Studs: How do I love the, let me count the pairs!

My newest obsession: Studs! I have brought a total of 7 pairs in the past couple of months. Every time I got to the store, I am on the search for some unique studs. I have no idea where this obsession came from; its more like a passion.

I brought the following:

Tiffany Studs-These are classic studs. When I put them in, I keep them in for a couple of days. I know what you are thinking, how could you sleep in them?!?! Well, I just do. They suggested that I don't, but its the only way that I will keep these $100 studs safe.


Lauren Conrad Studs-I LOVE these. They have a rose-gold finish to them, which goes really well with the necklace that I got from H&M. I think that these were under $10 when I brought them from Kohl's.


Silver Studs-I have these in as I type. They are my favorite and give me what I call 'the librarian look'; they are perfect for work. I am really thinking about getting them in white gold with better backs. The ones that I currently have are silver and they are starting to tarnish because I wear them so much. Also, the backs are constantly coming off of them. I got these from NY&Co. for an insanely low amount.



Charlotte Russe Pyramid Trio-I am not sure why I cannot get a picture of them, but its like the best of all worlds! My favorite are the pyramid ones. The antique gold look...cute.

No, I am not done yet! I am in the process of making a pair of button studs. It should be coming up in a Krafts post soon. I have some fabric that I want to use as well as some new fabric that I brought.

Do you love studs of all kinds? Post yours below!

Spiritual Sunday: Baptism

Today at approximately 6:30pm, I will get baptised!! Yes, I am 30 years old and was never baptised.  At church, they state that its the washing away of your sins and an outward showing that you believe in that Jesus is your Lord and Savior. I know that I am changing my life because this weekend is my best friends birthday and I am missing it to get baptised. To be honest, I don't miss going out to the clubs back to back, feet hurting, make-up running, sweatin'. There are several passages in the Bible taking about the importance of baptism, such as Paul and Silas in Prision. I'll write my experience in detail next week.

Online Dating...The Last and Final Time

After some persuasion from my friend, I decided to join another online dating site. I took the plunge and joined Plenty of Fish. One of the real perks about this site is that its free! You can send messages, see who viewed you, and send flirts for free. They have all of the advance search features that an online dater could want. Now, there are PLENTY of men on there. The quality, I cannot vouch for. I have a couple of good converstations with men on there, but they never went anywhere. Not to mention that I really wasn't attracted to them...even though I never seen them in person.

This all makes me wonder, what happened to the good old days when I just met men out and about. I feel like I need that instant attraction from when you first meet a person. I just think that its so impersonal and slow with online dating. Anyway, I am surprised at how open people are about exactly what they want, which is a good thing. The 'looking for' statuses range from looking for a relationship, Not Single/Not Looking and Sexual Encounter. Umh, yeah.  The only reason that I even entertain Plenty of Fish is because its FREE!

This is my last and final time joining an online dating site. I just don't see where I, personally, am having any success.

If you have tried online dating and had success, let me know how you did it!?!?!?!

Words of Wisdom

Crushes...

Over my lifetime, I have had sooooo many crushes. I mean, the whole lazy-eye-overweight thing didn't help me when I was younger. Now, I rarely have crushes...until recently with the whole celibacy thing going on.

I wouldn't call it lust, but I would  call it being a woman. I am just attracted to men, and good looking ones hat. Well, you know when you haven't really had a choice in men lately, you find yourself attracted, crushing on, looking at men you normally wouldn't. Every time I see someone from my past and they are a looking a hot mess or have fifty-leven (50-11 in my mothers voice) kids, I always think, dodged that bullet.

This last crush that I had,was a weird one. I will try to be as specific as possible, without putting this person on front street. It doesn't matter how we met or where we met, but for the most part we had have a friendship. I think that when my mind went to a place that it shouldn't have, I got a little scared and backed off a bit. Fast forward a couple of months and I get to spend a good amount of time with him and I realize, what the devil was I thinking. There were the constant references to sex (with other people) that made me uncomfortable. Then it was the whole thing about speaking about him speaking about a woman that he was with or talking to at this time so openly and freely. I thought to myself, how could I be attracted to person who equates one of his best talents as being...giving a woman...you get my drift. Please tell me that I do not have to spell it out. Perhaps it was those things that attracted him to me in the first place, physically, honestly sexually, too.

Crushes are a dangerous thing! I would never tell this person how I felt about them. Wait, how I thought that I felt about them. Crushes can cloud your vision, but sometimes you can see a person for exactly who they are.

Alright, this Hallmark Movie: How to Fall in Love got me feeling some type of way...maybe I need a matchmaker and stop this online dating bull crap.

Spiritual Sunday: I got all I need

I think that God is trying to tell me something (in my Suge Avery voice). I posted my series on contentment, and it seems like every where I look something is popping up talking about contentment. I recently participated in a conference call with Heather Lindsey of Pinky Promise, and the topic was contentment. The hour long conference call was very moving and spiritual. I thought to myself, I must be on to something with this whole contentment thing, lol!

