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Nicole Reed | Etiquette Expert & Tea Sommelier

@reednwright

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Chief Etiquette Officer (CEO) @reednwright
Tea Sommelier & Founder @lineageandleaf
Etiquette | Tea Life | Fine Dining | Elegant Living

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🇲🇽 A few etiquette notes for Mexican Independence Day

• It’s September 16, not May 5 — Cinco de Mayo is a different, smaller holiday (regional, mainly tied to Puebla). Mixing them up is a common but avoidable slip.

• The traditional greeting is “¡Viva México!” — said with respect, not as a costume line.

• If invited to a celebration, a simple “Feliz Día de la Independencia” is warm and appropriate.

• If you’re celebrating outside Mexico, enjoy the food, colors, and music, but skip sombrero-and-poncho “costumes” — they read as caricature rather than celebration.

• The green-white-red flag colors are a nice nod, but avoid using national symbols (the flag, the eagle emblem) on disposable items like napkins or cups — many find that disrespectful.

Small gestures, big difference. 🎉

#MexicanIndependenceDay #DiaDeLaIndependencia #VivaMexico #16DeSeptiembre #CulturalRespect

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Happy National Live Creative Day. ✨

Creativity is personal. A gracious person knows how to receive someone else’s creativity. When someone shares their masterpiece 🖼️, an idea💡, a dream, or something they have made:

1. Don’t immediately offer criticism.
2. Don’t compare it to your own work.
3. Don’t dismiss the courage it took to share.
4. Begin with curiosity:
“What inspired you?”

Because good manners make room for others to shine.

What is the most encouraging thing someone has said about your creativity?

#ReedNWright #ModernEtiquette #LiveCreativeDay #SocialGraces #EtiquetteExpert

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Chari-TEA

A Shout-Out: The South Side Giving Circle
On this International Day of Charity, as a founding member I am spotlighting a group doing philanthropy the elegant way — quietly, collectively, and with real intention.

The South Side Giving Circle, a fund of the Chicago Foundation for Women, was founded in 2018 by women from Chicago’s South Side and South Suburbs who pool their resources to invest in Black women- and girl-led community initiatives👩🏽 👧🏽 Members contribute individually, then vote together on where the funding goes — turning generosity into a shared act of leadership rather than a solitary gesture. We are affectionately known as Queen 👸🏽 Makers!

Since its founding, the Circle has directed hundreds of thousands of dollars 💸 toward organizations focused on mentoring, economic empowerment, health equity, and freedom from violence — proof that the most graceful giving is often the most collaborative.

A toast to the South Side Giving Circle: for showing that charity, done well, is really just community — dressed up and put into action.

#InternationalDayOfCharity #SouthSideGivingCircle #Philanthropy #Chicago

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August in Martha’s Vineyard. It’s a wrap! While one member of the clique was politicking at a Men’s C-Suite Luncheon, the rest of us began shooting season two of our Netflix documentary: The OG of OB 🤣😜

#MarthasVineyard #OakBluffs #BlackExcellence #BlackTravelFeed #BlackGirlMagic

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Books + blankets + SummertimeCHI + the lawn at the Obama Presidential Center. 🌿

Spent the afternoon on the lawn at the Obama Presidential Center for a meetup & read with a friend. I brought Kennedy Ryan’s book — I met her recently at @mvblackbookfestival and she was so warm and kind, it felt right to have her words with me. Sunshine, good company, and a story to disappear into. There’s nothing better than escaping in a book. 📖

#bookish #blackauthors #bookstagram #obamapresidentialcenter #summertimechi @kennedyryan1

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✨ A memory popped up today and stopped me in my tracks: my very first Dîner en Blanc, nine years ago in Chicago. I remember pulling our belongings through the hot Chicago streets while people stared or inquired if we were part of a religious group. 🤣 No this was not a literal mass baptism into Lake Michigan, yet it was my baptism into this global society. 🤍

Since that night, this magical dinner has taken me to Paris, London, and Miami — first as a wide-eyed participant, and eventually as a table leader helping newcomers have the same experience I did.

