Merry Christmas Everyone!

"The best Christmas of all is the presence of a
happy family all wrapped up with another."

Okay so I know that I'm a little late, but Merry Christmas Everyone! This year my family tried something new & headed up to Pennsylvania to spend time with family. This was the first time ever that I've spent Christmas away from home, and surprisingly, I enjoyed it! :)
We arrived in PA two days before Christmas. It was the first time that I had seen my cousins in about four years. The first day we spent catching up with each other and talking about how we've changed over the years. In addition, I got to play with my two younger cousins who had been babies the last time that I saw them. Then on Christmas day we came and spent the day with each other.
To be honest, at first I felt like I wouldn't have a good time. It was going to be strange spending time away from my family. I wouldn't be able to open my gifts on Christmas (okay so that sounds really childish). But surprisingly, I found that I learned a lot about those things that are important. We spent our time with our family. That night we played the game guesstures & taboo and laughed at my father and uncle who seem to speak their own language. For example, my dad and uncle were talking about the movie This Christmas. My dad said, "Oh that's the movie about the house?" and my uncle said, "Yeah that's it." Lol! Then we watched This Christmas, my absolute favorite Christmas movie. I had been waiting all year to see this movie, but it never actually came on tv. When we got to watch it I was so excited! I had literally been waiting all year for this. :)
And let's not forget about Christmas dinner: We ate turkey, mustard greens, arroz con gandules, pasteles, sweet potatoes, cranberry jelly, and cornbread. It was a true African American/Puerto Rican dinner....and it was truly delicious :)
Today is our last day in PA. My older cousin & I bonded over super mario on the wii. My younger cousins amused me by singing their favorite songs including Like a G6 and Bottoms Up. My cousins who are close in age to me and I watched for Colored Girls and the Dave Chappelle show. And what's a family gathering without a classic WebCam picture?

Merry Christmas Everyone

xoxo,

Jackie :)

All Na-tu-rallll!

Have you ever thought about going natural? Are you transitioning? Well, I have been natural for all of my life with the exception of two years (during which I had a failed attempt at a texturizer). I think natural hair is the thing to do, regardless of the fact that going natural has become a trend over the past year. We as black females should embrace our natural-ness & be happy with the hair that God gave us. What I like most about being natural is that there is so much room for versatility in the natural hair styles which you can wear. So anyway, just to give y'all a hint of the natural life, I've been photographing the different ways that I've styled my hair over the past two weeks! Enjoy!


Shower Fresh (Days 1-4): This is my completely natural, no heat hairstyle. As you can see I have a super duper curly texture of hair, but I also have sections of my hair which are straight, kinky, and somewhere in between. For the longest time I didn't know what to do with my hair to make it stay in the curly texture that it becomes after getting wet. However, over the past summer I had a hair epiphany & figured out what to do (lol). Every girl's hair texture is different, but here are my tips for wearing natural hair.

1. Don't waste your money on those expensive "natural hair care" products. You can use a lot of cheaper items & save a lot of money.
2. As a natural it's important to wash your hair using conditioner only. This "co-wash" is far less damaging that using shampoo (which contain ingredients like sulfate & paraben which dries out curly hair). I use garnier fructis conditioner. It smells great and it's cheap. Condition your hair and leave the conditioner in for three minutes. This helps to moisten your hair.
3. Rinse the conditioner out and recondition. This time leave the conditioner in. (Because I wet my hair a lot when it's natural I also sometimes use good ole Dove conditioner. Don't waste your money on an expensive conditioner because your hair will be wet a lot. Trust me it works!) Leaving the conditioner in your hair will keep the right amount of moisture in your hair.
4. While your the conditioner is still in your hair, add some detangler if you'd like (I use motions leave in conditioner spray & suave detangler for kids. The combination of the two make it easier to comb out any knots.) Put your hair under the stream of water and combing out knots will be a breeze.
5. Squeeze out the water from your hair and add a leave in conditioner for added moisture. I use motions cpr triple action leave in conditioner.
6. Wrap an old t-shirt around your hair and gentle squeeze several times to prevent excess water from leaking from your head (lol. Don't underestimate the amount of water that your hair can hold, especially when your hair thickens after going natural. I've had many a day where I had to run to the closest bathroom to squeeze out excess water from my hair).
7. While your hair is still damp add something to seal moisture into your hair. I prefer to use unrefined shea butter.
8. At night wear your hair in a loose high ponytail.
9. In the morning mix some conditioner, water and if you'd like a bit of olive oil into a spray bottle and mist your hair. The curls will come right back. However, because it is so dry in the winter, you may find that you have to completely wet your hair again to get the same curly effect (or in this case, splurge and spend some money on a natural hair care spritz to preserve your curls).

