Hanging In There...

Hey peeps!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! I know I did. Sharing time with family and friends is always a wonderful thing! Add in presents, and you've got yourself a party!! lol! 

Being that it's been almost a month since the last time I've blogged, I'm ashamed to call myself a blogger. With no camera, no no natural light, and the freezing temps, I been strugglin y'all! 

I've still been going strong with my workouts (with the exception of the past week or so). Now that the holidays are over, I'm back on my grind though. I'm still smitten with my hair. The growth over the past few months has been nothing short of awesome. And lastly, I have recently taken a liking to scarves... As you'll see below.

I'm including a few basic snapshots of my goings on via Instagram (again). I'm hooked! I truly love it over there =D. Won't you join me?!?!?

Now I'm off to visit all of your blogs. Until next time...

I love me some bathroom photo-shoots!

You can always catch me at the gym. That sweat is real folks!!

OOTD= Old Navy Blazer, Old NavyStriped skirt, Steve Madden heels

This was a Curves and Confidence inspired look. I'm so upset that I couldn't get pics of the entire outfit =(

I'm sure people think I'm crazy taking pics in the gym all the time, Ha! (never mind the crazy hair)

OOTD = Rue 21 Top, Target Scarf, Old Navy Skinnies & Target boots. That's been my "go to" lately

Again?? Yup!

I just wanted to toss in a throwback pic for kicks and giggles (that's me in the yellow, ha!)

Todays OOTD = Gifted Jean jacket, Forever 21 Skinnies, Sears Scarf & Target Boots

Me and my babygirl on Christmas Eve. I'm trying to get to her hair level!

OOTD = Herbergers Dress, Target Leggings, Old Navy Scarf and Target Boots (BTW, I love my puff in this pic)

It's true what they say… Black is slimming! =D

OOTD = Old Navy Striped Skirt, Rue 21 Jean Jacket, Market Scarf & Target boots

I'm back behind the wheel of my car!! I was using public transportation for a while there. It's good to be rolling again!

Hubby copped me another pair of J's for Christmas!! I was sooooo excited!

Reflections...

Hey peeps!! As usual, I hope you all have been doing well. I've been good. Around as usual.

This is not my usual style/OOTD post. Now that a new year is approaching, I wanted to talk a little about goals. My goals. I also thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane with a few of my earlier pics from the blog. =D I started blogging back in September of 2011. Yes, my baby turned 1 a few months ago. 

When I started, I had no idea what I was getting into. All I knew, was that I had seen a few other blogs written by real women, with real style and I wanted to be involved. I wanted to evolve. I was bored with my "look" and wanted to document any changes and/or or transformations through pictures.

I had no expectations really. I just jumped right in. Since that very first post, I have changed so much, and learned quite a bit about myself. The most fascinating part about this is, you guys have been hanging in there with me all the way. 

Very early on

I have a few goals this year. One of them is to re-do my blog. It needs a serious make-over. I recognize that I put as much thought into the layout as I new to do at the time. I know better now, so I should do better.

My first experiment with COLOR! This dress is/was everything!

Another one of my goals is to participate in the blogging community more. There are bloggers in the Twin Cities area, and I want to connect with them. There are also things like "Link Ups" and "Blog Hops" that I want to get into more, as well as Guest Blogging on one of the homies blogs ;) #BLMGirls

Tried something new with my scarf here. Blogging has provided so much inspiration!

A more personal goal that I had this year, and accomplished was "going natural". I transitioned for almost 11 months, the finally did it!! I was so proud of myself!

BEFORE

AFTER

3 months after

Last but not least, I have a weight loss/health/fitness goal for this year. I have been slowly working up to this for a while. It started in June when I went to a health/wellness fair that my job was holding. I hopped on the scale only to find out that I was at my heaviest weight ever! I left the fair with a sense of determination, and a hint of embarrassment. Thinking to myself, How could I have allowed this to happen??  What's crazy to me is, I had been taking pictures of myself for almost a year, and never really saw a need to change. It wasn't until I saw the number on the scale that my light bulb came on. What I do know is, my second thought was, What am I going to do about it?

My very first OOTD picture

I joined the gym at work, and haven't looked back since! I officially reached 17lbs lost about a week ago, and that means the absolute world to me. In the short term I have around 15lbs to go. As far as the long term, I will figure that out once I reach my next milestone.

Today after my workout

The weight and inches are slowly coming off, and I'm feeling much better than I've felt in a long time. I'm looking better too(in my eyes)! I'm making lifestyle changes that I can keep up with for the rest of my life. It's amazing what being active everyday can do for your confidence! =D

Date Night with Hubby about two weeks ago

**Did you set any goals at the beginning of the year? Did you accomplish them? What are your goals for next year?**

This post is powered by #BLMGirls. You can also check out other posts from our #BLMBlogHop by visiting this linkhttp://curlsandmo.com/ and learn more about #BLMGirls here:http://www.facebook.com/groups/BloggersLikeMe/ 

Bout that Insta-life...

Hey peeps!! Long time no see! Believe me, I've been around. Reading, lurking, sporadically commenting and such. I hope you all have been well.

