I'm Black And Can't Dance

  I cannot dance, and I am black! I am black and cannot dance. I realized this phenomenon when I was much younger. After watching Beyonce's "Crazy In Love" music video I tried very much so to do the "Uh Oh" dance. While Beyonce and her dancer's looked like fierce energizer bunnies, I looked like I was trying to fight off a seizure. Fast forward to my eighth grade farewell dance and  I, along with another person of color who could not dance, leaned back against the wall while I watched my peers grinding and freaking on each other ( yeah the supervisors did not do their job). While taking breaks from watching what looked like a music video on 106& Park, I ate some cotton candy, some  ice cones chatted with some friends  but the distraction was still lingering.

   Why can't I just dance? This eighth grade farewell dance is a once in a lifetime opportunity to dance and have fun with my eighth grade friends . I felt alone, shy and awkward. Suddenly, I threw away my ice cone ( in a recyclable trash can), and marched right onto the dance floor. There was just a crowd of overly hype, sweaty kids and I made my way through them. I stopped and told myself that I will just dance for ten seconds just to say that I actually danced at my eighth grade farewell dance. So I did it, I danced like a beheaded chicken, and once the ten seconds was over I looked up to see if anyone was watching. I looked at one side of the room and mostly people were still dancing and grinding on each other *phew*! I look at the other side of the room and there was this one girl just staring at me, and smiling mischievously like"haha girl! I saw that!"

  Now in present time I still can't dance, I've gotten a little better, but I prefer to dance when I'm in my room by myself. However, if I get invited to a club I'm going to dance even if I look stupid. Why? Because dancing is just about feeling the music and having fun. You don't have to be a trained dancer or even have some moves to dance. Just dance to the beat as they say! In retrospect if you're dancing in public you're probably not the only one who can't dance, and most people aren't paying attention to you dancing like that, they're too busy having fun. So, there is nothing wrong with not knowing how to dance, even if your black. But if it still bothers you, you can always take classes. So have a  Happy National Dance Day to all my awkward dancers!

A Little Inspiration: Just Do You!

     “I want to do it all!” I declare to myself while taking a dump in the toilet (sorry, was that too much for you?) I want to blog, I want to vlog, I want to make films, I want to… I want to learn computer coding? Yes, computer coding! You see I have a lot of plans for myself, it may look like I am a confused twenty-something who doesn’t know what she wants but what’s wrong with that? Tyler Perry once said, “Put all of your energy into watering one area. If you spread the water across many, many seeds you don’t have as much water for one seed. So focus on one thing, make it your priority and stick with it no matter what.” Well then why do people garden, Perry? Why have one beautiful flower when you can have a garden full of azaleas, some petunias, daisies, hell, throw some basil in there as well. The more I do what I want and learn different tasks, the more I learn about myself and abilities. 

    You see, I’ve always had a problem picking just one thing to do. I mean, choosing just one major in college for example. If I had more time  I would have double-majored, can you triple-major? I fall in love with anything that fuels my soul. Anything that fizzles out my procrastination and self-doubt, and renews that spark for life is what I crave for.

   

     I realize that wanting to do many things at once can becomes daunting. However, humans are multi-faceted, so it makes sense that most would have many different passions in life. If you are a lawyer, but you want to create a fashion blog then why not have a stab at it? A screenwriter, who wants to create a game app? Okay, then! Take classes, go back to school, reach out to experts. Do whatever it takes.

   

   Only problem is what happens when the spark seems to dim? When it seems that your passion becomes work, I mean work that you have been too scared to look in the eyes. What happens when your supervisor makes fun of your soft-spoken voice in front of your coworkers? Does that mean you should reconsider making YouTube videos? Or when that big creative script idea you need to become a big hit hasn’t come through yet? Or when you don’t seem to have a lot of followers on a blog you’ve been working on for years? What happens then? Do you stop? Hell no! Wake up! Hard work  just doesn’t happen the old Disney Cinderella way that most of us were taught, but that’s okay because it’s much more fun that way.

  

  My dream is to inspire the self-doubters, the naysayers that dreams do come true. I want people to look at me and say, “If this ordinary girl can do it, so can I.” So what if you have a million ideas, and no one believes in you. At least you believe, and that’s all you need to make your first step. Now, I’m just getting started in this process but when I’m done I’ll let you know how it all turned out.

Kemi Talks

 

   Hello everyone out  there! I decided to make YouTube videos! I've always admired YouTube personalities and content creators. In the past, I would make videos but then take them down. But here I am, embracing myself to everyone in a different format! This video required so much editing, It's the hardest video I've worked on, so give a sister some love! Lol! Seriously though!

  Anyway, I am looking to make weekly videos and see how this YouTube thing goes. Thanks for reading, now watch my video!

Style Star: Julia Sarr-Jamois

Julia is a style star because she displays a good mix of edgy and casual attire. When I look at style stars, I look for someone who just has fun with fashion and it shows with Julia. She is  half French and half Senegalese and was born in London. A fashion stylist who previously worked at Wonderland magazine as an editor and now works at I-D magazine as fashion editor-at-large, according to her instagram. I remember seeing her in some blog a few years back and she has become my fashion inspiration! I mean look at her fro!  

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Citizen Couture

  

 Photographed by Yuval Hen & Nathan Rissman for Plastic Dreams  Issue 06 - S/S 2011/2012

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http://juliasarrjamoislove.tumblr.com/

         

Whose style do you envy the most? Leave a comment below, and maybe they can become the next style star!

My Trip to Paris: Journey to The Gardens

                           
 
     While some things went wrong in Paris, I still enjoyed and appreciated the experience. One of the best things to happen was my journey to the gardens. Being able to immerse myself in nature and truly relax and let go of any worries while capturing the beauty and elegance the gardens portrayed, *exhales deeply* equals perfection!

