Peace. Love. Passion

The Quest for Clear Skin

2011-08-27T12:09:00.001-11:00

Recently while browsing around in Target, I found myself in the skin care aisle. My face has been breaking out lately, and I figured there was no time like the present to take care of it. Just the day before I had asked someone with seemingly perfect skin for her secret. She told me that the key was a really good cleanser, toner and moisturizer. Embarrassingly enough, I had none of those.

So now I'm in Target, staring at all of the choices and I'm confused. What brand do I go with? Am I a dry skin type, oily or combo? What's the difference between a toner and an astringent?
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Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back!

2011-08-27T09:38:00.000-11:00

Well, hello there. Long time, no new posts. It's been quite some time since I've updated this blog. While I wish I could say that I was out, living a whirlwind busy life. Unfortunately, the truth is far less glamourous: my four year old laptop kicked the bucket; and I couldn't afford a new one. Thankfully, my dad came through in the clutch and got a new one for me. So, here we are again...

During my six month impromptu hiatus, I had a LOT of time to think about what it is that I wanted from this blog. I realized that turning it into an online, no holds barred journal isn't the most feasible thing. A rant about a guy I'm dating coming back to haunt me on job interviews? No thanks. I'm much too self involved to be seriously into celebrity blogging. Those who know me know that I am no style expert. Jeans and a tee are my daily uniform; and you can pretty much count on me having my hair pulled back into a bun (Don't judge me, its a protective hairstyle!). So if I can't rant & rave, or brag about my personal style, or spare a crap to devote my life to celeb gossip... Well, what other blogging niches are there for the childless?

That's the question I keep running back into. Maybe I just don't fit into a niche. One day I can talk about my new fave eyeshadow, and the next post will be about my favorite flat iron. Maybe as I get more focused and settled into it, I'll develop and evolve a personal style. Maybe this blog will be your guilty pleasure because you'll like looking at my vacation pics. I don't have the answers right now, and there's a very good chance that I won't ever get them. Perhaps that for the best, ensuring they'll always be something new.

I promise you this though: I'm a ton of fun, and this blog will be too ;-)

Cheers,
Cinnamon Swirl

FAITH in the Universe

2011-02-04T05:51:00.003-10:00

"Say to yourself, ‘I’m here on purpose, I can accomplish anything I desire, and I do it by being in harmony with the all-pervading creative force in the universe."-- Wayne Dyer

Recently on her website, Necole Bitchie posted a series of tweets from BET's 106 & Park’s host Terrence J:

Today is a new day. A new opportunity to follow your dreams. Take advantage of this blessing. Take that leap. Whatever your dream is, you have to step towards it. The more steps you take the more the universe will conspire to assist you...

If you want to run a label, quit your job at the bank & intern at a label. If you want to be a doctor, apply to school today, etc. I wanted to act, so every week I go to acting school for 14 hours, study film & actors, read about projects, etc. Once I took the steps, roles came.

A girl replied, how can I pay my bills if I quit my job, to follow my dreams? - when following your dreams you will be temporarily inconvenienced. Tyler Perry was HOMELESS years before becoming a MILLIONAIRE. Only you can determine the amount of sacrifice your dreams are worth.

Love is in the air...

2011-02-01T07:49:00.000-10:00

It seemed like as soon as the Christmas and New Year's Eve decorations came down, most stores had strung out their Valentine's Day decor. I was among the single people rolling my eyes at the tacky cupid signs; announcing the sale of gaudy paper hearts. However, I'm gonna get past my own snobbery to help you lovebugs find the perfect gift for your boo, and without killing your pockets.

Had to let ya know that I got a 'Crush on You'

2011-01-27T06:56:00.000-10:00

We're almost an entire month into 2011, and I'm still in total disbelief. I remember when I was a little girl, planning out my entire life (told y'all I was precocious). I knew that this year I'd graduate from college, and it felt that day would never come. Now it's just a few months away, and I've been reminiscing about my childhood every day. The carefree ease seems like another lifetime. But sometimes, you hear a song that brings back all of the memories.

