Irie Diva Stylee

Kingston Kitchen was…

IrieDiva — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:23:59 +0000

I took my little sis and my munchkin with me to Kingston Kitchen this past Sunday on what was touted to be a fabulous affair. I’ve been following the blog posts of the organisers and had a few chefs and delights I wanted to try out. Plus it was on the lawns of the Hope Botanical Gardens that’s really making a comeback to all my childhood glory. I’m so looking forward to when the zoo and maybe even the amusement park once again come alive. The gardens and lawns are absolutely gorgeous and I do hear that the zoo is undergoing renovation. No word on the theme park yet where I hold such dear childhood memories of nothing but thrilling fun! But I digress…

All intentions to get to the event at around 1pm were dashed when munchkin started yawning and fussing through our regular Sunday hair grooming. I put her down for a nap so she’d have her energy for the event and we got there a little after 3 instead. Oh, how I wish we’d gone earlier…

When we entered my one time bartender turned big chef Ike was the first stall we saw and I stopped to check out his food that he kept bragging about on twitter all weekend long.

Ike

I am new to the pork game as Mr. Irie insists on cooking pork chops all the time despite my objections (maybe because I love me some bacon, but that always gets a pass right?) so I can’t say if the pulled pork sandwich was good or great according to pork standards but the sandwich on a whole was excellent. Simply pork and slaw on a bun and it was really good. And the price was right making the Bickles booth my favourite stop.

Which brings me to a sore point I have with the booths. Like, Isiaah’s was one of them I really wanted to check out, because I still haven’t been to the restaurant and wanted to know if it was worth the hype. But I wasn’t about to spend $500 and $600 for a sample meal at the booth. Did they not see how many other booths were set out? When I spend $500 with them, how much would I have left to sample things from other booths? I’m on a budget and those with items over $300 simply wasn’t catering for me. At $250 for my pulled pork sandwich, $400 for my lobster roti, $100 for my Island 62 lemongrass flavoured water (which was good btw) and $100 for my Kingston Minicake I was already at $850 plus my $300 admission. If I had brought my blanket and my chair and spent the whole afternoon there as the organisers suggested, I could have easily racked up a $4000-$5000 bill sampling wines and food.

I almost stopped at this Indian booth but I’ve been spoiled by Pushpa Restaurant. I shan’t have another’s samosas! Plus I had some veggie samosas in BVI that were simply awful so yeah, I’ll stick with Pushpa

Isn’t this adorable??? Like someone commented under the pic, it’s the Jamaican Edible Arrangement! Only way prettier. I love the watermelon heart shape with a little of the green on the edge. Too cute! I’ve always thought the edible arrangements on TV were a waste of money when the fruit stall has all the same fruits, only fresher, but this is tres cute!

Chef Brian charming his audience as usual in the Best Dressed booth. I made his shrimp pasta recently and it was deelish.

I wonder if munchkin would have loved these or would have been scared… Unfortunately the rain started only about 30 or 45 mins after I arrived at the event and it wasn’t letting up so I left without visiting many of the other booths I really wanted to visit. Quite unfortunate as I had a nice big fluffy bantu knot out and I didn’t even get to take any pics before we got soaked to the bone.

She was looking fly though…natural hair rocks. I have a straw fedora that looks an awful lot like that one, good thing I didn’t wear it as much as I was considering!

Oh hey Nic! Didn’t even see you there, cute dress

I was looking forward to the lentil soup and the burrito from Oceans 21 but alas the rain. The emporium could use a little more space too. I look forward to the next staging and will ensure I am early this time around. Here’s to hoping the weather is nicer, or the organizers pay attention to the forecast a little more (some tents would have been nice since it had been raining all week) I think it is an absolutely wonderful idea, great family fun and had I gone earlier, would have probably enjoyed myself much more before the rains came. As long as there are more vendors offering affordable options as Bickles did I will keep going. Did you go? How was your experience?

Pictures were from the Skkan Media FB Page.

Parenting in the Facebook Age

IrieDiva — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:04:09 +0000

Have you seen this video? I saw it over on Miss Gia’s blog and I see it currently making its rounds on FB. Some 15 year old decided to post a note on facebook lamenting on just how unfair life is that her parents make her do chores. You need to see it:

It’s quite the polarizing topic and while there are lots of cheers for him on his original facebook post, there are of course lots of opposing views. I wanted to go back and see what the friends of the daughter thought about it, but it has over 14000 comments and counting and I’ve got things to do. I do see a lot of people saying that he waited too long to try and curb the tree, he made the bed he’s laying in, things are way out of hand and its only now he’s trying to do something about it etc etc. I don’t know about all that. He said he’s grounded her before, we don’t know what else he’s done to try and get through to his daughter.

