Wednesday, January 26, 2011

What I'm Thinking...

So I'm pretty sure I'm going through my quarter-life crisis...I'm pretty sure I'm having an internal breakdown of some sort. I've come up with many acronyms to explain my condition. LOP...MAH...HTFDIGH...IWTSMVA...lots! I won't go into what each of those mean, but for my besties...they already know.

It seemed to be leading up to 30 and now fully into 30 I feel like I should know more about myself. What to do to make me feel and look better, but I feel somehow turning 30 started me off at scratch. Again...HTFDIGH! Really! I feel like my natural hair journey initiated some other internal journeys inside of me...and hey, everyday, I'm even surprised at the stuff I think and feel about myself.

Yeah...its some bullish. Dirty, dirty, dirty thirty. You dirty ____!You did this to me. I want that self assuredness I had at 25. I loved 25...and 24...and 26...and almost anything that started with a 2 in front of it. This 3 stuff is really not the deal. I've only been at it for 2 months, so I guess I'll give it a try, at least for like another 10 months.

I'll keep you posted...

Monday, January 24, 2011

Curly Fro



This is by far one of my favorite hairstyles. To achieve this look, while I was in the shower, I slightly wet the twist out I was rocking the night before. Not enough to soak it, but just to get it wet to the root. I then get out of the shower and shake shake shake the water out.

It stays wet for maybe another hour, but it shrank it back the way I like it and tamed the frizz. I put a lil' coconut oil on it and that was that!

I'm still rocking it today. Its a lil' bigger, but still hot.

20 Days of HCG

20 Days...give or take. And I got down to my lowest weight in the past 3 years! Until...yesterday I went out for fondue for my baby's mama birthday. The scale showed me...3+ lb gain overnight! What. The. F! It could have also been the scotch and late night shrimp fried rice catching up with me from the night before with the girls where I was super tiny, but it was really tragic to see that today. Here is a pix of me on Saturday at my all time low...only 9 pounds from my goal!


Tiny right! Those are skinny jeans...with no overlapping side fat (yes, I did have on a slight girdle, but still...) Tiny!

I've been working out every night for at least 20 minutes. I try to do a fit TV circuit on the Comcast On Demand. My favorite lately has been Jillian Michael's Fat Burn. Its quick and hits all the stuff I need to get tight and get right. My problem areas are arms, legs, butt...hell, everything. So I still have a lot of work to do to look good naked, but I'm looking pretty good in clothes so far.

So today I did a partial apple day. Its with the HCG, if you cheat (like I do every weekend) you eat apples mostly all day. Its supposed to be all day, but I can never get through the whole day. I have like 3 at work and a little salad for lunch. Then another later and a bowl of cabbage when I got home.

So far I'm done like 1.5 lbs from my super high weight gain this morning, so I'm hoping to be back at my goal by the morning. I'm going to try to do a whole hour of work tonight...so wish me luck!

For my hair in this picture, I did two-strand twist with Shea Moisture, wrapped it for a couple of hours, and then untwisted them. My front and middle never really curl, it was super straight after the blow out the day before, so I put on one of Kennedy's ribbons and kept it moving.

5 Month Blowout


 
So, its been 5 months and here is my growth. Some days I think its long...some days I don't. For this look I put Wired (a styling creme for blowouts) on my wet hair and blow dryed...blew dry blowed dry...my hair on high/cool setting. It actually got reallllly straight. I'm not sure if I like how straight it got. For my afro I'd like it to be a little bit more kinky, but it gave me a true depiction of my length. I'd say its about 2.5 inches or so right now.

I'm still using Castor Oil and Coconut Oil. I maybe use the Castor Oil twice a week instead of everyday. My hair is so dry lately with the weather, I'm still trying to figure out my moisture mix. The Castor Oil definitely helps!

From this style, I did a twist out. And from the twist out I wet it a little to shrink it back up. Those pictures will come in the blogs to follow.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Lady K's Minnie Mouse

Typically Lady K's hair is braided or twisted up, but she was on her way to a birthday party so I decided to do some fun Minnie Mouse Buns. She liked it!



