Kickin’ it with Style

Gus Mayer in Birmingham, AL.

It’s Friday eve so you know a belle is elated that the weekend is almost here. Other than living for the weekend y’all know that we love meeting people and having a great time. We did just that last night at Birmingham Fashion Week‘s (BFW) kick-off party here at Gus Mayer.

The ArtBelles with Jeana Lee Fleming & Heidi Elnora! FAB!!

The sis and I had a ball!! We met/took photos with our very own hottie Taylor Hicks (American Idol), and the beautiful Heidi Elnora (Project Runway). BFW starts today so you know that we are over here doing our happy dance. Let’s get this party started. Shall we?

Birmingham Fashion Week Models! We want shirts ASAP--LOVE them. :0)

DJ COCO on the 1's & 2's!

When we arrived and checked in we headed outside to BFW’s Step & Repeat (photo area). It’s always fun to take photos so you know we had to oblige. Afterwards, upon entering Gus Mayer, we were greeted by cute guys in the adorable “I love BFW ” T’s. Everyone was so warm and welcoming. I met so many people that I couldn’t tell you their names to save my soul!

We were surrounded by great fashion in this beautiful Gus Mayer store!

Andy (DJ COCO) is a really cool guy. We love his accent too!

Shermika and I immediately felt the energy of the party. DJ COCO (don’t you just love the name?), who is from England originally, was blasting upbeat tunes that made a belle want to kick off her shoes and dance. You already know we couldn’t do that, right? We met Andy over a week ago when we interviewed one of BFW’s headlining designers, Jeff Garner of Prophetik. They are actually great friends and both are fab peeps!

The ArtBelles with Lynsey!

We were excited to see some of our buddies: Natalie, who is a photographer/writer for magazines here in Alabama and Lynsey, also a local photographer. There is nothing better than meeting genuine people that have a love for the arts and this great city we live in. These ladies are worth checking out if you are in need of fab photos. Oh yea, they both will be shooting BFW!

Natalie & Shermika!

The peach nectar on the rocks was DIVINE!

While sipping on my sweet drink, I was excited to see Taylor Hicks. It seems like every time he was in town, Shermika and I weren’t. Hicks was extremely friendly and was dressed in a casual suit with an unbuttoned shirt, and his beautiufl white smile. For you fab Hicks fans, he told us he couldn’t let the cat out of the bag with the name of his abum, but his album will be released in May. Can we say sweet!!

The ArtBelles with Taylor Hicks! Don't you just LOVE his voice?!

For our foodies, don’t fret– we took a few photos of the BEAUTIFUL food (delish cheeses, fruits and desserts) that were served by ladies that walked around the store. The items I tried were very tasty and the presentation was even better.

She was a doll! Love that smile.

Shermika really enjoyed the fruit & yogurt. We both loved the cute fancy toothpicks too!

BFW starts TODAY and we’ll be covering it. So, what does this mean? Follow us on Twitter/Facebook to stay in the know and do tell us if you will be joining us! Enjoy the rest of our photos/and our new interview here:

This pic was before the crowd tripled in size. There were a lot of people there!

Such a fun night with fun people!

I can't afford these bags--NOT even in my dreams, but they all are too cute. You know I had to get a pic!!

I told you the party was packed!

Alabamaforever.org <----- Go buy a T-shirt or necklace to support tornado relief.

The BFW models all had their shirts personalized. I saw a really cute one with a heart cut into slits in the back. They really made them their own!

*** Special thanks to the fab BFW crew and Lifestyle Public Relations for our interview!***