A Day in The Life: Elle Women in Music Event with Kelly Rowland, Rita Ora, Lala and More!

Glamazons,

There are few things I’ll head out through an April torrential downpour of rain, thunder and lightening for: a limited-edition H&M collection, food (of any kind), a shoe sample sale and Kelly Rowland. Kelly is my twin in my head, my fitness inspo and an all-around sweet girl — and can you believe it I only saw her perform once before? It was when I took my baby sister and cousin to the Destiny’s Child concert years ago (the group was still together at the time!).

So it’s a BIG deal to see her live and rain wasn’t going to stop that from happening! I ran down eighth avenue with my leather jacket over my head and busted through the door at the Edison Ballroom in midtown soaking wet.

The venue was packed with well-dressed editors, bloggers and tastemakers who braved the rain too! I spotted the lovely June Ambrose gushing about Adele on the cover of Elle in a killer BCBGMaxAzria print suit, Alexander Wang top and white Brian Atwood pumps:

Birthday girl DJ Kiss looked ravishing in a Peter Pilotto skirt:

And Kelly‘s BFF Lala Anthony looked like Spring in a Stella McCartney sheer dress accented with neon Dior heels.

Guests like Glambr of Beauty Blogging Junkie, Sarah of Style It and more enjoyed cocktails from the open bar, dined on amazing hors d’oeuvres like mini ice cream cones and cream pies with Elle written in icing on top (which we all LOVED!) while waiting on the performance to start.

Ooo I also got to play in Covergirl cosmetics from nail polish to lip gloss:

And of course, I had to pose in the Covergirl booth. Get your life!

As fun as it was to mingle, try out beauty products and pose for our lives, we were most excited about the performances. Rita Ora, Martha Wainwright and Kelly Rowland were the honorees and performers for the night.

Okay, confession: I never heard Rita Ora sing before. Didn’t even know a song she had out (though Sarah mentioned “How We Do” and I kind of recognized it). Her voice is everything!

She sang her heart out for us, Glamazons, and held notes so long the whole crowd erupted in applause. She’s got real talent to compliment her funky sense of style, bold blonde hair and red lippie.

She wore a Saint Laurent black dress, coat and hat on the red carpet:

And performed in a white Chloe shift with gold overlay:

I was so impressed and am downloading “How We Do” as soon as I finish this post!

And the headliner of the night, Ms. Kelendria Rowland, shut it all the way down looking chic in a white t-shirt, leather pants, a statement necklace and Saint Laurent ‘Paloma’ sandals (face beat for the Gods!).

She performed everything from her glamazing hook on Future‘s song “Neva End,” which she opened with to “When Love Takes Over.”

She also treated the audience to a Destiny’s Child medley of songs like “Soldier” and “Survivor” which we all sang, screamed and danced our way through. I haven’t heard those songs live in years (Beyonce doesn’t even perform them) and was loving every minute of them. I was a huge DC stan!

Kelly had so much energy the whole time. She was fun, lively, sassy and sometimes silly. It was amazing to see how easy she commanded the stage.

My fave part of her performance was when she transitioned from “When Love Takes Over” to a cover of Whitney Houston‘s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.” We were all jumping up and down and singing along with her and it was such a beautiful moment. Kind of felt like dancing in the rain!

It was an amazing night celebrating these uber-talented women and definitely worth the trek even in suede heels (which, ahem, won’t come back out until May lest they be destroyed!). Thanks to Elle Magazine and Covergirl for having me!

Check out more pictures below: