Homegirl Quel (kel) in Austin

It's Our Anniversary

Seventeen years together--12 in holy matrimony. In case you missed it, THIS is STILL what it feels like to be with someone for this lone. Bliss, blisters and all. We keepin' it movin'. Love and light, y'all. Love and light. 

My Shop Is Open! Meet Roxzi!

http://www.roxzi.com

Whitney Houston Performing "One Moment In Time"

My local radio station is playing Whitney Houston's songs in heavy rotation today. I am happy that she shared her gift with us while she as here. My heart is heavy for her daughter and for everyone who knew and truly loved her. I am feeling a little sad. About as sad as I felt when Aaliyah died and when Michael Jackson died. They are people you always root for and want to see them do well, you know? Each of their stars were rising right at the moment they fell. How hard was I rooting for Whitney's comeback? I'm sad that we will not get to see her rock the red carpet when her next film, Sparkle, premieres in the fall. The past few years have been rough on her. I believe her soul is at peace now. She probably looking down on earth right now smiling at the mark she left that says, "I was here."

I would like to remember her when she was at her best. Her smile, charisma and voice are unmatched in the music industry, yesterday and today. I have heard this song twice today on my car radio. It is a reminder, not only of how beautiful Whitney's voice was, but also that life, for all of us, really is just one moment in time.

R.I.P. Whitney.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was here, but we are not there yet.

Where ever you are today (well, not today-today, because we all come together for rallies and marches and speeches today, but I mean on a regular "today"), look around and there is a pretty good chance that, had it not been for Martin Luther King, Jr. (and granted, other leaders of the American civil rights movement), your surroundings might look a little bit different. Some folks' surroundings (especially in places down here in TX) haven't changed much at all. Some people are grateful for the changes, some are resentful. Either way, we have come a long way and still have a long way to go towards racial, social and gender equality in this country. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. understood that people were not going to change fast enough for the social climate to change back then. He got that we are a nation of laws (unfair as they were) and that it is more important to appeal to the courts (white as they were) than to the cold hearts of fellow Americans who were perfectly fine with the way things were. So they fought. And some laws changed. Today, the fight continues and the changes continue. As much as we would love to look to the White House, now inhabited by a black family, and say we are finally looking down from King's mountaintop , it is imperative that we recognize that we are not there yet. 

And that's OKAY. For every 60, 70, 80 year old black person still harboring resentment from growing up and living in perpetual nobodiness, there are just as many or more 60, 70, 80 year old white folks still harboring resentment for the laws that made it possible for blacks to be treated like human beings. And these black and white people have raised children and their friends have raised children, and have very likely imparted their beliefs of racial inferiority or superiority to those children. So for every 20, 30, 40 year old black person who achieves a measurable level of education and success, there are just as many or more 20,30, 40 year old white folks who think their own ability to achieve is threatened by affirmative action. White privilege is alive and very real. Racism is alive and very real. We have made great strides, but we are not there yet.

There might be a mountaintop up there, but we have not seen it. A few more generations from now, maybe hearts and minds will catch up with the laws and there might actually be racial, social and gender equality in the United States. Hope is enough for politicians and activists and citizens to keep fighting and winning awesome, small battles that amount to awesome, big changes. Hope is good for movement and growth and momentum. 

I said all that to say that laws change overnight. People, intellectual values and grand sweeping ideas on race and equality do not. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best,  "It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”

I'm just sayin'.

Austin 2011 Turkey Trot: Z's First Kids 1K

When I ran my first 5k 2 weeks ago, my son was so excited about my "running race". Leading up to race day, he demonstrated for me how super fast his running shoes made him go--it's all about pushing those elbows back as fast and with as much force as possible. When he finally understood that I was the only one running, he was like, " Aw! I wish I could run in a running race that was just my size."  So I found one...

Please continue reading this post with more pictures on HomegirlRuns.

Thanks! 

Soular Foods Community Garden Winter Planting

Last Saturday, my husband son and I joined RawBella, Mr. Hoover (of Hoover's restaurants) and helpers at the GMZ Soular Foods Community Garden in East Austin. We planted winter vegetables and strawberries and had a great time during the process. My 3.5 year old probably had the most fun. Here are a few pictures of him and others hard at work...

Zack,  "I like planting SOOOOOO much."

Yo Gabba Gabba Live in Austin was awesome!

A little background. I entered a video of my two year old playing drums in the Yo Gabba Gabba Cool Tricks Facebook contest. Then I begged for my Facebook friends to vote for weeks on end. Thanks to their votes, he won! The prize: VIP tickets to the show, tons of organic toddler snacks by Revolution Foods and access to the after party to meet the Gabba Gang. I thought we would get to meet DJ Lance too, but when he didn't show up early on at the after party, we asked the door guys and alas, it was not meant to be. No DJ Lance. But we sat so close to the stage, that every time he came to our side of the stage, he appeared to wave right at us. Although I can't say definitively, my guess is that he did wave right at us because we stuck out like brown...brown...sore thumbs in a sea of white thumbs. Mhm. DJ Lance waving at us was enough for my son to think he had actually met DJ Lance, which works for me.

