Christmas Cheer

Christmas Cheer by sshirley featuring a slouch sweater

Slouch sweater
etsy.com

H&M gray skinny jeans
$33 - hm.com

Converse high top trainers
$74 - kurtgeiger.com

Converse navy blue handbag
$49 - office.co.uk

Bow stud earrings
icing.com

Rag Bone grey glove
rag-bone.com

Hipster eyeglass
shopzerouv.com

Golden Girl

Golden Girl by sshirley featuring messenger bags

Organic by John Patrick button up shirt
farfetch.com

Adidas slim fit shirt
adidas.com

Jack wills jacket
jackwills.com

Vero Moda green skinny pants
$47 - veromoda.com

American Eagle Outfitters high heel boots
ae.com

Proenza Schouler messenger bag
coutureusa.com

Hive & Honey stud earrings
piperlime.gap.com

Miss Selfridge watch
$27 - missselfridge.com

Burberry scarve
$485 - monnierfreres.co.uk

IT'S GROWINGGGGGGGG SHAWTY!

When I first texlaxed in October of last year I was soooooo discouraged! I was on a hair journey that was showing absolutely no results. My hair was growing but the ends were thin. I wanted to go natural but it wasn't for me and transitioning was becoming rough. So I used a texture softener after a 5 month stretch. 

I do admit it was hard at first trying to find what moisture routine would work for my newly DRYYYYYYYYYY hair. It was a task. Till this day my hair isn't the softest (I feel more natural than relaxed) but it is thriving. I still have relaxed ends that need to be cut (2-3 inches) but I'm procrastinating. It's finally longer + it has thickness. I no longer crave that bone straight, fresh edges look because I gained thickness in it's place so no complaints here. If you are like I was and can't seem to figure out why your ends won't thicken up...consider texlaxing.

VMA F*ckery and My Back To School Outfits Video

Helllllllo Ladies! Just swinging by to say a quick hello.....(off topic) HOW SCANDALOUS WAS  MILEY CYRUS ON THE VMA'S?!? I know she is trying to distance herself from that Disney image but honey....I rebuke thee Satan inside of Miley! Miley was a wild child last night and she might be the first white person I call ratchet. *Confused Face*

OMG......Who else squealed like a little girl when NSYNC came out?!? Am I blind or is Lance now the most handsome guy out of  Nsync? Too bad he's gay. What else? Um Taylor swift received an award and threw shade at her ex boyfriend (Harry Styles?) who was present in the audience. Nowwwww if I hadn't been through a heartache/breakup I would call Miss Taylor childish, but sh*tttttttttt if I had a platform to throw shade at my ex  I would do it too.

 I think Robin Thicke was cheated out of his award for "best summer song". I mean you can't go anywhere without hearing that damn "blurred lines" song, but instead one direction got the award for "dance all night". Imma need MTV to do better with choosing winners next time. Last but not least LADY GAGA, her body is sick! Lady Gaga put on some pounds and I LOVE IT ON HER. Not too skinny and not too fat. Gaga got the YAMS/CAKE...lol.

Tee Hee...but yeah I wanted to check in and tell you guys to check out my newest video. I did a back to school look book and I would love it if my blog family checked it out. This is one of the first videos I worked my magic with movie maker and let me know how you think i did!

Me Day And R&B Divas LA

So today was one of those self pampering days for me You know how that is right ladies? One of those days where you stay home all day and catch up on your favorite tv shows, blog, tweet, etc. One of the many things I accomplished today was painting my nails. I was def inspired by one of my fellow bloggers (thanks girlie!). I used Sally Hansen's Breezy Blue and Sinful Color's Snow Me White. I put the polka dots on with a Qtip. I wanted to decorate two fingers on each hand, but I have no patience. I guess I'm getting old.

Any who do any of you guys watch R&B Divas LA? I came across this show because Kelly Price was trending on Twitter so out of curiosity I tuned in. OMG this show is hilarious...please tell me this show is scripted because Kelly Price's Azz is cray cray! Its funny but ironically with the creation of reality TV we get to see the REAL personality of these super stars, sometimes its ugly. I knew nothing about Kelly Price prior to this show, I only knew she had a powerful voice. This heifer is a DIVA tho, she puts Maria Carey and Pdiddy to shame.
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Others on the show are Lil Mo (who I love) she cracks me up. You have Dawn from en vogue, Chante Moore, Michel le (who looks like La Toya Jackson or someone in the Jackson family post nose job), and Claudette Ortiz (who is stunningly gorgeous). I'm mad I didn't know about this show before but I have a new addiction. If any of you watch this do you think Kelly had reason to flip out when Fred was appointed as the director? Man twitter was having a field day with Kelly....smh. Welp cutting the post here, talk to you again soon ladies.

