Random Ramblings

April-May 2009: Kingston, Jamaica

2009-06-05T07:09:38Z

Title: April-May 2009: Kingston, Jamaica
Location: Kingston, Jamaica
Description: Another trip to my second home in Kingston, Jamaica.
Start Date: 2009-04-13
End Date: 2009-05-14

Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 8:31 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

So here I am! I arrived safely to Kingston yesterday afternoon. Since it was a holiday, the roads on the way home were the emptiest I’ve ever seen them. There is always so much excitement and noise in the streets of Kingston, but only a silent wind traversed the lightly traveled roads today.

I reached home safely and had Grandpa buy me Digicel credit for my new phone. Yup, I FINALLY got a BlackBerry for out here. I still use my iPhone back home, and still think that it’s the coolest phone on earth, but once my data plan was set up on my BBerry and after I changed the theme and gave it a few ringtones, I must admit that I am in love with it. The BB Messenger, by the way, is the most addictive substance in my universe. Between that, MSN, Google Chat, and regular texting, I haven’t been able to put the phone down for more than a few minutes at a time. The BB Messenger definitely gives the BBerry an advantage over the iPhone. Plus, the other apps (applications) automatically push new messages to the phone, whereas only email messages are pushed to the iPhone which means I have to check each app on it for new messages which can get annoying. I’m satisfied so far and am glad I got it.

Last night, a few of us hung out at Tracy’s place and watched a movie. That’s pretty much the highlight of my trip so far. The internet was out all day and is finally fixed so I’ll be able to start my work schedule bright and early tomorrow. I think I’ll write a poem or two in the meantime…feeling a bit creative tonight since there’s nothing else to do right now.

Thursday, April 16, 2009, 7:11 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

Hiiiiii! I am here at Grandma’s house relaxing. I’ve been doing a bit of work but am trying to rest because on Monday, the heavier assignments will start. I stayed by Tracy’s place last night. We and a few other friends went to TGIF for some drinks. I ran into Jason, one of the Pentagon boys, and we caught up for a little bit. Tracy and I then headed to Quad with another friend. I came back to Red Hills today and relaxed and am going to pack soon to head back to Tracy’s where I’ll be staying for the weekend. My grandparents are going to the country so I’ll be off the hill until Monday. Lots of parties going on this weekend to celebrate carnival, so there will be plenty to do! My friend Tiffany from Florida is coming down tomorrow to participate in the festivities too.

So I realized that my BlackBerry is more addictive than I thought. I can’t stop myself from sending a text, reading a message, checking an email or updating my status for more than a few minutes at a time! Any time the red LED light flashes at me I have this uncontrollable impulse to check who is messaging me. It’s like a drug. AAAAH! No wonder so many people walk around with this tiny device in their palms, typing, scrolling and clicking their way through life. lol. I’ve unfortunately fallen victim to the disease. CrackBerry addicts everywhere: WE SHALL OVERCOME! lol! (Don’t trip… I’m STILL a die hard iPhone fan. hehe)

I’ll hopefully have internet over the weekend on my laptop so I’ll be baaaack.

Friday, April 17, 2009, 6:53 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Tracy’s Place (Beverly Hills)

I got to Tracy’s place last night. I worked allll day today, since it was the first time I actually turned on my laptop for more than an hour the whole week. Got a LOT of work done. Still have more to do before we head to a Jouvert paint party tonight. Yay!!! I’ve never been to a paint party before, or a foam party, water party, chocolate party, and whatever other kind of messy attraction that you can think of. But I hear it’s looots of fun. We’ll have to wear little clothing, and ordinary clothing too that we don’t mind getting messed up. I won’t be doing my hair either since it will be covered in paint come morning!