We are still working on her poses...lol!

My adventures in sleep

So if you look at the time of these posts you will see I've been on the computer all freaking night. It is now 5am and I should be getting up for work at like 6 so you have no idea how pissed I am that my body will not allow me, now matter now tired, and irritated it knows I am, the opportunity to go to sleep. I tried to take a shower, look up some blogs, watch the weather, take some more theraflu....nothing.

I know what the issue is, I have anxiety issues and am about to go into a few new business ventures and it is hard for me to process all of the information alone without lots of research, user reviews, advise, etc. I feel I've fallen down a little and of course my DH doesn't get it because he's ....uh...a man, but its cool...I'll get over it.

So I'm up. I'm up and get more pissed the closer the clock gets to 6...tick tock, tick tock. And then I'm expected to totally perform for 9 hours and them come home and perform for my family and friends....

....so maybe this is my body and minds way of giving me a little semblance of time. Though I would have maybe tried to schedule myself in a little early, say 8pm, I guess I gotta take what I can get.

Knotty Blowout Fro

Can you say 9 day hair! I didn't think I could....but I am and its super cute!




When the winter first started, it was just my mission to find styles I didn't have to wet in the am. Now, I'm kinda styles I don't have to wet for several days. I had been rocking my coil out for a few days and it was getting kinda old, so I wanted some bigger hair. I sprayed my hair with the talijih waasjid protective leave in, oiled it with coconut oil and pulled out my blow dryer. I blow dryed each section with a denman - like brush (from Goody) and it didn't take more than 15 minutes. Once this was completed I rocked my hair in a fro for a day. See picture below:
After the fro day, I parted small sections and twisted. Because my hair isn't long, some areas wouldn't twist so I twisted and pinned this areas to my head. I slept with a scarf and in the morning unwraveled with coconut oil. So the top pix and bottom pix are with the same blow out, just made the top one a little more developed with the overnight twist.

I'm hoping to get another day out of this style because its 5 am if you can see when I'm up posting. I haven't been able to sleep all night and won't have time to create a new hair style for work in the am.

Coil Out Fro

 This is my new favorite style I talked about in previous post (but had lost my picture holdy thing...its now found). The coil out. I am able to get like 7 day hair with the coil, then the coil out.

It gives my curls lots of definition and once it gets bigger it gets even better. To maintain the coil out I oil with Castor Oil/Grapeseed every other and put on a bonnet at night. Easy!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Day 11 of HCG

I have some awesome pix I'd like to show you, but to reiterate...I've misplace my picture holdy thing (i'm having a brain fart and can't think of the official name). Anyhoo, yeah, I'll post those when I have a chance.

Anyhoo, I am only 12 lbs away from my goal weight...well my first goal weight. My first goal is to get to my pre-baby weight. The next goal is to get to my first goal weight ever. I've been here like once in my life and Imma do it...no diggity no doubt.

The diet is coming along. I'm losing about .5-1 lb per day. People are hilarious cuz they like to tell you how the weight is going to come back, how diets don't work, etc, etc. Well, I'm not feeding into it. I've dieted before and lost 50 lbs (first goal weight) and kept it off for almost 5 years. It wasn't until I meet this man, oh, my DH, that the weight started coming back, and back and add baby...you get big girl.

What I'm eating now...Below is a sample of what I had today. Kinda random, but I'm full:
1. Breakfast - Apple
2. Lunch - Morning Star Black Bean Pattie, Sandwich Thins 100 Calorie Buns, 2 cups of Spinach, 10 Grape Tomatoes, 2 tablespoons Ken's Steakhouse Dressing Lite Cesar (da bomb)

The Burger on the left is the one I eat and the right is one you can make from scratch that has black beans. If you click on the link, it gives you the instructions. I'm not really down with cooking my own from scratch food right now. I barely have the energy to eat much food right now, so I'm keeping it simple with the Morning Star set and forget its.

One last thing I've incorporated is a little exercise. I try to do about 30 minutes a day. I'm using the Comcast FitTV right now and it actually has a lot of the videos I actually own for free.

