Fordham Rd. Bomber jacket. Beige Sheepskin with matching hat. Timbs. First vinyl – Planet Rock. Video Music Box. Breakers and linoleum on the street ground. Haring. Red Alert. Lees and laces. B-boys. All of the above and more is where “Mikey’s mom” comes from. Born and raised in the Bronx, during the beginning, height and end of real hip-hop, I saw the D train go from mobile graffiti to its current corporate decor. I played handball on a Haring before collectors started placing dibs. Even in my catholic school uniform, resting in my cozy bed I knew what was going on. I listened to the words of Grand Master Flash. I could not be fooled. Chuck D made my high school years real. I remember this time in my life very well. This was “back in the day” when rap lyrics were more than going to da club. It was a movement. In this house, we stick to the old school. And because I can’t help place most things I love into its proper historical context, my son knows what hip-hop is – its place in society politically, economically and historically.

Fortunately, museums have recognized its place in our world as well, as we saw at MoCA HERE and HERE. However, that was not my first museum meets hip-hop experience. I worked as an educator at the Bronx Museum of Arts when they exhibited One Planet under a Groove. That was amazing to me. To see images I grew up with hanging on a museum wall, framed beautifully and discussed within the context of art history was surreal.

Recently, LACMA had a pretty spectacular program featuring BUA and DMC. Not only did we throw our hands in the air and wave them like we just don’t care, we listened to stories about the greats – Bambaataa, Futura 2000, Kurtis Blow, Grand Master Caz (Rapper’s Delight was stolen from him, by the way), Rakim and of course Run DMC. My son shook the hands of the artist who sold the most posters (ever) and a legendary rapper. Successful evening, indeed. Thank you museums. Thank you Hip-Hop.

I guess it isn’t necessary to say that I drank wine and ate cupcakes? And … it’s pretty pointless to say that it was good, right? Pictures speak for themselves but I can’t leave you hanging. I must share the who, what, why, where and how because I want you to go to Santa Barbara and visit Fess Parker and Saarloos & Sons. Last week, Sprint and LBC hosted a day of wine tasting in Los Olivos. Fifteen LA based Latina Bloggers spent the day learning about whites and reds, the beauty of chipotle macaroni salad, the art of cupcakes paired with wine and if you like Rosé, it’s OK to tell the wine snobs to back off. It was a much needed relaxing day with a breakfast and lunch bonus prepared by my favorite foodie duo Nicole and Ericka. Trust me when I say their food is as good as it looks. Ask Fresh and Easy, if you don’t believe me! More pics and HERE. Have an awesome Friday!

(Thank you Sprint and LBC for a fantastic day!)

OK, this art and style blog of mine just got really cutesy. I had a dire need to write an entire post with a stream of pictures dedicated to these two. They were welcomed into our home in October as a birthday present for my son. We had just lost our cat Angie, who had a brain tumor. We had to make the gut wrenching decision to say goodbye. While at the Vet, two kittens were meowing at us from their cage ready to be adopted. Too sad to think about anything else, we went home and mourned the passing of our sweet cat. As days went by, the house felt empty without a furry friend to cuddle with. My husband and I looked online to find pet adoption places. Angie was a rescue, so for us there was no other way to go. After spending hours online, we had one of those light bulb “aha” moments and remembered the two cats at the Vet. Fortunately, they were still there and that day we came home with two babies – Zeus and Athena. When my son got home from school, I had him close his eyes as he entered the house. Surprise!

Although siblings, the cats have very different personalities. Athena is a tomboy. She likes to play ball with my son, walk the staircase handrail, box with our Christmas ornaments, and climb on the curtains (I need new ones, by the way). Zeus is totally metro-sexual. He spends his days grooming, cuddling and enjoys sitting next to me looking in the mirror as I apply makeup. We have two blessings wandering about the house. In our case, we met our new family members at the Vet. However, we did look online first for pet adoption organizations. If you’re thinking about a new pet, please consider pet adoption. There are many great places, like Shelter Pets. You can search by zip code, find a shelter and choose your pet. You can also learn more about adoptions and get all the info you need. Check ‘em out! And, if you’re still not convinced, follow the hashtag on Twitter to read more pet adoption stories.

Beware: some pictures are too cute for words.

