Howlin' Ray's.

Being a huge follower of the Food Network, recently I've been seeing a lot of craze over Nashville style hot chicken and I started to wonder what it was. Is it like chicken buffalo sauce? How spicy is it? What makes it special to Tennessee? Apparently, it's a type of chicken different than any type of chicken I've ever had. It's a type of fried chicken that is marinated in a water based blend of spicy seasoning, floured, and fried. It is finally sauced with a paste that is spiced with cayenne pepper. It is usually served on bread as a sandwich, but can also be eaten on its own. And pickles are the perfect thing to combine the flavor of the chicken with. It has been served in Nashville for generations since the 1930s and has recently been gaining more popularity.

A lot of the notoriety of hot chicken came from a restaurant in Nashville called Hattie B's Hot Chicken, and seeing as though I'm not going there any time soon, I made it my mission to find a hot chicken spot in LA. Even KFC has introduced a hot chicken special, but I knew I could get more authentic than that.

That's when I found Howlin' Ray's in LA's Chinatown. Howlin' Ray's is owned and operated by a husband and wife team, Johnny and Amanda, who are passionate about getting the best blend of spices to make top tier hot chicken. When I went to the restaurant, Amanda was there taking customer orders and Johnny was in the kitchen leading a team of chefs to make the chicken. I really enjoyed that they were a part of my experience, it made it seem more personal and authentic.

Howlin' Ray's has 6 different types of sauces for the chicken, each at a different level of spiciness. I'm usually a person who can handle her spicy foods, but when I asked Amanda which sauce she would recommend to me, she said to go with the Medium sauce. I was worried it wouldn't be that spicy, but let me tell you guys, my mouth was on fire eating it! In a totally good way. I ordered the sandwich, which had the chicken, slaw, comeback sauce, and pickles. The comeback sauce was another great accompaniment to the chicken and I used it to dip my crinkle cut fries in too. It didn't hurt also that they kept giving me as many pickle chips as I wanted.

It was to die for! The chicken was perfectly crispy, the slaw gave it the perfect element of crunch, and the sauce and pickles just brought it all home. The portions are also really large. I feel really bad about this, but I couldn't finish my sandwich. Sometimes I sit and think about the parts I left and hate myself for not finishing it haha.

The line can get pretty long at Howlin' Ray's, even on a weekday, which is when I went. I waited in line for about 30 minutes, but I've heard this is actually a short time. So if you're going to give it a try, try to go before or after the lunch rush. It's totally worth any wait you have though!

Spanish Style Vibes.

As a lot of you know from my Summer Vacation Essentials post, I took a trip to Spain last month and of course, I kept my eye out for street styles and different trends people wore there. Everyone knows that fashion trends start in Europe and migrate over to the states so I was pretty excited to see and buy up and coming pieces.

If you're looking to go to Spain and want to take advantage of the shopping, go towards the end of June because the sales are ridiculous! I had no idea my trip would overlap with the biggest sales of the year, but it did and I'm not complaining! Pieces I found that were normally 60€ I found for 20€ and that roughly rounds out to about $22.50. Anyway, I was really inspired by some of the really cool things the locals were wearing and I searched high and low for similar pieces in both local stores and chain stores like Zara and Mango.

I didn't know this until recently but some chain stores like Zara sell different items of clothing in different cities, even locally! So you wouldn't necessarily find the same stuff at a Zara in Costa Mesa that you would in Beverly Hills. The clothing is tailored to the area; you'd find more beachy styles in a Zara in Orange County and more flashy and metropolitan styles in Hollywood. The same is with those in Barcelona.

I found a lot of neat things but this dress has to be my favorite. Its sequins are so meticulously sewn and have a ton of movement so you aren't constantly itchy. You can move the sequins around with your hands and it creates a nice two dimensional look. Best part is I got it for a steal at 20€!

As much as the sales at the chain stores were too good to pass up, I really wanted to steer away from them and shop at local stores. I wanted unique pieces that would be quintessential to Spain and nowhere else. The first thing I noticed was that everyone and their mothers...and I'm not joking about this...were wearing these leather sandals...