The only thing I disagree with in the video is the bullets. I was taken aback by it. Everyone expresses their anger differently, as a Jamaican if some of us ever tried anything like this with our parents we would get a severe assing. At least he didn’t beat her up. I remember being a teen and hating my own chores too. In fact, I remember the evil thoughts I had for my parents when they wouldn’t let “the cleaning lady” wash my clothes. I had to do that myself. As an adult we’re grateful for all the lessons our parents teach us, including simple things like being able to run our own household later in life. Cook our own food, iron our clothes, clean our house. We don’t get it as a teen but we’re grateful as an adult.

So how do you get through to your teenager when they want to rebel? I think in this day and age he did exactly the right thing. Facebook is not the place to air your dirty laundry and it’s good that he is teaching her this lesson early on in life. My generation grew up on facebook and oversharing and some of us could really use a lesson like this. Sometimes you have to hold a mirror up to someone’s face to let them see what they’re doing and I’m sure she’s mortified. Everybody has probably had some ill thoughts about their parents at some point but the note she put on FB was doing way too much and painted her as a brat. I can only hope she learned her lesson and doesn’t rebel even further. What do you think of his method?

P.S. Of course, now that this has gone viral he finds himself in a position of being attacked, offered his own reality shows, having social services come and interview his daughter, having the police check on him and more, as can be seen on the screen shot of his FB page above. He’s feeling the same effects of doing too damn much. Craziness…

Dancehall Video: Gal a Bubble by Konshens

IrieDiva — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:23:58 +0000

Funny how when you’re away from your country is when you do things that you don’t do when you’re at home to try and keep in the loop. Hubby commented recently that he didn’t realise I listened to Zip FM so much. I don’t usually listen to that radio station when I’m in JA as I’m not a fan of the ridiculous ads they run what seems like 500 million times for the day nor am I fan of just how much house/alternative/rock/spanish music they play. But, they stream for free online so whenever I’m home in the BVI, I’m probably listening to Zip. They keep my in the loop with what’s going on in Jamaica.

Another thing I did to try and keep myself in the loop was go through the Jamaica Blog Awards categories and add all the winners and a bunch of the nominees to my google rss reader. I’ve found some real gems out there and one such gem was the winner for the music blog category, so aptly deserved. Msz Rockstar has a fantastic music blog and someone like me that’s not deeply rooted in the dancehall culture but loves a good bubble every now and then has been kept on top of the newest and hottest thanks to these two things.

This song is in heavy rotation on Zip FM and I’ve loved it since the first time I heard it so when I saw the blog post with it’s video I was excited. Of course, a song titled “Gal a Bubble” is gonna have a video featuring lots of that and bwoy, them girls put me to shame. Where can I learn to split and bubble like that? Please teach me.

Images and vid from this post.

A day of air-plane watching: St. Maarten wowed

IrieDiva — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:58:27 +0000

Don’t you just hate long airport layovers? One flight lands at 8:30am and the next flight takes off at 5:30pm??? Boooo! Well usually. But this was the best layover I have ever had. All airports should be beside beaches! We landed, we had yummy coffee, quiches and fruit for breakfast in Princess Julianna airport in St. Maarten and I started to chant “beach, beach, beach!” There was another family at a table playing cards (on of my favourite past-times) and a lady came around and handed us flyers with some very inviting massage and spa services but I spotted the beach when landing and it was looking good! We were all tired from a long night before and the thought of laying out was very appealing.

The cab charged us the tourist fare as the beach is literally steps away but we had our luggage so I didn’t side-eye him too much. We were dropped off at a spot called Sunset Bar and Grill which boasts that it was selected the number 3 sexiest beach bar by the Travel Channel. I was digging the ambiance. The bar was just opening up and we took the opportunity to catch some well needed snoozes while the staff wiped tables and watered plants around us.

Around lunch time the bar really started to fill up. A band came in to sing some reggae covers and the vibe of the place was really kicking! We went to take a stroll on the beach and then I remembered that this particular airport was featured on this list of the world’s most dangerous airports! Cool! Wanna know why? Cause you’re out catching some rays on the absolutely gorgeous beach, meanwhile a few feet up above….

People ignored the signs and were totally lining up whenever the big jets were preparing to take off so that they could feel the powerful airplane blast. It was crazy. I felt as if I were at some sporting event. I did not partake in the jet-blast party but I do have video

At some point in the day the air traffic really picked up and they were coming in back to back. You could see the planes circling up above waiting their turn. It was a totally awesome day.

There was supposed to be a plane in the background here but our kind photographer missed the mark. ’tis all good. This lady was positively pink by the time we decided to head back to the bar for lunch…too much sun!

