Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Is My Hair Still Growing?!

15 Months Natural

It's a little past time for my length check, but it's still April so we're going to roll with it anyway.

You all know how I'm longing for some hang time, right?! So, I go to do my length check and I'm wondering, where is all my hair??!! This might seem like a silly question, but it seems as if my hair has stopped growing. Here is my April length check:

March 24 = 60 weeks natural, 19 weeks since the BC


April 29 = 65 weeks natural, 24 weeks since the BC

I know you see what I see!! I've lost length! Let's compare 'fros!!

Then Now

This whole month I've been thinking that my hair wasn't as long and I had convinced myself that I was losing my mind, but indeed I am not!! (Look at the progress I had been making here and here!!)

Then I remembered this:


Last month I got a "trim". It was a drastic trim because I wasn't getting my hair trimmed regularly. I kept saying I needed to get it trimmed and even blogged about it a few times, but never went through with it. I ended up going about 5 months without a trim. That's right!! I hadn't had my hair trimmed since my BC...LOL. I think the BC was such a dramatic experience for me that I wouldn't let my cosmetologist get near my head with a pair of scissors for a while. I've learned my lesson. Never again will I go that long without getting my hair trimmed. I lost good length during that trim and I'm definitely feeling it now. Losing length is not helping me reach my goal of getting some hang time!!

I'm sure there will be other lessons to learn throughout this natural hair journey of mine. 
What are some lessons you've had to learn the hard way??

By the way...don't forget my best friends Blogiversary Celebration and $250 giveaway!! Click here to enter!!


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Thursday, April 25, 2013

MY BEST FRIEND'S FIRST BLOGIVERSARY!!

{via}

Today is my best friend Nicole's very first...
 BLOGIVERSARY, [blog-uh-vur-suh-ree]you know, the yearly anniversary of her blog!!! I just have to say how proud I am of this young woman. She has definitely inspired me in many ways. I wouldn't be a blogger without her having stepped out and into this thing!! I want to thank her so very much for all the lessons, support, and advice she's given along the way and let her know that I love her very much!!!

So enough with the lessons and sentiment, let's celebrate! I've teamed up with her and the fabulous ladies below to giveaway $250 cash via Paypal!



Be sure to read the Official Giveaway Rules.
Note: This giveaway is open internationally.  You must have a Paypal account to enter.
Now get to it and stop by to wish Nicole a Happy Blogiversary!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Steak Marinade

Hey Mi-ettes!!

I cooked steak this past weekend and there's this marinade I use that I decided to share with you all. A while back when I had a little more time to spice up my menus, I went on google in search of ways to spice up my steaks. Here's the recipe:

1/4 cup of vegetable oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 drop of lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of mustard
1 clove or garlic (or 1 spoonful of minced garlic)
ground pepper to taste

Best Steak Cut
I've tried this marinade on a few different cuts of steaks and it definitely works best on T-bone's. I guess that's why it's called Wall's T-BONE Steak Marinade...LOL. 
Prep Time
The recipe says to let steak sit in the marinade for at least two hours. It depends on how thick the steak is, but I think it tastes better if you let it sit all day!! This gives the juices ample time to seep into the meat.
Best Way To Cook
I've tried cooking it on the stove and on the grill. I liked it better when I've cooked it on the stove. There was just something about letting the steak slow cook on the stove...not to say that it was terrible on the grill. It was definitely in close second!
Give this recipe a try and let me know how it goes!
BY THE WAY!!

My best friend, IRL, is having a celebration for her first Blogiversary on April 25th!! She, and a few other bloggers, are giving away $250 IN CASH!!...lol. SO, stop by here on Thursday for more details and a chance to win some cash!

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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Sunday Social

I haven't done a Sunday Social in a while.
I'm feeling it today, so I'm gonna jump in (with two hours left)! 

