Living Vivaciously Consulting offers SpaJama Parties for the Soul

Spa parties and retreats for women are taking off as a hot new trend across the country, and for good reason. They help women relax, renew, and work on self-improvement. Houston-based Livin Vivaciously Consulting offers SpaJama W.O.R.K.S., a mobile, spiritual "boot camp" spa party and retreat that provides women and teen girls a chance to feel secure, let their guard down, and focus on becoming spiritually and emotionally equipped to persevere past struggle to success, all while wearing their favorit pajamas.

"Many women and teens don't even realize how often they engage in self-sabotage. They concentrate on the negatives, and in the process, tear down their spirit", explains Nekisha-Michelle Bakre, Living Vicaciously Consulting president and retreat facilitator. The SpaJama W.O.R.K.S. experience is a girlfriend getaway that helps participants transform those struggles and mindsets and embrace Bakre's concept of iSPA - "I Speak and Practice Abundance".

About Living Vivaciously Consulting

Living Vivacouldy Consulting, founding by Nekisha-Michelle Bakre, has a mission of being a "spiritual spa of Impowerment for the inner and outer you." Bakre is available for keynote speaking engagements, facilitation of SpaJama W.O.R.K.S. retreats, Executive/Life Coaching and media interviews. To learn more about SpaJama W.O.R.K.S. and Nekisha-Michelle, check out SpaJamaWorks.com.


TONY ROSE, PUBLISHER/CEO, AMBER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC. AND OTHER TOP BLACK BOOK PUBLISHERS TO RECEIVE THE WHEATLEY BOOK AWARD AT THE 2008 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HARLEM BOOK FAIR -- THE SCHOMBURG CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN BLACK CULTURE, JULY 18, HARLEM, NEW YORK.

National (BlackNews.com) - Tony Rose, Publisher/CEO, Amber Communications Group, Inc. and Executive Director/Co-Founder of the African American Pavilion at BookExpo America has been selected to receive the prestigious Wheatley Book Award. Other 2008 honorees are Haki R. Madhubuti (Third World Press); W. Paul Coates (Black Classic Press); Kassahun Checole (Africa World Press) and Cheryl Willis Hudson and Wade Hudson (Just Us Books).

Created by Harlem Book Fair founder Max Rodriguez, the Wheatley Book Awards recognizes literary achievement that transcends culture, boundary, and perception. Past honorees include Maya Angelou, Chinua Achebe, Sonia Sanchez, Walter Mosley, Octavia Butler, Ishmael Reed, Ruby Dee, John A. Williams, Walter Dean Myers, Amiri Baraka, Eloise Greenfield, Omar Tyree and other notable authors.

Rose states, "I am very honored and proud to have been selected as a 'Wheatley Book Award' recipient, following in the footsteps of the many distinguished awardees who have vastly contributed to the literacy of all Americans, but particularly people of African descent. I applaud Max Rodriguez for creating such an important platform in recognition of the literary achievements of the men and women who had the foresight and fortitude to make a difference in our communities and the world."

The 2008 awards foreshadow an expansion to honor more writers in various categories from African and the African Diaspora experience. Max Rodriguez said, "Through this year's honorees, we acknowledge the diversity of our reading public; next, we will embrace those writers and publishers who contribute to our awareness as a global community."

The Wheatley Book Awards celebrates 40 Years of Black Book Publishing, a red carpet, award program, and reception for the founders of modern black publishing as the opening event of the 2008 10th Anniversary of the Harlem Book Fair. The event will be held on Friday, July 18, 2008, at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem, New York, with a reception starting at 6:30pm.




The Award program was named after Phillis Wheatley, the first published African American poet whose writings helped create the genre of African American literature. She was born in in 1753 in Gambia, Africa, became a slave at age seven and was purchased by the Boston Wheatley family, who taught her to read and write, and helped encourage her poetry. The 1773 publication of Wheatley's Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, brought her fame, with dignitaries such as George Washington praising her work.

Tony Rose is the Founder, Publisher and CEO of Phoenix, AZ based, Amber Communications Group, Inc. (ACGI). Amber Books Publishing, the corporation's first imprint, was founded in 1998 and soon became established as the nation's largest African-American publisher of self-help, career-guide and commercial/pop book titles written by and for African Americans. During ACGI's ten year history, five other imprints emerged: BUSTA BOOKS - Celebrity Bios; COLOSSUS BOOKS featuring world-renowned personalities and history-making topics, AMBER/WILEY BOOKS - self-help & financial books co-published with John Wiley & Sons, Inc., AMBROSIA BOOKS for non-fiction/fiction novels and docu-dramas, and AMBER BOOKS2 for in-general specialty books.




UrbanLyfeStyles invites you to Amazing Woman's Day July 19th for International Poet Laureate Recipient Rene Reyes.

Rene Reyes is a motivational speaker, Spoken Word artist, and CEO of Poohmafella Records and Sweet Verse Publishers. She will be a featured empowerment leader and performer at the Amazing Woman's Day 2008 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

For more information: 615-468-0880



Featured Speaker:
Janet Dunham
"Learn About Contract Opportunities with the City of Los Angeles"

Third Friday, July 18, 2008
Glendale For You Network
Luncheon and Networking Meeting

Glendale, CA - Join Glendale For You Director Marie Y. Lemelle, the board - Co-Director Ricky Frost, Treasurer Nay Leuk, members, and guests for an afternoon of fun and networking.



About the Program:
• Did you know that the L.A. Department of Water and Power awarded $1 Billion in contracts to businesses, including minority, women-owned, and small business enterprises in 2007? Learn how to become a vendor and how to bid for those contracts.

• You will get information about how to become a certified minority business
enterprise and a women business enterprise known as MBE/WBE. Certification is free and required to bid and secure contracts from all City agencies and other corporations.

About Our Speaker Janet Dunham:
Ms. Janet Dunham, Supplier Services Manager in the Contract Management Group at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest utility in the nation, will discuss the types of products and services the LADWP needs from professional services (auditors, real estate experts, trainers, wellness and fitness experts, counseling, insurance, employee benefits, advertising, media, security, and more) to products (office supplies, promotional items, and more). Ms. Dunham has more than 20years of experience with the City of Los Angeles in the areas of purchasing, contracting, vendor policy, procedure and operations.

Don't miss this exciting event, RSVP today!
Date: Friday, July 18, 2008 (3rd Friday of every month)
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Location: Marie Callendar's Restaurant & Bakery
707 N Pacific Ave
Glendale, CA, 91203
(818) 242-6836

Menu: Choice from 4 entrees, dessert, cornbread, and your choice of a fountain beverage!

Cost: *Members and guests $25 (with RSVP) *Without RSVP $30

RSVP to: Marie Y. Lemelle, Director at platinumstarpr@aol.com or 213-276-7827.

Bring your business cards and materials about your business to share with other dynamic women at our meeting and for door prizes.
For You Network is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to help women achieve personal and professional goals. The For You membership is made up of 42 percent Small & Home-based Businesses, 35 percent Corporate Businesses, 15 percent Marketing Companies, and 8 percent other. Glendale For You Network is one of 20 For You Local Connection Networks in the Southern California area. Our meeting offers lots of great networking time and the opportunity to meet other dynamic individuals. You are allowed to come twice as a guest and then must make a decision whether to join. Annual Membership is $159.00 which will automatically include NAFE membership. NAFE is the largest business women's network in the U.S. with over 66,000 members.