Help DJ Lance's awesomest little fan meet him in person, won't you?

*Update-- He totally WON! Thanks to everyone who voted. We're going to party with the Yo Gabba Gabba Crew LIVE, all thanks to your votes. This RAWKS! What to wear?!*

I couldn't resist entering him into this video contest. DJ Lance and Crew are coming to our town and the video that gets the most votes (per town) will be played at the show! And my almost-three-year-old will get to meet DJ Lance! And he LOVES DJ Lance. Please watch the video (he's not just fooling around, he really plays a tight beat) and PLEASE VOTE! 

He's a few months away from turning 3, and loves music, which is why I think he's so into DJ Lance and Yo Gabba Gabba. One time, a firefighter asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up...his answer...DJ Lance. He was also DJ Lance for Halloween... 

Keep It In My Backyard, Austin!

Kiimby (Keep It In My Backyard) is so quintessentially Austin-- a movement created by tech guys, encouraging people to do good, while shopping local. Wednesday night I had the pleasure of joining them at Dress Shop in downtown Austin for the first of many events around town to celebrate their good-hearted movement to encourage Austinites to shop at locally-owned businesses while simultaneously supporting local charities. The short of it is that shoppers can register (at no cost) for a Kiimby card, select a local charity to support, and use the card when shopping at Austin businesses. The card works like a local shopper loyalty card--swipe it at an locally-owned business and a percentage of the purchase goes to an Austin charity. Pretty good, huh?

A percentage of purchases made at Wednesday night's event went to support  . In case you missed it, my relationship with DFS started with a little cupcake party I threw and has blossomed from there. Leslie, Judy and the team of volunteers there are just awesome. Austinites, if you have a do-gooder itch to scratch, and being part of an organization that supports women interests you, go register to volunteer with us! If you don't have time to volunteer, go over to kiimby.com, register for your card, select Dress For Success or any other local charity you want your purchases to support and shop local! Let me tell you, Dress Shop is a great place to start. Obviously the dresses there rock, but the accessories at that place? Girl! I promise my heartrate increased when I saw the first display of statement necklaces. I'm going back there for my next accessorie run and you should too. Brave downtown parking (I tried to use the law of attraction--really--to find a close spot, but still ended up walking 4 blocks to the store), wear comfy shoes, and prepare to be enveloped in ultimate girlieness

I managed to snap a few decent pictures during the event. Here are a few, but as usual, head on over to my Facebook page for the full monty!

 

My son is featured on a major motion picture DVD!

It's All About The Poo

My 2.5 year old had his first poo on the potty this weekend! In honor of this awesomely funky brown milestone, I'm posting one of my favorite songs from my favorite episode of my favorite show. Here's Turk and J.D. on Scrubs singing the ridiculously appropriate song, Everything Comes Down To Poo...

Everything Comes Down To Poo 

Continue reading for a surprisingly brief blow-by-blow of how my boy flushed his first potty poo.

Nine Years Of Marriage, My Butt and Cupcakes

Y'all know I do an anniversary post every year, so of course I cannot let today pass without a nuptialversary shout-out. After almost fourteen years of being together, my husband and I celebrate nine years of marriage today. If you've been married for nine years you already know it hasn't been all cupcakes and jellybeans. It has been more like your favorite pair of jeans. You know how you buy them because they fit perfectly and they make your butt look cute and then you settle into them and they get kinda stretched out and might even sag a little bit over time and then get too tight if you put on a few pounds or are bloated,and sometimes they don't fit, but you keep them in the closet and try them on all the time until they do fit again and they might even get a hole in the knee because of all the wear, but you wear them all the time anyway because even though they don't fit the same way, you feel just as cute in them and, most importantly, they still make your butt look cute? That's what nine years of marriage is like. My marriage is comfortable and familiar and although it's not as perfect as it seemed to be when it was new, my butt still looks cute in it.

R.I.P. Teddy Pendergrass (1950-2010)

I was just a baby at the height of his career. Most of memories of him are in a wheelchair. I wasn't there, but can sing along to all his hot tracks from the seventies. He was sexy. His music was sexy. His voice was too. If you are familiar with his songs, (like most songs from back then) it is hard to hear the music start to play and not bob your head and sing along (with at least one arm in the air snapping to the beat). Here are performances some of my favorites.

I LOVE how easy everybody is dancing on Soul Train in the first one. My people really knew how to party and have a good time back then. In the words of Liz Lemon of 30 Rock, "I want to go to there. "

The More I Get, The More I Want


Close The Door


Come Go With Me


When Somebody Loves You Back

Hey, y'all! It's twentyten up in this piece!

Honestly I'm not that excited about the new year, but am grateful for an opportunity to start fresh. A whole year's worth of days...365 days...52 Mondays, is plenty of time to start over and stop and start over again. 365 days to try to get it right...again.