Sunday Social

1. What is your shopping weakness?


Clothes. The bad thing about it is I try to be frugal so I can excuse shopping in excess...and I find some great pieces, with my frugal self. Now I'm at the point now where I'm ready to let go of my frugal-ness for the sake of good, quality clothing!

2. What is your food weakness?


I wouldn't really say I have a food weakness, but I do love me some french fries. I'm like Bubba (from Forrest Gump) with potatoes. I can eat them fried, hashed, scalloped, tatered, etc. etc...LOL. French fries are my favorite food and I can eat them at any time of the day.

3. What is your go to movie to watch when nothing is on?


Coming to America. There's just something about this movie that never gets old...and it always makes me laugh!

4. What is your go to breakfast food?


This has been a tough one for me lately. A year ago, this answer would have been easy...EGGS! I ran into some trouble with keeping eggs down so I've had an aversion to them ever since. I've been trying to find something to satisfy my need for food in the morning, to no avail, but I'm working my way back into eating eggs...slowly but surely.

5. Do you drink coffee? If so, how do you take it.


I'm not a regular coffee drinker. I've recently found a staple coffee at Starbucks that I love...White Chocolate Mocha Espresso!! When I get a cup of coffee that I have to fix myself...I use a whoooole lot of sugar, a good amount of cream (I prefer liquid. Powder is fine. Flavored powder is even better!), and of course non-decaf coffee. I drink coffee whenever it's around and/or I'm craving something sweet.

What are some of your answers to these questions?! I'm curious....


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Friday, April 19, 2013

The Liebster Award!

Mi-ettes!!! I've been nominated for a LIEBSTER AWARD by Emily at At Home With The Brownies!!


Emily, you made my week with this award! I was just thinking how neat it would be to be nominated! Now that I have been nominated and I have the opportunity to do the same for others, I'm super excited about it!

The Liebster Award is given to blogs with 200 followers or less who deserve to be noticed. 
Here are the rules for receiving this award:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions the nominating blogger set for you
4. Create 11 questions for the bloggers you tag
5. Choose 11 bloggers who fit the criteria and link them in your post.
6.Go to their page and tell them.
7. No tag backs!!

This is definitely not mandatory. If you've been nominated for this award before, consider it an honor to be nominated again!! I will definitely understand if you choose not to participate because this took me a little over a month to put together!! (I'm not exaggerating about that either). So here I go!

11 random facts about me:
1. I drink Half & Half like a regular beverage. I even use it in my cereal when I'm craving something sweet.
2. I love Coming To America, The Friday series (Friday, Next Friday, Friday After Next), Kill Bill 1 & 2, Scarface, and Paid In Full. I have all of those on DVD except Scarface and the Kill Bills. These movies come on TV quite regularly...and I watch them every time!! I hardly ever watch he DVDs...lol.
3. I do random ballet moves in the house when walking from one room to the next...at least I make an attempt at what I call ballet moves.
4. I put pillows at the foot of my bed each night to keep my feet warm. I don't like wearing socks when I sleep.
5. Along the same lines, I like to sleep with the air on between 70 and 72 degrees every night, even in the winter.
6. I prefer firm toilet paper rather than soft toilet paper.
7. I can be very, very wordy.
8. I can be very, very sensitive.
9. I love shows like The Walking Dead, True Blood, and Dexter (that comes on Showtime, not the cartoon...lol). They're all very gruesome shows but I can look past all the gore for the great story lines.
10. I love taking pictures. People pick on me because I take a lot of pictures of myself, but what else am I supposed to take pictures of when there's no one else around?
11. I shower twice daily; once in the morning and once at night. My friends pick on me because they think its excessive and unnecessary to wash that many times a day. The question I'm asked the most is "do you get dirty between going to sleep and waking up?!"...LOL!


1. What is your favorite book?
I don't really read many books these days...not that I don't want to, I truly just don't have time for it. I wish I did because I enjoy leisure reading. It's relaxing. One of my coworker's father recently passed and her aunt bought her this book (#5). After she read it, she lent it to me because she thought I would enjoy it. I did!!

