Soul Spin

Kinda slow today, so let's talk about Christmas plans.

2006-12-21T15:19:00.000-05:00

So now I'm thinking that since I've had so much success this week, I can just kick back and do nothing. Probably not the attitude to have, but with half my team gone and my boss MIA, concentrating is challenging.

Sooooo what can we do to procrastinate. Anyone tried this out? http://www.stationerymovies.com/ Basically a scene from a movie has been created using office supplies. Since I see about one movie a year, I could only figure out six. You?

I leave tomorrow for St. Louis where I'll visit my grandparents for the holidays. Typically, I spend Christmas in Atlanta with my parents, but since the grands are getting older, I suggested we make the trek to the homeland this year. As much as I'm looking forward to seeing my wonderful grandparents, I'm really not jazzed about packing gifts in a suitcase and having to lug gifts back home. Kinda sucks. And of course I'm not going to make the time or find the money to ship things to people. All gifts are fun-sized for my packing pleasure.

I guess that since I'm living in New York, this whole traveling by air for Christmas thing is something I'm going to have to get used to. Maybe next year I can get some folks to converge upon Brooklyn. That could be fun...but could present its own set of challenges. Like I'm not going to want to clean up after a bunch of people or be the one responsible for meals, house decoration, etc. Gosh, I sound like a big ole Grinch. I'm really not, I'm just lazy when it comes to Christmas.

Christmas equals laying around doing nothing for hours on end. Nothing except playing with gifts and eating food someone else prepared. I guess now that I have the grown-up apartment I have to start doing grown-up things like not being lazy and having people over for formal gatherings. Actually, if I really do it right, it could be a lot fun. And by that time the a-p-t will be in fine form with decorations, paint in every room and real live furniture.

Check in next week for the Christmas weekend recap. With all the Your Girl kin in the house, I'm sure I'll have lots of fun stories...

Today was like, the best day of my life.

2006-12-19T22:38:00.000-05:00

Over the past month or so, my success rate at work was slowing to a crawl and I was starting to worry. As a publicist, I'm only as good as my most recent media hit (e.g. the last time my client's name was in the paper or face was on TV). I couldn't get a producer or editor to talk about my clients to save my life. Well, that's not true. Local papers and TV will chat me up all day, but the big national outlets of the world were giving me the cold shoulder. It was getting really depressing and I was starting to question my skills.

After a wonderful weekend in Atlanta with my family, a pep talk from a very important someone and some major meditation, I started this week with a new outlook. On Monday I was (pleasantly) cracking the whip on my team...setting deadlines, making calls and being strategic about it. Something just felt different...I felt more focused.

Lo and behold, I booked my clients on the TODAY show, Good Morning America, Regis & Kelly and secured a story in Women's Wear Daily today. In fact, ALL OF THESE CALLS CAME POURING IN TO ME THIS MORNING. Craziness! By lunch I was on such a high I almost forgot to eat.

Just goes to show the power of the mind. It's beyond what we can comprehend...or at least what I can. I'm not a super new age chick, but I believe I willed this success. And life is so good as a result! It's funny how one thing affects so many other aspects of life.

Anyway, currently happy and loving it.

Christmas Wishlist

2006-12-13T20:01:00.000-05:00

1. MACE - I got chased out of the subway station by a homeless man yesterday.

2. Doesn't matter...just get me mace please!

Red Hot + Riot

2006-12-12T14:02:00.000-05:00

Weekend before last my girlfriend was in town from Atlanta for work and extended her trip so that we could hang in the big city. So I make my way to her midtown Manhattan hotel to meet up and make plans on how we were going to spend our Saturday together. We're brainstorming things to do when all of a sudden her face lights up, she whips a piece of paper out of her bag and asks me if I want to go to a concert in Brooklyn that night. I scan the page that's been ripped from Spin magazine and see that Red Hot + Riot is scheduled to take over the Brooklyn Acacemy of Music (BAM) and inspire the masses at 7:30p sharp. It's an all-star concert benefiting the African Services Committee, "an organization which promotes the health and self-sufficiency of New York City's African and Caribbean immigrant communities through the provision of HIV/AIDS care and support services."

I cannot contain my excitement when I see who's on the bill:

Tony Allen
Amadou and Miriam
Cheikh Lô
Dead Prez
Keziah Jones
Les Nubians
Meshell Ndegeocello
Yerba Buena with special guest John Medeski

And they were all in the building to celebrate none other than Fela Kuti (who died a few years ago from HIV-related illnesses).

So we called BAM to see if we could go to the show and were told the show was solid out. Our hearts sank! I was looking forward to jammin' up and down the aisles. But my girl and I are little too determind to let "sold out" status mess with our plans. So we decided to decend upon the venue and buy from a scalper, a no-show patron, SOMETHING!

To pass the time till *showtime*, we hit up an FIT fashion show. I'm sure FIT is a fine institution, but the fashion show was NOT good. Totally lame...totally unorganized. And frankly, totally boring. Was not wowed by anything that came down the runway-that-was-really-just-a-stage. I'm hoping that the show was produced by high school students hoping to make it into the program. Sorry kids, but just was not feelin' it.

After the fashion show we did a little light shopping and decided that we needed to get our stuff from the hotel, b-line it to my place in Brooklyn to change and then head over to the venue to score some tickets.

When we got to BAM we asked a man near the ticket window where we should go to purchase any cancelled tickets. *and this is where being a cute black chick comes in handy* He gives me a wink and tells me that the line starts over there, but that we should check back in with him in about 30 minutes because he will probably have something for us. SCORE!

