Maxi Skirt OOTD

OFFICIAL BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN!: 18 Days

I'm in a new city. My fashion goal is to try and adopt some of the styles of the city while integrating some flavor of my own. Any way you put it, I want to be more fashionable. I haven't really been paying much attention to fashion since I haven't had a chance to "get out" much this year. I hope to be doing more of that and when I do, I want to be prepared. Here's one outfit that's a bit different than anything I would have normally put together.

Beauty World Earrings
Body Central Necklace
Michael Kors Watch
Old Navy Tank Top
Charlotte Russe Maxi Skirt
And Sandals I've had for years that finally gave out on me. :-/








What's different about this outfit, for me, is the skirt. I don't normally wear skirts or dresses but I know the maxi skirt has been really big this year. I guess it gives you the best of both worlds. I can say that I've worn two this week and they're starting to grow on me (even though it's a little late with fall being 12 days away).

I guess I should try to be more current with styles and at least give these things a try when they emerge instead of waiting until the last minute!

Lesson learned.

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Sunday Social

OFFICIAL BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN!: 19 Days

It's that time again. Fall is upon us and there are so many things to look forward to this season. Let's talk about a few!

1. What's your favorite fall activity?

When I was in NC, my family and I would always try to go to the State Fair. We like getting out to do things and we also like to get my nephew out and exposed to as many different events and activities as we can!!

2. Do you follow a football team? If so, which one and why?

Well! Each season I hope that UNC's football team is much better than they were last year and I'll tune in for the first couple of games, but they never are. I'll keep up with their wins and losses, but let's face it...UNC is definitely a basketball school!! And as far as the NFL goes, I keep up (per se) with the Steelers because that's my boyfriend's team ;-)

3. What is something fun about fall in your area?

I'm new to the area and open to any kind of activity or event. The Adams Morgan Day festival is actually today and it's in the heart of DC...but "it's week one; the first game (for the Steelers)" so football wins out over getting out of the house. Now you can see why I talked about football the way I did in this post!

4. What are your favorite fall staple outfits?

Scarves, scarves, and more scarves. I love the fall and winter because I get to break my scarves out. I love accent pieces and you can accentuate anything with a scarf!!

5. What things are you looking forward to most about this coming fall season?

FIRST of all, MY BIRTHDAY; which is September 27th!!! I don't know why I get so excited about my birthday but I do. There were certain things I thought I would accomplish at 25 and 26 that I still haven't and my birthday is kind of a reminder of that...and as the time continues to slip on by...I'm trying my best to ignore the obvious. So, I will thank the good Lord that I am here to see another year and pray that he hears my prayers so that those things will eventually come true! Secondly, I'm also excited about the move we have coming up...which will fall either before or shortly after my birthday. I'm excited about having my own space...maybe then, I won't feel like only a visitor here anymore. And number three, I'm looking forward to embracing the fall fashions in DC.

6. What is your favorite fall holiday? Tradition?

My favorite holiday would have to be Thanksgiving. I love food and Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to get together with family over great food, to be thankful for the things this year has ushered in, and to just have a good time. Now that I'm not as close to my family physically, this will be a time of catching up. Having to coordinate travel time and time off work will be a new venture for me, so I'm praying in advance that things will work out!!

If you guys want to participate next week in the Sunday Social, here are the questions:

1. What is the name of your blog?

2. What do you love most about blogging?

3. Why did you start blogging?

4. What is something you'd want to tell someone just starting out in the blog world?

5. Biggest blogging learning experience you've had?

6. What are three blogs you love?

I'm looking forward to this set of questions so I wanted to remind myself by including them in this week's post!!

Happy Sunday to all!

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Big City Lessons

First of all...my birthday is 21 days away!! 

LOL...just felt the need to make that announcement

:-)

Now, as you all know, I've moved to the "big city" and I've been here for a about two weeks now. I knew there would be differences between living here and living in the South so I wanted to keep running log of these lessons. I want to cherish every bit of this!

Loco Moco, Mionna Style

I was browsing the blog world one day and I came across a post at Love Bakes Good Cakes! It was a swing on an a meal I already make. I talked about my Green Bean Casserole in this post. You can see the hamburger, onions, and gravy over rice on the side. This is one of my go-to meals. I love it!! It's so good and such a hearty meal after a long day.

Well...at Love Bakes Good Cakes she posted about this meal called Loco Moco! I had to try it. Here's how I did it!

