More Sexing in the City

sidebar  . . . isnt it kinda wack (and funny) when folks say Sex In the City for SATC? Not only proves they arent fans, but totally waters the show down to just being about Sex and it was so much more (with tons of sex mixed in). lol . . .off soapbox

So last night the work staff was treated to a screening of the film. At the last minute we were allowed to bring one guest so I took my PR Maven homie who is definitely the Samantha to my Carrie since she was in the building. And yes, she is naming her first born after me - boy or girl!

And it was so fun to see different colleagues dressed as characters. My old boss had the white beaded necklace and halter dress with tulip skirt that was definitely hitting on Charlotte and a fab fashion girlie had a tuu tuu (sp.? Help:) with her peep toes and jeans definitely channeling a quirky day in the life of Carrie.

And listening to staffers comment during priceless moments was almost as classic as Charlotte's memorable moments.

And then today a article I wrote on J.Hud's addition to the cast was posted so Im feeling good as I head into the weekend. Heading to Philly to see my little cousin graduate ands so excited my dad and little sister are coming! Gushing done, its been a rough week so maybe Im just sleep deprived and giddy . . .

Back from Mexico!

I relaxed . . .related . . .released. And partied and drank many frozen drinks:)

And you know ALL of New York was there . . 

particularly that borough Brooklyn . ..

Even ran into a guy from 30 dates with locs our first night their (Michelle's love connection, Jameil:)

Flicker album definitely coming soon along with our fav story (and there were many), from our jungle excursion riding speed boats (the crew kicked me out of the drivers seat for swerving:) and snorkeling in the beautiful reef, that we coined Brokeback Boating . .. .

And Ill be back to posting on the regular getting ready to take two days off and travel was more hectic than I expected. And I still have to post about Belle's amazing dinner even if it is all late. 

-Adios

*My spanish was way better in Mexico then it was in Spain. I felt all cool when my friend was cold in the car heading to the airport to go and was asking the driver to turn down the air and he had no clue, and I belted out 'Frio' and he turned it down. One small step for Spanglish speakers like me:)

Joys of Friended

A few months ago Im on facebook doing some clicking around when I see some friend requests. One catches my eye

Is that who I think it is, I thought.

It was. Malik Yoba.

I click thinking it will be some fake page by a fan but reading the info Im thinking it is indeed Malik. Im not one for being star struck or impressed easily but I got a little excited, not that this guy knew who I was or that I was that special as Im sure he friended dozens of folks. But that I was real friends (not facebook ones) with someone who was.

But that's where it stops.

New York Undercover has a special place in my heart, coming on Thursday nights which was cleaning time in my house, so with the smell of ammonia on the kitchen floor from mom mopping, I ran through the hall to empty trash cans in the house during commercial breaks, I watched Living Single which I liked but wasnt ready to love like I do now, then it was time for New York Undercover which always had great music to me.

But if you arent Malik Yoba or the guy who played Torez (Eddie) who me and my good friend then were in love with, then a blind friend request and we've never met without a note or some hello, isnt something I like to click accept to. Its almost kinda rude. Its not that serious so I usually accept, but it always makes me feel a little weird giving a complete stranger access to my personal pics and info and they didnt even say hello or where you may know me from.

In comes limited profile:) Love that

Oh, the protocol and politics of friending.

And for those of us who started a profile in college and now have moved on to the real world its tougher, as the face isnt just a place to stay in touch with childhood friends, but now a place for networking and building strategic relationships. A publicist who is cool and I work with a lot friended me a while back and for a brief second I panicked a little thinking, she's going to see the real me with weird statuses and not just my professional shell. She's also is going to know how old I am. Out goes the year next to my bday:)

And like every other area in my life it makes since you will have to grow up your social network self like I did my style and vocab. While also keeping in touch with amazing folks and building relationships, so moments like the one where Amy Dubois Barnett, my inspiration for going into magazines, friended me on Myspace and I did the robot in my seat . . . and like the nerd I am I told her just that when we met . . .

