And I did get my Iphone. Check me out on Instagram: miss_lucy26.

Of course Sydney from The Daybook slays in them. Click here for more pictures.

Just give me a few more wears and I’ll be slaying too.

Anyway, I was really tripping off of the whole thing. I don’t want to stop smiling when I get braces. Smiling makes me happy. One song came to mind and I thought I’d share some of the lyrics with you. If/when I eventually get braces, I’ll have this song on repeat to get me through it.

I Smile – Kirk Franklin

I smile, even though I’m hurt see I smile,
I know God is working so I smile,
Even though I’ve been here for a while
I smile, smile..
it’s so hard to look up when you look down.
Sure would hate to see it when you give up now
You look so much better when you smile, so smile.

And I believe you when you say that you’ve lost all faith
But you must believe in something, something, something
You gotta believe in something, something, something

[Hook:]
I still believe in man
A wise one asked me why
Cause I just don’t believe we’re wicked
I know that we sin but I do believe we try
We all try

The fact that I can’t pinpoint the exact source of my unhappiness really unsettles me. At this point, I really just want to give up. Expressing this openly is hard because I never know who is reading my blog in search of some inspiration. Today, it just might let you down. I’m human.

All I am certain of is this: I am unhappy and I have to do something about it.

PS. I just realized that I skipped dinner. WHAT WAS I THINKING?! Now eating rice and goat. Yes. At almost two am. Yup, I have to be up at 5:30 am EST. I’ll worry about that when it comes. This food is an instant mood lifter. Oh, and Haitian music. Carimi. ^___^

I came across this picture of three well dressed men in one of the only male fashion blogs I subscribe to, Street Etiquette. My knees buckled a little after seeing this picture. See more from the shoot here. Swoon ladies, swoon.

My God, My God.

I came to win,  to fight, to conquer, to thrive
I came to win, to survive, to prosper, to rise
To fly, To fly

Everybody wanna try to box me in
Suffocating every time it locks me in
Paint their own pictures then they crop me in
But I will remain where the top begins
Cause I am not a word, I am not a line
I am not a girl that can ever be defined
I am not fly, I am levitation
I represent an entire generation

Get ready for it, I came to win.

In 2012, I will…

1. Read six books.
2. Pet a dog without flinching.
3. Create two lasting business relationships.
4. Learn HTML and CSS.
5. Attend three seminars for personal development.
6. Set one small goal/theme a month.
7. Create a proper/detailed business plan and launch my business. EXCITED!
8. Rebrand my blog.
9. Save $2,000 in emergency fund.
10. Eat more.
    

    Yup, that's me. Happy as I wanna be.

You know what else I’m gonna add just as a mental note: lounging. I don’t ever want to get caught up in the busyness of life that I forget to just chill out. I’m gonna work, eat and chill some more. Yea, that sounds about right.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 26,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 10 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Clearly, 2011 was a great year for blogging. It was also a revealing year for me, experience-wise. I overcame some fears, I got my first tattoo, I experienced a broken heart, I did something daring (ziplining), and I developed personal relationships. Thanks for reading about all of that. It’s crazy going through my posts and realizing the ones that got the most comments/views were about fashion and relationships. I’m not sure how I feel about that yet, lol. Here is a list of my favorite posts as well as some of yours (in no particular order):

1. Although short-lived… Why I Gave Up Facebook
2. Dating Exclusively vs Commitment
3. The #Swag Wedding
4. 7 Reasons Why I Might Be Going To Hell
5. I Am A Christian
6. My Favorite Fashion Bloggers
7. Retiring Samantha…?
8. Fashionable Atlanta Blogger Meet Up
9. The Constant Battle, Pt 2
10. Living Fearlessly
11. 9 Reasons Why I Possibly Wish I Had A Boyfriend
12. Summing It Up Pt 2: 30 x 30
13. 26 Life Lessons in 26 Years
14. To Follow Or Not To Follow

Hola amigos!

Happy New Year everyone! I know, I’m six days late on this post but it has been quite a busy week so far. I just wanted to update you all on the many changes coming up on my blog.

