Sabbatical

I'm so not here mentally. I have a lot going on between work and my personal life (all of which is positive, thank the Lord)that I have no desire to blog.

So I will be gone. I may very randomly post every month or two. But I'm really only expecting that I'll be talking to myself... so if you happen to visit that would make me more than happy lol.

smooches dearies

xoxo

Oh, and fyi Tweeter is my new fave thing. That should last a few months lol... but in the meantime look out for motivational quotes and pure randomness on a frequent basis!

Be Inspired

Again

When you've successfully accomplished something once, you know you can do it again. So do it again.

It required a lot of work the first time. Yet you rose to the occasion, did that work, and created something of value.

It will take more work to do it again. And this time you have the opportunity to accomplish even more.

You know without a doubt that you can achieve. So make the choice right now to do what you know you can do.

What a shame it would be to simply rest on your accomplishment. For much of the value in any accomplishment is in the opportunity it provides to reach even higher.

Go ahead now and make full use of that opportunity. Achieve again, and again, and lift your world higher with each day.

-- Ralph Marston

Warms my heart...

Oscar de la Renta

I absolutely adore this man. In my heart, I believe he designs most of his clothes with the wealthy version of me in mind... If your reading this Ossie, send me that pink dress I posted a picture of two years ago. I know that's as good as trash in your world by now, but it would completely change mine. Thanks.

Spring 2009 Womenswear

(Pictures from this site)

Sigh... I would so wear all of those outfits tomorrow. Even if I had nowhere to go. I would just put one on, walk around, put another on, walk around, put another on, walk around, etc. until I fell asleep in one (then probably freak out once I wake up b/c it got wrinkled).

Plus, isn't that such a beautiful signature? I can't wait until this label is on my clothes instead of plain old Made in Taiwan, Machine wash cold.

Words of Wisdom: Stay out the city this weekend.

I'm specifically referring to DC. It's gonna be crazy. If you think for one second that this city - specifically the metro (practically your only means of transportation on Tuesday other than WALKING in arctic weather) - can handle you and all the other idiots who think they are gonna be able to see Obama... man, you've got something coming to you.

Ok so maybe I'm being overly dramatic and a little mean. But seriously people. This morning I got to work like 30 min late because of metro. The train got so packed that for some reason or another (the doors weren't able to close I believe) that we were told to offload. Now add 6 train cars full of people to a platform packed with people who were previously offloaded from a train and what do you get? CHAOS. And who told me to try transferring trains? PSH. Stupid move because I had to hustle my little tail through crowds of people who were waiting on their fourth train.

And that's just a some RUSH HOUR issues. It is expected that metro will be at critical capacity on Tuesday. Do you know what that means? Two things: (1) I sure as heck won't be coming into the city and (2) if you think you are coming into the city, you'd better dress like an Eskimo because at some point you will more than likely be walking to your destination.

I personally think I'm smart to stay home. I have the best seats in the house when it comes to seeing my man Obama - couch in front of the big screen TV. Not only that, I will be warm and cozy in my blanket, with a cup of hot chocolate in hand and the beau by my side.

All I'm saying... Be wise. Stay home.

Skin and Hair Care

My 3rd and 4th SMART goals are to begin taking better care of my hair and skin. Where did this goal come from you might ask... good question. Let's start with my hair.

I've been natural all my life. Growing up, I struggled a bit with the peer pressure. All I wanted was straight hair like all the other girls. But my mother refused to relax my hair. She told me that when I was 14 I could decide what I wanted to do, but until then I had to learn how to manage it myself or she would comb/style it. Of course you know I wasn't feeling the dookie plats she was gonna put in my head so I quickly learned how to "manage" my hair. Managing my hair in middle school consisted of me struggling with a wide tooth comb and a blow dryer, sitting in front of the stove while my mother lightly passed a hot comb through it, pulling my hair back into a ponytail, and creating the perfect bun (which my cousin taught me how to create). There were a few times I attempted a diff style, but really the bun was my signature style - and still is to this day.

Eventually my sister began taking the time out and pressing and curling my hair for me. I was able to wear my hair down - even if it did puff out by the end of the first day. I felt proud of my hair. But there were times when I still wanted that relaxer. Those were the days when my sister would find a way to help me appreciate my hair in its natural state. I think I was in high school when I finally began appreciating the versatility and texture of kinky hair. I'm definitely not one of those women who have remained natural to make a statement or to be different. I'm not anti-relaxer (well I am biased but not completely against it) or anything like that. I flat iron my hair often, but at the same time wash and go is also a part of my beauty routine - especially in the summer.

My problem? Despite my love for my hair, I have come to the realization that I don't show it that love. Appalling right? I mean, my hair is super strong. My sister and I joke about it all the time. My hair takes heat, coloring (I used to dye my hair pretty frequently), brushing, etc like a G. But it's so not right for me to take advantage of it. It's gotten to a point where now, as I continue to do research and read some of the natural hair care blogs/sites out there, I realize that my ends are crying for help and I have completely failed to understand my moisture problem.

