i ♥ dc.

…And always will. Yes, technically I was raised in “The Area” (never actually lived within the DC borders) but I love DC like it was my own, because it’s an amazing city. You can routinely find me telling people I’m from DC, talking about different parts of the city I’m familiar with, before mumbling the requisite side-note that I actually grew up in Maryland…. #shrug.  I still rep the District. And pretty much every DMV-raised person I know does the same.

So when I saw this, my heart did a little nostalgic happy dance:

¤ Source: http://www.OrkPosters.com¤

I’m in love all over again.

And they have other cities too! New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Philly, Boston…. All with really cool typographic style of ID’ng the neighborhoods. Check ’em out and  see if they have your city! Meanwhile I’ll be buying this one… and putting it prominently in my new home come the fall…. (more on that soon ;)

♥

My Favorite Love Songs…

Yes folks, it’s that time of year again. When everyone you know is either cuddling up to the one they love or really like, or cursing this ill-begotten red and pink holiday.

Valentine’s day :)

I’ve spent the majority being mildly (ok more than mildly…) bitter at the entire concept of this day, but with a glass of wine in my system, I’m ready to be a bit more civil. I’ll admit, my first single V-Day in 4 years was awfully strange. You know how you don’t notice certain things in others until you don’t have them? Yeah well it seemed like EVERYONE was getting flowers or obnoxious balloons or surprise gifts. Like, everywhere. *vomit*.

I think the low point of this day was when an aging hobo asked me to be his Valentine. Talk about rock bottom. lol. #singlelife.

Anyways, back to the point, where was I?…. Right, love songs. Most days of the year, I’m perfectly optimistic about the concept of love, and I am a big fan of great love songs. So below (after the cut) are some of my favorites, and if you’re late on the boat and haven’t put together a playlist for your special someone or other, hope this helps. Celebrate the Love :)

….or if you’re still bitter, holler at my good friend Modi for his Singles Awareness Day Mixtape #3, which is a great ode to those of us without someone to snuggle with tonight. (Or check him out anyways, he’s mad talented!)

Anyways, Happy Valentine’s Day, folks. I’m off for a much deserved bubble bath. And to refill my glass. lol.

despite my slightly gloomy mood, as always…

♥

I’m baaaaack!

Hello lovelies :) Didja miss me?

I know, I know. It’s been forever. :-x But like I said before, my life has been in shambles lately, a whooole lot of mess pulling in a bunch of directions. So what have I been upto? Lets run through it.

1. VEGAS. Yes. I was there. It was unbelievable, I had the most amazing time! Me and 3 of my very good friends jetted out to beautiful, sunny Nevada to live out our own version of “The Hangover”. We went out, saw a show, played tourist, gambled (I won $7.14 y’all. Can we say ballin’?), had In-N’-Out Burger for the first time in life (Dear Lord. If I can eat nothing else for the rest of my life… I’ll never complain again. Amen.), spent WAY too much money, and bonded with my Wolfpack. Vacation of EPIC proportions. Can’t wait for the next one :)

2. Grad School. One interview down, 3 to go! The first one went REALLY well, I have high hopes that  I showed Vandy without a doubt that I am AWESOME. Like, seriously. lol. And Nashville was actually a LOT of fun. A friend of mine was nice enough to take me around town and show me a great time, I had a blast. Who knows…. I may be moving to Tennessee y’all :) lol

3. My Poor Pookie.

Yes. That is the formerly sleek and unblemished driver’s side of my Pookie, otherwise known as my ’09 Camry. *cue the hot salty tears of depression… and pour out a little Turtle Wax for her.* Note to all: I don’t care how little regard you hold for your piece of $#!? car, but I LOVE mine. Blind turns in parking garages have 5mph speed limits FOR A REASON. *sniff*. Stupid ’96 Cavalier. At least the cop was fine though. Officer Jones….. #yesplease. lol.

4. Workworkwork…. and BS co-workers. Any of you who follow me on Twitter knows that I faced quite the debacle with a co-worker last week. #deeeeeepsigh. Lets get one thing straight, shall we? I am many things, but a pushover is not one of them. When I ask you to do something and you don’t, just because I don’t say anything, doesn’t mean I’m not aware of your bull. So don’t act all shocked and surprised when I stop asking you to do stuff. There is NOTHING on this planet I despise more than people who don’t have the decency to follow through when asked for a favor. If you don’t want to do it, SAY NO. Seriously! So that I know not to bother next time. Because I will only put my work integrity in your pathetic, incapable hands so many times before I relegate you to a box reserved for the lazy and irresponsible. Do NOT mess with my job. I take my image at work VERY seriously, and don’t appreciate those who can’t do the same. < /rant >

5. SuperBowl Commercials …meh. Except for these two!:

Greatness. And no, I’m not going to comment on the game this year. I was bored to tears. And the Steelers…. just…. fail.

6. New Ink …Yes I know. I’m an addict. But I can’t help myself lol. Officially saving up for tattoo #6… Once I finalize the design, I’ll share. :)

7. BookyWooks! I’ve been reading up a storm in my web-absence. “The Unnamed” (Joshua Ferris),”Bitch Is The New Black” (Helena Andrews), “Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self” (Danielle Evans), “Naked” (David Sedaris) and always more to come. Each VERY different, but I like the variety. Hit me up for more detailed reviews if you’d like, but I’d recommend them all! Long Live REAL books!