Gotta love technology . . .just remember to take your manners on your online travels:)

The Frog Prince

And for the last two weeks Ive been watching Season 5 of SATC on demand. Since I absolutely love the love story of Charlotte and Harry (Im not the only one who has met a guy you like but totally dreading that moment of him meeting the friends because he doesnt quite fit your neat package)

Then turns out to be the best sex of her life (her words, not mine) and even has her fighting to become jewish to marry him. The difference some good loving will make. lol

So I wrote the above two sentences two weeks ago and its so appropriate I would start again now. Last night had dinner with Ari before she heads to Italy for the summer (yeah, I have such a love to hate ya relationship with friends traveling . ..my day is coming,REALLY:), and one of our mentors, a fellow Howard alum in her late 40s. And as all our conversations seem to land, we discussed weddings then relationships. Lady S is single and shares she was one of those women who just thought it would happen and time slipped away. She has plenty of hilarious stories of this ex or that one, so she has dated her share. And for the last 9 months Ive known her she's been mostly single . . .

So Im not so quick to hit her with my "it wouldnt be so bad to marry well sooner than later" theory since she doesnt see marriage as such a strong possibility for her as she once did. She asks about dating and I tell her about this nice guy who is great catch but maybe not for me. When she asks what's wrong with him, I really have nothing to say. He's tall, dark and handsome. Funny, employed and loves his mama. Typing this Im wondering why I havent proposed to him yet myself. lol. But there are other things I would like too. And she hits me with, in 10 weeks or 10 months you have to ask if that stuff will matter. And for someone always with a witty comment I have nothing to say. 

 I told her about another guy before I wasn't into and my first reason was all how he hated on another guy, then she breaks down men dont think anything is wrong going for the same girl and all is fair in love and war, and calls me on the real reason: I couldnt see myself having sex with him. Now that matters and now we're getting somewhere she says 

She is living proof the dream wont just come sit in your lap. And we've already gone along with the host that we are sisters and we resemble some so it was like a 40-year old me talking to me. Spooky. And Im defintiely not a settler but I dont want to be too late to realize I let a good thing keep it moving. Im taking notes from Lady S and Charlotte indeed . . . and definitely give the Harrys you know my number:)

Charm Trunk Event

A few pictures of the fashion and fun of our spring showcase tea party and sale

Speak Brother, Speak

So a lady I know who has a black actors company sent an email blast to friends about a play. Im a big fan of live entertainment, and especially Black theater and actors. And I gotta balance out those seasons of Flavor of Love I watched . . . Speaking of which I saw Shay/Bucky randomly in the airport, at the Airtran check-in so its cool Im not the only one trying to save a dollar wherever I can.
After the second plea email from the theater woman I knew I had to go check out the play WEBEIME and not just because hottie Lahman Rucker had given me a flyer when I met him and he was in it. It was described as the guy version of When Colored Girls Considered Suicide, (which I can’t wait to see with India.Arie this summer!) So on a Saturday I somehow get my homie MV to come along and we walk over since its close by at the Harlem School of the Arts. First person I see when I walk in Kisa and I just smile and again know the world is a tiny place.
Me and Kisa go back to an Atlanta internship summer program where we thought we were little business ladies meeting for lunch from our jobs. And of the 6 Black students in the program, 3 of us went to HU including me and Kisa. I always admired her for her artistic passion and being a part of YEA in Atlanta, this fierce theater group of young Black kids in Atlanta I always adored. So seeing here was seeing her right at home, now with her theater degree, helping run things.
We grab seats in the front row. I start chatting with the elderly lady sitting next to me and she is excited to tell me about the book she is reading and her book club which she joined at 80. She came up from Baltimore to see her Nephew who is one of the eight Black guys who complete the cast.
The show begins and the men take the stage in the intimate theater. She points him out, and he’s a cute and already sweating before the show gets going strong. Lahman is good and its captivating watching this guy with a football-build acting like a 3 year old child, squeaky voice and all. The story is a dark one of the journey of a guy who is abused by his father sexually (which they graphically simulate) at only 8 years old as the father has beast the mother to death. One of the guys even has this raspy devil voice that completes the gloom.
Yeah, it was a lot. And I was glad I supported it. Was not what I was expecting, but whatever is?

Because she first loved me

Be forewarned. Another sappy, reflective post. No sexy celebs except the coolest one of them all . . . mi madre. And its so appropriate that I watch Golden Girls as I type this, which is one of her fave shows when I was growing up. Along with MacGyver and she loved that theme song. What can I say, i get my randomness from her . . .

And she is why now in life I am so freaking thoughtful lately. She shielded me to the world and yet pushed me into it. Showed me the best in humanity before I could truly appreciate it, thus setting a standard the world hasnt quite reached where adults are balanced and logical people with big hearts and great wisdom. Reading the Secret Life of Bees I see a lot of my mom in August.
And it doesnt stop there. My mom was so good to me and my bro that it wasnt till I was grown and gone that I realized that she was indeed human. I always knew she had a life before me - 32 years and about 355 days to be exact. But the fact that she too could have thoughts of things she might have done differently was new to me. But I let her know Im thankful that she didnt take the elevator instead of stairs that one day at the mall or spent one more hour in this place or that, because I might not have made it this way.

