Swagger

This might be one of my top 5 favorite tumblr images:

(look how happy he looks!)

Too cute

Always makes me smile

. . .

Morning Inspiration

There are things that you need to know before you can move forward

but don't push

Wait on Me

says the Lord

because everything needs to be in order and in perfect timing

Refuse to get frustrated when things aren't moving along as quickly as you would desire

Take a deep breath

rest in the assurance that I am in control

and trust Me

Everything will be all right.

Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

the sweetest reassurance

. . . 

Q&A

Question: but did I really need to eat this 'burger w/the lot'?

Answer: No way jose!

Excuse: The new cleansing "diet"starts oct. 1st so why not?

Confession: (The burger wasn't all I had)

Why?: 'Cuz who can say no to calamari?

And

 Bondi Road is pretty high up the list of spots to get good squid

Bondi Road

153 Rivington Street

My fave Australian spot

Lauren

My college roomie came to visit this weekend 

Spent a good amount of time at the Dumbo Arts festival

We pranced around checking out the incredible art

While I thanked the Lord for artists with each performance, exhibit and installation I encountered

It was when we came to a breathtaking backdrop between the two bridges

That I realized my tendency to shy away from wide angle images

I'm always up close n' personal when it comes to photos

So I let loose a little

and captured Ms. Lauren's sweetest escape

ps: I.love.dumbo!

Must go there every weekend

(if only i could)

. . .

Market Cafe - A Vintage Escape

My sweetest escape this weekend was catching up with a dear friend

We had brunch at Market Cafe located in midtown west

The sweetest time 

Late enough to avoid the brunch crowd

Yet just in time to escape a dinner menu

Soft Motown and old school jams in the background

It's cosy and welcoming

Wraps you up in a warmth

and you just don't want to leave

even before your first bite

Its as if Marvin Gaye is sitting right next to you

His silky smooth voice singing the sweetest poems

Can't help but smile and sway

Just us, Marvin, Gladys, Isley Brothers

We escaped that Sunday afternoon

Chatted about hopes and dreams

about how life seems to have carried us to the complete unexpected

about simplifying

In the midst of the chaos that is New York

Maybe it was the positivity seeping from the speakers

Made us imagine the possibility of Utopia in the middle of a concrete jungle

Maybe it was the simplicity of the decor

White tile walls, formica table tops with a single gerbera on each, vintage chairs and bar stools

Whatever it was

We were able to slow down our New York pace

and just escape a little

It's necessary every now and then 

Market Cafe

(perfect first date spot. . .)

496 Ninth Ave.

Between 37th and 38th st.

the sweetest brunch

. . .

In Anticipation Of The Fall. . .

Sweet images from my Tumblr

Compiled and arranged by me

Oh how I love these tones

 Honey

 Baked

 Indoors

 Outdoors

Read

First Impression

"I genuinely think you are 'weirdly interesting'

This is in a good way

You seem to lack inhibitions 

yet you are not reckless

You are intoxicating to look at

yet you seem completely unaware of how amazing you look

And you aren't pretty

you are beautiful

and your apparent ignorance to how good u look

 is extended to your assessment of your talent

which by the way

U have a lot of"

. . .

The Sweetest Compliment

Withered Sunflowers

I'm a lova of summa

sprinklers.beaches.sunshine.outdoor running.bbqs.street fairs.ice-cream.frozen drinks.patio dining.sunflowers.bicycles.swimming.walks.exploring.festivals.sandals.tanks.bright.concerts

. . .

It came and it went

as much as I pleaded for an extra month or three of warmth

And now I've replaced the bare shoulders for blazers

The linen for denim

And sandals for pumps

. . . 

As much as I would love to live in my own sweet summer escape

There's not much out there that I love more than fall tones

Yes I hate the cold

But the fall brings in the most harmonious color story

Far too breathtaking 

To think twice about sacrificing the bikinis for wool

. . .

With that

I'm excited to explore fall photography

Withered Sunflowers

A bow to the bright of summer 

The Sweetest Adieu

. . .

Kanye West Performing Spoken Word

Before the fame

Before the Taylor Swift-ing

Before the high fashion stylin'

Before the 34 minute music vid

. . .

Mr. Kanye West was out and about performing spoken word pieces!

Not a huge shocker

The guy is pretty smart and has got a way with words

Check it

i.love.i.love

i.do.i.do

It makes me like him just a tad bit more

(He's slowly but surely racking up some points after the Taylor Swift deal. . . )

Off I go to create my Kanye Playlist for the day!

"The Tanning of America" - hip-hop's economic dominance

Last night I attended the kick off of Columbia University’s Black Business Student Association (BBSA) Executive Speakers Series with Steve Stoute discussing his new book, The Tanning of America: How Hip Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy.

{An aside - I love Columbia University! Its such a freakin' beautiful campus! Sheesh!}

If you haven’t yet heard of Mr. Stout, check out his stats:

-       He rose from roadie to road manager of Kid n’ Play to managing top artists such as Mary J Blije and Nas

-       Served as president of Urban Music for Sony Music Entertainment

-       Founder of Translation, an advertising company in which he partners with Jay-Z

-       He’s seamlessly married high profile celebrities with Fortune 500 companies (fashion icon, Valentino with technology from Samsung; Beyonce and Tommy Hilfiger; Justin Timberlake and McDonald’s. . . )

-      - Took Carol’s Daughter from a single store operation in Brooklyn to a multi-million dollar empire with distribution across Sephora, Macy’s, Dillards

The list goes on and on. The guy, no doubt, has got an impressive resume. Hearing his story last night at Columbia University was pretty intriguing. It was the perfect atmosphere – a large classroom filled with young professionals, MBA students, aspiring entrepreneurs, and undergrad students with dream filled eyes. Before giving a brief background, Steve gave a summary of his success: “I was a person that just did what I said and the scary part is that that’s a commodity. People don’t do what they say”

He then carried us through his journey from selling loans to managing artists, to dropping it all at the height of his career to start again from the bottom, creating an advertising company.