So the change starts now.

This is where skin care comes in. The more I research the problems with the hair care products I've been using, I realize the problem with the skin care products I've been using. Heard of this site: Skin Deep? Yea. It's scary. I couldn't believe how unsafe products we use everyday could be. I mean, isn't America suppose to be perfect? [..that was sarcasm] Why wouldn't there be regulations that keep us safe? Let's just say I spent hours with my mouth open looking at sites like Skin Deep and reading online articles to arm myself with knowledge. Now I'm on the hunt for safe and preferably organic products to place on my heavenly hair and sultry skin. I know you love that alliteration.

Anywho, wish me luck on my mission almost impossible, it seems! Here are the steps I've decided to take in order to achieve my SMART goal.

• Continue to arm myself with knowledge in order to make informed decisions about the products I place in my hair and on my skin
• Search for products to use on my hair that are not only safe, but ideal for taking care of kinky hair textures
• Focus on making my hair healthier by properly moisturizing (I was surprised to learn products with mineral oil generally take you farther from this goal and its an ingredient used in SOO many hair and skin products. Do the research...)
• Blow dry my hair less as its actually said to do more damage than flat ironing
• Find products to protect my hair from the heat when I flat iron my hair (which I do more often in the winter b/c I walk to the train station in the morning and wash/go just doesn't cut it)
• Look into investing in a better flat iron - is the Chi really worth the hype? Is it possible for a certain flat iron to be "healthier" for your hair?

My list will probably grow over the next several months, but this is my starting point! I also have to work on organizing my thoughts to make them actual SMART goals. Let me get back to you with those!

Just to be clear - I'm not trying to become a blog focused on hair and skin care, but I do intend to share the most interesting findings and spill my thoughts and feelings as they relate to my hair and skin. If you are looking for blogs solely focused on hair and skin care, these are my recommendations:

• Mane and Chic (my fave)
• Afrobella
• Hairlicious
• Texture Playground
• Keep it Simple Sista
• Course Hair Diary
• Mature Natural

Check em out. I'm sure there are so many more great ones out there. If I don't have one on the list, please feel free to share!

Smart Goals for 2009

Despite the fact that I'm very goal-oriented, I've never created new year's resolutions for myself. Why, you might ask... because my experience and observation has been that people make new year's resolutions all the time that they constantly fail to accomplish. But in thinking about it lately, I realize its because they aren't smart goals. I say smart because of a new accronym I've recently learned. It's something that is discussed at my job when we are creating our annual performance goals, and I've come accross it in the description of my next Girls Just Wanna Have Funds meetup event.

So, what do I mean by smart? The definition of a S.M.A.R.T. goal is as follows (I've shortened the descriptions and changed some of the examples to my liking):

Specific
WHAT are you going to do? Use action words such as direct, organize, coordinate, lead, develop, plan, build etc.

Measurable
Choose a goal with measurable progress, so you can see the change occur. How will you see when you reach your goal? For instance, deciding to get through three sections in the GMAT book by March.

Attainable
A goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it will need a real commitment from you. For instance, setting a goal to loose 1lb and when you've achieved that, aiming to lose a further 1lb.

Realistic
For instance, it may be more realistic to set a goal of eating a piece of fruit each day instead of one sweet item. Don't make your goal too difficult because you set the stage for failure, and if its too low it sends the message that you aren't very capable.

Timely
Set a time frame for the goal: for next week, in three months... An end point gives you a clear target to work towards and without a time limit there's no urgency to start taking action now. Time must be measurable, attainable and realistic.

With that said, I have decided that I want to create goals for myself this year. I am always throwing around things in my head that I really want to accomplish, however I have not truly taken the time to establish how and why I intend to accomplish some of them. I figure that this excercise will require me to really reflect on which goals are most important to me right now and what changes I need to make in order to achieve them. Here goes...

1. Buy a home
2. Begin preparing myself for graduate school
3. Begin taking better care of my natural hair
4. Begin taking better care of my skin
5. Learn to cook
6. Make excercise a part of my life
7. Take advantage of opportunities to improve my language skills
8. Do something new every month with the beau
9. Get more involved in community service activities related to building the self-esteem of girls and young women - (a passion of mine, remember this previous post?)
   
10. Not take my goals or life too seriously!

Number ten is most important because I am my biggest critic, and the thought of failure can depress me sometimes. I just need to remind myself that in the process of achieving goals and developing new lifestyle habits I will need to have fun and allow for mistakes. Easier said than done of course.

I will write follow-up posts for most of these goals that allow me to take the time to think about how I intend to achieve these goals - basically, making them S.M.A.R.T.. This way I have a constant reminder and motivator when I find myself slipping. Hopefully at the end of the year, I can report some impressive progress toward each of these goals!