I know it's been a little while since I have posted so here's a quick mini update.
I celebrated my birthday last Thursday (which explains why there was no rant and rave Thursday) I did a lot of shopping and partying, probably more than I should have (shopping I mean lol) I was really busy all last week and this week I am sick :( I have a few post though that I want to get out so your eyes will be busy reading and your fingers will be busy commenting I hope :)
So Halloween is tomorrow and I know most of you are putting last minute touches on decorating your home, or the kids costumes or getting your costumes together and buying up candy to pass out to the trick or treaters etc. I want to hear all about what you do for Halloween too and I want to see pics of the kiddos dressed up :)
I personally am not into the Halloween scene. I do not dress up, I do not go out, I don't borrow friends kids to go trick or treating lol. To me it is just another day. So I was checking out a friends blog (check her out by the way she has fabulous stuff to share) and I wanted to share with my readers some fun videos. I usually see this for Christmas time but apparently people do it for Halloween as well, so since I don't have any personal Halloween things to share with you, please enjoy these fabulous videos....
Good evening beautiful people. I am writing this much awaited and very anticipated post. I am EXTREMELY nervous about this but what better time then the present. So strap in and lets go for a ride through my hair journey.... Alright so I am a mixed female and for as long as I can remember I used to wear my natural hair. When I was a young girl, I rocked the pig tails, and the cornrows. When Jheri curls were out yes I rocked that too. Then I went to relaxers and for those that do not know what a relaxer is, it is the opposite of a perm for Caucasian women. A perm for them is to curl their hair and a relaxer for us is to straighten our hair. I used to get my hair relaxed every 4-6 weeks with touch ups in between time. I did this for years but in the summer I would rock braids. I also wished I had long luxurious hair when I was younger. I remember when I was a little girl I would throw a towel on my head and a headband to keep it in place and swing my "hair" around. I was never the one to appreciate or love MY hair. In fact I hated it, I hated people seeing the real me. If it was time to get my hair done I would take whatever I had in at the time down, wash it and go the next day to get it redone. To this day I am still that way, however I have had a breaking point. Today I am revealing ME and all my naturalness. Usually the only people that see my hair is myself and whomever is doing it at the time. I continuously get comments about how my hair is so long, so thick so beautiful etc etc but I have yet to believe it. My head was filled with your hair is so nappy and so ugly by my peers when I was younger, I don't see how it's any different now.....but in saying that I am about to embark on a new journey and a new year since my birthday is coming up in two days this is my "coming out" party LOL
Lately, I have realized that however I am in this moment I am beautiful, I was beautifully, fearfully and wonderfully made and I need to embrace that. So this is me embracing it. I decided to show my hair in its many states. My real natural, grown from my head state LOL. I have done the weaves, the braids, the twist, and everything in between. Although I am showing this I would like to say this is a HUGE deal for me. I did end up getting my hair done today in a twist style but regardless of me doing that I feel accomplished that I am showing you all the real ME.... For the last SEVERAL years my hair has looked like this
Small Micro Braids
And I even change up the color
I wore this style for years so just recently about 3-4 months ago I decided to change it up. Now I used to wear whats called "Kinky Twist" all the time back in Michigan but since I have lived in Cali I have yet to get them done and one day I decided to do something different and this is what I just took out and had replaced, except I replaced it with a different color same style
My kinky twist
So after taking these twist out, I washed my hair thoroughly and conditioned it, this is what my hair looks like curly......brace ya selves lol
There it is..nice tight coily curls. It is not nappy I can rake my fingers through it just fine and a comb too lol
All blown out!! Who knew there was that much hair from looking at those tight coils
So from there I decided to flat iron it....first time putting heat like that in my head in well over a few years. Sometimes I don't even blow dry I just comb out and let it air dry.
Almost done
Final product!! Unfortunately I couldn't take a pic of the back because I'm not that talented lol and I pulled it over toward one side because I was feeling myself I thought I was CUTE haha
So during this process it was fun, yet exhausting. It was freeing and liberating. It was refreshing to know, my hair is apart of me. Its coily texture is cute to some, ugly to others but who cares? Because I am not my hair, I am not your expectations either....
SS <3
Thanks for reading...comments, shares, and subscribers are ALWAYS welcomed.