When I say everyone, I mean that literally. I even saw a ton of men wearing them. It's a really good sandal for summer and its made with real Spanish leather. Interestingly, the bottom sole is made of rubber and it kind of looks like it was made from old tires. I actually kind of like the recycling aspect of these shoes. But anyway, with these shoes it was easy to blend in with the locals, in fact, it was like step 1. All for a grand total of 12€, which is such a good price for real leather.

When I was in Madrid, a big aspect of their shopping was vintage stores. There were a ton of them all over the city with clothing and accessories ranging from the 60s to the 90s. It was so awesome! I trekked into a few of them and found this super cool Spice Girls concert tee that immediately brought me to nostalgia of my childhood.

I also got these platform metallic shoes in Madrid, which I noticed a lot of locals wearing too. The platforms make the shoes so comfortable and they also remind me of the 90s. I've paired the tee and the shoes together to complete a 90s look!

My absolute favorite thing I got was an amazingly adorable mini backpack from Barcelona! I actually saw this backpack in the window of a local purse store on my way to meet up with my brother. I knew I was going to be late if I stopped to buy it so I just took a picture of the store and figured I'd go back to buy it after meeting up with my brother. I did just that, but by the time I got there and asked for the bag, the owner told me it was their last one and they had sold it! I really couldn't believe my luck. With a little talking in my broken Spanish, the owner told me they were going to get a new shipment of them but I was going to be in Madrid when it did. He graciously agreed to put one on hold for me until I returned to Barcelona to catch my flight back home. Amazing! The struggle was real to get this backpack but it was totally and completely worth it, especially at its cost of 20€.

Me channeling my inner gangster watching Ice Cube at Hard Summer Music Festival.

I had so much fun people watching and finding cool new street styles in Spain and I'm really excited to bring some of those styles back with me and share them with you. I can't wait until some of these styles start appearing in our local stores.

Ice Cubes & Flowers.

If you're like me, sometimes you may think that your drinks like water or wine can use a boost of fun and flavor to change things up a bit. I always like adding a little lemon to my water or berries to my champagne, but I wanted to try something different. During one of my many trips to Sprouts and Whole Foods, I always noticed they had edible flowers in their produce section, thought they were cute, and wondered what I could do with them. Then it came to me...ice cubes! I thought this was the perfect way to spice up my drinks, especially with summer coming up.

I bought my edible flowers in a package from Sprouts in the produce section. The package included a mix of flowers that are currently in season including Marigolds, Snapdragons, and Dahlias.

I have this really awesome ice tray that makes ice cubes in the shape of diamonds, which I used to make my ice cubes. As a woman in the gold and diamond industry, I HAD to have this! I bought mine for a steal at Burlington Coat Factory, but you can get one online on Amazon here.

Normally when making ice cubes, the cubes come out all cloudy, but I didn't want that cloudiness to take over the pretty colors of the flowers. To fix this, I boiled the water I was going to use for the cubes twice to get rid of the minerals in the water that cause the cloudiness. While I waited for the water to cool down a bit after boiling, I arranged 2-3 flowers in the ice cube tray in an aesthetically pleasing way. Once the water cooled down, I poured it into the ice tray. I let it sit overnight, but if you're impatient, you can have them ready sooner. Just allow up to 6 hours for the water to set.

They come out looking so pretty! The flowers are a really easy way to flavor your drinks and healthy (depending on what drink you put it in ;)). You could put it in water or lemonade, but I decided to put it in Prosecco! I know what you're thinking...maybe the ice waters down the Prosecco...but actually the cubes are so small that when it melts it's not a whole lot of water and either way, its flavored by the flowers.

This was a fun way to change things up with how I drink...both visually and through taste. Next time, I think I'll try to infuse my ice cubes with some summer berries!

Spring Stripes and Ruffles.

Spring is in full effect y'all, and I'm rocking the season's biggest hits in one look...stripes and ruffled sleeves!

This weekend my boyfriend's niece turned 4 and celebrate with a Hello Kitty themed birthday, which was so adorable! It was a bright, slightly chilly Spring afternoon so I decided to bust out this gorgeous top I found from the Who What Wear line at Target. Stripes are really in style this season so I knew I found a fashion winner in this shirt, and the sleeves were an added bonus. The sleeves are ruffled, which makes the top look so chic and fashion forward. I could totally see a Parisian girl wearing this as a part of her street style. Or maybe a fashion editor at Vogue who would pair it with a pencil skirt. Can't you?

