MLEstyle » Charity

The Cove: A Call to Action

MLEstyle — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:11:12 +0000

I recently watched the Oscar award winning documentary, “The Cove,” which documents the slaughtering and shipment of beautiful bottle-nose dolphins in what’s referred to as, the cove, in Taiji, Japan. Richard O’Barry, the dolphin trainer for the once popular TV show, Flipper, demonstrates a massive amount of courage in his gripping documentation of the fate of these dolphins in Japan. Each year in Taiji, the Japanese “fishermen” slaughter 23,000 dolphins in one cove alone! These dolphins, which are extremely high in mercury (toxic levels) are either sold to places like SeaWorld to live in captivity for the remainder of their lives, or they’re slaughtered among their brothers and sisters and intentionally mislabeled as a high quality fish in the markets including being fed to children in the school lunch programs.

I often encounter people that choose to not eat “meat” which they categorize as coming from land animals; “The Cove,” presents a totally new perspective on our fishing industry and how healthy seafood actually is for humans due to the high mercury levels that fish consume through their food chain (which humans in turn consume). The FDA should require that the tender cuts of meat that we see nicely packaged in the store be required to have an attached DVD on fishing and farming practices throughout the world; because so much killing happens behind closed doors, we must spread the word and expose to the people around the world just what they are consuming and supporting when they choose to consume what was once living, breathing, playing, and loving.

Documentaries like, “The Cove,” are always a great reminder that we all share this planet and even though we are all from different countries, this Earth belongs to all of us. I highly recommend watching this documentary and supporting the dissemination of this critical information to all of the people you love and care about.

This documentary is available for rent on Netflix, and the website is available here: The Cove

Other important websites to visit are:

Save Japan Dolphins

Dolphin Slaughtering in Taiji (Ocean Preservation Society)

Contact Authorities, the Japanese Consulate, local dolphinariums, and SeaWorld

Thank you for being so caring!

DC VegFest 2011

MLEstyle — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:56:19 +0000

Nothing excites me more than vegan food, especially when the community comes together to celebrate it. Here are some pictures I took from the DC VegFest on the campus of George Washington University in my beautiful hometown, Washington, DC.

This is my new favorite t-shirt. It says, “Animals are my friends.”

Sunflower Restaurant in Vienna, VA had an amazingly delicious vegan booth.

Grow your own mushrooms in 7 days! Love. Food for thought: What do you call a 12 inch mushroom? …A ‘fungi’ to be with!

Vegan dessert. My weakness! Good thing the line was outrageously long and I have no patience.

Haute Holidays & NYE Masquerade

MLEstyle — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 19:58:37 +0000

Happy New Year friends!

I hope you were all able to ring in the New Year the way you had imagined you would, and that you’re starting to now make those resolutions a reality! One of my resolutions this year is to be an honest and compassionate friend to everyone.

I was able to ring in the New Year with a group of my amazing girlfriends at the Washington Redskins Masquerade Ball! It was my first masquerade that I’ve ever attended, and I was so excited to channel my inner Gossip Girl by wearing a fabulous mask to a ball.

Before the new year, I went to visit my Dad’s side of the family over Christmas in Florida, and it was certainly an eventful holiday. By chance, I was able to meet Nigel Barker, his wife Chrissy and twin sister-in-law Kimmy in Fairhope, AL at the Grand Hotel. They were all very sweet and genuinely such kind people. Nigel and Chrissy wished me good luck with my modeling career, and Nigel pulled out a personal book he had in Chrissy’s bag, and signed it for me.

…posing with my little brothers in Grand Hotel lobby.

On the way back to our house in Florida, my family decided at the last minute that we wanted to take a quick trip to New Orleans. What a great idea!!!

The first thing we did when we got to New Orleans was, “house shop,” in the Garden district around Audubon Park, and then actually shop when we got to Magazine Street. I picked up this gorgeous top and scarf from the lovely boutique Pied Nu.

I love this sheer linen top by Erica Tanov for of the beautiful fabric and details…and for the fact that it’s made in America.

I love the scarf by Epice because of the arrangement of beautiful colors; I love orange, pink and teal together.

After some much needed retail therapy, we checked in to the stunning Waldorf Astoria hotel and I could not believe how beautifully decorated the lobby was for the holidays…breathtaking!

Later that night, I walked around Royal Street with my family and my little brother Corey helped me pick out my mask for my NYE masquerade ball…This is the mask we decided on!

