Caring for your Spirit

I came across this article on The Vyne. It was short and sweet, and it discussed how to "Stir Your Spirit" but there was one particular line that was profound to me.

Your spirit is that divinely quiet part of you that allows you to remain calm in the face of adversity, that keeps you hopeful and positive about the future, that drives you to take care of yourself and that allows you to love yourself and others.

That is such a wonderful description of the active role the spirit has in your everyday life. I have noticed that over the past two years, my spirit has been much more at peace. It has helped me achieved a better sense of serenity. And I am so grateful for that.

Until Next Time...

I absolutely L-O-V-E the taste/smell of coffee...

So in the previous post I added the list of 25 Easy Instant Energy boosters...One of them was about getting your daily cup of coffee... Since I love coffee so much I decided to share that particular entry, especially since they list the amount of milligrams in certain types of caffeinated beverages.

Enjoy Your Daily Cup of Joe—or a Healthy Handful of Hershey’s Kisses

Just don’t overdo it. Experts agree that you can have roughly 300 milligrams of caffeine a day to reap its benefits fully. So if you’re a coffee or tea drinker, go for it. But not all cardboard-sleeve cups are created equal. A grande cup of Starbucks coffee has about 330 milligrams of caffeine, while a comparable medium cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee has half that. Here is a sampling of potential caffeine sources, listed from highest to lowest:

• Starbucks Blend grande coffee: 330 milligrams
• Seattle’s Best medium coffee: 180 milligrams
• Dunkin’ Donuts medium coffee: 178 milligrams
• Seattle’s Best medium latte: 150 milligrams
• Seattle’s Best medium cappuccino: 150 milligrams
• Starbucks grande latte: 150 milligrams
• Starbucks grande cappuccino: 150 milligrams
• Tim Hortons medium coffee: 140 milligrams
• Two tablets of Excedrin Extra Strength: 130 milligrams
• Starbucks grande caramel frappucino: 95 milligrams
• Tim Hortons medium cappuccino: 80 milligrams
• An 8.4-ounce can of Red Bull: 80 milligrams
• An 8-ounce scoop of Häagen-Dazs Coffee Ice Cream: 55 milligrams
• A 12-ounce can of Diet Coke: 47 milligrams
• A 16-ounce bottle of Snapple Lemon Tea: 42 milligrams
• A 16-ounce bottle of Arizona Green Tea: 15 milligrams
• One Shock-a-Lots Chocolate-Covered Coffee Bean: 7 to 10 milligrams
• Three Hershey’s Kisses: 3 milligrams

“But W-W-What If Caffeine Makes Me J-J-Jittery?”

Some people are more sensitive to the beloved stimulant than others. If you notice that a daily cup of coffee leads to restlessness or irritability, try smelling coffee beans. “Sniffing the beans will invigorate you through a Pavlovian response,” says Hirsch. “If you associate coffee with waking up, smelling it can induce a similar reaction.” For those not willing to give up a morning tea ritual, try this: Before you make your cup of tea, steep the bag in a small amount of water for 20 seconds, then dump that out—65 to 70 percent of the caffeine is in that first dip. 

Oh a random Did you know fact is that Seattle's Best coffee is actually owned by Starbucks... Ga-reat. I am telling you, Wal-mart, McDonalds, and Starbucks are about to take over the world...aaah! OH and I did like 5 posts yesterday. Yay me!

Until Next Time...

25 Easy Instant Energy Boosters

So I have clearly fallen in love with this magazine Real Simple (life made easier, every day). But this is one of the articles I read when I was on the plane coming back home. The article goes into detail for each item on the list, but I figured I'd just share the basics...check out the rest of it here.

1. Tackle a dreary do I have to get out of bed with a burst of color.
2. Rise and seek sunshine.
3. End your shower with a burst of cold water.
4. Get the giggles.
5. Dab on a jasmine-infused fragrance.
6. Follow an eat for energy timeline.
7. Enjoy your daily cup of joe- or a healthy handful of Hershey's kisses.
8. Get a whiff of citrus.
9. Pull your hair.
10. Exhale.
11. Be nice to a stranger.
12. Pop a peppermint.
13. Beware of energy vampires.
14. Do interval exercise in the morning.
15. Show your hands some love.
16. Sit up straight.
17. Oil the squeaky lock.
18. Crank up the Michael Jackson.
19. Fill a vase with fresh flowers.
20. Think like a golfer.
21. Forgive and forget
22. Embrace the three-minute meditation.
23. Turn your world upside down.
24. Write a thank you note.
25. Settle in for a rejuvenating night's sleep.

Until Next Time...

H-A-I-R

So I haven't had a hair update in a while...mostly because nothing was really new. I have tried a couple new styles, like french braiding the back, sometimes with twist in...honestly I've been a little lazy...

The only new thing I have really tried is this "Pre-Pooing" thing. Basically Pre-pooing stands for Pre-Shampooing. It's basically when you put oils and/or conditioner in your hair while it is still dry and you let it sit before shampooing and conditioning your hair.Some people sit under a dryer for about 20 minutes. Well the first time I did it, I just used this Essential Oil spray mixture I have and a handful of Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Conditioner, and put a plastic cap on for about 30 minutes. This time I am trying out an alternate way...I put the same mixture in my hair and wet a towel, then put the same plastic cap on top. So yeah...I look a little crazy right now with a towel and plastic cap on my head.lol.

I hope I have the same results as last time. When I was done washing my hair, my hair was noticeably softer and easier to detangle... I have been meaning to try a new shampoo/conditioner, but I haven't gotten around to finding some that I want to try. So I'm just using Creme of Nature Detangling Conditioning Shampoo, and Miss Jessie's Creme de la Creme Conditioner along with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration.

(Oh and that is actually an older pic, from Cinco de Mayo... It just happens to be my fb profile pic, so I figured I would add it... Oh and check out Nessa...she is on the Red Carpet, and she looks fab)

Until Next Time...

Empowerment Experiement...Buying Black

Here is a quick narrative from an article in Clutch Mag on "Hood Politics: The Foreign Business Takeover"....

Darren walks into the American Deli on Random Rd. in Atlanta, Ga. Orders the usual Chicken Philly and Wings special. The waitress  – Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Japanese, who knows – takes his order, shouts back to the cook in an indecipherable dialect and takes the next person’s order.

10 minutes elapses and the waitress shouts, “89!” Darren looks down at his receipt. One more order away.

“Number 90!” Darren steps to the counter, grabs his order, looks in the bag and asks for more blue cheese.

“It’s gonna to be fifty cents extra,” the waitress says.

“It was just thirty cents last week,” he responds.

The waitress, with a bewildered grin on her face, gives a half shrug. Darren pays the extra fifty cents, grabs the blue cheese and walks out the store. As he opens his car door, he turns around to notice the Korean Beauty Supply store and the Discount Store on the same strip as the American Deli. Across the street is a nail shop, ran by Vietnamese business owners (he knows that much).

Shaking his head, he dips into his car and cranks it up. Pausing for a second, he ingests the situation of it all. The movies. The looks of perceived condescension. The lack of Black business owners in the hood.

With the blare of Nas and Damian Marley through the speakers, he drives off.

So I honestly thought I did a blogpost on the Empowerment Experiment, but I guess I didn't,...and I just sent it in an email to some of my friends. Basically a family (The Anderson's) decides to only buy from and support black businesses for a whole year. Yes you might think that it is nearly impossible, but after watching the video, you will see that it isn't as crazy as it sounds.

I think it is so important that black people become more aware of their "buying power"...It seems as though whenever my family or certain groups of my friends get together the topic of black businesses always surfaces. As you can see from the narrative of "Darren" and his experience in American Deli, others have come into the black community and have been reaping the profits of the "black dollar"... The Clutch Mag article refers to a lot of these issues...so what should be done? It is just such a problematic situation. Some would say boycott/forgo buying from these businesses (which can work, but there needs to be more of a movement)..also there is a need for more black businesses, but more importantly black people need to support each other... I'll keep this short for now. It's really To Be Continued..

Until Next Time...

Lovely Quotes

I love quotes... so here are a few that I came across that I absolutely adore...Thanks to Real Simple Mag again..

We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.

Frederick Keonig

It’s no trick loving somebody at their best. Love is loving them at their worst.

Tom Stoppard

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

Dr. Martin Luther King

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Mahatma Gandhi

We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.

Sam Keen

Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly.

Robert Schuller

Until Next Time...

10 Ways to Enjoy Doing Nothing

So I came across an article in one of my new fav magazines, even though I have only read 1 issue.. (my sister gave it to me on the plane)..it's called Real Simple. But it's just a woman's magazine with interesting articles on home and organizing, food and recipes, fashion, work and life, and holidays and entertaining.

So during the school year, things are usually hustle and bustle. I woke up at 7 am, got to class by 8 am., got out of class around 4 or 5, took a nap, ate dinner, worked out, studied then went to sleep around 1 am. Yeah that sounds hectic and crazy...because it was. So now that it is summer time, it is the exact opposite. And I think I have really been enjoying my free time... (stopping to smell the roses). So here's the link to the article. It's a must read...basically take some time to enjoy life for what it is...

