Time for a Change

Warning: This post may contain TMI's

This evening, as I was about to get in the shower, I took off my shirt and looked in the mirror. What did I see? Something I definitely was not pleased with...something I had never seen before...something that needed to change. I have a gut! I am a small-framed person and have always been petite but for the last year I have gained at least 15 pounds. This weight correlates pretty closely with the time in which my boyfriend and I began dating. I know when people are happy and in love they tend to gain weight, but this is not cute. I am 5'3" and 150 lbs and while that may seem pretty average (for an African American woman) it is not. Am I fat? No. Am I overweight? Yes. I should be about 20 pounds lighter than I am. I carry my weight very well so people look at me and don't believe that I am 150 pounds, but the scales do not lie. Most of my weight is in my thighs and butt and the rest of it is now migrating to my stomach area.

I was on a roll as far as working out and eating well but the last month I have completely slacked off and gone on an eating spree. I have lost all of the progress that I made, and so quickly. It is difficult not to be sad by it but I had an episode in front of my boyfriend in July that was quite embarrassing and I won't allow myself to get that upset over something I have control over. I am not comfortable with myself right now but there is something I can (and will) do about it!

This weekend my boyfriend and I are going food shopping. We have created a semi-permanent grocery list with healthy foods as well as a few cheat foods. One thing is for sure, I need to stop eating out so much. That is probably my biggest down fall but I am going to nip that in the bud because this tummy has GOT TO GO!

I am going to try BlaqKofi's wheatgrass smoothies to jump start my mornings, have a SmartOne or salad for lunch, and have a home-cooked meal for dinner. In addition to changing my eating habits I am getting back into the gym at least 3 days a week. Wish me luck!

1st Retightening...NOT!

Ok so today was my first retightening. I had it all planned out to go to work, make some phone calls, and schedule my appointments for the end of the day so that i could go straight from seeing a consumer to Southwest Philly, where my consultant is and I would get in her chair and feel tons better. Sike ya mind! After seeing my last consumer for the day I stopped at the Chinese food restaurant to get my honey and I some dinner for after my retightening. While i was sitting there waiting for my food i thought "Let me call to make sure my appointment is today because they haven't given me my reminder call." Lo and behold my consultant accidentally wrote today on my reminder card but didn't put me down for today but for the 28th...sooo i'm home waiting for my boyfriend to come home so we can eat.

I guess i am kind of happy that it's not today because it was a long day and i kind of just wanted to get home to my sweetheart and rest. I will have a post and pics of my real first retightening next week.

"Dreadlocks Skeeve Me Out"

Last night while my roommate was braiding my hair so I could wash it she said something that kind of annoyed and offended me a bit. We were talking about locks and she said "I don't know, I never really liked dreadlocks, they kind of skeeve me out." Of course I inquired into why they "skeeve" her out and she said because they're "dirty" and that grosses her out. I asked further into why she seemed to think your hair was dirty if you had locks and she said "Well isn't that how you get your hair into dreadlocks?" Obviously she wasn't including me in this because she knew I was about to wash my hair but we have 2 friends who both have locks (very nice locks, I might add) and this whole time she was thinking that they had dirty hair?

I always knew that it was a common misconception that people thought that individuals with locks did not wash their hair but i didn't know it was that common. The hair actually needs to be clean and oil free in order to not disturb the locking process, right? That is something I am pretty sure goes for all locks...not just sisterlocks. It just kind of surprised me hearing something like that because she has so many African American/Black friends (she's Caucasion) that I would think she would have asked by now. I schooled her though so now she knows that locked heads do not equal dirty heads.

1st Wash!

I successfully completed my first wash tonight! My roommate, The Gymnast, came home just in time to braid it for me lol. She was able to braid pretty much all of my hair, save for the baby ones on the edges. It felt nice having the warm water hit my scalp and massaging my hair clean. I don't think I had any slippage...if i did it was very minimal. I was least worried about the back of my hair because it is SO KINKY! I think it's beginning to do something already. The ones in the back are bigger but they got some weird puffiness going on on the ends. I took like one pic but i really don't feel like posting it lol. There's not much to see...my hair looks pretty much the same wet as it does dry...my locs fall a little differently but thats about it. It went well and I have my first retightening on Tuesday the 21st. I have a feeling I will be getting my retightenings like every 4 to 5 weeks, which is fine. I hope that means my hair will be growing like wildfire!

