DIY Hair- Kinky Twists!

So this weekend I'm going to attempt to twist my own hair with extensions... There are a TON of girls on nappturality who have done this, and there are like 5 million youtube videos demonstrating the technique, and I've been 2-strand twisting my hair for years so I'm going to give it a shot. I actually tried doing kinky twists YEARS ago... the summer after I graduated college... I think only a few of you (or just Steph) were around to experience those kinky twists....

They were a hot mess....

They looked kind of like this picture. --------- >




But e'rbody was quick to tell me how cute they were... even you Steph, even though you came clean once I took them out. So I am going to give them a shot again this weekend. I'm going to keep them kind of short... This kind of what I"m hoping they'll look like -

I'll let you know how they turn out! :-)

N

Blog Roundup- 3/13/2009

What up party people.... A few interesting things in the blogiverse today....








Shopping/Fashion:
Budget Babe hipped me to a funky headband designer in Philly, Lisa Kathryn Designs. She sells her stuff on etsy.com and she's running a promotion where 1 lucky girl (or guy...) will win a free headband. She has some cute stuff... It's very Urban Outfitters/Katy Perry/Solange-ish, but I really like a few of the pieces and they'd be fun for my spring/summer fro. They're only $10-$12 so I think I can afford to just purchase a few, and if you mention the Budget Babe you get 10% off. Here's a few of my faves below :-)




















Food/Recipes:
I saw this really awesome kitchen gadget on thekitchn today. It's a counter/cutting board that you can hold on your lap! As you can see in the picture you balance the board in between your legs, use the portion in front of you for cutting and then there seems to be a trash area on one side and another holding area on the other side. GENIUS! I should get one of these for my mom.... She's always sitting down and cutting things and this seems way more ergonomic than sitting on a stool and reaching up to the counter to cut things.



That's it for today! Have a fantabulous weekend y'all!

Naive or neigborly?

So I met a nice woman on my block who has a french bulldog... I'm 99% sure that he's a purebred Frenchie. I met her before she got the dog and she told me she was getting a French bulldog and when she came and introduced Leroy and I to her puppy last week and she again said that he was a Frenchie. I was talking to her randomly on the street yesterday when a guy, who I had just met a few minutes earlier, came down the block and asked her what type of dog she had. She told him he was a mutt. The guy asked her a few times just to be sure.... and she said that he was a frenchie mixed with something else... i don't remember what she said, but she definitely said that her dog was a mutt. I had just met the guy a bit earlier. He had stopped me to chat and had asked what type of dog I had. I, of course, told him that Leroy was a pug and we had a nice little conversation about pugs.

Back when I first got Leroy people used to stop me all the time to talk to me about where I got him, how much he was, etc. Puppies are really expensive in New York and a lot of people around here breed dogs (Pitts and Shepherds mostly) so the majority of the time I just figured they saw he was a purebred dog that was "rare" (at least in Bed Stuy) so I figured they were just curious. A few times i was a little reticent to tell people how much I paid for him because I just felt a weird energy from them, but for the most part I told them I got him from the Midwest and he was pretty cheap... a few hundred bucks.

What do you all think about my neighbor not telling the guy what kind of dog she had? I kind of thought she was doing it because she didn't want to tell him that she had an expensive dog for fear that he might get stolen? Maybe I'm just being paranoid and projecting my personal feelings on her? Maybe she just didn't feel like telling him for other reasons?

Do you think I'm naive by being very forthcoming about the breed and cost of Leroy? Do you think there's any validity in being concerned about people having ulterior motives when they ask Leroy's breed of "price"?

What say you?

Blog Roundup 3/12/2009

What up party people.... A few interesting things in the blogiverse today....



Shopping/Fashion:
-The folks over at Budget Babe posted a link to a $19.99 shoe sale over at 6pm.com. Poetic License shoes are only $19.99 for one day only. I've never actually heard of this brand of shoes, but they don't seem too bad... a couple functional little work shoes in the mix.

-Budget Babe also posted a very comprehensive "Spring Essentials Wardrobe Checklist" today for those of you who are tryna step it up, on the cheap, for spring. Pretty good list in my opinion. Here are my top 5 from the list:
1. Short sleeve cardigans- To make spring shirts out of summer tanks. There were bunch of cheap and cute ones at Forever21
2. Lightweight scarves. - All the little celebrity chicks are doing this and I've seen it in a few window displays... very cute way to dress up standard jeans and t-shirt look.
3. Classic trench. I've been looking for a cute, single breasted, trench for a few years... if anyone has any suggestions PLEASE let me know.




4. Stylish sneaks. I need need NEED a new pair of sneakers as my die hard Puma 'speed cats' actually have a hole in the toe.... I'm so bad with sneakers... please give me suggestions
5. Jumpers. I love jumpers! I wanted to get one last season, but didn't see any that I really loved... I need to get at least one before Miami. Here's one from Bebe...












Food/Recipes:
I LOVE this new blog I just subscribed to Thekitchn, from the Apartment Therapy folks. There were a bunch of great posts today, but for some reason the post about pudding really jumped out at me. Pudding isn't just for kids (and Bill Cosby) anymore with fancy flavors like Mexican chocolate and anise or lemongrass infused vanilla. The pics were beautiful and the coolness (and relative low fat-ness... depending on the type of milk used) seemed perfect for a light spring dessert.

Yummm.... That's it for now. See you in a few

Blog Roundup- 3/10 - 3/11/2009

Yesterday was an EXTREMELY slow day in the blogiverse ( and in my universe). Today wasn't much better, but here are a few highlights....









Random:
Very introspective and most likely accurate perspective of the real "Change" that has come to the White House... see below (From The New York Nerd)...

















Now that's the kind of change I can get behind... or in front of... heh heh.... Movin on.....


On SoulBounce today there was a spotlight on L.A. Visual Artist Steven Lopez. I hadn't heard of Steven Lopez before today, but the stuff posted is AMAZING! His new series is entitled 'After Midnight' and is a tribute to the icons of R&B (Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, Aretha) and soon to be icons like Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and India.Arie. The images are incredibly vibrant and he had a video on his webpage of himself creating the Erykah Badu piece above. I'm awestruck by visual artists... given that I have ZERO visual artistic ability, so I thought the vid was really cool. Check it below.
Erykah Badu- Amerykahn Promise from ikeepmoving.com on Vimeo.

Single Ladies videos... this ish has to stop!

Saw this video on Young Black and Fabulous yesterday.... I'm not going to describe it, because I think the blogger there said all that needs to said.... Read on....

"The Beyonce World Domination continues. These little boys in the Philippines have re-enacted B’s “Single Ladies” video. I’m slightly disturbed yet impressed at the same time. Is that possible? Either way…I have SEVERAL questions. A few that instantly came to mind:

1. Who bought these daisy dukes and extra smedium shirts for these little boys and is THAT who I should be mad at?

2. Who choreographed the remix parts with the acrobats and patty cake games?

3. Was this a school assembly?

4. Is Dr. Phil on call? I have a feeling some ish is about to pop off as soon as they hit puberty.

I must say…homeboy in the urnge–yes, urnge–shorts was killin’ it. Bump what you heard."



HAHAHAHAH oh the hilarity....

Leroy at the park

My friend Julian and I took Leroy to the park last weekend... we tried to play fetch with him. It didn't go so well. Here are a few videos