2009 - the year of greatness

This year I will learn to play the acustic guitar. I will also post regularly to this fabulous site. I will take advantage of the wonderful opportunities that my employer provides and hopefully increase my wellness factor. I am ready for greatness. You? I thought so. So let's get on with the show.

YES WE DID!!

See you on January 20, 2009.

That's What She Said

Wow. Have I really been gone that long? I feel like its only been a couple of weeks and clearly I was way off. So much has changed that I'm not quite sure where to start but how about here: I got a job. Let's try this again. I got a GREAT job working with a very well known non-profit organization. In fact, the hubby and I have moved back up the coast to the Washington DC metro area because of the greatness in this new position (--yes, greatness). My office is 2 blocks from President Obama's new house (If you haven't had the pleasure of voting early, get your ass out there on Tuesday -- Yes WE Can!). I live in the big city now, I am closer to my CT family (especially my parents) and I get to experience the seasons changing again. All in all, I'm ecstatic. Clearly, I will miss my Florida family and the amazing year round summers but sometimes you gotta do what is necessary to get through.

So, let's talk about the fact that within a 1 mile radius of my new place there are 4 natural hair salons. Yes. 4 of them. I have read some reviews online and I've hear good things about 2 of them but you know me and I am really not ready to A.) let someone else wash my hair, or B.) let someone else twist my hair and do only an OK job and charge me a million dollars which will cause severe anger to erupt inside of my soul. So for now, I will continue to experiment with new conditioners and see how my hair really reacts to the climate change. I have been here for a little under 2 months and I have noticed that without the Florida humidity I have to moisturize my scalp more often between co-washes. I've been using my spray bottle with glycerin, lavender and distilled water mix ever night before I tie down my 2 strands. My twist outs maintain their shape even better without so much humidity as well.

I get a lot more "Is that your real hair" comments than I expected since the natural scene is so common around here but we all know I am always happy to share.

More Sharing Later.

R&R in Mexico

OK so Adrian (my hubby) and I just came back from a much needed vacation in Mexico. We stayed in the Riviera Maya which is about 40 minutes from Cancun. The beach was gorgeous (but a little rocky -- can I get an Amen for the aqua-socks I got us for $3 a pair at Walmart?) the people were friendly and although neither of us speak Spanish we felt right at home! We stayed at The Grand Mayan and it happens to have the the nicest (and biggest) pools that we had ever seen, we spent quite a bit of time splashing around in there! Now you know this natural diva had no reservations about being in the pool and the ocean and the sun for as long as time would allow but you know what else that means...the afro was in need of some TLC before, during and after this fun in the sun excursion. Before I left I used Sunsilk Summer. I found it in the clearance section at Target for under $3 and it smelled yummy. It had coconut oil and sunscreen in it so I figured it would be perfect for the week I had ahead of me. I used it for my normal co-wash and I actually like it better than my Suave and V05, it was worth the extra change. I put in some small 2-strand twists after blowing it out and I was ready for 'la playa'. I kept the twists in up until the day before I left. After getting out of the pool or the ocean I would do a really good rinse and depending on what we were going to do next I would either do a quick blow dry or towel dry the twists (while still intact). On the day I took the twists out, my hair felt unhappy so I decided to try the hotel shampoo-- what the hell?! Why oh why did I do that?? After using that my hair felt like stripped steel wool, SORRY HAIR!!! I quickly saturated my hair with the rest of the Sunsilk Summer that I had left (about 60% of the bottle) and left it on my hair for about 3 hours before combing it out and doing a good rinse. HAPPY HAIR!!

When I got back home I immediately went to Target to try and find another bottle or two of the Sunsilk Summer on the clearance rack but y'all know it was all gone. I found out today that it was actually only a limited edition for the summertime! WAAAAHHH! Anywhoo, I decided to try Aussie Moist since I have heard some good things about it on random message boards. I LOVE IT! First I did an ACV rinse to get the Mexico out and then I put the Aussie Moist on. It has Aloe and Jojoba Oil and I must say my hair feels rejuvenated. It cost me a total of about $3.50...well worth it. It's actually more than worth it!

Give it a try and tell me what you think. And-- If you happen to see Sunsilk Summer at your Target go ahead and get it for me, I'll tell you where to send it! :)

Gone Too Soon...

Bernie Mac passed away today due to complications from pneumonia at age 50. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. He will definitely be remembered for his ability to tell the truth without cutting corners, lend a helping hand to those who needed it and of course, make us all laugh.