8. Tiger In the wake of the insanity that is my life, I had to give up my baby boo, my dog Tiger. Still miss him something FIERCE! :( Hopefully once my schedule dials back I’ll be able to get another dog…. But I miss my Punkin’ Face. I really hope he found a good family though.

Anyways I should really get back to work… Though this was a nice break, time to mosey on back to the craziness that is my work day. Later folks :)

♥

self-lovin’.

Raise your hand if you can confidently and without a doubt say that you love every single minute thing about your body, yourself, who you are, etc.

Don’t worry. I’ll wait.

Nobody? alright then. That’s what I thought. Why is that?

It’s frustrating and sad. Even the most outwardly confident of us all have something they take major issue with.  Too big, small, loud, quiet, sticks out too far, too short, too long, yaddayaddayadda. And then we try to justify all of this in the name of “self-confidence” “conceitedness” by throwing in “well at least he/she/it has it worse than me.” WTH? That’s not self-confidence. That’s petty and destructive. And it’s not going to work anyways.

So why do it? Sure, at the end of the day you’ve created a booster seat with the pile of dashed self-lovin’ of other people, but if you have to KEEP DOING IT, clearly it’s not working.

My dear sister, who makes her home on the interwebs over at Les Coeurs Solitaires posted this fabulous quote the other day. Thought I’d share with y’all :)

“At some point in your adult life, you’ve probably walked into a party and felt a frisson of relief upon discovering at least one woman there who was fatter, uglier, and/or dressed more inappropriately than you. We sure have. But if you want to have any hope of making peace with your own body, you need to knock that shit off.

We’re not even telling you to stop just because it’s nasty, petty, and beneath you to judge other women so harshly; it is, but because you’re not a saint, and neither are we. We’re telling you to stop because it’s actually in your own self-interest to stop being such a bitch. ‘Cause you know what happens when you quit saying that crap about other women? You magically stop saying it about yourself so much, too.

Judging other women negatively creates a constant stream of nasty thoughts in your head. It is inevitable that you will end up applying those same standards to yourself. We think we’re building ourselves up when we do this but, really, we’re just tearing other people down to our level. And we hate to go all Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood on you, but tearing other people down isn’t really productive. It leaves you in the same place you started, which is full of loathing for your own body. “

–Excerpt from Screw Inner Beauty, by Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby

And the church says AMEN. Let 2011 be the year we let go of petty crap, self-destructive thoughts, and unnecessary negativity about ourselves, and everybody else for that matter. Please and Thank you.

♥

good music!

Short pointless post. Stumbled across this and the concept alone blew my mind. Nirvana x J*Davey. #YesPlease.

Great original, epic cover. I love J*Davey!

Listen and enjoy :)

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Another year gone by…

Another turning point;
a fork stuck in the road.

Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.

So make the best of this test
and don’t ask why.

It’s not a question,
but a lesson learned in time.

It’s something unpredictable
but in the end it’s right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

–Green Day

2010 has come and gone.

May the upcoming year bring you bigger and better things than the one before it.

[in 5…….. 4…….. 3…….. 2…….. 1……..]

 

happy new year!

♥

Secrets…

“… Some mine, some his, some hers…”

Line from one of my favorite Alice Smith songs: “Secrets” off her album “For Lovers, Dreamers, & Me”.  That line for me is so simple, but loaded.

We all have secrets, right? Those stories or details that we keep to ourselves. Don’t tell anyone but our closest confidantes (and even sometimes, we may not tell them either).

…Or maybe that’s me. Personally, I have some things that I just can’t tell anybody. Maybe it’s because I think that certain things aren’t mine to tell. Other times I just don’t want *that* look on people’s faces. Sometimes it’s just not any of their business. But by and large,  I like to keep to myself. I don’t tell most people jack. I’m a secretive introvert.

Why? Because people judge. And people pity. And it’s a natural human reaction to OVERreact to certain tidbits of news. And on those most secret of topics in my life, I’d rather not deal with all of that. Kindly #STFU, please.

Not for lack of trust, but it’s mostly borne from a tendency to keep sensitive info to myself. While with a whole lot of stuff I’m a total blabbermouth, certain things I have no desire to tell anyone. It makes it complicated when it comes to my confidantes, because there are a few things that even my very closest friends don’t know (aside from probably my best friend and my ex, who know just about everything there is to know about me).

I prefer to keep my secrets.

I think there is something to be said for those of us who can maintain some level of secrecy/candid-ness in the face of the openness that social media provides us these days. I may be extroverted on many levels, I can sometimes be super TMI, I have a Twitter account that I use somewhat obnoxiously, but when it comes to certain topics, I’m totally mum. I just feel like certain things aren’t other people’s business.

Somethings  just don’t need to be shared. The increasingly open nature of the internet has taught me that I need to be more careful with my secrets. They’re secrets for a reason, right?