After nine years and multiple cities, here are my Dîner en Blanc etiquette tips:

🤍 White means WHITE. Not cream, not ivory, not “close enough.” Head to toe.

🍽️ Come prepared to be self-sufficient, (yet don’t overpack) — your table, chairs, and full place settings are your responsibility. Elegance is in the details.

⏰ Arrive on time and stay through the sparkler send-off. The magic is in experiencing it together, start to finish.

🥂 Glass, not plastic. Real dishes, real flatware, real glassware. It’s a dinner party, not a picnic.

🗑️ Leave no trace. We arrive as guests and vanish like a dream — pack out everything you brought.

💃 Say yes to the dance floor, the napkin wave, and the strangers who become friends. That’s the whole point.

#DinerEnBlanc #WhiteParty #DressCode #Etiquette #SummertimeChi

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POV: my dress has a secret and it only tells the sun. ☀️

I have found the perfect ‘sundress’! The PH5 Cicero is a UV-reactive knit that holds its color quietly indoors, then transforms the moment sunlight touches it. Engineering disguised as elegance. 🧪✨ Fashion that responds to its environment rather than simply occupying it.

Step into the light. Let the dress do the rest.

#PH5 #UVReactive #Sunwear #Sundress #OOTD

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Ten years ago this week this trip to the Amalfi Coast felt magical and still holds a place in my heart.. Lemon groves, boats to Capri, impossible cliffs, long dinners, and the best company. A decade later, I can hardly believe how fast the time has gone.

And the sweetest part? One of the women is here now visiting and another I had dinner with another a few months ago. All these years later we make stay connected. Some friendships don’t fade with time or distance — they just pick up right where they left off. Here’s to the next
ten. 🍋

#AmalfiCoast #BlackGirlMagic #BlackTravelFeed #TravelNoire #FriendshipGoals

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✨ Inspired by grace, dressed in confidence ✨

There’s something timeless about @michelleobama . From Princeton and Harvard Law to becoming the first Black First Lady and a bestselling author many times over, she’s shown that real power lives in authenticity.

Her latest book, The Look, peels back the curtain on how she used fashion not to please the critics, but to reclaim her own story — proving that style, when worn with intention, becomes a quiet kind of strength. As she puts it, confidence can’t be put on… but the right look can make you feel like the best version of yourself.

That’s exactly the energy I carried into my photoshoot at Lytham Hall this year. 🤍 Standing in front of that beautiful Georgian backdrop, I thought about what it means to be seen on your own terms — to choose how you show up and let your presence tell its own story. Every outfit, every frame, a little nod to owning the narrative.

Here’s to grace, intention, and feeling like yourself.

📍 @lytham_hall
📸 @tabithaboydell
💄 @ranikmua

#MichelleObama #TheLook #BlackGirlMagic #Etiquette #graceful

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Pepper Red was the assignment and I delivered! 🌶️🔥 Bringing all the heat to Golden Hour ✨ #DressCode #GRWM #LadyInRed #SoftGlam #PaintTheTownRed

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🍒 the cherry on top — literally.

@muma.world Cherry dress paired with my great aunt’s blazer + @nailreformation cherry press-ons because why stop at one cherry when you can be the whole vibe? Coordinated from fingertips to hem and I am NOT taking constructive criticism.

#cherrtontop #cherry🍒#🍒 #nailsoftheday #elegantstyle

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Summer Fridays just got a whole lot better & magical ✨! I was so honored to be part of @thehandandtheeye inaugural Summer Friday event — the first of what I know will be something truly incredible. The talent, the passion, and the good vibes in the room were unmatched.

Elevated dress code + lush interiors + a no-phones policy = a whole vibe. 🖤 And if you think my 👁️ earrings being perfectly on theme was a coincidence… it wasn’t. ✨

Tag someone who needs to be at the next one!👇

#TheHandandTheEye #ChooseChicago #blackgirlmagic #MagicTouch #DressedToImpress

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