Real.

November has been one hell of a month. After my birthday, shit things got real. Not necessarily real bad, but just real. Real emotions, real world happenings, just a lot of realness.

Days after I celebrated my birthday, I started to feel ill, so I had to make a pit stop at the doctors office before I hopped a flight out of town for the weekend to meet (in real life) a kinda new friend. It was definitely a good weekend. An adventure so to speak, but one I'm selfishly keeping the details of to myself. I enjoyed myself though...

Upon my return to Houston, the work week commenced and I barely had time to think amongst the stacks of petitions, and files needing review....and the emails to respond to, and the questions to answer....the calls to return. The lovely life of an attorney. I'm typically really busy during the week, but I found the time to squeeze in a couple of dinner dates & happy hours with friends before the week ended.

But before my week was over, I heard the tragic news that one of my friends had been killed during a shooting incident at Florida State University.

I was in shock, and disbelief to hear the news. Especially knowing my friend the way I did, and then reading the details of what occurred...I just couldn't believe that he would have been involved in a mass shooting which would end with his life being taken by the police. He was a great guy, and it hurt me so to learn that he was battling so many internal demons and mental health issues. Life can be stressful, and people look at attorneys and expect us to have all the answers, all the money and all the confidence in the world. That is not the case. We all need to take care of ourselves, and mental health care is one important piece of that equation. Real life happens to everyone. We cannot judge him for his actions, we can only wish that he had received the proper treatment he needed to avoid this breakdown. Regardless, I hope he is finally at peace. And Myron, you will definitely be missed.

After all of that, I strategically planned to have a weekend with no plans, but that did not work. The weather saved me though, so a lot of plans fell through since the weather was so bad. By Sunday, it had cleared up & I not only discovered a new favorite brunch location, but also got the chance to catch up with my bestie over some delightful apple mint hookah.... Brunch at Phil & Derek's was beyond good. A reservation is necessary, but the food is worth it. We had round after round of bottom-less mimosas & stuffed ourselves with creole cuisine and other brunch staples... We had some fun taking photos outside, but ended up parting ways...which is how I ended up out on my second adventure that Sunday..
I always enjoy the conversations and positive energy that is exchanged whenever we have our random Sunday adventures.

The thrill of the weekend quickly wore off, and then it was off to Dallas for two days for work. I enjoyed my time up there, but having to get back home the night before Thanksgiving was tiring.

Regardless, I was up and at it for the holiday & enjoyed celebrating with family and friends. There was only one moment of drama, but that was drank away laughed off and we ended up having a great time after all.

There was no black Friday shopping for me, as I decided to not participate in light of all the unrest involving race relations in our country. I could do an entire post dedicated to the events that have been occurring in Ferguson, Missouri... but instead of doing that, I'm shifting my focus towards figuring out a way I can actively play a role in educating and empowering our community so things like this don't have to continue to happen. The whole thing is fucked up. And excuse the profanity, but I'm just keeping it real.

On Saturday, I was delightfully lazy, but I did manage to watch my alma mater (The Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) win the 40th Annual Bayou Classic to secure a spot in the SWAC Championship game this upcoming Saturday in Houston. I feel like that was a lot in one sentence.

I love all HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) but especially my own. (Southern and Texas Southern) I believe they are 100% necessary and all the way important. In light of the way our country is handling race relations, I think it is important to keep these institutions competitive and supported.... A lot of great people have come out of these schools..... and now I'm getting off topic, but again..that's some real ish.

Moving along..... I've spent this last day of November, really focusing on December. Making plans, organizing my agenda and basically setting my sights on conquering 2015.

I'm so filled with gratitude for it all. As I said below in my previous post, life is so precious and it should never ever be taken for granted. So much can happen in such a short amount of time, that we really have to take advantage of every single moment we have on this planet. Nothing is promised, and life is too short to focus on the unimportant things. I say live it up while we can, because otherwise we are just wasting space and opportunities.
This month had it's fair share of ups and downs, but I am grateful for them all.

November, it's been real. On to December.

life.

Life is precious. Not a single moment should be taken for granted.

I've struggled to find words to adequately express how I am feeling at the moment, so I will just fall into silence.

33

To say that my weekend was amazing would be an understatement...