I also had someone pick up my Cleopatra carnival costume today, and can’t wait to see it! The road march is Sunday, and there are plenty of carnival related events going on this weekend. K, enough break time for me. Back to work, and then party time…

Saturday, April 18, 2009, 6:28 am: Kingston, Jamaica: Tracy’s Place (Beverly Hills)

Okay, so I’m back from Jouvert! We got in about 45 minutes ago, and I’m finally here after a long shower to remove the blue paint i was COVERED in! Tracy and I got on the road just after midnight and stopped by Jarell’s weekly Friday night event (Bruck Pocket Fridays: a guaranteed good time) for a few minutes so I could say hi to the boys. I haven’t seen them in weeks, some of them not since my January trip. Plus, Andre’s birthday just passed and since he didn’t want to go to Jouvert (I promised him I’d take him out to celebrate), I wanted to at least say hi. We stayed only a few minutes and then rushed to Mas Camp for Bacchanal’s version of Jouvert. Destra and another artist performed and there was about 90% Soca in my ears all night, but it wasn’t so bad. I actually had a GREAT time. Around 3 am, blue paint started showing up in cups and buckets across the entire venue: in hair, on clothes, and all over faces until everyone looked like tipsy Jamaican/Trinidadian smurfs. There were blue hand prints in unnecessary places! lol! It was SUCH fun, I must say! I barely got any paint in my hair (nothing that a rag couldn’t rub out) and was actually paint free on my face until I was bold (and stupid) enough to walk through the front crowd, towards the stage. A flamboyant young man dipped his hand into a cup of blue, and as if in slow motion, I saw his fingers lunge towards my head as he smeared the paint allllll over my face. “Yuh too pretty! Tek some paint!” he exclaimed as I stumbled past him in my shocked phase. Madness! I headed straight to the restroom to wash it off my face with the slew of other girls attempting to accomplish the same task. Fresh faced five minutes later, I headed back towards Tracy and the rest of the crew and we danced some more until it was ROAD MARCH TIME!

Mind you, this was my first Jouvert experience. I never would’ve imagined having so much fun while jumping behind a music-filled truck with what looked like at least a thousand other patrons. It was SUCH fun. I’m still trying to figure out how three cupfuls of rum and coke didn’t make me even the slightest bit tipsy, especially considering that I’m not a rum girl at all. Vodka is usually my poison of choice. Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time and ran into a few friends along the way. I didn’t see Tiffany yet…and I’m still wondering how the girl came to JA and didn’t think to give me her JA cell # although I messaged her mine (which she apparently didn’t get or remember to store, lol). Hopefully I’ll run into her tomorrow or Sunday at carnival.

Overall, everyone was pretty nice. People were a bit paint happy, chasing strangers with dripping blue fingers, but it was all in fun. The only thing I had to look out for was my belongings; I was warned several times to keep my bag and phone close to me at all times; plenty of thieves were out and about waiting to prey on the first loose-armed girl to pass by. Luckily I made it back to Tracy’s place with all my belongings in tact. Jouvert is definitely lots of fun and I’d love to do it again. It does a very good job of keeping people together: united and happy under the same ear of music and madness. I love it!

So I’m mostly blue free, except for annoying blue stains underneath my fingernails, so I’ll have to take care of that later today. I’ll have to clean my flip flops, handbag and clothes as well. Hopefully they’ll survive the wash. Anywho…off to do some work (I’m extremely alert for some reason; might as well be productive) and then eventually fall asleep. Chat later.

Saturday, April 18, 2009, 1:27 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Tracy’s Place (Beverly Hills)

Just got back to Tracy’s place. We were on the road all day. I met up with my good friend Tremayne and then my other good friend Andre while Tracy got her hair done. We then headed to a track meet at UTech which was exciting. I hadn’t been to a meet in a loooong time. I ran into my cousin while there too. I called grandma today as well since it’s her birthday. I love you, grandma!

Anyway, I’m about to take a little nap before heading out to Quad. What a long day!

Sunday, April 19, 2009, 11:41 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Tracy’s Place (Beverly Hills)

CARNIVAL WAS GREAT TODAY! Okay, so I was supposed to get to Road March from 10 am, but since we went out Saturday night…for those of you who know me well, you know that I don’t typically surface before 10 am unless there is food or high motivation involved. Therefore, I didn’t get to Road March until 1 pm. lol! But good thing I did because by the time 5pm rolled around, I was tireeeed. It was my very first carnival! I finally met up with Tiffany there. The costume was GREAT by the way. The waistband was a bit small but I was able to extend it with a piece of cloth. The bikini itself was white and had blue and gold sequins and decoration on top. I had matching wristbands, necklace, and headpiece to go with the ensemble. There were probably 30 or 40 of us in similar costumes. It really was great to see the different costume themes that all the troupes had on the road. SO MANY PEOPLE came out! There were several trucks playing soca music and we walked for hours until we finally got back to Mas Camp for some food at 6pm. I saw lots of friends on the road too and in the crowd. Overall I had a great time and will definitely do it again!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 3:51 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

