Busy Bee

Considering I have no 'job' for the summer, I have managed to stay really busy. I mean, my job is to get things going for Blo, and I've been doing a little bit of this and that, here and there...but I think if I knew the whole summer would go by before Blo was open, things would have been different. I've still been having fun, obviously, but I think that mentally knowing I'm on vacay might have been a bad thing, just because I am such a creature of habit. I love my routines.
And I've had tons of visitors throwing me off, which gives me something to look forward to (getting back on!).
My cousin Mark & his gf Niki came down for a week, and I showed them my summer of mani/pedi's, 4 & 5am weeknights, good food & tons of shopping (*for them, not me).
In between that, I took a bus for the first time since the cousins took my car shopping and  I had an appointment to get to. I cabbed it there, and couldn't justify the $40 back since it was one bus the whole way...my lawyer bbm'd me the whole way home because he was scared for me lol.
I also participated in a boot camp class one Saturday morning which was great. Then after a night of Cafeina, then Arkadia, then Mokai...Sunday afternoon this unforgiving soreness kicked in and I could no longer laugh, feel my glutes or make any sudden moves, really.
Cafeina was interesting....we called it our night of Gay Cowboys & Big Trannies. I'm not kidding. They had a mechanical bull that had men drooling over a baby-faced straight guy who managed to stay on the longest. I believe one guy actually said "I think I'm pregnant." How did I end up here? I was invited by the PR company that we worked with during Swim Week for their Principle's birthday.
The invite says a lot:

Atleast the drinks were sponsored!

Last week I started doing some blo prep: Ordered furniture, light fixtures, printed materials & buttons, and now I am just trying to decide on the tiles for the sink area. Decisions, decisions!

This past weekend was a good-but-bad episode of Jersey Shore. A crew of Torontonians invaded and as usual I got caught up in the mix - but I loved every second of it! It was literally one season of the show, crammed into one weekend. We enjoyed good food, great parties & some necessary pool time too.

This is the gist of the weekend at the Metropole

Now I am back to what is known as my grind: blo stuff, social media, blogging, gym. In a secret background location I also do other business-related things...involving stocks, professional editing (you'd never know based on this would ya?), & investor relations. None of these are related to each other, just random things to keep me on my toes.

On my agenda this week though is hurricane prep, as Irene makes her way through the islands and poses a potential threat to Miami and surrounding areas. I have flashlights, candles, batteries and we stocked up on the dry/canned foods incase the power goes out. We have a long list of condo guidelines to follow too, and we are right in the heart of hurricane season for the next little while...

Does wine count as a hurricane necessity?
xo,
Fatima

Home Coming

After getting my bridesmaid dress & coordinating accessories together, I am ready to go home and fulfill my duties for Anj & Mark's wedding, my sole reason for returning to Toronto.

I drop my oversize puppy to the boarding facility and we part ways painfully. This is what leaving a child in Kindergarten must be like, except you get to see them 4 hours later. Lovely Air Canada allowed me to watch The Lincoln Lawyer (mmm Matthew) & some good ol' Canadian Rick Mercer until I arrived home.

I am greeted in true princess fashion with:
- A car
- Full tank of gas
- Mars bar & Bounty (faves!),
- Canadian money
- A Blackberry

I head straight to Day 1 of Wedding Weekend (Wednesday). There were in fact many events prior that I unfortunately missed, but was there in spirit. At Anj's house I get to catch up with my lovely girls and fellow BM's and 2 biatches ask me if I remembered to pack my dress. I'm not even known for things like that but umm...a little late now for the reminder isn't it? LOL. We get our mehndi (henna) done and then proceed to eat one-handedly. I still managed to get seconds. It's been a while since I've indulged in some West Indian food! I paid for the chickpeas, roti & tofu royally with a stomach ache until 5am!

Thursday I headed downtown to visit my John Hancock familia & enjoy a cup of Tim Horton's coffee. Nothing special, just missed the thought of it. It was nice to see my old team, and the best part was that there was a pre-planned girls nite at Shaima's house! Of course I stuffed myself with hors d'oeuvres, wine & cheeses (lactose-intolerant, eek!) & caught up with some of JH's finest. One of my girls Theresa is moving to Italy in a few weeks, so she is gearing up for that. Check out her blog @ torontototerni.blogspot.com for some italian culinary lessons and all-around wittiness (if mine isn't enough). Next stop: Brassai on King St with the lovely Farah (see Bikini's post to put a face to the name), & my former Mgr Amanda. A few drinks & random run-ins later, I trek back to my parents house, the only home I can always call home, no matter where in the world I am.

Friday is Day 2 of wedding fun: The Hindu Ceremony in the temple! Once at the hall, we sat in a room with the lovely bride-to-be and she look so stunning! It was time to get this show on the road: cue Tassa band & bridesmaids do a half walk, half dance into the hall before Anj enters. The ceremony started, and it is lengthy (compared to Muslim/Christian weddings I have been to). There are many ceremonies, each one explained in detail so that the witnesses are always aware of what is happening. Once they are married according to Hindu culture, it's time to eat! Again, I managed to get about 2 dinners on one plate. But it was SO GOOD!