That song this week? 'Crush on You' by Lil' Kim featuring Lil' Cease and Biggie Smalls.
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Come get some BlogLovin'

2011-01-21T19:58:00.001-10:00

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Welcome to the year of the double deuce

2011-01-17T08:31:00.000-10:00

Last week was my 22nd birthday. It felt a little strange to be in a celebratory mood, considering we'd just lost our cat the week prior, and my birthday was the one year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Still, my family and friends thought it was important that I got out and enjoyed myself. So, that's exactly what I did. For an entire week I reveled in all my birthday glory. On the Saturday before my birthday, I hung out with some friends, old and new:

Tasha and I

Janelle, myself and Karen
(No idea why my mouth is open that wide btw. Caught mid laugh? )

On Monday, I had a family "girls day" with my mom and grandmother.

Red Lobster with the family

R.I.P. Mickey...

2011-01-10T19:51:00.000-10:00

Well, 2011 has been… a strange year so far. It started off wonderfully. My New Year’s Eve was filled with music and laughter. Literally. Unfortunately, that lightness didn’t last through the first week. One day my family came home to find our youngest kitten, Mickey, in severe pain. His hind legs didn't move, and were completely unresponsive. He wasn’t interested in food, and unable to use the litter box. The next morning, we rushed him to a vet. She took Mickey’s temperature and said it was significantly lower than it should be, and noted that he was lethargic. She also used clamps to pinch the pads of Mickey’s hind paws… which got no response from him. After doing a few more tests, she concluded that Mickey had a blood clot that had cut off circulation to the lower half of his body.

Mickey as a mischievous kitten

Bring on 2011

2010-12-31T05:48:00.000-10:00

It's that time again. As January 1st looms near, people are making new year's resolutions and 'promising' to change for the better. I usually refrain from the retrospectives on years past and I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions. This New Years Eve is different in that it's the end of a decade. Between 2000 and 2010, I've

graduated from elementary school
campaigned for the 2000 presidential election
saw the destruction of the twin towers
lived through two wars
graduated from junior high school
graduated from high school
entered college

Along the way, I've learned lessons about love, life and myself. Knowing that this is literally just the beginning is both exhilarating and frightening. In just a few short days I'll be turning 22 years old, and should be graduating from college in May. So, I have a few goals that I'd like to accomplish in the next 12 months, and extend into the next few decades:

Focus on building my brand and my presence as competition
Remember to stay positive, and turn every obstacle into opportunity
Stay healthy... physically and mentally
Keep all negative influences out of my life. People, places, encounters.

And my dream for you:
May 2011 bring you closer to your goals and further from the negativity

Peace. Love. Passion ♥

SNOW DAY!!!

2010-12-27T09:19:00.000-10:00

It's already being called "Snowpocalypse 2010"; the snowstorm that shut down the city. Public transportation is delayed or suspended, roads are covered in snow and people are stuck in their houses. There's an actual MTA bus stuck right outside of my window.

I was supposed to head to Manhattan to handle a few things today, but obviously with no way to get to the city, I'm stuck at home for the time being. I'll be putting my time to use, uploading a few youtube videos and catching up on work.

UPDATE: It's now 2pm. My mom made a turkey sandwich and some hot tea for the bus driver, and put some chocolate candy in a bag and I went outside and gave it all to him. He was very grateful, said that we were the 4th family to come and bring him some food. I didn't catch his name, but he did say that he would probably have to spend yet ANOTHER night on the bus before he could be dug out and that he was praying the bus didn't run out of gas, so that he could stay heated.
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Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T18:39:00.000-10:00

Merry Christmas readers! For those of you that celebrate, I hope your day is filled with family, friends and maybe even some good gifts ;). To everyone, I wish you love, peace && hair grease

UPDATE: My family hosted a Christmas party on Thursday for a few of my friends. And on Saturday (Christmas day) we had some family over. I got a new gold & ruby bracelet, a new blowdryer and flat iron (that I've already put to good use), a flip video camera, Sephora gift card, an iTunes gift card, Victoria's Secret pj's and A PILLOW PET!!!!

If you cant tell, I'm most excited about the purple unicorn pillow pet. All in all, it was a good holiday because I was able to put a smile on alllll of my close friends and family's faces. How was your holiday?

Jack...

2010-12-13T10:43:00.000-10:00

On the uptown train today, I saw a little girl. She could have been our child. She was just a little darker than me, lighter than you. She had hair like mine. My eyes; your nose. Your lips too, just not as pronounced. And for just a second, I imagined what life would have been like if we’d walked down that path. As beautiful as that little girl was… I realized I was glad we hadn’t.

I love you, but I think I'm finally ready to let you go.

One of the most beautiful videos I've ever seen!

