Mommy Diva

The Infini Couleur Group exhibit will feature two pieces from Carmen Perez’s WonderDreams Collection Carmen Perez, noted Hollywood’s Latina It-Girl and fine artist will be exhibiting at Norbertellen Gallery’s Infini Couleur Group Exhibition this February 6th through March 26th.  From her memorable appearance on Nip/Tuck to the top of the Pop Music Charts, to hugely successful gallery exhibits, Carmen continues to thrive in the art world, focusing on her collection “WonderDreams.” The show will feature two pieces from the collection along with the works of established and emerging local, national and international artists in Norbertellen Gallery’s classic parlor style exhibition of painting, illustration, photography, mixed media and sculpture. Audiences are invited to meet Carmen during Opening Reception, Saturday, February 5th, 6pm to 10pm at a meet and greet. Gallery doors will remain open through The Downtown LA Art Walk Thursday, February 10th from 12pm to 10pm.  The must-see exhibition is open to the public and free to all ages. Norbertellen Gallery located at 215 W 6th Street Suite 110, LA, CA and there is no charge to attend. For more info please see below or visit carmenperezart.com WHAT: Carmen Perez's Art at Norbertellen Gallery’s Infini Couleur Exhibition WHERE: Norbertellen Gallery at 215 W 6th ...

What better way to express how you truly feel on Valentine's day... than with a first class ticket to Europe or some fabulous crazy destination?   Where ever your Valentine's Day takes you this year, there's always room for a little chocolate and flowers.  For us LA divas, there's a great idea for your out-of-the-norm chocolate-and-flower-filled event.  For Valentine's Day, make him work a little harder.. and boys.. she's worth it!  Take a look at the outstanding gifts that are sure to bring asmile to any diva's face! SEED Floral Couture announces their newest Valentine’s Day collection now available, featuring exquisite hand crafted gift boxes for your loved ones. Each gift box features incredible floral designs with romantic color palettes incorporated with gourmet chocolates, scented candles, unique vases and more.  All gift box materials are eco-friendly, and designed with certified organic flowers. Owner of SEED Floral Couture, Stephanie Elhayani is the visionary behind each design and can work with each client to customize their gift box purchase. New customers can receive 10% off their first purchase. Delivery is available in the greater Southern California area only. “Every arrangement, whether romantic, classic or hip should communicate a unique sense of style, ” says ...

By Angela Rocco DeCarlo,copyright, 2011 The Richard Nixon Library and Museum is an intimate facility highly suited to families and children, especially grandparents with young children. It does not overwhelm in size and so is an enticing destination at any time of the year. Every Christmas season we take our grandchildren to enjoy the model train exhibits. Last year there were two rooms of spectacular model train layouts – a densely constructed Lego cityscape with many bridges, buildings and encampments. In the second room was the marvelously imagined tiered landscape with various-sized model trains choo-chooing across a fantasy America dotted with charming towns filled with miniature people. This year’s visit found a smaller, though still interesting, Lego exhibit, which continues until January 28, 2011, with the second room devoted to “Treasures from the Vault:” A collection of valuable gifts given to the Nixon family, but owned by the U.S. government, by many foreign heads of state. The Lego train exhibit is housed in the museum’s lobby all set about with various themed Christmas trees hugging the perimeter of the space. There’s the Presidents’ tree; the First Ladies’ tree; the Asian tree; the USA tree and others. The Lego train curators created a little game with ...

When it comes to world festivals, this diva is honored to have been one of the thousands attending the second annual Taste of Playa 2010.  As incredible as the food was, it was only upstaged by its organizers, putting together the event with competence, grace and passion for all things culinary. Sunday, November 21, 2010, 43 of the Riviera Maya's most talented chefs, restaurateurs, beverage purveyors and specialty food merchants gathered in the Parque Fundadores, just steps from the beaches of Playa del Carmen, to present their signature dishes and culinary creations to over 7000 local residents and visitors to the popular Mexican Caribbean city. The event far exceeded our expectations this year!' reported event Chairperson Nicola Inwood. The small businesses who made up the participants in both the restaurant and marketplace areas truly reflected the international influences that make up the modern Riviera Maya. The local restaurants, bars and food retailers represented this year offered truly world class dishes for food lovers from across the globe who came to enjoy the Caribbean sun and experience the best of traditional Mexican and international cuisine. The Travel Channel's Mark DeCarlo was the celebrity host of this culinary festival and worked through the crowd talking ...

I'm not sure about the rest of my divas, but there was a time when I was NOT the most popular girl in school...  and that time was junior high.  With acne, a heavy Cuban accent added on to my limited English vocabulary, hand-me-down clothes and an afro.. (yes, an afro) I ran to the school bus every afternoon wen that bell rang, only to be confronted with more laughter and snickering... But if Nia Vardalos made it through, so can the rest of us. Take a look at the video message from this fabulous artist to all of you who are still going through it.  Good luck and hang in there!  It gets better.. really, it does. It Gets Better: Nia Vardalos and Rob Riggle “Growing up is hard. None of us ever really feel like we fit in. Most of us are scared. But no one is more scared than the kid who gets picked on every day. Bullies are scared too. That’s why they pick on the kids they think won’t fight back. Let’s talk about it and make schools a safer place for everyone.” -Nia Inspired by Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" Project, Nia Vardalos and Rob ...