We make it to the line...my girl is going to hold our place while I make a round outside the building to see if there are any scalpers. Having zero luck, I come back to the line only to find my friend gone. Panicked and thinking we'd lost our place in line she strolls over cooly and says she just bought a ticket. This girl is just too slick! So now we only have one ticket to buy. Not five minutes later, a woman comes walking down the cancellation line with a man looking to sell one ticket. My girl and I practically knock the woman over clammering for the little sliver of paper that will grant me entrance to the hottest show of the season. Apparently the folks in front of us didn't want to buy just one ticket because they were looking to sit together. Their loss! My girl and I now had two tickets into a HOT ass concert! And I didn't have to pimp myself to the dirty old man at the ticket window! The stars had aligned and my karma was showing her good side.

The show was absolutely amazing. My seat was three rows back, far stage right. About halfway through the show my girlfriend came and got me, took me to sit next to her which was about 10 rows back...directly center. We danced and sang and clapped and hollered and had a good 'ol time in our fabulous seats.

Fela's song "Zombie" put me in such a good mood...something about the beats and the chanting...I just loved it.

Some of the artists on the bill I knew, some I had the pleasure of hearing for the first time live. They were all magnificently off the chain. :-)

I cannot say enough about the brilliance of the musicianship and talent collected on one stage. And all in support of such a great cause!

Love live Fela!

Coloring the palace

2006-12-11T22:14:00.000-05:00

I painted my bathroom over the weekend and it is soooo cute. Those who know me well know that I painted it purple. It's a really dark majestic color and it works because my bathroom is fairly large and has a lot of white in it. Exhibit A:

This is from one side of the room. See how it works with all of the white tile that goes halfway up the wall? I took off the blue tape tonight and she really looks lovely. Here's a shot from the entrance:

And just for kicks, here's my beautiful sink that I love so much. It's so big and inviting!

My dad was here for a couple of days when I first moved in. He helped get my kitchen to a state of non-griminess and hooked me up with several necessary new home tools such as this gem:

I never knew I could love a step stool so much. For some reason I'm starting to feel like this apartment was constructed for someone about a foot taller than me. LC is going to love this place when he gets here. He'll have no problem reaching the super high storage in the kitchen or painting the top of the living room walls. *wink wink*

My new step stool helped me get the bathroom painting job done in no time. I've painted just about every apartment I've lived in and every time I paint I tell myself that I'm never doing it again. It's so much work and such a pain in the ass...but I always love the finished product so much more than plain jane white walls. But for some reason this time around I thoroughly enjoyed it. Maybe it was because I knew I would get satisfaction of a job well done a lot quicker than I ever will when I decide to tackle my has-too-much-wall-space living room. It makes me sweat just to think about painting that living room. But the bathroom was a breeze and quite enjoyable. I took my time and did it right...no splotches, no missed spots, no thin coats...I did it right this time.

I'm still on the hunt for a sofa even though I know I'm going to end up spending way too much money on that Thomasville goodness that I saw. AND I'm on the market for a flat screen. Thinking about this one, but that's a totally uneducated decision...I just think it's cute and reasonably priced: Although I did spend 30 minutes on cnet.com brushing up on the difference between plasma and LCD. I'm still torn...I feel myself leaning towards LCD, but plasma makes a good case. Will probably come down to which one is cute and which do I feel is worth my thousand buckaroos.

I'm having so much fun shopping and settling into the new place, but being a big girl is expensive. Hmph.

Subway Stalker

2006-12-06T14:14:00.000-05:00

Two or three weeks ago I was minding my business waiting for the train to take me to work. The 4,5 comes speeding up to the stop and it's packed so everyone on the platform has to smoosh in, adjust bags, give dirty looks to the person who won't smoosh, etc. We are literally packed like sardines and there is someone pressed up against my front and a guy pressed up against my back.

So we're riding along trying not to breathe on each other and I feel something touching my butt. There are so many bags, jackets and bodies in the train car that I figured someone's purse was inappropriately groping me.

It wasn't until the train arrived at the first stop that I realized it was some dude's HAND. Disgusted, I shifted so that he wasn't plastered against my back...now he was more over my right shoulder. Dude proceeds to maneuver his hand (very subtly because I didn't notice the maneuver) so that it's on my butt again! Now let me clarify...it's not like he's palming my butt cheek. He's basically got the back of his fist on the lower part of my butt...kind of underneath the curve.

I cannot begin to describe my disgust. But for some reason I didn't say anything. When the doors swung open at the next stop, I bolted from the train feeling so creeped out. Since I have to cross the platform to take the 6 train to my final destination, I made a point to walk down a few doors so that I could be assured to be free of the perv.

So I get into another fairly crowded train, settle in, the doors close, turn to my right and HE'S RIGHT NEXT TO ME!!! So I make it a point to put as much space between us as I can. You will not believe his next move....He takes his hand and kind of suspends it in mid-air so that it's touching the side of my hip. It's like the back of his fist has a gravitational pull with my body! At this point I feel so violated that the doors open at the next stop (which is mine) and I tear up the stairs out of the train in a complete panic.

After venting to LC about the whole incident I felt a little better. (Especially after he told me that it was probably the jeans I was wearing that made me irresistible...aww, thanks, LC).

Fast forward to this past Monday. Again, cramming onto the 4,5 and CREEPY DUDE FINDS ME AGAIN AND HAS HIS HAND UNDER MY BUTT!!!!

Do not ask me why I didn't say (or scream) something like "GET YOUR HAND OFF MY ASS YOU SICK F**K" but I didn't. By the time I recovered from the shock that he had found me again and had attached himself to my ass, it was time to get off the train.

