I need...

This sandal...


$99.95 (on sale!), Steve Madden


this bag....



$158, Steve Madden


and this haircut (made an appointment for Wednesday)...


as soon as possible. That is all.

[images via Steve Madden and Regis Salon]

The Secret Life of Bees

I've been seeing the trailer for the new movie The Secret Life of Bees a lot on the tube lately.



It's directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the same woman who wrote and directed Love and Basketball, and adapted from the novel written by Sue Monk Kidd. I'm loving the all-star female cast: Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson (who unfortunately seems to be playing another 'magical negro' role--let's hope she doesn't turn this into a career habit), Sophie Okonedo, and Dakota Fanning (who's grown up a lot and seems less annoying). What I love even more are the natural hairstyles these women were rocking on and off the set:



Alicia Key's puffy afro

Jennifer Hudson's two-strand twist out

Sophie Okonedo's gorgeous curly 'fro (at the Toronto Film Festival)

I don't know if it was a conscious decision of the director or whomever for the actresses to have naturals, but I applaud that choice. I think natural hair is beautiful--whenever I see a natural style that I really like, I'm going to post it here, because I think natural hair should be celebrated, not criticized or shunned, and the whole idea of "good hair" vs. "bad hair" should be obsolete. That's such an old-school way of thinking. It's 2008. In the words of Bob Marley, "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery."