My Little Brother's 8 today!!

Happy Birthday Jabari!

Fashionista Fridays: Blue Magic Update & Forever21 Nails

A week ago I installed these 2strand-twist using Blue Magic hair grease [ooooh yea so tabo]. Well...the results are in aaaannnnnddd...I love this stuff. I've come to the conclusion that while this stuff weighed down the crap out of my relaxed hair, my natural hair loves it. It's helped my retain so much moisture and it makes my hair super shiny. 

In the two pix above I re-twisted a few twist in the front [after wetting in the shower] and applied a tad bit more grease. As I unraveled my hair it felt really soft. Because I didn't notice any extreme build up I will wash next week. I only re-twisted the front to freshen up the look. As of right now...Blue magic may be my hair's holy grail!

To be honest I'm really not into painting my nails. I have to be extremely bored, have an ample amount of time on my hands or it has to be a special occasion. But theeen [lol] I saw this picture on Forever21's Facebook page and since two of my classes got canceled yesterday I thought I'd give it a try. I can't say I'll be willing to waste another 20 mins of my life doing this anytime soon, but I think the results are pretty cute. 

NEVER do this rushing is my only advice! Of course I had to put my own little spin on it with the glitter...I like glitter don't judge! I just pray that between washing my dishes, washing my hands and washing myself this fancy little get up lasts through the weekend!

Thriller Thursdays:SB Cruise 2012

Ok..please don't hate me guys :( something's up with my camera editing software so it's taking me a minute to get the footage together...till then...we can still look at some of the pictures of my adventures! Yeeeaaaa you liked that :) lol

These pix are actually from when we stopped in Cozumel [Mexico]. I liiiiived for this! I had never encountered a rocky beach before this! There was some sand, but as you can see it was mostly rock. Beautiful.

W.O.W= work+out+wednesdays: progression pics

I have a long way to go if I want to make oxygen LoL! 

I'm proud of myself though! my arms have always been twiggy so its cool to see

them all buffed up! I'm contemplating whether I'm in good enough shape for 

a bikini competition. I've been checking a few out but based on pics from 

previous shows I still have a ways to go...

Oh well! Gotta start somewhere! 

This looks like a good start to me!

Workout Wednesdays: JLovesMac1's Brazilian Butt Lift

The only time I really invest in doing at how dvd work out's is during the summer. This is because usually its too hot outside to go jogging and because my University's recreational center is closed (and I don't want to pay for a membership anywhere else). However, if you're into at home work out you may want to give this a try! I'm definitely considering adding it to my summer list! 

Tasty Tuesdays: How I survived my vegetarian weeks

Ok let's recap! The first week of March, I went on a 7 day cruise in which I through all my healthy eating habits  overboard. I definitely paid for it when I got back home only to discover that I felt sluggish, my metabolism had slowed down and I gained 5lbs. Why did I become so obsessed with shaking these 5lbs? 1. I needed to get my self-discipline back or else those habits would continue which meant more than likely I would continue to gain weight on to high of an increasing rate. 2. I aspire to be a bikini/fitness model so the gut had to go.

I challenged myself to be vegetarian for a week but what ended up happening was I bought more than enough groceries which managed to keep my fridge full for about 2 weeks. After I completed the second week [and lost the 5lbs] I had every intention of starting back up with my fish and ground turkeys, but when ever I reach for it in the freezer I felt guilty! Not the guilt from eating some poor little fluffy animal (because I love meat as much as the next person). I felt guilt like I was cheating on my challenge. Thus, I continued to my "vegetarianism" into week 3. 

I'm not declaring vegetarian (as a matter of fact, the other night I went out with some friend I had 4 chicken wings lol --and later felt guilty about it?!?!). I'm not sure how long I will keep this up! Especially since Theresa over at The fame of health and fitness is about to make April's fitness challenge a vegetarian month -__-. We shall see! 

