Just like that @teyonahparris gave it to them....again.  By them I mean us.  And by us I mean all of us who love great  style.  Look at the hair, the makeup, the shoes, the dress, the everything!  I get excited just looking at it.  It all makes me want to get dressed and go out.  RIGHT NOW!  If I was on pinterest, this look would be pinned.

Remember when I was hoping they would bring Teyonah back to MAD MEN...  I think they must have...  The pictures below are from the MAD MEN season premiere party.  Be sure to tune in for season 6; you might catch Teyonah as Dawn Chambers.

Doesn't she look fabulous?

If you want more Parris updates be sure to check her out on facebook and follow her on twitter.  She's funny and fierce!



 


<--- I found this pic over on HollywoodLife.  They  asked who was best dressed... Clearly it was Teyonah Parris!  Clearly they knew the answer and that's why her picture wasn't included...  #imnotbiasedihaveeyes  #imjustsayin' #38 #teyonahparrismusthaveagreatglamsquad

photo by YellaFella Fotography

Podue a pyan zon dede di!

That's how you say happy new year in Krahn.  That's the dialect my Liberian mother speaks(the spelling is an approximation based on sound because the Krahn dialect wasn't originally written).  So in honor of my mom and the fact that I wouldn't have gotten through 2012 without her guidance and wisdom: Podue a pyan zon dede di! Podue a pyan zon dede di! Podue a pyan zon dede di!

Three times for good measure.

Podue a pyan actually translates to rejoicing of the heart.  In the Krahn dialect there isn't really a simple, singular word for happy.  But isn't that what happiness is?  Rejoicing of the heart.  That is glorious to think of happiness in relation to the health of the heart, since that's what sort of keeps everything flowing.  Don't you think that's wonderful?

Anyway...

2012 was a year of learning and growth.  The year I became more clear and proactive in many areas and aspects of my life- what I want, what I desire, what I need.  I gained knowledge about what I have to do to achieve goals that I've set for myself, I gained knowledge about the knowledge I need to acquire in order to hit all the marks I'd like to hit. That's a mouthful, right?

I've become less fearful.

I've started projects and dreams that I need to finish.  I have thoughts that need to be completed, relationships that I must continue to build.  There are abandoned projects, dreams, thoughts and relationships that I should revisit, reclaim and maybe reconcile... perhaps in 2013... perhaps.

The end of the year brings a moment of reflection that is welcomed.  As always I'm left with the fact that there is more growth and diligent work to do.  I'm left with the fact that I am better than I was.  I'm committed to being even better at this time next year.

I'm thankful.

Energy, excitement, love, and truth are in the air...

Our  individual and collective journeys continue in 2013.  I hope and pray that 2012 was successful for you.  I wish you more bounty and more beauty in the new year, I pray that your blessings increase.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?  The possibilities are endless so let our hearts rejoice.

2013, LET'S GO!

#fab

I'm currently baking 3 cinnamon butter cakes, sweet potato/pumpkin cornbread, making pumpkin butter for that cornbread, and peeling apples for a nice home baked pie.  Smells so good in here.

 Tis the season...  Don't you just love this time of year?  I do.

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season and  praying extra special prayers for anyone who is without the people and things they need.

Blessings.

YUMMY!

Mother Oprah isn't the only person with a list of favorite things!

In this moment my favorite things include:

Reminders of all kinds.  The simple reminders like, "don't forget your gloves it's cold out there," or "turn the light off you're wasting energy."  And the more profound reminders sent to you via text in the form of a quote of the day, "We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle

Unexpected support.  In my opinion, your mother must support you.  Everyone else lending support and encouragement is a surprise.  Keep surprising me world because I love it!  I promise to keep surprising people too.

Internet dating.  It provides joyful laughter in tons.

Phone calls.  Oh how I love phone calls that come just because someone wants to say hi.  I mean there is nothing better than connection.  Right?  In person is better but sometimes the phone will suffice.

Tea.  Tea is always one of my favorite things but it still made this "of the moment" list.  A little chai goes a long way.  Now if you don't want to make homemade chai- get a pot, fill it with as much almond milk as you'd like, add some of the red chai tea bags from Trader Joe's, vanilla, some cinnamon, a little nutmeg, some brown sugar and lots of love... let that baby boil, pour it in a tea cup or two and feel good about yourself as it goes down.  It tastes even better if you have a friend to share it with.

Soup.  I always forget how much I love soup until I have to pull out my hat, scarf, and gloves.  The other day I decided I wanted to make some.  Cooking is another one of my favorite things right now.  Have a go at  this  curry sweet potato apple soup recipe that I tried the other day.  It's DELICIOUS!!!  I did of course substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth and added lots of pepper.  ENJOY!!!


C. Snug Loop.    It's winter, it's cold, and I just saw the new color scheme I want.  I'll never have too many of these and I'll never stop giving them as gifts!  Haven't had a complaint yet.  Don't you want one?

