At this stage in my life, I am a homebody to the core — so don’t look for me at a club or hotel pool deck. But last night that’s exactly where I found myself for about an hour or so — at the Raleigh Hotel on South Beach for the kickoff party for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim. Yeah.

I was supposed to interview a Smashbox makeup artist for Pretty in the City, but due to my screw-up, I not only misplaced this person’s contact info, but barely managed to get into the party to begin with. Welcome to my world.

Anyhoo, I got in, wandered around, sipped cocktails and wondered what the hell a bella like me was doing at a scenester place like this… then the band Chester French took the stage. And during their performance, they brought some girls on stage to dance with them. I recognized two of them RIGHT AWAY — Teyana Taylor and Janelle Monae!!! It was kind of awesome. Teyana can definitely groove, and that big fabulous mane of hair makes her stand out like a superstar. Janelle was wearing sunglasses and her adorable asymmetrical hairstyle, white shirt and black shorts. She sang a teeny bit and shook a tambourine — the dancing on stage seemed totally impromptu so they were probably as unfamiliar with the music as I was, LOL.

After the band finished and photogs swarmed them for photos, I hung out at the front of the stage like a stalker and waited. Teyana was near the front and fans were greeting her, so I waited my turn. Teyana is just beautiful in person, BTW. The hair is HUGE, and her makeup was flawless. She was very friendly, and when I told her I had a website called Afrobella and I wanted to interview her, she simply said, “that’s my mother,” to the beautiful woman standing next to her. Then she went back to dancing, LOL! So I started chatting with her mom and the publicist, (Teyana Taylor’s mom has absolutely GORGEOUS skin, BTW. She is lovely). But I got sidetracked bigtime when Janelle Monae came by. I hope I wasn’t rude to any of them…but I definitely squealed “OMG, Janelle!” when she walked over.

Janelle is teeny tiny and just adorable. Like a little doll. You know when you stand next to someone who looks just perfect, you feel suddenly aware of your difference? I started feeling all big and cumbersome, and sweating like a racehorse — of course standing outdoors in Miami during July will do that to you anyway. But the presence of Janelle made me all sweaty and starstruck. She shook my hand warmly, and I told her hey, I’m Afrobella… I mean, I have this website, Afrobella… and she smiled and nodded like she was familiar with my site. (a href=”http://afrobella.com/2006/09/15/afrobella-of-the-week-janelle-monae/”>perhaps from being Afrobella of the Week in 2006?) She was super sweet, and we hugged before she was whisked away for her performance at The Florida Room. YAY! I met her manager, so hopefully I can hook up an interview soon! Janelle is the bomb and meeting her made my night last night. After that I was good to go. Farewell, South Beach! Just had to share with you bellas — I don’t get out enough so when I do and something exciting happens, I gotta blog about it.

I found out via Concrete Loop that Many Moons will be Janelle’s first single from her new EP (which will be released August 12). I think Many Moons is the ish — the beat really reminds me of Hey Ya or something, it has that Outkast retro shimmy. But my favorite Janelle Monae song today is Lettin’ Go.

Why today? Cause it’s Friday and it gets me in the mood to kick back and have a good time. Happy weekend!!

This week is beating me up, bellas! And already, it’s Thursday. I’ve got some big writing going on behind the scenes and I’m working on the kind of post that makes me wonder if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. Oh, politics. I’m gonna take my time on this one and chew before I post (if that makes any sense). For right now, I just wanted to share a new song that makes this bella very happy — Hurt U Bad by talented young singer/songwriter Jazmine Sullivan. Longtime readers will recall, I love her and wish I could sing just like her. But unfortunately, my own singing voice is more in the um, T-Boz range of ability.

I heard Jazmine’s new track first back in April on Soulbounce, but the video just dropped recently and I’m officially in love. Check her out!

That track has Afrobella’s playlist written ALL OVER IT. And Missy, don’t think I didn’t spot your fly makeup and earrings in there!