By Angela Rocco DeCarlo copyright, 2010 The 1980 Chicago poster I’ve displayed in my home since relocating to Southern California in 1987, shows the city as a child’s crayon coloring exercise. Blue Lake Michigan and green parks are in the forefront while the rest of the US recedes to the Pacific. New York and the Atlantic are seen beyond Asia giving the artwork a vitality which amuses and refreshes, just as the real city does for visitors. First-time guests are astounded by Chicago’s breath-taking lakefront, stretching for miles, awash in sailboats, marinas, pristine parks dotted with notable sculptures, fountains, all anchored by world-class museums set like glittering jewels into the vast parks. That’s the view from atop the Hancock Building…something not to be missed. It offers a superlative shoreline vista. The sunlight bouncing off the lake, enhanced by the tens of acres of open spaces, gives the public buildings a fairytale feel, as though someone sketched them in watercolors. The openness of the lakefront owes a debt to Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. He designed among many projects,  the lakefront parks, skyscrapers and the Chicago Columbian Exposition, 1893. Taking his cue from Baron Georges Haussmann, 19th century city planner of the old Roman city of ...

To celebrate the paperback publication of Susan Shapiro's debut novel Speed Shrinking, you can "speed date" with actual mental health professionals during the month your regular therapist is away. SPEED-SHRINKING is exactly what it sounds like, speed dating with mental health professionals.  Feel like having a drink and resolving an issue at the same time?  These events are geared to help you do just that.  From sex therapists to relationship experts, Speed-Shrinking, created by Susan Shapiro, your $15 cover includes one(1) drink ticket and proceeds go to 826LA, leaving you feeling twice as good about yourself...  well worth the price of admission. Whether you need a new shrink, quick tune-up or some replacement tough love, this line up of nine brilliant gurus will be on hand to meet, greet, and help you get over all your success blocks - and it's for charity!  Books are available at the event through Book Soup. In Susan Shapiro’s laugh-out-loud funny fictional debut Speed Shrinking, Manhattan self-help author Julia Goodman thinks she’s got her addictive personality under control. Then her beloved psychoanalyst moves away at the same time her husband takes off to L.A. and her best friend gets married and moves to Ohio. Navigating her insurance ...

Hosted by Iconic WGN Radio Personality Steve Cochran, WGN-TV’s Mike Toomey, Patti Vasquez and Travel Channel’s Mark DeCarlo The all-ages charity event features FREE BBQ, Live Blues Bands, Comedy Acts, Golf, Cooking Demonstrations and More! Johnsonville Sausage invites you to celebrate this Father’s Day, Sunday June 20th, 2010 at Poppa-Palooza, a one-of-a-kind, all ages music and comedy festival featuring Chicago’s greatest personalities, musicians and comedians at America’s Historic Roundhouse in Aurora, IL. The phenomenal line-up includes legendary WGN radio personality Steve Cochran, WGN-TV’s Mike Toomey, with popular Chicago  comedian Patty Vasquez, and Travel Channel’s Mark DeCarlo alongside the band Old Blues Eyes. Doors open at 5pm and festival continues until 11pm. America’s Historic Roundhouse is located at 205 N. Broadway, Aurora, IL 60505. Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for children under 12. All tickets include two (2) FREE Johnsonville Brats and all Dads will receive a FREE raffle ticket. Tickets can be purchased by calling 630-264-2739 or visiting www.rh34.com . Poppa-Palooza will include a fun-filled afternoon of golf contests, incredible raffle prices, live music & comedy, cooking demonstrations, competitions, a live auction and surprise guests. This event is geared to gives Dad's a day off while helping to raise money for what ...

Saturday & Sunday, May 22 & 23 This is no ordinary art event! The Venice Art Walk & Auctions is a fundraiser for Venice Family Clinic, the largest free clinic in the country, and each ticket you purchase helps provide a medical visit for an uninsured person in need. (Purchases of art and tickets to Art & Architecture Tours go even further!) So bring a friend. Or two. Or ten. After all, taking care of the uninsured is good for karma. Click any of the links below for more information or to purchase tickets. Art & Architecture Tour: Rustic Canyon: The Sequel Saturday, May 22 Picking up where last year’s historic walking tour left off, Leo Marmol, FAIA, takes visitors deeper into this architecturally bountiful neighborhood, stopping to tour a fresh collection of homes representing the old and the new. $175 per person, benefits Venice Family Clinic, includes lunch and reception Art & Architecture Tour: Architects' Homes in Venice and Santa Monica Saturday, May 22 Explore homes that architects and designers built for themselves in this self-guided walking tour along the border of Venice and Santa Monica. $100 per person, benefits ...

Grab your divalicious girlfriends and shake off the cold with a little help from Shecky’s! At Girls Night Out, you’ll experience the newest warm weather fashion trends, delicious cocktails, plus sensational spring beauty treatments. Throw in our fabulous goodie bags, chock full of freebies, and we guarantee you’ll have a spring in your step in no time! What? Shecky's is an online and event destination for what’s cool and undiscovered in FASHION, BEAUTY and FUN with the girls. From emerging designers to great beauty discoveries, delicious cocktails to free giveaways— Shecky's offers a wonderland for girls to SHOP, SAMPLE & SCORE the world of things girls love. How? Shecky's partners with 1200+ cool companies a year to bring women the latest and greatest in fashion, beauty, entertainment, and more in unique web and event experiences that can be shared with friends. Why? Because once in a while, women need a place to escape, where we can indulge, pamper ourselves and have some quality girl time—without the boys! What’s Shecky’s Mission? To spoil girls with fashion, beauty, fun and the best girlfriend group experiences. Shop Fabulous LA! Date: Wed.-Thu., May 19th-20th, 2010 Time: 5pm-10pm Place: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium 1855 Main St. (Pico Blvd. & Colorado Ave.) TO PURCHASE TICKETS PLEASE VISIT THIS LINK: http://girlsnightout.sheckys.com/?rf=LA_TravelingDiva and choose "Socialista" ...