I’m back at Grandma’s house. I did work with one of my client’s all day yesterday and came home last night. I’m supposed to play pool with my friend Richie tonight. Working/relaxing in the meantime. And guess who got paid yesterday?! I also got five more website jobs from my client…So LOTS of work to do! I may have to extend my stay…

Thursday, April 23, 2009, 2:09 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

I had a great time last night. Richie and I went to Peppers for some drinks and played 3 games of pool (I lost all three, but I let him win…no, seriously! lol). Then we went to Fiction, a new night club in Marketplace. That was an unmentionable experience. But fun! lol! I’m back home now and have been working all day…nothing exciting…

Sunday, April 26, 2009, 2:09 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Tracy’s Place (Beverly Hills)

Tracy got me off the hill yesterday. We met up with Richie at Cuddyz for some food (stew peas…yummy) and went to his football match later in the evening. That night, we all went to an oldies party called Mello Vibez which was VERY good. I saw my friend Niko while there too. I’ve never seen Mas Camp so PACKED!

We went to Igloo, a beach party at Sugarman’s Beach in Portmore earlier tonight. It was packed and we had a good time. Afterward we got fish and festival at Prendy’s. Yum. I also realized tonight how ANNOYING it can be when people can’t get their noses out their damn BlackBerrys. Fruuustrating. I mean, when in the presence of other people in a social setting, can’t you ignore your phone for 10 minutes?! Cho. The phone can make people seem so rude and antisocial sometimes.

Anyway. Back at Tracy’s place now. Going to bed early…feeling drained.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 3:57 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

Back on the hill. I got a LOT of work done today. I was a bum yesterday so had to play catch up. Almost time to get paid, too. Woo hoo! I’ll most likely be relaxing today and tomorrow here on the hill. Back to work in the meantime…

Friday, May 1, 2009, 11:49 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

Richie and I went to Tracy’s dance show tonight. It was great! Long, but good. I enjoyed a lot of the dances and am so proud of Trace and all the hard work she put in! So sleepy now. Bed time.

Tuesday, May 4, 2009, 3:08 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

Saturday, I got off the hill and went to hang out with my cousin but we ended up not going out (although he ended up dropping me at Tracy’s and going out WITHOUT me…vex!!!). I did a video shoot for my friend Tafari on Sunday, which was actually fun. It was my first video but it wasn’t too bad! I was there from 6pm till 1 in the morning. We went to play pool on Monday and I’ve pretty much been in the house ever since. Sigh. I hope my last weekend here will be more eventful!

Monday, May 11, 2009, 12:41 am: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

This was a quick weekend. I went to a party called May Daze on Friday with Tafari and some friends and then met up with Tracy at Pure afterwards. On Saturday, I went with Tracy and Richie to a bottle party on Leas Flat. It was a very interesting night to say the least lol but we had a good time. Today, we went to Igloo again. That was fun as usual. I’ve been relaxing and thinking ever since I got home. I’m leaving in a few days and have a lot on my mind. I haven’t quite found the peace of mind I was hoping to find this trip. Just a couple more projects to finish though and I’m good to go. Just gotta take care of the personal stuff.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009, 2:09 am: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

Today was probably the most important day of my entire trip. It certainly is the day that I will remember the most. Out of the month I’ve spent here, a conversation I had with a certain someone made me realize what I really want, and the patience it will take to discover whether it’s possible to get it. I cried for the first time in a long time tonight. And I found a peace and new sense of hope that has been missing in my life for the entire year. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it, but I will start by focusing more on me and seeing what the months unfold. My mind hasn’t felt this relaxed in a long, long time.