Like I said, because my hair is so curly and spongy, it tends to dread easily, so I only rock this hair style for several days.

Straight & Sultry (Days 5 & 6):
For these days I used a combination of Suave kids detangler (in the green bottle) and a leave in conditioner spray to detangle my curls. I blow dry my hair with a comb attachment and I then smooth castor oil from my roots to my ends and use a flat iron to straighten my hair. This style stays completely straight for about 8 hours. At night I braid my hair in sections (or make straight bantu knots) and wrap a silk scarf around them. In the morning I undo them and go over them with the flat iron. When I wrap my hair, I usually sweat out my roots by the morning, so these two methods work best. However, overuse of heat=hair damage, so this straight look lasts for a short period of time.


Curls Curls Curls (Days 7-11):
This is my quickest, easiest, most common due. I rub some palmer's growth treatment into my hair at night, before setting my hair in 15-20 large (pink) sponge rollers. I wrap a silk scarf over the rollers and sleep on them. In the morning when I take the rollers out all I do is pin my hair in whatever style I want and the curls fall into place. In this particular picture, I went over some of the curls with my curling iron to stretch them out. Notice how short my hair looks because of the tightness of the curls.

I hope you enjoy this & I hope my tips came in handy. For amazing natural hair care tips click on the KandeeLand link under my favorites to the left. She has amazing tips, blog posts & even videos on youtube!

xoxo

Jackie

Apologies...Do you forgive me?

First of all, I am soo soo soo soo sorry for not blogging in such a long time. The past three weeks consisted of me studying for finals and then coming home & doing absolutely nothing for an entire week (ahh freedom!). However, during my jail break, you probably noticed that I completely neglected my blog, including my thirty day picture challenge. Again, I am so sorry. I vow to restart my picture challenge so that I can complete it! But for the time being, let me catch you up on my life.
Let's go back a month ago to Thanksgiving. I spent the week in Delaware with my favorite cousins. It's a family tradition to head up to Delaware to spend time with my family. Because I'm now in college, we only had several days to spend with our family this year. But not a day was spent in vain. We had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner consisting of turkey, collards, sweet potatoes, salad, dinner rolls, macaroni, stuffing, and my favorite, cranberry sauce.
I actually watched the entire Macy's Thanksgiving Parade for the first time in many years (I have had bad past experiences with that parade). Kanye West's performance, as well as Keri Hilson's performance, was interesting. However, overall, I still felt that same bubbly feeling inside that I always felt when I watched the parade as a child.
The rest of our trip to Delaware was spent participating in some quality family time. We watched the Wizard of Oz and my four year old cousin made the comment that she didn't like the wicked witch of the west and, "Why is she green? She's not supposed to be green. She's supposed to be brown." Hahaha. Oh, the things that kids say :)
We said our good-byes and headed back home. I had one day to spend at home & then it was right back to school for study study studying. I had a portfolio to create for lit which consisted of seven edited essays which demonstrated my work over the semester. In addition, I had finals in pre-calc, interpersonal communications, and spanish 2002. It was a stressful and demanding two weeks. By the end of finals, I was sick of dining hall food, stress eating, the cold & my dorm in general. On top of all of that I became sick (gross!) But overall they ended up being farely successful. I made pretty good grades on the majority of my exams. I am now a first year sophomore and if things continue to head in the direction that they are going in now, by the fall 2011 semester, I will be a junior. Yet I am not completely satisfied. I've made a list of things to do in order to improve my grade [and hopefully these will help you as well].

