Big Easy Love: My Weekend In New Orleans

Being 29, unmarried and childless can be tough sometimes. Seeing the majority of your friends having date nights, bridal showers and baby booms doesn’t make you feel so great when you’re binge watching Orange Is The New Black over a pint of Haagen Daz (that you promised you wouldn’t demolish in one sitting). Don’t misunderstand me, I love my season of solitude, but sometimes depending on my mood (or the time of the month), the reminder that I’m all by my lonesome can get me feeling a little bummed. I know these feelings are normal, many women who are knocking on thirty’s door naturally begin to develop a desire for marriage and family – I just often wonder when that time will come for me. While that question still goes unanswered, I see the best in the single life; I love the privilege and liberation that comes along with being domestically unattached. I eat out at least four times a week, I leave the bathroom door open when I pee, I clean up when I feel like it and I can come and go as I please.

Speaking of coming and going, earlier this month I got a text from my best friend, Raynell. She raved about landing an exciting new opportunity at a reputable non-profit organization. Before I could fully extend my congratulations to her, she proposed we meet up in New Orleans, LA for a celebratory getaway before she started her new gig (which was a few weeks away). Now Ray has been quite the travel bug for the past five years. Since 2011 she’s been dancing across the globe while on a teaching contract in Jeju City, South Korea. With much time and effort put forth, we’ve become accustomed to having a long-distance best-friendship. Thanks to Skype, Facebook Messenger and KakaoTalk, we have kept our love afloat, but nothing compares to that in-person connection. The last time I physically saw her was late November 2015 during her layover at the Atlanta Airport. We spent all of 40 minutes together trying to squeeze in months of catching up before she had to board her flight back home. So I knew I just had to make this trip happen.

Crossing my fingers, I checked for flight deals, requested off of work and searched for hotels. Lo and behold, in a matter of five days, the turn up God’s worked everything out in our favor! I found a cheap flight, my off-days were approved and Ray’s friend from Korea insisted that we stay at his apartment…which was smack-dab in the heart of The French Quarter. Clearly this trip was meant to be. As the wheels went up, I was so grateful and excited for the fun to be had and the memories to be made.

The Art Of Exposure

Credit: youtube.com

Imagine a woman in an empty room. Her eyes are passionately vacant, her mind is utterly open and her wine glass is bottomless. She sits there slowly sipping, silent yet raging with reality. She begins to drift off into the deep waters of her mind until she finds herself lost at sea. The deeper she explores her consciousness, the more in tune she becomes with herself. As she looks within, her deep sea of thoughts collide with troubled waters of sadness, pain and uncertainty. She glances at the crashing tide drawing near and her heart begins to brim over with fear. As the deep, ferocious waves approached her, she sensed that she wasn’t strong enough to fight them…but there was little time for hesitation – and so, instinctively she surrenders. She closed her eyes, held her breath and let go. Her lack of resistance made her one with the heavy waters as they immersed her. As she came back up and opened her eyes, completely drenched from despair and salty tears – she then felt peaceful, refined…and brave. The raging waters of her emotions suddenly calmed as her psyche made it back to shore. As she caught her breath, she glanced at the waves accented by the warm hues of the sunset. In the midst of all the chaos within her, she smiled, because all at once…everything was okay!

This is my illustration of vulnerability (inspired by a little Jhene Aiko and Cabernet!)

The woman depicted above is me, and you, and all of us at a point in time. I know that there are many out there who can identify with this common predicament – overwhelmed with vulnerability yet afraid to face it. Be it with yourself or others, being vulnerable is not considered the most ideal of circumstances.

Brunch Bites & Bellinis’

In January I attended the Grand Opening of The Purple Corkscrew Wine Shop and Tasting Room. I thoroughly enjoyed my time and had plans on returning when the opportunity came along. In case you missed that post, The Purple Corkscrew is a stylish, family-owned wine bar located in Avondale Estates, GA.

I live about 30 minutes north of the shop, so seldom am I in the neighborhood to stop by for a glass of Cab. While online, I noticed that TPC had an upcoming event called Brunch Bites and Bellinis’. I live for a tasty Saturday brunch accompanied by a sparkling spritzer, so I happily RSVP’d.

Invest In Yourself!

