TGIF!!  Is anybody going to see the new Justin Bieber movie today (just kidding... But not really)?

As you all know, I joined the gym and started working out.  At the gym I signed up with, they give you a complimentary fitness "assessment" in hopes that you'll sign up with a Personal Trainer.  I agreed to the assessment, but had no plans to sign up for a PT.  So I met with the guy, discussed what I wanted to work on (abs!!!) and he paired me up with the "abs guy" to do a few workouts.

"Robert" ( the abs guy) and I walk over to this stretching/sit-up machine.  It looked something similar to this, but larger and more slanted, so that you could lay your entire back on the bench comfortably.  Robert has me lying on the bench with a medicine ball, then reaching up in the air to touch his hand, you know, nothing fancy.  We finish the workout, and it's time to get up.  Instead of scooting up to the top of the bench, to easily get my feet from under the rolly thingys, I decide to try to get off the bench whilst still laying down.  MISTAKE.

My foot gets stuck under the rolly thingy and I literally fall off the machine sideways, in a tumble.  Everyone is looking at me.  People take out their earbuds, pause their ipods, stop their workouts to stare.  I was SOOOOOO embarrassed!!!!

I decided not to sign up with a Personal Trainer.  I'll leave it at that.

wearing: Zara gold striped sweater, Gap gold braided belt, Citizens jeans, Circa John & David hunter green boots

On a uplifting note (literally), I took a Zumba class with my Mom two days ago, and absolutely loved it! The teacher was... Ok.  She had rhythm but... It wasn't that instilled rhythm.  You could tell it took her a long time to gather the rhythm that she has haha.  I'm just saying!!

There was also an extraneous amount of booty popping involved.  There was a lady in the front going for blood.  It was as if she was auditioning as a dancer in a music video!!

I did a little organizing of my jewelry and cleaned my room yesterday.  I actually found my favorite lip liner that I thought I lost as a result of cleaning too!  I clearly need to clean my room more often...

Sunday I'm going to the Official Grammy Viewing Party at the 40/40 in NYC with a few friends.  I'll obviously be taking pictures.  It should be fun!!

Black History Month Fact: Nelson Mandela

Born in 1918 in South Africa.  He led armed resistance against apartheid, his native land's entrenched system of brutal legal discrimination that guaranteed political and economic security for White South Africans and disenfranchisement and poverty for Blacks.  As a part of the African National Congress (ANC), Mandela found himself first a fugitive and then a prisoner.  During his twenty seven years in jail, he became an international symbol of defiance against the brutality of South Africa's racist regime.  Mandela was freed from prison in 1990.  He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize three years later.  Shortly thereafter, he was elected as the first Black President of a new South Africa, one now free of apartheid- if not entirely of its legacy- due in part to his efforts. 

source

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Amazing.  His book is on my list of must reads.  A living legend.

-Kris

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Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY!!

I know you're looking at the title of this post and thinking "What the heck?" but that phrase came from the same person who said she was taken over by the spirit Nebuchadnezzar Hakeem Olajuwon on New Year's Eve.  If you have NO idea what I'm taking about, you can see that post here.

Moving on.

My body is mad at me because it doesn't understand what's going on.  I have joined the gym and started my workout grind, and I am soooo sore you guys!!  But my body is going to have to deal with it because, I can't stop 'cuz I won't stop (Diddy voice).  Does anyone have any good workout tips?  Does anybody workout? lol

Wearing: H&M cropped jacket and lace sheer blouse,  Gap stirrup jeans, Dolce Vita suede boots

I've been eating healthier too!  I'm proud of myself with the little salad I made the other day (yes I took a picture of it).

And I'm still going out in the streets even though it's Narnia outside.  I'm literally waiting for the Snow Queen to arrive at any moment!!

