Dear October

Be True To Yourself

I actually saw this tag on Inside Look's blog and decided to just do it (thanks chick)!!!

 

Spa Week- Fall Edition

I am sooo excited that today officially kicked off SpaWeek. Starting today you're able to book spa packages at any of the participating spas/salons for $50. For the past 2 1/2 years I have treated myself to a massage. It wasn't until recently that they've started having Spaweek twice a year. If you've never experienced Spaweek or have never indulged in a massage, facial, or pedicure now is definitely the time to book. You can book your today by visiting here.

If you're in my area and wondering where I booked, I chose Zoe Salon and Spa (again). They actually have two locations, but I chose this one since it's near my part-time job. If you like to know my previous experience click here.

Let me know if you all choose to take advantage of SpaWek

Remembering Sept. 11th

I remember Sept. 11th 2011 like it was yesterday. It was one of the most beautiful days ever. 10 years ago my friend ran into my dorm room and announced that the world trade center collapsed. My roommate/bestie/soror and I sat up half sleep and in disbelief of what we heard and what we were about to see. I remember the entire campus walking around like zombies. No one knew what was going on if we were safe as a school and more importantly as a country.

Over this past week I've watched several specials and 1st hand accounts of what happened on Sept. 11th. Even watching all of the footage 10 years later my emotions are still raw. I can't watch at all without my eyes becoming teary. I'm actually watching as I type and that particular area in NY looked like a ghost town. If I remember correctly, I thought at the time, the President didn't react quickly enough, but after watching his initial response, I saw he too was in shock (if not more). There were sooo many people that lost their lives and my thoughts and prayers go out to each of them and their families. 10 years later I'm a bit more mature and able to see the act of terrorism as it is. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be on one of the top floors above where the actual plane hit and know that I'm not going to make it down.

I see why the choice to go to Afghanistan was made although I don't fully understand it. I'm going to end with God Bless America and all the people that lost their lives on Sept. 11th or in the Afghan War as a result f Sept. 11th. Sept. 11th is a date that will forever be etched in my heart and mind. Gone but not forgotten!!!

Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture...

I just automatically thought that earthquakes didn't happen on the east coast. I know we have a hell of a lot of tornado's, after effects of hurricanes, and floods but never have I experienced a earthquake. So as I was sitting at my desk joking with my coworkers our chairs started to vibrate and we joked like who the heck is running down the hall shaking our chairs. About 3 seconds later the shakes became more violent. I mean we were really moving and things were falling. My co-workers in our large break room said that the tables were sliding.  As I stated earlier I had never experienced an earthquake, until then. Lets just say I too started shaking profusely. One of my co-workers that has experienced an earthquake got her purse and and headed out followed by another. As I turn and looked, everyone was shouting its an earthquake and the only ones left on my team was my manager and I. We were both standing there like what do we do and then she says lets get out of here so I grab my purse and realize that I brought my journal (ya know, to let work, work for me) so you know I had to grab that!!! By this time we meet up with our safety leader for fire evacuations and she says that we shouldn't leave. After about 2 minutes our VP comes by and says to get out. As we are outside everyone is trying to text and call their family members/loved ones. Lets just say nothing worked. Now mind you this earthquake was nothing in comparison to the earthquake in Japan. However, at that moment I knew what it felt like to not be able to get in contact with anyone to let people know that you were alright and make sure that they are alright. However, Twitter was that ram in the bush for a lot of people (including ya girl, follow me @akakristin). For a while I was able to receive incoming but couldn't make any outgoing. Luckily my phone was working when my part time job called to inform me that my boss had decided to close up shop for the rest of the day!!! In a perfect world, work would have been dismissed early at my full-time job too, however that didn't happen.

After actually finding out that it was indeed an earthquake (as if). I went into geek mode and also learned that it measured a 5.8 on the rictor scale, with the epicenter in Mineral, Va. From researching further,  I learned that anything over a 4.0 earthquake can be felt. I mean in comparison to the earthquake in Japan this was about half the size of that (somewhat, of course we know that was on another level). There were reports that there has been 3 aftershocks since the initial earthquake. The last aftershock, a little after 8 measured a little over a 4.0. After watching the news tonight this earthquake was felt in several parts of the east coast. I heard that NY, MD, NC, GA, MA, and even Canada felt the ground shake. There was structural damage in parts of Alexandria, with 3 smashed cars from the bricks falling. There are also people in parts of Md. that are homeless tonight due to structural damage/shifting not allowing them in their own homes. Even the Washington monument sustained cracks. So far I haven't heard of any casualties (thank God).  What I learned from today's earthquake is that God is still in control. He is able to do things that we deem impossible. And today he showed us by shaking things up a bit, literally.