Is shoulder length long? What is long hair to you?

So I was browsing the hairlista forum and I found an interesting discussion going on. There was a question posed asking ladies what hair length they considered to be "long". They were also asked what hair length was considered "too long\undesirable". I don't know, I feel like the perception of "long" in the black hair community is all out of whack.

Let me back track a little bit for those of you who do not know what this hair lingo is. Alright so during my hair journey and frequenting blogs/youtube I learned that there was secret world online. Like a little cult (that's how I tried to explain it to my boyfriend lol). This hair community has its own lingo, location, and hair journey veterans (those who've mastered growing hair).

So what are the hair length names and what do they mean? Well here it goes:

EL- Ear length
SL- Shoulder length
APL- Arm pit length
BSL-  Bra Strap length
MBL- Mid back length
WL- Waist length
Tailbone length
HL- Hip length

Now a majority of the woman shunned shoulder length hair...maybe one person said shoulder length hair was long. Mostly all the women believed that APL-BSL hair was where you joined the long hair club. Then you had the handful of women who thought BSL was where long hair could be claimed. On the subject of "too long" most agreed that anything past hips or the butt was too long.
As for myself I think APL hair is long, anything past HL is scissors time lol. I think the perception of long hair is out of whack especially in the online hair community because we know that black hair has potential to grow past certain lengths. We know and have witnessed hair possibilities. How can I explain that better?

Before I learned about the online hair community the longest hair that I'd seen on a person (African American) in real life was MBL. I grew up in a predominantly minority neighborhood and I'd seen long natural hair with my younger classmates, but as we all grew and applied chemicals to our tresses our length went bye bye. Now that I'm older to be honest with you I probably know 3  people in my neighborhood/job/highschool with REAL BSL hair or longer. I believe that standards are higher if you know what hair journeys are about, but If you asked me what the beginning point of long hair is "pre hair community" it'd be APL because in my area that length is not common.
What do you guys think? What length marks long hair for you? What hair length is too damn long? I'm curious to hear your opinions, drop a comment down below. Ohhh in this last picture down below I was APL, in the one above I'd consider myself shoulder length just so you guys could have an idea.

Hey Years...Where Are You Going?!?

Time flies.....I keep many pictures in my phone because I like that sentimental crap *smile*
I thought it'd be neat to post my pictures from September and August of last year. I would also like to write a few words to the me of last year....
Hey you.....lil girl lost, you eventually found your way. Last year you saw no signs of hope and pain was all you seemed to know. Hey you, faking those smiles while worried all the while aren't you glad you found him? Loving your best friend, you didn't understand it back then but your heartbreak did end cuz of him. Hey you, starting out your last semester of college glad you pulled through and gained some knowledge.
We are ok now thanks to you. We're not a hundred percent good, but things should be changing soon.

Don't Squeeze My Bun

I'm a big ol' sucka for a bun. Bunning is a great way to protective style your hair, and I must say that I' am quite obsessed. Buns are a sure fire way to keep ends protected especially now since people will be breaking out the wool sweaters and itchy scarves for fall.

In all honesty my go to styles are buns (especially when I'm low on cash lol). I do, however, try to switch up the position and appearance of the buns as much as possible. I'm constantly reinventing my take on buns because I get bored easily. I also do different buns to avoid putting constant stress on one main area of my hair. If you're bunning to help retain length the last thing you want to do is aggravate your hair, so switch up when you can.

Things to remember when bunning:

• Don't use scrunchies with metal parts, they can break your hair.
• Do moisturize and seal before bunning. Since your hair is up might as well give it some good TLC.
• Do try to be creative and switch your buns appearance.
• To get a nice smooth bun--} use gel, brush your edges down, and apply a head tie for 15 minutes to set your style!
• Want to add some kick to your do? Add a cute head band or some sassy big earrings. 

Enjoy bunning ladies and don't forget to follow my youtube page because I will be creating a bun series. I will showcase all of my different buns and how to do them.

Blog Lovin?

Bear with me guys...I'm trying to understand the changes of the blogging world now.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

You Are Stupid Being You

As of lately I've been feeling like the world is out to get me. Here's the thing....ever since I could remember I took on the role of "the shy kid/the quiet kid". You know the type, I was the student who was a pleasure to have in class because I was invisible and smart. I hated that shy label but it's had a hold on me for my entire life. Even into adulthood you'd think I'd grow some vertebra back there, but nope. Negative.
As an adult i don't think this being shy thing is cute anymore because I KNOW it is putting me at a disadvantage now that I'm being thrown into the real adult world. A part of me knows that I need to join some sort of club or organization that would help me to come out of my shell a lil bit. I've taken speech in college, I've done group work, and I've even worked retail! What gives? I feel like i need a course in socialization 101. Why am i like this?
I dunno i feel like deep down inside I hold back from new people because i fear what they might think of me if i were unfiltered. I just don't want people to judge me by what i do or say...which is ironic because that's inevitable. We are humans and I've come to realize we are judgmental as all f*ck. The only way people wouldn't judge you is if you were dead and even then while you lay in the coffin I'm sure some smug mutherfudger would have something to say about something. Moral of the story is I have to learn to loosen up. I should say what I want, and do what I want with no regrets because I might very well die tomorrow. I realized that I won't be everyones idea of "normal"but its important that I gain respect...and the only way I can do that is by opening up.

