Hurricane Sandy

It's best to be over-prepared than under-prepped. Thankfully my family and I were ready for just about anything. But I guess because of the meek destruction we had from hurricane Irene, everyone I knew wasn't expecting hurricane Sandy to be the same. This is NYC after all, and we never get destructive weather. But we were in for a surprise. We're lucky to have lived in an area that didn't require evacuation

Let me recall what I remember:

• We didn't have a full blackout, but the lights in the neighborhood kept flickering throughout the night and finally the lights went out for about 10-20 minutes. 

• I lost $20 going to the store (only store open in my area) trying to make a last minute shopping. I was so upset! And I was nearly blown away by the wind.

• The house shook ALL day.

• My mother was stranded at her job, and unfortunately had to work 3 shifts straight. Her job was located in a Zone A area which should have been evacuated.

• Her car was submerged in high waters. She nearly lost everything in that car, including the car.

• My brother and I had to get her car towed and out of her jobs parking lot, which took about 4 hours to do.

• We toured areas of south Brooklyn and we were stunned! We'd never seen so much disaster.

• Basketball hoop in my background was completely destroyed and was blown by the high winds; our grill almost saw the same fate even though it was held down.

• Thankfully all the sandbags we had from the previous Hurricane Irene were used, but weren't needed. 

• Tree branches galore! They were all over the street. My father moved his car because the branch in front of my home looked shaky.

I can than my lucky stars that my family and I didn't that lose much (my mother lost her car, but she would still be able to get to work with ease). Praying and wishing luck for those who lost their homes or valuable items.

What Your Personality Says About Your Fashion

Image courtesy of sattva

How does your personality reflect your fashion tastes? While it’s unfair to judge someone by what they wear, in many ways, what you wear somewhat determines who you are. Think about it. If you are an extreme fanatic of punk rock, and your fashion is inspired by that form of music, what type of fashion would you likely be fond of ? Chokers, bright-colored hair and piercings right? Stereotypically, of course. While not all punk music fans dress like this, various music scenes tend to have their own form of dress style. The same is true for everyday wear.

Whether you're loud, quiet, exuberant, or decorous, everyone has a specific style they gravitate to, and their personality may influence that. Let's take a look at a few personalities and see what fashion types might appeal to them.

The Quiet and Reserved
You like to be as simple as possible. Appropriateness is imperative, and you prefer traditional and comfortable styles. You also tend to appreciate neutral colors more, but you may like everything from jeans, pants, skirts, dresses, stylish tops, and trendy shoes. You may be the casual or sophisticated type.
 
Shops that may suit this type best are: American Apparel, J. Crew, Banana Republic, Old Navy or Express.

The Perfectionist
Everything must be decent. You don’t like sketchiness, you rarely settle for less, and you prefer everything to be at order. You may be the business type. Your style for professional settings, transcends into your daily wardrobe. Styles that make you look smart, clean and respectable, are your staples. They may include crisp pants, attention-grabbing colors, few accessories, and there's a fine line between quality and quantity.
 
Shops that may suit this type best are:  New York and Company, The Limited, Ann Taylor, Loft or Jones New York.

Read More.

Watchlist: 2012 Fall Shows

Lots of new and returning shows this fall. These are the shows I plan on watching this fall:

Revolution. Looks incredibly interesting. I've never seen this type of story done before, and I love post-apocalyptic settings.

The Walking Dead also returns in October for their third season.

ABC's new show, 666 Park Avenue. A show about a haunted upscale NYC apartment building.

And their returning series Scandal. Amazing first season.

Fox's new show The Mindy Project.


And The Mob Doctor. One of my favorite Boardwalk Empire characters was likely killed off to do this show. I'll watch to see what it's about.

Voter Suppresion

Still haven't gotten myself around to watching HBO's new show The Newsroom, but here's the fictional reason/reality of why voter ID laws are being pushed around. Voter fraud isn't the only reason certain politicians are strong advocates for these ID laws. Seems like 2:01-2:08 may be the real reason. Really great clip.

