Author: lexidubb

NOiR’s 17th annual Runway Fashion Show last night, April 2nd, was all around amazing! NOiR introduced the audience to the elements: earth, air, water, and fire in different scenes. The element themes featured clothes from Isaiah, Zack, Vincent, Greatness the One, Bivouac, Renaissance, Windsor, Pitaya, Junae Raye, Jaust, and Motivation. In the final scene, NOiR, the models wore the brand, Dutch. I was impressed by how the show really captured NOiR’s effort to bring together Michigan’s diverse community.

The first two sections, earth and air, the lingerie then formal scene, were great. I was stunned by how confident and how effortlessly fierce each model looked as they strutted down the runway. The models all looked as if they had been modeling for years. I commend NOiR for showcasing different body types, different races, different ethnicities, and different genders in every scene.

After the earth and air scenes, there was an intermission for raffle drawings. NOiR’s giveaways were no joke. They gave each attendee the chance to win a prize as a thank you for buying a ticket to the show. The prizes included a brand new Jim Harbaugh Autographed Football, 2 backstage VIP tickets to music matters Springfest Migos concert, a beats by Dre 2.0 pill, 5 Steve Madden handbags, free Domino’s pizza for a semester, Mary Kay gift bags, and a bduds gift card (which I won!!). The hosts interacted with the audience well and kept everyone entertained while the models changed by hosting a Milly Rock dance competition for a $100 visa gift card.

Succeeding the interactive intermission for the raffles, the rest of the show only got better. The music selection was perfect and I loved the outfits. My favorite parts of the show were the last two scenes, Fire and NOiR. In these two sections, the models complemented each other very well. I loved when two of the models came out and were in sync when they got to their moves at the end of the runway.

Before the NOiR finale, the president and vice president came out on stage. They spoke about the history of NOiR and pointed out that a few women from the program that all of their proceeds are going to this year, the Women-Inspired Neighborhood Network, were in the audience. I’m sure it was great for those women to see the hard work that NOiR put into the show and the packed tent full of students, families, and friends, supporting NOiR’s models and the cause they are walking for.

I could tell that NOiR’s members put a lot of time into the show because of how smoothly the show was conducted. There weren’t long pauses between scenes, the models always came out on time, and the videos that played between each scene were engaging and interesting to watch.

Although the weather didn’t turn out to be the greatest for the tent, the models for NOiR brought the heat. The show was very well executed and I can’t wait to go again next year!

Please visit www.noirrunway.org/donate-1 to support a local program that helps disadvantaged mothers in Detroit gain resources and support during their pregnancy and beyond!

If you are interested in being part of NOiR in the future, I suggest following them on Facebook and Instagram for information on their next model call.

The 17th annual NOiR Runway Fashion Show is happening tomorrow night! Come out and help this fashion philanthropy organization raise their goal of $4,000 to benefit a program that focuses on reducing infant mortality in Detroit.

This highly anticipated event will be held on April 2nd in a tent at Ingalls Mall. NOiR is making it easy for everyone to get to the event. Take a FREE Lyft to the show and after-party by using Promo Code NOIRXVII! 

The show starts at 7:00pm!

VIP tickets are sold out but general admission tickets are still available for $15 here.

The Aaron Carter concert tonight, February 24th, at the Blind Pig, was sold out and full of college students (mostly girls) who were excited relive childhood memories.

Before the concert, I was a little bit worried because of the negative reviews that I read on Ticketmaster before seeing the show myself.  Unfortunately, this concert left me with the exact same complaints as some of the reviews.  The concert started 40 minutes late.  I always assume that concerts at large venues such as the Palace will begin a little late because the sets there are usually so big but I didn’t anticipate this long of a delay for a concert on a small stage at the Bling Pig.  After the 40 minute wait, the Ann Arbor native, Daniel Henig, opened up for Aaron Carter.

Daniel played the electric guitar, beatboxed, and sang tonight.  He was talented in all three areas so the ladies loved it.  He started off playing guitar and covering popular songs, such as “Drunk in Love” by Beyonce.  He carried himself with confidence and interacted with the crowd very well.  He played some songs from his new album after he got the crowd involved.  I personally thought that his voice sounded the best when he was singing his own songs rather than covers of songs.  Though his songs were great, it was hard to attract the crowd when nobody knew the words.  After giving the crowd a taste of his own music, he switched back to singing covers.  He caught the audience’s attention when he started playing the tune to “Sorry” by Justin Bieber on his guitar.  The audience was engaged by singing a familiar melody again.