Well another item to scratch off on the list of things-I've-never-done... survive an earthquake. Did any of you have any earthquake experiences?

The Help

I actually purchased The Help about 4-5 months ago just to read it and was shocked as I watched the previews of Jumping The Broom that it'd be turned into a move.

I Got the Stylish Blogger Award

I've been awarded the Stylish Blogger Award (insert cheers)

A while back Naturally Divona and Nappy Hair University awarded me the Stylish Blogger Award and I was very happy and excited to do it. However, I forgot about it and didn't do it when I should have (da*n procrastination...gets me all the time). Sooo, whatbetter day than today. Thank you both so much for the award, be sure to check out their blogs as well. I may tweak the rules a bit and only award 7 bloggers #justsayn.



So these are the rules:



To accept the award, you must follow these rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person that awarded you this award

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award



1. I'm the oldest of 4
A lot of people think I'm an only child because I suffer from that syndrome and I sometimes have a bratty, spoiled, all-about-me attitude. Keep in mind you all, I grew up with my granparents and living with them I WAS the only child (insert devilish laugh)!!!

2. If I could go back in time I wouldn't go to college directly after high school
Unfortunately, I'm not in the percentile of people that have known they wanted to be a doctor/lawyer from childhood. I feel like I would have benefitted from more life experiences first and really learned how much debt you go into going to colleg. Please don't think I'm against education cause I'm totally not. I just feel like that should be one of our freedoms as well. If you went to college and have the loans to prove it, you just may feel me.

3. I don't want a traditional 9-5 job
I scream on the inside everyday that I'm working from a desk, in a building, without a Mac, and nice scenery. I just want a fun creative job that lets me do what I do best. Anything in communication or evokes creativity. I'm not saying that I'm not thankful for my job but as Drake say's I-Can-Do-Betta

4. I'm kind of scared of a relationship
Now you all know I've had my share of dates. For a while, I couldn't make anything work cause I had someone lurking in the background. Now that I don't, I start to think if I want to be vunerable and committed. Can I, Kristin, meet a guy that would accept me for me, flaws and all. I've never lived with a guy and if I get in a relationship that works, the next step just may be marriage and a ssshhhh...baby. Its like sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I know for a fact that I ain't tryna be nobody's #bootycall. I guess I'll just let that one play out on its own.

5. I need to be singing somewhere
Yes I sing, if you didn't know click on one of my many YT videos and you'll see. I know that I'm talented but I just have to find the right avenue to express those talents. I actually prefer writing over singing. There are only two genre's I'd like to work in and that's gospel or neo-soul. Since I'm in DC you may as well throw in go-go. Actually, wherever there's a live band that's where I wanna be, just grab the mic and shine.

6. I'm a foodie
Secretly, I want to the parent on the block where all the kids like to go cause 'she can cook'. I LOVE food, I base places to go on places to eat. I wish someone would come up with a tv that you could just reach inside and grab the food you see. I read reviews over and over on Yelp to make sure that I'm ordering the correct item, and going to the correct venue.

7. I LOVE, LOVE
I bet you all think that this totally contradicts me being scared of a relationship, but it doesn't. I LOVE everything about LOVE. It's the greatest commandment that Jesus gave us, it conquers all. I LOVE seeing people in love. My favorite scripture is 1 Corinthians 13, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. I hope that whenever I fall in LOVE I'll use that scripture as a reminder to any situation that may arise. Two of my tattoos represent love, the one on my shoulder says, 'Love is You'. My tattoo on my ribs are a piece of music from Love by Musiq, 'Love so many people use your name in vain'. I just LOVE it, wish we could bottle it up and pass it out!!!

Like I stated earlier I'm only awarding this to 7 people. Honestly I read a lot of blogs and I think that most of them have already recieved it. If you recieved and have already participated then ok. I'd like to award:

1. My Girl Pam
This is my cousin who has a life stye blog, definitely check her out. She'll hook you up on a political tip, family tip, and a religious top, chuuurch!!!

2. DeliberateLiterate
This is one of the first bloggers I became virtual friends with in 2008. Very nice blog.

3. Lush In Flats
She has a natural hair blog and recently created this blog devoted to her personal stye.

4. Curly Nu Growth
New natural hair blogger as well as stylist in the DMV that I recently met.

5. Looking Fly On a Dime
Kool blogger that has been strictly thrifting for about a year now. I had an opportunity to go thrifting with her as well.

6. Frivolosity
If you live in the DMV you'll definitely need to check this blog out. She knows about EVERYTHING that's happening. In my mind she's my virtual aunt. I imagine her having the purses I want to borrow and introducing me to restaurants I never thought about visiting.

