Essence Music Festival

So the ladies of Cocoa Chicks CritiQues venture off and spend 4 nights in New Orleans for the Essence Music Festival. Other than the 3 hours Southwest Airlines had us waiting at the airport, we have no complaints! We partied so hard that we were only able to attend one night of concerts. We came in with the sun already up every morning we were there. We danced, laughed and kicked it so hard I came home with a sprained ankle. Now that's a party! ;)

The one show we did catch was a phenomenal complilation of musicians like Al Green, Lionel Richie and The Commodores, Maze ft. Frankie Beverly, Teena Marie, Lalah Hathaway, Raphael Saadiq and more. By this night we had partied 3 nights in a row with only 6 hours of sleep so we were almost to tired to enjoy the show and we were to cold (it was FREEZING in there).

Our recommendations of hotels, restaurants and things to do:

Marriott Hotel - 555 Canal St.
Sheraton Hotel - 500 Canal St.
Westin Hotel - 100 Rue Iberville
Cafe Dumond - 800 Decatur St.
Bourbon House - 144 Bourbon St.
Razzoos - 511 Bourbon St.
Harrahs - 228 Poydras St.

Maybe Dee and MiMi have more to say about this festival but please believe WE WILL BE BACK NEXT YEAR! Who's coming?

Pretty in Pink

A very cute hot pink mini dress by Romeo and Juliet Couture that's a must have for summer!  Detailed with beautiful ruffles, elastic at the waist to give you that figure 8 and soft flowy material, this dress is cute, cute, cute!  It also comes in black or white.  But the best part is the price....$39.99!  

Old School Saturday equals good times!

Old School Saturday, or OSS, at the Westin Downtown, fun, fun, fun.  As a first time attendee, navigating through finding Will Call was a little challenging, although it was nice to purchase the $10.00 advance tickets and not have to worry about admittance.  There were no signs up to lead you in the right direction but the sound of the bass and the droves of people was direction enough.  Once inside there were array of people, wearing an array of colors. Shout out to the old pimps in lime green blazers and purple suits, I see you boo.  The crowd of mostly 30 and 40 somethings were hype dancing to their favorite 80's and 90's jams taking them back to happier times, like dancing on top of speakers in Tijuana, but enough about me.  Two stories of fun, a balcony overlooking the massive ballroom dance floor and lounge areas available for more intimate conversation.  The drinks were inexpensive or free if you were able to find a sponsor like we were, adequate strength but small.

Pros

• $10 advance tickets or in before 10 pm, but still affordable at $20 after 10 pm.
• Favorite hits from back in the day, even a reggae set.
• All of the men I encountered were gentlemen and polite.
• Security and full event staff

Cons

• Maze to get to Will Call.
• Long line to get drink tickets, then another long line to pick up your drinks.
• I had to tell the bartender how to make a Washington Apple (Crown-Apple Pucker-Cranberry)

- Your C3licious lady, Mimi

This is my 3rd or 4th OSS and it gets better and better!  I'm laughing at Mimi's shout out to the lime green blazer! LOL!  Don't take us the wrong way, there were only a couple of men in there auditioning for the circus ring master position but overall, much eye candy for you single ladies.  There were even TALL ones there! But enough about the men, let's talk about the fun we had!  If you are tired of going out and not able to dance because music today is that bad, then this is the event you need to be at once a month.  Every song played glued you to the dance floor. I look forward to the next one!  I agree with all of Mimi's Pros and Cons but I must add parking to the Cons list.  Maybe I was just irritated with all the traffic from the ACC tournament, but it took almost 30-40 minutes to park.  Westin's parking is way to expensive but there are parking lots surrounding the hotel that were very cheap and convenient!

- AnjelMarie