Courtesy of Malibu Country Mart

Malibu Country Mart is hosting its first-ever Fashion’s Night Out event September 8, and it will be hosted by none other than celebrity stylist Taylor Jacobson, formerly of “The Rachel Zoe Project.” You’ll have fun with a fashion show curated by Jacobson followed by a Q&A session, complimentary food and drinks, a $500 gift bag giveaway, as well as discounts and activities at many of the shopping center’s stores.

The fashion show, which starts at 7:30 p.m., will feature looks from the mart’s retailers, including Earnest Sewn, Madison, John Varvatos, Planet Blue and the newly opened Rubin & Chapelle. Immediately following the show, Jacobson will take questions from the audience and the mart’s social media sites via Twitter (@MalibuCntryMart) or Facebook. You can also enter to win at the mart’s Facebook page a Fall Goodie Bag valued at $500 filled with Jacobson’s top seasonal picks from retailers at the center.

And with all this fashioning, you’re bound to get hungry, so the Malibu Country Mart will have complimentary Italian appetizers from Tra di Noi, ice cream from Coolhaus, and wine and liquor bars.

Many of the retailers will have in-store events, promotions and sales. Here’s a list:

Canvas: Malibu artists customizing Converse sneakers and specially designed FNO t-shirts, with proceeds going to FNO charity; tequila tasting bar hosted by Karma Tequila
Chrome Hearts: serving chocolates and champagne
Earnest Sewn: 25 percent purchases; with each purchase become eligible to win a $500 gift certificate
Encore: Isabella Fiore trunk show (handbags)
Henry Beguelin: 10 percent off all purchases; 15 percent off purchases of $2,000 or more
John Varvatos: complimentary photo booth
Juicy Couture: Viva La Juicy fragrance sampling; treats; 20 percent off all full-priced items
M. Fredric: enter to win a $100 M. Fredric gift card
Madison: participate in a styling challenge for a chance to win a pair of MOTHER jeans
Madison Gallery: Malibu jewelry designers Nancy Newberg & Irit Ehrlich offer a sneak peak at their newest collections
Malibu Lifestyles Soft & Man: enter drawing to win a $1,000 gift certificate with $200 purchase during FNO
Oliver Peoples: serving champagne
Planet Blue: Stone Cold Fox trunk show
Rubin & Chapelle: 15 percent off all purchases
Tylie Malibu: meet Tylie Malibu designer Lisa Popp; enter to win a Tylie bag; 30 percent off Tylie products
Vince: In collaboration with SUPER, skin care experts providing facials and skin care tips; champagne and cupcakes; for every $350 spent, receive a $100 coupon to use at SUPER, along with a 20 percent discount
Yosemite by James Perse: 10 percent from entire purchase of California Wildlife merchandise donated to the foundation

Malibu Country Mart
3835 Cross Creek Road
Malibu, CA 90265
6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

The Blogger Prom Committee all dressed up! Photo by Heather Kincaid.

The Hollywood Confidential Blogger Prom, the second incarnation of last year’s Blogger Prom, took place at the elegantly historic Yamashiro Restaurant last week, and boy, was it a party! With guests decked out in their best Hollywood glamour — every decade from the 1920s to the 1950s were represented — along with classic tunes and abundant food and drink, Blogger Prom was a hit. Just check out these stories in the Los Angeles Times and Brand X!

As part of the Blogger Prom Committee, I cannot say enough how great it was to work with the Yamashiro staff, who helped put together a fun, elegant and memorable party for the 100+ L.A. bloggers and their guests. Chef Brock Kleweno not only put together a fabulous passed-appetizer menu but also personally served up some of the tacos normally seen only at Yamashiro’s farmers market. The short rib taco was my favorite.

Short rib taco

Chef Brock manning the taco stand

We also had other great food sponsors, including sweet treats from Crumbs Bake Shop, Chocolatebox Cafe, Coolhaus and Barrie Lynn The Cheese Impresario.

Mini cupcakes from Cumbs, though you had to know this since there wasn't a sign or rep.

Coolhaus serving up ice cream sammies

We also had great drink sponsors: Pinky vodka, Cabana cachaça, Zaya rum, Casa Noble tequila, The Dalmore scotch, Eagle Rock Brewery beers served up by The Beer Chicks, and wines from Fresh & Easy. Committee member Natalie Bovis, AKA The Liquid Muse, created a signature cocktail for the event, as she did last year, using a tasty combination of Pinky vodka, Chambord, lemon juice and simple syrup.