1. Banish the guilt
2. Choose the Right Role Models
3. Sketch a flower
4. Go bumbling (wondering around without a purpose)
5. Play the ukulele
6. Bring back Sundays
7. Lie in a field
8. Gaze at the clouds
9. Take a nap
10. Pretend to Meditate

So this is random (as usual), but I have a mini-obsession with hammocks. I really hope my balcony is big enough to have one, because I really really want to get one. Yes I see myself potentially falling out of it, (cause I can be clumsy at times), but it should be fun and semi relaxing..since next year is looking a tad bit hectic. Gosh why can't I just be a fourth year already?

Until Next Time...

It's Been a While

So it is nearing the end of the month and I only have 2 blogposts for June...Yeah I've been slacking. And I don't really have an excuse because I haven't really been doing anything this month. It has been officially summer for 2 days now, and I have yet to do summery things like go swimming or have a picnic in the park. Oh well.. I'm actually surprised that I am up this early. I was really restless last night (I couldn't sleep), but finally I dozed off...

Last weekend I went to NY for my granny's 85th birthday party. I had a really good time. :) Every time I go to NY I confirm how I could never live there. It's a nice place to go visit and come back to ATL. But then again, who knew I would be going to school in St. Louis... lol. I have no real plans for today except to wash my hair, which can sometimes be an ordeal, but then other times it is really easy.

As you can see, I changed the template to my blog...I like it. I can't believe I actually decided on a design, since I can be so picky and indecisive at times.

I'm really excited about the trips that I have coming up. This weekend I'm going to Chicago, then in a couple weeks Myrtle Beach with my Line sisters, then Puerto Rico...woohoo! Even though I am excited about the trips, I don't want my summer to start winding down. I am excited about moving into my apartment... Unlike Atlanta, St. Louis is an old city so they don't have many new housing/apartment developments...which sucks. But the place I decided on, isn't exactly new, but it has most things that I was looking for. Maybe next year I will move into the loft that I want. I have a lot of things that I want to talk about/post, so hopefully this is one of many posts for the day. Until Next Time...

Coke Bottle Glasses...

So one morning last semester, my Clinical Optometry professor showed us this video.. I meant to post it a while ago, but clearly I have slacking on posts..good thing I remembered. For some reason, I was dying laughing in class, but after watching it again, it was still pretty funny... so enjoy! Oh and Blogger introduced this new template designer thingy, so I am going to try it out because I have been wanting to change the design of my blog for some time now (change is good). Geesh I have a lot to catch up on, I need to rededicate myself to blogger. I'll be better next week...lol.


Until Next Time..

Screen on the Green=Fail

So anyone that knows me, knows that I like to be outside... I just like fresh air and sunshine and what not. So it's only natural that I enjoy parks. So every summer, Atl has Screen on the Green in which they show a movie outside. Last year it was moved to Centennial park because of the drought in Piedmont Park, but finally it was back to Piedmont this year and boy was I excited... So my friends and I even planned on going to see the movie this Thursday and things just kinda fell through...In fact last summer I think I went to almost every movie.. So of course it is weird when I wake up and check my twitter timeline to read about the "debauchery" that occurred last night...

Some of the lines from the article I read was just crazy...no where did they mention the teens were black, but they might as well have. They also mention that there was over 10,000 people at Screen on the Green... 10,000? I know it is usually a lot, but dang.... So here is the full link to the article...and below are the lines that I thought were hilarious, random, or just plain sad.

One movie-goer said free chicken sandwiches may had contributed to the brawl.

"It was an absolute mob scene, from the Chick-fil-A girls getting mobbed trying to hand out free sandwiches to the complete lack of respect for the people watching the movie," said Marc Freund.

"After enduring the first 30 minutes of the movie with people walking around and screaming, we decided to leave," Freund told the AJC. 

Midtown resident Jeff Keesee said there were "gangs of kids roaming the aisles, doing stunts to get crowd reactions. People just standing around talking, yelling -- disrespect, rudeness, unruliness -- a total disaster."

Sweatland wrote that as his group headed to their cars, he saw a group of "high school-aged kids" throwing rocks at passing vehicles. One of the rocks "completely shattered the back window" of one of the cars, he said.

Josh Hice, 26, of Newnan, was driving by Piedmont Park Thursday night with a friend when he said he was attacked by a group of high school-age people.

"There was a car stopped in front of me and a car stopped behind me, and there was this crowd of about 30 high school kids parading down the street," said Hice, who was driving an open-top Jeep.

First, a girl came up and spat in his face, Hice said, then he was punched in the face by another teen.

"It split my lip, then they start climbing all over my Jeep, and I turn around and my buddy is getting punched in the face and has blood pouring out of his nose," Hice said. "It was ridiculous. We were definitely victims of a hate crime."

Traffic ahead of Hice finally moved "and I just peeled out of there. I peeled out even with one of the dudes still hanging on the back of the Jeep, and he just jumped off."

Until Next Time...