#GamineBae Feature | Melanie Meek's Top 5 Places to Visit in DC

Every Friday, my favorite creatives, (who I call my #GamineBae's) from around the country, will share their favorite gems to visit in their city. This week, #GamineBae Melanie Meek, of M3lloYellow.com, will share the top 5 places you must check out while visiting DC and why! Click through the slideshow to see her top picks, read below for links and read why these spots are #GamineBae approved. Get ready to explore, and be sure to visit her blog!

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1. Bantam King

The team behind Daikaya and Izakaya opened a new ramen shop in the old 6th st Burger King. The focus is chicken ramen, however, they also have other dishes such as fried chicken.

2. Ice Bergs

Icebergs is the latest large scale installation at the Building Museum designed by James Corner Field Operation. Every Wednesday, the museum stays open late and offers food and music along with the exhibition.

3. Bad Saint

If you can stand in line, the food is well worth the wait. Chef Tom Cunanan is serving up delicious Filipino food.

4. Soapstone Valley Trail

This is a hidden gem in the city. If you're looking for a little boo time with nature look no further than Albemarle Street and Connecticut NW. This two mile hike will definitely help you destress from all of your city life woes.

5. The Angelika Theater

Love indie films? Then head over the Popup Angelika Theater in Union Market. Not only will you be able to catch a great flick but also score a great pic outside. The mural is banging lol.

6. Nomad Yard

Hands down the best vintage shop in town. A must if you're crazy about vintage gear.

7. Convivial

YYAAAAASSS! Chef Cedric Maupillier did that! The food...the drinks...just go!

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*agamine.com does not own rights to the images shared in this post.*

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Vibe: Theaster Gates

I believe that beauty is a basic service. Often I have found is that when there are resources that have not been made available to certain under-resourced cities or neighborhoods or communities, that sometimes culture is the thing that can ignite [change].-Theaster Gates

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So I work in digital marketing and by training I'm supposed to write at least 250 words per article or blog post to "buff" up my SEO so that I can get a lot of views, but I've come to except that sometimes you just have to do you. In a world that's full of so many opinions, so many sounds that have no real impact, I won't inundate you with mine. I just want to share beauty.

image| via

video| via

*agamine.com does not own rights to the music shared in this post.*

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Secret Picnic Party NYC - Memorial's Weekend Edition

Tell your friends to get with my friends. And we can be friends. Shii, we ca do this every weekend. Is that alright with you? - Diddy

Memorial Weekend has come and gone, but the memories will always remain. As thousands of people chose to leave NYC for Vegas, Venice, Miami, DC, Maryland, Atlanta and Dubai -- many of us stayed in the city and had a bomb time at the outdoor events that were curated by our favorite DJs and new soirée organizers. One new soirée that I had the chance to check out was the password protected Secret Picnic Party NYC (#sppnyc) organized by an anonymous group of anti-hennypalooza  people who wanted to have a good time.

The super hush hush Secret Picnic Party NYC was known by word of email and I'm not sure if people were turned off by how far uptown the picnic was, but the crowd was definitely filled with more Manhattanites than Brooklynites. Overall, the word by email and passcode protected Eventbrite worked perfectly by telling potential guests to "bring your friends and your friend's friends who know how to act and bring you own EVERYTHING," and we did.

Fish and Chips? Check

Sangria and Mamajuana (deadman's drink concoction)? Check check

Blankets, games, speakers, playlist and camera? Check x5

Mixed Crew? Check

24 hours before the event, rsvp'd guests were sent location details and directions to Fort Tyron Park for a good time. Natural ladies swapped hair routines. Short haired vixens shared stylists and salons. Photographers talked cameras and lenses. We lounged on blankets, we dranked, threw frisbees, played unlimited rounds of Uno, Spades and ConnectFour, and danced to tunes of multiple boom boxes. Oh, and because the dating ratio was perfect, a couple of people paired off and got chummy.

In my opinion, the secret picnic party was a success and it was definitely a good time. Here are a couple of photos captured by @LifeRoundHere's shooting assassin Stephen (@_drstrangeluv_) and some of the hashtag users.

[embed]https://instagram.com/p/3Cw4J8uDWL/?tagged=sppnyc[/embed]

[embed]https://instagram.com/p/3C_9NyODQQ/?tagged=sppnyc[/embed]

[embed]https://instagram.com/p/3CVz8-NYtH/?tagged=sppnyc[/embed]

https://instagram.com/p/3K0JCKmBK4/?tagged=sppnyc

[embed]https://instagram.com/p/3JqOoFo6Jg/?tagged=sppnyc[/embed]

https://instagram.com/p/3E3-hlODdZ/?tagged=sppnyc

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*agamine.com does not own rights to the images shared in this post.*

♪ Lil' Kim - The Jump Off ♪ // Fed Up Documentary

"I've been gone for a minute, now i'm back with the jump off." Sorry I've been MIA.

Life and work has been happening and taking it's toll, but I am back and I have missed sharing. I have so many things to blog about, but first I want to make a come back sharing the Fed Up documentary.