Here's a list of some of the things I've been eating:

• home-made soup in my Betty Crocker crockpot. (carrots, celery, parshnips, potatoes, onions) 
• Salads with spinach rather than ice berg lettuce (spinach has more nutrients). I usually sweet peppers, carrots, almonds and a teaspoon or so of organic light Goddess dressing
• smoothies with yogurt and frozen fruits
• protein shakes ( this month I am trying out vanilla Whey rather than my syntha 6, so far, not in love with it
• whole fruits (bananas, apples, oranges)
• protein pancakes
• hard boiled eggs
• pasta variations (as in I'll add random veggies to my pasta..usually no sauce)
• sweet potato fries
• Organic peanut butter and jelly sandwiches :) (I've actually been slowing down on the pb&js since I've been introduced to the protein pancakes
• veggie/ soy patties ( I haven't been eating them as burgers, I usually cut them up and add them to my salad or pasta.

Here are the two brands that I tried over the past two weeks. Each pack contains 4 patties. I honestly prefer Morning Star rather than the  Boca brand. Here's my review/comparison:

• Both are of good quality and the actually really do resemble meat (which really helped get through the weeks) However, Morning Star cost more than the Boca brand
• Both "chicken patties" taste like chicken, but I prefer the M.S. They seem to have more flavor like McDonalds or where the Boca Burgers remind me of Wendy's chicken. *disclosure I don't eat fast food but I remember always favoring Mickey Ds chicken rather than Wendys*
• I've always been a fan of morning starts Veggie patties so those work delish as expected. Maybe this portion of the review isn't fair though because I haven't gotten to the Boca Veggie patty yet so sit tight.

When I buy again I'll be sticking to Morning Star (at least the "chicken"). I prefer there taste. However, if you are looking to save a dollar and some change, you may want to go with Boca. 

*I purchased everything from Walmart with my own money :) 

Motivational Mondays: Swagger Jackers

        We scratched the surface of this topic months ago but now I'm ready to dig a little deeper. Remember when you first went natural and everyone looked at you like you had ten heads? Remember when you decided you wanted to make your health first priority? You started waking up extra early in the morning to go to the gym and even started shopping in natural and organic grocery stores and started buying protein shakes and all that healthy crap? People lost their minds! And let's not even talk about your passion for the great outdoors! Meditating, camping, rock climbing, running 5ks.

      Total. Outcast. But for you, solitude is bliss! Your individuality totally defines who you are! Who cares what everybody else thinks and what they're doing! All that matters is you are doing what makes you happy and THAT, that's good enough for you.

And then...it happens. Perms fade. TWA's become the new black. Bohemian, natural and organic all become main stream. Yoga is where it's at. Everything that proclaims your uniqueness is the new fad and you just get lost in the sauce. Your "swag" has officially been jacked.

That was my clever vent. For a while I was beginning to feel like that. I use to get picked on, talked about AND ostracized because I was "weird". It really use to eat at me. What made it worst was when people started mimicing the same stuff I was after they looking down on me about the same things! And then to but the icing on the cake, I wouldn't receive credit for anything! But real recognizes real. 

So how do we deal with the swagger jackers? We embrace them! Why? :

• It let's us know we are actually doing something right! Imagine! People want to be like YOU! Your not a total outcast after all!
• It's a great opportunity to show your expertise. S.J. are usually superficial. They do things because it looks cool but that doesn't necessarily mean there's a passion behind it.
• Chronic S.J.s usually are searching for themselves. Instead of getting your panties in a bunch and whining "Stop copying me!" try encouraging them. Sometimes self discovery is a little difficult..imagine if we all had a little guidance.
• Maybe...juuuust maybe they're not jacking your swag after all! Maybe they made the discovery a little later than you and are growing a love for it. It never hurts to have a couple things in common with someone. Who knows maybe that person will turn out and become your best friend! 
• Piggy backing off of the previous point, you may actually be able to learn something from the S.J!!

   Ultimately I needed a few friends to break it down for me to get past this lol. But unless you're a swagger jacker yourself, no one can truly take away your individuality. Our unique personalities, our up bringings, how we live our lives from day to day, those are things that separate us from the mass. So keep doing what you do trendsetters! *Whispers behind hand* They can't keep up!