Support this upcoming, talented Ann Arbor native by subscribing to his YouTube videos or going to his FREE concert tomorrow at the Michigan Theatre.  He sang the song featured in his new video, “Hostage.”  This song had a catchy chorus so he was able to maintain a connection with the audience even though they didn’t know the song.

Overall, Daniel Heing’s performance was great and he was definitely a crowd pleaser but I think that I would have enjoyed the performance a little bit more if it had started closer to the “start time” of 9pm.  Check out his YouTube channel here.

Aaron Carter finally came on around 10:30.  I was shocked that it took an hour and a half for him to come on stage.  He strolled onto the stage but once the music started playing, he was full of energy and performed throughout the entire concert with the same amount of enthusiasm.  His first three to four songs were from his new album that he is trying to promote.  Succeeding that part of his performance, the mood completely changed.  He started rapping and singing along with a few of his favorite throwback tunes.  I think that he did too many of these since most of the people came to hear their favorite throwback songs of his own.  Finally after about five songs, he announced something similar to, “Let me take you back to why you guys fell in love with my music.”  This preview made it clear that his next song would be one of his most popular and well-known.  The crowd began to cheer and he started singing “I want candy.”  Oddly, he only played the song for 45 seconds, maximum.  I saw a few girls look around, confused about why he cut it off so soon.  Soon after he did other favorites such as “Aaron’s party,” he was already finished.

The concert was certainly an interesting experience. I think that the experience would’ve been much better if the concert had started on time and if Aaron Carter didn’t only play “I want candy” for 45 seconds.  I was confused as to why the Daniel Heing had more time on stage than Aaron Carter when it wasn’t even advertised that there would be an opener when I bought my tickets.

Nevertheless, if you are still interested in seeing Aaron Carter, there is a show on Friday night as well (Maybe show up around 9:30pm rather than 9:00). The information for that concert can be found here.

The Aaron Carter Concert is tonight, February 24th at 9pm.  The event is 18+ at the Blind Pig.

Aaron Carter began his career at the age of seven and over the succeeding five years he made a name for himself.  He stood out because of his energetic and charismatic style.  Some of his first gigs were opening for the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.

I’m sure that most of us college students remember Aaron Carter singing the song “I want candy” from Lizzie McGuire on Disney Channel.  Come out and relive childhood memories at the Blind Pig tonight with me!

The tickets at $15 for general admission and $65 for meet and greet.  There is also a show on February 26th.  For more information about that show, click here.

I went to the Zen & the Art of Coloring event at the Downtown Library today and it was a great experience.  I grew up in Ann Arbor and some of my favorite field trips in elementary school were to events put on by the Ann Arbor Public Libraries.  Whenever I would go to the public libraries to study in high school, I would pass by events and always thought that they looked fun but never looked into going.  I’m happy that I finally decided to give it a try today.

The event was the perfect study break on my Sunday full of online quizzes, reading, and studying.  I went by myself  because I thought it would be easier to focus on being “zen” if I went alone, and I was right.  It was extremely refreshing and beneficial to take time out of the day to get my brain to focus on something other than all of the work I had to get done.

When I walked through the door, it was only 4 minutes past 2:00pm and there were already at least 15 people sitting down, fully invested in coloring their chosen piece.  I was greeted by a friendly woman who guided me to pick a coloring page and sit down wherever the lighting felt best to me.  The calming music immediately set the mood.  I put my phone away so that there were no distractions.  There were a few conversations going on but I was able to tune them out by focusing on coloring in the lines.  It was easy to be in the zen mood while in this room because the chairs were comfortable, the music was soothing, the lighting was ideal, and the tables were spaced apart which gave me enough arm space.  The materials that were provided were high-quality as well.

I was about half way finished when I looked up and noticed that there were at least 30 others in the room.  I didn’t expect the turn out to be so large.   The fact that there were people coming and going but the room maintained about a 30 person average was incredible.  I always knew that Ann Arbor Public Library events have a good reputation and now I will go around spreading the word as well.

Click here for all of the upcoming events or here for specifically arts & crafts events.

The Zen & the Art of Coloring event will be going on a few other times throughout the semester.  I was one of the younger ones at the event and I would love to see more University of Michigan students at the next one I go to!

~7 Reasons Adult Coloring Books Are Great for Your Mental, Emotional and Intellectual Health~

One of the drawings that I finished today:

Join me at the 4th floor of the Downtown Library this Sunday at 2-4pm for an afternoon of coloring and music designed to set a zen mood.

The library will provide all of the supplies needed for coloring and the event is free. It will be the perfect way to take a break from studying!

If you are unable to come, here are some great pages to color on your own!