I can rest easy. And a mosquito better not disturb me tonight.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 11:16 pm: Kingston, Jamaica: Home (Red Hills)

I spent the day in New Kingston with my friend Sam (Happy Birthdaaaaay!) and met up with a few other friends during the day as well. Tonight, I also had a conversation with the same “certain someone” I talked about in my Tuesday post. I finally know what direction to take. Patience is a virtue. Time shall tell what awaits. In the meantime, I have begun my journey to self-healing and reinforcing what makes me the person I am. I leave tomorrow and finally feel as if I have everything in order. I waited for this feeling of progress for a VERY long time. I came to Jamaica in part to find it, and it came the day before I’m due to leave.

Life is strange. God is good. And to all, a good night.

Thursday, May 14, 2009, 11:32 pm: Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Home

Back in action in my hometown. Feels good to be back too, although I never like the feeling of leaving Jamaica. Both are home to me. As much as I hate leaving one place is as much as I love arriving in the other. It’s the perfect balance. There’s no room for sadness in either direction. So I’ve got a lot of work to do. Some checks to collect too and some money to deposit in the bank because Lord knows I need to pay myself after finally taking care of a month’s worth of stacked bills while away.

I just watched the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy and am feeling very emotional and confused by the ending (…Izzy, or George!? Who shall die? MUST I wait till fall to find out the outcome! Such madness!).

Oh yeah! Yesterday, I bought Steve Harvey’s new book: “Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man.” First of all, let me say that within two hours, I’d read three quarters of the book and decided to leave at least a little bit for me to read on the plane today. Needless to say, I finished it in the air halfway to Fort Lauderdale. Can I just say… wow! The man knows his stuff. I learned more about men in the span of 3 hours than I ever learned in the span of almost 24 years. Sad, but true. Harvey makes it all so simple. Gosh. I feel ashamed for some of the things I’ve failed to understand about men and their *dumb* ways. lol. This is going to make an interesting summer! No man can fool me. I DARE one to try! hahaha.

I keep in mind as well something that Tracy told me the other day: “Make no man a priority when to him, you’re only an option.” DEEP, right?! This is why I love Tracy so.

Okay…I’m off to bed. I plan to maintain my “sexy time schedule”, and will be sleeping WELL tonight. I can feel it.

P.S…happy birthday to one of my favorite people in da whole world: Cliffie!!!!

Diary Of An Insomniac: Entry 2

2009-05-08T06:02:14Z

I’ve been in Jamaica the past few weeks, and since my grandparents’ house is really my second home, I usually have no problem falling asleep here. Large king-sized bed; plenty of kicking room. Comfy enough pillows. Cool sheets. What else could I ask for? I slept well the first few weeks I’ve been here. Clearly, tonight is one of a few recent exceptions. It’s only midnight here in Kingston and yet I feel restless and know I will have a difficult time sleeping yet again tonight for the fourth night in a row. I don’t know what happened. I’d been falling asleep so regularly! I was in bed by 1am and up by 8 am like never-before-seen clockwork. Something about Jamaica just had my body on a sexy time schedule.

But then the nightmares returned.

I’ve had nightmares on and off since around the end of 2005. They come and go. Don’t ask me why. Maybe I’m stressed. Maybe I’m afraid of something. You’ll have to probe my imaginary psychologist to figure out the answer to that one. Anyway, I’ve been avoiding sleep the past few days after having the latest nightmare. Let’s not discuss details. But I will say that I’ve had a lot on my mind the past few days. Work, family, bills, goals, and a particular someone. A bunch of things have been floating in my heavy head lately, and they are most troublesome when I’m laying in bed and ready to sleep. But it seems that I only notice my nighttime environment when I’m unable to sleep through the annoying characteristics of it.

It was 2 a.m. last night when I was resting in my room. Lights off. Sheets pulled close. Pillow embraced. By the time my eyes felt heavy enough to close, a dog barked yonder. For any Jamaican with a fenced backyard, at least one dog is most likely wagging its tail somewhere. I’d place a bet that every house on Red Hills owns at least one. And here at the house, we have three. Now for some reason, when one dog barks on Red Hills, all the dogs bark on Red Hills. So by the time my mind settled on the idea of falling asleep, a dog shot that possibility out the nighttime sky. There was a symphony of dog noise filling the air over my head, and there’s no way to ignore the multiple howling of dogs unless you have earplugs or a sedative handy. Unfortunately (and predictably), I have neither.