Of course the inevitable Lauryn Hill comparisons are being made, and Jazmine’s voice definitely reminds me of her on this track. But I also hear traces reminiscent of a young Aretha, and her careful patois sounds like it came straight out of the Lady Saw/No Doubt playbook. Jazmine is but 20 years old, and already she’s penned such hits as Fantasia’s “Free Yourself” and Christina Milian’s “Say I.” I’m hoping Hurt U Bad is a bigger hit for her. She’s got so much potential, and her talent is undeniable. Team Jazmine! I hope you dig this groove on a summer Thursday, bellas and fellas. If you’re digging Jazmine’s sound, click here to watch her blow away the Apollo at age 11, and click here for her MySpace. I love this chick!

Oh, and PS — I’m two for two on my Makeup Inspiration posts! First Chrisette Michele revealed her secrets, and now Missy’s makeup artist, Victor C left a detailed comment of his own!! I was SUPER excited, because he once did my makeup some years ago in Miami and never once name dropped about his famous clients. For Missy, Victor got way into contouring and advanced makeup that I can’t possibly recreate myself, and he used those new MAC Pro Neon Pigments I’m DYING to try, to stencil the stars on Missy’s cheeks. Gorgeous!!

Big ups and thanks to the hardworking bloggers at Jezebel — for it was there that I got to see almost all of the new issue of Vogue Italy. And it’s gorgeous. The photography is amazing, the women look stunning, and I am totes going to buy this magazine as a keepsake for myself.

The showstopper for me was Miss Toccara Jones, who — to quote the homegirl Fresh over at C&D — brought her Poccaras out to play. Don’t hurt em, girl!

Breasteses aside, the photo shoot of Toccara absolutely floored me. I always thought she was gorgeous on ANTM (although I must admit inwardly cringing during that Takes the Cake show she hosted on BET). I hear Toccarra’s working on an exercise DVD (soon to be available on her official website), and in the meantime she’s got tees for sale). I’d definitely check out her workout DVD. I can only say this only now that she’s apparently over her Celebrity Fit Club diva fit (NOT a good look).

It’s obvious that whatever Toccara’s doing is working for her. That’s a body that a bella like me can aspire to in the here and now — not a distant (and emotionally impossible) ideal. I say work. It. Toccara! I love the image of her “lifting” the car — very strong, very sexy, very powerful, and VERY opposite of the waifish, wan models we so typically see on Vogue USA. If Anna Wintour isn’t taking notes yet, she should be.

Toccara is Ava Gardner, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, Marilyn Monroe gorgeous in some of those photos. Her makeup is giving me major beauty inspiration. It thrilled me to the bone to see a curvy chick featured among the rail thin models. And it also made me happy to see a few afrobellas sprinkled in between Vogue Italia’s more unbeweaveable ‘do’s — Hollis, you are gorgeous. Represent!

Watching women like Toccara become fitter while still maintaining their curves is inspiring to a bella who is trying to improve her health and shed some weight by way of diet and exercise. For me, looking at photoshopped images of Mariah, Janet, or insert-hypersexed-scantily-clad-pop star here has never worked as inspiration. Instead, I look to celebs who I can identify with, who I know must work consistently hard and sweat to achieve their goals. That’s why I admire the efforts of Missy Elliott — who lost 71 pounds in an effort to escape the high blood pressure that runs in her family — and Queen Latifah, who is working to lose 5 to 10 percent of her body weight with Jenny Craig. Like them, I am proud of my curves, but I’m also trying to lose some weight for health reasons.

Another of my fitness inspirations is Jennifer Hudson, who became my friend in the head pretty much the moment this aired.

The Jennifer Hudson of today is glam to the nth degree, and with the Hollywood contracts has come a complete makeover from her hair on down. J Hud has owned up to the fact that she’s working hard to shed pounds — That’s Fit revealed that she “wakes up at 4:00AM to run for an hour, followed by an hour long workout in the gym with her trainer.” Wow. That’s dedication, commitment, and time that I wish I had. Despite her efforts, JHud still appears to be um, photoshopped within an inch of her life on the cover of her latest single. But in her new video, Spotlight, she struts her stuff and looks both real and stunning, IMO. I like the song! What do you think, bellas? The video’s so minty fresh that I couldn’t find an embeddable clip to share here… so instead, here’s one of my favorite JHud clips EVAH — her Letterman performance of I Am Changing. And she is!

She looks amazing, and I love when she sings that song in Dreamgirls. I am always enthralled when she sings live — how effortlessly that marvelous voice just pours out of her. Keep on keeping on, Jennifer!