One, I changed my blog name to my first and last name. We’ll see if that will come and bite me in the booty later. I just went on a design and web hosting overload. I finally realized that hosting is not what I’m ready to dive into right now so my page will stay as is until I find the proper time to dedicate to switching it up. (PS, if any of you know a really dope web designers, please shoot me a note!)

Two, I’m waiting on WordPress to send me my year-in-review for 2011 (like the one I received last year). It was an amazing year of blogging for me! First off, who knew they kept up with every single detail?! According to WordPress, I started this blog on  December 19, 2008. I didn’t officially decide to blog until January 2010. So this month marks my THREE year anniversary! Yippeeeeee!

That’s all I want to say for now. New year, new “me”. More goals (that I will share with you later). More focus. More CREATING.

Life isn’t about finding yourself, life is about creating yourself. -George Bernard Shaw

Be blessed,

To date, this was the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make. To leave my closest friend. The only man who has been a consistent factor in my life for the last damn near four years. Gosh, I sound like a broken record. Ugh. This whole healing process just seems to be taking forever. Where’s the manual? How can I skip to chapter ten or the end, fast-forward past this pity party? Until then, I’ll cry until I don’t want to. I’ll hang out by myself to clear my mind. I’ll eat magnum ice cream bars and listen to Sara Bareilles and India Arie. I will love him until I don’t.

I was lamenting to my homeboy when he hit me with some words of comfort:

Instead of chasing an idea that’s tied up in a person that no longer exists, get your mind right to focus on a person who will love you right now. Cause that ex aint that dude. To me you just want to get with a dude who feeds your spirit instead of drains your spirit. This whole ex bf thing is draining you. The point is there are ppl all over the place who would love to see you poop, and be your friend, and sex you down, and talk about God, and hold your hand, and feed you, and tell it to you straight when no one else will and all the other stuff that we need as human beings to feel fulfilled. It’s just not him now. He showed you what love was, and for this we thank him and fondly remember what was. But to him we say bye bye. You are a nice, kind, gentle, attractive, fun person with a lot of love and sick of bullshit. At some point you have to develop a low tolerance level for the bs. And shut him out of your mind until you have healed enough to have a convo with him without catching vibes.

SMH!!! Can the church (and all of my close friends who are tired of hearing this story) say AMEN?! His words meant SO MUCH to me. I cried and I’m ready to let it go, again. Sick of writing about this shit, lol. Leaving it in 2011. Attempting to open my heart again in 2012. Hello.

Challenge deets according to Positively Present’s blog:

There’s no real “challenge” to it; it’s mostly just a way to motivate you (and me!) to stay in the present and focus on things that we’re grateful for. There’s no reward, no punishment — just an opportunity to be more present.

I will only post the pictures on January 31st. Hopefully I’ll get my Iphone squared away by Friday so that I can use Instagram like the cool kids. Feel free to join at your leisure.

But first, my cousin had a Christmas party. You know those people who get really excited about decorating and spreading Christmas cheer? She’s one of them. Lol.

me, my cousin and my sister

I don’t speak about animals because quite frankly, I’m scared of them. BUT, I met a poodle that night named Apple-Love that may have cured my fear. She is soooo cute and harmless. I hope my cousin gets her.

Saturday, I attended a wonderful service at Buckhead Church. Something beautiful happened at the end. All those who were recently baptized or rededicated their life to Christ were asked to light a candle. Myself included. This year, I made a serious decision to find God for myself and it’s been the most eye-opening experience ever. No regrets.

I attended a second service at Berean Seventh Day Adventist Church. Needless to say, I was churched out for the day.

Christmas Day, I attended Destiny Metropolitan Worship Church. HAPPY “BIRTHDAY” JESUS.

I’ll go ahead and tell you why I loved this wedding so much. I’m a huge fan of personalization. Everything about this wedding reminded me of my friend. From the colors to the monograms to the gifts and even the food. I kept finding myself saying, “This is so Lerone!” after every single thing and that level of personalization (to me) makes a wedding absolutely beautiful.

But first…

Dress: Forever 21, Shoes: Nina

Yup, running late but still managing to snap a photo, or two.

