Ladi Life: Wedding Events

The last few weeks have been a blur for me.  From my bridal shower, to my first dress fitting, to an engagement photoshoot, it's safe to say I am in "wedding mode." After months (ok years) of planning, this special day has gone from being sooo far away to being just around the corner. Last week I went to "the country" where I'm from for my bridal shower.   I wore an adorable fit-and-flare brocade dress by Kensie:

I loved my dress, even after I found out it matched some of the furniture in my future in-laws' living room...

B**ch stole my look. But I look better :) 

This past weekend, my fiance and I took our engagement photos! For days leading up to the shoot I was worried that we would get rained out, but luckily the weather cooperated long enough for us to get some amazing shots. Here are a couple:

Philosophy peplum top, A.n.a Jeans, Matisse Sandals

Worthington blazer, Old Navy cami, Phillip Lim for Target skirt, Jessica Simpson heels

My next big event coming up is the bachelorette party/weekend!  I rarely go out partying so I am having the hardest time trying to find something to wear, but as soon as I figure it out, of course I will share ;)

Blazer, Bell Bottoms, & BLM Brunch (OOTD + Recap)

This post is long overdue! Right before Christmas, I attended my first blogger event. Ashley of FabEllis hosted a Bloggers Like Me Holiday Brunch here in Raleigh, NC. Bloggers Like Me (#BLM) is an amazing network of ladies who share ideas, blogging tips, and genuine support for each other. It was so much fun to meet up with a few of the #BLM Girls and get to know the ladies behind the blogs I read on a regular basis!



We met at the adorable Relish Café & Bar and shared good laughs and great food. Trust me when I say--if you've never had a sweet potato biscuit, you don't know what you are missing! We also had a Secret Santa gift exchange. With a shopping limit set at $5, many attendees walked away with beauty products, jewelry, and I snagged a gorgeous printed clutch!



There were many style bloggers present, so of course we ended the brunch with a mini photoshoot. Under the guidance of a wonderful photographer (special thanks to Shea of Curves and Confidence for bringing her photographer!), we took several shots inside and outside of the café--all while stopping to to give the deets on what we were wearing and some of the ladies planning an impromptu shopping trip to H & M!

L to R: Kandi, Demetrice, Me, Shea, Ashley (hostess), Marché, Marquita 

For my look, I took a break from my usual skinny jeans and opted for a pair of flare leg jeans by Jessica Simpson.  I've always loved Jessica Simpson shoes but never tried any of her clothing. However, if the rest of her clothes fit as perfectly as these jeans, I am now a fan! I topped off my look with a slim fitting collarless blazer from JCPenney.

Blazer: Worthington  / Blouse: Old Navy (similar) / Jeans: Jessica Simpson / Leopard Belt: Kohl's / Boots: Seychelles

2013 Resolutions

source: Christmas Stock Images

Last year I made specific goals related to improving my health, fitness, and hair, along with a number of mini-goals to improve my happiness and quality of life. I want to do something a little different this year; Instead of outlining specific actions, I am focusing on a few, over-arching ideas that will guide my actions throught the year and lead to the positive changes I want to happen in my life. I have coined this year The Year of No Excuses, and all of my resolutions reflect this idea:

source: No Finish Line Blog

Allow the amount time and energy I devote to projects/people reflect the importance that the project/person has in my life.  I sometimes put people I care about on the backburner, or say I'm too busy to engage in important activities like exercise or cooking which only provide positive benefits to me in terms of my health and pride in my appearance. This year I will give these activities and people the time and attention they need, which will in turn improve my happiness and create much needed lifestyle changes. 

Be consistent in all that I do.  Every so often I get really into a hobby, and then a few months later it is a distant memory. The same with exercise, I get super committed for a while, but then somehow I fall off the wagon (and I fall HARD) until I get the fitness urge again.  I would like to turn these urges into habits that I am committing to engaging in regularly. That includes blogging! 

Stop allowing fear and uncertainty to mold my decisions. I sometimes do not seek out opportunities because I let negative self talk convince me that I'm not good enough for it. I am also naturally shy and tend to avoid activities that bring me into the spotlight and expose me to criticism. I've allowed fear to affect my decisions for too long, so this year I will actively pursue opportunities that push me out of my comfort zone and silence that little voice of doubt in the back of my mind.

Create more experiences that put a smile on my face, and learn to smile during hard times.  Happiness is a state of mind, and most importantly a choice. It is not based on your external circumstances or dependent on the action of others.  This year I am choosing to be happy, and this starts with changing my outlook on situations that occur in my life and engaging in the activities (refer back to my first resolution above) that bring me joy.

