Aubrey Up Close

The one and only DJ Irie hosted a FANTASTIC holiday party on Miami Beach last night with Ludus, to support his Irie Foundation. I am proud to say that Irie was one of my first “Miami friends” before moving to Florida, and since that time his star has grown exponentially..and very well deserved! He is one of the hardest working people I know, but always stays humble, gracious and grounded…I can’t say enough.

All that being said, anytime I can support and attend one of his events, I do my best to be there! Well, last night he definitely outdid himself. He hosted the most lavish, decadent, holiday party on Miami Beach at a private residence and he pulled out all the stops with theme, decor and entertainment..in true MIA fashion! From elf-fitted servers to nutcrackers, Santa and a crew of “Ho, Ho, Ho’s”…there was snow, elaborate lighting, exotic cars, Stoli drinks flowing and of course the music to put you in the Holiday spirit..or just party mode!

Check out more pics below…it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I just spent a week with Flat Stanley! My friend Eric in Phoenix sent him to me and asked if I knew who he was and if I’d be willing to participate…of course I obliged, and Stanley and I had a great time!! So who is this “Flat Stanley” character, for those of you who aren’t familiar??? Well, he has a website – http://www.flatstanley.com/

Basically he’s a character from a book and because he’s “flattened” he can be mailed, thus allowing for great adventures all over the globe as he gets passed from friend to friend. I did this for Mrs. Mac’s 1st grade class at Cottonwood Elementary in Hesperia, CA!

I received Stanley in my Oakland mailbox right after Thanksgiving and of course he got to ride on Southwest with me cross-country to Florida! See how he got the window seat and was watching the luggage get loaded!?!? ha

We had one layover and plane change in Las Vegas, so Stanley took that opportunity to sit in front of the slot machines! Unfortunately we didn’t hit the jackpot and proceeded to board for our Fort Lauderdale bound flight.

The highlight of Stanley’s South Florida visit was a day out at an NFL game to see the Miami Dolphins host the Oakland Raiders! Here he is getting ready to enter Sun Life Stadium amidst all the pre-game festivities….

We had great seats at the game, but sadly the Raiders lost…womp, womp, womp… However, it was fun and Stanley got to meet my road dawg Jeanette and she will now be hosting him for a week over at the Raiders facility…hopefully he brings them better luck for this Sunday!

I was lucky enough to attend “Watch The Throne” in Miami last night, courtesy of Dontaira and Kia… The Jay-Z and Kanye concert is nothing short of fabulous, amazing, exciting and inspiring!! The energy inside American Airlines Arena was unbelievable, not an empty seat in the house..and of course plenty of star sightings with DWade and LeBron leading the way, (on what could’ve been a HEAT game night at Triple A), but nonetheless, thousands upon thousands of Hip Hop fans threw the Roc in the air to party with the best of ‘em – myself included!

I borrowed the above pic from @CCole_E twitter, cuz apparently her tickets were slightly closer then mine…LOL!! I’m not complaining though…I had a great view of everything I needed to see.

The set design and staging for the show were extremely well done, they had a main stage with a platform that went up and down centered in front of it, then opposite there was another platform which could be raised as well, bringing the artists closer to the crowd across the main stage.

The lighting and use of lasers, fire and effects = mind-blowing…I was seriously mesmerized.

Obviously I wouldn’t expect anything less from Hip Hop Royalty, but all the staging, paired with SO MANY hits…all that music…WOW, just WOW!

During the 2 hour show they each had their own sets in addition to performing several songs together from Watch The Throne and elsewhere….but more than anything, I loved hearing Jay’s hits that took me back a good decade + … and being surrounded with everyone else who felt it too.

And — the best part, they did “Ni**as in Paris” 5 TIMES!! Twice to close the show and 3 times for an encore….and each time they re-started the crowd loved it that much more! “THAT SHIT CRAY!!!”

Shouts to my concert date Kimi..it was her FIRST EVER rap/hip hop concert!! I know, right!?!? It was a hot, sweaty, humid mess inside the Arena, but worth every beat that we danced too.

How many artists can make tens of thousands (grown ass adult fans) throw the Roc symbol in the air and all be on the same beat…. If they’re coming to an arena near you…you DON’T want to miss it…simply EPIC.

A great weekend in the Bay with some of my favorite folks! Friday my baby sister Alison graduated with her ABSN (Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing) from Samuel Merritt University!! It had been a grueling year with lots of sacrifice, but now she’s an RN!! Here I am placing a (graduation) lei on her before the ceremony!

Following her “pinning we had a dinner at Kincaid’s in Jack London Square – their crab and artichoke dip is our FAV!! Check out this photo of Alison giving a speech..she gets “emotional! hehe

Here she is with her crew..they’ve been her close friends since she her age was a single digit!

What’s a celebration without some sweets? Ordered these “nurse” themed cupcakes from Marley’s Treats…

Alison’s proud fan club – Ade, me, T and my Dad!

Saturday was the “We Believe vs. Dubs” charity reunion game (aka GS Warriors game) at SJSU…

Look out for EXCLUSIVE footage On The Flipside…coming soon…

Then after the game, it was a trip to V Bar at Santana Row to hang out with the homies!!