The dogs wailed for fifteen minutes. At some point, 3 a.m. came around and I drifted into some type of sleep when something woke me. No feather poked me this time. Instead, I heard an annoying whizzing sound buzz past my head. No shock there. Of course there had to be one lonely mosquito looking for attention in my room in the latest hours. I mean, the sandman would have it no other way! I waved it off a couple times and even slapped myself in the forehead and cheek in failed attempts to kill or at least stun the thing. No such luck. I’ll have you know that no mosquito buzzes my way in the daytime while I’m in that room. Only at night does the creature surface. Sad, isn’t it, that I have a mosquito to keep me company at night. But I suppose beggars cannot be choosers.

I do eventually fall asleep but it’s such an annoying process. I wish I could just get back to sleeping well. I was actually making progress. Hopefully, something will change. I was actually getting used to becoming a morning person!

Diary Of An Insomniac: Entry 1

2009-04-03T07:56:45Z

A feather poked me in the eye and woke me up moments ago. At 3 in the morning, too. Mind you, this isn’t just an ordinary feather. Oh, no. Not by any means. It has willpower, forcing itself out of my pillowcase the way it did. It couldn’t simply tickle my nose or get lost in the sheets. Instead, it took it upon itself to stick me in the eyelid–in a very sensitive part, too!–and stir me out of sleep. And Roz asleep before 5 am is probably the funniest statement you could mention to someone who knows I’m always and forever up during late hours. But for whatever reason, the feather wouldn’t grant me peace.

I’ll have you know that it took high amounts of concentration to get me to a point where I could fall asleep to begin with. I closed my Macbook promptly at 11:30, brushed my teeth, washed my face and was in the sheets within ten minutes. I force myself to take my night showers in the early evening just so I don’t run the risk of refreshing myself beyond the point of drowsiness right before attempting to fall asleep. I covered my alarm clock with a hand towel to prevent myself from glaring at the time every five minutes (insomniac habit #1). I then positioned myself into what I consider one of the top three positions I’m most likely to fall asleep in: on my back, on my tummy, or in fetal position with a pillow between my legs. Position #3 felt comfortable enough, so I tried that for about ten minutes before feeling restless, which is when I switched to position #2 (they are all rotated very regularly).

I must tell you, falling asleep is no easy task for people like me. For one, I’m constantly in the middle of at least three thought processes at once, each fighting for more attention than the others, which makes me either uncontrollably obsessed with one thing more than the other or not focused nearly enough on any thought at all. There’s the laundry I have to do, the electronic device that I must fix, the dishes I must wash, the bill I must pay, the man I must cuss, the client I must call…the list extends beyond the span of a normal to-do list. Then, not to mention having to rehash events from the day: who made me smile, who pissed me off, what I got done, etc. After I’m done going over those things, then maybe I’ll consider falling asleep, which takes serious concentration and patience, one of the two always lacking in some capacity when I try to utilize both at once.

I’m not sure how much time passed before I actually drifted into sleep this time, but I’m sure it was a while later because by the time the feather poked me, I felt as if I’d been knocked out only a few minutes. You’d better believe that I tacked the damned thing to the wall, too! How dare it awaken me when I’d done the impossible?! It had to be PUNISHED!

So here I am, staring at my assailant and wondering why, and how, I’ve become this late night creature. I was certainly this way all through college, perhaps because of one too many last minute papers or attempts to cram for an 8am exam, and was probably just as bad towards the end of high school as well. But I can’t seem to break the cycle. I’ve never been a morning person. I am most focused and most creative when the sun is no longer in the sky. I’m nocturnal by nature; nothing about my 23 years has said otherwise. I was born at night, I am happiest at night, I am strongest at night. It’s just in my blood.

For the past couple nights (and a few other failed attempts throughout the years), I’ve tried to go to bed early only to find myself discouraged, distracted, or sugared/caffeined past my limit. Nevertheless, I’ve tried to break what many consider to be a bad habit (my parents being the top two enthusiasts of this notion). I’ve exercised before my theoretically ideal bedtime (which is midnight right now) in efforts to tire my body and therefore my mind (doesn’t do a damn thing). I’ve forced myself to start my day at 7 am instead of 10-11 am, which does successfully drain me throughout the day but finds me wide awake at 3am after a naturally unavoidable two hour evening nap. I’ve even tried taking sleeping meds or drinking warm milk, which makes me feel groggy if anything but somehow leaves me rejuvenated come late night because of some creative inspiration or another. All methods seem to fail. I always end up falling asleep circa 5 am, if I get any sleep at all.

