life curation

July & August Activity Planning – DONE!

Hi friends! I hope you all are enjoying your Sunday, and staying COOL! Personally, I’m enjoying the fact that I don’t have to go outside into the Virginia heat! I love summers in the South but I also love being able to retreat from the heat when I want to.

I just finished writing out my plans for July and August. It’s important that I am crystal clear about what I want to do and when I want to do it: if I’m not focused, I lose track of my time and find that nothing (or almost nothing) gets accomplished.

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Here’s the short list of my July and August plans. These plans are in support of my goals (short term and long term)  as well as give me interesting things to talk about on this blog.

July:

August

  • Celebrate my birthday in grand style
  • Attend an embassy event
  • Visit a museum I’ve never gone to before
  • Select courses to take in the fall
  • Have some amazing giveaways on this blog (in honor of the blog’s 1 year anniversary)

I’m looking forward to having a lot of fun this summer, and I’m especially looking forward to sharing those experiences with you all! Well, it’s time for me to go ahead and finish my meal prepping for the week, so I’ll talk to you all soon!

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Two Lena Horne Movies to Honor Her on Her Birthday

It’s finally the weekend! I’ve been looking forward to this ALL WEEK LONG.

So, what am I going to do, now that the weekend is here? I’m going to enjoy some quiet time at home LOL! I was looking up things to do, and I decided to watch a few movies while I chilled out.

As it turns out, today would have been Lena Horne’s 101st birthday. You all probably remember how excited I was when she got a commemorative stamp. It’s only fitting that today, as I stay in and stay cool, I watch a couple of her movies!

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Resplendent Lena Horne, in a still from Cabin in the Sky

I’ll be checking out Cabin in the Sky and The Duke is Tops. Both movies are part of the public domain so I’ll watch them on the Internet Archive website. Lena’s role in Cabin in the Sky is minor, from what I recall, but I’ll still check it out. And I’m excited to see if she has a bigger role in The Duke is Tops, or if she is a minor character in that one, as well.

Let me get to my movie watching – I’ll talk to you all tomorrow!

life curation

Tomorrow Isn’t Promised

Hello beloveds! I have had a busy week, and I am glad to see it come to a close.

Sadly, I will be attending two funerals this weekend. One of my dear friends lost her mother to cancer, and I lost one of my uncles to kidney disease.  My uncle’s death, in particular, had quite the impact on me, as I lost my beloved stepfather to kidney disease several years ago.

I’m keeping this brief, because I don’t want to weaken the message with too many words. Tell your loved ones how much they mean to you – hug them, spend time with them, laugh with them, create as many memories as you can. Tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us.

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Rest in peace, Uncle Richard and Mama Shirley. I’m sending love to everyone one of you reading this, on behalf of my dear departed ones. May you have lots of love and cherish every moment with the ones that you love.

food

NuVegan is Coming to RVA!

I am beyond excited to share this news with you all! One of my favorite vegan restaurant, NuVegan Cafe (formerly Woodlands Vegan Bistro) of Washington, D.C., is opening a restaurant in my hometown of Richmond, VA! I spend a lot of time bouncing around in the Midatlantic region but when I’m home, I am always eager to try new vegetarian options. This technically isn’t new to me – I’ve been enjoying NuVegan for at least 4 years – but I’ve always had to be in either D.C. or Maryland if I wanted their food. Having the restaurant so close to home is going to really have me spoiled!

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The Richmond location will be opening on June 30, 2018. Part of me wants to attend the grand opening . . . The other part of me is pure introvert and would rather avoid any potential crowds! We’ll see how I’m feeling on June 30th and if I’m feeling up to it, I’ll make a special stop to check out the restaurant.

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Plant-based foods are awesome!

If you want more information about NuVegan Cafe in Richmond, VA, be sure to follow the NuVegan Cafe Richmond Twitter page @NuVeganRichmond.