Let's see if we can get to my goal by next Sunday...dun, dun, duuuuuuunnnnn!

My Adventures In Alcohol: Scotch

If you know me...you know I like...no...I'd say LOVE Patron!
All flavors, shapes, sizes, buckets, gimlets, I love Patron!

But...2011 is about me trying things different. Before Patron, this post would've been about Captain Morgan (somewhere in like 2004) but I evolved. I'm attempting to do that again.

Over the weekend, I tried Scotch. I'm going on a Tour de Alcohol right now to try to discover an alternative to the Patron coma and haze I experience once I've had one, two...maybe two too many. My Scotch tour included most of the Johnny Walkers...red and black and maybe something else, who knows really what the hell they are giving you behind the bar.


For now...I'm betting on black! It is incredibly smooth (well after like my first two sifters) and I like the feeling of it. I also liked saying to the bartender "Gimme a scotch, neat", lol. That's just hot. Well, literally...its kinda hot. I'm thinking I may need some rocks the next time...or even it shaken in a Manhattan. We'll see...

What I L-O-V-E is after several of these little tastings, I felt incredibly relaxed, not hazy and I had no hangover the next day! And with a two year old who likes to wake up at 7 AM telling you all about her issues with Dora and Ni-Hao Kalan, no hangover is really the only way to go.

Next tour, I'm going to try Cognac and Bourbon. I've never been big on the big C. But I hear Conjur (sp?) and 1738 don't give you massive hangovers either.

We'll see...

My Remedies: OCM Issues

So, one of my besties saw my distress on the blog and sent me some awesome tips. She is also a natural girl and likes cooking up her own recipes, like me for skin and hair. I think she is way better at it than me because she has been at it for longer, so I CAN'T WAIT until she starts her blog so I can get some daily tips!!!

Some tips that I am trying now to help my breakouts, fakeouts whatever are as follows:
1. Taking makeup off with OCM (Castor Oil, etc mix)
2. Washing face following OCM with Hollywood Black Soap
3. Adding honey/cinnamon to face following the Black Soap to replenish moisture and help with breakouts
4. Adding a little more ACV to Green Tea to tone
5. Moisturize with coconut oil at night and coconut lotion in am

I've never used coconut on my skin. It seems so sweet, it seems so sinful to use on my skin, but I'm going to give it a whirl. I don't have any coconut lotion right now, but I may just try to use the aloe alone or coconut oil alone. I really like the moisturizer mix I use and it keeps my makeup on fabulously through the day. I don't want to loose the awesome moisture and smoothness I have in my face now, I just want to loose the super painful huge breakouts I'm having.

My plan this year is to try new things, for at least a month, before I give it up, so a week more of the OCM and we'll see how I'm feeling.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

OCM Breakout

So, this is like week 3 of the OCM and I'm starting to experience some breakouts. I'm not sure if they are related to the OCM, the cold weather, or...my period about to start in like a week (I know that may be TMI). I'm so confused, and irratated.

Why oh why couldn't I be blessed with the sweet smooth skin like oooohhhh, every other woman I know! I have this combination, oily, dry, random a&& skin! Random, random skin. Skin that can't take any one treatment for more than 2 weeks without needing a change.

Hey, maybe my skin is a reflection of me...I do like a lot of change. My hair, my job, outfits...hmmmm...my skin may be letting me know its time for a change in other areas of my life. Who knows.

For now, I plan to change up my OCM. I'm going to only do it once a day at night. In the am I will refresh with water, tone and moisturize. I have changed the toner from so much apple cider vinegar to mostly green tea and only a cap full of ACV. My moisturizer has stayed the same because I love the feeling. I also changed the oils I'm using. Today, I added mostly grapeseed, about 10% Jojoba, 25% Castor Oil, and a couple of drops of Tea Tree oil. Well see by the end of the week whats really good with that mix.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

My Natural Soros: Bridgette and Courtney

You never notice how many people in your life are natural until...you go natural. Pictured below are two sisters, who are family friends. I love their hair!