Since 2010 is a pretty good number, 10 being symbolic of completion and rebirth and all that, I decided to take a look at my first posts of the year over the past 5 years to see how much I/things have changed, or how much my outlook has changed over time. Just as I suspected, I'm the same person. That's a little frustrating, since I'm always (apparently) on a mission to change something about myself. According to my previous first-of-the-year posts (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009). I'm usually either over resolution lists or making ones that I end up not satisfying, still trying to lose weight (less weight now, but still), and still hoping to achieve the same things. I'm a little more mature I guess. Definitely more optimistic. And way, WAY more social. So there is definitely growth. Which I guess is most important. You know what they say about life being about the journey not the destination? I'm in a place right now where I'm really trying to enjoy the journey--not focus too far off into the future. To live, really live and enjoy today.

I cannot end this post without highlighting how much my 2009 recap post isn't much different from the previous one. So here is my first-of-the-year post for 2010, which is my 2009 post with some minor updates. Note the changes:

Merry Christmas! All I Want For Christmas Is You!

Here is my gift to you guys! A video of my favorite Mariah Carey Christmas song. Love you guys for reading my blog and following me on Twitter and Facebook and in general. All I want for Christmas is you and you and you and you. lol Merry Christmas!

A JoVenTosh Christmas "The EXPERIENCE"

This version of Donny Hathaway's This Christmas is AWE.SOME?! It's from a new album,  A JoVenTosh Christmas "The EXPERIENCE", and it's the perfect new sound for Christmas. His voice is right buttery and, if I'm not mistaken, he's singing his own back-up too, a la Beyoncé. This is just one of the amazing tracks on the album. I've known JoV since he was a bundle budging out of his mommy's belly. I'm SO proud of him!

Download the full album for $5 at http://www.joventosh.com. Do it!

Michelle Obama Covers Glamour's December Issue

I saw this at the neighborhood grocery store tonight. I was standing in line and the lights went out. I was terrified (Confession: I am afraid of the dark. Deathly. No exaggeration), but just before I belted out a scream, they came back on. While we where waiting for the cash register to reboot, I checked the magazine rack and saw her. She's the first Mrs. President to ever cover the magazine, but it's not just because she's pretty. She's being honored for devotion to mentoring young girls. Some people are saying that Michelle is getting too much exposure. I, however, could SO get use to seeing her on magazine covers. She's all long and brown and Mrs. Presidential. And those arms!

Essence Magazine: The Root of the Issue

I am slowly making my way through the November 2009 issue of Essence Magazine. GREAT articles. I recommend The Root of the Issue starting on page 137. On their website, Essence describes this conversation between singer Solange Knowles; singer Ledisi; TV host Tanika Ray; celebrity hairstylist Ursula Stephen; and writer and producer Tonya Lewis Lee as provocative, hilarious and heartbreaking at moments, and I could not agree more. Essence Magazine, can we please have more of these conversation pieces? At one point when Ledisi was talking about how she reacted to seeing herself as beautiful for the first time, I was nodding and cosigning as if I where right there on the sofa next to her. A friend of mine reacted the same way as she read some of Nia Long's comments. And Solange is so smart and funny! I already knew that since she's one of the few celebrities that I follow on Twitter. Getting to "hear" her in a conversation like this was like confirmation. We could totally be friends in real life. I mean that. *hoping I don't sound like a crazy stalker or whatever because it's SO not like that.* Moving on. Readers get to be a fly on the wall as these smart, beautiful black women discuss their relationships with their hair with insights into the broader topic of our standards of beauty. There is laughter and there are tears--y'all know we can turn on the waterworks when we get into these types of discussions. I really enjoyed reading it and was disappointed when it was over. Have you read it? You should.

Priscilla Renea's not a doll, but is SUCH a doll.

Sunday, with just a stool and a guitar, Priscilla Renea gave a special performance and charmed us all at Blogalicious 2009 (more on my amazing experience at Blogalicious later). She performed her hit single, Dollhouse, as well as Mr. Worker Bee and was awesome! I took some footage of her performance! Enjoy it. And after the jump, a video I found of an acoustic performance of Dollhouse. Learn more about Priscilla and listen to more of her music HERE. Don't put her in a box--you couldn't even if you wanted to. Get into Priscilla Renea, y'all. She's what's next.

Continue reading to see acoustic video of Dollhouse...

Fashion Friday: Ode To My Black Trench Coat

Don't be surprised that I'm about to spit a rhyme about an article of clothing. Many of you already know that I'm sort of a goofball. Remember back in 2005, when I wrote Ode To My Thermos? That was real and from the heart, y'all. It's been a few years, and I'm feeling like waxing poetic again. My love for my black trench coat is real. I'm feeling extra amorous right now, because while trying to figure out what to wear to Blogalicious 2009, one thing I never doubted was that I would take my black trench coat. This weather down south is all over the place right now, and my classic trench coat is perfect for it all. Plus, it looks just as fab with my favorite pair of jeans and Chucks as it does with a cocktail dress and heels. I love my black trench coat, y'all. I wrote a poem about it. 

Here you go:

To borrow from the great E.B.,please, "let me count the ways".
You stylishly complete me on those cool and sunny days.
And when the rain surprises us the way it always does,
I simply pop your collar--when it rains or just because.
And when you cross my mind at night the way you sometimes do,
You discreetly cover what my lover gets to view.
While fashion trends may come and go like random acts of kindness.
You, my love, will always be-- classic and chic and timeless.

*takes a bow*