Since my camera has been busted, I haven't been much for taking blog pics. Mostly, I've been around and about on Twitter and Instagram.

In this post I have a few pics of outfits, shoes, and random goings on that I've recently captured. Be forewarned that it's quite picture heavy. If you kick it with me on Twitter and Instagram, then these pics are nothing new to you. If you don't, feel free to stop on by and chat me up! I'm really hoping that "Santa" is able to help a sista out with a new camera... Seeing as how I've been a really good girl and all. ;)

Until next time...

Moccasins that I LOVE so much

My first time wearing All Stars. Pretty cool.

 Lace skirt - Target; Blazer - Old Navy; Shoes - Call it Spring

J's - Sometimes gymshoes are necessary

Working my Torrid dress for Ladies Night Out with #myclique

Ladies Night Out done right!!

Hubby and I attended a social event and made it in the local paper!! =D

Been working on my fitness. Those inches tell the tale.

Still getting used to, and loving my #naturalhair

OOTN: Headed out with hubby to a comedy show.

More on that fitness routine. It's been good to me.

Quick dressing room photoshoot

Old Navy sweater dress as a top & Rockstar jeans

Hooked...

Hey peeps!! I hope you're having a great start of the week!! For me, it was a very busy, yet fulfilling day. I am an eMentor (mentor over email) to a high-school student, and I got to meet her today. She came to my office for half the day to participate in a job-shadowing opportunity. While it was an awesome experience for she and I both, I had to basically cram a full day of work into 4 hours once the job-shadowing was over. It was at that moment that the wheels flew off of my day! I finally gained control of everything before it was time for me to leave. Whew! I'm assuming tomorrow will be better.

Anyhoo, on to the OOTD…

So, here's the deal. I can't stop wearing stripes. No matter how hard I try to steer clear of them while shopping, they just keep callin me **insert Pookie voice from New Jack City**!

Chris Rock as Pookie

 This skirt was no exception. I picked it up from the Old Navy Outlet for the lovely price of $8.73 a piece! When I saw that the clearance price was $12.49 + an extra 30% off, I realized that there were 2 other skirts (plus a blazer) that NEEDED to come home with me. Ha!

The black and white striped skirt just begs to be paired with my leopard shoes. I love them together.

I pinned one side of my hair just to see if I would like it… and I do! I think, I'm getting the hang of this whole natural thing. lol I've been browsing Youtube looking for more styles that fit with my length. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments section, or hit me up on Twitter or Facebook, and now Instagram!!!

Until next time...

T-Shirt - Dots

Skirt - Old Navy

Shoes - Target

Perception...

Happy Sunday peeps!! I know you've already done this, but for those of you who've been under a rock all day… Turn your clocks back. Ha! That "extra" hour this morning felt so good. I hope you all had a great weekend. I can't believe that it's November! Thanksgiving is coming, and I'm ready for all of the good food, folks and fun that comes along with it. #greedy

The title of this post comes from how I've been seeing myself lately. Thanks to a few better choices in my eating habits, and cardio 4-5 times a week, I am at the lowest weight that I've been in YEARS. Thanks to my personal training sessions every Saturday, I'm the strongest that I've ever been. My blood pressure is great, and my clothes fit awesome. Sooooo, why on earth have I been feeling bigger than ever lately?? My perception of how I look differs from day to day no matter what the scale says. My eyes somehow disconnect from what my brain knows to be true. It so weird when that happens.

Anyhoo, today was not one of those days. Before Fall began, I made a personal goal for myself to wear my cutoff shorts and "Faller-ize" them with a sweater and tights. Personal goal complete. The houndstooth tights that I'm wearing, I originally vowed not to wear again (see old post here). Well, I had a change of heart. I broke those babies out and wore them with no reservations.

Still no camera, but I'm trying to make the pics as clear as possible. Thanks for hanging in there with a sista =D

Until next time…

Cropped Sweater - Old Navy

White Tee - Target

Shorts - ???

Tights - Target

Booties - ??? (old)

Officially Missing You...

It's been a long time peeps!! I hope everyones week is off to a great start! Mondays are always hard for me, but I'm over that hump now.

My absence from blogging has been a three part issue:

#1. I haven't felt inspired. My outfits haven't been anything that I've wanted to take pics of lately. I feel like I've been wearing the same old things. I really need to clean my closet (again).

#2. I wanted to take a break. I did. Now I'm back. Truth is, I missed blogging & commenting on all of your blogs.

#3. Our camera is broken. Out of service. Down for the count. The pics in this post were taken with our iPad. I was debating on whether I would post them or not because of the horrible quality, but figured… Ah, what the hell.

BONUS reason: It's getting darker earlier these days, and that is putting a damper on my mood, as well as my blog life.

Thanks for hanging around with me! Y'all are the best!

Until next time...

 How funny is it that this cop was riding by as my daughter was snapping my pics, and asked me if I wanted to take a picture by his squad car! LOL! He wanted to be in the pic too!! HA!

I also wanted to add a pic of my new found hairstyle. Introducing the Faux Hawk!! I love it! =D

Sweater - NY & Co

Dress - ASOS Curve

Tights - Target

Wedges - Urbanog.com