After a wonderful dinner at NOLA’s famous restaurant Muriel’s, we were ready to get back to the hotel to rest up before the early morning ahead of us. Before our quick two-day trip to the the Big Easy came to an end, we had to experience Cafe du Monde, a bakery that is wildly famous for their beignets and cafe au lait. Sadly, the only vegan options on the menu were water and coffee, but I was perfectly content just being the designated photographer that morning.

…It was a day away, and I had the perfect mask, and the perfect story to go with it. My first masquerade ball. I showed up to the Washington Redskin’s Masquerade Ball wearing my elaborate mask which I had toted all the way back from New Orleans. For my outfit, I chose to wear a purple and white Oscar de la Renta shirt dress and a pair of Dolce & Gabbana jewel encrusted heels. To show off my figure, I wrapped my dress with a black patent leather Prada belt, and wore diamond hoop earrings. I also opted to bring my small black studded Be&D purse.

The masquerade was an absolute ball! Here are some pictures from the event.

I hope you all have equally wonderful New Year’s stories! I will always remember the holidays and NYE of 2010.

…On to the next decade! Wishing you all happiness and health this year.

Love, Emily

Wilhelmina: Curves for Change

MLEstyle — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:17:26 +0000

I was so excited when I found out about Wilhelmina’s “Curves for Change” initiative! Curves for Change is bringing attention to the modeling industry’s bad reputation for using models that are dangerously thin, and promoting the new push for healthy-sized women in the industry. Truly fantastic!

I looked at my schedule to see if I’d be able to make it to the 5k run/walk in NYC this November 20, and it looks like I’m free! Well, not anymore; I’ll be signing up for my first 5k ever!

For the most part, I do my running on a treadmill, but on November 20th, you’ll catch me running outside, in honor of every healthy woman out there! What a beautiful thing!

XoX, Emily

Back to the Future!

MLEstyle — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:25:04 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to model as a female version of Marty McFly with an amazing Delorean straight out of Back to the Future. The shoot will be used to benefit Parkinson’s disease research, via the Michael J. Fox Foundation. What a perfect match to use the Delorean from Michael’s incredible role as Marty McFly in the movie to promote a cure for Parkinson’s disease.

It was a great feeling to volunteer my time to help out such a worthy cause, and doubly great to leave the shoot thinking about how many amazing and talented people I had just worked with! …Especially one of my favorite photographers, Douglas Sounders. Here is the link to Doug’s blog with a sneak peak of what we worked on all Saturday night!

Douglas Sounder’s Photography

A final thank you goes out to Bubba’s East Coast Rods and Customs for letting us invade their shop and parking lot for this shoot! Did you guys know that Bubba’s has a top-rated reality show called Hot Rod Reality? …and it’s shot right here in Fairfax, VA! I had no idea…but then again, what do I know about cars!

Working with such a talented group of people was really an honor and on top of it all, so much fun! I’m excited to see the final product!

Hugs + kisses!

What Have We Done?

MLEstyle — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:47:44 +0000

We’ve read it in the papers and heard it on the news. It’s affected the economy in a number of ways. It’s even been used as question material for Miss USA (you can see question on video at 3 min 30 sec):

What have we done, folks? As one small person in this enormous planet, it is easy to feel like our small voice’s would never be heard worldwide, especially if we consider the language barriers. And in most cases, that is usually true, we are one small voice in this big big world. Unless you use the power of photography; the one language we all can speak. Pictures like these are evidence that one camera lens can clearly communicate this message in every language: “What have we done to ourselves?”

If you’re interested, you can see all 39 incredible pictures from the website I pulled these images from by clicking here: www.boston.com.

It is important to learn from the mistakes that we’ve made in our past so that we never make them again.

This catastrophe affects all of us in a million different ways. Whether you’re an animal lover, a tree-hugger, an environmentalist, an economist, an investor, a politician, even a nutritionist (who will probably cut out the seafood from diet plans, yes?); we ALL are affected.

…Sending heartfelt appreciation, gratitude, and prayers from all of us, to all of the wonderful selfless volunteers and individuals who are working so hard to clean up this terrible spill–in the ocean, in the court room, and on Capitol Hill.

Kisses to all. Besos. XoX

YSL Leopard: Heel. Sit. Stay…in my closet!

MLEstyle — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:30:16 +0000

Every woman that knows what’s good for her loves a leopard print. And sometimes as women, we just can’t make any sacrifices for that wildly sexy caramel and brown print. For me, comfort immediately took a backseat the moment I laid eyes on my first pair of YSL leopard heels. Check them out (below)! I wore them to the incredible Tigerlily Foundation event last night with Maimah Karmo, Dr. Alex Naini, and Angie Goff, along with several Redskins players.