Hi Ya!!!!! YOUTUBER ALERT!

Hey blogger family! Sjones here, and as usual I'm back from some sort of hiatus. Honestly I'm going to get into the habit of blogging at least once a week. A blog is a great way to express yourself and I think I've taken this forum of self expression for granted. Last time I checked in I was on a hair kick, and I've pretty much stuck with it (but not on here) *ashamed face*

BUT *happy face* I'm here to put all of you guys on and let you know about my youtube channel. I honestly did dread the idea of interconnecting my social networks for fear of people that I know in real life finding me....but what the heck! Livin La Vida Loca Right? So If you folks are into hair videos, fashion videos, and vlogs then come on over and subscribe to my youtube channel. I promise my content will only get  better with time......lol. I will definitely insert my most popular video in this post and maybe my channel may hold something worthwhile for someone in my  blogger family.

On another note, I missed talking to you guys so much. Dang it's been a while since I updated you all with anything, and that's only because the blogger app I was using had technical difficulties. I usually blogged on the go so once my app bugged out I got lazy. Alright as promised.....more hair posts very soon. I'll be catching you up with my life, sharing stories, and reading up on some of your blogs. Stay Tuned, MUAH!

Hair, hair over here!

Right now I am currently texturized, and what that means  is  that I no longer get relaxers. I have been using texture softners to tame my new growth. Clearly my hair is still chemically altered, but in my sick mind I think texture softners are a lot less harmful.

Being texturized is no walk in the park. My hair is sooooooo coarse, and  the magic of the texture softner only works for 3 weeks after its applied. I had my first texture softener in October, and my second one in January. Prior to my first texture softner I was relaxed. To be honest with you, if I could go back in time and remain relaxed I would. I hate my texturized hair because its outrageously unmanageable, and it also requires so much attention. As a relaxed sister I could a night or two without moisturizing and sealing,  but nowwwww?!? Ugh!

Now im at  a crossroads of figuring out what can keep my two textures moisturized. I also would like to gradually cut off my relaxed ends. Maybe the more hair I cut off, the easier it will be to tolerate my mane. Anywayz I want to document my hair journey here. I'll be posting protective styles, progress I've made, products I love, and hair related articles. Anywho I included a picture of my updo created by putting bantu knots in my hair, think it came out cute. Lol...toodles yall.

If Only For One Night

So, I'm sitting here listening to the tunes of Luther Vandross. The song "If Only For One Night" is my jam!!! As I listen to this song I can't help but to wonder, what if tomorrow night was my last night on Earth? What if tomorrow was the last day I would see the blue skies, chirping birds, receive a hug, give a kiss to someone I love? What if tomorrow night was the last night I got to hold my honey in my arms, and fall asleep while watching him sleep. Sheesh. If tomorrow was my last day alive where would I go, what would I do? Can I truly say that I've lived my life to the fullest? In 2013 I would like to challenge myself to live like this is my last year to live. What if it is my last year alive? If this were my final year on Earth that'd be kinda sad. I'd hate to die, and say that I hardly lived. So yes....operation live it up in 2013 is in effect! (As soon as I get a stable job...lol....let's be realistic here).

All jokes aside though, there are a few things that I would like to be MANDATORY before 2013 makes its exit such as:

• Go to the beach and walk on a boardwalk as the sun is setting (cheesy I know, but hey I gotta do it)
• Ride a horse ( I wanted to do this for so many years now...but as usual I put it off)
• Kiss in the rain (maybe a little more) like in those romantic movies ( Haaaaaaaa haaaaaaa see what Luther is doing to me. Black girls are not usually down with their hair getting wet, but I'd like to make the exception just once.)
• Go on vacation with cash in my pockets (I've gone on vacations with my mom far too many times with my pockets being far too empty. After all, I was a struggling college student.)
• Get a belly button piercing----> Obviously that means the body has to get into tip top shape

Ehh I guess that's it so far for my 2013 bucket list. I promise you all that these things will happen before 2014......tired of living like I'm guaranteed 60 more years of life. Dang Nabbit, I have to start living. Nothing is promised to anybody. 

