Yassssss! I’m here for it. That is all.
Read more HERE.
Artisans: Enter Garden & Gun’s ‘Made in the South’ Awards
Haute off the press (release):
GARDEN & GUN’S MADE IN THE SOUTH AWARDS CALL FOR THE BEST OF SOUTHERN MADE PRODUCTS AND ADDS A $10,000 GRAND PRIZE
CHARLESTON, SC–Garden & Gun kicks off the fifth annual Made in the South Awards entry process with an exciting development—this year the grand prizewinner will receive a $10,000 cash prize in addition to a prominent feature in the magazine’s December 2014/January 2015 issue. The Made in the South Awards were created by Garden & Gun to celebrate and encourage Southern craftsmen making products in one of five categories: Food, Drink, Style & Design, Outdoors, and Home.
“The Made in the South Awards continue to be a wonderful way to shine a spotlight on the talented artisans and entrepreneurs throughout the South. It’s been extremely gratifying to watch some of our past winners launch onto the national stage, and as we enter our fifth year, I’m delighted to offer a $10,000 prize for the overall winner. It’s a great addition to the attention the print coverage brings these brands,” says David DiBenedetto, vice president and editor in chief, Garden & Gun.
Click here to see Garden & Gun’s kick-off VIDEO.
This year’s judges will include Chris Hastings, owner and executive chef, Hot and Hot Fish Club, as well as a James Beard Award Winner (Food), and Natalie Chanin (Florence, AL), founder of Alabama Chanin, a design company with a strong commitment to using sustainable practices and local production in fashion, and winner of the 2013 CFDA/Lexis Eco-Fashion Challenge Award (Style & Design).
In addition to boosting the grand prize, Garden & Gun has partnered with the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), a leading art and design university headquartered in Savannah, Georgia. SCAD will host the first-ever Made in the South Awards Gala, to be held on the SCAD campus in November 2014.
“Partnering with Garden & Gun on the Made in the South Awards is such a natural fit for SCAD. It’s the latest chapter in a great friendship between a trend-setting magazine and an art-making university. Like Garden & Gun, SCAD is dedicated to creating opportunities for designers and entrepreneurs to elevate their visibility and showcase their work,” says Paula Wallace, SCAD president and cofounder.
Who should enter: Any Southern artisan or business with a product in one of the five categories (Food, Drink, Style & Design, Outdoors, Home) that will be available for sale through January 2015 may apply.
How to enter: For entry forms, category descriptions, and rules, visit gardenandgun.com/madeinthesouth. First-round judging will be based solely on photos and product descriptions. Please do not send product. Entries are being accepted until 11:59 p.m. ET on August 1, 2014. Winners will be announced in the December 2014/January 2015 issue, which hits newsstands on November 25, 2014.
To follow the conversation on the awards, use #madeinthesouth on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on gardenandgun.com.
The Heart Gallery Classic is this Sunday at Regions Field
This post is about a community organization doing great things in our area – and doing good for others never goes out of style.
The Heart Gallery of Alabama is a non-profit foundation which seeks to place foster children into “forever families.” As its website notes, “there are over 5000 children in foster care in the state of Alabama. Of these, over 500 are available for adoption.” The Gallery uses professional portraits and video interviews to capture the essence of each child or sibling group’s personality: a mischievous grin, a shy smile or perhaps a thoughtful pose and heartfelt responses convey their hopes for a permanent family. Photographs of featured children are available online, and a mobile portrait gallery is displayed throughout the state. (The HGA Exhibit is currently on display at the Riverchase Galleria through June 30.)
This Sunday, the Heart Gallery will celebrate Father’s Day with a Birmingham Barons baseball game at Regions Field and gathering on the Party Deck. I had the opportunity to interview a Heart Gallery success story for AL.com, and hope you will check it out by clicking HERE.
Image via the Heart Gallery of Alabama
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Don’t judge me.
No ma’am.
Rihanna accepts CFDA Fashion Icon of the Year Award in an Adam Selman gown too sheer to post here.
I get that “fashion is [your] defense mechanism,” Rihanna. I feel that way sometimes when I put on something no one else would wear, or when I’m dressing to improve my mood.
I get that you’re the darling of designers, (including Adam Selman, who designed your Swarovski-encrusted gown) and that your look at the CFDA Awards last night channeled Josephine Baker. It reminded me more of another over-exposed star, who would’ve turned 88 this week (if she’d lived past 36).
I won’t speculate about life in the limelight for Rihanna, but I suspect this look was more about maintaining her “bad girl” image and titillating the public (and keeping her name in bold print), rather than raging against the machine of fame. And that’s sad.
This isn’t about body shame inherited from the first woman to run around naked, either. I love my body enough to keep it reasonably covered. I get objectified enough wearing clothes; exposing myself wouldn’t make me feel stronger, braver or more empowered. But that’s just me.
There’s no defense for turning up on anyone’s red carpet nearly naked. What exactly does that prove? Is that the next wave of fashion: no clothes at all?
If so, I heard about that trend a long time ago. It’s a well-known fairy tale about exposing the intentions and convictions of others, not just one’s rear end. The look was a fail then, and it’s a fail now.
P.S. To any parents: please get your daughters together now before next year’s prom season. “Prombat” was bad enough.
Image via Timothy A. Cleary/AFP/Getty
We’re #FedUp
About what, you ask? The amount of sugar in the food we eat.
At the urging of my aunt Philisia, I was invited to watch the trailer for Fed Up, a new documentary which exposes sugar as a factor for the obesity crisis in America. The information is eye-opening.
Now, nearly 20 family members and I are embarking on the #FedUpChallenge, a 10 day sugar-free fast. We’re checking labels for and avoiding products with added sugar (there are 56 words used for labeling sugar!), sharing daily menus and keeping each other encouraged in an effort to lessen the amount of sugar in our diets. Hey – we’re sweet enough already! But more beyond that, what we put IN our bodies is more important than what we put ON them.
It’s not easy, but this is a test of mind over matter…and I’m committed to making better choices for my health. I will share Day 1 and Day 10 observations in case you’re interested in trying the challenge yourself.
Yesterday was Day 1 for me, and I really should have emptied my pantry, fridge and freezer before beginning. EVERYTHING has sugar in it, and the sodas I thrive on seem to be taunting me! But I soldiered on, having spiced coffee at breakfast and a huge Greek salad from Zoe’s Kitchen for lunch. I did use Zoe’s Dressing (no sugar! Awesome!). At dinnertime I began fantasizing about chocolate cake and M&Ms but had barbecued chicken (no sauce), half of a baked sweet potato and tomato and cucumber salad with a splash of vinegar instead. I drank a glass of 100% cranberry juice and went to bed. (And no visions of sugar plums danced in my head.)
I will admit that along with extreme sugar cravings, I’ve had extreme headaches which I’m attributing to not drinking sodas (one of the biggest sources of sugar consumption for me). After I read that the FDA advises 6 teaspoons of sugar (about 24 grams) a day for women – but bottled sodas can have 65 grams, and I was drinking more than a bottle a day! – I tried SmartWater instead. I’m not a water drinker, but maybe this challenge will change that. I’ll also be using these tips for the rest of the challenge, and I’m hoping I don’t cave in! I miss biscuits and honey! 😦
Same Chic Different Day 