Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Stay In or GET OUT???

So I'm REALLY thinking about getting out the Army soon, I swear I change my mind every other day... one of the main reasons I'm against it is that I don't want to have to alter my lifestyle and struggle... or be making it but not having enough excess... the economy hasn't been looking or acting at its best lately.... I have to be able to indulge... to shop and add a little luxury or splurge. At least once a week, something. It's bad, but it's about what I want right now since I'm not married (YET) nor do I have children (YET) Both of which scare me, but anyway... In the meantime I'm working on my money management and also how to get more of it so that if I do go ahead and get out, I'll still be able to do me like the Army has been, and eventually better of course. I just don't have a lot of patience and being that school will take about a rough 10 more years to complete (ya girl is going for her doctorate, it's not a game!!!!) I say to myself, well you can be damn near retired in that same amount of time without having to do anything major... plus you can go back to Germany and have a business on the side!!! I just don't know y'all. Please give me some feedback. Most people are telling me to stay in, but my heart is telling me something different. My mind is on the fence like security (staying in) vs. opportunity (getting out).

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Cute Work Out Fits...



Michael Kors, one of my favorite designers....






















When I used to work at Macy's, I was over the Michael Kors, Alfani, Lauren by Ralph Lauren, and Liz Claiborne areas... I was a little salty that I was in "Women's Wear" instead of the "THISISIT" department, but I came to appreciate Micahel Kors and so I wanted to share a few bags and other things I liked from his web site because not too many people are up on him yet. Hope you like...

Saturday, August 23, 2008

My Unique Mane



Rosemary Mint Shampoo with Sea Moss, 8 oz.
Black Vanilla Leave-In Conditioner, 8 oz.
Lisa’s Hair Elixir, 8 oz.
Hair Milk, 4 oz.
Mimosa Hair Honey, 4 oz.

~Carol's Daughter~

Good Stuff.

So, I've decided to grow my hair out... even though I never liked doing my hair, I've always been tender-headed and wished for wash-n-go hair... but now I want to try all kinds of different styles, and actually TAKE CARE of it, (instead of wearing braids forever and then chopping it off and wearing it short, over and over again.)

I've been reading up on how to grow out black hair and using products that are made FUBU, (you know for us, by us) because WE are the only ones blessed with the type of hair that we have, so it only makes sense, right? Right. I believe tha if we pretty much leave our hair alone, it'll grow, in a nutshell. Think about it!!

Now, I have Type 4 Hair. Yeah, its a coarse/curl factor in the 4 stages of hair (1 being super straight like Asians, all the way to our tight curls, 4) and basically pretty much all black people have Type 4, unless you have Indian in yo family, lol.....

Anyway, it's important to CAREFULLY select the products that we use on our hair. We know moisture is a necessity!!! Because many of the creams and lotions are primarily WATER-based, which doesn't do anything but entice our natural curl, right? That's why you don't see too many sistas at the pool!!! So take the time to READ the ingredients, check out how much petroleum jelly and mineral oil is in your product. Because keeping our hair up is expensive, isn't it ladies? I mean, I enjoy the endless creative things we can do with our hair,.. but I'm about saving my money for that new Marc Jacobs bag!!

So since I'm not bold enough to go for that au-naturale look ahora -right now-, (although I have always fancied growing out locks and will probably do so when I get pregnant, I will NOT put a relaxer in my hair!) I want to have a bit of length so that when I become FREE, (as in out of the restrictive military) I can play with color, and all the cool up-do's that I see. I'm not a big weave fan either... maybe a ponytail when I'm stepping out, or a wig with a hat... (basically something I can take off quickly afterwards) other then that I'm wearing my own hair, thank you.

So keep it wrapped up and your hands out of it, y'all. And if you're going through the trial and error of products that just aren't making it happen for you, olive and coconut oil get the job done... and ask for samples, they have them!!! I use coconut oil because not only can you cook with it, but you can use it as a lotion, or a hair dress, AND it smells good!!!

Hey Y'all!!!!

It's been a little over a week, and I've been out of town as I previously posted, I had to do some research on where I'll be moving to and attending school before I get out of the Army, and Texas is where I was before I joined, SO I thought I'd go back there and reap the benefits of joining from that state. (Free School!!!)

