My Favorite Things: 2010 Edition

With a new year hastily approaching, I thought it would be great to do a blog post on my favorite things from 2010!

Below, you'll find my top choice movies, music/YouTube videos, words, fashion trends, songs, books, electronics, etc, etc, etc.

Hopefully you can relate...now let's begin our walk down carril de la memoria (memory lane)...LOL!!

Let's cap this thing off in the right way...my favorite Bible verse!

This was difficult, but I'm going to pick Zechariah 4:6: "'Not by power nor by might, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord."


Color: RED...always and forever!!

Poem: "See it Through" by Edgar Albert Guest

When you're up against a trouble,
Meet it squarely, face to face;
Lift your chin and set your shoulders,
Plant your feet and take a brace.
When it's vain to try to dodge it,
Do the best that you can do;
You may fail, but you may conquer,
See it through!
Black may be the clouds about you
And your future may seem grim,
But don't let your nerve desert you;
Keep yourself in fighting trim.
If the worst is bound to happen,
Spite of all that you can do,
Running from it will not save you,
See it through!

Even hope may seem but futile,
When with troubles you're beset,
But remember you are facing
Just what other men have met.
You may fail, but fall still fighting;
Don't give up, whate'er you do;
Eyes front, head high to the finish.
See it through!

Ice Cream Flavor: I'm a french vanilla girl :-)

Language: Spanish...because I passed it after my second time taking it...with an A-

Pasttime: Reading and reflecting.

Instrument: Acoustic Guitar


Designer: Michael Kors

Fragrance: Tresor by Lancome...introduced in 1990, this vintage perfume is still a hit!!

Female Artist: Chrisette Michele...her music has so much substance!!

Website: This would have to be between Google, Ebay, and Urbandictionary...

Social networking site: Facebook. Sorry Jack :-/ Song: Since we're talking 2010, I'll have to give it to my girl Jazmine Sullivan with "Holdin' You Down."

Network: Disney...Wizards of Waverly Place, the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, need I go on??

Movie: Toy Story 3 (it made me cry!)

Television Show: This is a toughie...with the Game, Pretty Little Liars, and Everybody Hates Chris...I'll have to go with Family Guy!

Comedian: Lil' Duval...he always had me weak on Twitter!

Actress: Beyonce Knowles

Actor: Boris Kodjoe my lawd!

Music video: Keri Hilson's Pretty Girl Rock and Beyonce's Why Don't You Love Me?
Fashion trend: Harem pants, clogs



Car: Burgundy 2010 Acura TL


Cosmetic product: The Colossal Volume Express Mascara by Maybelline...great lengthening tool.


Hair product: Motions Oil Moisturizer Hair Lotion...it was the least expensive product I purchased after going natural, but the best. HANDS DOWN!


YouTube video: Ahhh...coonery at it's finest. I have a few faves, but this one takes the cake:



Favorite Youtuber: MsVaughn...natural hair extraordinaire! She's helped me so much through this journey!!

Book: "The Conversation" by Hill Harper (review coming soon)

Phone: Android HTC Evo


Word: ughhh, I love words...I'll take "obdurate" for 500 Alex...eyyy, I have my reasons :-)


Athlete: Chris Paul...because he's cute, do I need any other reason??

Male Artist: I think Trey Songz did his thing this year. He deserves this title.

Rapper: Lil' Wayne...he's an excellent lyricist, I don't care what nobody says!! LOL. And perhaps Wale for Break-up Song and Ambitious Girl.

Sport: I got more in tune with sports this year...I'm still a basketball fan at heart. It all goes back to those days in the ICN gym when I cheered my butt off for our JV and Varsity teams...I hated football season, it was COLD!!!



Blog: Natural Belle (http://hairspiration.blogspot.com/)

Jeans brand: American Eagle and Seven for All Mankind (two of the only jeans made to fit tall, skinny girls like me)

Quote: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.” -Dr. Suess

Activity: EVENT PLANNING!! and researching about various things.

Places to visit: I've been a lot of places, but home is where the heart is...

And that's a wrap!! Thanks for walking down memory lane with me!!

Concept Matching...Equestrian.

Per a quote from my favorite YouTuber (MsVaughn), I've began to "stop matching colors and match concepts."

Today was Charnelle's birthday and her birthday dinner, so I wanted to go for something cute, yet comfortable...
When it was time to get dressed, I began to think..."what concept do I want to go for today???"
So, I came up with a horse back riding (equestrian) theme.