Courtney (above) has been natural for about 3 years. She is rocking a wash and go in the pictures above using Miss Jessies Products (I believe curly pudding, custard, somein' sweet, lol). Bridgette, below has been natural for about 8 years. She is rocking 2 strand twist that were curled at the ends. She also looooves Miss Jessies Products for her hair. I still have yet to purchase anything from the Miss Jessie line. I just can't justify the cost for my hair being so short right now, but once it is their length, I'd definitely give it a whirl!

Isn't black hair shrinkage amazing! Our hair like doubles in size when its stretched! Man, God knew what he was doing.

Day 7 of HCG

Ahhh....the diet! I have to admit, yesterday, I did go out for cocktails and a chili dog...(it was quite necessary), but all and all I have completed my first week of the diet. So far this week I have lost almost 10 lbs! Almost I say, because yesterday's little diversion threw my count off a little, but today I have had a mostly apple day (will write about that later) so I hope tomorrow the weight starts coming off again.

I started Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred again yesterday. Lady K and I did it together, well she did about 3 minutes and then laid across me and pulled on me as I did the rest. I believe since I had the extra weight of a 26 lb child on me during my work out, I deserved a day off, so today I took it. Instead of the workout, I jogged for about 20 minutes and that was enough.

I have some pictures of what I've been eating, but I just came upstairs to write and had my thumb drive and of course, its lost. I'm not well. I loose everything at the drop of a hat. I have my phone one minute, next, its lost, I have my purse, yep, lost. This is like the longest running case of baby brain in history I'm sure.

Anyhoo, diet going good. I will say, I have surpassed the hump where I'm starving and have to have everything in sight to stuff in my mouth. I don't crave sweets as much or bread. I do think this week will be awesome. I plan to loose lots! More to come... later alligators.

My Natural Soros


So, I am totally obsessed with women with natural hair right now. I find myself targeting them, cornering them and asking them a thousand questions. Typically, the ladies are sweet, understanding, and what was supposed to be a quick run to the store turns into a 20 minute conversation with a complete stranger on her hair journey. Her favorite blogs, her favorite products, how long she's been natural, the list goes on.

I feel like, being natural now has been the first thing to connect me immediately to another woman. Our guards are down. We have a freedom and openness with each other, that typically doesn't exist.

I have a few friends who belong to Sororities. They meet new and old girls that belong to their sorority, they whisper their credentials in the others ear, they hug and they bond. I didn't pledge a Greek sorority, but I feel being natural has made every other natural girl my Soro.

The features on natural girls will be just that. Introducing, my soros, my sisters; another woman who has taken a pledge to rock it 100.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Day 4 of HCG

So, below are a couple of pictures of what I've been eating for the past couple of days...
Spinach Salad with Grilled Chicken and Veggies

Jerk Chicken Sandwich with Hummus Spread and Spinach Side Salad

So far I have lost 5 lbs. I am doing a somewhat modified HCG because I have been soooo hungry this time around. I am allowing myself a few more carbs and mixing my veggies because I need the variety. Also, instead of the apple cider vinegar/lemon juice dressing for salads, I'm using my ultimate favorite Ken's Steak House light Cesar dressing.

This morning, I weighed and hadn't lose as much as I wanted to, which blew me because I'm really trying. But I did eat a huge handful of honey roasted peanuts around midnight, which may of had something to do with it! I'm back. Those peanuts are gone out of the bedroom (how they got these will come in my post about my night eating addiction).

Anyhoo, today, I'm back. After reading an article in Women's World, I'm trying to take more vitamins also. I'm horrible with remembering any pills (maybe how I got the baby and this big anyway), but I'm doing a multi-vitamin, calcium supplement, and vitamin d. A lot of natural girls are taking biotin supplements also, and I hope to try those oneday. One mountain to climb at a time.

My goal is to lose 30 lbs. And after today, my goal is those boy shorts in my previous post. But I'm now 25 lbs away!