There was a really cute balloon artist at the party, and I couldn't help but ask him for a pretty pink Hello Kitty balloon bow for myself! I think I was more excited about it than the kids were. I actually may have cut in front a couple of kids to get it :P

I paired the top with jeans and a really simple strappy gray kitten keel shoe. This simple strappy shoe style is really hot for Spring. I found this pair at H&M and it also comes in white and black!

Shop this look by clicking on the photos below...Happy shopping!...

     

Lemonade.

Okay...who else watched Beyoncé's Lemonade special this weekend?! I was celebrating my birthday this weekend so I didn't catch it or DVR it when it aired because I thought I could stream it on my HBO Go account later...but no! I'm not sure why this was a limited event, but I tried watching it on Sunday and I couldn't find it. When I found out the only way I could watch it was to download Tidal, I was kind of feeling apprehensive about it, because...well, it's Tidal. But I really couldn't wait. I mean, she's my idol in terms of beauty, talent, female empowerment, self confidence. So I bit the bullet and downloaded Tidal. After watching it, I had a Lemonade hangover for days! This visual album got me feeling like my boyfriend is cheating on me, when he's probably not. Either way, I'm going to watch it again and make my boyfriend watch it too! I've now finally composed myself enough to write what I thought of it...

The special showcases Beyoncé's new album, Lemonade, with really amazing raw visual album of her. It was basically a really, really long music video. Also peppered in there was various empowering excerpts from Somali-British poet, Warsan Shire spoken by Queen Bey. Lemonade definitely made me want to look into more of Shire's work, because it was so moving and inspiring. The whole video's backbone was around Shire's Warsan vs. Melancholy: The Seven Stages of Being Lonely and traced Beyoncé's struggle with her husband, Jay Z's, infidelity.

Lemonade highlights Beyoncé's trouble in paradise with her husband, which left me so heartbroken, because since their On The Run tour, I've always thought of them as the perfect power couple. I loved her lyrics about the love she has for him and how they're still so horny for each other. But I guess, as life goes, it's not as perfect as we all thought it seemed. If anything, Lemonade brings to light this dark part of Bey's life in an honest, beautiful, powerful, and real way. She also alludes to her father, whom she's notoriously had issues with in the past, and I believe they haven't spoken in a long time, and compares his betrayal to Jay's. People are insinuating that "Becky with the good hair" who Jay cheated with is Rachel Roy...not to be confused as Rachel Ray! To this I say...duh! She's been behind these cheating rumors since the On The Run Tour so I don't doubt that it's her. Plus why would she post that cryptic photo on Instagram and caption it, "Big hair, don't care..."?

What was most heart sinking in the special was Bey's references to the Black Lives Matter movement. As someone who supports this movement, seeing the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Mike Brown holding pictures of their sons almost brought me to tears. What put me over the edge was a portrayal of a small excerpt from Malcom X's "Who Taught You to Hate Yourself?" speech, where he simply uttered, "The most disrespected person in America is the black woman". What a sad, but real realization that still rings true today.


                         


In addition to Shire's empowering words, Beyoncé's lyrics are also so poetic and perfect clapbacks to your ex or if you happen to be in the midst of breaking up with your boyfriend. These were some of my favorite lyrics:

• "Headed to the club, I ain't thinking bout you".
• "Got a bigger smile on my face being alone".
• "You can watch my fat ass twist as I bounce to the next dick boy".
• "Sorry, I ain't sorry".
• "10 times out of 9, I know you're lying".
• "I fucked with you until I realized I was too much for you".
• "Don't hurt yourself".
• "Me and my baby gon' be alright, we gon' have a good life".
• "Your heart is broken cause I walked away".
• "Stop interrupting my grinding, I ain't thinking bout you".
• "Give my fat ass a big kiss, boy. Tonight I'm fucking up all your shit, boy".
• "When you play me, you play yourself".
• "Why do you deny yourself heaven?"
• "Ashes to ashes, dust to side chicks".