I mean, what are the chances? Maybe he trolls around the subway in the morning looking for women to feel-up hoping that one, just one, might realize he's groping them, turn around and look up with a smile and then they'll go back to his dirty apartment and he can have his way with them. I don't know.

But what I do know is I'm probably the most action he's had in five years. Any ideas for how I react to "Your Girl Gets Groped" episode three?

What's natural?

2006-11-30T16:24:00.000-05:00

My blog friend over at Afrobella posted about what constitutes "natural hair" and it got me to thinking about living naturally.

I started making a mental note of all the things in my life are so NOT natural, like:

Brushing my teeth. Now of course I realize the importance of brushing my teeth...I don't want to be toothless by 45. And I'd like for what does remain in my head to be shiny and bright. But how natural is it to brush? When you think about it, it's kind of random. Back in the day they just woke up, ate breakfast and kept it moving.

Wearing make-up. I don't wear it much at all...mostly when I go out on the town or it's a special occasion. Like a hot date with a mystery man (just kidding, LC!). But it's so completely unnatural to cake your face with powdery substances. Do you think we're trained to know that a face perfected with make-up is more attractive than one without? Or do we just know a made up face is cuter than a natural one?

Drinking through a straw. Why don't we use glasses? What added value does a straw have? For me it was always about not having to put my lips on public cups...but still. Not really that natural.

Cutting my fingernails. God did not invent scissors, nail clippers or emory boards. So why do we trim down our tresses, push back our cuticles and keep our legs smooth and hairless? Makes no sense. But then again, thank God we do.

So in the end, how can we criticize women like Leela James for rocking fake naturals? Seems like little we do is natural, so why get upset about some dead follicles?

Sofa Shopping

2006-11-30T15:39:00.000-05:00

So my next big purchase for the new crib is a sofa. It took me a while to figure out what I want, but I'm pretty sure that I want a big, deep, comfy sofa that's nice looking, but still slouchy and casual. And I want to have a big chair with an ottoman.

So I did some couch sitting over the Thanksgiving holiday to see if anything looked really good to me. I saw a set at Thomasville Furniture that was calling my name. But once I get my custom fabric on it and get it shipped to NYC, I will be paying a pretty penny (like almost six grand for the whole kit and kaboodle).

I've decided that since I'm a big girl now with her own place that I need nice furniture. But six stacks worth may be too nice. So here are some sofas I've seen online that are calling my butt cheeks to come sit on them:

Restoration Hardware:

Problem with this one is that I think the back is too high to fit through my apartment door. And I'm not sure that it's quite slouchy enough.

Pottery Barn:

Mmmmmm....comfy. :-)

Thomasville:

Not to worry, I have taste. Their fabrics are custom.

I sat on this last one in the store and it is heavenly. But it's the expensive one, so we'll see.

Anyone have any couch advice? I was reading Martha Stewart's new Homekeeping Handbook (it's like a Bible) and she was telling me all kinds of things I need to look for. Like how the springs are mounted and if the parts are glued together or screwed in. Helpful stuff! Send any suggestions or ideas my way!

Gobble Gobble

2006-11-24T20:55:00.000-05:00

I've been so terrible about posting because life has been so busy! But I guess the point of a blog is to share the craziness, so I'ma do what I can to keep Soul Spin current.

Some new news...I moved to Brooklyn!! Yep, left Manhattan behind (well not really, I'll still spend half of my life there with work) and have moved on to the much cuter, much hipper, much more exciting Clinton Hill neighborhood. Finding the apartment was quite the journey, but I've got a little slice of heaven all to myself now! And I have to say...for only having been there a week, living alone was DEFINITELY the right decision. Something about having a place that's mine all mine is sweet and rewarding. Since I moved on from a roommate situation, I've got a lot of furniture to buy, decorating to do, etc. Lucky for you, you'll get to read all about it right here.

I'm down in Atlanta for a couple of days celebrating Thanksgiving with my fam and LC. It was 70 degrees today. SEVENTY. And it's damn near December. It's days like this that I question my move...when I left NYC my mind was filled with thoughts of what kinds of winter hats I want to buy because I can already feel my ears starting to freeze on my walk to the subway in the morning. And then I come down here and curse myself for bringing mostly sweaters since it's hot enough to be in a swimsuit (well, almost). I can't see myself leaving Brooklyn any time soon, but I'm sure Atlanta will be my home again at some point before I die.

Anyway, enough rambling...happy holidays to all...hope everyone's stuffed off of a third round of leftovers. I know I am. :-)

The Freaks Come Out for Halloween

2006-10-30T11:55:00.000-05:00

What is wrong with people? On Saturaday night I'm walking to dinner and see not one, but TWO white boys dressed up in black face for Halloween. Did they not learn that racist costumes are unacceptable from the boys at UA and Prince Harry?

Now there's a new Web site to add to your favorites just in time for the scariest day of the year...

NIGGASPACE.COM

Yep, that's right! A place for people of all colors and walks of life to come together in harmony to express themselves and share ideas.

IS THIS A JOKE?? It's completely inappropriate and ridiculous if you ask me. I get the humor, but come on. This is only going to encourage ignorance among a whole gang of already ignorant people. Niggaspace is more like a mockery of MySpace than any site that people are going to take seriously. It's like a Saturday Night Live skit...it's funny for a minute and then it's over. But perhaps I'll be proven wrong and Niggaspace will replace the always lame Blackplanet.com.

This is the best part of the story:

"The site is in no way meant to be racist," he told FishbowlNY today. The domain name was purchased in February, "Tyrone" says, with the intention of creating an alternative to MySpace where "black people can feel comfortable." "Tyrone," though, says Niggaspace is for everyone, not just blacks.