President Obama's Inauguration

So pretty much for the majority of the day I was posted up at home. As much of you already know today was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but that's not alllllllllll! It was also the Inauguration day of Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th president. Today, similar to 4 years ago when he was elected to office the first time, I was moved. Today was a historical day because not only do we have a black president in office, but today he took office for a second term. January 21, 2013 is extremely special to me, and let's not forget to mention this is the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's I have a dream speech. I know a lot of people might be sick of the whole "oh they keep praising Obama because he is a black president" but to me him being in office is more than that. To me, him being in office means that Dr. King's dream has come to light. The thing that strikes me is that fact that we can live among each other with peace and love.

Equality wasn't something far fetched and because we turned the other cheek like Dr. King instructed us to, look at how far we have come. There is a black man in office, gays are no longer taboo, everyone can vote, women can participate in government, and my future son knows that he can be somebody.

During my last semester of school I remember doing a paper on Dr. King and getting so emotional. I  read his autobiography written/edited by Clayton Clairborne, and I tell you that is the most I have cried while reading any piece of literature. I connected with Dr. Kings letters, the stories of how blacks were tormented, humiliated, and made to feel inferior. After I finished his autobiography I thanked the lord for the people (women, children, college students) who put their lives at stake in order to really and truly obtain FREEDOM. I then thought of Obama who didn't use this accomplishment of being "the first black president" as something to divide us, instead he used it as something to bring us TOGETHER.

So here is to you Barack Obama.....And here is to you Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Thank You For Paving The Way.

America, The Land of The Free.

  Oh.... And Here Is Beyonce During The 2008 Inaugural Ball....This Moment Will Be In My Head For The Rest of My Life.  Black Love <3 p="p">

Try, Try Again?

If you try hard enough, something good will come of it eventually.

The situation is temporary.

The knowledge that I gained in college is valuable and I'm better for having gained it.

I copied these three bullets down to use as a daily reminder. I'm seriously down you guys. I've been browsing the net, and I found that it is common for college graduates to suffer from depression. I sleep late into the day, I always make plans to leave my house but never do, I don't want to interact with people outside of my family, and the more I get rejected from jobs the more I want to stay home in bed. If these "symptoms" persist I may have to see a therapist to get out of this zone.

He Isn't a Damn Slot Machine!

I was just sitting back, reminiscing about a situation that I am no longer in, and I thank the lord for that. I remember getting broken up with 2 years ago,  and I will never forget being in the middle of my living room floor (literally) in a puddle of tears/mucus. My whole family walked past me that day while I was lying in my puddle, and I know I looked pathetic. Anyways fast forward to now and I'm the happiest I've ever been with any man. Sounds so cliche, but time does heal. Right now I currently have a friend who is going through the same make up to break up pattern that I went through, and my heart hurts for her. It's hard not to watch this inevitable train wreck because I can't help but to see myself in this person.

College Graduate? Should Have Been a Dropout!

I'm about to be real candid with you all. Being a college graduate is not all that some say it's cracked up to be. I mean, I hate to come off as a spoiled brat but what is supposed to be the happiest time of my life is soooooo daunting. After you graduate there is a whole other ball game of trying to find a job. I honestly feel like my head is about to explode because i have zero income (since I quit my part time gig in order to focus on school in my last semester), and I'm steady trying to figure out how to save a damn penny. I' am honestly trying to find a part time gig right now to have money in my pockets so that I could immerse myself in trying to find a "Real Job". Even looking for a part time gig is proving to be this arduous task. Smh. I'm so broke.

Being a college graduate is looking like real dog sh*t to me right now.

Hand Over The iPhone B*tch

New York City, New York City.

Sometimes living in this area is a double edged sword. So many people desire to visit here, and see what this place has to offer. The number of tourists we get weekly, monthly, and yearly well those numbers are astronomical. There is no place like NY, I'm pretty sure of that. This is one of the most unique places to be, and like I hear all the time "If you can make it here, you'll make it anywhere".

But with the good comes the bad, OH YES!

Winter Wonderland

Ugggg To Be Honest With You Guys I' am So Over The Winter! I've Been Sick Twice Already And It's Only January. Sucks Major. Anywho, One Thing I Do Like About Winter Are The Fashion Possibilities. If You Can't Beat It, Style In It. *Shrug*

Winter Wonderland by sshirley featuring meredith wendell

Madewell vintage denim shirt
madewell.com

Wunderkind shearling jacket
$2,175 - avenue32.com

Joseph skinny leg pants
theoutnet.com

Tony Lama leather western boots
sheplers.com

Cross body handbag
dsw.com

Scarve
stefanel.com

Meredith wendell
meredithwendell.com

The Tantalizer

I glance your way, and get locked into your gaze. Those eyes, that smell, I know them very well.




Thump, Thump, Thump. It pounds  and I'm consumed into the world of you.