Im no Clepto, but I do steal . . .

No, I don't were raggedy shoes and walk out of Parisian's (which has some really cute dresses for the season!) with the new purple suede pumps this old lady was feeling on my feet. I steal good ideas and practices I like. It's like Sarah's wack excuse for stealing Joanie's elephant poses "Copying someone is a form a flattery, right?" but Im not in a America's Next Top Blogger competition, so it doesnt matter:). This is my disclaimer: I have stolen this survey from Michael's blog b/c I enjoyed reading it and will begin to have my own sort of music selection that fits my post, like Yasmine's 'Now Playing.' Ciara's "I want the title" is still playing in my head from her last post . . .

Four Your Info (and mine too since it forces me to think)

Four jobs I've had in my life:

1. Saedi & Wells, LLC - my first real job that paid. I was a clerk at a family friends' law firm. Long lunches, good pay, great perks:)
2. Upscale Magazine Intern - my pay was in articles and free books . . . does that count?
3. Hilltop Newspaper - staff writer, asst. campus editor, managing editor
4. Knight Ridder/ Tribune Campus Intern - paid in one credit and make-up and other products I reviewed. A great experience of being a meat ball in a bowl of rice cuz going to Howard you can sometimes forget you are a minority. I was reminded hear when I found collagen Lip pumping Lip Gloss on my desk to review . . .Im 21 and black . . .my lips need no pumping. Though I enjoyed doing the Kwanzaa Primer and it looks HOT! Did they ask me to do it because I was black???




Four Nicknames I have been given:
1. Reah-Riah-Roah, my brother and 3 first cousins = the six cousins. I love those guys. Summers in South Carolina rocked! *That's us playing in the dirt.
2. Re Re- from the song "With the Re Re Re, with the Re Re Re, char"sung to me by the 6 cousin clan:) My mom and other close family and friends calls me this
3. Peppermint Patty - my grandma (paternal) still calls me that to this day. 'A sweet sensation' She saw a mint chocolate commercial when I was little and the name stuck for her chocolate grandbaby.
4. Charree-ree, my FAVORITE nickname that my little sister Deja boo calls me
5. Dark n lovely, chocolate, sexual chocolate, etc. All the bums and nasty old men on the street. I don't answer to any of them. I mean really, do they really think they are original?


Four movies I would watch over and over:

1. Best Man
2. Sister Act Two
3. The six cousin tape where we were baptized by our grandaddy and the pool party that follows and where at 6 I did my runway walk and proclaimed "I am a model"
4. The Last Dragon (thanks to my brother)

Four places I have lived:

1. the same house my whole life of off Columbia Drive in the eastside suburb of Atlanta

2. My grandma's houses in South Carolina when my mom took courses in the summer. awwww the memories
3. Bethune Annex, East Towers - Howard U. The not-so-social/ honors/ scholarship dorms. It was a struggle to meet friends, but somehow I managed:)
4. Though I haven't moved in yet, I will living in Union Square in Manhattan for the summer in NYU's U-hall

Four TV Shows I love to watch:

1. Different World!!!! "What in the hell is that?" true fans can relate:)
2. Living Single. I can so see that being me in my 20s though Kadejah makes starting a magazine look a lot easier than it is
3. UPN has really come up. I LOVE Everybody Hates Chris, ANTM (go Dainelle!!!), Girlfriends (am I the only one who saw that episode when it really wasn't girlfriends but like a spin off with Regina from Steve Harvey and Tia or Tamara with a boyfriend who goes pro. I liked it . ..
4. Disney Channel! That's so Raven, Proud Family, Suite Life of Cody and Zach (don't laugh) I went through withdrawal at Howard. How do you not have Bravo, Oxygen and Disney on cable???

Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios - the standard Orlando family trips as a child
2. Spain and Morocco - 10th grade. By far one of the best trips I have ever been on. few chaperones + no ID for drinks = 10-day long party!
3. New Orleans - Im so glad I was able to go when the city was in its glory. Still hard to believe its current state
4. Las Vegas! I leave in the morning. Pray for me as I head to Sin City b/c it's going down(I had to pause to do the motorcycle dance . . . Im back)!!!!!!