I love this quote. Every time I come across it, it seems to jumps out at me! It’s such a lovely reminder to feed your soul in whatever way you may see fit. I even have a half-written post saved on my laptop emphasizing the significance of doing what makes your soul feel good. As much as this concept speaks volumes to me, I often lose sight of it.

The Purple Corkscrew

Happy Weekend, friends! This weekend actually started off pretty monotonous for me, as I had no prospective plans in mind. Towards the end of my shift on Friday, I received an invitation to go out for cocktails, conversation and to possibly do a little tootsie-rolling with the girls. Although girls night out is always a great and ridiculous time, I kindly declined and settled for sweatpants and my sofa. I was genuinely excited to rush home, eat my leftovers and play several rounds of Kitchen Scramble – and I did just that. I know I sound lame but I was totally okay with being a hermit for the whole entire weekend…and that was my plan!

By the time Saturday morning approached, I had mapped out my whole entire day of doing absolutely nothing. As soon as I woke up, I brushed my teeth, made a bowl of Captain Crunch and tuned into my favorite 70’s sitcom – Good Times! (It never gets old). As I continued to embrace my low-key Saturday, the sunshine began to peek through my bedroom window. I happened to step out of my apartment door and it felt like an early spring day. I was pleasantly surprised as I had on a coat and scarf just the day before – but that’s Atlanta weather for you.

Considering the beautiful weather we were graced with, I started to second guess my reclusive day. As soon as I began to ponder the possibilities of going out to eat, shopping and having an excuse to rock my favorite Betsey Johnson sunglasses – my phone rang. My sister, Amber gave me a call to see if I had any plans. As I told her my current situation (watching Good Times), she couldn’t help but laugh at me. After we exchanged a few “kee-kee’s” and “she-she’s”, she invited me to a wine tasting later that afternoon in Avondale Estates. I love a good wine tasting and I haven’t been to one in months so I gratefully accepted her invitation.

Breaking Bad Habits

As we’re closing out week three of 2016, most of us still have a taste of the New Year on our lips. The self-improvement and goal-setting season is in full effect and everyone seems to still be focused on their annual aspirations. Whether you may be working on your summer body, building your credit or vowing to drink more water (self-noted), we all should have something we can work on to better ourselves. This is why setting goals are essential in life.

In the most simplistic of terms, a goal is a desired result. You must envision it, plan it and commit to it. Personally, I have several desired results that I would love to see come to past this year. Some of my goals are great and grandiose while others are simple and small. Regardless of how big or small my goals may be, I have to take action in order to obtain them.

Before I proceed, let me have a truth moment. Setting and obtaining goals have always been a challenge for me. Now, I am fantastic at envisioning something that I want – my colorful, sometimes idealistic mind is always on overdrive. I’m also very good at planning things out – Lord knows how many notebooks and planners I have tucked away in my closet, but when it comes to committing to something, that’s when it gets hard for me. I believe it’s because I’m scatterbrained. If a specific goal is too intricate for me, I tend to get overwhelmed and push it to the back of my mind. (Do better, Laura)

After doing some self-reflection, I now realize what I need to do. I have to take baby-steps and start with more simple, practical goals, which leads to my topic…

“Wepa!”: Puerto Rico in Pictures

Hey friends! First, let me wish a Happy 2016 to you all! I’m sure that the majority of you guys spent your New Year’s Eve painting the town, kissing your sweetheart at the strike-of-twelve or partying like it was 1999 (Shout-out to Prince)…as for me, I brought in my 2016 asleep on my sofa.

To be honest, I was totally okay with that. As I’m growing older and wiser, I’m learning to pick and choose when to throw my cares to the wind and when to have a much needed seat. Being able to balance a normal, quiet life and still turn-up with the girls every once in a while is the perfect middle ground for me. Besides, there’s a time and a place for everything, and my time and place was last month in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

About a year ago, my oldest sister, Amber proposed a girl’s trip to San Juan in celebration of her 40^th birthday. I had some money saved and I was experiencing serious vacation deprivation, so I jumped on the party bus to get my life in Puerto Rico! I went through the summer and fall holding on to all my coins (and vacation days) in anticipation of eighty degree weather in December. For six months, I worked hard with no retreat in lieu of a true five-day get away.

Once December 4th came, it was time to see what Puerto Rico was all about. My sisters, Amber, Naresh and I woke up on that cold, Friday morning and headed to the airport to start our vacation. We checked in, grabbed some Starbucks and sat by the gate as we caught the beautiful Atlanta sunrise.

