Fly

Joy in the Congo

A cool musical story for your weekend.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend. See you on Tuesday.

Mother by Yokoo

We know Yokoo Gibraan from her wonderful scarves and accessories shop, Yokoo; but recently she launched Mother, a new Etsy shop with carefully curated vintages pieces. I love how the collection of vintage denim, sun-faded floral shirts and dresses, and the overall styling feels very Little House on the Prairie.

Macy's Celebrates Brasil

Macy's Brasil is a campaign celebrating Brazilian fashion, design and culture through in-store events, multiple collaborations with Brazilian designers, and a capsule collection of Brazil inspired products.

The images from the campaign's lookbook and videos are breath-taking.

Tnemnroda

Jewelry designer Samantha Smikle creates funky conversation-starting designs with her elaborate treasure encrusted accessories and textured brass cuffs for her brand Tnemnroda. What really caught my eye from the collection were her bands of stretchies. When I met Sam she was wearing several of these dainty but eye-popping stretchy bands of gold plated, Japanese seed beads, and brass beads. They're fab on their own but it was super cute to see how she layered them with other bracelets.

What I Like Right Now

1. Classic silhouette dress with a bold tropical inspired print. This dress is so fly with a neon yellow clutch.

2. A guide to analyzing the world. In How to Be an Explorer of the World illustrator and author Keri Smith creates a fun guidebook for observing and documenting the world around us.

3. Fun Sunglasses in bright colors. The great things about these sunglasses from American Eagle are that they come in a range of candy colors, they are foldable, and come at a price that allows you to buy a few for summer.

4. Color-blocked sandals. I've been eyeing these cuties for a little while. What a fun palette and these would go nicely with a cute dress or shorts.

5. To-Do Sticky Pad. I love making lists. These little to-do pads come in handy for short lists and for sticking them in a journal or a notebook.

6. Bright nail polish. Revlon has their version of this fun neon color, called Zealous. I like how the color becomes an accessory to an outfit.

Afro-Fly for Benetton

I'm loving this cute model with the fly afro in Benetton's colorful spring campaign. Her beautiful bright smile makes her look fresh and ready to take on the warm weather. I'm also loving that orange and pink outfit she's rocking with the yellow shoes. Cute! See more photos here.

snoozer Loser SS 2012

Printed tees and tunics from Snoozer Loser's summer collection.

Inka Books

Fabulously patterned notebooks from stationery brand Inky Co.

Class of 2012: A Special Shout Out

It's that time of year where commencement ceremonies and graduation celebrations are aplenty. I know that a lot of Fly readers are college students, some of whom are graduating this year, so I wanted to say congratulations!!

But I also wanted to send a special congratulations to the first generation college graduates of immigrant parents (and to your parents as well). This one is for you.

On Saturday I attended a graduation party for the daughter (let's call her Flavia) of some very close family friends. Like my mom, Flavia's parents are Brazilian, and they have been friends with my mother since coming to this country. I have known them all my life, so we consider them family.

As any celebration, there was a moment for speeches. Flavia and her parents stood by the DJ booth to say they're thank yous; and of course Flavia's parents were expressing their pride and joy of their soon to be doctor daughter.

I could not stop the tears from welling up and rolling down my cheeks.

I was so happy and very proud of Flavia, her accomplishment is tremendous. But a big sum of my tears were for her parents.

I'm going to generalize here but I don't care — immigrants work hard.

They leave everything they know: family, friends, language, culture, food, and environment for a country that may offer them a chance to fully actualize their hopes and dreams. Without a guarantee of anything, not even the guarantee of being able to go back home, they leave willingly for the opportunity to pursue the American Dream.

Barely knowing the language or anyone to help, many, like my mother and Flavia's parents, come here and work really hard. They do work that no one wants to do while often dealing with disrespectful people who are not very welcoming to the immigrant population.

Over time, they realize that achieving the American Dream is a little more complicated than what they had imagined. So they set aside their dreams and function in pure survival mode to support themselves here in addition to frequently sending financial support back home. (Sometimes to family members who are insensitive and who don't understand the struggle one is facing in the U.S.)

Dealing with the basic challenges that come in life, many are dealing with them on their own without the support of family or friends. Imagine how it was before Skype or Facebook.

Then children come.

Although some of these immigrants didn't get their chance to explore the path to education or the career of their dreams, they do everything they can to make sure their children will be able to. Their new hope is that their children won't suffer or experience the difficulties (like discrimination, loneliness, and sometimes poverty) they faced in coming to this country.

As they sacrificed the life they knew to follow their own dreams, they now work hard and sacrifice again for the children who become their dreams.

As I watched the emotion bubbling up in Flavia's parents I knew where it was all coming from. These parents had finally achieved their dream — through their daughter.

I know how hard they worked. I know what they had been through. Having been in Flavia's shoes some years back I know what it means to have that piece of paper; I know that WE worked hard for this moment.

So, again, this is a special shout out to all the graduates who are an extension of their parents' dreams. Know that what you have accomplished is a special gift to yourself but also a beautiful reward to the people who have sacrificed so much to get you there. Congratulations to you and your parents, especially the parents who left everything they knew to help you become who you are. Cheers.

Disclaimer: Please note that some of these statemens are generalizations. I hope we all understand that this does not reflect the entire immigrant experience, which is indeed diverse and varied as we are individuals.

Crux Jewelry

Love this collection (and model) from Crux NY.