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

This is the “prom couples” picture! haha

Then Sunday…a day at the Coliseum!!! Viva Los Raiders – was not happy about the L! grrr

I stepped out last night in costume to attend a friend’s party…I “recycled” my costume! ha! I’m always amazed at the creativity people display for the occasion…I’m not super “spirited,” but I do appreciate those who go all out.

My sister Ade is a Halloween lover who takes it to another level…can you guess what her get up is??? She went the “edible” route… LOVES IT!!

In costume or not…always good times with my girls!!

So then I started thinking about past Halloween (work) experiences… In 2008, I visited a haunted house in Miami that seriously had me “spooked!!” I laugh now, looking back at the video, but that “startle” factor had me shook when I walked through the haunted house!!

And — in 2007 (my original Wonder Woman cameo) I hung out at O.J. McDuffie’s “Grand Ghoul” Halloween charity event in Florida, and interviewed Michael Irvin and some Miami Dolphins…

Ah, the memories…

I celebrated another year of my life last week…on both coasts! And, without a doubt, my 2011 birthday has been one of the best EVER. I guess it gets better with age!! hehe I began my week in Miami…where I was greeted by these chocolate covered goodies…

Then surprisingly my cousin Marie just happened to be on layover in the Magic City, so I got to see her on my way to my first pre-bday dinner.

And then, me & my “favorite” headed to Makoto in Bal Harbour to meet up with my Deco Peeps!

Here I am with the Deco crew – Eli, Odette and Samantha.

This is where I also got to make my first birthday wish…blowing out the candle on a decadent chocolate lava, fudge cake dessert..YUM!!

The following afternoon I had my pre-bday lunch #2 with my 305 girls…
(l-r) Constance, Rene, Dara (with baby D), Neki and me!

We feasted on a slice of Red Velvet Cheesecake courtesy of Cherisse…so GOOD it’s BAD! ha

On my actually birthDAY I was in LA LA land…and I started my day with yummy banana pancakes at Vivian’s in Studio City…

Then for dinner I feasted on delicious crab and garlic noodles at Crustacean’s…this picture is actually of Tiffany’s Lobster and garlic noodles, it was more “visual” than my dish…but it was ALL delicious!!

And here I am with Tiffany and Abe who joined me for dinner… my bro the “Sneaker Sensei” gets the photo credit.

When I got back to the Bay…the now (post) bday party continued with my 408 girls in downtown San Jose at the newly opened San Pedro Square Market…we had a nice pizza brunch on the patio at Pizza Bocca Lupo!

GOOD FRIENDS, GOOD FOOD, GOOD TIMES..what more could a girl ask for on her birthday!?!?

I’m so THANKFUL to be blessed with another year…surrounded by my loved ones!!

Next year, I will start my birthday on an empty stomach…did you see all the food I just talked about!?!? lol

I’ve been hearing so much about “The Boiling Crab,” so it was nice to finally be able to experience it! All I had heard is it’s a bit messy and basically they put wax paper down on the table and serve you your food in plastic bags…no utensils! lol

And — so true…I def got down and dirty!! I opted for the Snow Crab Legs at the “mild” level…uh, well mild is pretty darn spicy! Then, my baby sis, Bologna, came up with this thing that she is allergic to the shells of shellfish, not eating the meat. So basically, that meant I had to crack all the crab for her! LOL I totally didn’t mind, but I couldn’t crack the crab fast enough..haha We also chowed down on a bucket of deep fried shrimp, corn on the cob and cajun fries — ALL GOOD!!

As you can see…I went INNNN! This is not the place to be all dainty and proper…they throw it down on the table, the you throw it down on the table!

Alison stayed pretty “clean” because I was doing all the crackin’ for her…and my Mom managed to not get too dirty herself, going through her bag of clams – she said the “MED” spice was a bit much for her…haha We had lots of water.

If you go, don’t forget the wet naps!

I spent last weekend on a houseboat in Lake Berryessa to celebrate my sister Ade’s 30th Birthday! It was my first time for a houseboat and you know my sister had to do it up big pimpin’ style, so she got the MEGA, 70 foot boat with a jacuzzi and slide off the top!

Of course we started the adventure with a champagne toast…

My sister ADE looked ravishing to say the least…I need to get on her workout plan!!!

All my siblings were aboard for the ride, a couple cousins from LA and a handful of my sister’s friends also made the voyage… **ADE has a thing for wigs and she has an alter ego, “CoCo.”

Here’s a look down the slide…I went down one time! The current in this spot was actually pretty strong, so you know…I didn’t want to get “carried” away! lol

We also did some karaoke singing on ADE”s magic mic, it’s one of her favorite things to do…so why not, right? We’re on a boat. In this picture (below), Alison is donning the “Snookie” wig…

All in all a very cool experience and the lake was so serene and empty really, so we had the lake pretty much to ourselves..and the weather was excellent. The one thing that trips me out though is that they turned this big boat over to us, and we had to drive it and anchor it, etc… UH, no one of the boat had EVER done that before..IN LIFE!! haha So, there was a bit of an adventure getting it (re) anchored in the dark…but we survived and it gives me a story to tell!! The peaceful morning view was priceless…