It’s tough to believe that at this point we are nearly through with 2009. Where did it all go, seriously? I kicked off the new year partying with friends at Zubar and spending the night at the Adolphus. From that point the weeks would just zip past and then the month would be gone. I’d reflect on how busy (and social) I was and just say, “whew, that was a busy month.” But here were are about to enter May, and I’ve had a busy FOUR months.

January was a string of concerts, so was February, in March I went to NYC for two days, courtesy of Glamour magazine for a Glambassador panel discussion with Johnson & Johnson, I took a family road trip to Scottsdale, and then AFI DALLAS International Film Festival ran into the first week of April.

Opportunities from 2008 spilled over into the new year as well. I survived the layoffs at work (whew), my relationships with Where and the Observer are still going strong, and I will again hold the title of ThisNext Maven and Dallas Glambassador.

My cousin (and birthday twin) joins me this year becoming a Glambassador. I’m so glad to have her along for the ride. It was her mother who urged me to apply last year, lol.

Anyway, I figured I would update things around here since I tend to disappear for months on end. I’ve got shop topics to send to my editor at Where, shows to pitch to the Observer, and scoop to share on Examiner.

Not long ago I applied to be the shopping examiner for www.examiner.com/dallas. As usual, I applied for it on impulse and then completely forgot about it. Well, I got a call today inviting me to become a member of the Examiner team. Without giving a whole dog and pony show, Examiner.com is sexy hybrid of About.com and Citysearch. It’s prettier than About.com however they are similar insomuch that they’ve got a topic expert overseeing sections. It is localized like Citysearch, but it carries far more editorial content and has the benefit of a blog format that doesn’t give it that clinical, phone book/listing service feel. As expected the revenue will be meager at first until I start building traffic. The good part is, I am wholly encouraged to repurpose content from my existing blog.

I’m excited about the opportunity and hope to see the site do well. This will fill the void that 80108’s (now, Go2 Media) exit from the Dallas market left in my [growing] portfolio.

To say the month of October has (already) been busy would be the understatement of the year. To date I’ve already:

• Got two boxes of swag from ThisNext (and made recommendations on some of the products)
• Utilized the SMU alumni group on LinkedIn to snag more contacts for my Glambassador events and promotions
• Set up a Facebook group called Dallas Glam Spree to communicate with my network since there were eventually too many people to email
• Made a play for (and hit a home run) attending Fashion Week in LA (I opted out since this is such bad timing, but at least I am making some good contacts and they know who I am for when I apply for NY credentials in Dec)
• Attended seven shows at NorthPark Center’s Fashion at the Park
• Live blogged some of it to Facebook
• Attended and reviewed the Gym Class Heroes/Roots show for the Observer blog
• Pulled together a photo gallery of the shows in LA that I was invited to
• Pulled together a photo gallery of my Blackberry photography from FATP
• Compiled a new list for ThisNext consisting of items I have, use or have bought for others
• All the other mommy & interactive marketing things I do every day

Sista is TIRED, but today I’ll be writing the holiday shop feature for Where on top of my usual shopping coverage. And the Janet/LL Cool J show is on the 22nd so I’ll be there too.

Somebody get me some Red Bull!

Be part of the city’s most fashionable entourage. The Dallas Glam Spree keeps you in the know about upcoming Glamour magazine fashion & beauty events and offers across the city. There might even be some freebies now and then

Okay, so far Glamour has done three events in Dallas. I missed the first one (an Estee Lauder event) because I was sick and gross. The second was a runway walk competition co-partnered with Clinique. Someone definitely put the buzz in their ear because they got one of the hottest party deejays on the set, Lucy Wrubel. The event ran a bit short because walking the runway sounds like a great idea until you have an audience. Some ladies chickened out but one of my best friends since high school, Zequille, hit the catwalk to “Just Fine” by Mary J. Blige.

The most fun so far has been the Express event. As usual I dragged my kids along for the ride and at first they had a melt down about how bored they were. That compounded with the fact that the humidity made my knee blow up like a balloon was NOT helping. But in usual mommy fashion, I pulled it all together. I got the kids box lunches from Corner Bakery and they chowed down in the stock room where they made friends and “helped” do stock check. I have to (again) thank the staff at Express NorthPark for being SO great to my kiddos!!!

