Category Archives: Women

The Essence of the Takeover

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*taps mic* Is this thing on?

Hello there folks…for those of you that follow me on Twitter, or know me personally, you know that this past weekend, I and a few of my closest e-friends descended on the city of Toronto for Caribana 2011. After I read Cheekie’s epic recap of the trip, I almost decided to leave well enough alone and just bask in the memories she put out there, but then I decided to just go on and put my 2 cents into the TO rememberance basket. So without further adieu, I give you my Top 7 T.O. Moments (in no particular order):

1.) Travelpalooza –  Let’s just say that I had a 13 hour travel day on Thursday to get to Toronto, and a 13 hour travel day on Monday to get back to my house just outside of Washington, DC. And I had to be to work on Tuesday morning. There was a delayed bus heading to Toronto, and two delayed flights leaving out of Buffalo to come home. In both directions, I was just ready to be there! What a way to start and end the trip…

2.) The Food – We all know I’m an unofficial foodie, so I was so hype to get some good eats in Toronto…and the city didn’t let me down. From the epic lasagna and red velvet cake on Thursday night to the awesome omelette and fried potatoes at The Counter and my grilled shrimp and watermelon salad, ribeye steak and shrimp, and cheesecake from Joe Mama’s on Friday to the beef patty that saved me from certain death on Saturday, to the epic picnic food on Sunday for Keisha Brown’s birthday cookout. Not to mention the dill pickle chips, all dressed chips, and red cream soda…I seriously need to get someone to ship me some snacks.

3.)  The Purple One – At Joe Mama’s on Friday, the ambience was really nice, really subdued, really well lit, and pretty cozy. That is, until they played Prince. When Doves Cry came on the sound system, and you would have thought the entire table was at karaoke. Especially BP, Lala, and Miss Bougie. When I tell ya’ll I was recording the entire thing cackling at the table at them? Good times…

4.)  City Life – It wasn’t a shock to me that our only method of transportation while in TO for the weekend was public transportation, but there were a couple of things that set it far apart from DC Transit. First of all, the price. $3 to do as many transfers as you need to do to get where you’re going. So if I needed to take the bus from the house to the train station, take the train down to the streetcar, and then get off the streetcar to get where I’m going, it only cost me $3 each way. Try that on Metro if you want. That, and Toronto’s subway system is so FAST. The longest I had to wait on a train no matter what time of day or night was 5 minutes. 5 minutes. That doesn’t happen around here! Oh, and they can eat and drink on the train, and they have recycling bins and trashcans at each station. Boss.

5.)  The Parade – One word can sum up the parade for me. Hot. It had to be at least 100 degrees with the humidity. In spite of the heat, there were some amazing costumes out there, everybody was having a good time, and it was sort of surreal to finally be there. I just wish I had eaten sooner so I wouldn’t have been so ready to go after only being there for four hours. Somehow the entire group was together one minute, and then the entire group split apart almost immediately, so it ended up being just me, BP, and Lala trudging our way through the crowd trying to get to the food vendors. Needless to say, by the time we got to the vendors, we just wanted to get our food and bounce. I got some great photos while I was there, and I’ll definitely have to go back to get some more Caribana parade experience.

6.)  Bonding – So it’s not really a trip if I don’t get a chance to bond with my girls. There’s one specific event of bonding that sticks out in my mind days later. After I almost got run over at the parade and was all sticky and sweaty, I ended up at Max’s house. And what did I get there? A bunch of awesome conversation with the girls in her house, and her EPIQUE (there’s my inner Canadian showing) breakfast! Her scrambled eggs and fried potatoes are OUT OF THIS WORLD! Seriously, people can show me how much they love me by the food they make me. And if that plate was any indication of Max’s love for me, then well…I’m REALLY loved! :-)

7.)  Party Rock is in the House Tonight… – While in TO, I had the chance to go to two parties. The first one was on Friday night, and it was fun, but the highlight of my partying experience happened on Sunday night. All the girls got all fancified at Keisha Brown’s house, then took some pictures, hopped in a friend’s truck, and headed for her other friends’ hotel room to pregame proper. How proper, you ask? Well…I had some vodka I had never even heard of before (Tag?) mixed with some cranberry juice, and some other random punch, and her friend had a karaoke machine. That’s right. A mobile karaoke machine. This man got on the mic and acted as the DJ for our pregame session, and me and Cheekie had to show our inner African-American and do the entire Cha Cha Slide and Cupid Shuffle in the hotel room. o_O. After getting slightly buzzed off of the drinks, we headed for Icon at Mansion and got there to a packed house. We had to go all the way down to the bottom floor, but it was SO worth it. Max looked gaw-juss in her dress and heels, and I literally partied from the time we walked in around 12:15 until we left close to 4. I came out of my heels real quick, but I ain’t even care. Some of the highlights of the party:

- A guy asking me and Cheekie if we were sisters after we both decided not to dance with him. -___-

- Me being told that I was “cute and dangerous.” What?