2010-12-12T10:49:00.000-10:00

Found this link on twitter the other day, and the video was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It's about empathy and how we as humans have evolved. Very powerful

To see the video, click here

World AIDS Day, 2010

2010-12-01T07:16:00.001-10:00

Today is the 22^nd anniversary of World AIDS day. The We've come far in the 2_ years since HIV/AIDS first started attacking our community. The rate of new infections is going down, modern medicine has helped prevent mothers from passing the virus to their children during pregnancy;
Yet, we haven't come far enough. The biggest cases of infection still come from (and ravish) the black and Latino community.
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I went to the Bahamas, and all I got was this blog post

2010-11-27T07:32:00.000-10:00

FEELS SO GOOD TO BE BACK! I had an amazing vacation, but nothing beats that familiar feeling in the pit of your stomach when you come home. Now that I’m back, it’s time to share details and vaycay pics.

Day 1: I woke up extremely early to get ready for the flight, even though everything was packed and ready to go. We arrived at the airport about an hour before the flight, making sure we had enough time to go through airport security. I had gone to the hair salon the night before, and still had the bobby pins in my hair from the wash & set. The pins set off the metal detectors, so I had to go through a vigourous pat down by a burly female security agent 0_0. After dealing with that, I literally ran down to the terminals, to get to our flight. The hour flew by, and soon I was in the air. Landed safe and sound in MIA, and headed to the hotel.

The hotel was nice, albeit creepy. This was our hallway…

Every picture came out this way...

I guess you get what you pay for, and this place was definitely cheap as hell. On the positive side, it was safe and clean; plus had a pool which we were in ALL day, EVERY day.

Day 2: After sleeping in and swimming all day though, it was time to see what Miami night life had to offer. After hair and makeup were done, it was time to hop in a cab to Collins Ave and get some food and drinks in our system.

Are you stuffed?

2010-11-26T11:49:00.000-10:00

Happy belated Thanksgiving guys! I hope your day was as beautiful as mine was. I actually spent most of the day drifting in and out of sleep because I'm still sick; but I was able to throw down on some of my mama's delicious food. There will be a (long overdue) post tomorrow morning, all about my vacation. For now, I'm gonna eat some leftovers, do some online 'Black Friday' shopping and rub some more Vick's on my chest. Ciao!

Vacation

2010-11-14T05:26:00.000-10:00

Today I made my grand escape! Headed for a 10 day trip, to Miami and the Bahamas. To say I'm excited is a severe understatement. Despite some slight drama in the beginning, everything is underway. The trip was paid with my own money, and the scrimpin', savin' & going without is worth it. And as terrible as it sounds, me not having enough money to go out and eat really helped me tone down to fit into my bikini...

I haven't gone on vacation in a very long time. Knowing that I'll be getting on a plane in just a few hours is daunting. Our hotel has laptops for use, so I'll try to update for you guys, and there will definitely be a summary with LOTS of pics when I return. The Carribean awaits, and I intend to greet it with open arms. Ciao y'all ♥

Update:
I've arrived, safe & sound!! Despite some unpleasantness with the airline, I'm pleased to be here. Gonna finish unpacking and lay out by the pool, then go play 'tourist' later on

What's my name ;)

2010-11-12T19:15:00.000-10:00

I'm not a fan of Rihanna. Not her singing 'voice', her Ronald McDonald knock off wig, her persona... I could go on and on. But, I won't. Instead, I'll give her props. Despite wanting to hate it, her latest single "What's my name?" featuring Drake is stuck in my head. In the spirit of being nice, I'll share the video without making fun of it LOL

Transition

2010-11-10T07:28:00.000-10:00

Change is all around us right now. Change of seasons, change from daylight savings, and for me: the transition to a fully independent adult. Within the next month, I'll be moving out of my parents' house and into my own place. Truth be told, I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I feel mature enough to live away while taking care of all my grown folk issues. And I'm more than delighted at the prospect of not having to "watch my tone" any longer.
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Song of the Day -- 'Bohemian Rhapsody'

2010-11-04T02:26:00.000-10:00

Throwback time. This song has been playing in my head for a week now, and I felt like it was time to share. Enjoy :)

It's one of those songs which has such a fantasy feel about it. I think people should just listen to it, think about it, and then make up their own minds as to what it says to them... "Bohemian Rhapsody" didn't just come out of thin air. I did a bit of research although it was tongue-in-cheek and mock opera. Why not?
“
”
—Freddie Mercury

Knuckle Rings/Multi Finger Rings

2010-10-29T18:55:00.000-10:00

My latest fall obsession are these multi-ring/knuckle rings. They are giving me LIFE right now *said in my best drag queen voice*. Generally, when people hear things like knuckle rings, they think of

However, these rings are more like Radio Rahim's jewelry.