Speaking of lunch..the Sunset bar gets 2 thumbs up from me! We ordered the “Air France” Pizza and it was positively delicious!

Much more pics in the gallery:

Adventure: Jost Van Dyke, BVI, featuring the Bubbly Pool and White Bay

IrieDiva — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:06:12 +0000

Sundays have become adventure day while I’m here in the BVI and I am hoping we won’t run out of places to visit any time soon! This past Sunday saw us heading to the island of Jost Van Dyke. Mr. Irie was a little hesitant as he kept saying “there’s nothing to do there” what with a population of about 200 people on the island. But I had done my research and my itinerary was packed as I am well aware by now that he makes a sucky tour guide! They say the island is the same size as Manhattan but I can guarantee you that is where any similarities end. We kept running out of road and made several u-turns! But I am getting ahead of myself, lets start from the moment we got on the ferry!

Passing by the Jolly Roger, a restaurant on the western tip of Tortola, the main island, with a yummy burger and a mound of nachos that will make Usain Bolt’s Tracks and Records’ mound back home look like a baby!

Sailing is what they do here in the BVI:

Mr. Irie theorizes that the island back there is either Little Thatch or Great Thatch, which is privately owned and so that must be the owner’s yacht. I thought the vessel was a little excessive but…I guess if you own an island. X_X However a quick wiki search explains that Great Thatch was re-purchased by the Government of BVI years ago and is now a national park and Little Thatch is a private island with an exclusive villa that can be rented for something like $6000 – $9000 a week per couple, depending on the time of year, so……maybe this was Little Thatch and some high rollers had sailed in to Sea Grape Cottage?

Anyway back to JVD…approaching the island, gorgeous right? The water is so pretty…

I dunno why a country with so many islands doesn’t offer a car barge service, but we rented a jimny and went exploring. Around here, we ran out of road but decided to keep going. I was a bit scared in that little jimny!

This part doesn’t look so scary but we had just gone over some very steep, very loose rocks. I was clutching my pearls. Anyhoo we didn’t venture much further because this is touted as an ATV track and I didn’t wanna push the jimny too far. We weren’t here for the hills after all…

The view was spectacular and totally worth a little pearl-clutching:

You know how kids play “my car” when they’re out on a trip or something? Well off in the distance there…that’s my island! From here we turned around in search of the bubbly pool. I’d heard of this little adventure thanks to Amelia’s BVI blog and knew it would be something my family would totally enjoy.

Some of the view on the way:

The little spot with the red roof off in the distance was to be our lunch spot. We stopped there first to get contact info so we could call ahead and order our lobsters before we got back. The place is called Abe’s in Little Harbour (284-495-9329, 284-544-9981) and the view was again spectacular:

One of these guys would be our lunch! Yummmm!

I’m never in the darn pics. Hmph

Anyway…Bubbly Pool. It included somewhat of a hike…I was totally “Are we there yet?”

After we passed these signs:

It was time to carry the tot:

We’re there! The bubbly pool is a little cove the rocks have made that the waves come crashing through. When the waves come in it really does feel as if you’re swimming around in some champagne or at least some soda water complete with nose-tickling It was a little cold, but totally worth it. After a bit of exploration, we just found a comfy rock to sit in front of and brace against as the waves came in and tried to thrash us about. Munchkin was totally in her element.

Munchkin found friends back at Abe’s. Meanwhile….lunch!

It was SO yummy! The lime and butter sauce totally set it off. I love a grilled lobster but this one hit the spot. Still craving a good grilled lobster though (drops hints at hubs)

Finally on this adventure was a layout on the beach. After such a meal there can be no other activity. White Bay I hear is a most spectacular beach and the Soggy Dollar bar is most famous for their painkillers so I had to get there. We ended up at the beach to the left of the Soggy bar, you can’t see it in this pic but you can definitely notice much less boats in this side of the water. We again had quite a trek through those rocks in the middle and over a little hill to get to White Bay!

Once there, totally worth it! But I have to say I am a little taken aback by all the boats. The beach is so beautiful! But do I want to swim amongst all this boating waste? We were beat anyway so we just laid out on the beach and enjoyed each other’s company. Munchkin had the right idea.

The painkiillers at the Soggy Dollar? I guess they were the best I’ve had? To be honest I think I had a much better one at the Trellis Bay Kitchen. At this point my favourite BVI drink is most certainly the bushwhacker. Mmmmm yummy! Those will surely derail all my fitness goals.

Last pics…shots from the ferry ride back:

An absolutely epic day. It almost beat out our trip to The Baths because it was a complete package, the food was better and relaxing on the beach before rushing back was a total plus. But….nothing beats The Baths! Wonder what lies ahead?

