Summer Nostalgia

Dress: Lola (in Vegas)/ Sandals:Marshalls/ Necklace: Flea Market 

With inevitable approach of Fall, I've been longing for those long summer days of weeks pasted. I think  I was really feeling nostalgic when I wore this long white maxi dress. When I saw this dress in the store, I pictured picnics in a field of daisies, sipping on lemonade with my summer fling (who happens to be my fall, winter and spring fling too lol). This dress was the first dress that I've ever found that was actually nearly too long for me. I have no hight challenges so it's usually hard for me to find dresses that would be long enough for me but this one was perfect. Now as you get see I didn't get to live out my fantasy of romping around in a field of daisies but I was with my babe so that counts for something right?

Banana Cafe and Piano Bar

On a trip to eastern market this past Sunday, the babe and I stumbled upon this gem of a restaurant in Capital Hill. Maybe I've been living under a rock or I haven't been around the block enough but it sure seems like others were hip to this cafe and piano bar. The ambiance, fun, colorful and full of Latin charm. The food, flavorful and just straight up tasty. The Banana Cafe and piano bar  is a restaurant renowned for it Latin fusion of Cuban, Mexican and Puerto Rican cuisine. There is also a piano bar upstairs with a great happy hour and live music every night. Check out the pics to see what I mean.

Very  interesting menu art

The Appetizer :Ceviche, which in basically a seafood salad. It was so good and spicy. It didn't lack one bit of flavor and the seafood was plentiful.

My Meal: Marinated Pork with rice and cassava. This has to the most tender pork I have ever eaten. The flavors were simple amazing. Two thumbs up!

My  Robbie's Meal: Stuff plantain, rice and oysters. I liked his meal even more than I liked my own. Such a wonderful and unexpected mix of flavors. Each plantain bowl with filled with a different meat. One beef, one chicken and one shrimp and they all we just so good. The sauce that accompanied the oysters, made me a fan of oysters. It was creamy and buttery and tad bit spicy. 

So colorful and bright

Thought this was pretty cool

Some colorful Dragon-thing

Another colorful Dragon-thing

The Peacock that great you when you first come in. 

All in all this restaurant will see my face again. I had a great time here. The food is amazing, the staff is warm and attentive and the atmosphere is fun and inviting. It you get a chance defiantly check this place out and for more info check out their website here.

Casual Not Boring

Jeans: H&M/ Top: via Marshalls/ Blazer: Thrifted/ Shoes: UrbanOG/ Ring: F21 / Sunnies: Chloe Bag: via Marshalls

Who says causal must be boring? You can always spruce up a basic outfit with some prints and color. This is exactly what I did for this outfit. The jacket is the same one from the charm georgetown post, but here I dressed it down with some jeans and a tee shirt.

Curried Shrimp and Rice and peas

One of the most popular dish in the Caribbean culture has got to be Curried chicken but curried anything is just as good. The amazing thing about a curried sauce is that it goes well with pretty much any type of meat and vegetables. Curried shrimp has got to be one of my favorite, mainly because I love shrimp. If you love shrimp as much as I do then I think you'll love this recipe.

Ingredients:

1lb Deveined and skinned, Medium frozen Shrimp

1 tsp Season All

1/2 Black pepper

2-3 tbs Curry Powder 

2 tbs of Olive Oil

1 cup chopped onions

1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flacks 

1 tsp of All spice

2 carrots, peeled and sliced 

1 1/2 low sodium chicken stock

1/2 cup diced tomatos

1/2 cup Green pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet. Put in Onions and cook until tender. Stir in shrimp, curry, pepper, all spice, tomatoes and green peppers and cook until aromas are released. Add in chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. To thicken add 1 tsp of corn starch. Serve with streamed rice and peas. 

• Enjoy!

Carnival in Barbados

Being the caribbean girl that I am (Mixed with Bajan, Haitian and Cuban), I had to make a trip to Barbados to celebrate Crop Over (our version of Carnival). I had the most amazing time and just wanted to share a bit of the experience with you all. Even though I use to live in Barbados (for high school), I have never really experienced a Crop Over because I was always traveling back home to the US for the summer, so this is really one of my first Crop Over experiences as well.

Historically, Crop Over was a time to celebrate the end of the sugar cane harvesting season. Now, Crop Over is the biggest celebration in the country which includes parades, calypso singing competition and parties, lots of parties. Kadooment  day, is the day that everyone in the different "bands" wear their costumes and have a big party parade. Kadooment day also ends the crop over celebration which lasts about 2 months. If you all are familiar with carnival in Brazil, Crop over is a very similar concepts.

 I had so much fun watching all of the bands parade down the street and seeing people have a good time. I actually want to participate in a band next year, so look out for that. The picture in this post, were taken on Kadooment day. As you will see the costumes are so beautiful.  Hope you enjoy your peek into Bajan (Slang for Barbadian) culture.

One of my beautiful friends

The beautiful Bajan Sunset after a long day of people watching

Orange You Glad

Top: Zara/ Skirt:H &M/ Shoes: Zara/ Belt: Forever 21/ Necklace: Mango/ Ring: Forever 21

I couldn't resist styling this peplum top with this sequined skirt. I love the color combo (Even though its a bit early for Halloween lol). 

The Charm Georgetown Soiree

Happy Monday lovies, I am posting to you from the beautiful land of Barbados! I'm here for Cropover, which is our version of carnival and my friends have been keeping me thoroughly busy. I am having the time of my life! I didn't want to neglect my readers so I thought I'd take a little time out of my partying schedule to bring you this event recap. I went to the Charm Georgetown Soiree last Wednesday. It was a celebration of a look book they did with Cheralee of Miss Lyle Style and the duo behind The President Wears Prada. It was a fab event full of champagne, beautiful baubles and fabulous bloggers. If you haven't seen the look book, you have to check it out here, it is so gorgeous! The jewelry at Charm Georgetown is exquisite. There's something for everyone and there are even some great find under $100. If ever in Georgetown please stop by and pick up something nice, I certainly will be doing so for New York fashion week. Check out the photos below.

I LOVE chandeliers and this one is so beautiful

The perfect ingredients for a sick arm party

More then just baubles.  Charms sells clutches, shoes and more

One of my favorite pieces in the store

Cheralee

Love this top

The winner of a card drawing

Always gorgeous Cortnie of The Stylelust Pages

Outfit deets: Dress: Mango / Blazer: Vintage/ Clutch: Asos/ Shoes: Zara/ Bangles : H&M