For more health and fitness inspiration, check out Revenge of the Curves — the latest blog from the prolific Nichelle of Anovelista and 55 Secret Street.

Do you have any real-life I-could-do-that fitness role models? Or fitness tips? Share!

Most of you who’ve been reading Afrobella for a while now know — I love me some Carol’s Daughter. I love what the product line stands for, and I’ve openly admired the efforts of brand creator Lisa Price even in my earliest days of Afrobella, in fact, http://afrobella.com/2006/08/27/meeting-carol%E2%80%99s-daughter/">Lisa and I met almost two years ago when Afrobella had just, just begun. I was SO excited. Her story — from stove top stirring to the shelves of Sephora — inspired me to dream that someday my little new blog could be bigger than I ever thought it could be.

I fell head over heels for most CD’s hair and body products as soon as I tried them (with the notable exception of Khoret Amen anything. That smell is not my fave, to say the least). But the Black Vanilla Leave In conditioner was an instant fave, and the Hair Milk remains one of my go-to styling products. Since then I’ve tried and loved many more CD products — I use the Gelee de Soleil browning oil every time I go to the beach — it’s the sexiest sunscreen out there, IMO. Keeps the legs shiny shiny and protected, too.

The latest object of my Carol’s Daughter affection is the Tui Hair Smoothie, it left my hopelessly tangled coils smooth, soft, and smelling like a tropic dream. My husband didn’t want to get his nose out of my hair, I swear! An 8 oz tub is $19. And these things are flying off the shelves like hot cakes. A recent trip to my neighborhood Sephora revealed a CD section mostly depleted of their hottest products. Carol’s Daughter is doing big biz these days. So when I read a review titled Not Anymore on one of my new fave beauty blogs, Product Junkie Diva, it got me wondering — do I see this brand through rose colored lenses because I love what CD stands for, or do I stan for these products because I genuinely adore them?

Product Junkie Diva’s post begins by saying, “I am sure you have been there before, the point where you realize you no longer like a product that you once enjoyed. My latest “I don’t like you anymore” product is Carol’s Daughter Black vanilla Leave-In Conditioner for Dry Hair,” and the comments revealed a range of products that had fallen out of favor with the beauty loving crowd — some of whom admitted that they were never fans of CD to begin with. After reading all of them, I had to question — is Carol’s Daughter really worth it?

Well, it ain’t cheap — but you don’t walk into Sephora expecting to find cheap cosmetics to begin with. I was skeptical when I first bought a bottle of Hair Milk (which I believe was $16 for 8 oz a few years back). But my curls loved it like no other product, back in those early days of my transition. As a bella who indiscriminately switched between drugstore-quality petrolatum and mineral oil-laden products and all-natural, often pricey, sometimes unrefined hair treatments, I was thrilled to find a high quality, mid-priced, beautifully scented hairdress laden with the oils I knew I should be using on my natural tresses. It remains a keeper.

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A rare Saturday post from me… I just flipped to CNN and saw that the most interesting program will be airing this weekend. Tonight and tomorrow night at 6 and 11 p.m., CNN will be airing Daughters of Legacy, conversation and remembrances by daughters of MLK, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Johnnie Cochran and Sidney Poitier. It looks absolutely fascinating, and will be hosted by the deliciously handsome Don Lemon, as if you needed further incentive to watch.

In other CNN news, Soledad O’Brien’s Black in America series will kick off with a two hour focus on The Black Man on on July 23rd, and two hours on Black Women and Family on the 24th at 9pmET/PT. And I’ve been informed that this right here is “one of the few hand-selected by CNN and anything displayed will be seen by them.” How’s about that! So bellas — this site is but one voice in a vacuum without your valuable insight and opinion. I’m going to watch and review this special, and I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments about it as well. And apparently, so would CNN!

And thanks to reader Tynisha for the tip — remember my Island Stylee post about reggae and calypso odes to Barack Obama? CNN just did the exact same story! It was pretty cool to see the Mighty Sparrow and Cocoa Tea get some screen time on the cable news network. The only person missing was new VP Records artist Tarrus Riley. The clip I shared is called the Beware Obama version. The original Beware is just as wicked, and I hope you enjoy it on this summer afternoon!

Happy weekend!