7. Meechy Monroe
Fellow YouTuber with an awesome blog. I think she's a foodie as well.

Natural Hair Meetup...DC Edition

Today I had an opportunity to attend a new natural hair meetup in DC. If you are in the DMV area or if you're visiting soon be sure to check out the Nu Growth meetup group. If you happened to miss out on this awesome event, no worries, there will be another event of this sort on the 13th. Of course you'll have to check out the group (and hopefully join) to get more info. Although, I've attended several meetups/events in the area, today solidified that I need business cards. I mean everyone was passing theirs around while I wrote mine on a napkin... I digress.

What I can tell you from the start is that there are several trendy ladies in this group. I LOVED the boy cut, she rocked it well.

 The organizer Jocelyn welcomed us to the event and she even printed out cute name tags with our pics on them. I later found out that she's a local hair stylist and I can't wait to try her out. You all know how my luck has been with hair stylist... I digress.  But I'm super happy that she's natural and understands the special care it takes to manage natural hair.

There were sooo many diverse women, I even met a soror (Skee-Wee).

There were even a few YouTubers in the building. I met mstiaradean, SoUtHeRnGrYl, and my girl tifflawrain was there as well/

Although there were faboulous ladies in the building, there were also a few guys that rocked their natural hair well with locks.

And of course, we definitely outnumbered the guys as always lol. Hopefully the group will start attracting more natural males as well.

I had to take a pic with her rocking this hoop. I'm not sure if you all noticed in my last post but... I recently got my nose pierced and I'm obsessed with wearing a hoop soon.

 One thing that I LOVE about the natural hair community is the way we build each other up. I swear I was having a bad hair day but these ladies complemented me and I instantly... I was boosted. I even did a mini live tutorial on how I twist. I hope to see you all at the next event. Who know's maybe I'll just host my own event soon *side eye*

I'm Bizzack

It has been a hott minute since I've posted and since today is the last day of the month I'll leave you with a few pics of whats been going on...

*I moved

*My lil sister visited

*Discovered a farmer's market

*Went to Miami 

B-Day 2K11

Today marks another milestone in my life. I've actually reached the last year of my 20s (OMG, I can't believe I actually just typed that). I can't even remember where I thought I'd be when I was 20 thinking about 29. What I will say is I am blessed to still be here and able to live my life like its golden. This year is actually on of the BEST Birthday's I've had. I can honestly say that I have a couple good friends here (unlike past years) where I could have 'planned' something but with me moving that did not happen.

I feel like this last year in my 20s I wanna live it to the fullest. There are a few things that I think are 'age-appropriate' for a 20- something-year-old that I'd still like to do. For instance I really want a piercing. I love the whole lip ring, but somehow I could see that interfering with a 'sudden' career change.  I've NEVER wanted a nose ring but for the past few months I've become infatuated with hoop nose rings. Now I'm not 100% but I am about 95 and a half!!! Funny thing is... I've never wanted a piercing other than my old az belly ring. I guess as random as I am, one day I just wake up and want to be natural, or want a piercing, or better yet... wake up and I'm 29. Now there are a few more things that I want to do that can't be disclosed on this blog (lol) but I still have time for that hopefully!!! I really want to get a few of my friends together and go zip-lining. I'd even go sky-diving.

Saturday
Although my birthday weekend wasn't that adventurous, I did go check out Bridesmaids.  I LOVED it, a total chick flick, yet good enough that the guys can't contain themselves. I also did a lot of dining out. First stop was Cheesecake Factory. Normally, that place gets on my nerves... think, been-there-done-that. However the food was GREAT as always. Unfortunately, our waitress had halitosis in the worse way. I did a bit of shopping and had a fabulous tea from one of my FAV places (more on that later).

Sunday
I also went out to eat at Guapos. The food was GROSS!!! But I LOVED the atmosphere. They had a band and I am a sucker for any type of live music. My friend also told the waitress that it was my Bday so the waiters came out and scared/surprised me.

Today (my actual born day)
My co-workers had gifts awaiting me once I arrived (late) at work.I'm super happy to work with people that know you. I always feel like you should get people what they want. And if you're not sure then go the gift card route. Later in the day I was surprised with cupcakes. If any of you slightly know me then you know I am a total cupcake connoisseur. I think my new FAV flavor is cookies and cream. Something about that cream cheese. To top my night off I went out to eat yet again at a new could be FAV local seafood restaurant.

Well my Bday has officially come to an end but you'll definitely see me living this year to the absolute fullest, long as my money ain't funny and change ain't strange. I attached the video above because it is my FAV song to get me in my Bday mood!!! Can't forget to thank my friends and family that helped me enjoy my special day. Please know that the BIG 3-0 will be on and poppin (hopefully ATL style)!!!