What are some of your favorite things right now?

Did you mean to say that?

We all get it.  I get it.

The best way to start a new year?  Surrounded by love.

For my 12th birthdayI had a gathering with one of my dearest sister friends(Teyonah Parris) and it was all LOVE!

The moment below was captured by another beauty you've already met on this blog.  Ms. Christine Jean Chambers.  

I must have shared the quote below on ye old blog at some point.  Must have.  Somewhere.  Maybe several times.  It's one of my favorites.  Probably one of everybody's favorites.  Anyway it's on my mind tonight.  It was on my mind all day as I sat here writing/trying to write a statement for an artists program I'd like to be a part of... I started judging myself and what I had to say and all that judgement kept me staring at a blank screen for way too long. Then I thought of this quote and began judging myself a little less.... a little less is always a beginning.  Thanks M.G.

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique.  And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.  The world will not have it.  It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions.  It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.  You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work.  You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you.  Keep the channel open..."                   - Martha Graham

To be reminded that there is only one of you...  I think I found what I will celebrate for the rest of this night.

It's a Sunday with Mommy.

After church I arrive at her place.   She has oranges cut up and a pot of black beans sitting on the stove.  I can smell the pepper.  That pot of beans is for me.

The Waltons marathon on is GMC.  Of  course that's what Mommy wants to watch so that's what we watch.  It's nice watching shows I don't want to watch with my mother.  She says ridiculous things, I crack jokes about her old school values and pretend I don't agree with them.  We laugh.  We eat oranges and the television begins to watch us.

I know exactly where I get my knack for not shutting up.  We talk and talk and talk.

After eating my pepper-full beans and a few more orange wedges I make my way to the floor just beneath her legs, throw my head back and beg for a massage.  I knew she wouldn't be able to resist the face I was making.  Mommy's little hands get to work and we have the exchange below.

MOMMY:  You know my dear friend Victoria... her son was born the same year you were born.  He's married now and has a son.

ME: Okay.  Are you trying to tell me something Ma?

MOMMY:  Yes.

I took three deep sighs and continued to enjoy my Mommy massage.  The woman says what she feels.  She holds nothing back.  While she rubbed and commented on the state of my tense shoulders I wondered how she would tell me I should be married with kids next Sunday...

This is the life!  Absolutely.

"Defeat is a destructive force only when it is accepted as failure.  When accepted as teaching some needed lesson, it is always a blessing."

"Believe in yourself but don't tell the world.  Show it!"

-Napolean Hill

Advice doesn't get better than that.  Keeping it simple.

I just can't say no to a dare or to a challenge that costs me nothing but a little bit of getting over myself.  I'm also a sucker for a penny bet.

At times that leaves me vulnerable to my friends and their whims.  But alas, all is fun in friendship... okay not all but some or most...

Anyway, I was accused of falling off with my living out front journey.  "What!!??" Living out front is what I do, it's my thing, the twist I have been loving for the last two years.  There is nothing like putting it all out there.  Once I started living out front it was kind of freeing so this accusation is sort of annoying.

I should say that according to a few of my friends my definition of putting it all out there might be a little conservative.

Does blogging about my life count for nothing?

To the point-  many, many, many, many posts ago I had decided to give internet dating a try.  Why?  Because it was 2011, that seemed to be the norm, and of course I let my friends convince me to give it a stab (again- I had tried once before and ran away because I just wasn't ready to really date).   I didn't do it in lieu of meeting people in person.  It was an addition.  It was also a disaster.  Click here to read an older post where I detailed some communication thrown my way from fellow on line daters.  As I remember they were comedic.  Tragic might be a better descriptor.   Look around the blog there are plenty of stories about dates, awkward moments and the internet....

I went against everything in me that said internet dating is not the way to meet a person.  Some of my favorite people kept asking, "what's the harm?  You meet crazy people in person, what's wrong with meeting a crazy person online before meeting them in person?"  I never had a good comeback for that logic so I found myself filling out a profile and selecting pictures to post.

When I had gone on a few dates, embarrassed myself a couple of times, and done some silly things out of character I decided that I would go back to meeting people without having to click and type.  I was done with the internet dating phase of my life.  Every idea that I had about profile pages being full of folks who were- how can I say this nicely- not who I was looking to meet was accurate.

So now it's May 2012 and one of my friends wants to give it a stab and I think she should because for her it's what would work for right now.  The problem here- she doesn't want to do it alone.  That's why she accused me of falling off of my living out front journey; she knew it would hit a spot.

One has nothing to do with the other.  Living out front has nothing to do with online dating... it was just something for her to say so that she wouldn't have to traipse around the internet dating world alone.  Then came the dare.  "I dare you to do this with me in the name of fun."

Sometimes you have to support your friends in ways you never imagined you would.

I'm positive there are stories to come...  What's the craziest thing you've done to support a friend?