I will surely be asking my white friends if they plan on working on their Niggaspace profiles this week.

Icky, icky pink

2006-10-25T20:22:00.000-04:00

I've been frantically washing my hands for the last five hours of my life. These are hours I cannot get back, people. The intern in my group at work announces to me today that she has pink eye. !!! I have to pinch myself to confirm that I'm not on the playground in kindergarten being snapped out of a dream that I thought was 21 years of life by a snotty-nosed schoolmate. I mean I must be in kindergarten because who the heck gets pink eye over the age of five???

I should have taken heed to the warning signs...Intern's been wearing her glasses all this week which I'd never seen before. Apparently it's because her goopy eye won't allow for a contact! Just kidding, it's not goopy, but still. She also explained that pink eye can live in your body for several weeks before the symptoms surface. So I could be a walking pink eye haver! GA-ROSS! Intern assured me that she'd been washing her hands often, using hand sanitizer and resisting the urge to reach up for the grody eyeball.

Ugh, I'm just so unsettled about this. I do not have time to have pink eye. After all, I'm the type that would actually STAY HOME if I had some sort of infectious disease. Is pink eye a disease? If not they should make it one. I'll be back. Gotta go wash my hands.

My BFF Joan

2006-10-25T10:29:00.000-04:00

I wish I were talking about Joan from Girlfriends...I truly do love her. Isn't she spectacular?

I feel about her the way I think a lot of white women feel about Carrie from Sex and the City. It's like a girl-crush. She's not traditionally beautiful, but her aura is so magnetic. I want to be on that show! But I watched a new episode Monday night and I must say that without Toni, the vibe just isn't the same. Lynn isn't a strong enough character to carry an episode which is what she did in this latest episode. Needless to say I was not impressed. Hopefully things will get better...but regardless of how quickly the show's slippery slope tilts, I'm still a Joan fan for life.

But no, no, my friends, it's not Girlfriends Joan that is my BFF. Brace yourself...I had another run in with the other Joan - Joan Rivers - last night.

A guy here at the office who is a big Joan fan mentioned that he wanted to watch her stand-up act on Bravo because he wouldn't be at home when it aired. I volunteered that I could tape it (while simultaneously revealing that I had no Tuesday night plans and that I'm the only backwards individual in Manhattan that still owns a VCR).

Because the guy that requested the tape is a big dog around these parts, I didn't want to screw up the delicate dubbing process. So I suffered through an entire hour of Joan's ranting when I should have been diving nose first into the book I'm reading. (Prep. Pretty good. Check it out.)

Bottom line is, this woman is crazy. She hates old people. She hates kids. She hates ugly people. She wishes she had taught her daughter how to give blow jobs instead of how to be a smart independent woman because she could have been Monica Lewinsky and they would all be rich.

That poor old lady. She's just so strange. While her face looks as mangled as it did when I saw her in person a couple of weeks ago, her body is fairly taught and well-lipo'd for her age.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. I still haven't figured out why Joan R resurfaced in my life a second time, but let's hope there's no "third time's a charm" in my future.

Shaking things up...

2006-10-14T16:27:00.000-04:00

Hopefully you didn't get too confused when you got to the new and improved page. I guess it's a good thing that you're still reading.

I was getting a little bored of the old look, so I did some changing and rearranging and voila! The colors are very subtle (which isn't much like my personality), so we'll see how long this look lasts. But I like it for now, so adjust your eyes and minds ladies and gents.

What do you think?

I'm back...sorta

2006-10-11T20:10:00.000-04:00

I know I've been completely neglecting you all and I'm sorry about that. Life is so busy right now! I have a big event this weekend and leading up to it has taken all of my energy. But I'm having a blast at the new job and meeting lots of cool peeps.

Speaking of peeps, can you believe the plane crash thing on the upper east side? I work 20 blocks away which sounds far, but was close enough for me to hear all the sirens blaring for a good four hours.

Anyhoo, have to make this short, but just wanted to let everyone know I'm alive and more than kickin'.

I promise to get better - just let me get through the next week or so!

Love,
Your Girl
xoxo

Happy Birthday To Me!

2006-09-16T10:35:00.000-04:00

I'm 26 years young today!

Got a yummy pound cake in the mail from my sweet Grandma and lots of thoughtful e-mails, phone calls and text messages. Speaking of, one was from my mother that came through at 2:30a this morning. Anyone else think this is odd?

Cheers to getting old!

Listen to what I got in the mail...

2006-09-13T20:38:00.000-04:00

...Or I guess READ what I got in the mail (duh) on a lame excuse for an index card:

Dear Your Girl,

You are an official prizewinner in our new Mercedes, BMW, Porsche or $40,000 cash promotion. We have been unable to contact you, therefore, in compliance with the program regulations, this notice is being forwarded to your attention.

We are holding your choice of a luxury 4-day Royal Caribbean Cruise for two with meals and entertainment included, value $1,398 or pre-paid round trip airfare and two nights accommodations for two to your choice of Las Vegas/Orlando, value $1,250, plus one of the four guaranteed prizes: a new Mercedes Benz M-Class, BMW X5, Porsche Cayenne or $40,000 cash, a $1,500 shopping spree, exotic island adventure, $806 value or $500 cash. To avoid forfeiting your status as a recipient, please call toll free at 1-888-325-XXXX within 72 hours, M-F 9:00am until 8:00pm and Sat. 9:00am until 6:00pm CST and arrange for a time for you and your spouse to visit and claim your prizes. There is no obligation to purchase anything. You are guaranteed to receive your prize and gift immediately, in accordance with your sweepstakes claim letter, dated 8/25/2006.

