I DO FLY THINGS: FLY GIRL CHRONICLES: DANCING, NETWORKING AND FESTIVALS

*This is an earlier entry from September that I kinda sort of never posted...*

I had another free weekend and again attempted to cram everything I could while I could lol. First up was shopping. I'm trying something new where I only shop one weekend out of the month (maybe). Ok I'm gonna try it lol. Starting next month. But I have been sticking (somewhat) to my fall wish list. So I shopped and then hooked up with my homegirl Antiniec. We both graduated from fashion school together and she helped me out in a major way on my final school project (a fashion/style show I titled Organized Chaos) and we found out that we had even graduated from the same high school the same year lol. She's just always so cool and happy and can dress her ass off! What I love about her is the fact that she is always down for whatever and will happily go to club Bounce with me and is always dress to thrill.

So that's what we did- anytime I feel like dancing I can be found in the middle of the small stage at the Bounce which is like one long continuous dance party full of interesting characters lol. We fit right in. I wore a very simple outfit in order to show off my Sky Couture jewelry (which the queens really got into) until I noticed the stage in the bar area there was a line and people were taking pictures with someone but I couldn't see who it was. I dragged Antiniec closer to investigate and to my surprise it was Chad Michaels from RuPaul's Drag Race. Yes, I am a Good Judy and I take my title seriously lol.

Chad Michaels looked sicknennnnn!! She gave all types of Lady Gaga drag tease. To my delight Chad thought the same thing about me. "You look amazing, your hair, your jewelry- your making me look bad," she whispered in my ear as we positioned for the photos. Yeah right gworl...

We giggled and keekeed for a minute and then Antiniec and I went back to dancing the night away. We left at closing time and rushed home to beat the trannies/working girlz who usually taunt us at the end of my street thinking we are trying to take their "clients". Umm no.

I woke up the next morning feeling impossibly fresh and excited about the meeting I had with The League of Extraordinary Ladies at the Gypsy Bean Cafe. I knew it would be a busy day for me, but I wanted to look nice and pulled together so I wore my "uniform"-a fresh white tee and perfect fit wide leg jeans. I added a purple jacket (slightly too small but I wasn't planning on zipping it up anyway way lol) my neon yellow spiked flats (cold as hell, copped them from the Villa) and the bright loud neon yellow waist pouch to match. I carried my portfolio in my arms and set out to meet this fantastic group of artistic ladies.

(most of these pics were taken by Jasmine)

Jasmine the conductor in all of this, is truly a director in every since of the word. One day on Facebook she was like "Oh I know so many talented, business oriented black women who are doing it for themselves- we should come together and talk". A month or two later we were all gathered at a table in the Gypsy Bean Cafe on 65th and Detroit! Over a delicious homemade cake we discussed everything under the sun. The ladies schooled me in the business of being a legit entrepreneur, taxes, legal matters and so much more, all things they shared with me freely. It was so organic the way we moved seamlessly from topic to topic, promoting ourselves and our services and discussing random issues such as fashion, hair, comic book heroines, feminism and just life in general. Among us were writers, directors, actresses, graphic designers, photographers and models. It was so cool and I cannot wait for the next one!

I left, ran a few errands and then hightailed it to the Banana Blossom Thai Cuisine, a restaurant I had been wanting to try for ages. I plopped my ass right down at the bar, magazine on deck, and ordered the simplest thing on the menu: the spicy crispy chicken salad. Baby when I tell you they say spicy, they mean spicy! I could drink nothing but water before, during and after. The dish was good though, spicy pieces of chicken over a bed of fresh lettuce, the dish was both spicy and salty AT THE SAME DAMN TIME!! The atmosphere was very dim, sexy and intimate (perfect for a date) and the owners were really friendly and attentive. I will be going back to try another dish soon!

After I left the restaurant and cooled my mouth off with a watermelon Jolly Rancher they offered, I decided to go downtown and have a drink at the Ontario Cafe (my fave hole in the wall). I got there around 11 something and it was packed of course. I sat right at the bar ordered my Long Island and proceeded to ignore the shit out of the old man across the way who kept trying to get my attention. I attempted to charge my phone and while I was waiting I saw a nicely dressed man with a shoe catalogue for guys. I asked him if I could look at it and he let me. It was filled with nice Italian leather casual and dress shoes, the kind you would see at Mr. Albert's like Stacey Adams and Micheal Antonio... They also had a few man bags in there, uh- "murses" and I asked the guy if he would wear one.

"Hell yeah I would," he exclaimed emphatically and with so much spirit he almost knocked his drink over. "Especially with the right shoes," he said.

Then he proceeded to explain to me that him and his lady had just come from the Dru Hill concert and he really loved live music but his girl just liked to pick out the outfits lol. We talked for what seemed like hours about live bands and old school concerts and how much he loved the Cameo concert from a few years ago. He proceeded to stand up and give me an air guitar demonstration of what Cameo looked like on stage, facial expressions and all lol. We wrapped up the conversation with me thanking him for the entertainment and I left out thinking the Ontario Cafe was going to be my go to spot for cheap drinks and great convo... I have found my Cheers lol.

I left out right at 12 am and figured I had close to an hour to spend at the Ingenuity Fest, an annual interactive affair of art, technology, music and fashion ( http://ingenuitycleveland.com/ ). It is such a cool event and there is always something new to discover-progressive ideas, thought provoking photography, simple but extraordinary experiments and so on. By then the trolley had stopped running, but it was a nice night so I sucked it up and walked from Public Square to the area of the Browns stadium where the action was. Whew what a walk! Thank goodness for flat shoes and long legs lol. I walked superfast and it took me like 15 mins. to get there but I arrived with time to spare.

I immediately went inside the warehouse and saw it was still lots of activity going on. I stood in front of a wall of art adjusting my camera settings, noting the low battery and kicking myself for not charging it before I left home. I heard my name being called and when I looked up I discovered it was Michelle, a gorgeous designer who has been selected to show in the Fashion Goes Pink Charity Show (fashiongoespink.com.) Michelle is a recent graduate of Virginia Marti College of Art and Design and the sweetest person ever! We chatted for a full 45 minutes over the loud backdrop of anonymous rock music about the upcoming show, her fears, haters and motivation. She was such a positive spirit and I really enjoyed talking to her but completely missed out on my mission at hand. It was cool though cause I planned on coming back the next morning and spending more time there.

We took a photo and then went our separate ways, I went back to my journey, but not before spending $10 on a meal of nacho salad in half Doritos bag (pretty good) and a cup of overpriced dry ass, non sweet, non sour supposedly fresh squeezed lemonade. Lies and fabrications, that juice was freshly squeezed out of a gallon jug of cheap ass Dollar store juice fresh from Deals. It wasn't even cold smdh. Oh well I bumped off into the night, got home and crawled into the bed, my feet slightly throbbing...so much for flats lol.

I woke up bright and early the next morning and made it my mission to join in on the festivities and here are the rest of the pics...