I may have some trust issues.   o_O

It keeps me a tad closed off from the world, but I like the fact that there are certain things about me that people will never know about me unless they really give me reason to invite them to my inner circle.

Wanna know more? Ask. And maybe in a few months, you may receive. But until then, there are only certain things that I’ll feel comfortable telling people. But it’s a personal deal.

Sharing every facet of my life with EVERYONE I know can’t possibly be healthy. So I’m gonna stick to this method until someone proves me wrong that silence can be golden in some situations. Because seriously, I think sometimes it pays to keep your mouth shut. Meh.

♥

I love Booky Wooks.

Reading is awesome. For serious. One of my bestie’s favorite quote is,  “If you can read this, thank a teacher.” When did we all give up on the amazing art of disappearing into a book?

I won’t lie, I’ve been skimpin’ on my reading quest of late, but I just picked a new book before my Thanksgiving trip, and I cracked it open on the bus this morning. I think it’s a genuinely bad idea to forgo reading in favor of lesser entertainment forms…. Yea I can hear you all calling me a nerd. I don’t care. #nerdygirlswag. On a thousand-trillion. lol.

According to the BBC, the average person has only read 6 of the following books in their lives. SIX!! That’s it?! Maybe I’m just a bookworm, but I think as humanity we all need to do wayyyy better. Read my blog (lol) then log off the interwebs and head to the nearest bookstore/library. Please and Thank You. lol. Anyways, below (after the cut)  is *my* version of the  Top 100 Nominated books on The Big Read list…. Bold if I read it, Italicized if I didn’t finish it (Yet!!!).

Enjoy! And pick up a book or two off the list why don’t ya.

♥

Series of Random Thoughts…

Hey y’all!

I don’t care what the calendar says. Winter is here. It’s freakin’ cooooooold!!! >:-O As a consequence, my brain/creativity is somewhat stalled. So instead of a coherent post, what have I got for ya today? Basically a brain-ticker-tape. lol.  Sue me. #lehgo!

Home was amazing. Seriously, Atlanta’s got NOTHIN’ on the DMV. I miss my fam and friends already. Can’t WAIT for a whole 2-ish weeks for Christmas/New Years!

I make a mean turkey. Seriously. Ask about me. Not a leftover anywhere. Mmmmmm Thanksgiving :)

Speaking of food, clearly I’ve been indulging lately. +8 lbs since this summer… Eeek! Back on my gym grind I go. Can’t be a chubbster in the New Year lol.

Music currently in heavy rotation in my head… “Pretty Girl Rock” (Keri Hlison), “Ay Yo” (Melanie Fiona), “What’s My Name” (Rhianna/Drake), “Rap Song” (T-Pain/Rick Ross), “Closer”(Goapele), “I’m Single” (Lil’ Wayne), “pretty much every song they sing on GLEE, such as “Teenage Dream” (Katy Perry), “F**k You” (Cee-Lo), “Hey Soul Sister” (Train)….. But as always I’m always down for new suggestions. Bring em’ on!

Today is World AIDS Day. Do your part. Donate, get tested, protect yourself, educate, wear red, whatever it is you can manage. Silence and stigma are things of the past. Whether your life has been touched by this disease or not (I personally have an uncle who passed last year from HIV-related sickness, after transmitting it to his wife.) this is a GLOBAL cause. Not one to be ignored.

All my graduate school applications are DONE! Now the waiting game begins. My top 3 (in order): Northwestern, Columbia, U. Maryland. Time to call on that power of positive thinking! Interviews WILL happen, and there WILL be awesomeness emanating from my pores. Still got my fingers crossed though. lol

My hair has stalled, I think. I’ve said this before, I know, and it turned out not to be true. But I swear it has stopped growing. lol. Although the front bit (that was darn-near bald when I initially BC’d) has come back and almost caught up, I feel like I’ve been hovering around 5-6 inches for EVAH. But it looks/feels healthy…. So maybe it’s in my head. lol. Oh yeah, and I totally missed my 1-Year Afro-versary, but it was 10-23-10 :) Still kinda can’t believe I had the ‘nads to chop all my hair off lol!

I’m a total Scrooge this year and I don’t know why. I’m not in the Holiday mood at ALL. Haven’t listened to a single Christmas song yet. Haven’t changed the decor in my cube (ok that’s a lie, one of the ladies on my floor gave my adorbs pumpkins a mean side-eye this morning, and I finally put them away lol). Have no idea what I want under the tree. Just…. blah. Got 3 weeks to change that. lol

Saw my ex for the first time since we ended things. And it was very…. comfortable. Surprisingly so, actually. I built it up in my head to be this super awkward encounter, but it was so easy-going. We had coffee, caught up on life-in-general, and parted ways with mucho-positivity. I really missed him. I have high hopes that we can be good friends :)

I’m seriously pondering a 6th (!!!!) tattoo. I don’t have an exact design in place yet, but I do have the spot all picked out. Top of my left shoulder. I’m thinking something family related? Who knows. I’m such an addict. lol.

That’s all I got for today. Hope you all are starting your December’s off right! You have 30 days left to make 2010 worth it. Take advantage :)

♥

Quote of the Day…

“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all, I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.”

–Agatha Christie

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