YOUNG, Fly, and Natural

Greetings All and Happy Holidays!  As a nod to the season, I thought I would give you all a nice little "present" to kick off the holiday season.  This is a post that I have actually been sitting on for a while, waiting for the perfect time to release it because it's just that special to me.

Over the summer I got a call from a member of my glam fam...Ms. Randi.  Ran asked me for what she considered a big favor...but what I considered an honor.  Ran wanted to set up a time for her to bring her mini me Cameron, her 10 year old daughter, over for a visit.  A little while back little Miss Cam decided that she wanted to wear her natural (virgin/never permed) hair out in a fro.  And Ran, being the supportive parent she is, granted Cam's wishes.

Initially, Cam's excitement was met with a little opposition from some of her female classmates.  Cam was teased about her hair because it was "different" from the girls in her class.  But, this didn't deter Cam, especially since she had lots of reassurance from her fab mommy that she was beautiful and her hair was fab.

Now...back to the favor...Ran asked if her and Cam could come over to learn about some good products and to get some styling tips.  I don't know who was more excited out of the three of us...I'm willing to put my money on myself.  One Friday afternoon I relished in playing in products and experimenting with different styles in Cam's hair.  She left all smiles...so I'm sure she had fun too.

Cam even gushed about how healthy her hair is in it's natural state and that she observed that some of her classmates who were teasing her before, couldn't say the same.  

I absolutely adore Cam for her confidence in and love of her natural coif! Especially, at such a young age.  She is proof positive that little natural girls rock too!!!

Until next time...

Ms. K

The Lemon in LEMONade

Most people who know me well, know that I make (arguably) the best fresh squeezed lemonade.  On any given day, if you come to my house you will find any given variation chilling in the refrigerator.  Peach-Pineapple lemonade is my favorite, but some of my friends will surely beg to differ as some fan favorites are mango-pineapple, strawberry-peach-pineapple, strawberry-watermelon...and the list goes on.  In fact some of my friends insist that if I bottled my tasty concoctions, I would make some serious money.

Well...a little over a month ago I started to think about how much money I spend on lemons in a month.  Then I had the fleeting thought that I should just buy a lemon tree and grow my own lemons.  The thought turned out not to be so fleeting...actually the more I repeated the thought in my head...the more it seemed to be a genius idea. 

I am pretty chummy with a nice gentleman that works on my job.  Our daily kind exchanges often cover travel, fashion, and his love for gardening.  He has over 25 fruit bushes/trees on his property.  I shared my genius idea with him and he immediately lit up.  He was sold and he then gave me the best piece of advice ever.  He told me to go to Watson's nursey just north of the city.  At the time their citrus trees were 50% off.  I took this as sign #1.

So off to Watson's I went...I got the last lemon tree (sign #2) at what I consider a steal...$13 bucks.  Not only did my co-worker give me the great advice to go to Watson's...he also gave me repotting instructions, composte, and his special concoction that he uses for his trees and bushes.  I don't have much of a green thumb...but I'm pretty excited about this project...hopefully that will show through in the successful growth of my tree.  So far, I've already pulled one lemon. :-)

Stay tuned!

Ms. K

BACK IN THE SADDLE: TOP 100 TEAM NATURAL

 

I know it’s been a minute, but life happened and all of my attempts to post were derailed.  Did you guys miss me???  I surely missed you all and blogging on all the things going on with my hair, my house, and of course everything in between.  And believe me I have a lot of content that accumulated during my absence.  So I’m back in the saddle and ready to continue this journey that has already been more than I imagined when I started this blog.  I promise that the next time I take a break…I won’t be away so long.

Now…on with this post.  As I was combing the web the other day, for nothing in particular, I came across one of the most amazing resources for my fellow natural hair girls and those who are considering being a part of team natural.

I was so excited to see this post because I like a large population of the word, am an Instagram (IG) fanatic.  Admittedly, I have abandoned both Facebook and Twitter (with the exception of random and rare visits when I’m bored) for IG.  For me, IG is where I can go to get laughs, updates on the lives of my friends who are far away, words of inspiration, the happenings of some of my fav celebs, and of course fierce natural hair styles.

I like every other girl in the world am constantly in search of the next style to try on myself or take to my hairdresser for replication.  I have yet to find one constant reliable source that I can always come back to again and again.  But with IG, I’m well on my way.  I find myself mesmerized by the timelines of naturalista’s across the world and in some instances compilations of team natural like on the CurlBox timeline.

A few weeks back, my homey Jania was in search of a new ‘do for her coif.  I directed her to IG, specifically to CurlBox’s timeline.  For me, the natural hair pics on IG give me life on a daily basis.  Anyone that knows me personally knows that I’m all about styling my coif and I change my hair style virtually every day.  Which is one of the reasons why scoping out the fab pics of team natural has become a daily addiction for me, but in a good way (see some pics I swiped from CurlBox's IG timeline  below).  Which is why I swooned when I saw Essence Mag compiled a list of the top natural hair instagrammers to follow.  Shear Genius!  