1. Buh-bye Facebook: I'm going to temporarily delete my fb during the week (so that I can't receive any notifications, and thus have no need to use fb) and I'll use it only on the weekends.
2. Study Hall Here I Come: On Mondays and Fridays I have only one class, so I plan on spending my time after class in the study rooms in our student center.
3. More Structured Weekends: My weekends are going to be more structured. Now that there are no more football games, there should be less distractions. I will devote more time on the weekends to studying.

I am confident that my plan is going to pay off. As long as I adhere to my rules, everything should be fine :)
And now you are brought back up to speed :) Last week I spent my time relaxing, facebooking, and basically catching up on all of the things that I hadn't been able to do. In addition, I was dragged all over my hometown shopping for Christmas gifts. Now I am in a hotel in Pennsylvania waiting to visit my family. More updates will be coming soon!

lovelovelove

Jackie :)

Day 3: What I Did

Today was a good day. I went out shopping with my mom, as we normally do when i come home. Then originally, my friend Kendra (middle, behind me) was supposed to come hang out with me. Instead she ended up coming to my house later on. Then my friend Latifah (right) came and she brought my friend Ashley (far left). Also, my friend Kevin dropped by to surprise me. It was so much fun to get together with my friends from my hometown. We gossiped about our new lives at college, the parties, the school work, the lives of our other friends, and reminisced about our past high school days. It always makes me feel better to come home to all of my best friends. Have a great night everyone!

xoxo,

Jackie :)

Days 2: What I Wore

Today (well yesterday because I'm posting this a day late) I am back at home. No more studying, nasty dining hall food, or college in general. Yay for a week of food, family, and fun! This is what I wore today, with the exception of my flats. haha. Try to disregard my messy room in the background.

xoxo

Jackie :)

Jail Break!!!!

So I am uber excited!!! Tomorrow is my last day of school & then I am home for nine days for Thanksgiving Break! Yay! :) However, although I am uber excited about being able to sleep in, listen to as much music as possible, watch junk tv, hit the gym & basically do anything and everything BUT schoolwork, I am sorta sad that I'm leaving school behind. I'm gonna miss everyone here so much. Plus I'll miss the freedom and the whole living on your own adult thing. I know this sounds stupid, because it's only nine days, but I'm just a little sad. Hahaha. On another note, today was a pretty good day. My bff (left) came to visit for another friend's birthday. Shout out to Alex (right) who turns 19 tomorrow! Yay Alex :) [For Alex's birthday we went to eat at this place called Buffalo's which was pretty delish! I had pasta with a twist. It had penne noodles with alreado & mozzarella, chicken & taco strips.]But back tracking, my bff & I spent the day touring around campus & it was really fun. It was as if we hadn't been away from each other for a day. We were back to our inside jokes, jamming to our favorite songs in the car, and teasing each other.
Ultimately it was a great way to escape for school (even though I was at school) for a
day. Also I made a 91 on my oral Spanish exam! Woot :) Here are some pictures from the Henna program that I blogged about last Friday. I went with a hallmate & another friend. It was great, the Indian food was yum & I was extremely happy with the results of my henna! My hands are covered in henna. We even made henna finger mustaches! Overall this week was great and now it is back to my hometown for some much needed R & R.

Happy Thursday Yall :)

xoxo,

Jackie

My Failed Attempt at Day 1

Okay, so here is my failed attempt at day 1 of the photo challenge. I tried to take it in the hall without bothering my roommate (first two pictures). However, I eventually caved in & had to ask her lol. Enjoy!
Fail Pictures:



























Victory!

30 Day Picture Challenge

Okay, so one of the blogs that I follow, Kandeeland, had an awesome activity idea. It's a 30 day picture challenge. I'm going to try my best to take a picture each day, so this means automatic posts for the next month! I hope you guys enjoy this & I encourage everyone to take the picture challenge themselves! :)

Day 01 - A picture of yourself

Day 02 - A picture of what you wore today

Day 03 - A picture of what you did today

Day 04 - A picture of where you went today

Day 05 - A picture of your morning

Day 06 - A picture that inspires you

Day 07 - A picture that makes you cry

Day 08 - A picture of yourself

Day 09 - A picture of what you had for lunch

Day 10 - A picture of what you like to do

Day 11 - A picture of your favorite drink

Day 12 - A picture of your favorite food

Day 13 - A picture of your friends

Day 14 - A picture of your favorite teacher(s)