When I do manage to fall asleep, I’m stirred awake half the time by one thing or another. Because I’m internationally known for being up at random hours, my phone is incessantly ringing/vibrating with some text message or phone call. I also can’t seem to turn the damn thing off; I can’t even silence it for the life of me. I always must be available in case someone needs me. So usually it’s the phone that wakes me, or my air conditioner (which makes random loud noises these days…must remind daddy to get that fixed), or the sound of some other random household device. But tonight, things just had to be a bit creative. A feather, of all things. Rarely (VERY rarely) am I poked by something that can manage to wake me up. But I figure I must be up for a reason.

Soooo… What does a girl do when she’s up at these hours? Nothing that many others would do, and certainly nothing interesting. I rarely go out unless it’s the weekend (if even), and try to break the habit of working late, which only prolongs my bedtime. I try to distract myself until I’m eventually bored or some derivative of sleepy. The usual obsessions are chatting on MSN or Facebook, reading one of my favorite blogs or writing in my own (thus why I’m here now). I always have music playing, unless I’m watching Nick At Nite (I’m convinced that I’ve seen every episode of George Lopez, That 70’s Show, and The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air that late night television has to offer). Sometimes I’m rambling on the phone, but even my other self-proclaimed insomniacs drop like flies around 3 am. It’s after that time when things get a bit interesting. I am most creative after 3 am. Not sure why, but there is something about feeling alone in the world that leaves me completely full of thoughts and ideas. It’s the time when emails trickle in slowly, my MSN contacts close doors one by one and Facebook chatters silently go idle. It’s when I feel completely consumed by my thoughts. I’d guess that 90% of my creative work was born after 3 am. It’s the sexiest hour of the night to me. Just late enough to still be at a party, but not late enough to feel like you’re approaching the breakfast hour. It’s the time when my ADD has subdued, finally showing mercy on my mind and allowing me to do what I do best: be creative.

So although no one may be awake to read this late night post (note the time!!!), at least I feel mentally lighter after getting this post off my chest. I’m sharing my insomnia with the world! I may not have a cure, but I can’t say I’m complaining, either. I enjoy being creative, and if it comes best past the midnight hour, then so be it. Maybe, just maaaaybe, one night I’ll have someone who can stick it out through the night with me, because I must admit…it gets lonely out here in the wilderness. In the meantime, I’ll continue to embrace my regular distractions until I attempt to fall asleep–yet again.

March 2009: The New Yorkers Visit Florida

2009-06-05T06:58:17Z

Title: March 2009: The New Yorkers Visit Florida
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Description: Keri, Alana and Jonai spend their vacation with me in sunny Florida
Start Date: 2009-03-19
End Date: 2009-03-24

Thursday, March 19, 2009, 10:09 pm: Plantation, FL: Home

The girls have arrived!!!!!!! I just picked up Keri, Alana, and Jonai from Fort Lauderdale Airport and here we are, at my house relaxing before we make our first outing. Getting all their luggage into my car was interesting; leave it to me to forget to take two large boxes out my car before going to the airport. lol. But i managed to get them and their suitcases safely home. We’re planning to go to at party called Panegea at the Seminole Hard Rock & Casino tonight. We are about to get ready, so I’ll be back later!

Friday, March 20, 2009, 5:11 am

Okay, so we’re back from the party! It was my first time there, and it was a nice party scene. There was a mixed crowd, which I’m not really used to, but I still enjoyed myself. I ran into a friend of mine, Chris, while there and also saw a T-Pain look-alike who bought us all drinks and kept trying to talk to Jonai. Hahah it was hilarious! After the party, these international dudes from some random country tried talking to us. One of them fell in love with Alana and kept calling her Beyonce, while another was trying to woo Keri with all the money he supposedly has. Comedy! Not the best of parties tonight, but we have plenty more time to have fun. In the meantime… BED!