Video Blog: Relaxed, Transitioning Hair Braid-Out

IrieDiva — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:50:24 +0000

Even though I have two braid out posts with lots of pics, I get enough hits from google of people searching for relaxed hair braid-outs and so I thought I’d do a video too. This was my hair right before I did the braids you’ll see in the video:

Fresh from a wash and infusion of my current products. After watching the video I realised just how much my hair could really use some moisturizing lotion after take down, so I’m back to using my Olive-Oil conditioning lotion. The stuff is great.

Enjoy!

Happy 67th Bob Marley!

IrieDiva — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:35:43 +0000

It can be argued that no Jamaican is more iconic than Bob Marley, the man with a song for every situation in life. My hubby and my pops are avid fans and so when hubby suggested naming our first born, regardless of gender, Marley, I did not hesitate. It was such a fitting name, unique and popular, legendary and simple all in one.

I’ll leave you with the song that my Marley and her father recently danced the night away courtesy of a local band here in the BVI.

One of my personal favourites. We’ll share the shelter, of my single bed

Natural Hair Transitioning Diary: I can see my true texture shining through!

IrieDiva — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:26:11 +0000

But I see your true colours
Shining through
I see your true colours
That’s why I love you
So don’t be afraid to let them show
Your true colours
True colours are beautiful,
Like a rainbow

I’ve been down and out all week long with one of the worst bugs I’ve ever picked up. It had me with headaches, swollen tonsils, feeling hot, feeling cold, earaches…I thought I was gonna die. Finally…finally it seems to be leaving me so I got up this morning to tend to my hair that I have allowed to roam free while I was down. It was matted and tangled like some real steel wool but armed with my new bottle of Herbal Essences Hello Hydration that all the blogs rave about I went to work. I sprayed some of my essential oil mix while conditioning because trust me, it needed all the help it could get and when I was done….I was in love!

My curls are looking REAL good! I can’t wait to be able to wash and go! I was seriously feeling the big chop itch right then and there. Was sooooo tempted to run get the scissors and shed away years of damage and strife.

With the flash on. Man that conditioner really worked wonders on my hair. The right product really does make all the difference. I’m about 5 and a half months into my transition and while I had initially said 6 months, now I really want to make it to June. I’ll be sporting a curly fro for the summer.

I may be in Jamaica sometime soon. I can’t promise that when I go visit my hairdresser I won’t tell her to take it all off! The intention is to go get a spiral set, which has been by far my favourite transitioning style…but ya never know. Maybe I should invest in some Curlformers and a bonnet dryer asap before I make any big chops myself! I really want a stylist to cut it when I’m ready because I want it to have a nice shape plus I don’t wanna cut my curls neither do I wanna be left with any stringy ends that I didn’t see. Through trials and frustrations, I can see the end in sight and I’m so excited! I put it up in my usual 5 cornrows and I might do a youtube of the take down…we’ll see….

Munchkin turns two

IrieDiva — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:33:00 +0000

OMG Munchkin is TWO today! Yes, only TWO!

IrieDiva — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:58:06 +0000

Every time I tell someone munchkin’s birthday was coming up, everyone assumed she was going to be three. She was always a little tall for her age, but pair that with the chattiness, the energy and the general feisty behaviour and this child will wear you out!

I just read her birth story again that I posted last year on her first birthday. My I can’t believe how time flies and how much changes in the course of just one year. Take a look at this video, it was recorded a couple weeks before her first birthday, when she was on the verge of fully walking:

*tears* I tell all my friends who have babies or are pregnant to take as much pics and videos as they can because with munchkin running circles around me right now, I truly find it hard to remember what she was like as a teeny little goo-goo gaa-gaa baby.

She has really changed my life for the BEST. As we enter into the terrible twos, which I believe has already started, her favourite words are NO and MINE. I take her to the beach or the park to play with other kids but she takes their toys away, declares “mine!!!” and brings them over to me to show off her newest conquest. Sigh. How do they deal with this at the daycare? I don’t even know where to begin to teach her about sharing.

I absolutely love you munchkin! You make mommy a better woman and daddy a better man. You light up our lives with your squeals of joy and I am looking forward to another fun-filled, challenging year. Next up…potty training! No more diapers….yay!!! Here she is on a chill day, get to know her

Munchkin at the family’s favourite place in the world…the beach! Took a few attempts but now she cannot get enough! And that’s where we’re heading right now as you read this post! Cake, picnic, presents, sun, sand, sea…happy birthday munchkin!!!

P.S. Don’t you just love her little twist out fro? LOL