Hindu Ceremony, beautiful bride!

My binge-ing does not stop there. Saturday morning, everything my mom put in front of me was gladly eaten until I had to worry about my dress not fitting me for the wedding reception. I finally slithered out of the kitchen and did a quick visit to my friend Sharmiza & saw her new baby for the first time. She became a mom while I was gone...but luckily she is the obsessive type that constantly updates her bbm profile, etc so that I felt I watched him grow the first few months! (xo, Shama).

I meet up with my asian brother Daniel & we head to Ultra to have dinner & drinks with as many Toronto friends that can make it! It was definitely a great night catching up and seeing everyone. Thanks to those that made it! On my way back to my hotel, I made a pit stop @ Embassy Nightclub and hung out with Rocsi from BET's 106&Park. Apparently she needs a personal hair stylist to go on tour with her....so if anything I will bring a personal stylist on tour with me, as I tour with her, hehe  =D

Rocsi & I

Sis!

A few tired hours later and it's time for hair & makeup. Some of us girls got our Blo's @ the Vaughan location, then our limo went to pick up our Bride. Something about that initial moment, seeing your friend in THE white dress: Speechless & tear-jerking. The Church ceremony was really nice & flew by. We did our bridal party pics in Unionville, then headed to the party! As we freshened up for our cool entrances, Anj's extensions had a slight malfunction: the curls had become dead-straight due to the heat! Can you guess who saved the day with a flat-iron in her car & some Blo University expertise?? ;)
After my heroic moment and partial group speech/rap, it was partay time! It took me a few tries, but finally my 'wine' came back, as it was lost in the Miami house scene for a while. Oh did I mention I ate for 2 again?? Hello: Indian butter chicken!

Obv we parked here for a few

I woke up Monday still intoxicated, as I was convinced the night before that the drinks were too weak and doubles were a good idea...and I got a lovely family BBQ! How great to have my siblings, cousins, aunts/uncles there, while continuously eating all day.

It was such a great time in Toronto until... the biggest nightmare of a day: flying out. I can't discuss details via blog, however let's just say I missed my flight, had to re-book an American flight in a different terminal for a high-priced downgrade from Air Canada & didn't eat my first meal until about 2pm (the way I was eating the last few days, I thought I would be dead by then).
I missed Tyson's pick-up time when I finally did get back to Miami, so I came home to an empty place, loads to unpack, nerves shot, sore neck, normal blood pressure (mine is naturally low, so higher for me is a normal person's), and thankfully a bottle of wine...

Scared of the scale,

xo
Fatima

Poko Pano S/S 2012 - Videofashion

15 Seconds of Fame

Hi friends & faithful followers,

Another great milestone for Blo Miami & me: My first interview for Blo is on VideoFashion.com!

This was backstage at the Raleigh Hotel for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim show that we styled.

Check out my interview discussing the hair inspiration for the show:

http://www.youtube.com/videofashion#p/u/0/zri_34naH_M

Glowing in the moment,
xo
Fatima

Blo on Ocean Drive!

Hey peeps!

A quick update that I couldn't wait to share!!

http://oceandrive.com/channels/home-page/insights/marvelous-hair

Marvelous Hair

Blo Blow Dry Bar deals in gorgeous hair.

AUGUST 03, 2011

Blo

North America’s Blo Blow Dry Bar makes its way to Miami just in time for late summer’s heat waves with not one but two locations: Blo Brickell and Blo Midtown. Simply choose a style from the Bar’s hair menu and “wash, blow, go” your way to fabulous hair. Whether you’re going for “Red Carpet” tresses or “Holly Would” hair, you may never blow-dry at home again. Planning a night on the town? Check out the Blo In-Bar for up-do options and clip-in extension ideas. For those looking to tame their mane on a regular basis, there’s even a Blo Tab. Oh, the possibilities. Blo Brickell, 901 S. Miami Ave., 305-374-2565

All this press/publicity and we are not even open yet! Not to mention my twitter followers hunting me down for blo-drys. Imagine when the doors finally open?!?

Walking with a little more swag,
xo
Fatima

Groundbreaking!!

Breaking news:

There's a sassy new girl coming to town, sooner than you think: Blo Brickell.

She's cute & fun, and will make you blush pink!
She has cosied up to her neighbors in Mary Brickell Village and has finally started to make some noise - construction has begun!

She may not look so hot right now, just give her some time to don her pink outfit, add some bling and finish off with some special touches you will have to witness first-hand!

Don't say we didn't warn you...a hair revolution is on its way in downtown Miami.

xoxo,
Fatima

Bikini's, Braids & Babes

I can't even begin to describe this past weekend. But you know me, I will try...

This weekend was full of fashion & fun as Blo Miami took care of the hair for some of the Mercedes-Benz Miami Fashion Week Swim events & I was lucky enough to have the best sidekick anyone could ever ask for.