Thanks for your suggestions as to what to do with the back. Now I know-- get my roommate to do it for me lol!

Hair Update

Ok so on Wednesday (one week after installation) I decided that I would try to braid my hair for that cute crinkly look. It took me an hour to braid my hair and I didn't even braid all of it because the back is too short. When I woke up in the morning and took my hair out it looked pretty much the same as before I braided it. It was maybe a bit fuller...that's about all though. Because it took me so long to braid it I am not looking forward to having to braid and band when I wash it for the first time on Wednesday. Does anyone know of any alternative ways that I can wash my hair without having to braid and band? My hair is just not long enough for this not to be a project. The back is not going to get braided so i am going to have to be very careful so that i can prevent too much slippage. I am still loving my hair though...it is a bit itchy though. I don't think my scalp is used to not having some kind of product on it. I am sure after my first wash that will subside and as i have my SL's for longer that the itching will decrease. I'll post about my first wash some time this week. Wish me luck!

My Birthday Presents

My co-worker KD bought me the bottle and Poofs got me the lovely necklace that i so strategically hung on the bottle.

My wonderful boyfriend got me tickets to see Gym Class heroes next month. I will make sure to post about that afterwards. I am bringing AfroChic with me so I am sure we will have a great time. I found out that they are touring with The Roots and Estelle but our show is one of the ones that is ONLY GCH.

My roommates bought me these beautiful flowers and the super cute card. It actually says "It's fun to be 3" but my roommates wrote in a 2 to reflect how old i really am. I love them!

I had a meeting with a parent on Friday and she found out that it was my birthday. She sells Home Interior stuff and she had some things stock piled down in her basement...this is what she gave me! How nice...it was a really good day even though i had to go to work.

Philly Locks Conference 2008

Last Saturday I went to the 2008 Philly Locks Conference. I had a really good time and there were some really great vendors there. I spent up all my money but it was worth it haha. The picture to the right is from the Edutainment portion of the conference. Look at all the locked heads in this room. The guy with the guitar and tie dye shirt on has his locks piled on his head they're so long. He took them down and they were almost brushing his ankles. CRAZY! I really enjoyed watching this band...people were just vibing and feeding off of the positive energy in the room. It was a really good time!

The picture to the left shows the 2 pairs of earrings that I bought at the conference from a very nice vendor for a VERY reasonable price. I will be wearing the pink ones this weekend (yes I plan my outfits that far in advance). Sunsail bought a really fierce pair of earrings herself. Yes SUNSAIL! We had such a good time walking around the conference, shopping and chatting it up. She is exactly the same as she comes off on her blog-- hilarious!

After the conference a few of us met up at GiGi's in Center City. The food was soooo good! There is the pic of all of us. Look how different all of our locks look (me with my baby locks). We had a really good time talking and stuffing our faces. I'm already looking forward to next year!

The Name Game

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 56 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

New Music I'm Into

I am a big music buff and I had been having a dry spell for a little while because nothing new had been coming out. A few weeks ago I bought 4 new CD's to add to my collection and to relieve my music boredom and I thought I would share that with you...

1. Gym Class Heroes "The Quilt"-- if you're not familiar with this group I suggest you sample some of their music. This is their 3rd album and in my opinion is their best. They are a indie hip hop/rock fusion. This group is definitely multi-layered...they have serious songs (Live Forever (Fly with Me)), fun songs (Cookie Jar), and your typical come back songs. Busta Rhymes and The Dream are featured on the album...the first mainstream artists to appear on any of the groups albums. If you're interested in their older music their first album, "Papercut Chronicles" has a raw sound to it. The second album, famous for the "bada dada" song, As Cruel as School Children, also shows their multi-layered style. Definitely in heavy rotation in my vehicle.

