Its the time of the year when the school summer holidays are drawing to a close. If your kids have not returned to school they will in a matter of weeks. The summer bank holiday is here and conveniently means that many people would have gotten paid early. It also means summer is drawing to a close. However why not go out and enjoy yourself Caribbean style.
Both Leeds and London are hosting their annual caribbean carnival this weekend. London's Notting Hill carnival goes back to 1965 and has been held every year since. Immigrants from the Caribbean faced racism all over the UK. The west indian folk of Notting Hill decided to celebrate the tradition to bring the community together and forget about the negatives. Sunday will host the children's day and parade followed by the Monday which caters to more adults. The lady said to be the founder of London carnival was honoured with a plaque. Please read more about Ms Jones here.
Over in the midlands Leeds' carnival will equally be as busy. It may not draw in the millions that London does, however it does pull a huge crowd and continues to grow year by year. 2008 sees Leeds' Caribbean carnival celebrating its 41st year. Like London, sunday and monday are covered.
Expect to see colourful costumes, music from the caribbean and Diaspora, plenty of food and drink. Not to mention all ages having a good time. I pray that both carnivals are peaceful and no violence occurs.
To get you in the mood here is a video from soca greats Destra and Machel a classic song Carnival
I used to go to about 4 or 5 carnivals each summer across the UK. My love for such events have changed. Been there done that. Maybe I need to go to T and T and experience a serious carnival.
Read more about London carnival here and here and also
Ok I have a confession to make. I joined Weight Watchers last month. I am coming up to my 5th week. However I had a set back last week. I gained the 2lbs I had lost the previous week. I know why as well. I bought these weight watchers branded goods. You know cakes, cereal bars, sweets, etc. Now I love cake well more so the icing rather than the actual cake. But as I have re-trained my palette I do not like stuff too sweet.
So I bought these cakes. They were on offer in Asda and are like Kipling lemon slices. They tasted gorgeous. So I used 4 points for four slices. Not only that Asda convinced me that their 'good for you' ice cream was low -cal. So by the end of the week I was eating a slice of cake and ice-cream. Thinking I am within my points allowance.
My leader is so cheerful and c0nfident that I will succeed. I just feel that I know what I need to do now. I have mastered the system and just need to go it alone. I think I will just get me the weight watchers at home pack and get myself a subscription to Slimming World magazine. I am serious.
I have made sure that I have salad with my dinner. Nowadays I do not always have rice or good ole cook food with my meat. Driving doesn't help either. My cross trainer is used every other day. It is still painful. No one told me not to climb stairs holding a baby directly after being on that machine. Thank God I kept my balance. Phew!!
My other sources of help are looking at pictures of me pre-marriage and seeing who I was an who I have become. I do not wish to starve myself so I will get to my goal in time. Of the friends I have told my weight loss goal they gasp in horror saying I would look awful. But we will see half a stone at a time.
Note to self - Do not let husband share my dinner. In fact ensure he doesn't cook so often.
Do you remember the British soul group Eternal. I sure do. I was one of their fans, bought just about every single that I could afford to. Their first single 'Stay' came out in 1993 and was a hit both here in the UK and in the USA. Louise (Nurding) Redknapp was in the group too along with sisters Esther and Vernie.
Well my friend invited me to a church event yesterday. It was something to do with the Alpha course. Kelle was the special guest who would be speaking on her journey in faith. The night began with drinks and free food. I was not pleased with the food as I 99% do not like Indian food. I saved 1% for the Nan bread. At a push the chicken that's yellow.
So after an introduction Kelle walked up threw the crowd. She looked so beautiful. She did not look like she has aged at all. She is so slim and trim and came across very approachable. She began talking about how she got into the music business.
She won a beauty contest at age 2 and was spotted as having potential. This lead to her pursuing the performing arts and was granted a scholarship to the Italia Conti Academy. There she met Louise Nurding. Of which they later formed a group with sisters Esther and Vernie. They became very successful.