Big, stylish fashion pieces that... just so happen to help knock somebody out if need be... ^_^

A poem for you

2010-10-27T06:56:00.000-10:00

Growing up, I was admittedly a tad bit melodramatic at times. Let's just call it 'teenage angst' and be grateful I grew out of it lol. I had always been drawn to poetry, so during my quasi-goth phase in 7th grade I was thrilled about the in-class discussion of "The Raven". Dark, brooding and miserable; it introduced me to more of Edgar Allan Poe's writing and fed directly into what I (thought I) was feeling at the time. That school year, we continued to discuss American writers and I matured from my drama queen mentality to my black power phase (I also read Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" that year).

When I was about 15 years old, I rediscovered Edgar Allan Poe.

Gratitude

2010-10-22T13:38:00.000-10:00

When I find myself in an emotional slump –being a b*tch to everyone, only focusing on the negative – I put myself in check. I’ve developed this habit and I’d like to shit it with you. Each night as I’m laying in bed, I think of things that I’m grateful for. When I first started doing it 2 years ago, I was feeling stuck. At the time, I was working at a Fortune 500 company, and was miserable. I knew that focusing on the negative feelings would just allow that depression to fester. So one day on the train, I resolved to man up. I’d pick myself up by the bootstrap; I mean it just couldn’t be THAT bad. From that day forward, I began to name 3 things that I was grateful for. I usually tried to do it right before I went to sleep so that I could have positive dreams and wake up refreshed in the morning. In those first few weeks, it wasn’t easy to think of things. If I’d had a particularly bad day, my gratitude statements went something like “I’m grateful I had chicken for dinner. Grateful the trains were on time.” Just really random things until I got the hang of it. As the economy sank, it became “I’m grateful I have a job. I’m grateful I can pay my bills. Grateful I have this comfortable bed to sleep on and a roof over my head”. It was simple things, but things that for so long had been taken for granted, and was being snatched away from people everyday.

As I got more into the habit and my mindset changed for the better, I upped it to naming 5 things I was grateful for; then 7, then 10. As of right now, I’m usually able to name 15 off the top of my head (the habit is that ingrained). Whenever I catch myself backsliding, I stop and list those things until I’m able to fix myself.

My apologies...

2010-10-20T20:51:00.000-10:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've caught up you guys up. I've been out and about, running around the city to get my affairs in order. I know I make it look easy, but it's tough out here for a girl! Through it all, there's been a lot of soul ~~searching~~ probing; trying to figure out what exactly I'd like this blog to stand for. To that effect, there's a multi-part post about 'branding' in the works. I've also been doing some shopping, so you can look forward to a style post this week.

At the same time, my mind is a jumbled mess. So, here's another free form post to get some stuff off my chest:
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2010-10-20T19:30:00.000-10:00

Sometimes I get these really random urges to clean my house from top to bottom. It's some deeply unconscious thing, because in the midst of it I get sudden epiphanies and bouts of inspiration. That's exactly what occurred today (I was in the middle of reorganizing my closet when I stole away to write this).

I started the cleansing in my room, and the things I've found made me smile. The notes passed to and from Sasha that didn't 'self-destruct' as they were supposed to. My invitation to join Posse; which I thought was a scam at the time. And tons of teddy bears. Each bear was a story. The ones from Joseph, Jack, Ralph, Quincy... Well, aside from the fact that a lot of guys have bought me stuffed animals, there were the ones from friends and family members as birthday presents. For my 18th birthday in particular, I asked my friends to get me stuffed animals and boy did they ever come through. So here I am, years later, surrounded my them. They've been sitting in little decorative boxes at the top of my closets, bookshelves, etc, and I think they're ready for a new home. I'm looking for charities/children's hospitals to donate them to. My bears are in great condition: no stains, rips or weird smells. Still, I'm going to wash and dry them before I get them to the little kids. This little project has inspired me to ask for help. If any of you or your friends have teddy bears, stuffed animals, toys, etc; let me know. A toy drive is a great way to get into the holiday spirit and bring a smile to young kids. Email me, and I'll even meet up with you to pick them up so we can make some children happy [=