So last night, I was up conditioning my hair when I came across this gem in my Netflix feed and I was floored by the information shared and I got to thinking about my diet and what I'm putting in my body and I've arrived to the conclusion that I have to follow Kanye's advice in Birthday and 'do better'! I HAVE to cut my sugar intake and I know it's not going to be easy, but I will start with a simple detox and hopefully acquire a daily habit of drinking a gallon of water a day.

Back to the documentary...

This film, which was released May 2014 and dubbed as "the film the food industry doesn’t want you to see," shows families who are struggling with obesity with there children. Children ranging from 12 - 15 shown struggling with maintain diets, being turned down by nutritionists because they are considered too young, failing their diets because of the plethora of unhealthy foods at their schools.

Although this documentary has been criticized for its validity of facts that concludes increased consumption of sugar is a main factor, this documentary brought forth a lot of sad realities. Child obesity is increasing and more children are dying now from it than ever before.

Check out the trailer and if you have time check it out on Netflix and tell me what you think.

feature photo (midlifeattheoasis.com)

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Network Alert: ColorComm NYC

Network Alert: ColorComm is having a prospective member event tonight here in NYC. If you haven't heard of ColorComm check out some of the links below to find out what they are all about. NYC Prospective Member Event: click here

ColorComm Website: click here

Facebook Page: click here

Happy networking and I hope to see you there!

xxo,

Agamine

**Also please note that they are having prospective member events in Chicago, Atlanta and DC too. **

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Ramen Around town: 7 best places to get a good ramen fix

Hello good people! I don't know about you, but I love ramen and there is nothing like discovering some really good ramen. Now for those of you who are not familiar; I am not talking about those ramen packets that you get at your local grocery for a few cents. Those things are like instant macaroni to real macaroni that is oozing with real cheeses and baked in an oven with love.  I just had a moment. Sue me. --Wait what was I talking about? Oh, yeah ramen.  Ramen is a type of Japaneese noodle soup dish that varies with different types of homemade broths, veggies, meats and honestly whatever kind of seasoning you can imagine. On a side note I once tried my hand as Chef  Boyardty (you see what I did there)  and made what I called Jamasian Ramen. Which was basically my West-Indian twist on the traditional Japaneese dish and I must say that it was spicy, but pretty darn good! (Don't worry I will share my recipe at a later time) If you are in the New York area and would love to try out what I think are some really good ramen spots, that won't break the bank, here are a few places worth checking out:

1. Ise Menkui Tei - (W 56th & Avenue of the Americas)

2. Hide-Chan (E 52nd & 7th Avenue)

3. Minca (E 5th & Avenue B)

4. Totto ( W 52nd & 8th Avenue)

5. Tabata (W 42nd & 9th Avenue)

6. Bossanava ( Canal & Mott Street)

7. Ippudo (E 10th Street &  Cooper Square)

Happy slurping!

xxo,

A.Gamine

Hello Brooklyn...

There's nothing like a relaxing weekend catching up with some girlfriends.  Sometimes I find myself getting so caught up in the hustle and bustle of the city that I forget to just let go and to go with the flow. And I must say that in doing so I somehow managed to get everything  I didn't know that I needed by meeting up with friends, hopping on the train and heading to Brooklyn. I guess the old saying has proven itself to be true.."No expectations, no disappointments" I hope you had a great Saturday because I know that I did.

xxo,

Agamine

Uptown Coffee Sipping and Internet Pimping: 7 best places to get a caffeine fix and hoard the wifi

Happy Sunday good people! I've been away exploring, but I'm back and ready to share what I've found.  Fall is finally here and today the weather has been on the cool side. And I don't know about you, but im not letting the cold weather that is to come keep me in the house.  So I've made a list of really good places where you can grab a warm drink, grab some food, browse the internet and do some work. 1. Silvana ( 116th & Frederick Douglas Blvd)

2. The Edge ( 139th & Edgecombe Ave)

3.  The Chipped Cup ( 148th & Broadway)

4. Manhattanville Coffee ( 142nd & Bradhurst)

5. Double Dutch Espresso ( 118th & Lennox Ave)

6. Lennox Coffee ( 129th & Lennox Ave)

7. Astor Row Cafe ( 130th & Lennox Ave)

These are just a few of my favorite uptown places, but if you have a favorite that isn't listed feel free to share in the comments below. Because you know sharing is caring.

Happy browsing!

A. Gamine

p.s. To my readers that are in places other than Harlem don't worry, I'll be back with a list near you. ;)

#weekendRecap

The Summer is wrapping up and New York has been really good to me and in true gamine fashion I was on the run. I had a chance to check out AfroPunk Fest for both days and  I also had a chance to swing over to catch the last Makossa Brooklyn Cookout of the Summer. To sum it up good vibes, good music, good food, good people and hella fun.

I'd like to give a special shout out to Stephen Ewings (@_drstrangeluv_) and Jessica Bell (@teacherbell) for capturing me in true gamine style over the weekend. Thank you Pookies!

There's nothing like a New York Summer and if you've never had a chance to check out either of these events first hand you are truly missing out. I'll do my best to keep you posted for these events next summer.

Until next year,

xxo,

A.Gamine

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