Yesterday I celebrated my 33rd year of existence on this planet & it was nothing short of perfection. The energy, the love, the positivity, the fun. I'm still overwhelmed with the displays of genuine affection and pure admiration that I was showered with over the course of the last few days. My heart is still overflowing with gratitude. I've always been one to celebrate my birthday, even as a child my family always took the time to recognize the milestone of reaching another year...but as the years continue to pass, celebrations of one day begin to take a back seat in the minds of many because there is just so much other stuff going on that it seems meaningless, or childish.... Well, for me this year meant even more simply because of all the things I've been through that led up to my birth anniversary. Life has been so hectic, so full of fear, and emotion... road blocks, anguish, new directions, loss, gain, confusion, doubts, faith... blessings.

Just a month ago, my mind was filled with downright horror and what-if's while my father was in the hospital. A month before that, I was taking a leap of faith and making the decision to go back to being affiliated with my old law firm after having taken another leap of faith when I left, only to find out that that move wasn't necessarily the best move for me. Going even further back up the calender, I was placed in situations where I had to re-evaluate friendships, and relationships and decide what battles were worth fighting & which ones were better left unfought. A couple of weeks before that I was dealing with new-ness and possibility that maybe my singledom would be coming to an end, only to find out that neither him, nor him, nor him was the one and I had to accept that fact that he was still out there waiting for that perfect moment to come in my life. I celebrated new years, I learned a lot about myself and the people around me. I read, I wrote, I created new visions for my life. I had holidays, and adventure with my friends. I welcomed new additions into my life, and lost touch with others. I ate, I prayed, I cried, but mostly importantly I lived.

Coming face to face with mortality blessed me with many lessons that I don't think I was mature enough to handle years and years ago...and I'm not even quite to sure if I'm equipped to handle that lesson now as I type with tears in my eyes. None of us is promised forever. Nobody will be here in your life forever, so it is of the utmost importance to genuinely let them know just how much they mean to you while they are here with you. I don't think there are enough words in my vocabulary to express to my daddy how much I love him and would literally be nothing without him. I don't think the thesaurus is equipped with synonyms to let my mother know how much I admire her strength and compassion. It's impossible for me to spend every second, minute, and hour of the day trying to let my friends know how much their encouragement, advice, laughter and loyalty has meant to me throughout the years.

I know I'm not the perfect daughter, or friend, or sister, or niece or aunt.... I'm not the most perfect of any category, but one thing I can say is that I have at least tried to be there and do my best....but I am definitely a work in progress & I want to spend this next year, and all the dozens & dozens of next years to follow working on myself and trying to be more present in the moment so I can cherish every single one. My only hope and prayer for my new year is that the Lord blesses me with many more selfish years of having the people I love in my life & allows me to live for a long time and to be able to experience every moment & to see the desires of my heart come into fruition.

I swear those words and emotions have rested heavy on my heart all day, so thanks for bearing with me while I got it all out.... I probably could continue to go on and on, but at this point in my ugly crying I face risk of showing up to work in the morning with bags under my eyes. But I digress.... And on to the weekend recap.

My birthday weekend officially kicked off Thursday night after I left work for the day. I follow a super talented henna artist on instagram and booked an appointment to meet up with her that night. My friend/officemate and I stopped off for a few margaritas then headed over to her house for my appointment. Note: Please do research before doing something like this. I met this particular artist a few years ago, and know that she is a credible and professional business woman...otherwise we would NOT have met up with her at her townhouse, but due to the timing that was the only thing that worked for both our schedules. She is a true jewel and I love how my henna turned out.

I was in dire need of a mental health year day away from work and the world, so not only did I take Friday off, I booked a room for the weekend at Hotel Derek by the Galleria so I could truly unwind and have a moment away from reality to just be at peace for my birthday. I picked up my girlfriend who came into town to visit me from Atlanta for the weekend from the airport & thus began my fun for the night.

After taking pictures of the amazing hotel and views from the room, we set off to meet up with some friends at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts for their Mixed Media event. I have been hearing about this event for years, but never had the time to go and I was so glad that I did. We got the opportunity to view the current exhibits, dance, sip on signature drinks and just enjoy an out of the norm event for the evening.

We had such a blast.... That next morning, we debated on if we would attempt to make it a full day or just lay up in our room watching Law & Order and napping... After about four episodes, we felt old so we walked across the freeway to the Galleria and shoe shopped momentarily. Then we stuffed our faces full of Mexican food, then slept until nightfall... Eh, we're old...just being honest, ha.

