We couldn’t overwhelm your taste buds with all of these mouth-watering dishes the last time, so we saved the spicy Cajun, Chicago and west coast cuisine for the second round. And for those who actually eat breakfast, this one’s for you. Dig in!

Cajun/Creole

107 West
2787 Broadway
212-864-1555
www.107WEST.com

Yearning for jambalaya like your mother used to make? Check out the Cajun fare here and you may want to set up a cot in the kitchen for good. A yummy Creole chicken and shrimp dish and barbecued pork chops are also on the menu. The specialties focus on Cajun and Creole dishes, but the menu has a wide variety of other food if you bring less adventurous friends.

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Uno Chicago Grill
432 Columbus Avenue
212-595-4700
www.unos.com

Sometimes New York pizza just won’t cut it for those die hard Chicago natives weaned on deep dish pies. For these hearty souls, a prescription for one Chicago deep dish pizza at Uno Chicago Grill will have the patient feeling better in no time. Visit the website for other locations in the NYC.

This weekend, the Big Brother Big Sister NYC organization wants you to kick off those Louboutins and grab your sneakers (I know you have a pair…look under that abyss of designer shoes) and Race for the Kids. Lace ‘em up to run the 3rd Annual BBBS Race sponsored by RBC Dain Rauscher – part of Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of play. Join the oldest and largest youth mentoring organization in the U.S. with over a century of do-gooding and help them to continue life changing mentoring services and promote healthy youth lifestyle through outdoor activity.

The NYC agency wants to raise $750,000 to allow kids on the waiting list for a mentor to participate in Big Brother Big Sister sponsored recreational and educational activities. Your registration donation will help BBBS to reach their goal. You can also Adopt-A-Match, by raising $1,400 to sponsor a mentoring match for a year. For those that are athletically-challenged, you can walk the 5k course or do a shorter 2k walk, whatever you chose helps the ‘lil’ of NYC. Don’t think you can handle walking either? Then make a donation. At the end of the race all the participants will gather for a picnic lunch overlooking the Hudson. Now that’s a nice happy ending for helping others. So come out and support future fashionista’s and GQ-esquer’s. Go to www.raceforthekids.org to register, make a donation online or find where to send donations. You can also be direct in your action and visit www.bigsnyc.org to find out how you can become a volunteer, or “Big.”

What: 3rd Annual Big Brother Big Sister NYC 5K Run/Walk Race
When: Saturday, September 29th at 10 a.m. (Check-in opens at 7:30 a.m.)
Where: Riverside Park at 72nd Street in NYC
Why: Good karma never hurt anybody.

You may think you know Brooklyn, but you have no idea. To get a grasp, check out the Brooklynites: A Powerhouse Retrospective art exhibit (www.powerhousearena.com/thebrooklynites/) at the powerHouse Arena. And get there quick because the exhibit ends this Sunday, Sept 30th.

Together, Photographer Seth Kushner and Writer Anthony LaSala, native Brooklynites, captured and celebrated the essence of Brooklyn in a book entitled The Brooklynites – a compilation of images, interviews, and essays of BK’s people – both “the famous and the nameless, current residents and former inhabitants” – and places – nearly every neighborhood, from Brooklyn Heights to Brownsville, Bensonhurst to Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bay Ridge and beyond” – collected over a three year time period. Famous notables include Spike Lee, Steve Buscemi, Rosie Perez and Matisyahu. The book, The Brooklynites, also features a foreword by Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Terence Winter, who is, of course, from Brooklyn, and of The Sopranos and Get Rich or Die Tryin’ fame.

The exhibition, curated by LaSala, will feature works from the book, in addition to additional images taken by some of most talented photographers in the industry today, like Andrea Chu, Erica McDonald, painter Robert Goldstrom and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Vincent LaForet.

Photograph taken by Andrea Chu

Read more about this excellent coffee table piece, especially if you are from Brooklyn, and even take a look inside at the powerHouse website (www.powerhousearena.com), or buy the book now for $35 buckaroos.

Now, count how many times I used the word “Brooklyn.” I don’t think I could ever tire. Brooklyn. Ha.

Also showing at powerHouse Arena is “an exhibition for social justice” documenting genocide, called Darfur: Twenty Years of War and Genocide in Sudan.

