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Thursday, April 21, 2011

FRIDAY FINDS....I FOUND ME


So Im in a happy place right now here in blogland, Ive met some really cool chicks and I consider them friends.  But Im also one to speak my mind and have to explain things and how I got to this place. Blogland is kinda like high school....you have your clicks and some people are very competitive and all that.   I may not have 5,000 followers but the 189 I do have, Im proud they follow my blog because they're interested in what I say or show.

THIS IS ME.....   the 39 year old, mama of 5!    Yes 5...all mine, birthed them all naturally.  This is how I start my day everyday...and my working uniform unless I have to run errands or someone is coming over.

This is my bed..I like pillows...Big Daddy not so much!


Just out of bed...no makeup (dont run..it's okay)

I wash my face and put on cocoa butter and thats it for the day....I blog at my dining room table so that I can see my 1 year old right in the living room playing and I can see the front window to look for my 4 yr olds school bus.

I spend my days blogging, doing product reviews,craigslisting, making jewelry for my new line, and trying to refinish furniture during nap time on my deck.    ( I also try to eat and pee sometime in the day too) Oh and my nutritional choice throughout the day is Diet Pepsi (always)

I love to decorate...I love to create.  I say that Im frequently inspired because Im always changing things around weekly if not daily.   You will rarely be able to go back on a post and see the room the same way.  I dont know what it is but I like being different.  My husband knows to not be surprised anymore...he expects things to be moved when he comes home.  

My porch always has pieces of furniture that Ive purchased from Craigslist or got for FREE either on CL or the side of the road.  No shame in my game.  One man's trash in my treasure!!!!   I'm now known as The Junk Collector...lol  

I promote some of my favorite bloggers, their blogs and their shops because I want to, not for any other reason. I also buy from my fellow bloggers who are Etsians as well....they're are more than enough consumers in the world.  I try to have items in my shop that you dont see in other shops..again I like different!

I get inspiration for other people in the industry but not necessarily bloggers, shop owners, and people who take the time to write a note, drop you an email and really appreciate you, what you do and what you are trying to achieve.

I dont usually host giveaways on my blog because I dont want to force anyone to become my "follower". I have hosted 2 giveaways and 1 was a 2 week long party and I made alot of fellow blogging friends. 

Im on a Mommy Blogging Team for Haddad Brands and so I do FB giveaways on there to give away Nike, Levi's & Jordan product.  

I appeared on The Nate Show as a design dilemma guest...but hope one day to be able to share my creative ideas.  

My husband appeared with me on the show and I love him for that, because it's so not his style.  I wonder what people thought when they saw me.  Then what went through their minds when they saw my husband.....the 6 ft, over 250lbs black man who made Nate look like a 10 year old.  lol

It amazes me how people assume because of the color of my skin that it wouldn't be possible that Im married to a black man.   Just last week while out, another customer was going off about a teacher and called her a ugly fat black bitch.  It took everything in my power not to punch her, but instead I pray for people that ignorant.

I find it a little offensive that I post about a candlestick that I made from a can and get 25 comments, but I do a post on Autism (which my 4yr is diagnosed) and you can here crickets...few to no comments.   Also no comments for the Nate appearance either. lol

I find it annoying that people will create an inaccurate image of themselves to impress bloggers or tell a tale of sorrow because they've heard that when you do that, sympathy will bring you more followers.  Your cheating your reader that way.

I do this because I love to share my ideas.... my friends read it and they say it's the same as having a conversation with me.   So that's all I need, I know that Im doing it right...whether it be 200 or 2000 followers.   Whoever clicks that button is a friend.

So it's been 10 months that Ive been blogging and I now have 2 blogs (1 lifestyle/decorating - 1 fashion/kids, 2 Etsy shops (1 home/vintage, 1 jewelry) and a furniture refinishing business that Im launching publicly as well.  In June of this year it will be 1 year and we will see if we can take it to the next level.

I dream of one day living in South Carolina (hopefully meeting my blogging buddies who live there) and having my own little shop.  Raise my children to be well-rounded people who love and respect EVERYONE and to teach them that it's never to late to live your dream.  I will drive around in my old pick up truck collecting more treasures to share with everyone.

SO ON THIS FRIDAY......I FOUND ME!



Hate it or love it the underdog's on top
And I'm gonna shine homie until my heart stop

Go head' envy me
I'm an MVP
And I ain't goin nowhere so you can get to know me

- 50 cent & The Game lyrics





11 comments:

  1. Awesome. A word that is over-used, but this comes from my heart. You inspired me.
    I love a woman who can speak her truth with kindness and conviction.
    I have heard for so long that I will eventually find what inspires me and I will KNOW. So, until now, I've tried alot and bend around some scary curves in the road to reach today. Who knows? Maybe I'm just one bend in the road from finding ME. Thanks for sharing. We Are Phenomenal Women. ♥

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  2. Your blog is real and I love that about you. :-)

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  3. Speaking of the skin color...I am married to a white guy so my son is pretty much white and so many people have asked me if he was adopted,and look at me weird/strange when I tell them he is my son.
    I do often stalk your blog, mostly because your 4 years remind me of what my daughter will look like when she turns 4.

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  4. I just want to say Thank You. There was one part that really sums up how I feel...
    " I pray for people that ignorant."