The groom's father, Dr. Ben Carson, speaking

Pastor Wintley Phipps blessing them in song

The big C for Carson. How friggin cute!

My other middle school BFF, Tammi-Yammi LOL

So Hollywood

Oh, I don't mind listening to a harpist playing contemporary tunes while I wait.

Just a harpist. No big deal.

So there was a tree. You dipped your finger in ink to create a "leaf" and then wrote your name on said leaf. Genius memory board.

My Quincy

Dining hall at The MEZZ

The best wedding table, ever

MY FAVORITE!!! Each guest received personalized bookmarks made from wire.

Mr. and Mrs. Carson

A PEARL! Perfect!

Jerk chicken, grilled salmon, garden blend wild rice, mixed veggies and asparagus. Jamaican style

The Milford's

One of the last things Lerone said to me before I left was, “girl, I better be on your blog!” LOL! Yes ma’am! I got you, boo. Love her.

Oh and P.S., I don’t have to remind you not to steal my pictures, right? Just checking.

Two weekends ago, I was in sunny Florida and the weather was set to perfect. Of course. Idk what’s up with that poo-poo spot I kept posing in. O_o

Top: Forever 21, Skirt: H & M, Shoes: Steve Madden

Can I gush for a second? I was reading one of my blogs and the young lady informed us about a Michael Kors look-alike watch at Target. At the time, it was still too much for my frugal self. Two weekends ago, Target had a sale and guess how much the watch was going for???? EIGHT DOLLARS!!! But…I couldn’t find it in any Target in Atlanta. Womp. But guess what? I FOUND IT IN ORLANDO!!!!! Boom. Good enough for me.

Earlier last week I met up with a good friend for dinner. What an amazing sunset we had. Is it me or does my face look like I’ve been eating a lot of cookies?

Top & Skirt: Forever 21, Boots: Zara

P.S. Huge THANK YOU to my friends who never complain about taking my pictures, Quincy & Marco.

I found out about these two Nigerian sisters over a year ago and fell in love with their harmony and uniqueness.

While perusing my blogs today, I found out about these two lovely young sisters (ages 11 and 13). Such powerful voices! Love it.

Sigh. Music is a ministry. Did you know that? Powerful.

My dear friend and model, Mishael.

So I feel like this guy is someone. You can’t boldly wear a sweater like that and not be the center of attention.

DJ Kiss! She was really awesome. I kept thinking, “man, she looks really familiar” so I approached her for her business card. She’s a pretty big deal. Her only request: not to put her on any mailing lists. Honey, what? Deal.

I feel like this girl is someone. Ugh. WHO IS SHE?!

Good times. Great alcohol. Hopefully a lot of money raised. Thanks for the invite, Danica!

I cannot believe that 2011 is almost over. We’re already well into December, although I don’t feel much Christmas cheer yet. My favorite part of Christmas is the music. I was on Words of Williams’  blog and came across their holiday playlist and decided on making my own list of favorite tunes. These aren’t in any particular order except for the first one.

Lucy’s Playlist

1. “This Christmas” sung by Donny Hathaway
2. “O Holy Night” sung by Kelly Clarkston
3. “Ave Maria” sung by Celine Dion THE BEST SINGER OF ALL TIME!
4. “Angels We Have Heard on High”
5. “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”
6. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
7. “O Come All Ye Faithful”
8. “Silent Night”
9. “The First Noel”
10. “Let It Snow” sung by Boyz II Men
11. “Feliz Navidad” sung by Celine Dion
12. “O Come O Come Emmanuel”
13. “The Christmas Song” sung by Nat King Cole
14. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
15. “All I Want For Christmas Is You” sung by Mariah Carey
16. “Joy to the World” sung by Whitney Houston
17. “What Child Is This” sung by Vanessa Williams

Please sure your favorite holiday songs so I can look them up. I’d love to create a new playlist.

P.S. Who’s going caroling this year?????

Happy holidays!

After being stuck in the house all weekend getting my hair braided, I finally ventured out to the city to celebrate my friends birthdays.

jean shirt: h&m; top & leggings: papaya; boots: target; watch: aldo

Happy birthday Mike and Johane! And hiii baby Preston!

so many flashes. paparazzi!