For the bargain price of $10,000.00

You can send your lovely, well adjusted child to summer camp! Sounds perfect right? If your answer is yes then clearly you are in a different tax bracket than me. I'm sitting quietly getting my daily news fix and I stumble upon this article in the New York Times called "Dear Parents: Please Relax, It's Just Camp" so since I'm intrigued I keep reading. First I am amused when I hear about the $10,000.00 price tag and then amusement turns to disgust when I read about the cell phone junkie parents that "...give their child two cellphones, so if they get caught with the first one, ‘Just give it up and you’ll have the second one to talk..." to them. HUNH??
See, I was under the impression that Sleep Away Camp was supposed to be a time for kids to learn about themselves and the concept of being independent. Come on now. I went to summer camp. I grew up in Connecticut and for those of you who have never been to the North East, its a beautiful place chock full of summer camps. The same sort of summer camps that kids from the big city come to for the Fresh Air Fund. Have you ever seen the Parent Trap Movie? Either the 1998 version of the 1968 one will do here, that's summer camp. Its the first and only place that I had the chance to swim in a lake (not trying that down here in FL, those gators ain't playin), the first place I found out about an ORT Report (one year we got ours down from 7lbs to 11 oz. within the first 3 days --- wow, the power of the mob mentality at its finest) and the place where I learned what a nice feeling it is to see your parents again after an extended time period without them, and I promise, it surely didn't cost anywhere close to 10k.


I feel like the parents in the story aren't giving themselves enough credit. Although the cell phone is probably the best new invention I can think of, we have all clearly become too attached to it. Just because you can call your child every hour on the hour while she is at camp does not mean its a good idea. If you are shelling out 10 grand it means that summer camp is not a necessity and while you could probably use that 10k to go on a family trip to Toronto or somewhere equally as fabulous, the fact is that you chose to send them to summer camp. Whether it was in an effort to get them out of the house or it was to let them experience camp the way you did when you were little (or the way you wished you could have when you were little) the idea is shattered if you call the camp every morning to check on them. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who hates micro-managers -- this right here is the equivalent. Just chillax and let them be.


No, I don't have any kids, so maybe I will not fully understand until I do but really I think I'm right on track with this one. Camp is the same as it ever was and if you trust these people enough to leave your kids there for an extended period of time them you should let the staff do their job, not babysit you -- the parent.


Full circle here. One time, at Gymnastics Camp...I was dressed up like Diana Ross (it was not a summer thing, it was the Halloween Weekend Slumber Party -- I was 8 years old) and mom had taken me to get my hair pressed for the first time so I could pull off the Diana diva hair. My hair was cascading down my back (yes I was swingin it -- HARD) and I had on my black leotard, black stockings, black ballet slippers and this long flowy black and silver sparkly skirt. I pranced around the gym for the costume parade, I ran to the pizza room, I zig-zagged through the maze and won a prize. We got into our sleeping bags and fell asleep watching An American Tail (awww, Fivel...). Lo and behold when I woke up the next morning, my hair made me cry. I had absolutely no idea why my long straight hair with the spiral curls from the night before had become this large half afro, half frizz mess. When Mom and my big brother came to pick me up the next morning my mom immediately knew the reason for my tears. "Honey," she began, "Our hair is different than your friends' hair. Your hair will only stay straight if you don't get it wet or you don't "sweat it out". It looks like you "sweat it out". **


Ummm, "sweat it out"? Now that sounded like some B.S. but after looking in the mirror, I knew right then that I would have to alter my fun activities to deal with my hair. And I did, for long, looooong time. But now. My hair is natural. It does what I do...whenever I want to do it.

** just a quick shout out to mom for not yelling at me (I know she dropped at least $25.00 fo rthe press and curl that I went and sweat out running around the gym that night) and just using it as a teaching moment about the trials and tribulations of our hair. Yea Mom! love ya!

Robin, We Love You!!!

Ever since Robin Roberts announced that she was fighting Breast Cancer I have found myself tuning into GMA to watch her more often than ever before. For whatever reason, that's just not my go-to show in the morning but like I said, I've been checking her out. I LOVE her short natural and I hope she keeps it that way forever. She looks so much younger than before. I see so many black women with short naturals, some of whom were forced into it because of Cancer treatments, but regardless off why, I want to run and tell them how beautiful they look. We get to get a true look at our high cheekbones and our beautiful lips and most of all our beautiful skin!

I hope all of us naturals can inspire more and more women to embrace their natural hair texture as it is. Not just Black women but all of us who think something is wrong with us unless we manipulate the natural way our hair looks when it grows out of our scalp. "Oh, its too wavy", "Oh, its too curly", Oh, its too -- insert adjective here" You will be amazed at how happy your hair will become when you work with it instead of against it! I promise! I speak from experience!!