    I too am with a "black man," I have been for going on 6 years. I have known him going on 10. I have two BEAUTIFUL children with the same man- no matter what others wanted to say about me, past or present.
    We knew in 2005 our values were the same and I left home because of it. My choice- not FOR him, rather because Ignorance lived under my parents roof.

    I have been consumed with college for the last two months. I've missed some of the blogs I used to frequent. So, I follow on FB, and pop in and out when I need to be "me." So, I'm sorry I've missed your blog posts- I'm here and will be catching up during the summer hopefully.

    Back to what I was saying...
    I have BEEN talked to like I'm a dog for my relationship. I have been disgraced by my family because of this choice. I have walked away from my family and everything I owned, at a time when I knew I found love.
    Love that accepted me for who I was and wanted to be in the future. Someone who never thought that me, being a white-girl, would even take the time to know him.

    I have been told that I was "stealing" a good "brother" that was hard to come by for a "sister." I have been talked to by people who were ignorant and blatantly said things to me about interracial couples. Then Here comes "B" and I was asked if I hired him to pick up an item from the store for me. Ummm no, this is my child's father. "Really? I would have never thought that about you!"

    What does it matter to them anyways? My life, my choice, my promise to be faithful to him not them. I don't have swagger I guess....

    This comment can go on-and-on so I will stop myself. Not before I say this...
    Just this past Saturday, our daughter looked at her Granny and said "Ginny are you black? "Yes." "Is my Daddy black?" "Yes, punkin we are black." "Oh- OK Ginny..." Her Granny told her that means she's double beautiful. And off she went to play.

    This is the first time she has ever talked about "colors" of people. (She is learning all her colors and numbers.) I don't talk to her like she is "two-kinds" of anything. Our families are almost identical so we don't really have a need to teach her two separate lifestyles/traditions/anything.

    We are family.

    And that's all that matters.
    Sorry this is so long, I just wanted to say thank you.

    {PS} B is about 250 and is 6'3! Stunning if I do say so myself.

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  5. Wow! Your post is POWERFUL and the comments above me are too. I am a white woman and I am married to a white man. But I have ABSOLUTELY no problem with inter-racial marriage. My father, who is 78, would have a cow! I have a joke with a gay friend of mine that the old racist, homophobic haters just need to die off!!!! (I don't mean this in a nasty way. Just fun to joke.) That said, ignore the haters... Ignorance is the key word here.

    Rest assured that this debate will be put to rest within our lifetimes. I have two teenage kids and that generation is so much more evolved. Just look at our AMAZING President! Oh, I could go on and on.....but I won't. Just know that there are MILLIONS and MILLIONS of white people out there who are not inter-racial married who stand by you. That's all I got to say.

    Enjoy the weekend with your fabulous, beautifully created families!

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  6. MJ -
    YOU ARE SO ROCKING! I LOVE YOU!

    This reminds me of the movie "Beauty Shop" with Queen Latifah so I'm sharing because I love it!

    Phenominal Woman
    Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
    I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
    But when I start to tell them,
    They think I'm telling lies.
    I say,
    It's in the reach of my arms
    The span of my hips,
    The stride of my step,
    The curl of my lips.
    I'm a woman
    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That's me.

    I walk into a room
    Just as cool as you please,
    And to a man,
    The fellows stand or
    Fall down on their knees.
    Then they swarm around me,
    A hive of honey bees.
    I say,
    It's the fire in my eyes,
    And the flash of my teeth,
    The swing in my waist,
    And the joy in my feet.
    I'm a woman
    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That's me.

    Men themselves have wondered
    What they see in me.
    They try so much
    But they can't touch
    My inner mystery.
    When I try to show them
    They say they still can't see.
    I say,
    It's in the arch of my back,
    The sun of my smile,
    The ride of my breasts,
    The grace of my style.
    I'm a woman

    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That's me.

    Now you understand
    Just why my head's not bowed.
    I don't shout or jump about
    Or have to talk real loud.
    When you see me passing
    It ought to make you proud.
    I say,
    It's in the click of my heels,
    The bend of my hair,
    the palm of my hand,
    The need of my care,
    'Cause I'm a woman
    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That's me.

    Maya Angelou

    Also, I am blessed to have a FIL who is a 6'4" handsome brother. I love him! He is the best grandaddy my kids could ever dream of having!

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  7. I LOVE YOUR BLOG TOO! I AM A STALKER. I'LL ADMIT IT BUT YOU KNOW BEING A MOMMY OVEN MULTIPLE CHILDREN ITS HARD TO GET THE PHONE AND SIT DOWN AND CHAT. THATS WHY I FOLLOW YOUR BLOG TO SEE WHAT CREATIVE THINGS YOU'VE BEEN UP TO!

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  8. I love my blogger friends - they are so supportive! As for me, the important thing is to be who I am ... and then the chips will fall where they may. ;-) Oh, my nutritional choice is Coke. The real deal. I need the sugar and the caffeine! ;-)

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  9. I loved this post...so honest, yet fun and I learned a ton about you. (I also blog from my dining room table...I don't think we could eat there now with all my review crap I have all over it...)

    I am a new follower from Mom bloggers Linky! Love for you to stop by and say hi!

    Happy Easter!

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  10. Your SC blogging buddy is so glad to have "met" you!!! And hoping you find your way to a home here too!

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God don't like ugly! Neither do I...so if you dont have something nice to say.....keep it to yourself!