He shifted on to the concepts of his new book, The Tanning Of America. Tanning requires understanding the culture and is defined as, “the phenomenon beyond demographic where no longer does your ethnicity drive culture. . . Without cultural curiosity, there is no innovation”

In a conversational manner, he answered questions from the audience in a blunt, straight up and to the point approach.

“Culture of hip-hop has done more for racial relations than MLK. If not for hip-hop our president wouldn’t be black! If it wasn’t for hip-hop you think Jay-Z would have his empire? Do you know how many people he employs?”

It was a statement that struck a chord within the audience, giving us all something to ponder as we wrapped up  and headed over to the reception/book signing.

The whole conversation lasted slightly over an hour and I couldn't help noticing that he didn't go deep enough when it came to his story. He made it seem like his success came mainly from being lucky enough to be put in the right place at the right time. . . 

Despite me wishing he delved in more, I was baited enough to buy the book and have him sign it at the reception but I did have to ask:

"What was your initial dream?"

"I wanted to be a football player" he replied, with a slight smile

So there it is, from the dream of becoming the next NFL star, to managing top artists, to becoming a well-respected force in the advertising industry. Life tends to take you through the unexpected

. . .

The Tanning of America, It’s a book Steve Stout wrote for college students and young executives but really, as I have started reading, it’s one for everybody. If you’ve got a dream, an idea you want heard, you can find a little somethin’ something’ through the pages to help you see things through a new light.

Someone Like You

Lost love

It's perfectly bittersweet

I always do believe that its better to have loved and lost

Than not loved at all

Call me psycho

But there's something absolutely beautiful about heartache

There's no greater blessing than to experience love

So 

When it comes to that four letter word

I want nothing less than the kinda love that if it should end

It would cause my heart to bleed terribly

Like my insides have been ripped out

Tossed somewhere

Lost

Lately I've realized

That when it comes to relationships

We subconsciously learn to be selfish with our emotions

I mean, when your young

Love is sweet, it's blissful and innocent

You get older

You see things, you experience things, you've felt pain

The guards come up

It's 'what can i get' rather than 'what can i give'

We become a little more miserly with our emotions, holding back a little more, so if anything goes wrong, we won't feel the pain and getting over it is a smooth and easy ride.

Hey, I'm mos def no expert on love. I'm just a hopeless romantic and a dreamer. But I do know that my best experiences have come from me saying "screw it, this person is worth the investment, so I'm going all in and whatever happens happens, it'll be worth it"

The best thing is

To be honest with your emotion

Love is the greatest thing on this planet

So why not love fully and love freely

Ok

Back to Ms. Adele

The honesty seeps out uncontrollably on this track

So strong, so deep

It's: "i'm happy for you, i'll move on but i'll still hold on to the sweet memory of you"

Having kept a journal for 15 years

i've got sweet memories of every crush, love and instance

Stored neatly in bound pages

Kinda like a movie collection

Of course you'll move on

But it's nice watching your favorite films every now and then

. . .

I love.love.love it!

Fresh Baked

I'm sure I look like a junk food addict

(cant help it sometimes)

I've recently cut down 

But every now and then

A little bit of fresh baked sweetness doesn't hurt

. . . 

The Sweetest Guilty Pleasure

A Riding Story

Images from my TUMBLR

I haven't ridden a bicycle in forever and a few days

I watch bike riders everyday in the city

slightly envious of their free movement

The ability to just hop on and explore the city

There's a free spirited "cool" to it

Shouldn't have let this summer ride by without getting on a bike

Maybe next year

Till then, I'll have these images to keep me inspired

The Sweetest Freedom

. . .

Still I Rise

"Death is not the greatest loss in life

The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive

Never surrender"

- Tupac Shakur

The first rapper I ever loved

. . .

Church In The Wild

This is really captivating

. . .

I do love the song

took a second to figure out if it was the actual music vid

or an ad for the church

. . .

(it's an ad right?)

Hillsong NYC

I've heard a tad bit about the church but never been

Judging from this (enthralling) video

and their BLOG

It's a pretty artsy congregation

Their mandate:

"To build a church that loves God and loves people"

Kinda reminds me of the book I'm currently (re)reading:

Simple Faith, by Charles R. Swindoll

I highly highly recommend

All about "returning back to a simple life of hope, grace and rest that Christ has always offered"

Very well written

Thought provoking

Inspiring

Anyway

. . .

Video got me

I must attend this church come Sunday!

West Indian Parade

Labor day weekend I went to my first West Indian parade in Brooklyn

So live and tons of fun

Excellent food

Great music

Gutsy costumes

 For sale

 This costume was incredible!

 Performances on the side

 Running and dancing free on the streets

Anything goes

. . . 

This guy had his own party on the side

Soul Oldies

Was kinda hype

I jammed with him for a bit