Sincerely,

Susan Murray, Awards Director

THE ADVERTISING MATERIAL IS BEING USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF SOLICITING TIMESHARE SALES

THE COMPLETE OFFERING TERMS ARE IN AN OFFERING PLAN AVAILABLE FROM THE SPONSOR

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What exactly am I supposed to be thinking? While you noodle that, here's what I am thinking:

In exactly what ways have they been trying to contact me that has been giving them so much trouble? I check my e-mail like a fiend and definitely have not received anything in the mail. Granted, I do screen my phone calls, but I haven't received very many unknown ones lately. Hmmmm

They've worded this just confusingly enough that I've had to read it several times to understand exactly what they're offering. I think it's a ploy...because the more I read, the more I picture me and LC with tropical cocktails in hand laying on the beach ditching meetings with salespeople trying to get us to actually pay for future trips.

I don't like when the only way for me to communicate with you is by phone. Options would be nice...like e-mail...that way I don't have to get drawn into a longwinded sales pitch and waste my cell phone minutes. But I guess I don't want spam either, so never mind.

Should I call?

City Adventures

2006-09-12T16:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was my last day on the old job. It's strange to think that I'll never return to that office and never have that e-mail address again (at least not for a LONG while). For some reason I didn't really feel that sad about leaving...the move from Atlanta was definitely more emotional and I'm definitely more excited about starting the new gig than I am about leaving the old one.

Since I'll leave next Wednesday for a week at home in Atlanta, I'm only taking one day off between jobs. So while everyone else was slaving away at work today, I had to figure out what to do with myself. I picked my two favorite things: burritos + lying around. I stopped by Chipotle and walked up to the park to indulge. It's such a beautiful day! On my way up 5th Ave I'm bopping along dreaming about black beans when I hear a VERY familiar voice. Lo and behold, I am strolling behind none other than Joan Rivers. And she looked a lot like she does on TV:

SCARY.

But that voice was unmistakable. And the STI-LE-TTOS that this woman was rocking were unbelievable. You will not catch me dead in shoes like those when I'm in my seventies. She had on a pump of this variety:

They were very cute, but I kept waiting for her to fall and break a hip.

I made it to the park and am minding my business reading The Art of Happiness when I look up and see a couple walking towards me. I'm in Central Park's famous grassy area called Sheep's Meadow so I found this particularly strange because on a Tuesday in the middle of the day, there weren't a ton of people at Sheep's Meadow. The next closest sun bather was at least 50 feet away. So to my surprise this man and woman set up camp 10 feet from me. Ummm....WTF? Of all the empty spots all throughout the area (and plenty of shade/no shade options, folks!), they had to pick the five square feet right next to me. Makes no sense at all. That reminds me of those people on the train that barely fit through the car door, but feel it necessary to squeeze their big butts in a seat not cut out for said butt. Ugh. So anyway they were only there about 10 minutes because I glanced up from my book and realized they were gone. Weirdos.

That's all for now.

Insomnia Strikes

2006-09-10T04:59:00.000-04:00

I NEVER get insomnia. I can always sleep at night and do so for at least eight hours each time. So why the hell am I awake? I fell asleep at a decent hour but woke up after a crazy dream about a homeless man trying to make out with me (you know how dreams go). That was about two and a half hours ago.

I don't know if I have nerves about the new job, if I'm just antsy to get home in a week and see LC and my family or if I'm just terribly unlucky.

Seriously, folks, it feels like 2p on a Saturday to me right now but it's, oh, 4:56a!! Pray for me...I'm a sleepaholic and this cannot continue.

Okay, off to eat an apple with peanut butter.

I saw Beyonce today

2006-09-08T09:18:00.000-04:00

She was performing in Times Square for Good Morning America which just happens to be right outside my office. At dinner last night one of my girls reminded me that she would be out there so I left home a few minutes early and got to work in time to get yelled at by rent-a-cops for not "moving it along." Yeah, I was one of the oglers that didn't want to stand in the sweaty crowd and instead stood behind the stage on Broadway. One female police officer started getting a little testy with me so I found a safe spot out of her view on the island at Broadway and 44th. So yay! Even though I'm not her biggest fan, it was cool to see Miss B perform live. She did a good job and she had her fans going wild.

Okay, more later my sweets.
xoxo

Hottie Alert!

2006-09-06T19:14:00.000-04:00

Ladies, I was prancing around town over the long weekend and stumbled upon a basketball court dripping with cute boys of all ages (well at least guys in their 20s and 30s). Now granted some of the dudes up in there were lookin' rough, but there were several hotties roaming the grounds.

I was one block west of Washington Square on Monday afternoon. Make it your mission to visit this area sometime soon, my dears. I don't know if something special was going on for the holiday...maybe the goddess of love decided to grace us with eye candy in celebration of Labor Day (we do work hard!). But if we're lucky they play more regularly than that. Not that I have free time on most Monday afternoons to cut clear across the city to ogle at sweaty men through a chain link fence, but I can dream! And I can pass along the wisdom to my fellow single, female New Yorkers.

Bitches unite!

Rings, sacrifices, drama - The Wedding Post

2006-09-03T17:42:00.000-04:00

I was at brunch with a friend today and we were discussing her roommate's upcoming nuptials. Well, actually that's a bit misleading because she's not even engaged yet. And that's the problem. Roommate just moved to New York this past spring leaving her boyfriend at home in Atlanta. Turns out they love each other, so she's making plans to head back to be with him. But she won't move back (and into a house with him) until they've walked down the aisle. An engagement ring won't do the trick. She must be married before she'll live with him (and good for her for sticking to her morals).