Despite the amount of pain my feet were in this morning, I just can’t get rid of these amazing heels. Fortunately, for you leopard lovers who also enjoy comfort, YSL has come out with a new and improved version of this leopard heel this season that I highly recommend. I know Fergie would endorse these as well! Here’s the Spring 2010 YSL Leopard Tribute Sandal:

www.polyvore.com

If you like this sandal, skip Neiman’s and buy it online for 30% off at LoiusAviaRoma.com. …they’re not cheap, but hey, there is a price to beauty. Just another sacrifice for another must have heel.

XoX

Fashion Takes Flight

MLEstyle — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:15:21 +0000

If you’re the type of person that really wants to volunteer and just doesn’t know what organization to support, well consider Fashion Takes Flight, an event run by Luke’s Wings, a great start to, “making the world a better place.” Fashion Takes Flight is a fashion-forward fundraiser to help the family member’s of injured veterans who can’t afford to fly from their homes to Walter Reed Hospital to see their injured husband, son, wife, parent, etc.

So, how does Luke’s Wings help?

Luke’s Wings purchases the plane tickets for the injured veteran’s family members to fly to DC to spend time with their American hero. Simple. Huh?

So take your pick: A $50 ticket to the fashion show, or the $100 VIP ticket with a seat, free flowing champagne and more DC Socialite sightings then you can imagine! And if you’re still worried about the coolness level of the event, have comfort knowing that Angie Goff, from Channel 9 News and DC blogger, only emcee’s at the BEST events in Washington DC.

So…see you there?

Hugs + Kisses! Besitos!

XOX Emily

U2: 360 World Tour

MLEstyle — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:27:00 +0000

I battled my way through traffic for 3.5 hours. I listened to practically every channel on my satellite radio trying to pass time. I even listened to the Spanish channel, Caliente, attempting to brush up on my español conversacional. I watched drunken people get out of the car, run into the woods, pee, and run back to their car to find that traffic hadn’t moved an inch. Come on…I was hungry, I had to pee, and I was tired from sitting for so long.

It was long after the first sign of hunger pains that the light at the end of the tunnel became clear. I could SEE FedEx Field.

I pulled my two tickets out of my cream Pierro Guidi purse, and reassured myself and the mystery man in the passenger seat that, “these tickets come with purple parking passes. That means we get to park right in front of the stadium.” It was then when I saw the first sparkle in his eyes, hypnotically divulging the thoughts that were secretively going through his mind: “I’ve spent three and a half hours in a car with a chica that won’t shut her mouth for a second. The purple parking pass is a blessing from God; I need to get out of this car!!”

And as Washingtonian’s living in this great city known for the recent embryonic development of the word, “Hope,” I ask you all to please let me be a witness to hope’s truth:

So, as I inched closer and closer to the one lane marked with signs directing the “privileged” traffic to the purple lot, like Dorothy being told to follow the yellow brick road, I grasped my tickets tighter and rolled my window down to show the traffic attendant. ”Hi, Sir…” And I was politely interrupted, “Ma’am, there’s plenty of parking, plenty of parking, just around the corner in that lot.” As he pointed to a lot a mile away from the stadium. “Oh, but you see, sir, these tickets I have here come with Purple lot parking. It says so right here, look!” As I pointed to the PURPLE LOT PARKING printed in bold letters on the ticket. “Yes ma’am, the Purple lot is completely full, this lot here,” pointing to the same far away lot, “will be a great alternative.” And he kindly sent us in the only direction I didn’t want to go in: Away from the Purple lot.

I was suddenly so grateful (more than any man will ever know) that I didn’t wear heels that night; the idea that I initially had of going to a fun concert had turned into a three and a half hour road trip, a series of rib-cage cramping hunger pains, and a mile long hike (one way)! As we pulled into the alternatively “great lot,” I saw yet another glimpse of hope, a golf cart! I immediately turned to my mystery man and begged him to admit that he was handicapped (okay, I may go to Hell for that one…) so that we could snag a closer spot in the far-off lot, in addition to catching a brisk ride on the golf cart to the stadium. So my mystery man rolled his window down and began his improvised persuasive speech in an effort to convince the parking attendant that he was actually handicapped (after all, he did have a sling on his arm).