Big Girl Panties

I present Exhibit A!
These are cute little boy shorts I used to sport all the time pre-baby. Today, I find these under a box, under a pile in DH's closet. I found these shorts along with a bunch of pre-baby undies that I obviously packed away and planned on wearing (or even freaking know existed) shortly after having her.

Now 2 f'in years later, I'm finding them and for a minute had to wonder were they mine or my 9 year old niece's. It's hard to even consider I was that small! I have a photo with me, talking on the phone to DH wearing these shorts.

So tiny...so, so tiny! And this was pre-breast reduction! Look at that flat belly! Ahhhhh...those shorts have drove me into a full depression. I'm collapsing on the floor...

I know to have a baby, I had to put on my big girl panties, but damn, I didn't know I had to keep them on!

Its looking grim for me. I talk to my girlfriends and they say stuff like, oh, it has taken me 4 years to get my body back, or oh my baby is 15 and I still don't have it back.

Well, this is my pledge...by 6/08/11 (that will be exactly 3 years since this photo), I will be rocking these shorts, I will be rocking the hell out of these shorts! You just wait and see!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Coils and Castor Oil

Almost a week ago, I started the Castor Oil Challenge initiated by hairliciousinc. I have to say, using the Castor Oil has made my hair less fuzzy and defined my curls like nothing else. Previously, I was using Coconut Oil as my main source of oil, sealant, etc, and this was great, but a little too light for me. Coconut Oil works awesome on Lady K's hair, but on this cotton ball, I needed something with weight.

The Castor Oil helped to do the awesome coils below. Since the weather is colder, I've been trying to find styles that last longer than a day and the Coils/Coil Out has become my favorite. There are thousands of youtubes on how to do it, so I won't bore you with the instructions, but I will say, oiling my scalp and putting Castor Oil (only 100%Castor Oil, not my nightly mix of 50/50 with Grapeseed Oil) has given me awesome shine and definition.

Typically my coils are mad fuzzy and I end up undoing in a day and wearing a messy coil out, but I am on my second day of this hair and it is still super fresh! To coil, I used Castor Oil (first after washing) and Ecostyler Olive Oil gel. Super awesome.

Oh, and for the new year I decided to bring back all those extra holes in my ear, lol. How many of us have 2-3 holes we haven't used since 9th grade. I should clarify holes in our ears:-) Well I'm attempting to wear earrings in those holes. Lets see how that works! I plan to incorporate different earrings in those holes to add to my repertoire! Don't hold me to this moment in life...I'm quite unreliable!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Fun Holiday Hair

For Christmas, Baby and I rocked our naturals out to dinner.

Her style is penned by Curly Nikki in the following post Twist and Curl Tutorial. Baby wore 2 strand twist for about a week. I put rods on the ends of each twist after spraying with a little coconut oil/water mix. I left the rods on for a couple of hours. After the twists were completely dry, I removed the rod and untwisted each section with coconut oil. I did not separate much further because her hair now is really too soft for a lot of manipulation. It will start to loose its curl. I added a headband and whahlah!



I am rocking the wash and go. I co-washed with Suave Natural green apple conditioner and put EcoSyler Gel in. I combed through with a goody (denman like) brush.

Is it bad to have hair envy of my daughter? I can't wait for my hair to get to her length!!!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

My face so far...

I have struggled with face issues for like...ever! I have... I don't know what kind of skin, I'd just say irrational! I get lots of breakouts and have a super dry nose and chin and oily checks and forehead. Crazy!

I have used EVERYTHING under the sun for this. Neutrogena, Biore, Oil of Olay, Dove, and prescriptions from my doctor (at like $100 a pop!).

One of my favorite bloggers discusses and alternative to commercial cleansers and I decided to give it a try. The MoptopMaven showed me the light with the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM). If you click on her name, it will take you to the post where this method is discussed. Her skin is beautiful!!!

The OCM basically teaches the user to use oil only to clean your face. It may sound crazy but after almost 2 weeks, I can say, it has totally changed my skin more than any of the other crap I've used before. I want this moment for life!