As I mentioned before, I'm in celebration of Black History Month, and I'm going to be adding some "did you knows" and whatnot to share on the blog!  Today: Sesame Street!

source

"More than 40 years ago, the Carnegie Institute was asked to figure out how television could be used to help inner-city preschool children read. Jim Henson and the Children's Television Workshop created a show with talking Muppets who taught children their ABCs and 123s. 'Sesame Street' mirrored a more inclusive world, including kids jumping double dutch, rapping and speaking Spanish. A 1996 survey showed that 95% of American preschoolers have watched 'Sesame Street' by the time they are three years old – a block in the 'hood where all children breathe air that's sweet. Now little black girls and their parents can be especially happy to tune into the program after the popularity of the 'I Love My Hair' song that debuted on an October 4 episode of the show. The show's YouTube clip of a little brown Muppet girl singing about the beauty of her hair went viral and encouraged black girls and women to take another look at the way we view our hair. "

If you haven't seen the "I Love my Hair" video, view it here.

Sidenote: I would have loved to have gotten the gig to record that song when I was little LOL!

Happy Saturday!

-Kris

Follow me on twitter

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY!!

The past few weeks have been harsh, weather wise.  Mother Nature is really giving it to the Northeast this winter, and it's starting to get on my nerves!!!  The schools are closed practically every other day, but I still have to face this weather and go to work!  Not fair lol!  We got a big snow storm last week, and we're supposed to get another storm tomorrow.  NOT feeling it.

On a good note, it is February, which means two things: It's one month closer to Spring, and it's Black History Month!!  I have always loved BHM, since I was little, and I always participated in school programs, community service projects, etc.  Now that I'm graduated, I don't know what to do with myself.  There are always great shows, plays, and events in celebration... I'll just have to find something fulfilling.  I will also be tweeting a BHM Fact on the daily.  You can check me out here.  It's not just Black History, but America's History!

Wearing: Sasha's thrifted hat, personal jewelry, H&M oversized turtleneck, 7 for All Mankind Wide Leg Jeans

I also have some great news!  I joined the gym!!  This may not be the great news you were expecting, but I'm pretty excited about it!  I worked out yesterday for the first time in awhile, and I started feeling sore on the drive home haha!

Cocoa

I also went out this past weekend (that's two weekends in a row, watch out now)!  This time it was for my bff Leilani's bday.  She, my other bff Sasha, and I went to a Hibachi/Sushi Restaurant for dinner.  

That's Edison, he targeted me all night SMH

Clearly the best picture ever!  This is Edison shooting Sake in the birthday girl's mouth.  She signaled him to stop, but he kept going LOL!  That guy in the pic is Brenden who we met because he was like 2 ft away from us the whole night (and dropping in on our grown & sexy convos throughout the evening).  He seemed cool...

I forgot to capture the plate BEFORE I went in... Clearly... But it was DELICIOUS!

After dinner, we went to the same club (as mentioned in my last post), but THANKFULLY those old guys weren't there (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, reference here).  Lei didn't want to go out, but we made her (as usual), and was glad we did, because we all had a fantastic time!

Have a great week!

-Kris

P.S. Don't forget to enter my Giveaway!!!

Black History Month Fact: Nathaniel Alexander as the first to patent the folding chair.  His invention was designed to be used in schools, churches, and at large social gatherings.

As some of you know, I am a big reader.  I'm always reading a book, sometimes 2-3 at a time.  I love reading about people, especially bios and autobiographies.  But of course I can't deny occasionally dipping into fiction books like The Twilight Saga or the Gossip Girl series I was obsessed with back in my hs days.  But enough about me.  This post is about you!


I am announcing my first GIVEAWAY!!!
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Remember the post I did about the gift exchange with my bffs here?  And remember how I was raving about the book "101 Things I Learned in Fashion School?"  This book has 101 great tips for all the fashion heads out there, whether you want to be designers, or just want a better understanding of the technical side of fashion!

Well ladies and gents, I am giving away a copy of this book to one of my lucky readers!  Not just a copy, but a signed and personalized copy from both authors to the winner of this fabulous book!!

And books never go out of style!! :D

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TO QUALIFY:
You MUST be following me through Google Friend Connect (the follow button on the righthand side of my blog with the mini icon pics of my current lovely readers) and optionally Bloglovin.'

For those of you who are not able to follow through google, subscribe to my rss feed (also on the righthand side and in your search bar) and "like" this post (I know you all are facebook junkies lol) to spread the word!