I had my make-up done in the room for the night. When I finally put my outfit on, and looked at myself in the mirror I was shocked. I didn't even look like myself to myself. We rushed over to eat at Cafe Ginger with one of our guy friends from law school and enjoyed a "family style" meal of the best chinese food I've had in a long time. My friend wanted to have a variety of cuisine here in Houston, because she is convinced the food in Atlanta is nowhere near in comparison to the stuff in my city. Anyways...

Since we kept it classy Friday night at the museum, I felt as if I were well overdue for some inhibitionless, sweating out your hair, standing up on the furniture, popping bottles in VIP type fun... and when I tell you we showed up and showed out, I mean.... Epic.

My section in the lounge, was full of good people and even better times. Everyone enjoyed themselves, and just really celebrated the moment to the fullest.

I didn't make any actual plans for Sunday, because I knew we would all be so tired from Saturday night to be fully functioning yet. We went over to my folks house and had cake with my parents and my friend napped until it was pretty much time for her flight back to Atlanta.

Once I got back home, I was tired as all get out. I really just wanted to bask in the moment and take it all in.

Like man, I'm 33 years old.

I feel like I've lived a lot, but in retrospect I know this is only the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more to see and experience in this world, but just for merely having the opportunity to do so.... I am truly, truly grateful.

Cheers to 33! :) P.S. If you want to see more pictures from my weekend, drop your instagram handle in the comments and I will be sure to look you up! :)

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

Last Sunday my girlfriend and I traveled back in time to a land far far away..... A land where kings & queens, dragons & knights triumphantly reign...& mythological creatures and faeries sprinkle magic and mystery all over the kingdom.

Yeah, we went to the Renaissance Festival.

It was literally twenty years ago the first time I went to this festival, and I had been wanting to go back for years! My friend randomly texted me saying that her law firm was able to get her a few free tickets and I of course was super excited about being her guest. The festival is held about an hour and a half outside of Houston in a little tiny hick town past Magnolia, Texas. It was nothing but grass, trees, dirt and a lone confederate flag blowing in the wind as we headed over to the festival grounds. I had joked with her that there was nothing but deers and the Klan in that area of the world, but I don't think she believed me until she and her brother saw that flag flying.... But I digress, that's not an era we were planning to visit that day. So moving along.....

Once we finally made it I was happy to see that the festival was just as I remembered it from 1994... Costumes, food, tons of things to see. Instant feelings of being overwhelmed. Yep, nothing had changed.

All three of us were like kids in a candy store. So much to see, so much to do.... We wandered around and were pretty much in awe from the moment we got out the car, to the time we single handedly killed a bottle of mead wine, to watching the sunset over the kingdom, to devouring delicious cuisine and just taking it all in....

It was so much that I don't even want to leave you underwhelmed with words, so I'll just leave you with photos from our adventure....

Things get a little scary in the kingdom once night falls, so after we finished our bottle and seeing the remaining sights we had missed out on we headed on back to Houston. Traffic was a nightmare leaving the festival, but other than that it was definitely a great time. I think we all decided that we would have to make the Renaissance Festival an annual affair!

PS... My friend Noelle just started her travel blog not too long ago and would love for everyone to check out some of her adventures! Her rendition of our time travel back to the Renaissance era is here. :)

Ready, Set, Go!

Happy November!!! I'm personally thrilled to see October chunking up a duece and heading on out until next year. Last month kicked my ass was a lot... But on to November. I'm so happy to have a fresh clean slate. A new month, full of possibilities. November has always been my favorite month, and I'm hoping, praying and begging the Lord for THIS November to be amazing. November has always been my own personal New Year's celebration month! My birthday is on the 9th and I can't wait to celebrate with my friends & family. My best friend from law school will be flying in from Atlanta Friday, and I can't wait to giggle, eat and make a few new memories...really I just can't wait to unwind and forget about all the stressful things that have been going on since my dad got sick. I have a lot of "can't wait's" apparently, lol. I just want some normalcy, and to stop living everyday on edge...

Whew, but I digress.

This first day of November started off pretty chilly for Houston. I woke up early to head over to Minute Maid Park for the 2014 Houston Walk to End ALzheimer's. I actually had to pull out some remnants of winter clothing! I love the cold weather! I know what I consider cold is probably early summer to my blogger friends in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio...but ummm, for this Texas girl, I was good and chilly as I headed downtown... But back to the Walk....