The conference call focused on being content in every season. I found this to be really eye opening. I saw things in myself that I didn't know lead to discontentment. Actually, if you read alot of my posts, they show exactly how discontented (is that a word?!) I was. For example, parts of me loves Facebook, but there are other parts of me that hates it because I go on there and see some of my friends either married, getting married, or pregnant. That hurt me because is something that I want, and I was in a sense jealous of them for that. Facebook brought it right in front of my face (no pun intended). The way that I was feeling was a part of me that wasn't content with were I was at. And I will admit that I just want everything to happen like right now, but I have to know that all in due time. One of the scriptures that the conference called focused one was Galatians 5:6 which reads: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. She suggests writing this on a card and just mediating on this when we start to compare ourselves to other people.



Another thing that stood out to me during the conference calls was when (we) should be living like we already have all that we need. This is hard to do. When you think about how we are constantly wanting what's new things, better cars, a new house, when really we aleady have everything that we need. This is one of the reason why I am going to do the debt diet in the fall, because I buy so much, when really, I have everything that I need. Its the same with family and friends. I would love to have  social life where I go out somewhere every-single-weekend, but to be honest, I have everything that I need with my family and friends.

Awwwh! I could go on and on with contentment and how I think that the Lord has been speaking to me, but I am going to end it here for now.

If you would like to listen to Heather's message on Contentment, please click here. Also, there is a worksheet and if you would like for me to email you a copy, leave a comment below.

Natural Deodorant Review...

My body chemistry is changing...and not for the best. I have been dealing with alot of changes with allergies, tastes, and smells. It's slightly frustrating when you cannot find a fragrance that smells good on you or vanilla makes you smell like garbage due to your body chemistry. One of the things that I have been experimenting with is deodorant. I have been prone to boils and cysts under my arms for about a year now. I used Degree deodorant for years and then all of a sudden irritation. Then came the boils, which I know doesn't come from deodorant, but it can trigger and irritate it.

I have been toying with the idea about going to a natural deodorant for a while now. I downgraded my deodorant to Dove, which works, but I just really wanted to go all natural. Well, I took the plunge and brought some from Chargrin Valley.




The first day that I used it was hard. I felt like you could really smell the essential oils in it but maybe it was just me. The second day, I was with my assistant and I told her that I was trying out a new deodorant and she told me that she doesn't wear any---at all! Cray. She stated that she looked into how they said that it was linked to breast cancer and just quit wearing it (not that she does anything at work anyway...but that is another story). I will admit, I heard these claims about causing breast cancer amongst other things and it swayed my decision about taking the plunge to go natural in my armpits.

It is now five days later and I am still chemical free under my arms! There are still some things that I have to get used to, like the oily feeling of it under my arms. The fear of it getting on my clothes, but hasn't stained anything. And one of the biggest things is that my arm pits will  not be completely dry. Now, let me just say that I started this while the temperatures were well into the 80's.

On the website, they state that your body chemistry has to get used to it.  And that's true, but I think that its worth a try.

Iced Green Tea Lemonade

So, the temperature has finally cooled down a couple of degrees, but I still want ice cold drinks! I am on a mission to save some money and my ususal Iced Green Tea Lemonade from Starbucks costs $4. Yeah...$4 for a Venti that I am done with before I hit the shoe department at Target.

A couple of days ago, I was at home and got a hankering for one. But, I fought the urge and made my own! I have fallen in love with the Natures Basket Lemonade, so I have been having that in stock for the past two months and I recently brought some Turkey Hill Green Tea. The craziest part is that I actually had some ice in the freezer! I never have ice in the freezer, but my mother recently brought some over for her drink. Mix them all together and what do you get...Starbucks Iced Green Tea Lemonade! The cost breaks down to be about $6 for 8 servings. Yes, you read that right, six dollars. Add your own cool cup and...there is nothing better on a hot day!

Me and this Heat!

There is a heatwave going on in the Northeastern parts of the country...well, actually most of the country. As I sit here with ice cold watermelon in hand and my favorite show on, Awkward, I couldn't fathom typing anything. I don't want to wear clothing, so having a hot laptop near me is out of the question. So, I will not being posting anything until the following a) the heat breaks and its under 90 degrees b) I pay my $10 in fines and use the desktops at the library or c) a combination of a and b.

I know that they said that heat can cause delirium and the homicide rate is at an all time high when the temperature is over 90 degrees, but my juices have been flowing! Maybe its because I came back from vacation and well rested. Anywoo, here is a list of things to come!

• Are black women angry? Is this the reason why so many of us are single? (I am actually doing some research on this)

• Faith on my Foot

• My Big CHOP!

• Styling Senegalese Twists

• My skincare regimen

• Me and Online dating...again.

• Currently Loving: Stud Earrings

• Fall preview must haves

• New websites that I have found with great deals

• Fall Debt Diet....whoa!

• And of course my most popular post, Spiritual Sundays

Happy Fourth of July!