This is my first participation in a Sunday Social so here goes nothing. Thanks to Ashley & Neely for starting this....
This Weeks Questions:
1. What do you value most in life? I value my friendships, and my family. Friendship and family are VERY important to me.
2. What do you think is the greatest invention in your lifetime and why? The greatest invention....I would have to say DVR, the fact that I don't have to listen to those lame painful commercials and I can watch an hour show in about 45 minutes or so...AHHH-MAZING :)
3. What do you think is the secret to a good life? Being true to yourself, always striving to achieve your goals no matter how hard or what naysayers may say. Do you and don't let anyone stop you.
4. What would you most like to be remembered for when you’re gone? I'm not actually sure. I think I want to be remembered in a positive light, the one that used to smile all the time and was so positive and happy.
5. What accomplishment in your life are you most proud of? To date being healed from going through a terrible divorce, graduating from school!!!! I still want to go back and complete more but to be able to finally have finished something is a definite accomplishment. Lastly, finally getting into the studio and laying down my vocals on a song :)
6. If a movie was made about your life, who would you want to play you? This is a hard one but I the first person that came to mind was Queen Latifah. I love her as an actress and maybe even Jill Scott. I love her as an actress too....
SS <3
If you're not participating in the Sunday Social....How would you answer these questions??
HAPPY FRIDAY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!! Okay I'm not really making PB&J lol but looking at this picture can you guess what's for dinner?
So if you look at these ingredients and guessed I am making spaghetti you would totally be wrong.....................okay I'm totally kidding, can't get anything past you. YES I'M MAKING SPAGHETTI :)
So a little backdrop on this meal. My mom used to make spaghetti when I was a little girl, it was one of my favorite meals she made. She loved to make it and then put it in the oven with cheese on top. I personally HATED it with cheese on top, so she always made a big pot, half would go in the oven with cheese and the other half would be for me with no cheese :) I totally loved my mothers spaghetti, as you can tell with the ingredients it wasn't the "boil some noodles and throw some canned sauce on top" kinda spaghetti. When we cook we cook big and we get it in LOL. So with that said, when my mom died I never got the recipe from her before hand, I had no idea how to make this spaghetti, what to put in it, what spices, what meat, NOTHING, and the sad part I hadn't craved it until after she died. I remembered there was meat, as in ground beef but I couldn't remember what else. I remember I couldn't stop thinking about her spaghetti, I even had dreams about it, so one day I went to the grocery store and prayed that I could remember by taste everything my mother put into her spaghetti and guess what....I DID!!!! It's amazing how that works, I was in the grocery store and I could suddenly taste everything she put into the spaghetti, I could see her preparing it the only thing I think I might have added and she didn't was the Italian sausage. Although she might have and that just didn't come back to my remembrance Either way it works. I remember the first day I made it I was so nervous, I think I made it for someone and I really wanted it to taste like my moms, and when I tasted it I literally cried because it was exactly like hers, I felt like she was with me. And the few times I have made it, it seems to get better and better. I have made it for potlucks, engagement parties, friends, and so on and apparently its a HUGE hit. So enough of that here goes...
I combine my seasonings, ground beef and Italian sausage into a pan. Then after they brown I add in my kielbasa. I place hot water on the stove and add salt and a dab of oil to the water and let it come to boil then add my noodles.
While the meat is cooking and the noodles are boiling I cut up one whole green bell pepper, one whole onion and two garlic cloves and into the pan they go
By this time the meat has finished browning so I strain it in a colander to allow the oil and juice that the meat makes when it's cooking to strain out and it won't be in the spaghetti. While the meat is straining I take the same pan and saute my vegetables that way the veggies can take up all that yummy goodness and seasonings from the meat. I also sweat my vegetables which basically means I put a lid over the pan while they are sauteing.
After the noodles are done I strain them as well, the veggies are sauteed and the meat is nicely seasoned and browned. It all goes in a big pot, with all the different sauces I like to use at least 4-5 sauces but that's me and I add some Oregano to taste and mix well
OMG I am getting hungry all over again just looking at that. In the words of my great friend "nom nom nom nom" (LOL you know who you are........Ruby)
And there you have it. YUMMY GOODNESS!!!!