Four people I could not live without:

1. My momma. Though I am in my room now b/c we just got into a argument about how I should 'conduct' myself in Vegas. Even though she annoys me since we are so much alike, she is my ROCK!
2. My few great friends led by my B/F. What can I say. I get all I need from those friendships. See you guys at the top . . .And this summer:)
3. My baby sister Deja who keeps me on my toes and all my family that love me for me. If I dropped out of school and became a complete failure, they would still love me, and most importantly, feed me:)
4. the haters. keep me reaching higher. I begin to hum Jill Scott's 'I keep'

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Haagen Daaz Rum Raisin ice cream!!!! I eat it like Im pregnant and it is my craving.
2. Shrimp or Chicken Pad Thai, Chicken Satay and a iced green tea on the side from Simply Home. My favorite meal of the moment from my favorite Thai spot. Though I do want to try Thai-tanic . . .
3. the black-eyed-peas, yams, mac and cheese and collards from Hodge's
4. My Aunt Punchie (Yvonne to non-family:)'s Watergate Salad!!!! It is so good and is like a whipped cream fruit salad with pistachio pudding (so its green!). Man I wish I had gotten her cooking gene instead of my mom's I-burn-pancakes cooking skills. or lack therof.



Four folks who I have tagged:

1. Michael the Cynic that has softened (tag me and I tag you back!)
2. Tia Williams (shake that beauty, people)
3. Yasmine
4. Shani

I am not my hair!!!

I have to start this post off with words that are really weird to type: R.I.P. Nicole Murphy!
Sadly, Along with a hey, my high school buddy John, asks me 'Did you hear about Nicole?' he then tells me about one of my classmates, Nicole Murphy, passed away and it blows my mind. me and her were on the newspaper staff together and spent a lot of time together. she had Sickle Cell and I later find out she died in her sleep. Her funeral is Saturday - the day before Mothers Day. I definitely pray for her mom. Later in the week, I am flipping through my yearbook with friends and the first yearbook signing I see is from her. Just makes me see how important it is to value life!!!!!!!!!!!!
After John tells me the news about Nicole, I go outside and say goodbye to my family, head to my car to get my cell phone and plan on going back into the mall to look around. Before I get to my car this dude stops me and tries to holler. Though my usual routine is to throw out the "I have a boyfriend" line - which I now secretly wish were true- and keep it moving, I like this guys approach. so I lean in the window and listen. he introduces himself (his name is Chauncey) and I do the same, we chat a bit though I know my family can probably see us so I end the convo. As I am about to walk away I hear him say "you got some pretty hair." He drives away and I don't know how to react. I mean I love my new beyonce-ish wet'n'wavy 'do but its just for some summer fun. Hope that's not the only reason he tried to talk . . .
But I also have my own confession. As I basically hid behind my sister's bday party and didn't even go to church the first weekend I was home, as soon as I got my hair done I was in the streets. I already LOVED India Arie's 'I am not my hair' jam. And the remix with Akon makes me love it even more. As me and Justin sat in Atlanta traffic on our trip home last week, I heard V-103 talk about a secret concert they were putting on that night with Arie and I sooo wish I could have gone. I have loved her since her first album and she is one of the rare artists whose album I actually buy. But as I transform from caterpillar to butterfly, just because my hairdresser since 5th grade, Ms. Sheila (who truly understands my struggle as she grew my hair out for me in 6th grade with crochet braids, and ironically whose chair I sat in last March when my hair inevitably came out) hooks me up with a hot new 'do, I feel a little guilty for not being able to really live out the lyrics of the song. I mean, my hair is pretty and has a nice little curl in its natural state. But I still am building the confidence I need to really rock it. I did go a few days and run errands rocking a cute natural style, but as soon as Ms. Sheila was free I raced to her house and got hooked up. I know I am not my hair inside my head, but outside it is still a struggle.