Fiona of Gourmet Pigs (center) enjoying prom.

Koi pond in the garden of Yamashiro

In addition to all the consumable goodies, we had fun with tunes courtesy of DJ Steve, who provided the musical entertainment at last year’s prom and this year played against a backdrop of the film “Sunset Boulevard.” We announced our giveaway prize winners via Twitter, which streamed live on a big screen in the garden of the restaurant. And who could forget the parting gifts? The gift bags were filled with all kinds of goodies — just take a look:

Gift bag contents

Special thanks to Studio DNA for donating their time to dolling up the female members of the Committee (which was most of us). Danielle and Dane did a great job on my hair and makeup!

Now, this wasn’t all fun and games — all proceeds from ticket sales benefited Operation Frontline Los Angeles, which teaches nutrition and cooking to underserved families. Through admission and giveaway-prize ticket sales, we raised $2,400 for the organization. Big thanks to Goldstar for administering the ticket sales. If you’d like to contribute, please visit the donation page.

Blogger Prom

Pinkberry: The ever-present purveyor of tart frozen yogurt is now offering a take-home container that holds the equivalent of five small servings (prices range from $9.95 to $10.95, depending on the store). You can also purchase toppings to go for $1.95 per container, too. I’m not too sure how the froyo would hold up if placed in a home freezer, but I guess it could work if you were having a party and were planning on eating it soon. The fruit bowl is also a new offering; from the description, it sounds like a reverse cup of froyo, with mostly fruit topped with what Pinkberry is calling Swirly Whip, which is made from the Original tart flavor.

Eat, Breathe, Shop at FIG, Fred Segal Couture and Exhale: Spend more than $500 at Fred Segal Couture and get a complimentary week at Exhale Spa in the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows as well as a complimentary FIG Fit breakfast at the hotel’s FIG Restaurant. The FIG Fit menu features health-conscious items such as scarlet quinoa with diced apples, and house-made power bars blended from dates, acai, gogi, pomegranate and hemp seeds. Exhale combines fitness and movement with spa and healing therapies, and if you sign up for one of Exhale’s memberships, you’ll get a $100 credit to Fred Segal Couture. It’s a pretty nice cycle.

Amy Kathryn Dahlia bag. The designer will be at the event.

Local shopping event Unique L.A. is back for the spring, and this time there are some new features, including food from trucks Coolhaus, Flying Pig and Fressers, and a pop-up store from Amoeba Music. And of course all kinds of vendors from clothing and jewelry to stationery and home decor. Check out some of the ones I liked from the last event.

California Market Center (110 E. 9th Street)
Saturday, April 24, and Sunday, April 25, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
$10 at the door, which includes free drinks and hosted bar (IZZE, Honest Tea, water, beer and cocktails), unlimited re-entry for both days, a collectible tote bag designed by graphic designer Keith Scharwath, free workshops and handmade activities, and more!

This past weekend will go down in L.A. food history as The Weekend That Was The Clusterf*ck Known As The L.A. Street Food Fest. Don’t get me wrong — I thought it was a great idea, and I enjoyed myself while I was there. But as is the case with so many first-time events, there were problems, though I guess things could have been worse.

I actually got lucky with getting into this event, which featured 30+ food trucks and vendors and 30+ retail booths via Unique L.A. I had managed to secure a media pass, so I didn’t have to wait in the ridiculously — I mean ridiculously — long line to get in. This blocks-long line was most likely due to the extremely low entry fee of $5, payable at the door. (That is, if you could get to the door. A reported 10,000 people were turned away after the first 10,000 actually got in.) If I had to wait in that line, I definitely would have bailed.

The line stretched down the block...

...through the parking lot, and just kept going. Never saw the end, actually.

Once I got in, I had to contend with the long lines for food. Even at the beginning of the event, the lines for some of the most popular trucks were crazy long. I was looking forward to trying some of the trucks that have so far eluded me on the streets, including the Buttermilk Truck and the Grilled Cheese Truck, but the lines were prohibitively long. So here’s what I did get to try.