What: Brooklynites: A Powerhouse Retrospective art exhibit
When: Open now through Sunday, Sept 30th.
Where: The powerHouse Arena, 37 Main St., Brooklyn, NY

Since April, the Avon Hello Tomorrow Beauty Tour has been traveling the country and raising awareness on domestic violence. It recently made a stop in New York City to promote Sanctuary for Families, a local domestic violence center in the city. Complete with opportunities to sample some of Avon’s amazing products and receive complimentary makeovers, visitors were also able to share their wishes with others. The Avon Wishing Wall allowed beauty fans and hopeful attendees to post a wish for a better tomorrow. Callie Thorn, the actress from the FX! network show, Rescue Me, stopped by to post a wish of her own and numerous other stars who weren’t able to attend sent in their inspiring wishes, including Jennifer Hudson, Lauren Conrad and Hilarie Burton. Thanks to the success of the tour, Sanctuary for Families is now eligible for a $20,000 grant from Avon! Wouldn’t it be nice if every good wish had such a positive result!?

Runway photography courtesy of photographer extraordinaire, Jeff Eason.

As I sit in front of my laptop, with a near blank Word document in front of me…the one word that keeps coming to mind as I recall Project Runway alum Malan Breton’s show is…boring. The designer – who, in my brief meeting – was charming and relaxed backstage, showed an Asian and architecturally-inspired collection at the Metropolitan Pavilion on Wednesday, the final day of Spring 2008 Fashion Week. The rich fabrics chosen by the designer, including silks, bamboo, taffeta and organza, could not disguise silhouettes that for the most part felt dated and passé. The few highlights of the collection included a flowing silk stretch crepe de chine dress in black and chic high-waisted (crack, be gone), cotton sateen tap shorts with a crisp white cotton blouse.

Up close & personal – beauty backstage at Malan Breton.

Hair for Malan Breton was dramatic, yet again 1970′s inspired and oh-so Barbarella, with mega volume and lots of texture. Dramatic (and wholly unwearable in real life) eyeliner added an element of theatre and brightly colored lipstick was again the pucker du jour.

Breton’s charm was evident on the runway but missing in his collection.

Every budget-minded fashionista knows all about the GO line at Target, where a featured designer creates a signature line for the megastore and sells their name for a limited time. It’s an obvious success when competing discount chains are jumping on the bourgeois bandwagon and Vera Wang is now designing for Kohl’s. Coming from a self-confessed brand whore whose taste is bigger than her budget, the idea seems ingenious.

I eagerly await to the debut of each collection like a kid on Christmas morn I’m there on the debut and this month was no different. In fact, I was extra excited for British sophisticate, Alice Temperley’s line to debut last week and I happily schlepped it to Brooklyn for the very occasion. Alas, every time a new GO line hits the store, I’m more like that kid on Christmas morning that never got her short camel colored leather jacket from Wilsons (3rd grade) and instead unwrapped a matching Fare Isle sweater that my brother and I wore in the family holiday photo. All the same, I’m always just a little disappointed, both with quality and design of the every line put out by Target. And yes, I understand that the price tag comparison is like Ponderosa to Peter Lugar, but when any line carries the designers name there’s no excuse for chopped liver.

Alice Temperley’s Go designs do have a few redeeming qualities, like a flattering navy wrap dress, a couple of casual knits and a nice cropped jacket. The line of ruffled dress shirts had me aflutter for a work wardrobe update, but found that I looked more like a school marm than a sophisticated career woman. The pants and jumpers especially, were of poor quality bound by cheap polyester and sloppy stitching. Sad to say, I left carrying only sunglasses and Tupperware. Buggar, aint it?

On September 6th at 6:00PM in The Salon at Bryant Park, Alexander Terekhov returned with his TEREXOV collection to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week for a third season. Showing to a house packed with fashion editors from Vogue, Town & Country, Blueprint, WWD, Marie Claire and the like – the young Russian design prodigy proved to be a huge up and comer by delighting the crowd with spring styles inspired by fresh morning Moscow rain.

The Rita Hazan Salon, headed up by stylist Juan Carlos Maciques, added extensions to many of the girl’s manes to ensure the ballerina-esque buns had just the right amount of messy. Lyne Desnoyers was the lead makeup artist for M.A.C. Cosmetics, giving the models doe-eyed lashes and nude blush lips.

See the Spring 2008 collection at www.elle.com.

