Oldie, but Goodie

It's been a year since I have tried to curl my locks, so on friday I decided to try it again- since it would be longer I figured that it would be a lot easier to prepare my hair for the curls.

I was kinda right.

I didn't use the curling rods and bobby pins like I have tried before, I decided to buy those large sized Goody hair elastics to hold the chiney bump/bantu knots in. I really like these elastics because they were pretty strong, and most importantly, they didn't break! I got them @ Shoppers for about $3.99

One pack was more than enough also...not sure how many I used but they are definitely re-useable.

I know I have done a before-and-after picture with this style before (see here for last year's post)...but my hair has grown quite a bit over the past year; so me doing the same style had completely different results. Even the chiney bumps looked a LOT better this year than last year. Since I used just the elastic bands I found that it was still TIGHT, but it was a lot more manageable than the multiple bobby pins that I had in there before.

I was still struggling to sleep during the night also...but I guess pain always comes before beauty. I actually went on the road with my hair in the bumps....and surprisingly I got some positive comments from random people!! Maybe I should try this more often. Only problem with it is the DRYING process. My portable dryer's cap has fallen off so I need to find a way to mend it back together so I can blog/read/clean/watch DVDs while waiting for my hair to dry. I used the hand dryer and I put it to a high, cool setting- which I have heard is best especially when you are doing putting curls in your hair because the cold air makes the style last longer.

So the end result....

Now I just have to find a way to style the curls and I'm good to go!!! Hopefully these curls will stay with me for a couple of days.......

It's Carnival!!!!!!

Finally. After slacking for how many weeks I have finally picked out a costume. I'm doing things different this year by not playing mas with Carnival Nationz, but with Tribal Knights. I went to the camp with my sister and a friend to see which costumes are left since we decided so late, but it turned out that the section that I liked best out of the whole band opened up a couple of new spots. So I had no other choice but to jump on it and put a deposit down. My section is called the Cayman Parrot.  See the picture below of the section group shot.

Now I'm ready!!!!  5 weeks to go!!!!!!! 

The Man, The Legend

The King of Pop has passed. 

All I can say is that I'm devastated- especially learning about someone so influential whose music you have grown up with since birth has passed away.

I was born the year Thriller came out...so I didn't feel the hype of when the album came out, but it's been almost twenty-six years since he dropped that album and its still one the most talked about albums. But when I came to an age where I started to appreciate the culture of music, Michael was indeed the one I recognized and embraced.

When his movie Moonwalker came out, I was all over it. Although it was a compilation of videos for his album, I still loved the way he incorporated a story in between them. I also loved the Jackson Story: An American Dream, where Jason Weaver played the young Michael...I don't even remember how many times I have played that video...."Michael, Marlon, YOU'RE GONNA GET IT!!!...who did it? Who put the towel in the swimmin pool?" - If you saw the movie, then you'll see the joke in this

Let us not forget his historical dance moves...many dance moves to this day have been influenced by MJ

Or the way he makes numerous fans faint at his concerts

I would like to thank him for the music that he has injected into my mind, body and soul. He made the kind of music that I never got tired of and its the type of music that I will forever cherish.

May you rest in peace and paradise, Michael. We love you.

6 More Weeks!!!!!

There is 6 more weeks left (minus two days) until the Caribana parade and the craze to get fit and look hot in a costume is happening all over the city of Toronto. There's exercise bootcamps everywhere....funny thing is that I haven't chosen a costume as yet (and I'm pretty sure the majority of them have sold out in each band already-recession doesn't seem to have a hold on these festivities what so ever).
Reason why I'm blogging about the parade again is because I'm officially ready to jump up. Why? Because I'm sitting on the bus, on my way to work, feeling HOT and wearing sunglasses: summer is FINALLY here. Summer solstice decided not to come early this year but when its time came, it came out with a bang.

On a side note, I went to see Tyler Perry's play The Marriage Counselor yesterday and I can say that was one heck of a performance! I am so glad that they decided to come down to Toronto to perform and I hope that he comes back with another play. I honestly didn't expect it to be hilariously funny but boy oh boy, me laughing like that was a good form of therapy. My belly is still hurting from laughing at some of those jokes. Has anyone seen this play? What did you think of it?

Short and sweet, that's all for now.

New Products...well, for me.

Last weekend I went to get my HoneyFig fix on...I wanted to see what kind of new products they had in store, I was looking for two things: Anything new from Carol's Daughter, and a nice smelling loc and twist gel/pomade.

So I happened to find both that day, and quite a few bucks later I got the following:

Carol's daughter Eau de Toilette spray in Ecstasy, and the Body Jelly....the spray smells really good...its a nice sweet smell that is not too strong. I'm not a person who likes the candy-like smell too much but this one makes you want to run to the store and buy a whole heap of candy. Now for the body jelly, I like how there is 0% petroleum, compared to the regular vaseline. The jelly has numerous oils in it, such as soybean, corn, sweet almond and jojoba seed oils.  It doesn't have a particular scent to it so you can mix it with one of the bath oils that Carol's Daughter sells. I have the Almond Cookie body oil, but I have yet to give it a try. Since it has so many oils, people would expect to be looking like they got out of a grease bath, but the body jelly doesn't leave your skin shiny at all, which is a definite PLUS for me. So I give these products a two thumbs up!!!!!