I went to San Antonio and Dallas and checked out some apartments and campuses and I was REALLY impressed with UTSA's campus, let me tell you!!! They had pretty much all brand new facilities, an outdoor pool with all the trimmings like the backboard and hoops, plenty palm trees with the lights strung through, I mean, just a gorgeous, social-enhancing place-to-be right there on campus!! There's a Starbucks on campus, a bunch of other restaurants... you can get personal trainers because there's a lot of Kinesiology majors there.... I'm getting bigger and bigger on working out, staying healthy and fit, so this was looking like heaven to me!!!

The only thing I was NOT impressed with is the actual city. Now again, I used to live in San Antonio, and consider it home, but I was more impressionable back when so I had to go back and check it out as a grown woman.... it really isn't the place where I want to be because it doesn't have enough variety, the mexican flavor is cool, but I don't like being overwhelmed with it, probably why i don't like Florida either, the whole island thing is all looking blended to me now.... BUT on the flip side, San Antonio has a moderate tempo, the military and medical fields are BOOMIN'out there, it's comfortable to me being that I know the area and people there already, the cost of living is low.... I'm thinking, maybe this is the better place to go INITIALLY to get FOCUSED.

I'm not going to go into detail on Dallas as much, I checked out UTD and UNTD, but none of the campuses had me hooked like UTSA. Even though they fare a bit better than UTSA in academic ranking... but the traffic and gray skies tend to turn me off... I'm a sunshine girl now!!


I had to be honest with myself, big cities and I don't mix too well when it's time to handle business. I need space and quiet for that. I went to college in Atlanta and I definitely had one too many distractions going on!! Not to say that I haven't grown immensely since then!! Right now I feel like you can put me right in the middle of Times Square and I could still have my face deep inside of a book, concentrating..... ok, maybe not that air tight yet, lol!!

But this is my ambition, I need to really lift my grades and I don't want to work for at least a year so that it'll be that much easier for me to focus.... you guys this is a dream come true for me, really! This new GI Bill is the BOMB! I'm actually soooo glad that I joined the military now, no expensive ass college loans for me to be paying back!!!

I always wanted to go to a big university but I had too many problems going on around me to stay focused on that path. I got lazy, and into boys and just totally off track after my freshman year in high school... so this is my opportunity to redeem that dream and just enjoy it to the fullest!


I can't help but think though... I'll be 28 going in a a senior in college... I wonder if the majority of my classmates will be young as hell... Yeah.


Oh well. I'm doing it anyway, and ya girl is blessed enough to not look a day over 23, you better believe it!!! Ttyl.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

She's Ba-ack!!!

Hey!! I missed y'all!! I'm back from Texas, and I have so many things to share that I learned & experienced there!! I'm prepping for Hurricane Funky Ass Fay as of late, and handling other business because school started this week, but I'll be sure to fill you all in just as soon as I can. Mwah!!!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Back 2 Texas!!!


Hey y'all!!! I'll be out of town for the next week, I'm going to Dallas and San Antonio, TEXAS to see which city is best for me to put roots in!!! I'm so excited, and can't wait to make the move next year!

Dallas has MANY IT jobs (my field) large universities and fortune 500 companies, so those markets are plentiful, which is a must (and is the reason why I didn't go with Houston).... plus they're the more sophisticated major city in Texas...

San Antonio is a beautiful city (MUCH better looking than Dallas) with a lot of government jobs available because of the military presence... (my background. But it may be a bit too slow for me, and not diverse enough for my liking. (I used to live there and it wasn't necessarily my cup of tea at the time, but now that I'm older, maybe I can appreciate its pace...)

So, I'll be back in a litle over a week & I'll share my findings with you then!!!


Be good.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Accessories... Essentials to looking Fabulous!

































Can't have a complete outfit without accessories, right?? Well I stumbled upon this cute Juicy purse & the silver one is by Betsey Johnson, shoes by Bebe, tees by Juicy, heels by BCBG, everything else by Arden B.....

I'll categorize them by type from now on, k??? A little short on time...

Clothes! Clothes! Clothes!!!



































I live in Florida, but being that fall is coming up, a lot of my favorite lines are showcasing collectons that are for my colder location-ed ladies... but I still was able to find some things that I'll be wearing in the next few months... I can't get with this plaid I'm seeing all over the place, it's not naturally feminine and it's just always been ugly to me.... but the jumper is cute, right?? :)

I'm showing pieces from Bebe, Guess, Juicy, and Express. They're local, tangible and cute as hell like me! Lol, check 'em out!


....Btw, don't you love my better mood??