Ingredients

rice
1 pound of ground beef

1 can of beef gravy

1 white onion
1 egg

salt and pepper

butter

Steps

1. Cook your rice the way you cook your rice
(my boyfriend taught me how to cook rice after many years of doing it incorrectly
so I'm holding it a secret...I will never reveal it!!)
2. Next I cook the hamburger. I begin by seasoning the hamburger meat to taste with salt and pepper.

(some times I'll add an egg or milk with bread crumbs, 

but I like for the hamburger to taste as much like hamburger as possible)

3. Then I'll shape the hamburger and put them in the pan that's been coated with butter

4. I'll cook the hamburger until the outsides are brown, 

then cut each patty in half and let it cook until it's completely done.

5. After the hamburgers are done, I'll take them out of the pan 

and cook the onion in the hamburger juice left over in the pan.

6. I'll then add the canned gravy.

(I know I should make my own gravy, 

but the canned gravy is just as good and much quicker!)

7. I fried and egg in a separate pan, then joined everything on one plate (seen below!)

My version of Loco Moco!

This meal was DE-licious!! During Thanksgiving my mom makes giblet gravy, which includes the leftover parts of the turkey and diced boiled eggs. I love that gravy. I've learned over time that gravy is one of my favorite foods!! LOL. So, when I saw this meal with the egg there, a light bulb turned on. If I love eggs in gravy so much, why not use them in my gravy meals more often?! I even went to Johnny Rockets this past weekend and ordered a Patty Melt with a fried egg on it!! I made chicken and gravy yesterday and guess what?? That's right, I added a boiled egg in it!!! I'm definitely learning a lot about my palate.

I'm recommending you trying this meal out!! If you do, let me know so I can check it out!!

Also, this is my favorite post for the week!! I loved this meal so much,

I can still taste it. It's just something about that egg!!!

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August '13 Length Check

Here we are at the end of August and time is truly flying by.
It's SEPTEMBER...which means it's my birthday month!! So I'm super excited!!
But now, it's time for my August length check, so let's get into it!!

July 30 = 78 weeks natural (1 year 6.5 months),

37 weeks since the BC (~9 months)

 

Sept 1 = 83 weeks natural (~1 year 8 months),

42 weeks since the BC (~10.5 months)

The day after look

I had to leave my salon behind after the transition I just made. Before I left I had a conversation with my cosmetologist about salons to go to in DC. She told me that she referred two people to two different salons in the area and both salons ended up messing up the girls' hair!! I'm skeptical about natural hair salons/natural hair stylist anyway!! Before going to the salon I just left, I definitely checked out the type of work they did before deciding that's where I would go. Before getting my hair straightened for the first time, I DEFINITELY saw them do this process to other ladies before agreeing to get it done. You see how long I've been on this journey; that's a long time to have it all be taken away in a matter of seconds by sitting in the wrong person's chair (to get my hair done). So, after I've scoped the scene here I might give it a whirl but for now I'm back to doing my own hair!

So far, I've done a good enough job with it. I washed and conditioned it when my two weeks was up (even though that fell on the weekend I moved). I also twisted and set it. I was going to sit under the dryer (like I do at the salon) but I absolutely HATE dryers. I let it air dry instead and hoped it would be something I could at least work with and it turned out beautifully.

The week after look.
Welcome to Shrink/Frizz City!

One thing I have to learn how to deal with is this moisture in the air. Since I get to work while there's still dew in the air and I have to walk a bit to get into the building, I have to deal with the shrinkage and frizz issues. By the end of first week, my hair looked completely different than it did at the beginning of the week. People seem to compliment me more after my hair has frizzed and shrunken down some, but I just don't like that look. So the plan for week two is to try different styles that have my hair pulled down and/or back.

Other than that, I don't really feel like my hair is growing. The only time I can tell my hair has grown is when I do the length checks, but looking at it everyday makes it harder to see the changes.

I also feel like my ends are in desperate need of a trim. I feel like I may not be detangling my hair correctly because I do get a bit frustrated and will begin to just brush the heck out of it, especially when I've been detangling for what feels like forever. 

I need to figure out which I like better for detangling: brushing or combing. I also need to figure out some products that I can use on a daily or almost daily basis to help control some of the frizz.

I need to find more styles to use. The fro gets old and I don't always have the time to do some of the other styles I can do!

So I'm reaching out to you guys. What are some styles you use for work? What are some of the daily products you use on your hair? And, when you detangle, do you brush or comb your hair??

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