Have any of you eaten at NuVegan yet? Let me know what you thought about it in the comments below!

beauty

Beauty Review: Fenty Beauty Lil Match Stix Duo Mini Shimmer Skinstick Set

During a lunchtime stop into Sephora, I was searching – in vain – for Fenty Beauty’s Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation in shade 420. Fenty Beauty is Rihanna’s uber popular makeup line that continues to break records and shake up the beauty industry. It’s sold out every time I go to this particular Sephora location, and I’m dying to try it, so I ended up just ordering it online.

However, the trip wasn’t in vain: I spotted some new Fenty Beauty products as I walked through the checkout line (I found some cute makeup brushes that I had to get). As it turns out, Fenty Beauty has designed some miniaturized versions of their popular products. I picked up the Lil Match Stix Duo Mini Shimmer Skinstick Set to try out some new shimmer skinstick shades.

The set contains two match stix shades in Sinamon and Starstruck.

reading list

July Reading Selection

Whew, what a busy year I’ve been enjoying! I’ve been loving the changes I’ve seen so far and the exciting times ahead. Because things have been moving at an accelerated pace, I almost decided against selecting a book for July.

But I love books and I’m constantly reading a wide variety of material, so I might as well select one book that I will review after reading. The book I’ve chosen for this month is Monet by Karin Sagner-Duechting. This book is a large book – almost coffee table-sized – and has beautiful photographs of Claude Monet’s work. After telling you all about my love of impressionism and Monet, particularly, I figured this would be a good selection.

Funny enough, I had forgotten that I had thi book. I got it for $2 at a thrift store and put it on my shelf but never thought about it again, until I started poking around for another book for my monthly reading selections.

life curation

2018 Goals – Next Round of Updates

Happy Monday, friends! I was due for another 2018 goal update, so I figured that I’d do it now, before the end of the month.

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My last goal update post reiterated my three overall goals to accomplish during this year, as well as steps I intended to take to bring me closer to those goals.

For those that don’t remember, my goals are as follows:

  • Publish some of my writing
  • Travel more
  • Dabble in an art career

Here are the updates as promised! I’ll also share my next round of tasks for each goal.

Goal 1: Publish some of my writing

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I intended to take 3 different actions before the end of the month of April. Those actions were:

  • Start on the 2nd round of edits for my novel
  • Complete 1st round of edits for my how-to book
  • Purchase a MasterClass membership to get additional writing assistance

So, I’m happy to say that I finished my 2nd round of novel edits (go me!) and did my first round of edits for the how-to book (yay!). I opted out of purchasing the MasterClass membership in April because I determined that I would be taking several online classes during the next few months. However, I’ll revisit the MasterClass purchase in September.

My new writing goals are as follows:

  • Finish writing out supplemental/resource material for the how-to book
  • Allow my friends to read a draft of my novel for feedback
  • Resume work on novel # 2

Goal 2: More travel

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My travel goals were simple: mostly decisions and research. Those goals were:

  • Make a decision on my London travel: whether I will do one or two trips this year
  • Start pricing my London and New York airfare and hotel stays
  • Reserve rooms for weekend trips in May

 

Due to some changing priorities at work, I had to reassess my travel plans for later this year. However, I did the weekend trip that I planned to do in May (my embassy weekend). Now that I’m halfway through the year, I’ve got another set of goals. These are:

  • Finalize details for birthday trip in August
  • Finish paying off October cruise balance
  • Start budgeting for international trip in December

Goal 3: Dabble in an art career

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As you all recall from previous posts, my art career goals involve working in the art world as opposed to creating art. My last round of goals were a bit more ambiguous, but funny enough, I made progress just the same. Those goals were:

  • Reserve my space in the Christie’s course(s) I plan to take in New York this summer
  • Begin another online art course
  • Narrow down the opportunities I’ve listed to those most advantageous for the path

I opted out of taking a Christie’s course this summer due to those previously mentioned changes at work. I’ve had my hands full with the Cultures and Identities in Europe and Inside Opera courses, so I put a hold on my ALISON art course (Color Theory for Artists and Designers). Once those two FutureLearn courses wrap up, I’ll see if there are any more suitable art courses that I want to take: if not, I’ll resume my ALISON course. I also got a great idea for dabbling in an art career on my terms, and I’m really excited about that (I’ll share more as I finish ironing out the details).