It was five words into his supposed persuasive speech, when the parking attendant blankly smiled back at us. It was obvious that this great idea I had was not going to work; the attendant had not a clue what we were saying. No hablos Inglés. I finally found a far-off parking spot and I quickly whipped my car into the spot. And as we got out of the car and began our long, cold trek to the stadium, I chuckled to my mystery man, “So much for hope,” as I clutched my bag tighter in one hand and my handicap man’s bicep in the other, and we laughed all the way to the stadium.

Upon arrival, we gave our tickets a try at an entrance in the nearest “Suites Only” tunnel. And to no one’s surprise, we were quickly redirected to the main ticket entrance. So, we turned around and started off in a different direction to find any entrance that would let us in: I desperately had to go #1, and my friend’s appetite had grown to the size of a lion’s. Our discouraged and slumped over body language must have been unmistakably obvious because the “gatekeeper” for the “Suites Only” entrance quickly yelled back to my friend, “Hey Mayne! You handicap!!” As he noticed the sling on his right arm. “Come on in. We got you!… Let theze fokes in, this man handicap.” If the ground underneath of me had not looked like a drunken fan had recently urinated on it, I would have considered kneeling down for a quick, “Thank you God,” prayer. Instead, I went with a girlie, “moochoze grassyaz.” The three and a half hour satellite radio Spanish lessons certainly paid off; we were finally in!!!

“Ok you get the food, I’m going to the bathroom, and I’ll meet you back here.” As I pointed to the condiments stand next to us. Ten minutes later, I came out of the bathroom with a big smile on my face to reassure my date that I didn’t just take a #2 in the stadium bathroom. The truth is that there was no toilet paper in the stalls, and with my best attempt at being a Good Samaritan, I ran all of the women, who were patiently drip-drying in their stalls, hand-fulls of paper towels from the dispensers near the sink. This was yet another great idea I that had, one that I hoped to balance out my karma from the, “okay, you fake like your handicap…” and, “I’m probably going to Hell for this one,” scheme.

So, I pushed the main bathroom door open with the butt of my new navy Rock N’ Republic jeans, and greeted my main squeeze waiting by the condiment station with a big smile. He had the food. I had the tickets. Let’s get a beer. Put some ketchup on those fries. And let’s find our seats.

We pushed our way past mosh pits of drunken fans dancing in the aisle and managed to balance our food and drinks all the way down to the front row, where we found that five raging college guys had weaseled their way into our seats: that is, until security came down to tell the beboppers to bebop out of there. We finally had the chance to sit down and we celebrated by sinking into our first bites of our now-cold stadium food dinner.

Needless to say, the food was terrible but the concert was uhhh-mazing! U2 does a great job at raising awareness for worldly causes in addition to promoting groups like Amnesty International through their music and concerts. I’m a believer in supporting our global community, and I also believe in supporting the underprivileged children in the United States that don’t receive the proper health care, education, or domestic treatment. I’m mega grateful for Bono’s inner drive to over extend himself to reach out and help the people that really need it. He is a brave soul that deeply believes in service, which makes me really happy to see that so many young people idolize him. In the future, wouldn’t it be nice to see some rock stars advocating for some of the children who need help in the U.S.?

Now, because the drive home from the concert was a piece of cake and I have no great stories about driving down 95 South at midnight, let’s jump to the pictures! Remember, no cameras allowed in FedEx Field, so you get my BlackBerry camera phone pictures…. You lucky ducks! Enjoy!!

Fashion Fights Poverty 2009

MLEstyle — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:14:00 +0000

Want to know how Fashion Fights Poverty was last week?

Check out my time line of events:

6:00 PM – FFP begins in the gorgeous Mayflower Renaissance Hotel (I’m still getting ready @ home)

6:45 PM – I leave home later than expected (This seems like it’s always the case!)

7:15 PM – I miss the turn onto Connecticut from K St…. Crap.

7:20 PM – Stressed that I’m 1.5 hours late to the show and missed my turn, I pull out the Plumelo (kinda like a juicy plum, mixed with…?) from my new over-sized black patent leather GoldenBlue purse and bit into a piece of heaven. Ahhhhh, comfort food.

7:30 PM – Where the heck am I? Left turns only for trucks and taxis??! Great! Keep driving…

7:35 PM – Oh Shit. I have to get back on 395 and do this all over again.

7:45 PM – I accidentally found the hotel when I caught myself checking out a chick standing on the sidewalk in a must-have glammed-out gold-sequined dress (If you were there, then you know who I’m talking about!)

