IN YO FACE SON!

...in my best Ashy Larry Voice.

Single. Black. Female. Yeah that's me. AND WHAT?!? Well, I'll tell you what - I was nervous as all get up the other night when leaving my client around 9PM with two men doing a foxtrot behind me.

I'm walking with my purse, my workbag, and my roller bag (so I guess you could say that I was rolling). And then it hit me - It's dark, I'm alone, no other cars in the parking lot besides my own, I might not be as smart as I thought I was. I started walking faster and I kept looking behind me to make sure that they weren't too close and I decided then that I NEVER want to feel that way again. Granted, they were probably just guys from the nightly cleaning crew but I don't ever want to feel that way again.

As a result of this situation - I broke down and bought a pepper spray this morning. So IN YO FACE SON to the next member of the Stanger Danger committee that decides to walk up behind me - You don't know me like that!!!



It's actually a really cute one (compared to others) made by Pepper Face and apparently a lot of celebrities have designed some of them and auctioned them off to support the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence. I purchased the "Prevention Purple" one and I'm glad to know that a portion of my purchase will be donated to Domestic Violence causes. For more info on products check out http://www.pepperface.com/store/products.html and to see the cool celebrity auction items go to http://www.pepperface.com/store/auction.html


Kisses!

With all my heart, I love you baby...

Well after decades of singing Sweet Love in the bathroom mirror, Holding a teddy bear humming Fairytales (I was such a dramatic teenager), and calling her my Auntie - I finally got a chance to see Ms. Anita Baker in concert! All I can say is - They don't call her the Songstress for nothing!

Although we were some of the youngest people at this concert, it was to be expected. Best Lawn seat ticket of my life. She scatted an entire song and although I had no clue what we were bippidy bopping about - I was in heaven!



Too bad I have to get back to work but i had to share!

Kisses!

Help Me Believe

So my cousin tells me about an [apparently popular & free] online dating network and I was like "oh OK - that's cool" [clearly uninterested]. Maybe another week later, another girlfriend mentions that she just joined the same site and how another one of our friends is on it. Hmmmmmmmm.... Then I found some people who told me that they have Match.com & eHarmony accounts. I had no idea that online dating was for more than ugly Internet losers. But I know these people and they're pretty normal, attractive, and overall great catches. So what the heck, I just let curiosity kill the cat and signed up.

Not so bad so far. You enter a little bit of info about yourself (height, likes, body type, upload a few pics, etc.) and then people can cruise through your page and send you messages if they so choose. So "Religion" is also one of the bits of info that's displayed on your dating profile. Craziest thing is that a good number of people are attractive but in the same light a lot of them have claimed themselves as being "Non-Religious."

I've had a very brief difficulty in my past time with a crush of another religion but it was just that - "brief." I found out that he wasn't a Christian and I let it go immediately. I was just floored at the fact that I had been crushing on him for a week or so (I was young) and then we're praying over food and I noticed his prayer posture...***ding ding ding*** But I respected him for his beliefs, it just isn't who I want to be the head of my household so its not even a consideration as far as dating. I honestly respect a lot of the Muslim community as being a Muslim in America requires great discipline (i'm not sure how young African-American Muslims deal with dating as most of the black community is Christian).

Either way, believing in something whole hearted (Christian or Muslim) is much better than believing in NOTHING (there wasn't a n/a option so I'm glad that the site makes you choose). Although there are large differences in our religions, I believe that there is only one God and there is no way that the God that Muslims are worshipping could be any different from my God. I have Muslim friends who say that they love Jesus but their take on Him is much different than mine. I still can't get over how many people have "non-religious" on their profiles and they're out there searching for a relationship - Clearly the wrong relationship. The relationship with God should be sought out first before we can even consider having a relationship with another person (Just my personal thoughts).

When I got to my desk this morning I hit play on the iTunes and the first song that came up was....



Although I'm far from a perfect Christian, I am a believer in Christ until my last breath and I pray that he strengthens my mind and heart and touches the hearts of the "Non-Religious"/Non-believers out there. Help them believe!

Bitch is the New Black

This term is used so loosely these days. Everything seems to be the new black but could being a bitch really be the new black? I think not but the title caught my eye and it really did give me a good laugh.

I've had my bitchy days and I actually unleashed some bitch on someone last night (who may or may not have deserved it - depending on which side of the situation you are on) but I don't take pride in being a bitch. I had some angrier times in my life in which I would just be a bitch to be a bitch. Not Cool. I had to check that and luckily I've moved past that stage which was marked by High School graduation and now I save up my inner bitch for when it's needed most. I feel like being a bitch is like owning a weapon. You know that it's dangerous but we often need it to protect ourselves. It's when we use it on individuals who are unarmed that's the problem.