Item #1: My fro (pictured in the post below)...as a horseback rider, I probably wouldn't be too concerned with my hair, so I imagined I'd just pull it back and where it out like so.

Item #2: Neutral-colored make-up...what horsebacker would be concerned with make-up anyways??

Item #3: Scarf

Item #4: Polo shirt...the horse, the horseback rider...it all went so well.

Item #5: Navy blue uniform shorts

Item #6: Tights...it was cold outside!!! and there's snow on the ground!!!

Item #7: Chocolate-colored riding boots (keyword: RIDING)

Item #8: My beautiful, beloved, dearest Michael Kors signature tote...just because she's a beau!

I LOVE CONCEPT MATCHING =)

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Later gatorsss! :-)

Blown Out Hair!!!

Despite the fight I had with keeping the comb on my blow dryer, I GOT MY FRO POPPIN' like never before!!!

I feel neglected for not having a dryer for this long.

H A P P Y BIRTHDAY Charles!! I LOVE YOU!

Happy Birthday Charles!!

As you can tell, today is one of my best friend's birthdays!

Her name is Charnelle Cook and as of today, SHE'S 21...

It seems like just yesterday she was a stranger...the girl with all of the bangin' Aldo shoes who helped out with the EA mentoring program. This is how it all started...

*** She was best friends with one of my good friends, Angel...this picture was taken on May 15, 2008...just after we had all completed our first years in college. We were at the EA mentoring director's house.

A little over a month later, she came to the joint birthday bash that Angel and I had for our 19th birthdays...And the rest is history...all three of us are inseparable now!

Forgive my abandonment.

I've been "majorly breaking" over the past few days!!
All Sunday, I was snowed in :(
Monday, determined to put an end to my cabin fever I ventured out into the unknown and survived!!
Today, I shall venture again.

I did manage to make it to the store to get some new cosmetics. I told you all that I'd be trying Kiss by Rimmel, but since the Walgreen's Pharmacy I went to didn't have that color, I bought Airy Fairy instead. I have it on now and it's taking some getting used to (not because it's ugly, but because I don't wear make-up and this is all so new to me!)

Here are pics: (for eyeshadow I used HIP Charged and some gold from an old Covergirl palette)
This is a whole new universe to me!! I think I'll need to start wearing foundation because my face is so oily...but at this point I have a problem with that...I'll ease into it gradually.

Product Reviews

For the past day I've been glued to my computer, watching the MsVaughn YouTube channel (see her videos posted below in the Christmas updo post)...She's AWESOME and beyond recommended.

That was an easy "product review," but the following are in progress reviews that I will be giving you all comments on soon.

1. My lavendar "bed coat," which I refer to as a "cropped Snuggie"...it's designed to keep your arms from being chilly while you read or watch television in bed. So far, so good besides the fact that it's made out of 100% Polyester and itches me a TAD bit.

2. "The Conversation" by Hill Harper...ahhh-mazing (take that from someone who has conquered twenty-five pages of reading, LOL)

3. The Gaiam Yoga Weightloss Kit...I haven't tried it yet, but I'm so thankful to know that my friends actually listen to me and respond accordingly...thanks Angel for the timely gift!! :-)

4. Rimmel "Kiss" colored lipstick.

5. Sedu Anti-Frizz Polishing Treatment with Argan Oil (this one is expensive...I'm dreading the purchase, so it may be a while)

6. La Boutique de Fleurzty Curls Nurture Cream

7. Hawaiian Silky Miracle Worker 14-in-1 (can be a moisturizer, leave in conditioner, etc.)

8. African Shea Butter

9. Garnier Fructis Leave-in Conditioning Cream Curl & Shine

I'll post reviews for each individual product along with pictures of the results (if applicable)!!

Stay tuned for my next post which I think will be about social imaging, because my aunt hipped me to some important views today at dinner!

Enjoy the remaining hour and 45 minutes of your CHRISTmas! :-)

CHRISTmas

Hello Everyone and thanks for coming to my page!!

This was a great Christmas...aside from being the love of my life's "birthday," (or at least what we've been taught to celebrate as His birthday), I got some wonderful gifts!!

My best friend ALWAYS gets me THE best things. Check out these "bangin'" (for lack of better adjective) boots he got me from Aldo this year :-)I can't wait to piece together some things to wear with them!

Remember the 'three "pop" item' rule, which means you can only have three items that pop per outfit or you'll basically look wayyy too cluttered.