Day 15 - A picture of yourself

Day 16 - A picture of your dream cell phone

Day 17 - A picture of your mp3 player

Day 18 - A picture of your room

Day 19 - A picture of your favorite musical instrument(s)

Day 20 - A picture of where you want to honeymoon

Day 21 - A picture that makes you think of your loved one

Day 22 - A picture of yourself

Day 23 - A picture that describes your life

Day 24 - A picture of what you did today

Day 25 - A picture that you edited

Day 26 - A picture that makes you angry

Day 27 - A picture of you more than 10 years ago

Day 28 - A picture of what you wore today

Day 29 - A picture of yourself

Day 30 - A picture of you and your best friend

xoxo,

Jackie :)

WTF?!?!?

Strange things happen when you study at my college :)

Five Things for Friday

Happy Friday Everyone! Today I decided to come home. I had some extra time on my hands so I decided to blog about five things that have been going on in my life this week :)

1. Farewell Football:
Saturday was the last game that I had a ticket for. Because the weather was so cold, I didn't wear a dress. Instead I wore a sweater and jeans. Because we had to get up early for the game, it was supposed to be cold. I figured that I would freeze my bootay off. However, I found that this game was the best college game yet! Since we weren't all dresed up, we were comfortable in our clothing. Plus it wasn't hot as Hades, so we weren't sweaty and uncomfortable. Thus, this game was soo much fun. Not to mention the fact that we won the game 55-7. It was a great way to end my football season 2010. I love winter football :) After the game me & my friends headed to the club. This party was hosted by both the Kappas and the Alphas so you already know there were fine boys galore! ;) After a night of dancing, getting hit on & gossip, I came home and crashed. I had a great day Saturday.

2. A Week of Culture:
This week there are many cultural events going on around campus. I'm a huge fan of learning about different cultures, so this was exciting to me. On Wednesday my friend Natalie & I went to Africa Night together. I have no idea what the names of the foods I ate were but it was yum. I had this spicy potato casserole, rice, these little crisp type things, and a flour like bread that had all sorts of spices in it. Tomorrow is Noche Latina, the Hispanic Student Association's night of Latin musical performances and Spanish food. I am so excited to have a piece of my Latin culture with me at school. On Sunday, I am going to an Indian Cultural program during which we will learn about henna and the ways that it is used around the world. Best of all we get free Indian food & henna!!!

3. Free Khalifa?
So it's bad enough that they already released that little cockroach Dwayne Carter from jail on Thursday (no offense to all of you fans out there, but I just cannot stand Lil Wayne). But on Monday (11/9)Wiz Khalifa was arrested for having 60 grams of marijuana on his tour bus. That's enough marijuana to be considered a smuggler. The Wiz man made a speedy return to freedom after posting $300,000 bond, but I doubt that that will be the last of his troubles. I mean the m an brags about buying $10,000 worth of weed per month in addition to creating his own line of rolling papers. Come on Wiz! Think of all of the beneficial things that he could do with $10,000 per month. That's more than 100,000 a year. You can help to feed starving children with that. It really saddens me that so many of these celebrities who have such a huge influence on today's teens get into such trouble for such ridiculous reasons. I am even more ashamed that one of my new faves has gotten in trouble for such a ridiculous reason. & to think that I was gonna go see him in concert two days prior to his arrest. smh

4. So Thankful to be Thankful:
Well there are about three more weeks of school left before the end of the semester and I cannot be happier. Don't get me wrong, I love college. I have made lots of new friends, I am learning so much about myself and my school work of course, and the parties have been great. But there are just some things from home that college can't offer. I miss my best friend who seems to understand me better than anyone else in this world. Even though we've had some rough spots in our friendship I've realized now that I've been away from her in my life that there are just parts of you that no one can understand as well as a bff. I miss my mom & my dad & my brother. I miss my warm, comfortable bed. lol. Basically I just need to go home for some r & r.