Friday, March 20, 2009, 10:31 pm

Hello again! We had a pretty light day. We went to Broward Mall to do some shopping. We got some outfits to wear out this weekend. I ran in to my friend Chris again, who told us about a club on south beach tonight that we may go to. After the mall, I went to my nail salon to put on fake eyelashes for the first time…They actually look pretty sexy, although I don’t think I will put them on again… they are kind of irritating. Jonai says that’s how they are the first time you get em, but I’m a bit skeptical. lol. But in the meantime, I’ll wear ‘em ’cause my eyes do look nice. We are relaxing at the house now. We’ve decided to go to the party on south beach at The 5th, so that’s the plan for tonight. Resting for now!

Saturday, March 21, 2009, 7:49 am

So we made it to south beach and back safely. When we got there, there was a crazy line outside, but we finally were able to get in even though the dude told us there was a $40 cover charge. Alana, thankfully, lied to the cashier once we got inside and told her that the guy said it was $20 for us. She believed us so we saved money, hehe. The club was PACKED, which was annoying at first, but it finally spaced out a bit so we had a good time. We saw Chris there with his friends and I ran into an old friend of mine, Jamal. He bought me and my girls a round of champagne, so I wasn’t complaining. There were a lot of celebrities (mostly random people) in the club, and Alana and Jonai got pictures with the singer Lloyd. Alana actually met someone tonight, a guy named Paris, who seems to be very into her.

We headed home after the party and my boy Ryan brought his friends over to my house to hang out. He and his 8 friends chilled with us in my basement, and his friend Joe played the keyboard for us. He plays SO well! All of Ryan’s friends were very cool. I only knew one of them from before (I actually think he’s cute but was too shy to say anything). We were down there for a couple hours until we all got too tired to function. And here I am, the sun shining outside and all… ready for bed!

Saturday, March 21, 2009, 11:22 pm

What a LONG day, and it’s not even over. We went to south beach today (again). There was supposed to be a pool party at a hotel down there, but it got cancelled so we ended up having a photo shoot outside the hotel, lol. We took SO MANY PICTURES! Then we went to meet up with one of Jonai’s friends at Ocean 10. It was so crowded there… Lots of drunk people making lots of noise. Music was playing and the food was yummy. After we left there, we came home to get ready for my Aunt’s birthday party here at the house. That kept us busy for a few hours. The party is winding down now and we’re going to get ready to go out again soon. There’s a party on south beach (yup…going there AGAIN) at Dream Nightclub. One of Jonai’s friends is coming to pick us up. I’ll be back.

Sunday, March 22, 2009, 5:08 am

Okay, so Dream was something else. First of all, the line to get in was a mess. The bouncer was so money hungry!!! But finally we got in and then ran into Jamal again, who got us into V.I.P. and bought us drinks. At that point, it was more fun. It was VERY packed but we managed to enjoy ourselves. More celebs were there that night. My friend Paul from College Hill was there, as well as Keisha Knight-Pulliam, Young Jeezy, LaToya Luckett, Day 26 and Tigga from BET. Tigga actually ended up dancing with us for a little bit which was cool. Now we are back home, ready for bed!

Sunday, March 22, 2009, 11:31 pm

Another long day. I took the eyelashes off this morning because they were getting more and more annoying. What a RELIEF that they are off! I’ll never put em on again! We stopped by my Aunt Lorna’s house for a little bit before heading to South Beach AGAIN. It was a bit cloudy but we went on the beach anyway and took a bunch of pictures (what we do best!). We saw these two guys in superhero briefs, chasing people with a bottle of coke, lol. Random and funny. Then it started drizzling for a few minutes but it finally stopped. We walked along Ocean Drive for a bit and ran into some Ques that I know from Miami. Then we went to Wet Willies, which I’d never been to. We ended up staying there for a while because Paris came to take Alana on a date (how cute!). Wet Willies is a cool place; it was very packed and they have these yummy slushies. We met some interesting people while there too.

