Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Get Into It: #Refresh



I love getting packages in the mail. Which is why being an Influenster is such a great fit for me. I received my first Vox Box of the year this week. It's the #RefreshVoxBox. It was filled with so many goodies for me to try out. It included L'Occitane Shea Butter Comforting Cream, Benitos Chips, Covergirl Ultra Smoothing Foundation, a coupon for Orgain Certified Organic Nutritional Shakes, Montagne Jeunesse Face Masques, Listerine Pocket Paks, DenTek Comfort Clean Floss Picks, and Skinnygirl Nutritional Bars. All great products for me to try. I loved them all but the L'Occitane Cream is my favorite, hands down. It's such a great moisturizing cream. I love it. 




  • Benitos Chips, 2 bags. These are incredibly good chips made from beans. I enjoyed them. #allthatinabagofchips 
  • Covergirl Ultra Smoothing Foundation in 860 Classic Tan. Great foundation an I like the applicator. #UltraSmooth 
  • L'Occitane Shea Butter Light Comforting Cream is amazing. I loved this product the most. #ineedshea because it works wonders for my skin. This product kept my hands & face moisturized all day during a really harsh cold wintery day. I cannot wait to purchase this product for myself.
  • Orgain Certified Organic Nutritional Shakes are so good. The coupon for a free one was a win. #OrgainWellness 
  • Montagne Jeunesse Face Masques. I received the Black Seaweed one. I loved it. #MJPeelOffs 
  • Skinnygirl Tasty Nutrition Bars. The Dark Chocolate Pretzel Bar is so good. They are currently on sale @ Target & I had to go get me some. #skinnygirlXinfluenster 
  • #ListerinePocketPaks. I didn't even know they still made these. I loved them before and I love them still.
  • DenTek Comfort Clean Floss Picks are amazing. I love this product. #GoFlossYourself




(Disclaimer: "I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.")


Friday, February 06, 2015

Ran-dumb



  • This winter weather is going to kill me. It should not be 73 one day and 40 the next in February!! That is insane. And, of course, now I have the cold from hell. I just want to breathe normally and sleep through the night. Last night, Nyquil became my new best friend. Let's pray that I can shake it soon. Oh, and that this weather regulates itself accordingly. 
  • Sometimes we get the answers to the questions in our heart and they leave even more questions. This happened to me this week. My questions left more questions. I hate when I cannot figure something out. Hate when I cannot get to a logical conclusion. But, the reality is the answers don't make sense still. One cannot say I love strawberries, they are my fave AND I've decided to never eat them again. Why would one do that? It's illogical at best. So, the very analytical part of me has given up on trying to make the answers work. 
  • I've been emotionally drained for weeks now. I am so tired of it. Life would be so much easier if I didn't care so much. I haven't figured out how to be that version of myself though.
  • Rediscovering old music you've forgotten about is like running into an old friend you haven't seen in a while. It's been the best part of my week. I am obsessed with Anthony Hamilton's "Broken Man" and Justin Timberlake's "Still On My Brain." They've both been played a ridiculous amount of times this week.
  • So, I am an old school NKOTB fan. They were my group in elementary school They are coming here in May. I have to be there. For nostalgia sakes. I have to see Jordan with my own eyes again.


  • The older I get, the more in love with my Blackness I become. To me, there is nothing better than melanin. I love our skin. I love being Black. I'd love it if people would realize that I can be pro-Black (aka "All BLACK everything") and still not be anti-white. They two can coexist. i am eternally thankful for God making me Black. You can take that anyway you want but I am so amazed by the skin I am in. 
  • And, I have to admit that there is a small part of me that still holds on to a certain dream. The dream of me falling in love, marrying and building a life with a Black man. Having Black kids and living a very dope life. I may be skeptical about the whole falling in love again thing but I know my end game leads me to a life where Blackness is the center. It's the one thing I've always dreamed of.
  • With age comes wisdom. I have become more involved with things that affect the state of Blacks in the U.S. today. Maybe I have more activist in me than I thought. 
  • OAN, I am simply over the white washing of everything. I am not watching the Grammy's or the Oscar's because of it this year. I am just done with white folks columbusing everything that Black people have created. It's annoying and it's never as good as the originals. Just stop it, 2520's. 
  • Been listening a lot more than talking lately. It's worked out tremendously for me. I don't want to talk about my issues. I just want to listen and offer help when I can. That's it. At least for right now. 

Sunday, February 01, 2015

Just Because I Felt Like It: D'Angelo & the Vanguard on "SNL"




D'angelo is back!!! After shocking his fans with a surprise album in December, D'Angelo has been on a roll. He was the musical guest last night on "SNL." He performed "Really Love" which is a personal favorite of mine as well as "The Charade." What is so important about his second performance is just about everything. His band, the Vanguard, all rocked "I Can't Breathe" and "Black Lives Matter" tees. There was a chalk outline of a body on the floor where D'Angelo performed. "The Charade" is one of the most politically charged songs on "Black Messiah." They ended the performance with one of their fists raised in the air which is the symbol for Black power. All of this occurred after 12 so it was essentially February 1st & the beginning of Black History Month. This was poignant and calculated and greatness. It became a topic on all social media. Everyone was talking about it. D'Angelo made a statement and we all got it. We matter period. I love this. J. Cole took a stand on Letterman by performing his Mike Brown ode "Be Free" as did Joey Bada$$ on Fallon by ending his performance with his hands up. I really love my people. Both of D'Angelo's SNL performance's are here. Get into them.



"Crawling through a systematic maze
And it pains to demise
Pain in our eyes
Strain of drownin', wading into your lies
Degradation so loud that you can't hear the sound of our cries
All the dreamers have gone to the side of the road which we will lay on
Inundated by media, virtual mind fucks in streams

All we wanted was a chance to talk
'Stead we only got outlined in chalk
Feet have bled a million miles we've walked
Revealing at the end of the day, the charade..."