(I had a great sunrise picture to correspond with the previous statement, but my phone is no longer in my possession for reasons I will further explain.)

Before we knew it, it was time to board the plane. Amber used to travel the world for a living, so her Delta Sky Miles account was loaded with frequent flyer miles. She scored herself a free, first-class ticket with all of the works! As for me and Reshie? Oh, we sat in coach with our Biscoff cookies and coffee…but hey, at least we had each other.

Anyway, let me get to the good part. 

The Great Divide

Blackness:

Let’s start with the obvious negative connotations the term black is associated with. According to Webster’s Dictionary, black is characterized by other words such as: dirty, soiled, the absence of light, evil, indicative of discredit, sad, gloomy and – my favorite – angry discontent or hostile.

For hundreds of years, people of color (black people in particular) have been associated with the inferior undertone mentioned above, because of our ancestry. White supremacy and European colonialism distorted our perception of ourselves and our worth. Something as shallow and superficial as the tone of our skin was used to label and demean us as an entire race of people. Factors such as intelligence, beauty and social advantages were measured based off of the pigmentation we were born with.

Principles like such have established racism. This unfortunate, forced mentality has caused great disadvantages for people of color for hundreds of years. One of the most detrimental results of white supremacy is the subconscious imitation of it within the black culture. It’s called colorism.

Colorism is a sub-category of racism. Colorism focuses on trivial, superficial factors such as skin-tone and hair texture that separates those within the same ethnic group. Per research, colorism can be observed among several ethnic races but notably, it occurs mainly among African Americans.

Lovin’ on The Clock

Work…every adult’s reality as the alarm clock goes off. A place we all have to go to. The very source of the disgruntled “Monday Blues” selfies on Instagram.

But ultimately, working is the sole purpose of provision in American culture. Since the beginning of time the principal of “work to eat” has been ingrained in our society.

Research shows that over 50% of Americans work forty plus hours per week. That means that the majority of us working class citizens are spending almost 25% of our time at our jobs.

Time is valuable. Time is something that we can’t control yet it controls so many things around us. One prominent factor measured and controlled by time is money – hence Benjamin Franklin’s ever so famous metaphor…”time is money” Essentially, we use our time to make our money. This is why so much time and effort is put forth at our places of business because it’s the basis of our well-being.

With that being said, we are not alone in this ongoing journey to keep food on the table (we all gotta eat, right?). The common grounds and similar predicaments in our lives create genuine bonds with those that we call coworkers…which leads to my topic:

Workplace romance. As sensitive as this subject may be, it happens! Whether you’re working for Microsoft or McDonald’s, fraternizing is a certainty. From a professional standpoint, the reasoning behind discouraging it is understood…but at the end of the day, you can’t control people’s feelings.

“I just HAD to write about them twice!”

A few months ago, I wrote about my new-found obsession with The Internet Band. Since that post, their third album, Ego Death was released on June 30th and it’s amazing. It peaked at only #21 on iTunes but regardless of the statistics, they’ve been doing their thing! They were featured in TIME Magazine and they’re currently touring the US, Canada and even ‘crossing the pond’ come November 2015.

This past weekend, they were one of many featured artists who graced the stages of ONE Musicfest, hosted right here in Atlanta. This concert series happens every year and features several Hip Hop and R&B icons including: Janelle Monae, The Roots and the incomparable Lauryn Hill.

I’ve been hearing about this event for months and had true intentions on attending (particularly to see The Internet) but the Frugal Fran inside of me told me to save my coins for my much anticipated trip to Puerto Rico this December. So with my bottom lip poked out, I reluctantly listened to my gut and decided to sit this one out.

So Saturday came, and there I was…on my sofa and sipping coffee. I scrolled through my news-feed as it flooded with selfies, videos and snapshots from the hottest music festival of the summer that I was regretfully not attending (ugh!). Needless to say, I was in my feelings, so I took to food-therapy and hopped in the car to get some delicious take-out to lift my spirits.

While on my brief excursion, I let the windows down and cut on the radio. As I was flipping through the channels, my ears perked up as I heard The Internet’s latest release “Under Control” come through my speakers. Naturally, I bobbed my head and sang along to the catchy, cocky hit until the song faded out. Then the radio DJ made an announcement that made my whole, entire weekend!