A little while ago, I decided to start a walk-a-thon team and fortunately a lot of my friends who were either personally touched by the disease or just wanted to show support to the cause signed up to raise money and walk with me this morning. Team Make It Last Forever grew to 13 members and as of 1:00 pm this afternoon we had raised a total of $1551 for the Alzheimer's Association! I raised $590 individually which made me a Champions Club Vip, and I received a medal, VIP breakfast, a massage and a ton of photo ops this morning... Once I finished with all of the hoopla, I went back outside to meet up with my team and get prepped for the big walk...

We were cold, but once we did a quick warm up it was Ready, Set, Go time & we were off! The walk was a 5k, and we did two laps downtown around Minute Maid park and then past the courthouses, and finally back down Texas Ave. The energy was great and those steps weren't that bad with friends, laughter and conversation the entire way. I had a blast and it felt good to be a part of something so big....

Apparently I was overdressed for the occasion, whoopsie!!! Nonetheless it was a great turn out and a great time. My friends are the bomb and showed major love for me through supporting this cause.

After the walk we went to Barnaby's and had brunch on the patio. Granted it was probably 50-something degrees by that time, but for us Texas/Louisiana/Arkansas friend's it was cold as hell so we ate swiftly and went our separate ways! A great start to November if I do say so myself...

Although I didn't feel tired immediately following the walk, it hit me like a ton of bricks around 6 pm tonight & when I tell you I napped something awesome! I still feel tired. I had every intention of either going to the Grambling/Texas Southern football or out for a birthday gathering but I have not been able to peel myself out of these pajamas... It's cold, Prince is on SNL and all I want to do is cuddle up under a fleece blanket.

Happy November!!!!

A Hint of a Smile.....

These last two weeks were an absolute nightmare..... My daddy was hospitalized for over a week, and in all honesty I really didn't know what was going to happen. I probably cried a gallon of tears, but by the grace of God and numerous prayers......he was finally released & is at home recovering. Although he isn't back to 100% just yet, I'm still thankful that the Lord blessed us and allowed him to come home. I worry so much about him. He's 81. I need to seize every opportunity to let him know just how much he means to me. Shoot, after this ordeal I feel compelled to let everyone in my life know just how much they mean to me. Life man. Reality is a mofo........ 

You can't take anyone, any moment nor anything for granted. Nothing. At all......

I've been so drained. Mentally. Spiritually. Emotionally. Physically. All that crying and worrying takes a lot out of you.... But it has shown me that I have a lot of work to do in the faith department. I lacked strength. I forgot to turn to Him....

I still have a lot of growing to do... 

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.."

Some people know all the right things to say to comfort you. There are people around me with an abundance of strength. 

I'm grateful to be surrounded by prayer warriors. 

This past Sunday the bestie & I got a chance to go see Corey Holcomb at the Improv. He was hilarious and it felt good to laugh. It felt good to smile. 

I've been told that it's best to smile through it all. The good times & bad. Regardless, always. Peace. Joy. I'm still working on being able to see the bright side in every situation. But I want to......

My work week has been busy.

Attorney-ing doesn't stop just because you are having a bad day (or week for that matter) so it's been business as usual. 

I'm trying to get back an inkling of normalcy and routine. I'm slowly but surely coming back to the real world. 

Last night, I went to the House of Blues where Neyo was performing. I bought the tickets way back in August like the same day I heard on the radio he was coming to town. I absolutely love him and have been a fan for over a decade now. He was amazing. My voice is still sore from singing every song lyric from the top of my lungs.... I feel as if I'm rambling. I don't care. 

But Neyo... He was great. 

Today is only Wednesday. Hump day. Two more days to make it to the weekend. 

Scorpio season starts tomorrow. A new moon. That means November is almost here. Birthday time. That excites me...

I'm prayerful. My list of needs & desires. Strength.  The ability to smile through it all. A hint of a smile... Right now that's all I can manage. 

Prayers.

One harsh reality about getting older is having to witness our parents and grandparents get older as well. 

I don't have much to say, but maybe someone out in the blogosphere has some positive words to share because I am all out at the moment. 

Things could always be worse, but Lord knows I need for them to be better.......

What helps keep you positive? Prayer? Talks with friends? Reading the bible? 

Feel free to share some motivation on this Monday.... Prayers are also always welcomed...