Queen

When can I have a warm meal and a cigarette?

This is the question my grandma asks the doctor while she is in the hospital. Though her smoking for so long makes us all a bit uneasy, her asking for food and cigarettes keeps a sense of normalcy and a forecast that everything' is going to be alllrigght. I mean she had just came to visit me the week before I left school and a few weeks later she is in pain at home, finally goes to the hospital after my aunts (my dad's sisters) beg her to go and she is sure her doctor is in, gives him and all his colleagues hell, and goes on to prescribe her own treatment on what she will and wont do. See they really should have named me Naomi after her . . .
I found all this out at the Piccadillys at South Dekalb at dinner. My dad's Uncle - the one who is a preacher and thinks he is so cool with his belt to the side and his new wife in NC - invited me, my mom, my aunt Gloria, who is a lawyer who just moved back to the city and who's Peachtree apartment I wish were mine, and his nephew, a balding young guy. I had drove over from seeing my friend Shuntia in the hospital after having a C-section. She was so ready to go home and I wish there was something I could do for her. Her fiance' came when I was about to go and I was happy to see he was so excited about their baby, though his friend with the fro puff was let down easy:). Just like black folk, he was trying to convince her to order a extra pizza for dinner so him and his friend could eat. even if it is pizza, its still hospital food . . .and somebody has to pay for that overpriced food.
Dinner with the family was hilarious. My Aunt Sug, as we call her, was happy at the server's mistake to bring her two orders of okra. My Uncle Jasper, who lives alone since his wife lives in Charlotte, was loving the spotlight of sitting at the edge of the table and telling a story of grover and lamont from Sanford and Sons. While laughing and talking I see a guy I went to high school with come in and he is looking pretty good. I was happy that my aunt and great-uncle got to see how my mom can sometimes be so unfreakin-cool as she acted like a deer in the headlights when getting her bread for me - just say Spanish cornbread!
After laughing and eating for the longest (my broccoli and rice dish and carrot souffle were on point) we finally get in line to check out. I go say hey to my high school buddy John, who now goes by JE, and we hug and chat. He seems sort of glad to see me and says that we have to hang and that he will facebook me.

My weekend and my love for DSGBs

Welcome home me!!!!!!!!
This weekend was a real treat. After driving all day Thursday from D.C. (well, I drove the first 3 hours and Justin did the rest;) I enjoyed a lazy morning on Friday. I mean, I don't think I am the only one who has missed having the Disney channel and the Oxygen channel at Howard. In the midst of my That's so Raven, Living Single and Different World marathon, the door bell rings. Looking a mess I scramble to grab a scarf to cover my buckwheat-inspired hair and put some shorts on under my big comfy tee. I get to the door and ask who is it and the sound of my nosey yet loving neighbor announces herself. I open the door and my eyes are immediately drawn to the ground.
Standing before me are about eight of the cutest 2 year olds I have ever seen. I am so excited and shocked to see these little people standing on my doorstep. My neighbor quickly tells them say it, "welcome home Charreah" Some sort of mumble it as they look at me in as much awe as I am looking at them. I quickly step from behind the screen and scoop one of them up. I am amazed and excited as some start to spell their names for me and haven't even had their 2nd birthday.
Later that day my dad and my sister come to town, as kick off the celebration for my sister's 7th birthday. Me being the procrastinator I am and enjoying my Oxygen, wait till time is tight to run out and get her some presents and some decorations. Deja (my sister) and my dad get to my house just as I am putting up the last of the streamers.
The birthday weekend was great - even if I did mess up on the Rice Krispie treats.
We cooked out Saturday and so did my friend since kindergarten, Andrea,'s family up the street. I took my sister up there to play with all them bad ass kids and jump on the trampoline and so I could hang with Andrea
It was straight out of any black movie. The drunk aunties and cousins singing loud on the porch to some oldies. Kids running through the house with the water guns from Deja's grab bags. And me having a good time laughing at the drunk people, eating some of the best potato(e?) salad I have ever had outside of my great-aunt Glennie Mae's in Baltimore and finally feeling like school is really over for the year and I am now officially a Senior!
As it got later, we turned to Dae-Dae (Mike Epps) comedy special on HBO on the big screen in the family room. Though we couldn't hear the first half because of the howling outside of Karoke gone wrong, I wouldn't have heard it anyway because I was too busy checking out my new crush, a true DSGB. I mean, I usually don't go for the rough neck and though I liked the song I never wanted a soldier like destiny's children. But this guy was sooo sexy with his white tee, white 'A' hat and this tattoo on his neck. He is the 'brother' - im not sure if play-play (lol, Yasmine will get it)or real of my Andrea's boyfriend Tae (short for philante - sp.?)
unfortunately, my confidence was shook cuz I was bummy b/c her family considers me one of their own and I was just going up the street and my buckwheat was stuffed under a hat, so I sort shied away, even though I knew he was checking me out. Oh well. Maybe next time. At least my sister had a fantastic birthday and I enjoyed my first weekend back home. I def plan on getting the info on him when I talk to Andrea later today. And Sweet Auburn Fest is this weekend, which is always a ball!!!