HOW TO ENTER:
Leave a comment on this post only with your name and e-mail address, and briefly tell me what it is you love most about fashion!!
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The winner will be chosen based on their response.
**Giveaway will close on 02.20.11**
Winner will be announced 02.28.11


Thank you to everyone who has been supporting my blog by following, reading my posts, commenting, and spreading the word!  I've only had this blog a few days shy of 3 months, and I am already impressed by the amount of friendly and creative people that I have interacted with!  I truly love blogging, and it's great to be able to build a community of likeminded, driven individuals like you all.  I get so excited to read your comments, and check out your blogs as well!  Thank you!!

Enter away! <3
Good luck!!!!!


-Kris

"The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."   -Dr. Seuss

-----GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED------

I've always heard that DIY or "Do it Yourself" projects are a fun way to be creative, to reinvent, and to push your imagination to produce something fantastic that you're ultimately proud to show off!!

Not in this case.

After moving back home from college (this past August), there were some things that NEEDED to GO, and needed to be "re-vamped."  I cleaned out my drawers, threw away useless junk etc...

Then there's the big dilapidated tv stand...

Hott mess right?  It had shelves too, but I dno what happened to those, so there's a ton of books, dvd's, and VHS's thrown inside there... No bueno.  I also had this GINORMOUS tv (that I actually really loved, but was time to let go) that someone willingly took off my hands.  It was to be replaced by my plasma tv from my college apt that had been sitting in a guest room on the floor, lonely and unwatched.  SO I decided to find an inexpensive book shelf I could buy and customize (the DIY part), and could serve as a bookshelf/tv stand.  Good idea right???  WRONG.

This is what the tv stand was supposed to look like:

My plan was to spray paint all of the shelves before assembling it.

My friend Lei even came over to help create my vision!

Looks good right??  I thought so too!

Once the paint dried my dad helped me assemble it.  And here is where the FAIL part comes in very quickly....  As SOON as we start putting it together the paint starts chipping all over the place!  It turned out to be a lost cause.  It's still a little painful to talk about it, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.  

Final Results:

Not even 5 minutes after I took this picture, my dad tried to move it over some and the whole thing slants, almost falling apart entirely.  I attempt to push it back upright and place my plasma tv on it, and it starts shaking like it's going to straight up demolish!! 

So basically I had to bring back my dilapidated tv stand to replace my new dilapidated bookshelf HAHA!  Hott mess!!!  I'm actually laughing out loud at this point, this project was such a disaster!!  As Lei told me yesterday, "Your vision truly stayed a vision."  Yup Lei, it surely did.

One of my cats Akbar thought it was a jungle gym, so I let him play around... Might as well be useful for something!!... I only paid 20 bucks for the bookshelf... I guess you get what you pay for!  It's still sitting in my room, but I plan to take it out on trash day lol.

On a positive note, yesterday was the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday!  I went with my mom and her Sorors for a Day of Service on the holiday to a nursing home to hang out, take pictures, and play games with the residents.  It was pretty cool, I like participating in community service projects at any capacity.  It keeps me grounded and humble.

Let us always remember Dr. King's life, legacy, and the numerous doors he has opened for all of us!  Thank you Dr. King!!!  I love all of his quotes, but here is one of my favs:

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."

DEEP.

I'm also currently reading a book that I recommend all of you fashionistas read.  I absolutely am loving it!! 

Her story is so inspiring!  She is a strong, powerful, and successful woman, and the book is filled with great advice!  She talks about life, love, and how she got to where she is now.  Here's an excerpt:

"It's not enough just to listen to your inner voice and ask yourself the hard questions about who you are and what you believe.  Eventually you need to get strategic about refining and communicating to others who you are and what you believe if you want to succeed."

Tell 'em Kelly!!

She's also extremely hilarious and witty, so don't think it's solely a self-help book that contain pages of quotable words.  You'll really enjoy it, I'm sure!!

Btw, I have some really fun posts coming up which require your participation!  I'm pretty excited about them, I hope you're willing to participate!! ;)

I hope all is well,

-Kris


P.S.  I smell a giveaway...... hehehe.