Moving past my bitch rant, a girlfriend of mine sent me an invitation to a ladies event that would be hosted by Helena Andrews (although she wasn't able to show up because she was being interviewed by CNN as the child of a lesbian parent). I'm such a info whore in that if I'm going to do something, I typically like to read all about it so on my way home from work that day I stopped at Borders, handed them my 25% off coupon and cuddled to Ms. Andrews books so I'd be ready if we happened to see her. I was shocked that the first chapter was so me. I thought this heifer had been spying on my life here in the District - The audacity!!

She's Got a Rack...

And I'm not talking about boobies! As many of my friends know - I've got a small addiction to all things that relate to NAILS. I've got it easy. My mom has bins and bins of polish and her sister (my aunt) used to own a nail shop so this little addiction of mine has been growing since I was a young girl.

I've worn acrylics since I was 12 and I've always been all about french/American manicures. Man I miss my acrylics with a gel top finish!

I've been on and off with the acrylics for the last two years and I haven't had a relapse since this past March. I will always love the polished finish of acrylic nails but I realized that (with a lot of work) I actually have really nice natural nails and I could save a few bucks by staying away from my nail technician. I really do miss my Helen though - Sweetest thing ever (look her up at Nail Sculpture in Alexandria). Since I took my acrylics off (I was od'ing on my nail budget with the pink and white fills and gel top finishes), I've gone back to strengtheners, growth treatments, and quick dry polishes. I've never been able to perfect or maintain the homemade french tip so I'm all about neutrals and soft shades for work and then I may dabble into some eye popping colors on the weekends.

Over the past couple of weeks, I went through my polish bin, sifted through the colors that I would never wear again, and started tossing. Then I looked at the colors that I loved but for some odd reason had started to dry out or the polish had started to form around the rim of the bottles and I tossed those too. I cleaned a few bottles and then **ding ding ding** it hit me that my polish bin was the reason that my favorite polishes were drying out. My mom has maintained polishes for years with no serious problems. It never dawned on me that having your bottles sit in different directions in a bin, box, or bag in your closet, drawer, or under your bed is one of the reasons that I was wasting perfectly good product! During my epiphany I started an online search and about a week later here is my new baby - My 60 polish nail rack!


I think I love it... And I think it loves me too!

I sent this pic to my Mom earlier this week and I believe that I made her proud. The top row is still empty but I plan to fill it up. I put the cheapos at the bottom and although they don't look as nice as my OPI & Orly bottles, I'm not tossing them because I still wear some of the colors.

Kisses!

SWEET: Water Bobble

So I've been struggling lately to keep up with my water intake. Well it's more like I'm feeling dehydrated because I barely drink water so I'm making changes. Either way, a few weeks ago one of my co-workers (who's a super eco and animal friendly person) brought me one of the coolest things ever... A water bottle with a filter already in it! SWEET!

It's BPA free, reusable, made of recycled materials and seriously one of the coolest things that I own. It's making my water drinking efforts a lot easier so thank Goodness that I can save the planet, save some money, and save myself from dehydration at the same time. I've always felt like water should be free so I sometimes refuse to buy bottled water and I hate the taste of tap water so me and my water bobble are best buddies!

They are fairly cheap - $10 for a full bottle or $7 if you just want to replace the colored filter. Great find and eco-friendly!

When I believe...

So about a year and half ago, I stepped into a metro train and for once in my life, I couldn't believe how pleasant it smelled. Of course this was not due to Washington Metro but there was a young lady sitting on the train with a bag of little scented bags. I asked her why she had so many and she told me that she sold them: $5 for the smaller bags and $10 for the larger ones. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....I just couldn't imagine myself paying $10 for a scented bag but the train smelled so good that I would at least go for a smaller one. I mean, she did have an entire metro car smelling like Passion Fruit!


I hung it in my car and let me tell you - these little suckers can kick. A year and half after my run in with the young lady, my car still gets the "ooooohh your car smells good." I'm surprised because they are only estimated to last a month so I feel like I got my $5 worth.

When I seriously believe in a product, I will go all out to find out how to get loads of it. Unfortunately I lost the young ladies number but I was able to contact the company directly to get more info on buying in bulk. I haven't quite decided if I just want to buy for myself or if I want to buy with the intent to sell.

I'm not a pusher but I honestly believe that these little things will sell themselves. My only other issue is that I'm an accountant and I have a thing against inventory. Decisions - Decisions. So I'm gonna have to work on getting my inventory system down first. Here's a little survey that I created so hopefully I can do a little research before I make my final decision.

Click here to take survey

Kisses!