I served this with plain Garlic Toast but I added a little shredded cheese to the toast before placing it in the oven. OMG that is the best, or you could also pair it with this absolutely AHHHH-MAZING recipe for corn bread that my friend has. YUMMY!!!! Hope you enjoy & as always thank you for reading!!!! SS <3
As I stood outside this was the view from my back yard. As I looked up I began to get all teary eyed. As I looked to the right of me, there is a bush that has flowers on it and I saw a hummingbird (couldn't get a clear pic to show) seeing the hummingbird made me think of my mother. I don't necessarily know why because I never heard her say she liked them, I think because one day, when I was going through the thick of my divorce, and feeling really alone and really missing my mom I was sitting in my truck crying a bucket full of tears asking why me, why me. Why did my marriage end, why did my son have to die, why did my mom have to die and the moment I said my mom, I felt a sense of peace and calm and I looked up and a hummingbird was smack dab on the driver side mirror of my truck, it sat there for quit some time staring at me as I was staring at it and ever since then I think of my mom when I see a hummingbird, same with butterflies but we both loved butterflies so that one I can understand.... I have been really missing my mom lately. She died when she was 47. She was very young. My mom and I were super close. My father wasn't really in my life and it was always my mother and I. She was my best friend. I remember when I moved out to go to college I was 17 years old, I had my own apartment, I was working 2 jobs and going to school full time. When I would go home to visit my mom I would like to surprise her. Sometimes I would leave school early, drive down and surprise her in her classroom (she was a special education teacher along with working at the main post office in our city as well) her students would erupt with screams, and the joy that panned across my mothers face was amazing. She would light up and say "What are you doing here?" every time I came. I would help her out at school, and then we would usually leave together and go do something, like eat or shop or go home and talk like little school girls. I would sleep in her bed with her and we would stay up talking about all of our hopes and dreams. God I miss those moments so bad. I miss the love that my mom used to give me....
As it draws nearer to my birthday I can't help but think how she's going to miss yet another birthday, hers and mine. (Hers is next month) It's been some time since she passed but I still feel like it was yesterday. I never ever imagined my life without my mother. I know we all have to die sometime and I knew eventually her day would come but I honestly thought I would be older, married, with children etc. I will never ever get to share those moments with my mother. She won't be here to help me with my wedding dress, to tell me I am beautiful, I won't ever get to hear her say she loves me or she is proud of me. Do you know what that does to a person? How detrimental to my soul that is? Yes I know she is in a better place, yes I know she is happy wherever she is blah blah blah...I don't want to hear the cliches I just want to vent. Birthday's were a big deal in my family, we always celebrated each other and loved to have any excuse to get together. After my grandfather died we didn't do many BIG family get together's, each family kinda did their own thing. From my teenage years on it was always the four musketeers which was what I called us, my mom, myself, my aunt and my grandma, we did everything together and went everywhere together. Then my aunt had a little girl and my little cousin came alone. She always calls me her big sister so then 4 became 5. We always had a great time and we all loved to shop so we spent anytime we could together shopping, eating, cooking, laughing watching movies etc. Sometimes I feel like my mom was the glue that kept us all together, and now she's gone and we aren't as close as we used to be. That hurts too....I love families that are so close knit, that love each other so much, that do family get togethers and hang out. I miss those moments when we all used to gather around the dinner table and eat a home cooked meal, when we would have family reunions when my entire family would get together from all across the world in one central location and get to know each other again. I remember my mom helping and planning those events.