So Roommate and my friend have done the math and realize that in order for her to have ample time to plan the wedding before their lease is up in March, he must propose by October 1. I have to imagine that Roommate is getting a little antsy because she just came back from a trip to Atlanta to visit him and NO RING. The stress! The drama!

What's dude waiting on you might ask? Could be that he wants to make sure he's in a financially secure place before he drops $10K on a ring. Understandable, but Roommate might have a coronary if he doesn't pop the question soon. I would too though...her life dangles by a thinner and thinner thread the longer he postpones the proposal. Planning a wedding in less than six months sounds like an absolute nightmare. So if he doesn't get crackin' soon, Roommate's going to have to sign another lease here in New York, thus thinning that thread that connects her to her sanity.

Anyway it got me thinking. She's stressed. She's dangling by a thread. She's probably frustrated that she's not engaged. She's having to base the future of her life on another person.

ALL OF THESE THINGS SUCK. As much as being ready to marry someone must be great, Roommate's situation is reminding me of just how much sacrifice goes into that kind of relationship. Like TOO much. Regardless of how much I love someone I'm just not sure that I'm ever ready to be unhappy or unsure of my life just to be with him. Sure, that sounds selfish, but if it looks like a duck and it sounds like a duck...

I don't know. I'm sucker when it comes to matters of the heart. For some reason I just have no self control when it comes to boys. If I like him, I LIKE him. No halfway. No kinda. No "he's aight." But something about the whole marriage thing just scares me. I don't want to be in Roommate's shoes. I really don't. Maybe I'm just not ready and when the time comes I'll feel differently. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy my singlehood and be thankful I'm not being faced with all of that madness right now. Although a shiny thing on my finger might not be half bad...

My new job

2006-09-01T15:44:00.000-04:00

I'm sooooo excited to report that I got a new job! Life at my current post was only average so when a recruiter e-mailed me asking if I'd be interested in going on an interview, I thought "what the heck."

My first interview went okay, but I wasn't convinced that it was the place for me. To my surprise I got a call from the recruiter saying that they really liked me and wanted me to come back to the meet the president and my potential supervisor. So I did, and I'm so glad I did! It feels like this new company is going to be just my style.

I visited the office this week and got to see where I'd be sitting, met some of the team, etc and it just feels right. Plus the clients I'll be working on are right up my alley - luxury and lifestyle products. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Anyway, I feel like such a lucky girl to have found such a cool place to work. I just hope it's as good as it appears, but more on that later.

Wish me luck!

Elmo is black!

2006-08-25T17:30:00.000-04:00

I took a vacation day today and feel like watching Oprah is like WHAT YOU DO on a vacation day. I suppose the topic of the show must have been "dream jobs" or something like that because when I flipped to ABC she was interviewing the woman that runs Jimmy Choo. At the end of the fabulous shoe segment she welcomes Elmo from Sesame Street and out walks a black man! And his name is Kevin Clash (so soap opera-ish).

I was totally stunned. I could only half listen because I was on the phone with *honey* (or LC as I will refer to him from now on), but this straight-looking, normal-seeming tall, bald, black man is the voice of Elmo! Too crazy. LC took the words out of my mouth when he promptly said "I'm thinking of all the white housewives in Oregon who are staring at the TV screen disillusioned by the fact that their child has been watching a black puppet all this time." Someone somewhere (probably Oregon) fainted today because of the Oprah show. I'm sure of it. Maybe I'm behind the eight ball and everyone knows the story of the real Elmo, but for me it was a shockingly pleasant surprise. To learn more about Kevy-Kev click here.

I found heaven...

2006-08-21T22:00:00.000-04:00

...in a bitchy Japanese lady at Tab Tos on 5th between Ave A & B.

This restaurant is a complete hole in the wall. And I love it. B took me there for dinner and warns me that the food is amazing but the owner is a total bitch. So of course, I'm down (I love women with attitudes!).

We're strolling down the street catching up when B stops at a rickety old door that opens to a 8 square foot room with four tables in it and says "we're here." I happen to love tiny places on the LES but even I was thinking I thought we were going to dinner, not your friend on welfare's crib.

So we arrive and I let B do the talking because I'm not even sure how this whole size-of-a-double-bed restaurant thing works. He steps just inside the door, signals to the waitress that we're a party of two and swiftly steps back outside. That's when I realize that alas, there are only four tables IN THE WHOLE PLACE (as in no back room) and that the waitress is the evil sushi Nazi. She doesn't allow people to stand in her restaurant. It's either sit and eat or stand outside and wait. She owns the place with her sushi chef husband and I guess therefore feels that ordering her customers around is acceptable.

In her defense, she has every right to be rude because she knows good and well that the food will keep people coming back. We had the best meal and were shocked when the bill showed up and was only $30!! Please be patient while I recount all of the food she brought to our table. Ahem:

Two salads that were the size of dinner portions. She drizzled the tastiest dressing over the greens and topped it off with five generous portions of seared tuna. TO DIE FOR. I'm telling you. At any other NYC restaurant this salad alone would be $30.
A bowl of Miso soup.
An order of salmon ceviche. SO GOOD.
A HUGE spicy shrimp roll.
A HUGE some other roll that B got. DELICIOUS
A regular spicy tuna roll.
A regular some other kind of tuna roll that B got.
Two little candies to top it all off.

I rolled out of that restaurant. It's been a couple of hours and I'm still stuffed. For the prices, I had no idea this place would serve up so much food.

All of my out of towners, you will be visiting this place when you come in town so learn to love sushi!