I love finding out new things, stuff we have been sleeping on and this is really it for me! Using this method has reduced my winter dryness and started to heal blemishes that have been on my face for years. Lady K told me "Mommy, your face is pretty" and I didn't even have on makeup! This was also followed by "Mommy can I have a donut?" but I am taking all the compliments I can get!

So, what is my regimen for my face utilizing the moptops' suggestions:

1. Clean - I mix a small container with about 5 tablespoons of castor oil (pure or organic is best) and 5 tablespoons of grapeseed oil. I put about a dime to quarter size of the mixture in my hands, and distribute on my face. I apply it like I am exfoliating, in a circular motion. I rub the mixture into my face and neck for about 2 minutes. Once complete I heat a washcloth (use 1 washcloth each day or more if you are removing makeup). I get the water as hot as I can stand it, wring out, and apply the hot steamy cloth to my face. I leave the washcloth on until it cools off. This is the part I totally love. It is like a mini facial. I repeat this for about 2-3 times (or more if I have time because it feels awesome). I then use the washcloth to wipe away the oil. Be sure to totally wipe the oil away (don't forget the chin and neck). Last step, rinse face with a splash of cool water to close those pores you opened up with the steam.
*I recommend you research which oils work best for you and the effects. There are lots of articles if you google oil cleansing method. Olive oil is mentioned most, however, this oil drys my skin and hair, so I use grapeseed. But you will find through trial and error what works best for you.

2. Tone - So I am not a fan of extra steps, but toner is really important to keeping your face tight. I can say since using this for the past 2 weeks, my face is doing great. I use a natural remedy again for this. A lot of bloggers use green tea, but I didn't have this so I just used regular Lipton's tea. This is black tea, which can be good too and has the same antioxidants that green tea is known for. I steeped 3 tea bags, cooled the tea, and then added to a small container with about 5 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. And that's the toner! My DH hates the smell of the vinegar and for the past 2 weeks talks about it EVERY TIME I put it on. But he compliments my awesome face, so its a trade off!

3. Moisturize - I am recovering from lots of acne scars. A lot of people who use the OCM pick one of the oils and use it as a moisturizer. I would use whichever is the secondary oil you use with the castor oil in the OCM. I use grapeseed as my moisturizer. This can be used alone, however, I use it with about 60% pure aloe vera gel and 40% grapeseed oil. The aloe vera gel has a lot of awesome benefits which I will discuss one day, but it feels great and really cooling to your face. This has been THE ONLY thing that keeps my nose from peeling during the day.

4. Spot treatments - Most of use always have those blemishes that come up during that time of the month. I used to used a super expensive gel from the dermatologist, but now...of course...natural. The one concoction I love right now is 2 tablespoons of honey to one teaspoon of cinnamon. Yes, its super sweet, gooey and I have licked it off my fingers after mixing and applying lol. You apply this mixture to each blemish, rub in and keep on for about 15 minutes. The above recipe is enough for about 2 weeks (depending on your blemishes). I'm telling you, the next day the blemish is gone or severely reduced. Some people keep it on all night, but I haven't figured out how to make it stick so it won't rub off all night.

I've only started these treatments in the last couple of weeks so I will post some pix of my face sans makeup now and more in a couple of months. My last videos posted were make up free (unfortunately lol), but I will get some closeups to document my changes. I will also take some pix of the containers, oils and mixtures, etc because these have been beneficial to me in trying to figure out what the ___ people are talking about.

Wish me luck!

My body so far...

So...2 years ago the good Lord blessed me with a little girl. For this purpose we will call her "Lady K". She was a ummmmm pleasant surprise. Before her, I was thick...in all the right places. Now...I'm just plain thick...in places I didn't even know existed. The weight definitely did not just fall off like I expected it to since, in my mind, I'm a superstar and on TV superstars are back sexy in a couple of weeks. Two years later, I'm still working on it.

