de la Pen…All Pen Everything Presents KC and All That Jazz

Dear Pennies & Pens,

KC and All That Jazz is the March issue of de la Pen…All Pen Everything. KC and All That Jazz KC is dedicated to featuring Kansas City’s unique art, music, style, food, wine, and culture. When we started planning this issue, we of course conducted research to get a feel for the scene in KC.

While doing research, we discovered that KC has a thriving jazz, art, and food scene. Since we love music, art, and food we knew KC would be the perfect centerpiece for a lifestyle/travel series. Our Editor Pen loves to use the phrase “All That Jazz” so we simply took KC and added All That Jazz. And lo and behold, KC and All That Jazz was born.

We’re traveling to KC to see what the city has to offer. We’re going to visit museums, restaurants, wine bars, boutiques, and much more to find out what’s poppin KC. We’re committed to unearthing the hidden gems, experiencing the must see attractions, and living like a local in KC.

KC and All That Jazz is essentially a lifestyle/travel guide. KC and All That Jazz offers the reader an inside look on KC from a neutral third party. Since our team isn’t from KC, we’re the outsider insiders. Our goal is to not only chronicle our trip to KC but to encourage readers to visit the city.

In essence, we’re going to give you the lowdown on where you should stay (hotel), where you should go (activities), what you should wear (style), what you should eat & drink (food + wine/beer), and how you should get there (travel). We’re taking the guessing game out of traveling to KC, with us as your guide, you won’t have to worry about a thing.

We’ll be in KC creating the content for KC and All That Jazz March 12-14th. In essence, KC and All That Jazz kicks off on Friday, March 10th. We’ll be publishing the first couple of articles as well as documenting the trip via social media. In essence, follow us on Instagram: @LoudPen @ISLPDTX  @Renee.Jones03 to see real time updates. The final issue will be published on March 31st.

Our trip to KC was originally supposed to be a fun, leisure trip to celebrate Renee’s birthday. As you all hopefully know, Pen & Renee are besties in addition to working together at ISLP. Pen & Renee met while in college at Hampton University and have been tight ever since. Over the years, we’ve dreamed of traveling the world and two years ago we put our plan into action.

In 2015, we produced Summer in the South: Birmingham edition. We took a break after Summer in the South as Renee took a sabbatical to focus on planning her wedding and getting married. Now that Renee is back to work, it’s time for us to hit the road. So when Renee reached out to Pen about KC, of course Pen was on board to travel. And being the businesswoman that she is, Pen of course saw the potential to make this trip a healthy mix of business and personal. That said, after a conference call Pen & Renee dedicated to make KC and All That Jazz a reality.

Usually when magazines create travel guides, they feature the same cities over and over again. Everyone has a travel guide on New York, L.A., Paris, and London. As far as travel content goes, those cities are overexposed. Don’t get us wrong we think they’re dope but we want to be different.

We’re looking for the cities that aren’t necessarily on your travel radar but should be. That’s what makes KC the perfect choice, it’s a cool Midwestern city that most people have heard of but few have actually been to. In essence, it’s fresh content and gives us the chance to offer something different to our readers.

The official branded title is de la Pen…All Pen Everything Presents KC and All That Jazz, an ISLP production. In essence, KC and All That Jazz content is being created by LoudPen who will be writing and editing content, as well as shooting photos. Renee Jones will also be writing content, shooting photos, and conducting research.

KC and All That Jazz is receiving generous support from our sponsors Acura and Hotel Sorella. Acura is providing the 2017 Acura MDX which Pen will driving from Dallas to KC. Hotel Sorella is providing hotel rooms for Pen & Renee. That said, we would like to thank our sponsors for believing in this project and offering their support. Without them, KC and All That Jazz would not have been possible.

As far as how we’re getting to KC, Pen is driving to KC from Dallas. Since it’s an 8 hour haul drive, Pen is leaving Saturday, March 11th and driving to OKC where she’ll stay for the night. Then on Sunday, Pen will drive the rest of the way to KC. Renee is driving from St. Louis to KC with her husband, Chris on Sunday. St. Louis is only 3 hours from KC hence why Renee is leaving on Sunday. Then on Sunday, Pen & Renee will meetup in KC.

While in KC, we’re staying at Hotel Sorella, a fabulous 4 star hotel located in Country Club Plaza. As far as what we’re going to be doing, we’re planning to visit the Nelson Atkins Museum and the Negro Leagues Museum. We also plan to hit up a jazz club or two for our live music fix. Also, while in KC, we’re stopping by Cooper’s Hawk for a food & wine tasting as well as checking out restaurants and boutiques in the Power & Light District and the 18th & Vine district.

It’s supposed to be on the chillier side in KC, so we plan to wear jackets, coats, boots, sweaters, fitted skinny jeans, wide leg trousers, basically, trendy winter gear. We’re definitely going to share photos of our outfits in future posts so stay tuned!

Overall, make sure you stay tuned to Instagram and Twitter for live updates! Follow us here: @LoudPen @ISLPDTX  @Renee.Jones03. And don’t forget the full KC and All That Jazz issue will be published on March 31st.

And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything. With us, keeping it real never goes wrong.