Now, my goals for my art related career is as follows:

  • Complete an art course
  • Create a website for art career “secret project”
  • Read “Institutional Time – A Critique of Studio Art Education” by Judy Chicago

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My timeframe for completing these tasks is August 15th. So, look out for updates to my new incremental goals in the next few weeks.

Thanks everyone, for stopping through and for keeping me accountable. I truly appreciate it. Talk to you all soon!

art

A French Affair: Time with Napoleon

Several weeks back, I stopped in at the National Gallery of Art and saw one of Jacques-Louis David’s most famous paintings, The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at The Tuileries. While taking in this massive and majestic work, I remembered that Virginia Museum of Fine Art would be unveiling a Napoleon exhibit during the month of June.

The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at The Tuileries by Jacques-Louis David

I went to the members preview on Saturday, June 9th, and this exhibit didn’t disappoint. The word “luxurious” is the most apt way to describe the exhibit. I will be returning again, before the exhibit leaves, so that I can (hopefully) get pictures that I can share on this platform.

fitness · life curation

A July Fitness Challenge? Let’s Do It!

I’m a little more than a month away from my birthday (August baby checking in!) and I realized that I wanted a major change. I used to be slimmer some years back, but now I’m a little “cuddlier” than I’d prefer. I would love to be more toned and healthier. So I figured I’d try to get back into some sort of fitness routine by trying a fitness challenge.

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Ab goals!

Almost two years ago, I purchased one of Brittne Babe’s 21 Day online fitness packages and, while I tried my hand at the meal planning and exercising, I hadn’t committed fully. So I figured that now would be a good time to kick my fitness goals into gear. I will start my training on July 1st, and I’ll post a final pic on August 1st. Keep your  fingers crossed for me: I love cake LOL! It’s going to take some discipline to remain committed to getting toned and feeling healthy and strong. But I’m eager to see some great results, so I’ll do the challenge! If you want to know more about Brittne Babe’s 21 Day challenge, click here.

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Brittne, looking perfect

Look out for fitness updates over the next few weeks!

words of wisdom

Words of Wisdom: Octavia Butler

Tell stories filled with facts. Make people touch and taste and know. Make people FEEL! FEEL! FEEL!

I’m really surprised that I hadn’t written about this incredible author before, especially since she is one of my main inspirations when it comes to my writing. I haven’t tried my hand at science fiction/fantasy, but reading Octavia Butler’s work always makes me want to give it a whirl.

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Butler willed her success into existence. Some of her papers show the affirmations that she wrote, encouraging herself along the way. While working an assortment of temporary jobs, she would wake up early to write. Her writing effortlessly weaves fantasy with contemporary issues like politics and power struggles around age-old dividers such as race, gender and sexual relationships. Her characters – multidimensional and transcendent – stay with you long after you finish her books.

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I’ve read several of her stories, starting with Mind of My Mind though, knowing what I know now, I would have started with Wild Seed, my favorite book by Butler. Wild Seed is an origin story, which describes the long history between Doro and Anyanwu. This story sets the scene for the subsequent novels. These two powerful beings struggle with one another through centuries, until they have a final showdown that end their tug-of-war.

jenebaspeaks

I love how Wild Seed takes readers through Anyanwu’s growth into an empowered woman. I love reading about Doro’s calculated nature and how everything he does is part of his master plan. And most of all, I love how well-developed the characters are and how they navigate their dysfunctional symbiotic relationship. I found myself questioning my own journey to empowerment and self actualization while reading Wild Seed.

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On today, which would have been Butler’s 71st birthday, I’m sharing a few of my favorite quotes. I hope you enjoy!

 

(Photos courtesy of BlackMattersUs, JenebaSpeaks, Pinterest and ForReadingAddicts.co.uk)