Queen-to-be

Guilty as Charged

Okay. Okay. So I have gone a little template happy. Searching blogger world for the perfect 'look' for my blog. But then I realized all the time I have spent looking for something visual to capture my vibe, I have slacked on my postings.
I haven't shared all the fun I had last weekend going to dinner in Georgetown and expanding my drinking repertoire with one of my favorite people, Shani O , or going to Pearl and Lucky Strike last Saturday with Anya and Celeste and seeing my baby Ludacris, the cutie Tyrese, and the wack one - Nick Cannon.
I haven't shared the stress of getting ALLLLL my crap out of my room and figuring out how me and Justin would put all our stuff into Blackberry Molasses, my Cavalier. I didn't tell you how I fooled Celeste on Wednesday to 'ride to Virginia' with me which equaled a 45 minute ride just to get there as she was drafted to help me unpack a car load of my stuff at my mom's friend and line sister's house, who was very happy to see us since she and her husband don't have kids - and her lab was even happier to see Celeste as he left his mark (and hair) all over my best bud.
So in realizing how much I haven't shared, I decided to bring it back to the basics and stop trying to be something Im not (I'll save all the design stuff for myspace:) and just do what I do best - write.

Charreah

This family has got to be that fist!

Remember that line from the movie Soul Food? The grandma says at dinner one Sunday saying how all the members got to stick together. Lately I have realized how important family is to me.
Last week I finally hooked up with my grandma after she was turned away from the towers.
Though the cousin she was staying with didn't call me like she said and I was highly upset, and almost didn't see my grandma.
But that same cousin is the reason I can be writing this now. The reason I am not outside sweating trying to figure out how I can put a recliner in my cavalier.
Calling to take her up on her offer to keep some of my stuff at her house over the summer, she tells me she will send her two nephews, who I had never met, over in her truck and they would get my chair and my other stuff!
They come, one husky guy and one really big guy and they are as happy to have a cousin at Howard, as I am that I don't have to move this stuff myself. I want to thank all the girls who were nice to them and didn't take offense to their advances:). They already are making plans to visit me (and some of my friends they hope) next year.
They were offended when I offered them money after they lugged out my stuff, even though that was their first time meeting and my cousin had already told me one of them was out of work. They, Ivory and Tione, made me realized how much I enjoy introducing people as "my aunt, cousin, sister" or other title that implies closeness and shared identity.
They just increased my already present feelings of nostalgia as I excitedly prepare to go home Thursday and celebrate my sister's 7th birthday on Saturday.
So I was happy that I happen to see my cousin last week, for her to make that offer, for me to see my grandma and for other grandma to turn 76 on Sunday. Not only do I come from good and helpful genes . . .but long-living ones too.

Long livingQueen-to-be

*The picture is from my cousin Aisha's graduation last summer. The lady with the cane is my grandma, who turned 76 on Sunday. Don't mind the desperate housewives dress . . .