Bottom line, if you're looking for atmosphere, or even for a waitress that doesn't look at you like you're wasting her time when you ask for water, this is not the place for you. Although I must say...after the stories B told me about how bad he'd seen her act towards other customers in the past, I really feel like she was partial to the 'fro. We connected. In fact, I love her.

My secret gift

2006-08-19T22:47:00.000-04:00

I'm home on a Saturday night enjoying my lovely apartment and relishing the money that is staying in my pocket.

So *honey's* birthday falls two weeks before mine and both special days are approaching fast. Yesterday he challenges me with giving him a creative gift. As in, I'm not allowed to buy something I think he'll like, stick in a box and hand it to him. I have to be more creative than that. I can spend money, but only on props for the gift I'll "do" and not "give"... but no money for a gift itself.

With this news he tells me that he knows EXACTLY what he's doing for me (and the same creativity rules apply). First thoughts? No fair! But after a little roommate brainstorming I have come up with the perfect gift. Only thing I'm worried about is trumping him because his birthday is before mine. Oh well, he'll have to deal. At least he has a couple of weeks to tweak his plan if I totally blow him out of the water. Which I definitely plan to do!!

I haven't been this excited to turning a year older since September 15, 2001.

Come on, 26!

Thank goodness for tacos

2006-08-17T22:12:00.000-04:00

So here is the progression of my evening...

Your Girl: I was deep in thought on my walk home after leaving an event for beauty bloggers and publicists. My thoughts are interrupted by a hand on my shoulder...I turn to see who must have accidentally brushed against me with an odd amount of force...

Dude: Hey, Natural. How are you?

Your Girl: I'm fine. Rolling eyes out of Dude's sight but secretly happy that he called me "Natural"

Dude: Where are you from?

Your Girl: Atlanta.

Dude: Reeeeaaaaally, I just got back from there. How long are you here?

Your Girl: I live here...but contemplating the move based on this encounter.

Dude: Ooohhh!!! I'm from the Bahamas. Where are you off to?

Your Girl: The drugstore and then home. Picking up my recently adopted New-York-speed-walking pace.

Dude: Well, I'll walk with you.

Your Girl: Grreeaaaat. Well let me just tell you now that I'm not going to give you my phone num...

Dude: Throws hands back in defense...Whoa! I don't need your number! That's fine! I'm a millionaire! I don't need your number, I can get anybody's number...!

Your Girl: WTF??!! This night is so going in the blog.

Dude: By the way, I just had sex, so...

**Crickets...looking around for a candid camera**

Your Girl: I REALLY don't care. So you're just roaming the streets trying to pick up girls?

Dude: Oh no, she's a girl that works at the airport. Can't remember how I met her. It was a quickie.

Your Girl: My lip curls in utter disgust. I'm not talking about your sexual experiences, I meant WHY ARE YOU STILL WALKING WITH ME.

Dude: Well, you said you lived here and that got me kind of exci....OOOOOHHHH!!! Look at that restaurant! See what you get when you walk around?! You know that's the oldest steak house in New York.... probably the world!

Your Girl: That's Smith & Wollensky and it says right there on the side of the building that it was founded in 1977. Pretty sure steaks existed before the 70s.

Dude: No, I think that's the place...hey let me ask this dude...floating towards a man perched on 49th and 3rd who was clearly homeless and had probably never tasted steak.

Your Girl: Later! Putting that New-York-speed-walking pace to work. Whew! Lost him.

UNBELIEVABLE. But I will say the night ended up well. I dropped my stuff off at home, grabbed my keys and my check card and made my way to Chipotle to pick up dinner (partly to make sure crazy man wasn't lurking around my doorstep). I do the Chipotle conga line while a disgruntled employee tops off my soft tacos with a bit too much sour cream. The friendly guy at the register gives me my total and I hand him my check card....which is when I realize that I brought my ID and not my check card. UGH! He consults with his boss in Spanish and they let me jet off with my tacos after I promise to come by tomorrow with some cashish.
Free tacos for dinner! What a lovely ending to a very bizarre evening!

The NYC Dating Dance

2006-08-13T20:05:00.000-04:00

My roomie and I were pondering the dating scene here and how it differs from our experiences in Atlanta over an Italian prix fixe menu yesterday evening. In Atlanta, if you see a boy that you think is attractive but you don't have the nerve to approach him, you hang back and look forward to seeing him next week at the same event, party or bar. If it's fate, fate will throw him at you when she feels the time is right...right?

NYC is totally different. A hard thing to swallow for single girls in this town is that the chances of running into the cute guy in the bookstore a second time is about as likely as Mariah Carey trading in her on-tour glorified pampers for a tasteful pant suit.

Ugh, Mariah kills me.

So I'm chatting away over grilled salmon at our sidewalk table about something that I'm sure was only mildly interesting, when I notice that I don't have her attention for a solid three seconds. She turns back to me and informs me of a cutie that is passing us on the sidewalk. They made eyes, there was clearly an attraction, but what does a girl do at that point? Maybe this is a bad example because no one's going to shout "eh shawtie" after someone that passes by while they're eating no matter what the city. But when you know your only chance is NOW, do you work up the nerve and make something happen? Maybe that was Mr. Right that floated by. Had she jumped up, followed him and asked him out, perhaps he would have appreciated her bold approach, noticed the junk in the trunk and fallen instantly in love.

Or perhaps we shouldn't try so hard and we should just let destiny do her thing.

Fill me up, Diddy!

2006-08-12T20:43:00.000-04:00

I've always enjoyed spending time alone. For as long as I can remember, solitude has been something I've cherished and have looked forward to. Even as an adolescent I would lock myself in my bedroom listening to music for hours and hours and enjoying my own company.

