Art Several art galleries throughout Sacramento hold monthly artist receptions usually on the Thursday before their respective Second Saturday Art Walk. During this time guests can attend gallery receptions and enjoy intimate conversations with artists. Sol Collective, in celebration of its 7th anniversary, is hosting the work of several artists. An opening reception was held on Friday March 9. Art by Shaun Burner, Jose Di Gregorio, Dana Iske, Miguel Perez, Trent Liddicoat, Carson McWhirter, and Trisha Rhomberg will be on exhibition at Sol Collective until April 14. Sol 7 is the first art exhibition of the year at Sol Collective and features an exhibition consisting of various style

Hot Italian hosted “Experience the O,” a Sacramento Opera fundraising event, on Thursday. The free public event, coordinated by Vy Nguyen, brought many opera fans together to enjoy a silent auction, raffle, delicious pizza, a great soprano singer and great company. Several representatives from the Sacramento Opera helped with the event, including Nina Ankelé and Alan Willendrup, who greeted guests as they arrived, handed out informational materials and sold raffle tickets. Willendrup has been on the Sacramento Opera Board of Directors for about a year, and Ankelé has served for approximately 16 years. Both were great ambassadors for the Sacramento Opera. Samantha Olson, executive direct

The Citrus Heights Community Center, located at 6300 Fountain Square Drive, was once again the site for the Diversity Wedding and Special Events Show. The event celebrates all wedding traditions and caters to the cultural diversity of Sacramento. The one of a kind wedding event brought dozens of vendors. Event planners for all occasions were available; birthdays, quinceañeras and prom included. Hundreds of visitors came to the event to view the fashion show and get ideas for planning their own wedding. Providers of wedding attire, bartender and catering services and equipment rentals were on hand to showcase their goods and services as well as florists, jewelers and limo services. Phot

July’s Second Saturday was the place to be for music, art, socializing, fashion and a zombie walk. During summer more people take to the Streets of Midtown to enjoy Second Saturday events. Vendors and artists move their venues each month. Many artists move their work from one Art Walk exhibit to the next looking for places to hang their artwork for a month. Other artists have established studios or areas where they exhibit on a regular basis. Local musicians find a street corner to play and then have a show at night clubs as Second Saturday begins to wind down. Law enforcement presence is reassuring and helps to know they’re patrolling the area. This month I walked the streets waiting f

The Urban Hive on 1931 H Street was the site for a fashion “Design Vendetta”. Four student designers competed for a spot in the upcoming Designing Dreams Fashion Show in August. Rodrigo Trujillo Calderón, Jacqueline Anaya, Samuel R. Parkinson and Linda Vang competed at Saturday night’s event. Each student designer was given the same amount of fabric and other items to design and create an outfit in an hour. The designers had their own sewing machines and were assigned a model to work with. As people began to arrive at the Urban Hive they were able to enjoy some hors d'oeuvres and drinks. VyVy Nguyen’s work payed off as everything was well organized for this Midtown Sacramento event à l

Sweet Dreams Foundation recently completed a dream room for Jackson Grant. Jackson is a resilient little boy who has endured leukemia and here is his story as described by the Sweet Dreams Foundation. In the spring of 2009, Hayley and Lance Grant noticed a severe change in their son Jackson. He started moving slow, wanting to be held all the time and the little light in his eyes began to fade. They went to the pediatrician and were given antibiotics to clear up any infections. Jackson awoke the next morning to his left eye swollen shut! After their visit to Mercy Folsom ER they were informed that their son had leukemia and needed to be immediately transferred by ambulance to UC Davis Chil

The fabulous Tiana Vega Trunk Show Collection was exhibited at Crush 29 in Roseville. The first Tiana Vega Collection Trunk Show allowed guests to view the collection on June 9. What exactly is a trunk show, you may ask? A trunk show is a special event, such as the one held at Crush 29, where an artist or designer puts on a special showing for customers. They give loyal customers an opportunity to view a designer’s collection and socialize with the designer and guests.  Tiana Vega along with Dave Icarangal, Vice President Tiana Vega Collection, were at Crush 29 to welcome guests to the event. VyVy Nguyen, Events Coordinator, was also on hand to make sure things ran smoothly and the Swee

Like young children on Christmas Eve the excitement of opening presents on Christmas day is just too much. They just cannot wait for the break of dawn to run and start opening their presents. Aimee Milota got to experience Christmas in August. The adorable 8 year old girl was the recipient of the Sweet-Dreams Foundation work and dedication to design a dream bedroom for Aimee. Aimee has been fighting Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) since birth. XP makes a person extremely sensitive to direct exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. This prevents Aimee from playing outdoors during the day with other children unless she has adequate protective clothing. This is almost impossible since most kid

July’s Third Saturday event at the Downtown Plaza, courtesy of Sacramento News and Review had a full schedule of music, dance, fashion, comedy, art and most important booths from local vendors selling arts and crafts. Tais and Adam Saake hosted the event. This is the first time I’ve seen both of these guys together and they seemed to have developed an almost stand –up comedy act working off each other. They helped the event go smoothly as they introduced act after act and gave vital information about the vendors and the show. I think Adam and Tais have a good stage presence together. Musical performances for the show were put on by Walking Spanish and Michelle Waugh. I got a chance to wat