Are you making New Year's Resolutions this year? What's on your list? 

Ladi Life: Uptown Charlotte

Happy Monday! 

Last week I got a much needed break from work and joined my fiance' on a business trip to Charlotte NC. He had training to attend, but I was free to spend my days exploring Uptown Charlotte. I got a chance to visit the Levine Museum of the New South which chronicled post-civil war southern history, the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture, and roamed a huge CVS pharmacy where I picked up a few beauty goodies!  Here are a few snaps from my trip.

 

"shopping" for 1920's fashions!

Back on The Wagon: September Diet Challenge

Remember those health and fitness goals I set at the beginning of the year? Well about mid-July when I was consumed with the home-buying process my goals fell by the wayside. I have not tracked a single calorie, done any real cardio, or turned down any fast food or restaurant meal since July.  But, I'm trying to get back on the wagon now.  I've been doing one or two 15-20min power walks everyday at work for the past two weeks, and now my coworkers and I have started a diet challenge for the month of September!   Here are the terms:

• For breakfast and lunch, meals will be mainly fruit or vegetable based. 
• Dinner is a full meal including meat.  
• No red meats, only poultry and seafood. 
• Meat has to be broiled, steamed, baked or grilled.
• All drinks will be water or 100% fruit juice. 
• Avoid refined or "white" starches and replace with whole grains.  
• One cheat day is allowed each week.

In addition to the diet, I'm going to slowly start back doing cardio with Zumba on the Wii and maybe around mid-September kick it up and try the Insanity workouts again.  There is going to be a prize at the end of the challenge for the person who loses the most weight, so I'm trying to win!   Wish me luck!

Ladi Life: African American Cultural Festival

Hope you all are enjoying this Labor Day weekend. Saturday I went to an African American Cultural Festival in downtown Raleigh NC. There were so many vendors, performers, and amazing food and drinks (I had some of the best strawberry lemonade ever!) that almost made me forget about how hot and humid it was.  Here are a few snaps from the festival:

Dress: Asos / Chambray Top: Old Navy / Sunglasses: JC Penney  

2012 Goals: March Update

Develop healthier eating habits 

I still use the  My Fitness Pal app on my iPhone to track calories.   I ate more vegetables this month than in January or February, but I barely ate any fruit at all.  I need to start prepare more meals from scratch, I eat a lot of frozen meals, sandwiches, and protein bars.  I also haven't been drinking as much water as I should, but I'm proud to say that I didn't drink any sodas, and actually I didn't drink anything other than plain water and water flavored with Crystal Light packets. 

Limit restaurant meals to 4x/month or less 
I definitely went over the limit here.  I probably went out to eat about 8-10 times this month, including sit-down restaurant meals and stopping to pick up a quick dinner (Subway, Bojangles, etc.).  I still tried to research healthy menu items beforehand, or adjust my meals for the rest of the day to make sure I didn't go over my calorie count.

Work out 3x/wk

I did a total of 16 workouts (the chart below also includes April 1st).   I tried to add more variety this month, doing Zumba workouts on the Wii, Turbojam DVDs, Biggest Loser DVDs, and and walking/jogging laps at the park with my fiance.  Between my workout and nutrition goals, I have lost 21 lbs since December. I've noticed my clothes fitting a little more loosely, but the biggest change is that I've lost the double chin (that I didn't realize I had until I saw some old pictures).  Here's a comparison:

Develop my health/wellness “glam squad” (family dr, dentist, poss dermatologist and masseuse)
Haven't made any progress with this one.


Retain hair growth (4+ inches).

I rocked a lot of buns this month, and wore a wig for about a week and a half.  I do need to work on protecting my edges (I've been brushing them almost daily to smooth my hair into a bun) and making sure I'm not pulling my hair too tight when wearing buns or ponytails.

Limit use of pain medicine to 4x/mo

I did take an Advil twice this month. 

2012 Goals: February Update

Develop healthier eating habits 

I tracked calories everyday this month using the My Fitness Pal app on my iPhone.  My daily calorie limit was 1320 net calories (I got extra calories on the days I exercised). I had a  few missteps with this goal...on Valentine's Day I overindulged on sweets, I ordered a dessert with dinner and had one too many of those Valentine's Day chocolates. Also, my parents took my fiance out to dinner and I had a few too many boneless chicken wings and went over my calorie count, but I tried to compensate for that by eating under 1300 calories the day before and the day after. I made a habit of buying fruit and eating it at least every other day. 