The group Eternal after losing Louise, who chose to go solo, continued to make hits and sell sell sell. However one day it seems they grew apart. It was in the press that Kelle was kicked out and that their was some tension between her and the Bennett sisters. Girl groups huh.
Well she explained that she was brought up in the Christian faith and chose to do her own thing when she was old enough. She strayed far away from those values but still went to church as and when. She even met the Pope during her girl group days. She felt God's presence during an alter call. When she was younger she thought all that went on at the alter was fake as you do when you do not have spiritual knowledge.
Her life was good. She had money in the bank a career and all was good. Then one day she received a letter from the solicitor of the Bennett sisters stating that she had been sacked from the group. Her solicitor had a copy. In fact the entire press and music industry were sent a copy. She went onto say that she basically stayed in because of the shock and shame. She fought them in court and due to that litigation she had no access to her money etc.
Kelle was due to release a single and her debut solo album. However one day she woke up in bed and found that she had lost the feeling in her finger. This soon spread across her body. Her hair fell out and she was covered in ulcers from head to toe. She was diagnosed with Lupus which is an incurable disease. She broke down in tears at this point. Kelle went onto say that God spoke to her and told her all will be well. Her incurable illness Lupus can no longer be found in her system and has not taken any medication for the last 8yrs. Wow. So happy for her.
Kelle is still performing. You can see her in the play 'Torn' which is about a love between an African and West Indian in London. The play will be shown across the UK.
I suppose you have to have an understanding of the power of God to appreciate where she was and where she is now. Her healing has no medical reason. They just accept that her body has been healed from that life threatening incurable disease. The doctor told her it was in remission Through out her career in Eternal, Kelle said that she kept hearing the Lord reach out to her. She is blessed and still here and shares her story in the hope that you will be blessed too.
Here is a video of her 1st solo single which became her last. She currently does theatre and pantomime and reality TV.
So after a long period off work due to childbirth. I am due to return in the next few weeks. I have been for an interview for a different job altogether. I am trying to get into the NHS or a decent government job that pays well and does not stress me out. I went for a receptionist position and lost out because someone had 10yrs GP experience behind them. However I got excellent feedback and was told to keep applying. So I expect to be rewarded with pastures new by January. Fingers crossed!!!!!
I currently work in a modern day sweat shop. I refer to it that way because it is a call centre and you are limited in what you can do for people. Flexible working is the law for parents but companies have this loophole that they get to use by simply saying 'business needs...cannot accommodate.....etc etc '. How do they expect you to show empathy when they are not doing the same to you. Anyway I decided I will stop fighting them. They all know how I feel. For all the hate of my last call centre job they were better at adjusting shifts.
I am applying for different positions that will remove stress off of my head but....will see. In the meantime I am job hunting. I am also looking into setting up my own business but all things in time. I need more than a pay cheque/slip. I need a good life and a job that doesn't send me to mental hospital. Or I could always get signed off with stress.
I know I am really not supposed to buy anymore makeup. However there are like 1 or 2 items I do want well rather need. One being an ink or gel eyeliner such as Mac Fluid lines or Sleeks Ink pot.
Anyway I was out with friends and just thought I would go and have a look in Superdrugs to see if Sleek is still there going strong. Yes they were still there indeed. I so love their Divine Eyeshadow palette. It was last years Christmas when I made my purchase and there was only one. Now there are 3 palettes to choose from. Good move, after all variety is the spice of life, so they say.
I am so glad they decided to re package and bring out new products. Sleek has been an established brand since 1989. Their headquarters and origins are in London UK. I always thought that Sleek was new in the late 90's but they have been around for awhile. They have aims to move forward.
I like the fact that they are super affordable and now I don't even have to go to the (not owned by us) hair shops to buy it. I mean when I was in Brixton's Superdrugs I got all giddy and just bought 4 products. Oh they had offers so I was like what that cheap but the colours are amazing. The same thing happened today. But I am more cautious of my spending (details well some will follow when the time is right).