- Watching ALL of Keisha Brown’s Jamaican come out anytime reggae came on.

- Various sandwiches that happened with the guys and girls in the group.

- All the girls sharing 3 paper fans because it was hotter than Satan’s upper lip in there.

I literally could keep going on and on about this party, but just trust me when I say, it’s one of the best parties I have ever been to. Ever.

As you can see by this book I’ve written about my trip, I had an amazing time. This vacation came right on the edge of really stressful situations at work and somewhat introspective situations in my personal life, so it was good to get away from home for a minute to clear my head and to have some fun. To each of the ladies that I experienced this trip with: I love you all like sisters. Some of you I spent more time with, others I didn’t spend as much as I wanted to, but I am glad that I got to lay eyes on each of you this past weekend. It still amazes me that a conversation between strangers on UStream has evolved into something as interconnected as this. You are all amazing people, and I wouldn’t have traded experiencing this with you for anything. (Well, maybe except if some of the other e-ladies were there…) Here’s to all of the memories of Caribana 2011, and the ones that are soon to come!

Until next time, folks…

 

 

Sometimes It’s Better To Lose

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Even though it’s now May, it feels like January was just here, and we were all doing the ever-so-famous New Year’s Resolutions. Some of us vowed to make better choices, to let some tagalong people go, to save more money, or the ever so popular one: lose weight. Now, if I remember my New Year’s correctly, that was the farthest thing from my mind (mainly because I was too focused on the alcohol and the appetizers and avoiding the police – another story for another day), simply because I didn’t want to make a cliché promise to myself that I knew I couldn’t keep. So, I downed a few more chips, meatballs with dill sauce, and drinks, and kept along my merry “not caring about my weight” way.

That is, until February. I was sitting at my desk, talking to Cheekie, when I realized that I needed to join a gym. I’ve been the same size since about 2005, and that’s two full sizes bigger than I was when I graduated from high school. My eating habits had gotten terrible, and my physical exercise was at an all-time low. I figured that there was no time like the present to take matters into my own hands and do something in order to put my life back in order.

Needless to say, the gym worked…somewhat. Though I recognize and appreciate the value of a good gym, I will be the first to let you know that I get bored very easily with conventional exercise. Getting on the treadmill was cool, burning calories on the elliptical was motivating, and getting on the weight machines was more challenging than I expected, but for the most part, I was doing it alone, and felt pretty unfulfilled. That’s when I got the bright idea to pay attention to my high school classmate Deanna’s Twitter page and eventually went to her website. I registered (and coerced one of my best friends into registering) for the April session, and determined that April was going to be the month I got my act together. I joined a kickball league, an aqua class, and resolved to go to the gym to supplement it.

Can I be honest with you guys for a second? I walked into Deanna’s class that first Tuesday and was PETRIFIED. I thought I was too fat, too out of shape, and too physically weak to actually make it through an hour and fifteen minutes of constant exercise. When was the last time I did that much exercise at once?! High school, that’s when. I just knew that day one, I was going to pass out, see stars, and run away from the class kicking and screaming, begging to never go back.

But I didn’t. I actually made it through! I was sore, tired, and wanted a hug and some juice afterwards, but I made it! And four weeks after the start date, I am still sore, still tired, and still would like a hug and some juice, but I’m noticing drastic and subtle differences. For one, since February when I decided to do something about this weight of mine, I’ve lost 10 pounds. Five of those came between April 3 and April 28 while in My Fitness Boot Camps. Five pounds? In twenty-five days? What? Talk. About. Motivating. I’ve changed my diet (mostly), changed my relationship with food, and I can feel my confidence rising and my self-esteem lifting after every single class I take.