That Package: Motherhood, Society, and Resistance

Image courtesy: duron123

At twenty-three years of age, the thought of motherhood is so far in the back of my mind. I cannot recall a time in my childhood or adolescence, where I seriously thought of having a child when I grew older. Of course at those ages, no child would be certain of what direction their life would head in, but looking back, I could still say no; I was not crazy about being a mother.
 
During high school the fact became clearer. Teen pregnancy was rampant, and there were so many girls I knew and had class with, that got pregnant and never showed up to school again. I promised I would never get pregnant as a teen, or even into my early twenties — some wishful thinking.

Fast forward - here I am and the fact still remains: I'm not crazy about becoming a mother. It does make me wonder sometimes whether society, family, or my personality among other things, concluded this decision for me. Various phobia's and my self-worth are other factors that contribute to these feelings, but an unexpected package at my doorstep last week would reaffirm this for me, once again.

I woke up one morning last week and discovered a box at my door. It had my name on it and address. But I didn't order anything. I hadn't ordered anything in months. What also came as a surprise to me was what was written on the box. It read: Similac Strong Moms?! Umm...what? Never mind that a few weeks prior, I had an identity theft scare, in which my business email was hacked and someone had used my name and personal information to seek mortgage consulting, and even viewed Amazon gift cards. After extensively changing and securing all of my passwords, my stomach sank and figured that this someone used my information to order a package I did not want. Then I thought, why would I receive it? Wouldn't they order something that they would receive?

After calming down, checking bank accounts and realizing that no orders had been unknowingly made, I wondered whether the box was a sample delivery. I looked at the box again and examined it. Yes, indeed it was a free sample offer. But why? I was not a mother, nor an expectant one.

I quickly reminded myself that obviously women in my age group are becoming new mothers and perhaps Similac figured, why not send a free gift to a possible future customer (or mother). I was half-relieved (that no one ordered this on my account) and half-insulted (yup).

Insulted because, in today's society there are a lot of expectations of women. But women now have more options. A woman can live a carefree and independent life in ways that their foremother's could not. Motherhood is a choice. So why do I feel like I'm being suffocated with it? That package was just one in the long line of pregnancy encouragement and pressure I've experienced.

While some may say that women were created to reproduce, there's no obligation. For this reason, it scares me how some politicians want to do-away with the reproductive rights of women. Stripping women of rights that will reverse many achievements, can create a dramatic shift in how women deal with their sexual health choices, and society. As if we need anymore ways to step backwards. Imagine that after all these decades of improvements (albeit some unnatural) in women's health, for it to only be banned?

I should clarify that I was only bothered by the package because I knew it was sent to encourage me buy their product, as well as the hidden expectation that I may have a child. This may come across as over-dramatic or sensitive, but when society and especially your family, constantly question you on your reproductive choices, the topic of motherhood becomes very detestable.

The likelihood of me becoming a mother in the future is uncertain (maybe yes, maybe no). I will continue resisting and hope that any chance of me becoming a mother in the near future is not a result of compliance or fear, but one of MY choice.

In the meantime, I'll save that package for someone who may need it. Not me of course, ha.

Product Review: Neutrogena Triple Moisture Silk Touch Leave-In Cream

Having tightly-coiled, highly-textured hair makes the struggle of finding a good hair product that satisfies my hair needs, extremely hard. Growing increasingly frustrated with the state of my hair, and finding myself discouraged with a vow to 'stay natural', I decided I would take the time to find a good, more expensive product for my hair (because these low-priced good products weren't doing a darn thing for my hair improvement). Also add that, I hardly like spending more than $10 on a hair product.
 
I came across the triple moisture line from Neutrogena. I never knew they had a hair care line, and I've been using their facial products for years.
 
I have extremely dry, thin and kinky-coily hair. Many major hair products catered for dry hair are marketed and designed for the hair textures and/or type, for that of White women, and women of similar hair texture. Very rarely is the dryness of White hair comparable to the dryness of a Black person with very kinky hair like mine (most of the time). So I was skeptical in picking out something that wasn't in the 'ethnic hair care' aisle. But usually the ones products for really, really dry White hair are transferable.
 