When I made the choice to move to New York I daydreamed often what my life would be like once I got here. Who would I meet? What kinds of restaurants, clubs, museums, fabulous homes, retail stores, neighborhoods would I visit? Would I have one of those crazy nights where me and a girlfriend meet two random dudes at a bar, really hit it off and end up at the hottest club in the city with Diddy filling up my champagne glass and Pharrell making eyes at me from across the room?

As of 8:53 on August 12, 2006 I have had no run-ins with Pharrell. In fact, I lead a pretty average life. I go to work five days a week, do a lot of dining out with friends. Hit a bar or a nightclub every once in a while. But for the most part all of these outings are pretty mild. And I tend to spend a lot of time to myself. In this town especially, it's something that I treasure. When you can't walk three feet without passing three people, a stolen moment alone is like gold.

Sometimes I feel like I should be sending stories to friends back in Atlanta about wild experiences and a forever rising salary (because of course one of the other big NYC expectations is overnight riches). After all, that would be kind of fun. But being the laid back dame that I am, I'm perfectly content with my quasi-boring life. Sometimes I wonder, though, what others on the outside are thinking. Am I getting old? Or maybe just maturing? Or am I lame?

I'm pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-08-09T21:19:00.000-04:00

It's only in e-mails that carry this much news that you should EVER use an over ambundance of exclamation points. Is the exclamation point losing meaning or something? Does it feel like it's losing ground on the question mark? With every passing day I get another e-mail from a reporter exclaming she's so thankful that I could get that image over to her!!!!! Is one exclamation not enough? I'm all about being friendly and enthusiastic. Heck, I use exclamation points, too. But five of them? About an image? You need to spice things up over there at XYZ magazine. And it's not just work...although I can tolerate it from friends because maybe they do miss me this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!much. I miss you, too.

(Still on the pill, kids)

2006-08-09T10:28:00.000-04:00

I don't usually send along random things like this, but I thought this was just the coolest thing! It's amazing what the human body can do. Check this: http://www.johnsadowski.com/big_spanish_castle.html

My new 'do

2006-08-07T22:17:00.000-04:00

For as long as I can remember, I've had a perm. Every five weeks I made a bee line to the salon to get a touch-up and I didn't realize until recently that it was such a restricting, trapped feeling. Don't get me wrong, sitting in a salon chair can be theraputic. I got to listen to this hilarious gay black man that did wonders with a flat iron talk about every celebrity known to man. I never was one to unleash my personal problems on my stylist, but I did get to listen to other women let it all hang out...I've always enjoyed that (talking with people about their problems, that is). But still, it seemed I planned my life around trips to the shampoo bowl.

So about a month after moving to the Big Apple a novel idea struck me...I could wear my hair natural. It sounds obvious, but in reality I had never really even considered it an option for me. Going to the salon was like breathing. The big mental overhaul happened one day at the office when I was on my hunt for NYC hair salon. I found a few choices online and was trying to base my decision off of the opinions of strangers at Web sites like citysearch.com.

The idea came out of nowhere but somehow made so much sense. It seemed like the absolute right thing to do...I was going to grow my hair out natural. So my on-the-job-hair-salon-research took a slight turn and I was now scouting out salons that specialized in natural hair. I found a dandy little place in Tribeca called Khamit Kinks. I did some research on the Web site and also realized that the best way to keep my hands out of my hair while it grows out is to get it braided....as in cornrows (ya never know who's reading). I must say they did an EXCELLENT job. I was so impressed with how neat they turned out and for the first time I felt really attractive in a different way. My head hurt like hell, but I felt pretty none-the-less.

I rocked the braids for a couple of months until I realized that $300 every month was not fitting smoothly into my budget. So I'm on a beach vaca with my *honey* and he decides on a whim that the braids must go and the natural hair must rock. So in a matter of minutes I was braidless....and nearly bald (just kidding....sorta). But I like it. A lot. It took some getting used to (having weave halfway down my back for the first time ever was kind of a treat with the cornrows), but the short hair is really starting to grow on me. Originally, I was supposed to keep the braids much longer and cut them out once my natural hair was a bigger, blacker 'fro. But *honey* couldn't wait that long.

So thanks to him I can now add all-natural to my long list of attributes sooner than I ever thought I would. And it feels really good.

White boy puzzled

2006-08-06T19:20:00.000-04:00

So funny...the girls that I hang with here in New York are smart, super fine black girls like myself. So last night we had dinner plans at a quaint sake bar in the East Village called Satsko and I was the only one that showed up on time at 8:30. So while I waited for them to arrive I got to know two young lads at the bar. Really friendly white boys, they were. Although it would be hard not to be friendly in a restaurant so small and cozy and neighborhood hangout-like.

So when my girls finally arrive I introduce them to the boys. When we get to our table (sans boys) one of the girls had me cracking up. She said that the guys looked at them so puzzled when everyone (three total) introduced themselves with regular 'ol American names. No Bonquishas. No names with African clicking noises incorporated. Just your standard Mary and Jane type names. I, too, happen to have an American name so I'm sure they were just all thrown off.

It was a small, jovial moment in our long night out, but it was the highlight of my night by far.

A whole new world

2006-08-06T14:11:00.000-04:00

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to keep a diary. I'd do well and jot down my thoughts for a couple of weeks and then I'd forget and slowly my life on paper would come to an end. This is my grown-up attempt at starting a diary again. I won't be talking about my most personal issues because I've always felt that should be stored to memory (who needs to read about my undying love for Carlos in fifth grade?). But I will share my adventures in NYC, love and life.

Hopefully at some point I'll actually tell people about this blog.