But I must confess Im guilty of loving her so much I want her to be the living breathing person I have in my head of her. Ive had to check myself on many occassions. In my head mommy doesnt smack gum or call BET 'bet' like Georgia slang. But the real one is so much better. And fly-er.
After encountering so many who are still carrying the baggage of childhood (just look at that guy on Real World) I just say thank you, thank you on dont dwell on how I was so fortunate. Everytime I hear Beyonce's 'Flaws and All' I think of her because thats the one love Ive found thus far that was that cool. I really would love to dance with her to that at my wedding one day, if im not convinced of how corny that is. And i wasnt even a planned pregnancy:)!!

And just look how fly she is! It was fate Id end up in that Marky Marc dress. Id rock those shades and yellow dress now if I could. Save your fly ish for your kids!!

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers and all those that love like a mom does!

R.S.V.P

Its those jarring moments when the IRS says I owe $250 from 2006 or while I'm counting the many years between now and when I was 17, that I come to grips with the fact that the grown has made its way to my sexy.

And just as I begin to try and break down when the change occurred, I realize that its all still me. My same brain that thought of ways to boobie trap the house with my brother. My same hands that griped the bat extra hard in softball in the backyard then rubbed the tears in my eyes when I got out (I was safe!!!). And it's comforting to know I dont have to feel foreign discovering this new me because she's been here all along.

So you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon this pic of my tea party (before my bro hit that guy stage of not smiling for pics that lasted more than a decade) and I realized my love of the tea experience may be more baby girl than it is old lady:)

Carried Away

Ok, so I try not to be that girl who its easy to love to hate. I even have a post about exploring hateration and how its really not about you twirling in my head for weeks (including a playlist that gets me by when Im feeling hated on when you really wanna say you can have it too).

Thats' why I was going to keep my Sex and the City screening moment to my damn self, because I would hate me too. But I cant, because it touched me, and I promise no spoilers are coming.

Yes the clothes were nauseatingly fabulous and the story lines clever, but for a girl living in this city, I didnt realize how much it would be the re-energizer (and tear jerker) I definitely needed. Because beyond the phenomenal fashion its real people living real lives and no one ever promised happily-ever after with your 5th ave purchase. 

So I can breathe easy, we're on the right track ladies!

And again things work out exactly how they should. Remember the hoopla after the show wrapped about Kim/Samantha holding out (more power to her) on doing a movie? I was a freshman in college so the movie then would have been fun to see then but probably floated right over my head. 

And it also was way more exciting to see the ladies four years later settling into the lives we imagined they would live after the season finally. Seeing a five-year-old Brady with all that red hair sound JUST like Steve was simply exhilirating. 

And J.Hud is still my dream girl!

Ok. Im done. 

Life Loves

So I dont really watch much tv regularly. I havent caught a single full season of Ugly Betty, and no that's not a hint if you ever want to get me a present:) But luckily Sex and the City is always on when Im clicking through (or a click away on demand) and Im always happy to tune in. One of my recent episodes had Charlotte spouting her wisdom on everyone has two great loves, and all eyes are on Carrie who has been through Aiden and Big . . .. 

Which got me to thinking how much hog wash that is (hey, Im a Georgia Peach but my parents have South Carolina roots). Because if their is anything SATC reinforces is men come (Im not the Samantha of the group, so no pun intended;) and go but your friends are really forever.

And I've been missing my life love Mikey, my gay BF. Everytime I say this at work (yes, all my friends come up) one of my editors give me that look and asks why I have to distinguish. Because every fabulous girl has to have a gay guy as one of her closest friends, and not just so he can use his gadar on a potential new guy and be your plan C if 35 comes and you haven't had babies yet:). From drunken nights in the Village while interns in NY to dropping it lower than all my girlfriends on my BDAY with Soco lime shots all around to margaritas on U St. on Cinco de mayo, some of my most fun moments include him (and I promise we do more than drink:). He put me on to Amy Winehouse (the first album Frank which we both agreed was better than Back to Black) and always was a needed-surge to feeling pretty.

And did I mention he has an AMAZING blog? And actually achieves that posting regularly thing Im working on . . .

So, in opening yourself for love its comforting to know you already have folks who love you just the way you are!