Louks to Go: This Greek food truck was pretty darn tasty. I tried a beef gyro, which came stuffed with tzatziki sauce and french fries, and some feta fries, which were just french fries topped with feta cheese. Both were satisfying, especially the feta fries because I loooove feta cheese. The fries weren’t anything special — I think they were the frozen kind — but the feta made up for that.

Beef gyro

Feta fries

LudoBites: It seemed like everyone and their momma was waiting in this line for Ludovic Lefebvre’s fancy fried chicken. As I have no patience for lines, especially when it’s 80 degrees out, so I decided not to wait for Ludo’s fried chicken. However, I ran into Fiona of Gourmet Pigs, who was kind enough to give me a bite of hers. It was very juicy and nicely seasoned with rosemary.

They waited in line for...

...Ludo's fried chicken

Monsieur Egg: This was one of the vendors I was looking forward to trying, having read the L.A. Weekly article describing it’s eggy goodness. First I tried the crab cake, which was a hand-me-down from Elina Shatkin, formerly of the Los Angeles Times’ Daily Dish. (I’m not too proud to turn down other people’s leftovers!) It was mostly crab, which I appreciated. Then I tried the croque madame, which is a croque monsieur topped with a fried egg. The ham and egg were awesome. Monsieur Egg normally sells via push cart, so if you see it, get something!

Croque madame

Mama Koh’s: Asian chicken wings. These would have been better if the skin were crispier. The sauce was good, sweet and tangy, but the sogginess of the skin was disappointing.

CoolHaus: I’ve had these ice cream sandwiches before, but at this event the truck was giving out mini tasting size sandwiches, which I actually liked better because the regular size sandwiches are too big for me. Anyway, my favorites were the Meyer lemon ice cream with ginger snap cookies and the brown butter bacon ice cream with…Who cares? There were candied bacon pieces in the ice cream!

To combat the extremely long lines, I would suggest raising the entry fee to $10 or $15 and having only presale tickets.

Ice cream sandwich from Coolhaus, which will be at L.A. Street Food Fest

I thought the L.A. Street Food Fest was just going to be a gathering of a bunch of food trucks (yum), but then I found out that a mini Unique L.A. will also be part of the event (score!). If only the event were held at a hotel, as my friend Fiona of Gourmet Pigs said, it would be the perfect ShopEatSleep trifecta!

Alas, the event isn’t scheduled to be at a hotel. Instead, it’s going to be at L.A. Center Studios just west of downtown. On Feb. 13 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., more than 30 food trucks and other street food vendors, along with another 30-plus art/design/fashion vendors, will be selling their wares. Check out the list of participants here.

For an entry fee of $5, you’ll get a drink ticket and raffle tickets. For a $30 VIP pass, you’ll get access to a patio, indoor restrooms, a private bar, a gift bag and fancy food from a surprise guest chef. And there will be a bicycle valet for those of you who ride those contraptions.

Akasha food from Great Chefs of L.A.

Friday is the first day of Akasha‘s Hanukkah meals, which include slow-roasted brisket; potato pancakes made from Yukon gold potatoes with gravlax, wasabi tobiko and horseradish crème fraiche; and Israeli doughnuts. There will even be special cocktails, including the Winter Mary made with celery-peppercorn vodka, carrot juice and pickled carrot. The special holiday food is available through next Friday, Dec. 18, during happy hour (small plates and cocktails) and dinner.

On Saturday, join in the Loopt Holiday Scavenger Crawl, which is part pub crawl, part scavenger hunt that promises to take participants to speakeasies, galleries and coffee shops on a hunt to be the first to find a “VIP” party. Along the way, you’ll win prizes from the locations you’ll scurry to, as told to you by the Loopt iPhone/BlackBerry app that guides you. The top three players from each city (there are also scavenger hunts in New York and San Francisco) will $200 gift cards to the retailer of their choice, and the grand prize for the top player out of all the cities will get a round-trip ticket to Hawaii.

Wrap up your weekend on Sunday from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Cynthia Vincent and Sid Vintage sample sale at Code C boutique, where there will be one-of-a-kind of pieces available only at this sale. Bonus: Bring an unwrapped toy to donate to L.A. Family Housing and receive a free Coolhaus ice cream sandwich. Shopping and ice cream? Yes, please!