A few months ago I decided to take my life back and start a somewhat extreme eating/diet plan. It is called the HCG diet. You can google it to get more info, but in a nutshell. Its torture, but the results are quick fast. I lost about 1-2 lbs a day and my dear hubby (DH) lost about 3 lbs a day. We did it for about 3 weeks, you are supposed to do it for 40 days, but we couldn't make it. I lost about 27 lbs and he lost about 35 lbs.

This was about 3 months ago. I have put on maybe 5 of those lbs back and for the new year, I plan to get back on it. We are starting the diet again tomorrow. Wish us luck!

So this is the plan for the diet. Per day you can have the following:
2 fruits (an apple, 1/2 cup of strawberries, or 1/2 grapefruit)
2 cups of veggies (lettuce, asparagus, tomato, cabbage...and only one type per meal)
2 proteins (3 ozs of chicken breast or lean flank steak, or 7 oz fish)
Sauces - apple cider vinegar, lemon, salt, pepper, and garlic
Melba Toast (a couple pieces with each snack and lunch/dinner)
(no liquor...all of this and no liquor)

Don't judge me.

What this ends up being is about 500 calories per day! I know, its drastic. Really drastic. We cheat a little and it ends up being a little more than 500, but definitely not more than 1000. For breakfast I will have an apple, for lunch a salad with one of the meats, for snack, another apple, and for dinner, pretty much the same thing for lunch. Its pretty boring but you can make some good meals and it really works to drop the weight fast. I typically get bored with diets if I don't see speedy results, so this works.

I hope to make it at least 30 days. I did all my grocery shopping today for the next 2 weeks. The meal preparation is what kills you, but if you cook and prepare in advance, all of the food can be done and you can just pick your poison.

I will upload pix of our meals and keep you posted on our progress throughout the next couple of weeks...if I have the strength.

So here are my before and afters...

About 1 year before the baby


Almost a year later and I am about 7 months preggo (how that happen??)


My 30th birthday a couple of months ago, post HCG diet and 27 lb lost.
Can't wait to see what I will look like post HCG again...hopefully we can go to prebaby!!!!

My hair journey so far...

So, my natural hair journey started around 8/15/2010. I am now about 4 months into the natural process and I started from a totally bald head. I wore a fad for years and since my daughter's hair has started to grow (she is two) I said, let me start figuring out both of our hair.

Posted below is a video I did really quick today just to show my hair growth at 4 months. My hair in this video is about 2.5 inches (at its longest) and about 2 inches at the shortest points. I started a Castor Oil Challenge about 3 days ago and put the oil (mixed with grapeseed) in my hair nightly. Last night I washed with Suave Naturals and Aussie Moist conditioner. I deep conditioned overnight with Organics Hair Mayo (mixed with Castor Oil) and I coiled it with Eco Styler Gel after washing out the conditioner. My leave in of choice today is Talijih Waaidd (Medicated). I love the tingling I feel when I use it.


In the video below I am only 2 months natural. I am so awkward with my speech and looking at the camera. I promise to really never talk unless necessary. I think at this point I am just using Organics or Suave and Co-Washing. My hair was about 1.5 inches. My afro is super fuzzy. Still trying to figure it out.


I have consistently been growing about 1/2 inch per month. I hope with the Castor Oil, I see more speedy growth. I used to Co-wash and wet everyday, but since it has been cold, I'm trying styles that will allow me to wear for more than 2 days without wetting.

I will keep you posted on my regimens, my favorite products up to this point, and what I am doing with Lady K's (my daughter) hair.

Happy New Year!

Today is 1/1/11...I played these numbers in the lottery. I know its a long shot, but had to do it!

I love blogs, so I decided, in the new year, I'd start one that can totally synopsize my life.  Turning 30 recently has kick started my journey to self discovery.  This blog will be a journal of my experiences which I hope to one day look back on and laugh...or cry:-)

I'm on a natural hair journey, which will be discussed along the way. I'm trying to get my pre-baby body back, which will be discussed along the way. I love music and fashion and a bunch of other stuff which will also be discussed along the way.

I'm no expert, however, I would hope that my trials and errors can somehow be of help to someone, or at least create great comic relief.

Stay tuned for my adventures. I plan to have this moment for life.