Limit restaurant meals to 4x/month or less 
I went out to a restaurant once every weekend this month (except on the week of Valentine's Day when I went out during the week), but  I still tried to research healthy menu items beforehand to make sure I didn't go over my calorie limit.

Work out 3x/wk

I did a total of 16 workouts in 29 days!  I'm really proud of myself, because usually I quit after about 2-3 weeks lol. I had a couple that were only 20-25min sessions, but for the most part I tried to 30 to 45 min workouts.

Develop my health/wellness “glam squad” (family dr, dentist, poss dermatologist and masseuse)
Haven't made any progress with this one.

Retain hair growth (4+ inches).

I stuck with protective styles this month, and maybe 1 day a week I wore my hair out in a twist-out. I tried a wash-n-go puff once and let me tell ya, it will be a looong time before I do another one.  I had forgotten how tangled my hair could get after a wash-n-go...I'm sticking with the protective styles and twist-outs for now.

Limit use of pain medicine to 4x/mo

I did take an Advil only 2 times this month for cramps. 

My New Addiction...Pinterest

Facebook and Twitter are cool, but I have officially fallen in love with Pinterest. I'm not too good at crafting witty, interesting 140-character or less statements, or pouring out my soul in a status update, but I CAN spend hours searching online for things I like and posting them for the world to see.  For me it feels a lot like online shopping, but instead of hitting "Checkout," I'm selecting "Pin It" button.  Through Pinterest, I have found some of the most amazing ideas like this Apple Pie Baked inside the actual apple...

...and things that are too cute for words, like this Hipster Kitty:

Here is a peek at some of my pin boards:

Do you use Pinterest? Follow Me @ Pinterest.com/Carmesha

2012 Goals

It's 2012, and from the looks of things on Facebook and the blogosphere, this is going to be a year of change for so many people. I've seen countless posts and status updates sharing lists of New Year's Resolutions.  Like many people, I have things in my life that I want to work on, but instead of coming up with resolutions, I like the develop goals with a timeline and action plan to help me to achieve them.  Here is my list of health and beauty goals for 2012, along with ideas for behaviors that I can do to reach my goals:

Limit restaurant meals to 4x/month or less

• Plan a week’s worth of meals ahead 
• Have a cooking day (probably Sunday) where I prep foods for the week and cook enough meat for a couple of days worth of meals

·         Develop healthier eating habits

• Drink water 90% of the time instead of sodas and sugary juices 
• Swap my fave junk food (potato chips, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, brownies) for lower-calorie indulgences that I enjoy (homemade smoothies, yogurt, parfait, fruit) 
• Keep food diary via My Fitness Pal app

·         Work out 3x/wk

• Use breaks at work to power walk 
• Do something active w/ fiancé a few weekends out of the month 
• Develop hobby that is not sedentary (or involve shopping) 
• Workout first thing when I get home in the afternoon so I don’t have a chance to sit down and get comfortable 
• Track workouts using My Fitness Pal app on iPhone 
• Follow a different work out program each month to help w/ variety (Jillian Michael’s 30 day shred, Wii my fitness pal workout, couch to 5k, biggest loser bootcamp dvd plan).

·         Develop my health/wellness “glam squad” (family dr, dentist, poss dermatologist & masseuse)

·         Retain hair growth (4+ inches)

• Moisturize, seal & set my hair every night (if wearing hair loose) 
• Protective style at least 2 week of every month (mini twists, bun, or wig/clip-ins) 
• Deep condition weekly 
• Try henna to increase strength 
• Straighten no more than 4 times in 2012 
• Do scalp massage

Limit use of pain medicine to 4x/mo

• Natural methods for headaches, cramps, etc. 
• Try to get adequate sleep 
• Avoid activities that I know will cause headaches (ex. waiting too long to eat, using the computer for too long, reading in the dark)

In addition to these goals, I have other things that  I want to do to improve my quality of life.  I want to be a better person, a happier person, and live a life that is more in line with my values.  These aren't specific goals, but thoughts and actions that I will commit to doing to become the person I want to be.  

• Replace negative thoughts with positive one
• Stop Stressing the small things
• Leave work stress/thoughts at work.
• Consider motivations behind what others say/do instead of taking things personal
• Read 10+ books a year
• Give away 50 items that I no longer use, want, or need. 
• Read something life changing every day (quote, tips to improve life in some way, article, book chapter, etc) 
• Find my “passion”/”purpose” 
• Travel to a new city or state 
• Treat others as I want to be treated
• Limit gossip websites, reality shows, anything that promotes negativity.