This is what I do when my son agrees to wear anything other than an Eagles jersey. I photograph it and make a collage. I saw this jacket at Old Navy and loved the shade of blue. I paired it up with a pair of cords and a sweater from Target, and done. We have ourselves a non-Eagles look for the Winter.

Oh, and stop on by Hey Mikey to see a non-video game review. We’re just breaking all the rules today.

So, what to do in between your son’s soccer game and soccer tournament practice? You finish up the post that’s been sitting in your drafts folder for days. While the little guy takes a nap, I’m going to catch up on this here blog. Otherwise, I’ll be blogging about Christmas in February. As I mentioned in my last post, I was in Chicago managing a beauty event for Mary Kay. What I did not mention (because I was saving it for this post) is that everyone was getting glammed up for the LATISM (Latinos in Social Media) awards dinner. There were lots of fun makeup discussions as the mimosas went around the vice presidential suite at The InterContinental. And the view of the city was spectacular, by the way. Chicago weather didn’t disappoint either. It was sunny, then it snowed, then it was sunny, then it snowed again. By the end of the evening, the nominees were dolled up and ready for the night ahead. Ana and I, well, we were left with 30 minutes to get ready. Even though she was up for two awards – LBC and SpanglishBaby - we were there to work. But in just a short half hour, she managed to pull it all off crediting her years as a producer, and went home with the award for Best Latin@ Social Network Leader. Needless to say, it was a memorable and inspirational trip indeed. I am so happy that I’m part of the LBC team. Through this journey, I’ve met some of the most amazing, talented, intelligent and ambitious women, who all share an interest and passion for using social media for social good. They’re bringing forth important topics and discussions in education, health, politics and parenting – just to name a few. It makes absolute sense that Mary Kay – a company founded on the principal that women can experience success on their own terms – be there to join in the celebration.

If you follow me on twitter, you probably noticed that I’ve been talking about Mary Kay more than normal. Actually, maybe even more than most people. Unless of course your name is Flor, Dani, Jai or Mercedes. They have me beat. Prior to our trip to Chicago (c/o of Mary Kay and LBC), we were all sent our choice of season trends. I picked Gilded Glow because I like anything with the names Iris, Cinnabar, Cherry Blossom and Moonstone. I don’t wear a lot of makeup but when I go heavier for night, I don’t want to feel like I have makeup on. This line feels very light and silky. And the mascara, for chicas like me with no lashes, is a miracle. There are so many amazing choices I’d love to share with you. Once I edit through 10,000 pictures, I will post!

(makeup c/o mary kay, top & skirt/ann taylor, belt/anthropologie, purse/jasleen boutique)

At this point I should just keep posting all of the pictures I have in my computer. I had a tough time deciding which pictures to choose, and when that happens my posts become more like scrolls. But that’s because I’m portrait obsessed. Take a look at my portfolio. Not one landscape in sight. They just never moved me like portraiture. I could have easily stayed at The National Portrait Gallery all day. From contemporary to folk art, I was oohing and aahing from one work of art to the next and intrigued by the artist’s quotes that surrounded me. It was a very emotionally engaging and introspective experience for me. After my son’s wonderful visit to the Lincoln Memorial, he wanted to spend most of his time in the American Art Gallery looking at presidents. He learned all about government last year, so I think it’s awesome that he was able to bring his text book materials to life.

Hope you’re all having a fantastic week. If you want to learn more about NPG’s education programs here you GO.

I can hardly believe that it was only a few weeks ago my son and I headed to DC. In internet years, that’s about a century or so. However, I could no longer move on knowing I had these jewels sitting in my image folders.

While I was busy catching the inspiration bug at Blogalicious11 (I wrote about it HERE and HERE), my son’s grandparents drove down from Philly to give the little guy a tour of DC. This, however, has turned into my son believing that I have the power to grant him national tour guides and sitters whenever I have work or conferences out of town. I’m so grateful he was given the opportunity to really experience DC and visit places he learned so much about at school. He was so excited to see the Lincoln Memorial and was surprised that the White House rooms were a lot smaller in person. He enjoyed the spirit of DC, the food, the people and the weather. After spending several days at the Gaylord, which is gorgeous by the way, I really wanted spend my last day in DC as a tourist. Of course, I went straight to the National Portrait Museum (post to come) and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. It was breathtaking. My son, in his 12 short years of life, was perceptive enough to appreciate the diversity of the everyone around him and watched in awe as people read Dr. King’s words out loud. How’s that for an extraordinary experience?