The environment that Deanna has created in class is one of true camaraderie, true support, and most of all, it’s a lot of fun. Yeah, even when I feel like my arms and legs are going to fall off, it’s still one of the best ways I can think to spend time getting myself in shape. Her and her entire team of trainers are extremely helpful, and push me to be successful, work through the pain, and achieve the goals that I want to achieve as it relates to weight loss.

I’m far from where I want to be, yes. But I will never, ever go back to where I used to be. Now that I know that I actually can lose weight, and that I can do some of these exercises I never thought I could…I’m so motivated to actually see this thing through. It’s my goal to be in a size 12 by my birthday, and with the structure of Boot Camp, and the changes I am making outside of the classes that I am taking, I’m certain I’ll get there. My family and friends have been there every step of the way, and I’m so grateful to have them during this journey. Ten down, about thirty to go…and with that said — sometimes, it really is better to be a loser.

Until next time, folks…

Florida: A Retrospective

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Now I know good and well I said I was going to blog a whole lot more now that I have these fantastic e-digs over here, but…well…between work and school, I pretty much am tired of staring at a computer in general (lol). Now that I have a tad bit more time on my hands, you’re going to see me a whole lot more than you did before. Aren’t you happy? With that being said, I have a post on my little heart about something that means a whole lot to me now that it’s in the books.

A couple of weeks back, I did something I had been itching to do for a very long, long time. I got on a plane, and took a vacation from this lovely place called the District of Columbia metropolitan area. Don’t get me wrong, I love my city and my life, but sometimes I just need a break. I and four other ladies who have been talking a lot on these here innanets decided that we would all convene in Miami/Fort Lauderdale and actually meet one another and spend a few days together, and take a vacation. To make a long story short, I believe we all met in the chat function of UStream on the night of the Modern Day Matchmaker’s Web Event in New York City…thanks to the web stream being funky, there was a lot of extra ratchet and equally hilarious conversation that occurred. I ended up with at least 5 new blogs to follow and 15 new friends on Twitter because of it. (Hey Paul Carrick Brunson, if you ever read this…thanks! *smile*)

We planned this trip for actual months. Almost from the time that we all met, we started scheming up ways to actually meet each other face to face. It started out with more people than those that ended up being able to come, but the anticipation built like none other. I typically get excited about travel, but with my own personal situations, my work situation, and being bogged down with work for grad school, the opportunity to go anywhere had me extra amped. Now if I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had met one of the ladies previously (@MsEsquire77), but the other three, I had only spoken to over GMail, Twitter, or text messages. Never on the phone, and obviously not in person. Was I nervous to go? Not really. Apprehensive, slightly. Excited, hell yeah! I felt like I knew them from all of the conversations we had online, so it was now just a matter of putting a face and a voice to their personality.

Sidenote: Peep the view…

you mad?

By the time I woke up Friday morning, I honestly was completely grateful that I had come on this trip. I had been there all of 10 hours, but I knew from the minute I touched down that the trip was going to be a success. We all got along famously, we all gave each other the space to do our own thing, but we all spent time together when we wanted to. Waking up to go grab breakfast from Einstein Brothers bagels, coming back to play Bingo by the pool, taking EPIC naps on the beach, drinking Miami Vices poolside…I wouldn’t have traded my experience in Florida for anything. By Saturday night, if I already didn’t feel like I had gained four big sisters, I definitely did. The epic 3 hour long conversation laying across the bed (yes it looked like a scene from a cheesy 80s movie lol) that really reassured me that I had found people that had my back. Of course I’m the youngest in the group, so I naturally got ragged on the entire time. (.____.) I’m glad that I got the opportunity to just sit and listen to women older than me in my own generation that go through and have been through some of the same things that I have. How often do people really get that opportunity? I don’t have older sisters of my own, so I’ve never been granted that chance to just sit and observe. It really sucked to leave at the crack of dawn Sunday morning, not only because I was going to have to give up my view of the beach, but because I knew it was going to be a while before I saw them again…no worries though, modern technology has us all up and in each other’s lives!

To each of my newfound sisters, I love each and every one of you! You are all amazing and beautiful women, and I’m so glad to have you in my life. Miami 2010 was a success, and I am so looking forward to DC 2011! :)

Cheekie, Nick, Me, Max, and Shon...I love my sisters! :)

Oh yeah, find Max, Cheekie, Nick, and Shon all on the web!