If you haven’t seen the list yet, check it out:

http://www.essence.com/2012/07/26/favorite-natural-hair-instagrammers-what-you-said/

Ms. K

(My) Home for the Holidays

Okay...I realize that I have not posted in a very long time...as in, not one post in the entire month of January, long time.  And for that I apologize.  I really have no excuse.  Especially because most of the upcoming posts (including this one) have been partially drafted for quite some time.  *sigh* Life happened...plain and simple, but I'm back and I promise not to stay gone so long the next time. ;-)

As you all know, this past Christmas was my first Christmas in my beloved home.  And in my usual, true OOT (over the top) fashion, I had elaborate plans for decorating the house.  At the cornerstone of my holiday decorating plans...purchase a live Christmas tree.  Something I know absolutely nothing about because by the time I came along, my mother was over live trees.

I purchased the tree on the 2nd Saturday of December with every intention of letting it fall until the following Wednesday at the latest, then decorating it.  Well my crazy work/social calendar threw a slight wrench in my decorating plans.  And Wednesday turned into Saturday.  But then it happened.  I got sick.  Bronchitis/Sinus Infection sick.  I was totally out of commission.  Sick or not, that was the last weekend before Christmas and the last chance for me to decorate.


Mommy was nice enough to volunteer to come over to help me decorate.  She's the best.  We did both outdoor and indoor.  I got a few pics, but I apparently didn't get all of the outside decorations.  But I did get the piece de resistance of the outdoor decorations.


Enjoy!

Ms. K

My Tree (yes I realize it's rather large)

My DIY Wreath! Of course I had to be different!

View of the wreath from afar (and of my new door and welcome sign)

I had to add this pic to complete the experience.  A pic of SOME (yes there were more) of the needles that fell from the tree when we removed it.

 

 

 

PRODUCT REVIEW: Aveda Be Curly

Hey All!  This is my first jab at a Vlog. The video may not win any cinematic awards, but I promise, future vlogs will get better. :-) Oh and ignore the hair color...that is a long story within itself.  But, I am happy to report my hair is not that/those (lol) colors anymore. 

Enjoy the vid!

Ms. K

PSA:VOTE FOR ASH

Hello all! I know it's been awhile and for that I apologize. The explanation is forthcoming in a future post so I won't get into it now. What I do want to get into is the reason for this special post. Now you all should remember my dear friend Ashley from this post. Well as the wedding planning continues, Ash came across a contest on Facebook where finalist compete to win a free 3-hour photo booth session for the event of their choice by the lovely folks of Shutterbooth Maryland. Now wayyyyyy before this contest Ash made it very clear that Shutterboith is THE one and only company she wants to perform the photo booth services at her wedding. So Ash and I got our creative juices flowing and came up with 6 festive outfits to enter into the contest. Low and behold, one of Ash's looks (my fav of the 6) was selected as a finalist. Now all we need is YOUR vote. Anyone who did what she did in the previous post deserves to win!

You can vote for Ash once a day for the next 3 days by visiting the Shutterbooth Maryland Facebook page (found here). Ash is the one in the green and red wrapping paper skirt designed and created by yours truly.

SO PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE VOTE FOR ASH (once a day...for the next three days)!!!! Oh and tell your friends to vote too!

Thanks so much!

Ms. K

DIY To-Do List Revisited

Hello All!  I know I've been slacking on the blog posts lately and for that I apologize.  Life just keeps happening as it often does, but I promise to make an earnest effort to do better.  Now on to the good stuff...the post...

So back in May I did a DIY To-Do-List for the house.  At that time I just moved in to my house and mommy and I were ambitious to say the least when coming up with a to-do list.  Considering I've been here for 7 months now, I decided to revisit the to-do list and see how much progress I've made.  Here we go:

#1 Re-upholstering Chair  - We actually decided not to cover the chair because it matches perfectly with the colors we chose for the lower level.

#2 Sanding and Staining Desk - We did manage to do this and a darn good job at that.  People ALWAYS ask where we got the desk and they are completely stunned to find out the truth!

#3 Painting Bookshelf - This is another item we can check off of the list.  One of my better ideas I must admit. :-)

#4 Upholstered Headboard (for guest room) - We all know how much of a success this project was.  In case you missed it, see it here.  As a result, i have received multiple requests for mommy and I to create one for family and friends alike (I hope HGTV is reading this, that would be a great idea for a new show...a mother/daughter tag team, lol).

#5 Making decor/throw pillows (for the couch) - I really should be ashamed of myself that I have yet to complete this project.  Admittedly, I have all but abandoned this project.  I am going to get back into it though, because I really think the pillows will turn out fab, plus it will really give my beloved couch a little extra umph!

I'm actually pretty impressed.  We managed to complete all but 1 project.  Another project we have yet to complete is the stenciling of the wall in my bedroom.  I really need to do that soon because I am delaying the mountin of my television until I stencil the wall.  Looks like we have another to-do list.

#1 - Finsish decor/throw pillows (for couch)

#2 - Stencil bedroom wall.

I am counting on you all to hold me to a completion date of April 9, 2012.  That is the one year anniversary of my moving into the house. That's totally reasonable.  Right????  :-)

Ms. K