2. If you could vacation anywhere, where would it be?
This is a great question because I love to travel. I definitely wouldn't label myself a jet setter (since I've only flown once), but I enjoy being on the open road. I've talked a little about the type of traveling I'd like to do here (#2). I want use my passport to go overseas and visit other countries and I want to visit tropical locations/islands. I just want to experience different things, but I definitely want to be educated before I go anywhere!! I'm not trying to end up having Liam Neeson come get me from anybody's trap house!

3. What is your favorite song? (This question was asked twice.)
As I've discussed here, I don't really have favorites when it comes to music because I love a lot of different songs, artists, albums, etc. It's hard to single out just one song. I can say right now what my favorite song is, turn around and her another song and say that that one is my favorite too! So, to make it easier, I don't single "favorites" out.

4. What is your dream job?
My number one dream job is stay at home wife and mom. You know how some people crave certain jobs or accomplishments to feel as if they've made it? My desires are to have a good marriage and to be a good mother. I don't crave it so much that I'm willing to do whatever to get either of them (clearly...as I am still unmarried and without child(ren)) but I believe God has a plan designed specifically for me concerning each of these desires so I'll continue to wait on Him (God!). Now, as if it won't already be dream enough to get to these milestones, the dream part is the stay at home part...LOL. I want to be able to devote myself and my full attention to both my husband and child(ren). I know in this society today, it's extremely hard to live comfortably off one income...especially with children...but I've always wanted this for myself (the key word is dream!). I've accomplished great things in my lifetime and I can never downplay any of those things, but I would gladly push those things aside for the opportunity to be there for my family in ways I wish things could have been done for me. I want to be home when my children go to and come from school, be active in their school activities, and I also want to be able to provide an excellent home for my husband (and the kids too)! That's so 1950s, I know, but it is indeed a dream of mine.

5. Who do you admire and why?
One person I admire is my mother. Without going into too much detail she's the woman I've modeled myself after, but with a twist. There are a lot of things I've seen and experienced. Even though my mom was really the one experiencing a lot of those things herself (and I was just going through them with her) she always had advice for me; she always had my future in mind. She always wanted more and better for me and my sister. No one can quite understand because they weren't there with her like I was and being there was very powerful; I will always remember those experiences. I love my Moma and always will...and I'm so grateful for the woman'she's made me into.

6. What is your favorite quote?
I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. - Jesus

7. What is your favorite hobby?
One hobby I truly enjoy is blogging. It's something I can own and grow into something so much larger than I ever could have imagined. However, I'm always struggling to find balance with blogging, work, house duties, etc.! I hate that. I've spoken about how I wish I could invest more time into it in plenty of posts, so I won't even go there.

8. What is your favorite song?
There are many songs I like. As much as I love music, I can never pick one favorite anything. In one moment I can say I this song is my favorite, then turn right around and say another song is my favorite, so I won't go there either. I've spoken about music here, here, here, and here...I think they all accurately speak to my love for music.


9. What is your favorite holiday?
Well, I know this might kind of sound sucky...but I don't have a favorite holiday. I have personal reasons for why I like or don't like each holiday but if I had to pick three, I would pick Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day. If my arm was twisted, I'd pick Christmas because it's a celebration of Jesus. I love Jesus...so I enjoy celebrating his life.

10. Where did you go on your last vacation?
This might sound crazy, but I don't go on vacations. Let me explain! When I think of vacations I think of times where you set aside a good amount of time (at least a week) to plan a trip and activities to do while on this trip. It's something you save up for so you can go somewhere and "ball out"!! LOL..It's set aside time where you can relax, enjoy yourself, and have fun doing the things you planned to do...with some spontaneity thrown in here and there. With all that said I did manage to take to sneak a somewhat extended weekend trip to New York, New York. I had fun with the people I was with (I especially enjoyed spending time with my traveling partner) and I truly wish we could have stayed a longer.

