Pose N Post Symposium presented by Chrisette Michele

All my RVA bloggers, vloggers, and small business owners please mark your calenders for this Friday's Pose N Post Symposium presented by Chrisette Michele and Rich Hipster. You definitely don't want to miss this event, come out and learn how to build your social media presence organically with Chrisette Michele and a couple of your favorite vloggers and bloggers from the YouTube and Instagram world. During her 8 city tour Chrisette Michele will be discussing topics such as natural hair in the workplace and how to achieve success through social media. There will also be an intimate performance by Miss Chrisette of course, which I'm so looking forward to! I had the privilege of attending one of her concerts here last summer at The Hipp; to say the least her voice is absolutely amazing, she's a great live performer, and when she started scatting I about lost my mind! I'm so excited that the tour is making a stop in Richmond and that I'll be covering the event for BarclayINC, I cant wait to re cap this event for those of you that cant attend! For those interested in attending, its definitely a great way to network with like minded individuals right here in the Richmond area. As I always say the art scene here is really flourishing and if we want it to continue to thrive we have to support events like this along with supporting each other. I hope to see lots of familiar faces at the Pose N Post Symposium, for more details visit richhipster.myshopify.com/collections/pose-n-post-symposium.

Pose N Post Symposium

Friday April 10th 2015 from 6-9:00 pm

Vanquish 1005 E Main Street

Grand Opening: Soul.Eil

RVA First Friday's April installment is right around the corner, and thank goodness the weather here in RVA will be in 70's, so it should be a beautiful night! With such a brutal Winter I haven't been to any First Friday's festivities in months, so I'm really looking forward to getting back on the scene this week! With that being said the Grand Opening of Soul.Eil will be taking place this Friday from 6-10 pm during RVA First Friday's, come out and network with other fashion lovers in the city. The boutique is located on Broad St. right in the heart of the Arts District, so you cant miss it. In the meantime you can check out their website to get a glimpse of the type of pieces they will be selling. There will be 2 DJ's all night, so it's going to be a pretty live event, of course I'll be there so if you spot me don't hesitate to come over and say hey!

Grand Opening:

Soul.Eil 

April 3rd from 6-10pm

  212 West Broad St. Richmond VA 23220

www.soul-eil.com

Dress for Success: Red Carpet Runway

One of the main reasons I love being a blogger is that it has put me in the presence of so many wonderful people! I cant stress this enough but blogging is definitely a great way to network with folks, you just never know who you're going to meet! With that being said I'm super excited to be covering the Dress for Success: Red Carpet Runway showcase this year. This is the 3rd annual event, I had the pleasure of attending and covering the event last year, it was a great experience. I got to meet some powerful ladies from the Richmond area, including one of the owners of Rumor's Boutique which is a great vintage store in the city. I love the Dress for Success mission which is to assist disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, along with a supportive network and career development tools to make the transition back into the work place a lot smoother. If you live in or near the RVA area please come out and support this mission, the event will be held at The Canal Club, Friday April 17th at 6:30pm. Tickets are $20 and 100% of the proceeds benefit Dress for Success Central Virginia!

For more info or to purchase tickets visit

www.501auctions.com/dfscvafashionshow

Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurant

My girls and I were in desperate need of a ladies night, so I decided to put one together this past Saturday. I decided on Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant which is new to the Richmond area, I've heard nothing but great things about them in the 2 months that they've been open so why not give it a shot! We had a great time to say the least, we were there for at least 3 hours, we literally left as they were beginning to close up, which we really didn't notice because we were all engaged in some great convo. I swear I love surrounding myself with positive women, true go-getters, and people that inspire me! Anyway, I loved the overall feel of the space, upon entering the restaurant I noticed a nice large bar where you could do wine tasting (I'll be back soon to do an official wine tasting), they also had a little area for carry out dessert, in addition to huge I mean huge bottles of wine and wine glasses available for purchase. I'm talking the "Olivia Pope" wine glass! So, after scaling over the menu for what seemed like an eternity (I mean it makes it hard to choose one wine when there's such a large variety to choose from) I decided to go with the Flights. The Flights included 4 different wines, I believe the waitress said there was about 1.5 ounces in each glass, I'm so happy I decided to go with this because it gave me the opportunity to taste several different wines. Out of the 4, I must say my favorite was the Blanc de Blanc which was a sparkling white wine, the house wine Cooper's Hawk White wasn't bad either. The food menu was just as vast as the wine menu, there was a nice selection of appetizers and entrees to choose from, I decided to go with the tilipia sandwich which was delicious, and filling I left with a to-go box and ended up eating the rest of it for brunch the next day. I'm definitely looking forward to my next visit to Cooper's Hawk, so glad this chain decided to come to RVA! If you're a wine lover give this place a try for sure, thank me later!

Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant

Local Eats: Conch Republic

So, this past Sunday I was in the mood for some good food but something different then my usual salmon or pasta dishes that I seem to gravitate towards anytime I eat out. With Richmond having a ton of restaurants its never an easy choice, but after researching a few places and checking out a couple of menus I decided on Conch Republic. I noticed that their menu had a nice variety of seafood inspired dishes and a wide variety of foods, and once I saw the Shrimp Po' Boy I was basically sold. I swear I've been craving a Shrimp Po' Boy since my visit a few summers ago to New Orleans. Conch Republic did not disappoint the ambiance was super laid back and its decor will definitely put you in the mindset of Key West. The floor to ceiling windows which appear to fully open on warmer days give you the perfect view of the James River. Richmond has such a lovely water front, I love visiting little places in RVA that really make use of how beautiful and scenic this city is! Back to Conch Republic the prices were great I think my sandwich was around 13/ 14 bucks, it was super fresh, my shrimp were fried to perfection and the service was good! I'll definitely be seeing more of this place especially once the weather warms up a bit.

Shrimp Po' Boy

RVA

The cold and gloomy weather wasn't keeping me away from some good food!

Spring Fever!

Uhhh I'm so over Winter, I cant take another day of below freezing temps, single digit weather, snow, sleet, or anything else that resembles Winter. With that being said I do realize that we're approaching the end of February, so Spring is definitely near although it doesn't seem like it. In another month or so the temperature will begin to rise, flowers will begin to bloom, and we can put away all of our Winter layers and make room for our Spring wardrobes. Spring just happens to be my favorite season, well on second thought one of my favorite seasons, I'm a Summer girl for sure but with Spring comes bright colors, my toes can finally reappear again, and lots of floral print will begin to invade my closet! Here are a few pieces on my Spring Wishlist. Until next time bundle up and stay warm my friends!

Crop Top: Mango|  Dress: AX Paris| Trench: Romwe.com| Floral Platforms: Charlotte Russe| Hat: Lindelepalais.com| Purse: Moschino| Floral Skirt: J Crew| Jeans: River Island| 

Sneakers: Converse| Jungle Print Skirt: Marni 

Gardein- Beefless Strips

So, I'm typically ride or die for Morning Star products, being a Pescatarian I've found ways to get really creative with my meals. I swear by Morning Star Crumbles I use them in my pastas and in tacos its a great meat substitute and basically takes on the flavor or whatever seasoning or sauces you're cooking it in. I was in the mood for stir- fry the other day, which in most cases I would've just made it with veggies (as Morning Star doesn't really offer any type of Beefless Strips), but while browsing the grocery store I decided to pick up a pack of Gardein- Beefless Strips. I've tried a few other Gardein products over the years and figured I might as well give them a try. I'm a fan already, I like the fact that there are multiple ways that you can cook the Beefless Strips either in a pan a little oil, or they can be baked in the over, also it came with a little package of a Terriyaki like sauce/ marinade to toss them in once they were done cooking. It truly made for some great stir fry, I paired it with some Mahatma yellow rice and what a delicious, quick, and healthy meal it was if I do say so myself. If you're vegan, pescatarian, or just into healthy eating definitely give the Gardein brand a try they have lots of vegan options available! If you have any great meatless recipes please feel free to leave a comment and share them with me! 

Gardein Beefless Strips

Meat Free