For example, I'd pair these boots with some POPpin' earrings, a nice blouse ensemble, a basic pair of jeans (not too much distress or ripping as it will take away from the POPpin'ess of the boots), a necklace (optional [I have SOOO many necklace, but IDK how to wear them because I'm so anal about the shapes and tones matching]), and a POPpin' bangle. That's three poppers: boots, earrings, bangle. You don't want the poppers to be too close to each other (shoes, jeans, shirt) because that's just too much!!

Next up (I'm not including everything) is a lovely pair of multi-colored clip-on's from another one of my best friends:
Which brings me to some 'destined to be my favorite' earrings that I got myself for about $7 on Ebay:

Apparently I look like a number of people (and things), including a duck...(check my side profile from the previous Christmas updo post), so in lieu of the nickname my best friend Charnelle gave me "Donald," I thought these would be a great addition to my jewelry-drobe :-)

And since I'm getting in touch with my animal likeness, I went ahead a got myself a PILLOW PET!! Her name's Darcy :-)

It's a pillow...
















It's a pet...IT'S A PILLOW PET!!! Yayyy!!

Holiday Hairstyles!!

In lieu of the holidays, I thought I'd show you all some natural updos and hairstyles!! Here are two pictures of some images I found on Google as well as a random pony puff updo I created.

UpDos Continued!!

Natural Hairstyles: UpDos!

Black People Crave for Attention.

Why are we willing to embarrass ourselves just to get attention??

BAOW...2-Strand Twists!!!

Antoine Dodson's 'Chimney Intruder'

::Shakes Fist at ODU::

I am so sorry I've taken so long to post!!

Apparently odu.edu emails have undergone an account shift and Blogger is no longer a supported application??

So, I thought I'd lost ALL of my blog data; however, THE DAY WAS SAVED!!

And now I shall refrain from my fist shaking to clap for ODU's development of the grade forgiveness policy!!!

As of today, my GPA is an entire .13 of a point higher because I swapped an 'F' for an 'A-.'
It is official: my days of Spanish are over and my GPA is no longer to suffer as a result of my lack of understanding!

My hair's nappy and I'm oh so happy because I got an 'A!!' LOL.

SNAKE!!!

OMG, my friend Kendal snaked me!! He called me and taped our phone conversation.
Take a look...

Recent Addictions.

I'm in love with my pony puff, which (before last Wednesday), I didn't know could happen. I can't wait until I'm on her level:
The above picture is courtesy of a bangin' natural hair blog I found http://moptopmaven.blogspot.com/...check it out!!

Also, a new addiction:
GREAT TV Show...it gets intense in the kitchen.

Amateur Photo Shoot.

I told you all I've been thinking about print modeling...so here are some pictures.
They're amateur...but I hope you like them!

Music Faces.

If you've read my previous posts, you know my aspirations to learn to play the guitar.

One of my favorite music artists, India Arie plays the lovely acoustic instrument I've grown fond of...and for that reason, I've adopted her as my musical face in history.

Now I can only imagine what I'll have to go through to become as great as her...but it all comes with the title :-), I'm ready...

More About Faces.

"Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go:
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people.
And your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me."

(Ruth 1:16-17)Sweet, huh??

What we fail to realize when we pick someone as our inspiration or role model is that that person went through something in order to get to the place of our admiration.

To desire to be like that person is to desire to have trials and tribulations equal to theirs.

To deserve what they have is to endure what they've been through.

Each day as I grow more in my study of Ruth, I ask God to make me more like her...loyal, compassionate, unselfish, humble, gracious...

And then I find myself wondering why my love seems to return to me void, why it seems like no one understands me, why I continue to pray with seemingly no answer, why I feel taken for granted...

But I have to realize that asking for such noteworthy characteristics is synonymous with asking for situations, trials, and tribulations that will develop those attributes in me.

Be careful whose face you find.

Finding Your Face.

Chrisette Michele, one of my all-time FAVORITE R&B artists said in a recent interview on the Monique show that one of the most important aspects of reaching your potential in any industry is to "find your face in history."
She then went on to identify some of her music-industry role models.

I thought about how this can relate to our spiritual lives and considered that it is important to "find your face in the Bible" to reach your potential in Christ.

I've identified one of mine as Ruth.


Currently, I'm doing a Bible study on her and in finding out more about her story through reading, researching online, and looking at the expository in my Bible, I feel like I'm finding out more about myself!!

I've realized that the same tools we use to succeed in school, work, etc. are the same tools we can use to succeed in Christ (i.e. Google).

...I inspire you to FIND Y O U R FACES as well :-)

I'll be posting more of my face discoveries soon!