell, I’ve got spring fever–and here are a few seasonal tips and trends (as seen on Talk of Alabama this morning) to keep in mind:
Happy shopping!
Image via Giphy.com
Image via @ClothesSavvyConsignment/Instagram
Oh, y’all thought you were going to survive Super Bowl 50/Mardi Gras/the weekend without getting your wig snatched? In the middle of our Saturdays we were all blessed with a new song+video from Queen Bey. If you’ve been living under a rock on an undiscovered planet, the clean version is provided HERE.
Now let’s discuss. The Internet is on FIRE trying to deconstruct what it means, such that I am experiencing analysis paralysis while I bounce to the beat. The song unapologetically celebrates Mrs. Carter’s proud heritage and motherhood. It also makes a pointed statement on race, class, work ethic and creativity. What she’s been serving all along–and the side she let us see in her self-titled surprise album in late 2013–comes into even sharper focus. And is baby sis Solange driving the getaway car???
Bey’s “Formation” is getting on folks’ nerves for the same reasons Cam Newton’s dabbing does. The thing is, they don’t care whether we’re here for it or not because they both have a radical sense of self-acceptance that doesn’t depend on our opinions. Even more radically, she’s raising a precocious little black girl to love herself, baby hair, Afro and all. And she doesn’t give a pot of Mama Tina’s red beans what we think about it. She rocks multiple hair styles in this video and celebrates her “Negro” nose and dares you to suggest she alter (or contour) it. She’s gonna make us ALL dance to this message, and maybe we’ll start loving our own uncommon beauty, unique backgrounds and unusual tastes–our weird, wonderful, conflicted, contradictory selves–whoever we are, wherever we come from and however we’re made. We’ll go off, “go hard/get what’s [ours]” no matter what our haters say or do. That’s why there’s a church scene: because Bey just gave us all Gospel. Then she turns the “BlackLivesMatter” movement on its ear, with a little black boy dance battling a line of policemen–easily my favorite part of the video. Has she always been “woke,” i.e. totally self-aware and/or socially conscious? Have you? Is she here to speak for or even save the African-American experience or community? Are you?
Reflect on your own emotional, physical, social, financial, and spiritual evolution. Are you the same person you were fifteen years ago? I hope not. I am not even the same person I was a week before my last birthday! When you free yourself, you too will slay, swerve, serve, second line, toss sequins and twirl regardless of how other people respond–if they respond at all. You’ll do it on your own timeline. And you won’t need anyone’s permission. As for me, I’m headed to Red Lobster…and yes, I have hot sauce in my bag. Bye!
GO OFF!
Images via Vogue and Hypable
I was waaaaaay overdue for a night out wih friends when I received an invite to relax, relate and release with girlfriends a couple of weeks ago! And when I wasn’t salivating over the menu at local hotspot Galley and Garden, I had outfit planning to look forward to. 
This J. Crew asymmetrical zip jumpsuit is so comfortable, but manages to be chic AND weather appropriate! And jumpsuits are just so easy! The leopard heels give it a little Cookie Lyon action, and I always have a clutch to carry my essentials.
Now here’s the scoop on Galley and Garden: it’s DELICIOUS! Go. The ambiance, service and food are superb.
I’m hitting the reset button this month. One of my beauty goals for 2016 is to maintain a manicure, something I learned from my grandmother but that I don’t do a great job at. I always smudge them! And ten years of piano lessons taught me to keep them short and polish-free (or buffed and lacquered with a clear coat.) But I loved filing and polishing my grandmother’s nails, and am going to do my best to keep mine looking ladylike.
So I’m trying again. This week’s color: “She’s Pampered” by Essie. Because if I can’t actually be a rested lady of leisure right now, at least my nails can look like I’m one! And this cherry red is a luxe pick-me-up. Not quite “Jungle Red,” but it’ll do.
Happy shopping!
Xo, Alexis
Same Chic Different Day 
