Living

Growing up music was always playing around me.

I was born in Washington D.C. and have very early memories of the originator of the “Quiet Storm” Melvin Lindsay lulling me to sleep with his show on WKYS that my mother religiously turned on every night. Come to think about it, I’m not sure our radio ever went off. I remember seeing live concerts as a child at the Carter Barron eating the goodies my mother packed in our picnic basket.  I’m pretty sure this is where  my love for music started and to this day I prefer old school music over new school as it reminds me of how lovely my childhood was.

Speaking of lovely, for Valentine’s Day, I put together a playlist of my favorite old and new school songs that have the word “love” in them. Initially I was  going to include 45 songs since I’m turning 45 in a few weeks, but once I was done “Shower me with your love” popped in my head and I don’t think the list would’ve been complete without that classic, so the list has 46 songs. We’re taking almost 4 hours of hits from Miki Howard,  Phyllis Hyman, Daniel Ceasar, Teyana Taylor, and more. I hope you enjoy and be sure to share!

The playlist is on Spotify. Listen here!

Happy New Year Friends!

Last year I’m not sure I had many “visible” accomplishments, however there were so many  wins on a personal/spiritual level that I’m going to keep them to myself, but in a nutshell I am so very proud of myself for exhibiting so much discipline last year in so many things. That discipline was a long time coming and once you do it once, you know you can do it again. And once you know you can do the hard things, the next step is to do the things you weren’t sure you could do. The AUDACITY to reach for what you once felt was unreachable. I’ll be 45 in exactly 2 months and one year from today I want to look back and say “she turned all the way up!”

I’ve also come to terms with the realization that when it comes to how my brain works, there are some challenges and that looks like if I’m to get where I’m going, I’m going to unapologetically need some help.  I’m so optimistic for so many good things next year, I hope this feels contagious and rubs off on you. None of us know what 2024 holds, but we can certainly go in with high expectations!

A few things to expect from my online presence in 2024:

• I’ll be blogging and showing up more online…I’ve enlisted some help and automated some processes to keep me honest.
• My newsletter on Substack will remain free, but I’ll be adding a paid version as well. The paid version will provide access to some exciting things I’m building out to include a “45 and Unfiltered” series where I’ll be sharing my unfiltered thoughts (I’m quite sure some of you know I have a bit of a different side that I don’t always show online, you’ll hear/see about it over there). I’ll also be doing a “45 Experiences” series where I’ll be crossing 45 things off my bucket list next year.  I’ll also be doing giveaways, exclusive video content to include book reviews, playlists and whatever else I think of. I’ll also be offering discounts to Unlikely Market. Subscribe to both options below, it will immediately subscribe you to the free version, you’ll need to opt in for the paid version which is $5/month

I’d love to have you join me on Substack, you can join the list here.

Here’s to showing up (for ourselves and others), living free, getting back up every time we mess up, being kind to ourselves, and finally being audacious to go after all the big things we’ve been putting off.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The internet might have possibly, in some way subconciously convinced some of us that getaways need to be extravagant, but in my older age I am starting to see right through that narrative. This past weekend , my husband and I took a quick drive to Blue Ridge, GA which is  about 2 hours from our house.  According to all of the fall foliage maps this was to be the peak leaf weekend, but the early frost we got last week proved that a LIE. All of the leaves were brown, crispy, and off the trees, but we made the best of our day trip.

It was a beautiful mountain day, temp was in the mid-70s with a light breeze, the sun was shining, it was the perfect backdrop for us to peruse the little shops, and have lunch. It was giving  Hallmark harvest movie vibes.

We ate lunch at the General Ledger, the food and service was impeccable. I had the Chicken Cordon Bleu and highly recommend you order it if you ever find yourself in Blue Ridge  (no photo cause I was hungry). I had the best spiced pear sangria and we got an impromptu whiskey lesson which I could appreciate because I’m always looking for new brands to add to my bar.

Here’s a quick (and raggedy) snapshot of me. My husband isn’t the best at taking photos but he tries!

I wore my viral TikTok $20 Avia “dad sneakers” from Walmart. Talk about comfortable, and my favorite Old Navy bodysuit ( at the time of this post, it’s on sale for $15.47) under an old hoodie from Zara.

A quick change of scenery, a  moment to steal away alone or with your favorite person can absolutely do you some good. We’ve committed to taking more short trips around the state, stay tuned!