2. Estelle's "Shine". I am really liking her style. The album has a lot of different sounds to it-- a little caribbean, the pop sound (i.e. American Boy), and she even has a song with John Legend (a personal favorite). It's a short CD but I can listen to it pretty much straight through. She also has a track featuring Cee-Lo of Gnarls Barkley (not a favorite but I'm sure others will like it). She's beginning to get more "shine" in my car (pun intended).
3. Usher's "Here I Stand"-- I fell in love with this album immediately. My mom actually introduced me to it. I was pretty much over Usher until I heard this album. You can tell this man is really in love. He also has a little song for his son. The album just shows a lot of growth and it's just great all around...classic Usher.
4. Ne-Yo's "Year of the Gentleman"-- Ne-Yo is consistent with putting out good albums. I really like this one and actually wish it was a bit longer (only 12 tracks). There is only one song on the album that I am not crazy about. He just has a great voice and is a talented songwriter.

Ok so there they are...if you have iTunes sample some of the songs or maybe just take my word for it and buy a CD!

New Camera, New Sisterlocks!

So I took my buns to Target and got a nice new camera for a nice price! Here are some pics of a few days before my locks were installed, during installation (before i broke the other camera, thank God for memory cards), and 2 days after installation. I will make sure that i take pics regularly and detail my experience as best i can. Enjoy!


By the way...yes, my natural hair color is a blondish/red...what can i say? i'm special...nahh, i'm only half kidding lol

I've Been Tagged!

I have been tagged, first time so here we go
The Rules:
1) Link to the person that tagged you: NaturallyFree
2) Post the rules on your blog.
3) Share 6 non-important/habits/quirks about yourself.
4) Tag 6 random people by posting links to their blogs.
5) Let each of them know they've been tagged

1. i eat pop tarts by eating the outside first and then separating the top from the bottom (takes skill) and then i eat the filling and then i eat the bottom part without the frosting and then i eat the top. yes, it is a project but it's the best way to eat them!

2. i have 6 tattoos...none of which can be seen when i am fully clothed. my tattoos are of a heart with a halo and wings that says 100% angel (my first, obviously) on my upper thigh, chinese letters going down my ribs that mean mother and daughter, "prayer" in Hebrew under the chinese tattoo, 3 stars on my hip, a lotus flower with a cross with the scripture 1 Corinthians 3:7 on the lower right side of my back, and a forget-me-not with a lady bug on my foot.

3. i am an only child and i love it!

4. i love hot dogs. i could eat hot dogs like every day. my boyfriend and i buy giant boxes of hot dogs from BJ's. i don't even need the bread to enjoy the hot dog. i had 6 hot dogs in one day once. i could have eaten more but i didn't want to have a heart attack.

5. my car radio has to be on a multiple of 5 (10,15, 20)...15 is the best level in my car...if that's what level it's on that means i'm listening to some good music. 10 in the mediocre level for songs that i don't love but can tolerate, 5 is phone level.

6. i'm addicted to the murder mystery shows that come on TruTv (i.e. Forensic Files, the Investigators, and Suburban Secrets). they give me nightmares but it worth it for me.

Here's who i'm tagging:
1. Lovely Locks
2. Sunsail
3. Chi Chi
4. Gina
5. Sisterlock Adoration
6. Brenda

All Locked up!

Yesterday i finally got my sisterlocks installed! it took 10 hours but i was glad that she was able to finish in the first day. Funny story...i broke my camera yesterday as well so there won't be any pics until i get a new camera. that will probably be next week because my birthday is next week so i should be able to get a new camera. i want to be able to take pics of my journey. i don't have too much scalp showing at all because i have a nice thick head of hair. she curled them on perm rods because my hair was sticking up all over the place and i looked like a crazy woman lol.

i absolutely love the low maintenance of my brand new locks. i had a job interview this morning and all i had to worry about was what to wear. i walked in feeling really confident and that was a nice feeling. i think the interview went really well and i hope to hear from them by next week. i actually have a class with one of the people who interviewed me and he hired another girl we have class with last year so i think my chances are good. i think they were impressed with my responses. i am really good at interviewing thanks to my mommy.

i promise pics will be posted as soon as i get a new camera!