Let's also not forget that Bey's baseball bat she was holding during "Hold Up" said Hot Sauce on it!! Hot Sauce in her bag swag?!?! This infamous line from "Formation" had us all thinking she actually keeps hot sauce in her bag, but now we know, Hot Sauce is her freaking baseball bat!!

Aside from the beautiful lyrics and spoken word, the cinematography in Lemonade was nothing short of amazingly beautiful. These are some of my favorite shots from the visual album: 

The end of Lemonade shows a home video of Jay Z's grandmother, Hattie White, giving a speech at her 90th birthday. Beyoncé iterates Hattie's recipe for lemonade over the video: take one pint water, add a half pound of sugar, the juice of 8 lemons, and the zest of half a lemon. During her speech, Hattie says that life gave her lemons, but she turned them into lemonade, and this ties the whole album together. Beyoncé was also given lemons in life: her husband's infidelity, her troubles with her father, racism in this country...but she took those lemons and turned it into feminist, black empowered, loving yourself LEMONADE. 

Dolce Vita for Target.

Dolce Vita has always been a leader in trendy shoe wear and I've always loved their designs, but sometimes, their costs can be a little pricey. There's nothing worse than seeing a shoe you love and finding out it costs more than what you can afford! That's why I am so excited that Dolce Vita has collaborated with Target to bring a line of shoes and even more excited to see that this less expensive shoe line has pieces that are extremely similar to DV original designs! There are a lot of same details and patterns in the DV for Target line so you can snag a super cool style for prices you'd never see from DV.

I copped these beauties for a cool $25! I love the style of these sandals and the modern zig zag print.

I never really liked mixing black with tan/brown colors, but I like the juxtaposition of the black and white print with the tan heel.

There are so many styles from sandals to booties! Here are the DV for Target shoes compared to the original Dolce Vita designs. Click any of the photos to shop the looks now!

Sandals 


        

DV For Target, $22.99
Dolce Vita, $90.00


Netted Design

DV For Target, $24.99
Dolce Vita, $200.00


Nya vs Noa Booties

                    

DV For Target. $34.99
Dolce Vita, $160.00



Fringe Booties

                 

DV For Target, $37.99
Dolce Vita, $200.00

Organize 2016.

Since it's the beginning of the year, I really wanted to start fresh and just get rid of the clutter in my life. There are so many things that can be cleaned up and organized, which changes the complete feng shui of your life. Trust me on this, guys...with a life free of clutter, you make room in your life to allow other positive energies to flow in.

For the past 2 weeks, I've been doing a complete overhaul on all my stuff. Cleaning out things that are unnecessary in my life and throwing them out is very therapeutic and I want to share this experience with you all so you can de-clutter too. 

Here are some essential cleanses you can do to start of 2016 right...

1. Cleanse your inbox. 

Delete old emails that you no longer need, like receipts from things you've bought and won't return. Create folders to organize the other needed emails. Don't leave any unneeded emails in your inbox. 

2. Cleanse your purse/wallet. 

For the love of god toss out old papers, gum wrappers, and old makeup out of your bags! You might even find some treasures you've been looking for. 

3. Cleanse your phone albums. 

Let's face it, you took 20 selfies to get the perfect one. You don't need the rest now! Get rid of them and make space in your phone for your next selfie photo shoot. 

4. Cleanse your old papers. 

Ever stack up all your junk mail and other papers, stick them in a corner, and forget about them? Time to get rid of those. Invest in a shredder and shred those papers that you no longer need. Don't forget to recycle! 

5. Cleanse your closet. 

If you haven't worn something in your closet in over a year, it's time to throw it out. H&M has a really good incentive of 20% off when you donate a bag of clothes. There's always Goodwill and other charities too. 

6. Invest in a calendar you enjoy looking at.

Sometimes I get stressed out just looking at my calendar and seeing all the things I need to do. I find that having a calendar that's appealing to the eyes lowers my anxiety. Invest in a cute calendar. I made this one at a craft class at Paper Source. 

In general, cleanse yourself from clutter and negativity this year and see if positive energy doesn't come your way. To make room for a different energy, you need to get rid of old ones. Here's hoping to a stress free, de-cluttered, and positive 2016!