I kept on my flip flops until the very last moment, then I strutted off in my black strappy sandals in my Express Mia jeans and fresh, black sequinned top. Me and the other two Dallas Glambassadors did a fit demo for our “denim woes” and showed how we each had different body types but our Express denim looked great on us. Nikki Ettore from Glamour mag did on-camera testimonials with customers who tried on jeans. It was a great time and yes, I walked out of there with a pair of jeans… Re-Rock skinny jeans.

I’ve got a few pics. Check out my Glambassador photo gallery on my Facebook page.

Who would have guessed it!? I’ve had a much-splintered relationship with DO dating back to circa 2005. I’m on my third editor, I think, but I feel like this relationship might last *lol*. Pete is a genuinely cool guy who likes my writing for what it is (as opposed to changing it so much that it doesn’t even sound like me… see my “review” of the Ying Yang Twins’ album). Not only has he spotted my writing on the blog and wants me to make some appearances in the print edition, he decided to take on the DO’s hip hop deficiencies. He knows they’re light on local hip hop coverage and since I’m one of the regular rap writers he gave me a weekly blog post called The Rap Up. Yay hooray! It kicked off last week with a Q&A for the Save the Boobs event. This week I gave some backstory on Damaged Good$, a rap duo who finds its roots in techno, psychadelic and a little punk. They’re fresh and they’re doing things like nobody else around these here parts. Check out The Rap Up.

If you’re a fabulous woman living in the Dallas, Texas area and want to live the GLAMOURous life, join my network of friends on Facebook. As a member of my network you’ll get exclusive invites to events and promotions from Glamour magazine. We’ve already hosted a blowout event at Nordstrom Galleria, partnered with Estee Lauder. GLAM-a-licious insiders know that it was great time, so don’t be left out! Look up Quia Querisma, your Dallas Glamour magazine Glambassador on Facebook for your VIP pass to the Glamourous life.

 Gotta love SEO: Let’s field test this stuff that I’m learning on the job with the “aviation experts.”

I applied to be a “Maven” at one of my favorite online communities, ThisNext.com:

Mavens are the leading and most influential members of the ThisNext community. They are the tastemakers and trendspotters that make ThisNext such an awesome place to be. They find the most unique products from the coolest stores, find them first, and write informative and interesting recommendations.

We created the Maven designation to highlight and recognize these special members of ThisNext.

I wrote my pitch in a one-shot braggadocio and then forgot about it. I did, however, continue to recommend my favorite fashion finds (mostly dresses and shoes, lol) to the site. Then, lo and behold, my welcome email arrived. I’m really flattered and excited but I can’t say that I’m shocked since I really put forth an effort to be the best at what I do… and what I do is shop and network. YEAH, baby.

Visit me on ThisNext and check out my recommends!

Yay, hooray! My family reunion content for BlackAmericaWeb.com has finally launched. Since I’ve only done 4 articles so far (and I’m contracted for 18) I am about to fire up the spirit of the hustle and get those ideas flowing. Oh yes, and I finally have an author page on the site as well. At first I didn’t because I was an employee from 2004 to 2006, but I made an appeal today because of the amount of content I’d be producing for this promo. My profile photo is a smidge different than everyone else’s, but then again, that’s who I am. That photo was taken by a DMN photographer at Fashion at the Park and I absolutely love it. I make sure I credit him every single time!

After many years of “I’m gonna,” I finally took the first big step toward writing my first book. For years I’ve tried to answer the question of how I managed to balance school, work, internships and kids. There was no secret recipe other than my mindset that failure was not an option. So, with that I am composing an as-yet-untitled successful living guide for single parents.

I like those niche finance books like “You’re So Money” and “The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke,” but not only do I feel like they’ve told me very little news, I was frustrated that these titles (and those like them) don’t factor in children. All of the single parent survival guides are targeted to middle-aged divorcees. Nothing against the not-quite-Boomers, but I am part of the gimme gimme generation and I need a single parent survival guide that speaks to people like me.

So I’m writing it here: http://yfnbmommy.blogspot.com.