Any who, I read the bottle, and its promises were exactly what I was looking for:
 

Triple Moisture...melts effortlessly into strands, improving smoothness and manageability while diminishing fly-aways and frizz. This silky daily cream spreads evenly, absorbing quickly to instantly soften, smooth and condition extra dry, damaged strands. Three naturally derived extracts work to defy dryness. Olive penetrates to the center of the hair strand, Meadowfoam Seed helps moisturize the middle and Sweet Almond wraps the surface. It also contains UV filters. Neutrogena Triple Moisture® provides specialized care for extra dry hair.

It was kinda pricey for the small bottle it came in, but I decided to spend the $8 and hope that the price was a reflection of the product quality.
 
After washing my hair, I added several drops of the product into my palm and worked it into my hair. The directions promised that only a drop would be sufficient. But I kept in mind that this tip is standard for people with straighter or looser hair textures. I added more than directed, and began drying my hair. I immediately saw the difference. 

When I used to dry my hair before, I used Organics olive oil leave-in, and a hair lotion. My hair always felt dry afterwards. But not this time. My hair was soft to touch, it didn't make crunching sounds when I ran a comb through it, and it smelled pretty good; I loved it.
 
You can use also use it on dry hair. Even after drying my hair, I added a little bit more. I would recommend this product for anyone with dryness-prone hair, or kinky and coily hair.

Moderate, Rather Than Terminate

Image courtesy: wiangya / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In everyday diets, many of those who seek to shed some weight off their bodies, want to find the quickest solution available. For anyone who has dieted, or attempted a weight loss journey, you may already know that this isn't true nor possible. Any revelation of such success is unhealthy, and frowned upon by many health or fitness advocates. Patience, motivation, and commitment are some of the attitudes one would need to adopt to lose weight successfully.

Losing weight overtime won't happen in just a few months. While you must eat all the right foods and move your body enough to burn calories, without a proper mindset it will be impossible. Many people I personally know who have dieted on and off for years, have said motivation is the real backbone for every successful weight loss journey. This is true.

However, there is one misconception that never seems to garner enough discussion. You can indeed lose weight while not necessarily changing what you eat. You may not find the most awesome results in specific areas of your body, but the scale will move. The key to losing weight is simply burning off more than you consume.

Sure the effects will be more ideal when combined with the removal of certain foods, but these foods don't have to be completely barred. Immediately removing foods you enjoy from your diet, can lead you right back to square one and may cause binging.

My solution has always been moderating. Gain control of your weight, by rewriting your favorite recipes. More people should jump on to this instead of forcing themselves to eating food they don't like, for sake of healthy eating. As a meat-eater, I just don't see meat being excluded from my permanent diet no matter how much I cut down on it. Cutting back on meat is the best solution for now; I know if I just abruptly stop eating it, I'll come running back, looking to indulge into a succulent juicy pork rib. A few years ago, I decided instead of forcing myself to eat meals that always asked of some kind of yogurt, or some other ingredient I wasn't fond of, I decided I would still eat the foods I liked. Only I would revamp the recipes.

I still ate chicken Parmesan, only with low-fat mozzarella, a lighter pasta sauce, whole-wheat pasta and no eggs used. I still ate my french toast breakfast, but I used egg whites instead, whole-wheat bread and almond milk. I used cooking spray whenever I could, and I baked, broiled, or stewed all the meats I ate.
 
I never changed the meals I ate. All I did was choose healthier alternatives for some ingredients.
 
Challenge yourself to make your favorite recipes, while reducing any fat, sodium and sugar content. If something calls for whole milk, go for the 1% or skim versions. It calls for cheese? Low-fat cheeses are abundant. If you need hoisin sauce? Substitute it with ketchup.
 
This shouldn't be hard because there's a low-fat, fat-free, low-sodium, sugar-free version of almost everything now.