Now!! The 11 blogs I've nominated are...(drum roll)...in no particular order

Recipients...thanks so much for blogging! I enjoy all off your blogs!! 
Here are 11 questions for you to answer, if you wish to accept this blog award!
1. What's something your blog readers don't know about you?
2. Do you have any pets? If so, tell us one funny thing about your relationship with your pet (something funny they do; something funny you do with your pet, etc.). If you don't have a pet, what type of pet would you pick and what would you name it?
3. If you could be on a Reality TV show, which show would you choose and why?
4. What are your 3 favorite non-social media websites?
5. What's your favorite meal to cook?
6. If you won the lottery, what would you buy first?
7. What's your favorite thing to blog about?
8. You get to become a villain from a Disney movie for a day, which villain would you pick and why?
9. What did you want to be when you were little? Did you become that?
10. How old were you when you got our first cell phone?
11. When shopping for clothes, what's your go to store?

I hope you all choose to participate. I would enjoy reading your posts, so let me know when you posted your Liebster Award response! I can't wait.

I know that was a very long post, but I've been diligently working on this for a while...trying to get it finished. Now that it is, tell me what you think! Did you learn anything new??

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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Hair Tuesday!

I've decided to stop calling my salon visits Dilemma Tuesday. Now I will just simply rename the day Hair Tuesday!! For the last couple of visits I've been more proactive in knowing exactly what I want done to my head...so it's not a dilemma if I know.

I finally decided to do the comb coils. I discussed all my worries about comb coils here, but despite those worries, I decided to give it a try anyway. You never know unless you try right?!

As you all know, I'm not into the tight curl look. Everyone at the salon was doting over the before look and wanting me to leave with my hair like that. I already knew I wanted my hair untwisted, so there was no way I was keeping my hair twisted (below pic). The before twists were just way too tight and flat on my head. Here's a picture of what the coils looked like before they were untwisted:

No Way!!
Super tight curls and too flat, right?

I knew going into this that the after look would already look tight enough...at least for 3 or 4 days. However, I was willing to give it a try. So I did!! Here's the after look:

Hang time would come in handy here

...but cute nonetheless!

Comb coils can be used to start dreadlocks. They move like dreads too. I went through a small period during middle school when I thought I wanted dreads, but I decided against it when I realized I'd have to cut my hair off if I didn't want them anymore. I also went through a "crunk" stage in college - a time during which shaking dreads was very prevalent. Ever since the song 'Knuck If You Buck" came out I've wanted to "shake my dreads" so bad. This is the closest I'm going to get to doing it!! So every now and then I "shake my dreads". LOL.

STILL! I'm definitely ready for these jokers to fall...but I am enjoying the new look.

What do you think??

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Friday, April 5, 2013

Last Dilemma Tuesday

This past Tuesday was Dilemma Tuesday. Although that's what I've decided to name my salon days, this Tuesday wasn't actually a dilemma for me. I already knew what I needed to do!! It was definitely time for a trim. I hadn't had my hair trimmed since my big chop in November! As I discussed here, my ends were in desperate need of a trim.

Here's my hair before the salon:

My afro before going to the salon to get my natural hair straightened.

 Here is my straightened hair, pre-cut:


Here's my hair post cut:


And here's a comparison shot. My hair the first time it was straightened in January (for my Naturalversary) and my hair now (at the end of March):


When I first looked at my hair, I thought it hadn't grown much. All this hair just seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Like one day, I fluffed my afro out and it was a lot larger than usual. And only after doing a comparison shot of my straightened hair, I realized it had grown extremely quickly in just two months. The girls at the salon give me a hard time because I always tell them I'm ready for some hang time...lol. When I saw this, it doesn't mean that I don't really think my hair is growing, I just have personal goals for my natural hair, and that's the day I'm waiting for. :-)


So, I'm very excited to see what my hair will look like by the summer!



What do you think?


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