NEXT, 

I bought this product called Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade. You can check out the website here. This product also has a blend of oils such as virgin coconut, mango, hempseed, cocoa butter, broccoli seed and soybean oils. AND it smells like burnt sugar (hence the name) and that is what really suckered me into buying product. I used it right after I got home and I can say that the burnt sugar scent stayed in my hair for a good 6 days. I normally get an itchy scalp when I haven't moisturized my scalp about 3 days after a wash, but I haven't experienced that feeling as yet. This product is an excellent moisturizer and I also give it a two thumbs up because it has lasted for so long in my locks. I only wish that it came in a larger size because I know I would finish this in no time. Then again, you don't need to use too much in your hair so maybe, MAYBE it will take a while to finish. 

Fin!

I had to take a picture of my growing collection of Carol's Daughter products just to show you how much I'm starting to love the damn thing. Lord help me when I find the almond cookie body wash, , the Love Butter body butter and the SweetHoneyDip...ChocolateBrownSugah body butter. GOSH Just the sound of it makes me hungry!!!!! :-)

I scream for FREE icecream!!!!

I am a member of a site called Chick Advisor. It's a website where women can look at and write about reviews on products they have tried, ranging from makeup, chocolate, spas and electronics.

I was lucky enough to be one of the first people to try some new products and then rate them on the Chick Advisor website. The first product I tried was the Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara, which wasn't too bad (I don't really wear it as much because it was a dark brown, and I prefer a black mascara)....the second product I got to try was the Nestle Noir Mousse chocolate in dark chocolate and milk chocolate (can't go wrong with chocolate, I loved every piece).

Thing is about these "studies" is that you have to be quick with replying to the notifications because they only allow about 50 people to try the product and then rate it.

Now, I actually had the chance to try the new Breyer's new line of ice cream...the minute I recieved an email, I had to reply ASAP! No way I'm turning down ice cream! When I signed up for the Breyers review, I thought they were just going to send me a couple of coupons so I can just pick them up at the nearest grocery store. And for this product, I was allowed to have some friends try it out. No biggie.

So a couple of days later I get this HUGE package in the mail, I almost didn't want to open it because I didn't order anything lately. So when I open it, out comes this neat package from Breyer's....

It was so cute I HAD to take pictures, and I was dying to see what was inside this box. At first I was like "this can't be the ice cream in here, they must be crazy"....turns out that they gave me three bowls and spoons so I can share with friends and family...what a wicked idea, huh?

I'm really feeling how Breyer's went all out to make our ice cream experience a really good one. Just the package alone got me so excited....I would write a review on the packaging alone.

Now here comes the best part. The actual ice cream. Chick Advisor wanted us to taste and review three flavours, yes, THREE FLAVOURS: Banana Cream Pie, Chocolate Cheesecake and Dark Chocolate Velvet. I went to the nearby grocery store, used the coupons they gave me and went home to devour the goods. To actually buy the ice cream is pretty pricy, but I guess it all depends on which grocery store you go to. At Loblaw Superstore, they sell it for $6.99 each. 

The results: you can't go wrong with ice cream. With the exception of Green Tea ice cream, I haven't tasted one that was horrible. Boy was I in HEAVEN testing out these flavours!!! The first one I tried was the Chocolate Cheesecake, and it did taste like chocolate cheesecake, but I wish they put some cheesecake-like chunks in it so it would taste more realistic. The Banana Cream Pie was ON POINT though....I can say that this one is my favourite out of the three. You know the graham pieces that go on the bottom of cheesecakes? Well it's in this ice cream (come to think of it, they should have put that graham pieces in the Chocolate Cheesecake ice cream). I'm not a fan of dark chocolate, but the Dark Chocolate Velvet was so nice and smooth (hence the word velvet, duh!). It's definitely not bitter like the regular dark chocolate bars so that was a plus right there.

I'm gonna leave it at that, because I need to write a review for Chick Advisor...and I'll leave it up to you guys to go and try out the new flavours from Breyer's. If you ladies want in on the free stuff, you have to sign up with Chick Advisor, and join the Product Review Club.

Funny how yesterday's post was about me eating HEALTHY FOOD........I am something else!!! 

Crinkle Cut

I have finally decided to try something new to my hair. Well it's not exactly new, but since my locks are longer they look a lot different.  And a lot better too. So I need to stop being so lazy and get my hands in my hair more often. I had to take a picture this morning because it was fresh (took the braids out my head). But yeah, here's my "crinkle cut" style. I need to try it immediately after I wash my hair so the waves would be more defined, but since I decided to style my hair when I got home from the gym I didn't have much time to do a lot. So here it is, my first hairstyle in many, many months :-)

 It's time to get creative. Summer is FINALLY here, so I need to spice up this head of mine......

Oh yes, and BTW....for those who are wondering about my "Timmy's" diet, it's been 

THREE WEEKS 

since I last had a French Vanilla Cappuccino. I guess I wasn't so addicted to it after all. I'm drinking a LOT of tea now....from chocolate chai, white tea, green tea and rooibos, I'm not tempted to go to Timmy's for a cup of that oh-so-good-ness what so ever. Plus I have added carrots and cherry tomatoes to my 'snacking-at-work' menu and I'm starting to like what I'm doing, so I'm definitely adhering to the Canada's Food Guide. Socacize is back in effect (went twice this week- oh gooooosh boy) and I've been focusing on my "abs" while on the treadmill, and doing my weight training. I don't want to measure myself as yet since I don't want to be discouraged but I really have to give myself a pat on the back for sticking to my routine!!!