Please excuse the way the picture look (I quit A-Level Photography through boredom). The top palette with the natural range of colours is called 'Storm' and the bottom palette is called 'Original'. Green is my fave eyeshadow colour at the moment and 'Original' has 3 different shades of green. Lovely. The other palette is called Chaos but I was not feeling those colours at all. They might warm to me by Christmas.
Ok so L'oreal who has been buying into the black beauty and hair market has a really gorgeous collection called H.I.P. Which stands for High Intensity Pigment. I have seen this range advertised in black women's magazines that I occasionally buy. So now I find myself addicted to YouTube makeup tutorials. In particular Scandalous Beauty. Yes I know stressing the fact that I admire this girls work, her video's her blog and her hair woes.
Anyway I want some H.I.P Brazen eyeshadow duo. You have to watch the video's to see the effects. But lo and behold, we be getting shafted in the UK. I emailed L'oreal to ask where in the UK or elsewhere could I get hold of some H.I.P. This was their reply
Thank you for your recent e-mail.
We regret to inform you that we do not distribute this particular product in the UK and at present there are no plans to do so.
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require any further advice or assistance concerning our products through one of the channels below.
Kind regards
L’Oreal
Consumer Advisory Department
Now I know I read a while back that cosmetic companies operate on a two tier system. They have an American release of products and the UK/European release is well less represented. So I am not surprised by their reply. I will look into this further. In the meantime Ebay can be my friend. Unless of course Sleek Cosmetics has similar colours to Brazen. mmmmm.
I have had such a nice weekend. A busy weekend to say the least. I have made sure that I consume less calories in the week so that I could splurge on alcohol and food.
My friend got married on Saturday. Her dress was beautiful, she looked amazing. In fact she had some tomboys in there and what a transformation. The service was beautiful as can be expected at weddings. The one thing I took away from the service was the story about the motorbikes and the bends.
It reminded me of one of T.D. Jakes' sermons I watched on telly. Anyway, Pastor more or less said that when a married couple is riding a motorbike together down a straight road they will need to make sure when the bends in the road come, you need to bend together. It would not be good to go opposite ways. That is the gyst of it.
Then of course there was the double christening of my 2 friends sons on Sunday. Aww both boys looked gorgeous. J threw up on pastor which had the whole church in giggles. Even more so because Pastor made a point of mentioning that J decorated his clothes before lol. R was just not in the mood for pastor to hold him. Don't you love children?
The reception was heaving with people. It was so hot in that bar. Me with my Bugaboo Bee and baby in tow. I had to change into flats. Them high heel shoes I was wearing hurt badly. I drank to my hearts content. I must have consumed 3 large glasses of Rose' , JD and coke with a sneaky splash of hennessy and some Grey Goose and lemonade.
My husband is on holiday with my eldest so his friends and brother were watching me. Typical. They had the cheek to throw away the remainder of my wine. Telling my grown self no more drink. I was slowing down anyway because I need to tend to my baby. I ended the night with a hot chocolate and a piece of christening cake. yummy.
I think the Black weblog awards are brilliant. As I browse my favourite blogs I can see that some have awards showing the prestigious awards. I hope one day or even within a year I have a following worthy of being nominated. Being nominated is shows that people enjoy what you do.
The Black web awards is now in its 4th year. Currently there are 30 categories and most will have 2 winners, judges vote and a popular vote. You can look at previous winners here.
I have already submitted my nominations form. I could not fill the entire ballot. However I made sure my favourite blogs got mentioned such as Scandalous Beauty and Afrobella.com. I have voted for some others too.
Anyway I am off to explore some of the past winners. Have you got a favourite Black blog. Well head over to Black weblog awards and cast your votes. Don't forget to have a look at the past winners as you may find another blog to enjoy.
