My sister held a tea at her home Saturday afternoon. I was supposed to help design the menus, but that sort of feel through. So, Friday afternoon, I was stuck with the idea to create some sort of party favors.

I started drawing Friday afternoon. I didn’t have a concrete idea, but knew that I wanted to make some sort of bookmark type things. After getting off work that night, I went to Dress Barn, because I still needed a dress for the occasion. Then I walked over to Michael’s, which is conveniently located in the same shopping center, to see what sort of supplies was available and hopefully get more inspiration. I bought three rolls of ribbon and a special hole puncher.

After I got home, I finished the drawings and scanned the art. Then I woke up early (for me) Saturday morning and printed out and assembled them. My mother helped with lacing the ribbon through them.

The favors were a hit, and I’m seriously considering making a variation of them available for sale at my Esty store.

I honestly haven’t “constructed” anything this involved since I got out of college, and it really felt good to do something like this.

Note: The first bookmark on the left was inspired by recent photos I had seen of Mae, aka Natural Chica.

I decided to take another crack at the 365 Project. I did a form of it once in 2007. That time around it was all self portrait which…got really old fast. The new project just requires I take a photo everyday, and I find that the photos are much more interesting once I’m not the subject of every one.

A great many things occurred this past month:
• I got a tumblr account.
• My sister got married.
• I participated in NaNoWriMo for the second year. I didn’t win, but it was fun.
• I’m 27 now.

That last bullet is a doozy. As I was updating my age on the various profiles I have online, I was blindsided by an overwhelming feeling of “oh my God.” That’s the best approximation I can give to it. I am in my late twenties now and I believe a result of this is the sudden grown-up feeling I have when thinking about doing certain things, like washing dishes, cleaning my room, applying for jobs and seriously considering learning how to cook whole meals rather than random dishes like rice, box-macaroni and cheese or scrambled eggs.

11.02.2009 . shopping

Earrings from Lotus Boutique

11.03.2009 . around the house

(more…)

I’m featured today on the blog Going Au Naturale.

Since doing this natural thing, I’ve become more aware of how the issue affects the black community. There’s a lot of information to wade through, so many natural hair blogs and information, there’s no set rule about what works and what doesn’t and it’s all dependent on hair texture/type.

Here are a few blogs that I enjoy and find helpful:

Black Girl with Long Hair (BGLH) – My favorite because I appreciate the mostly objective way in which the information and interviews are presented. Never too preachy, which is great, and allows the reader (me) to have a balanced view of things I’m reading and particularly the suggestions and advice offered there.

Going Au Naturale – A recent find, but after perusing her entries Mae’s blog quickly shot to the top of my list. And I love how cultured she is. Plus, she’s absolutely adorable in her video blogs. :)

Leave In The Kinks – Love these girls blog because they’re both from have Nigerian heritage. Miss Fizzy is in Ireland now (but you wouldn’t know by her very American accent) and Zara is Nigerian/Malaysian living outside of Boston. So, it’s cool to see and hear about how natural hair is perceived in places besides the U.S.

Nappy Like Yo Pappy – I’d like to say that the title says it all, but really it gives a great indication of the wry humor and realistic yet balanced point of view these girls have of the natural hair experience.

B. April 26, 2009; Jasper, Pascal, and Evan

They’re tearing up exploring my room right now, and as such, Jasper and Evan are up for adoption. This morning I made a poster to hang in the vet’s office.