5. Deuces (Awe man, I should have made this number two)
So I know that I am sorta late reporting this, but the Deuces remix has got to be the most wonderful remix that I've ever heard. It's musical ingenuity..okay so not really, but it's pretty great. First of all, you know I'm going to love it because my future husband DRAKE is in it :) Plus it has three of my other fave rappers in it, Kanye West,T.I. and Andre 3000 (I used to loveeee OutKast). And it has Fabolous! I recommend that everyone give this song a try. Listen to it here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo,

Jackie :)

Basketball!!!!

"This is the second most exciting indoor sport, and the other one shouldn't have spectators."

-Dick Vertleib

Happy Friday Everyone! Apologies for not blogging for the past two days. With that said, it's that time of the year again. The weather is cold. The days are shorter. We grab our coats & head straight to the game!

In my opinion college basketball>college football. I mean don't get me wrong. I loveeee football. However, high school football was all the more exciting to me. For one, my high school's football team won way more games than my college team has. Plus, high school football games were at night which was a definite plus. With college sports, the more games you win, the closer your game time is pushed toward 7pm (primetime, when everyone is watching). But when your school loses half of the games during its season, unfortunately all of your games will start at 12:00. So that means waking up at the crack of dawn to tailgate. Then on top of that at our school, the girls wear fancy dresses (like we're at some sort of horse race rather than a football game). We put on our makeup and get all dolled up to sweat in this 90 + degree southern heat. I had a dress/watch/sandal tan & it was not attractive. lol.

With that being said I love basketball. The game of basketball as a whole is so much more exciting than football. Football is such a slow paced sport. They move down several yards then take a break and this cycle goes on and on. But basketball is back & forth, back & forth. Plus my school's team is amazing! We won our game 85 to 48 versus ASU. It was almost sad because ASU was the school from my hometown. But it was amazing to see such a great win from my college!

Our basketball players are freaking amazing. They dunk the ball with almost no effort. Point after point was scored. Plus the game was soo exciting with all the players running back and forth. On top of our players awesome skills, I think that our dance team & cheerleading squad is amazing. They perform during every time out in addition to the half time performance. It was so crazy how they all just run out and do their routine in between plays. I know this sounds silly but you just have to see it. haha.

What made this game even more enjoyable was the fact that I got to see it with soo many of my friends. Usually I hang out with two different groups at school. But this time both groups sat together like one big happy family :) On top of that, my friend Jasmine, who is from my hometown surprised me and came to the game (bottom right). It was so great to spend my first game experience with all my friends from college with a friend from home.

Overall, my first college basketball game was amazing. I thought I loved high school basketball games, but college brings basketball games to a whole new level. Plus college basketball games are only $2. That makes it all the more better :)

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

xoxo,

Jackie :)

6 Songs That I'm Singing

"Music takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence, and whereto."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Tuesday Everyone! As many of you may or may not know, I am a hugeee fan of music. I feel like even though I've only been here for a short while, college has introduced me to some great artists. So I've decided to share some of my new (and old) found faves. Click the links to hear each song. Enjoy!

1. Drake- I'm pretty sure that obsessed is an understatement when describing my love for this man. He is an actor, rapper, singer, and songwriter who has collaborated with nearly every big name in the hip hop game.

What I'm listening to:I'm Ready for You (Original)
This song demonstrates his singing & rapping talents. Plus it's hard to resist singing along.SN: Check out Drake's blog, octobersveryown.blogspot.com or his fan site, drizzydrake.org. (Both are linked to the left in my blog list).

2. Willow- She's only 9 years old, but her debut song has reached #2 on I-tunes and is the most discussed topic on fb.

What I'm listening to: Whip My Hair
Willow's debut song is guaranteed to be stuck in your head. Try not to hurt yourself whipping your hair back & forth.


3. Brandon Boyd- The front man from rock alternative band Incubus has decided to take a stab at solo singing on his new album, The Wild Trapeze. Boyd sings and plays every musical instrument on the album. If that's not talent, then idk what is.

What I'm listening to: Runaway Train
This song is chill with just the right amount of upbeat tempo. It's the perfect song to roll down the windows & sing along to. If you like Incubus, you'll be sure to love this.