To begin, there was a wonderful reunion of F2 as my lovely friend Farah graced Miami with her presence. I lost a few pounds after our long catch-up overlooking downtown Miami. After some pool time we headed to my dinner spot, 'Dolores But you can call me Lolita' and enjoyed our first feast of the weekend. We had a little hairstylists' meeting to get the girls ready for the weekend styles and confirm our cute Bloer uniforms, then randomly ended up toting our wine over to my friend John's upstairs, where we were serenaded by live music from this aspiring musician. Hopefully he makes it big so we can say we sat on his balcony and heard him live with his guitar before he was famous, and he even did an improv song for us that went a little something like this "3 bottles of wine...oh shit I think it was 9..." 

Blo on the Go Team!

Friday afternoon is when the madness started! We were at the Raleigh Hotel which is THE hub of Swim  Week events/shows. Backstage with super tall models, we incorporated the beachy braid that the designer of Poko Pano Swimwear requested, finished off with feathers and fabric flowers. It was definitely a great experience working behind the scenes with a high-fashion show, and the hair received amazing reviews! The show was such a hit it made the FRONT page of The Miami Herald!! 

These models are sporting do's by Blo

Friday night rolls around as we wrapped up the show, and sipped some drinks created for the weekend with my swimwear designer from Toronto (Legin Knits), and we finally make it home hungry and tired. We venture out for a late low-key meal....and being Miami we came home from our local bar hop at 5am (in a $4 cab lol).

Saturday rolled around too soon, and after a couple of hours at the beach and a meal at Sushi Samba, it was already time to get ready for the evening: The Chloe Fall Fashion Show at the Setai Hotel's floating runway! The show was cool, we got seats which seemed like a rarity, and as gorgeous as the designs were, it was hard to think about fur stoles and long knit evening wear in the middle of south beach sweating while sitting outside trying not to move. Just saying. So some dinner and an after party later, we  left the W Hotel about midnight and made our way to Mansion to meet one of Farah's friends in town this weekend too. Hours later and I believe we were still there when the lights came on....not a good trend.

3 hours of sleep later it's Sunday late morning and we have to get our butts to the Mondrian Hotel for our next Blo on the Go. We coifed the models for 3 shows: Fenster, Ponko & by Misha (the last being my personal fave). This was a very laid back event, and to be honest a lot of pool loungers might have missed the fact that a swimwear show was even going on! Personally, the way I was feeling, I might have too. It was a good day nonetheless, and  it was nicely rushed at the end since a storm cloud was looming in the distance!

Being Farah's last evening, we had to send her off in style, making our dinner at Zuma bittersweet. Located in the bottom of the Epic boutique hotel, everything was done up, from the menu to the ambiance to the price. Our Japanese-American izakaya meal consisted of the best edamame, tuna tartare scooped out of an ice bucket, butterfish that melted in my mouth, rice hot pot (with the addition of truffles), salmon rolls and a heavenly dessert combo of green tea banana cake, 'special chocolate' and coconut icecream. Needless to say, we left in a food coma (and wine buzz). So while I can't justify going more often, I will definitely be back for another go, and will likely wait for Farah again. She's my foodie friend who appreciated everything that much more than me.

So back to a quiet, daily routine which includes burning off the weekend at the gym and meetings with vendors, payroll companies, PR firms, and anyone else that wants to sell me something I might need. I am in serious withdrawal of good girl time: great talks, analyzing everything we do and wear, someone to tease my hair, and even a partner to go to the bathroom with!

Because the higher the hair, the closer to god...

xo
Fatima

Busy backstage

Tall girls & small curls!

Look Who's Permitted Now!

So after the story of the Never Ending Expedition unfolded, and the critics raving reviews of this suspenseful drama brought many award nominations, I finally have my building permit from the City of Miami! And most people who know this process, even the ones who work in the various departments I dealt with, said I completed this by myself in near record timing!
*BTW I hear that they are casting J-Lo to play my character  =P

This means in about 1 week construction starts! Finally some visual progress heading my way...and yours!

Another cool thing happened: I had my first 4th of July here! It was a great day filled with biking really far in the middle of the day (not smart in the summer in downtown Miami), a visit to my Dad and his friends at their condo on Hallandale Beach, and then fireworks & food at Bayside Park! We walked to the park which is on Biscayne Bay with my little son Tyson and made our way through sweaty crowds while he picked up every single crumb that everyone else dropped.

My building is in the background to my left...that's a FAR ride!

Lastly, Blo Brickell has its very own phone number! (305)374-BLO5 (2565 for all us Blackberry types!). Don't call me just yet though, unless you want your hair washed in the Miami River and naturally dried by the finest humidity this place has to offer.

My backyard/River

Oh I lied, one more piece of exciting news as I prepare myself this week for a busy but fun weekend ahead: Blo Miami is doing the hair for Miami Swim Week this weekend on South Beach! We will be backstage on Friday at the Raleigh blo-ing out the models for the Poko Pano brazilian inspired swimsuit collection! Will definitely have camera on hand and be tweeting any sightings of Kim K ;)
Twitter: @blohairforceone

Poko Pano Swimwear Show

Washing my hair now for what might be one of my last 18 times....until I never have to tame this mane myself!
xo
Fatima