Vintage and vintage-inspired fashions make Sweet Tater (www.sweettater.net) tick. And much has happened in the four years since Sweet Tater opened its NoLita doors, which used to be an entryway for an abandoned Laundromat. Owners Christina Kornilakis and Sarah Gregory expanded their boutique to include, not only hard-to-find vintage apparel and accessories, but also items from their eponymous line.

Finding inspiration in their trips along the East Coast, Greece and Italy, the designer’s boutique has a light, exotic feel. And although they won’t reveal their source, they admit they have vintage distributor connections in the United States and Greece. And when it comes to picking vintage pieces, they use extreme discretion. Kornilakis explained that they might view 300 pieces, but pick only about 12 or 13. Their selectivity definitely shows. The vintage pieces that fill the shop are in great condition and made with rich leathers in colors like cognac-colored and honey to brick red.

Most customers who come in the cozy, tucked away boutique, leave with their signature outfit: vintage high-waisted denim, vintage boots and a shirtdress. Sweet Tater’s ever-evolving signature shirtdress, undoubtedly appropriate in any wardrobe, in any decade and in any season, is given new life in their Fall ’07 collection. Its cotton-wool blend is perfect for those semi-chilly autumn days and has a removable sash and fancy-smancy buttons.

“Initially the line was born out of our desire to recreate the best vintage pieces we’ve found and we had ourselves in mind – downtown girls who love to wear vintage,” but they also included pieces that are “classic and clean, while still edgy and sexy.”

Who said you have to fly to Texas for mouth-watering barbecue, Louisiana for great jambalaya or drive to Philadelphia when the urge for a cheesesteak hits? You don’t. Just head to a, shall we say, “out-of-state food oasis” and sink your teeth into some delectable morsels.

Philadelphia Cheesesteak

Philly Slim’s Cheesesteaks
789 Ninth Avenue
212-333-3042
www.phillyslims.com

It may look like a greasy spoon joint, but the Philly cheesesteaks will have your mind wandering back home. These are the real deal and the menu says to specify “wit or witout onions.” The recipe was created by several friends, who researched the history of the sandwich, determined to bring an authentic cheesesteak to New York City.

99 Miles to Philly
94 Third Avenue
212-253-2700

If you love cheesesteaks, you have to be willing to eat them anywhere. The “create your own cheesesteak” option more than makes up for the lackluster atmosphere. Cheesesteak lovers can pick their own toppings and substitute chicken for steak.

New England Seafood

Ed’s Lobster Bar
222 Lafayette Street
212-343-3236
www.lobsterbarnyc.com

This restaurant opened in 2007 but already promises to be a favorite of New England seafood connoisseurs. Lobster is flown in from Maine daily so you can get your choice fix of tender, meaty claws.

New England Clam Chowder

Pearl Oyster Bar
18 Cornelia Street
212-691-8211
www.pearloysterbar.com

Betcha didn’t know wearing a polo shirt could save lives. I’m not talking about any old polo shirt, so don’t even go searching your closet for that sweet little crocodile (or is it an alligator?). I’m talking about the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer polo designed by Ralph Lauren for the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America began the FTBC campaign in 1994 as the fashion industry’s response to breast cancer. The initiative has created public awareness and continues to support breast cancer research, education, screening and patient care. This year, Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has teamed up with Ralph Lauren to design a polo shirt that raises money for the cause in addition to making fashionistas for the cause look cute. The polo shirt, available for $75.00 exclusively at Net-A-Porter.com, will be the first item to launch the global retail partnership. Sixty-five dollars (close to 90%) of each purchase will be donated to Fashion Targets Breast Cancer Worldwide to support local breast cancer charities around the world. Since the inception of the program, Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has raised over 40 million dollars for breast cancer charities in 13 countries.

In the upcoming months, the website will feature limited-edition merchandise by other internationally renowned designers, all available at the “FTBC store” on the Net-A-Porter website. In another partnership to raise funds and awareness, look for a quilted ballet slipper with the FTBC bull’s-eye logo inside from Scoop beginning in October. Currently, Scoop offers a different style flat that has raised over $30,000 since 2006 available at select Scoop boutiques.

For more information, go to www.fashiontargetsbreastcancer.org and www.Net-A-Porter.com to purchase a polo (available in white and neon blue, green, red and yellow) to support this emergent problem that affects nearly 1.5 million women annually. Show some love for your fellow sisters, now.