As I watch the sun get orangier and begin to set I began to feel that feeling I felt when they lowered my mothers body further into her casket. I began to feel that overwhelming feeling that this is it, I will never see her again, I will never feel her hugs, hear her voice, sense her presence ever again. My heart broke. I would like to add my disclaimer and say, I do not need therapy and I am not crazy. I have experienced a loss, several to be exact and in that loss you experience different emotions. Do I cry for or over my mother every night NO, have I healed from the loss of my mother? I don't think you can ever heal from something like that, you just learn to deal with it and move forward. The pain doesn't hurt as bad, you're not consistently thinking about it, you learn no cope. I miss my mother dearly but I also know that my life has been spared for the time being and I have to live it, I have to move forward but I can still carry my memories of her with me.......... SS <3
Hello lovely people, I hope you all are well. I decided to do my first installment of a rant and rave. Sometime's you need a place to vent and rant about stuff and sometimes you need a place to rave and get excited about stuff so.....here goes RANTS: #10 Dear God, can you please turn the heat down a smidge in So-Cal it is October ya know? 100 degrees is a little unheard of. Thanks sir (I wrote this yesterday in preparation for today and I guess He heard me because its super cloudy and like 60 degrees LOL) #9 Samsung..it is not a bright idea for you to tell me to send my battery from my phone into you, have you test it then send me another one. Did you miss the part where I said I NEED MY PHONE? How about you come up with a more feasible option and just send me a replacement battery for my phone and I will send you this crappy busted, swollen battery back. Trust me I don't want to keep it. #8 Hey Market Pantry yeah...you Target brand you...why must your Gummi Bears be soooooo good. It makes no sense that I have eaten a 1 pound bag in less than a week. Ugh..I am so ashamed, this is NOT good for my girlish figure #7 Yo kids...its NOT cool to walk in the middle of the street when cars are coming. Getting hit by a car is not fun. By the way did you hear they made these nifty things called SIDEWALKS so you can WALK on them?? USE IT #6 Speaking of sidewalks, in California they have what's called a bike lanes. Which means bikes like the ones with the pedals can be in the street with cars. NOT COOL California NOT COOL. Why? Because the bikers think they have run of the road, they are all over the place, people slamming on breaks, blowing horns ugh its unnecessary mayhem. Where I'm from we road our bikes on the sidewalk. Just sayin.... #5 Last week we had a little bit of drizzle, do you know within the first hour of the drizzle (mind you not full on rain, or if it was it wasn't constant) there were over 100 accidents. WITHIN THE FIRST HOUR?? OMG So-Cal SERIOUSLY? Get it together..I won't drive on the road because of you crazy people, I come from a place where we drove on snow, rain, sleet, BLACK ICE and everything in between. You people freak out over drizzle? So here's my logic on this one....it never rains in Southern California..remember that song? Well for the most part its true, so when we do get rain you have to think their is oil, debris and other mess on the ground so when it rains, the ground is SLIPPERY so you can't drive 100 mph like you normally would when the ground is dry. Why? BECAUSE IT'S SLIPPERY....
#4 Dear ancient, old, decrepit laptop....I just need you to hold on for one more month okay? Please stop freezing, shutting off, freezing, playing videos like theyare chopped and screwed, freezing, shutting off, making weird noises, freezing, shutting off, starting over, bringing up random windows all on your own, freezing, shutting off, the mouse moving all by itself and going haywire, oh and did I mention FREEZING & SHUTTING OFF?? Yea...hold on just a while longer please..thanks #3 Hey Cleveland bus driver....although I found the video to be disturbingly funny I do NOT condone you uppercutting a woman on your bus. I think people were outraged because they assumed she was a teenage girl, however upon further inspection they found out she was actually 25 years old, still you shouldn't have punched her in the face, although I know she deserved it!! #2 To the woman that decided to start an organization but didn't do her homework..epic fail on you. Don't make empty promises and prey on weak women. That's not cool. It's important to build up women, edify them, and build unity and sisterhood...right? This is what you organization is about right? If we are building women up and screaming about sisterhood, then if one makes a mistake or falls away it is your job as a leader to reach out to that person, and the job of the attendees to reach out to their so called "sister" right? I mean it's only common sense, but a friend once told me. "Sense ain't always common." So sad... #1 To the complete moron that got their drivers license out of the dumpster, you merge with traffic onto the freeway. You don't start coming over on someone when they are RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!!!! And you don't keep coming when they are blowing their horn at you, as to wake you up so you can get your head out of your ass and realize you are about the cause an accident!!!! OHHH EMMM GEEE (yea this one was personal...sorry) RAVES: #10 I am starting to feel like a blogger now #9 I love writing and I love that people actually want to hear what I have to say #8 I am FINALLY going to show pictures of my hair...Yes my REAL, NATURAL, GROWN OUT OF MY HEAD HAIR!!!! Not a lot of people have seen it because I keep it braided or twisted or whatever and people are asking so I will debut my hair in a couple of days. Before I go get it done again :) #7 I feel like more opportunities are about to unfold in my lap and I am excited to see what happens next. #6 It's almost THANKSGIVING!!!! I personally LOVE Turkey Day, it is my favorite Holiday to cook for. It is my day where I go alllllll out. From the turkey to the dessert I make from scratch....mostly #5 With Thanksgiving that also means my other favorite day and that is BLACK FRIDAY!!!! Its always been a tradition between my mother and I and sometimes my aunt and grandma to go to the black Friday sales. I have yet to go to the Black Friday Sales out here, every time I decide to go with someone, they always end up bailing so this year, there's no excuses I am going even if I have to go by myself and I will take lots of pictures and blog about it. I'm getting a new laptop for sure, and I think I am going to get a keyboard. I want to start learning how to play again, maybe it'll motivate me to start writing songs?? Hmmm we'll see.... #4 I scored a great deal on some skinny jeans that were supposed to be on sale for $37 bucks but the lady rang me up and gave them to me for about $20 bucks and we got to talking about my BLOG!!!! And now she's a follower. LOVE IT. Shout Out to Dulce :) also I scored a dress that I saw online yesterday, on sale for $27 bucks which was an awesome steal to me but I went back online yesterday to show a friend the dress and the price had dropped to....wait for it......$13.99 S-C-O-R-E!!!! Needless to say that dress is on it's way to my closet..... #3 It's my...........................BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!!!!!!!! #2 It's still my............................... BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!!!!!!!! #1 My birthday is a week from today which means its my..............BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is my first ever cooking post but I know for a fact it won't be my last. I totally LOVE to cook. I live with a roommate and we have an agreement that I do the cooking in the house and that is A-OK with me. So, with our agreement I let my roommate know to take out whatever it is she wants me to cook and I will whip something up. With that being said, she had told me a little while ago she had a pot roast I could cook, so everyday I went to the fridge, checked to see what was taken out, dreading the very day I would have to cook a pot roast. Welp, today was that day!! I dreaded the day because I have never ever cooked a pot roast before. I actually don't even think I have tasted pot roast before. I didn't necessarily think it would be hard to cook because I like to think I am very creative in the kitchen and can whip up just about anything with whatever I have. This was one of those days. Take a seat, grab a plate and come along for my "pot roast" ride....
As I mentioned above I had no idea how to cook a pot roast, what to do with it, how to season it, how long it takes to cook etc. So my brain instantly began to work. It's a roast, so try a dry rub, cut up some garlic, carrots, onions, potatoes, a little wine reduction, throw it in the crock pot and there it is. Right? WRONG!!!! I go into the fridge there's no garlic, no onion, no red wine, BUT there are some potatoes. Sooooo I grab some spices, I grab the potatoes and take out the crock pot and start to work. I take my spices and throw them all together mix them all up, wash my roast and pat it dry.
Crock Pot, spices, and mixed rub
I take my roast and start rubbing it with the spices. For the spices I used a mixture of EVERYTHING, Season Salt, Black Pepper, Minced Garlic, Minced Onion, Mrs. Dash, Italian Seasoning, Garlic Flavored Breadcrumbs(Yes breadcrumbs, the flavor is amazing) and some other stuff I can't remember.
Potatoes and Roast rubbed and ready to be seared
After I rubbed the roast I decided to put the rub on the potatoes. It was only fitting right? Then I seared the roast in a hot pan with some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil for the non-chefs in the house), I seared it on both sides and then placed it into the crock pot. After searing the pot roast I decided to sear the potatoes as well and then toss them into the crock pot. I put a little bit of beef broth, water, and moscato (yes moscato..I couldn't find the red wine lol) into the pot everything went, turned the crock pot on high and walked away for about an hour. After my hour was up I turned down the crock pot to low and let it cook for hours and hours and hours.
Seared Roast, and Potatoes and into the crock pot they go
Once my roommate was home, I turned the crock pot off and put on some ohhh weeee gooey yummy Jasmine rice (my favorite rice) and dinner was served.
Pot Roast and Potatoes in the crock pot. ALL DONE!
I received four thumbs up from the two people that ate my meal. The pot roast was so incredibly tender, it just fell apart. It was very flavorful and tasted so good, according to my roommate and her son!! After I grabbed me a bowl and went to work....I totally have to agree
SS <3
Do you have a favorite meal to cook or eat? Share please!!