After that, we headed home, which brings me here. We’re rushing to get ready again though because we are going to a reggae party for my friend Kurt’s birthday. *sigh* so much going on! I’ll be back…

Monday, March 23, 2009, 7:49 am

Okay, the reggae party, Swigs, was so empty! But my friends and my boys Jason and Kurt made it as fun as possible. We chilled there for a little bit and Kurt got sick (hmmm, I wonder why?!). We went to IHOP afterwards for some food but got it to go so Kurt could get home. Me and the girls came back home and ate the food, and got syrup EVERYwhere! Ryan came over again with some of his friends (the cute one that I like included ). We chilled in my room for a lil bit until we decided it was bedtime…early hours of the morning yet again! Oh, and I finally got enough courage to give Ryan’s cute friend my number. Hehe

Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 9:02 pm

Monday was a light day. We went to Boomer’s to race goKarts with Jason and Kurt. After, we went to TGIF and Paris came to see Alana. Then we went to a bar/club in downtown Fort Lauderdale called Off The Hookah. The lounge is so nice! They had beds and couches, and we had our own hookah set up. It’s this thing that lets you inhale flavored smoke through a pipe. We left there around 3 am and went home.

Today, we just went through over 1,000 pictures from the weekend (crazy amount of pics, I know!) and deleted the ones we didn’t want. I just dropped them off at the airport and miss them already. I must say, I haven’t had that much fun in a LONG time and am so glad they came. I also haven’t been to south beach that many times in one weekend, or even in a year! I can’t wait till their next trip. But in the meantime… I’m going to catch up on SLEEP!

March 2009: Kingston, Jamaica

2009-04-08T00:59:05Z

Title: Jamaica Trip
Location: Kingston, Jamaica
Description: Business and mini-vacation
Start Date: 2009-03-02
End Date: 2009-03-16

This trip to JA was just like the others I’ve taken every other month or so for the past year, with a few exceptions. The guy I was talking to is no longer in the picture, which took at bit of adjusting, especially since I was so used to spending time with him and his friends on my visits to the island. Also, this was primarily a business trip: I was given five websites to accomplish in two weeks (why do I take on such tasks? Don’t know; ask me on a more creative day). Also, I met a long-lost cousin of mine, Germaine, who turns out to be one of the coolest people I know. He (thankfully) got me out the house and took me out to get my mind of work and other unmentionables. I met a few of his friends, one of whom is quickly becoming one of my good friends (shout out to Tracy!).

The two weeks I’d spent there made this trip one of the longest trips I’ve taken to Jamaica in a long time. It was nice being able to wake up every day without feeling rushed to accomplish any particular task other than my work schedule. Grandma’s house feels just as much like home as my family’s house in Florida, which is a beautiful feeling in itself. I found myself, once again, in love with the atmosphere of Kingston. It was life in Florida, multiplied. More of our people, more things to do, an even hotter sun, even sexier beaches. Every time I visit, I find myself gravitating closer to the idea of moving there. Slowly but surely, it seems to be working out that way. I bring and leave more clothes with every trip; the next time I go, I’ll need nothing more than a carry-on bag (which will save me the $15 to $25 a bag that Spirit loves to charge passengers). I finally opened a bank account there, which brings me one step closer to fully establishing my business down there.

I went out a few times, with either Germaine or Tracy, and met a few cool people along the way. I went to a magazine launch party, Timber-lee music video launch, couple of parties (Quad, Pure, and Fiction), fashion show, and Lime Cay (finally!!!). I’d say that overall, it was one of the funnest and most productive trips to Jamaica I’ve ever taken. I also (miraculously) got over you-know-who. All it took was him sending me the most self-absorbed message I’ve ever seen on MSN. I can’t even remember why i was so involved in the first place. But I thank him for being so distant and cold towards me (although nothing I’ve ever done earned such treatment). Without such behavior, I never would’ve had the much-needed epiphany that has allowed me to regain my confidence and start dating again. Do I still care about him? …Yes. I don’t hate him, and never will, and wish him the very best. But that won’t stop me from living my life.

So all in all, I’d say that this was a MUCH needed trip. I needed the business, and needed the closure. Thankfully, God graced me with both. I’m so thankful. I’m planning my next trip to Jamaica for mid-April, around Easter time. My friend Tiffany and I are going down for carnival. This will be my first carnival experience, so I’m slightly excited! We are going to wear costumes and everything. It should be interesting.