25 THINGS A SISTA SHOULD NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR

(got this email from my girl, thought it was kinda cute...)

1. Never apologize for pursuing what makes you happy. Even if you need to quit your job, transfer schools, or move across country, always do what you really want.
2. Never apologize for using proper English. Keeping it real doesn't mean speaking Ebonics.
3. Never apologize for giving your best in a relationship that just didn't work out.
4. Never apologize for being successful. Only haters want to keep you at their level.
5. Never apologize for crying. Wear waterproof mascara and express yourself.
6. Never apologize for ten pounds you need to lose. People who truly care about you will accept you as you are.
7. Never apologize for being frugal. Just because you save your money instead of blowing it on the latest fashion emergency doesn't mean you're cheap.
8. Don't apologize for being a single Mom. Babies are a blessing.
9. Never apologize for treating yourself to something special. Sometimes you have to show yourself some appreciation.
10. Never apologize for leaving an abusive relationship. Your safety should always be a priority.
11. Never apologize for keeping the ring even if you did not get married.
12. Never apologize for setting high standards in a relationship. You know what you can tolerate and what simply gets on your nerves.
13. Never apologize for saying NO.
14. Never apologize for asking for what you want in bed. If you don't, then who will?
15. Never apologize for wearing a weave or braids. You bought it so it's yours.
16. Never apologize to your new friends about old friends. There's a reason she's been your girl from day one.
17. Never apologize for ordering dessert or more than one dessert.
18. Never apologize for dating outside your race. Just because you found Mr. Right across the color line doesn't mean you don't love your brothas.
19. Never apologize for demanding respect. You are to always be treated as a queen.
20. Never apologize for not knowing how to cook. Even if you can't burn like Grandma you know how to order good take out. (Right Girl!)
21. Never apologize for your taste in clothes. It's your style.
22. Never apologize for changing your mind, it is your prerogative.
23. Never apologize for making a decision from your heart, even if others don't agree. You have to live with the consequences not them.
24. Never apologize for making more money than your man, you work hard and you deserve to get paid.
25. Never apologize for being you!

This weekend i...

rediscovered make up...you know Covergirl, Maybelline, M.A.C....

i was sitting on my couch watching some random tv show and flipping through my October Glamour when i realized i was slippin on the make up...i hadnt put on a lick of make up in some months...i have been so overly enthusiastic about eating better and finding a new job and cleaning my apartment and random other stuff that i kinda just left the make up behind...

this is so unusual because when my mama allowed me to begin wearing make up my senior year of high school i never left home without a made up face and those times i was running late, i had an xtra small make up case packed in my book bag so when i got to school i would run to the bathroom before anyone could see me and did my face up...when i got to college i learned real fast that its too hot in atlanta to be parading around outdoors in august heat in a full made up face..i looked like an oil slick..not cute at all...but that was a good experience for me, i let my face breathe a little and learned about natural beauty...i realized i had become too dependent on make up that without it i felt less of a woman, like i wasnt pretty if i didnt have on at least foundation, eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick...that was a trying time in my life...i was confused and my self esteem was shot....but i worked through it...part of it was going to an all female college and learning to reevaluate my perception of beauty which they reall enforced through a few classes and actually just seeing some beautiful sistas runnign around campus without a lick of make up...and after some time....i was cool, my confidence was up....it was great...i felt free....and relieved...i was still the woman to go to concerning make up, i wasnt a make up artist but i knew my way around some make up brushes and for big events i would hold a beauty salon (and bar, shhhh) in my room for my girls...and when we partied we stepped out looking good...but i use(d) make up to enhance my beauty and did not depend on it to make me beautiful....

so back to the present, i had a drawer full of make up just sitting stagnate...and for some reason i had this urge to look through it and clean it out and maybe even buy a few new items....well when i started looking through my stock of make up i noticed that most of the stuff i had had expired in 2002 and 2003....ummm thats waay past time to throw it out....i mean u are only supposed to keep mascara for 3 months before tossing it...and well lets just say all 4 tubes of my mascaras were all over a year old...so i just started chucking stuff...i ended up keeping a few eye liners, a concealer, and a lip gloss...and actually i should dump a couple of those....

i decided to throw on some shoes and role over to wal-mart because it's closer to me than the mall...i was in wal-mart for a good hour going down their 3 aisles of stuff..i had rethought out my whole make up base and had a plan....i had so many colors and tubes of stuff and i didnt use half of it...in fact ive gotten kinda conservative but i stocked up on some maybelline in nice neutral colors that compliment my skin tone, and not just what was on sale like i used to do...and im cool with it...i went home and reorganized my drawer, now i can use that drawer for clothes like it was built for...i also went out this weekend and bought some new earrings, nice dangling, girly earrings...

i decided to put some pep back in my step for fall...hopefully soon ill buy some new sweaters...i acutally ran into Eddie Bauer...i hadnt been there in a real long time but they have some real cute fall cashmere sweaters, so i picked up a catalog and i may place an order sometime...and im going to make an effort to not just run out the house in anything, i love heels have plenty of them but i swear ive been stuck in my 4 pairs of chinese slippers for at least 2 years....i dont know what happened, i just fell offf, got so comfy in my skin that i got lazy...so im making an effort to look decent, and not just for church...instead of going to work in jeans and a button up shirt....im going to throw on a litle make up and some nice clothes...so that i look on the outside how i feel on the inside......

so we shall see how long this lasts because im not a morning person and the last thing i am thinking about at 6 in the morning is applying eye shadow but i think i can do it every once in a while....

random stuff...

its funny how some folks underestimate me....shame on them...but whats also funny is how at them same time they rely on me to do so much for them and then try and micromanage...and then at the same time they are jealous when i get it done correctly...some people really look and hope that you fail...and its not so much by their words but by their actions....bacially im talkin about a couple coworkers...they really cannot stand the fact that im good at my job...on top of that they cant stand when my boss praises me and so they try and seek out praise anyway they can and then try and act superior like i dont kow anything....lol..its all funny to me but on some days it can get annoying...i think the funniest thing is that they areso transparent....

i dont let that ruin my days, because i know who i am and i have already shown them what i can accomplish, its not me with the issue its them...and i know im not being overdrmamtic because ive given them the benefit of the doubt on several occasions and now im just sitting back and taking it all in....if they only knew.....

i had such a relaxing labor day weekend, i went out of town and really just enjoyed myself...i wish i didnt have to come back to work...i coulda stayed where i was at for a long while....i was getting very comfy...lol...

i was talkin with my girl pru the other day and she said sumthin to me that was hilarious...she said "u are way to much and still not enough"...lol...that my girl, she thinks im crazy, lol...but i like to make her laugh....

i gotta proof some pages....work is calling...