4. Wiz Khalifa- Attention fans of hip-hop: If you haven't heard of him, get to know Wiz Khalifa. He's the next BIG thing in hip-hop. His mixtape, Kush & Orange Juice, was one of the most talked about mixtapes of 2010. Although he's still underground, he's gonna be big. Taylor Gang or Die!

What I'm Listening to: Black & Yellow
This song is awesome! It has a great beat & an addicting hook. Plus, the fact that it's Drake's favorite song makes it all the better ;)

5. Ryan Leslie- Not only is this man an intellectual genius (he scored a 1600 on his SAT at age 16), but Ryan Leslie is an amazing songwriter & producer. Leslie's second official album, Transitions, premiered in early 2010. What I love most about RL is that he can write the perfect love song without using demeaning language.

What I'm listening to: Something that I Like
If this song doesn't make you wanna dance, then idk what will :)

6. Katy Perry- This pop star has done it big, again! More likely than not, you've heard her title song of her second big album,"Teenage Dream." In addition to this song, her entire album is awesome. Perry can be heard all around my campus & I'm sure you would love to hear her too!

What I'm listening to: Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
I imagine that this song is the "story of my life" song to numerous partying college students. Hopefully I'll never have a Last Friday Night like Katy's, but this song is great nonetheless.

Well, get to listening ;)

xoxo

Jackie :)

Fact v. Fiction: College Edition

So we've heard all the myths. They say college is just like it is on tv. There are hott boys/girls everywhere. There's a party every night. Everything about college is fantabulous. I'll admit college is WONDROUS. But let's get reasonable. Here are five facts and five myths that you should know about college:

Facts:
1. There are fine boys everywhere: Yeah, it's true. If you're like me, you've probably been stuck with the same boys for the past four years of your life. College is a fresh new start with fresh new faces. But remember, boys will be boys & not everyone is going to be your knight in shining armor. Keep your options open and don't be afraid to tests the waters.
2. You will be broke as a joke: Money is soooo tight in college. After your first month of college, you'll find a new appreciation for Mr. Washington. So if you haven't started college yet, I'd advise that you save as much as possible. You'll appreciate it later.
3. Free at last! There is sooo much freedom in college. Mom and Dad won't be there to tell you where, when, why and what to do. But remember, college isn't your own separate planet away from the Earth. Use common sense when making decisions :)

Fiction:
1. College is too hard to handle: So yeah, college is not easy. You're gonna have to work harder for the grades that you made in high school. But college is nothing to sweat about. In high school, you were in class for 7+ hours. On average, you might have 1-4 hours worth of class per day in college. Think of all the extra time that you have to study! College is all about organization.
2. There is a party every night: Although it may seem like it on tv, this is definitely not true. I go to the biggest party school in the United States and trust, there are nights when Athens is DEAD. But that doesn't mean that there isn't anything to do on campus. Join a club (they have activities all the time). Walk around campus & introduce yourself. Explore your college town. You'll find that there is so much to do even in the smallest of college towns. Plus, you should be studying anyway ;)
3. Everyone drinks: Once again, considering that I'm at the biggest party school in the US, this is def not true. I've met plenty of people who drink and plenty of people who don't drink. If you feel awkward being the "only one" not drinking, stop being a punk. Take a sip and suck it up. JUST KIDDING. Find a group of like-minded people who don't drink. This way you won't feel so awkward. Plus, it is sooo much fun to laugh at the drunk people, while YOU'RE sober.

xoxo

Jackie :)

The Start of Something New

I've done this before. I've started a blog with the hopes of creating something epic. This is my third blog. My last two blogs were....well let's just say incomplete. But things are different now. I'm in college and I'd like to say that I'm more mature. This time I vow to blog as much as possible. Hopefully I'll blog at least three times a week, but I can't make any promises. Regardless of whether this blog becomes a failure like the last two, here is what I vow to do (and what you can look forward too):
1. Record as much of my life at school as possible.
2. Keep you updated on every aspect of college life.
3. Try not to whine too much (but like I said, I can't make any promises).
4. Offer you a glimpse at my world.

Love,

Jackie :)