      One of the first gardens I went to was the Luxembourg Gardens. According to Wikipedia, "In 1611, Marie de' Medici, the widow of Henry IV and the regent for the King Louis XIII decided to build a palace in imitation of the Pitti Palace in her native Florence. She purchased the hotel du Luxembourg (today the Petit-Luxembourg palace) and began construction of the new palace. She commissioned Salomon de Brosse to build the palace and a fountain, which still exists."

     It was definitely grandeur like all the gardens I went to, unfortunately I didn't spend too long there and only took a few pictures:

The Palace

The Pool

  The Jardin du Versaille was one of the first gardens I explored. I spent the most time here because you have to pay to enter. Not sure how much, but it was worth it. It was like going through a maze because you are surrounded by the tall landscaping of the trees, and  geometric shaped bushes. If I weren't with my classmates I would have been lost!

  Unfortunately my phone and camera died during the tour of the Palace of Versaille so these photos  are from my friend Peta.

In front of the Dragon Fountain

My favorite, however, was the Jardin du Palais Royal. It's located near the Louvre It was created by the Cardinal Richelieu in 1633 to house royal families until the Palace of Versaille was built.  So many colorful flowers and ornate statues to drool over.

Wash and go in full effect!

Eating the La Maison Du Chocolat from the Louvre.

Awkward posing!

???

 

Can I stay longer please?

So there you have it, my journey to the gardens! What was your favorite picture? What places would you like to visit in Paris? Leave  a comment below!


















Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardin_du_Luxembourg#History

Outfit of The Day: Patterns on Patterns!

Hello! I secretly love fashion! So I am going to incorporate my looks of the day from time to time! Hope you like! 

        

Shirt-Salvation Army 

Leggings- Charlotte Rousse

Shoes-Payless

My Trip to Paris:The Unplanned Happened

 

The Eiffel Tower as it rains outside. 

  It has been an interesting school year for me. Since the start of Spring 2014 I have been doing a lot with starting a school organization, doing extracurricular activities, hanging out with friends, and trying to maintain good grades.

  Therefore I was excited to hear that I was going to study abroad to Paris and London for a month this summer! I couldn't believe I was going on this trip, in fact I didn't tell anyone I was going ( except my family and those going with me) until  I think the day I got to Paris. It wasn't because I felt like I was dreaming, but an unnerving feeling in my gut came about when I thought about it sometimes.

  However, I, along with over a hundred students, boarded on a one way flight to Paris. It was surreal. The day I got there my roommate and I went to go and eat a nearby sandwich place. While siting outside eating croque.  (delicious French version of grilled cheese!) I couldn't believe I was there, relaxing  in the cool wind, glancing at the esoteric architecture, watching the Parisians walk by.It was surreal. 

Infamous croque! So yummy!

  Each  day  was filled with whirlwind adventures. I enjoyed eating at a crepes restaurant by myself late at night, trying escargot for the first time with my friend,  hour-long museum  tours with my classmates, and hanging out at the beautiful Luxembourg and Parais-Royal Gardens. It was bitter-sweet, because as I was enjoying my time I was bummed we were only staying for  two weeks. Besides I had already been to London when I was twelve. 

    Unfortunately, something  happened. I wrote a post about this before, but previously I was hospitalized for almost two months and one of the reasons was from having avascular necrosis. It all started trickling down when our class went on the Louvre Museum tour.The Louvre was one of the attractions of my  "Things to do in Paris list" I had to check off. Before the day of the tour, I had done a lot walking and had a tour of my own with my friends and a couple of my schoolmates. The day of the Louvre tour,I  was having sickle cell crisis (not too bad),  I took some pain medicine and tried to carry on with the Louvre tour. 

   However, during the tour it became increasingly difficult to move on. I wanted to desperately capture and appreciate years of artwork, but I started feeling ill and wanted to pass out. I thought maybe I hadn't eaten enough while taking my medicine, but when the effects of the  medicine wore off the crisis came again and much stronger. It was impossible to walk any further and I  had to sit down multiple times. 

What up, Mona? 

   At the end of the Louvre tour I was in tears from so much pain. Thankfully I was approached by a few girls from my class who saw me in pain and stayed and helped me. After eating a sandwich and taking my medicine I felt a lot better and was able to go out and eat at  "the best French restaurant"(details on that soon). 

   Unfortunately,  days later I would be in pain every day. It became harder to take long walking tours with my friends. Mostly the pain was in my hip, and one day after looking for a subject to shoot for my class project it got so bad I had to get the doctor called immediately. I  spent a few days in my room not being able to walk. 

    It was getting to the point where it was questioned whether or not I could continue on with the trip. Yet, those who know me, know that I don't back down easy. It wasn't until the last day of Paris, I had already began walking incredibly slow and I didn't want anyone to be bothered with my difficulties. Therefore, after eating a croque sandwich  I was to spend the day alone and take the Metro to the Shakespeare's company. 

   I couldn't make it down the steps of the Metro.  I sat on the steps just having the physical feeling of defeat. Two security guards came rushing in to help me, despite the fact that they didn't speak English and I don't speak French. Moments later I was rushed to the Emergency Room  in an ambulance. I thought I was only going to stay in the hospital for a night, but I stayed for six days leaving behind my friends, London, and the past and future experiences. 

   It wasn't my ideal situation to end up in the hospital in Paris. Since this experience is still new to me ( I just got back to America), I am not sure what lessons are to be learned here. All I know is, things happen unexplained, unplanned. I just have to move on from it. I can still say I've been to Paris, which not many people can say. Additionally, I took a lot of pictures and some videos of my Parisian trip that I will gladly share to everyone. Just remember to be positive, if not for you, for someone else.