7:55 PM – Park and walk inside two hours late. “PHEW! Bartender, over here! Whatever you’ve got left…” …and as the night continued to get worse he said loudly, “Bar is CLOSED! Come back in 15 minutes.” Without any time to beg and plead for ONE glass of wine, a man in his most girly-girl voice came on over the loud speaker and said, “Everyone, pahleeaze take your seats! The shaooow izz about tuu beginnn!”

7:56 PM – I started to walk towards my seat briskly but still made sure to take a reassuring glance at my fabulous frock and vintage Hermés scarf tied around my hair in the Mayflower Hotel’s mirrored hallway. Bangs? Check. Lipgloss? Check. Matte powder for photos and camera? Check. At this moment, I found myself unusually thankful for Amy Winehouse. If it wasn’t for her “it took me two hours to make my hair look like I didn’t do it,” look, I would have been doubly-late for the show. So TG4AW and her bird’s nest hairstyle! It was time to find my seat.

7:57 PM – I winded my way through the glamazons and found my seat. Plop. “Hmmmph.” I turned to my right and introduced myself to a blonde woman named Rachel, She looked like she had arrived right at 6 PM and since then, had been making friends with everyone, including the bartender. “That lucky bitch,” I thought. She had a fresh glass of wine in her overly-moisturized hand (a sure sign that she had arrived early enough for the free massages), a contagious smile, and a polished man on her right arm. I confirmed my previous statement. I was right, she was a lucky bitch.

8:03 PM – The model-activist and host of the Discovery Network’s Planet Green Summer Rayne Oakes, and WTTG Fox 5 News Anchor Will Thomas were introduced as the FFP hosts. “She’s wearing Jean Paul Gaultier.” I knew it before she even spilled the beans as to what she was wearing further into the show. (Cue Wayne & Garth’s rendition of “Foxy…”). Oh, and as far as Will Thomas goes? Total yikes!!! If it weren’t for my humongous celebrity crush on Mario Lopez, I might consider him as an Emily chart-topper. His pants were so fitted that I could tell his ass was more succulent than the perfectly ripe Pumelo that I sunk my teeth into just hours before.

8:15 PM – The music starts to bump and sends a contagious wave of dancing head bobs through the seated fashion-goers. The lights began to shoot around the room, flashing every color from the Ralph Lauren Island Brights paint swatch: Lattice Red, Aruba Pink, Bicycle Yellow, Key West Green, Baltic Blue, and Purple Dahlia. “Let the fun begin!!”

8:20 PM – The models started to strut down the seemingly endless runway. This was the beginning of a long, exciting night! I was so glad that it wasn’t me walking down the runway in fabulous shoes, of course only designed for sitting. My red Christian Dior’s could not have agreed with me any more, tonight was for sitting (and the heels thanked me later on in the evening by leaving no obvious signs on my pedicured feet that I had hiked several blocks in them from a PMI parking garage to the hotel. And since when has valet ever used the excuse, “sorry, we’re full…”?).

9:20 PM – The models boob falls out of a loose dress and Rachel points and laughs loudly as she says, “Look! Her boob fell out! Haha!!!” As if the audience missed it. Duhh, it’s a models tit! Who wasn’t watching!? As embarrassing as the moment was for the beautifully long and thin model, it was just understood that those moments came with the territory of being a runway model.

9:30 PM – A nameless hip-hop performer struts his Steve Urkle look down the runway with a new song he just released. Kinda cool. Kinda weird…I couldn’t decide.

9:45 PM – Finally, the moment I had been waiting for! MerzaMPERIAL. A sneak preview at his 2010 collection?? I LOVE love!

10:00 PM – The MerzaMPERIAL show completed the grand finale with the most beautiful pieces and then it was au revoir for me. I grabbed my 5-pound gift bag full of environmentally conscious beauty products, along with my black Bottega clutch, and made a quick dash out of the hotel’s side door. After all, I wasn’t going to be late again; I had a booked Friday evening ahead of me!

Fashion Fights Poverty 2009: I came, I saw, I conquered. Good enough for me.

Here are some pictures from FFP that I was able to take for you guys:

Above: Rachel (left) and I anxiously awaiting the show’s start.

Above: A quick stand-and-snap image of the fashionable Washingtonians!

Above: My best shot at capturing Michael Dumlao’s incredibly Kanye-esque sunglasses.

Above: Will Thomas’ mega-cute culito. Aye Papi!!

Above: Nudie Jeans company. Rolled cuffs = mega cool.

Above: René Geneva Design

Above: The hip-hop entertainment…very Steve Urkle!

Above: The Retrospective Lookbook Launch Party @ L2

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fashionfightspoverty/