Healthy Glow: Healthy Eating, La Mode & Ramblings

For Your Entertainment: NPR Valentine Cards are the Best!

These cards are NERD’s dream! A dream!

You have to be a serious public radio junkie to get into these. Serious.

Music Monday: Frank Sinatra “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning”

Yesterday, before I went to bed, I listened to Frank Sinatra. I forgot how much I enjoy his voice, his lyrics, and the emotion that he put into all of his songs. One of my favorites is “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning”. According to Yahoo Voices this song is, “…the most heartfelt expression of love ever recorded. He hurts and he keeps loving and he knows he’s not in control.”

Today, I woke up in the worst mood, but this song puts me in a better one. Have a great Monday everyone.

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Happy Friday: Start Your Day with Positivity, Def Poetry Jam’s Gemineye “Penny for Your Thoughts”

I am at work today, and I have nothing to complain about. I am actually feeling quite happy being able to catch up on work today since I am not engaged in my usual work. Today, work is going at my speed. As I work, I am catching up on my favorite podcasts, spoken word poetry, buying a present for a local Mexican child (we have adopt-a-child for Christmas program at work, yay!), and listening to news.

I am planning on going to the gym tonight, painting, and listening to music. Tomorrow, I go out dancing. Have a great day/weekend everyone!

Isn’t Gemineye the best? To this day, this is one of my favorite Def Jam performances.

Music Monday: They Reminded Me About….India. Arie “Little Things”

“It’s the little things and the joy they bring, it’s the little things….”

A few years ago, when I graduated from undergrad at Indiana University, I had a really hard time finding a job and transitioning to life after college. I felt defeated, under appreciated, depressed, and questioning the value of my education. A little while later, I was able to find a career.

During that time, my parents and India.Arie taught me to look at the little things and to appreciate what I have now. To be in the now.

Fast foward to today. This past week my little poodle was killed and I went into a tail spin of negativity, defeat, and hurt. I took some time off from work, and went back to my parent’s home. My parent’s and India.Arie reminded me to appreciate the little things, once again.

I am back at work and feeling much better. I am still a little sad, but I am focusing on the little things. I hope that today, you also take time to appreciate the little things.

Happy Thursday: Anita Baker “Giving You the Best That I Got”

Music like this will never go out of style. I am also dedicating this post to all of the people who are just starting their relationships, working through some hard times, or renewing old love. Take time to listen and appreciate their partner for what they bring to your relationship. In your relationships, romantic or otherwise, make sure that the person brings out the best in you. Give your relationships the best that you’ve got.

Have a great day!

Music Monday: “Love” by Music SoulChild

I can never go wrong with MSC. His music sounds like it is ageless. Also, how can music artists stray from the most classic topics in music: LOVE. I dedicate this tune to my families, friends, my life, the good, the bad, the struggles, the accomplishments, and my boyfriend.

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Have a great day everyone!

For Your Self-Esteem: Love After Love by Derek Walcott

Derek Walcott wrote a poem titled “Love After Love” in it, the St. Lucian poet writes:

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

And say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Spied at Clutch Magazine

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For Your Self-Esteem: Happiness Is... →

So stop waiting
until you finish school,
until you go back to school,
until you lose ten pounds,
until you gain ten pounds,
until you have kids,
until your kids leave the house,
until you start work,
until you retire,
until you get married,
until you get divorced,
until Friday night,
until Sunday morning,
until you get a new car or home,
until your car or home is paid off,
until spring,
until summer,
until fall,
until winter,
until you are off welfare,
until the first or fifteenth,
until your song comes on,
until you’ve had a drink,
until you’ve sobered up,
until you die,
until you are born again
to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy…
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

- Alfred De Souza

I am guilty of waiting for happiness. What are you going to do improve your happiness?

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For Your Self-Esteem: Life Lessons

The moment is all there is. All our worries and plans about the future, all our replaying of things that happened in the past — it’s all in our heads, and it just distracts us from fully living right now.
If you find yourself swimming with all the other fish, go the other way. They don’t know where they’re going either.
Failures are the stepping stones to success. Without failure, we’ll never learn how to succeed.
The destination is just a tiny slice of the journey. We’re so worried about goals, about our future, that we miss all the great things along the way. If you’re fixated on the goal, on the end, you won’t enjoy it when you get there.
Let go of expectations. When you have expectations of something — a person, an experience, a vacation, a job, a book — you put it in a predetermined box that has little to do with reality.
Giving is so much better than getting. Give with no expectation of getting something in return, and it becomes a purer, more beautiful act.
Gratitude is one of the best ways to find contentment. We are often discontent in our lives, desire more, because we don’t realize how much we have.
Create. The world is full of distractions, but very few are as important as creating.
Life is exceedingly brief. You might feel like there’s a huge mass of time ahead of you, but it passes much faster than you think.
Fear will try to stop you. Doubts will try to stop you. You’ll shy away from doing great things, from going on new adventures, from creating something new and putting it out in the world, because of self-doubt and fear. It will happen in the recesses of your mind, where you don’t even know it’s happening. Become aware of these doubts and fears. Shine some light on them. Beat them with a thousand tiny cuts. Do it anyway, because they are wrong.

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Curvy women are real women. Skinny women are real women. Women who have had boob jobs or lip enhancements or liposuction are still real women. Size 0 may make no sense mathematically, but a woman who wears that size is as real as the one who wears a size 16. What makes us “real” people is not the shape of our flesh but our basic humanity. And we lose our humanity when we judge – not when we lose weight, gain weight, or make the intensely personal decision to undergo cosmetic surgery.

For Your Self-Esteem: Body Peace

Hugo Schwyzer (via body-peace)

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(via body-peace)

For Your Self-Esteem: Kardashian’s Wise Words

(via pink-lip)

For Your Self-Esteem: Free Positive Thoughts

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For Your Information: 45 Must Follow Tumblrs For Black Women

Warning: Be sure you’ve got some time to kill before you tackle this list. Tumblr is the prime destination for colored girls who are bored at work when Twitter isn’t enough.
Africahttp://fyeahafrica.tumblr.com - Dedicated to, and celebrating, the people, numerous cultures, tribes and traditions of Africa

Black Women/Womenhttp://blackchickswithfreckles.com - The name says it all.http://fuckyeahfiercebitches.tumblr.com - Fierce b*#@hes doing fierce things.http://proudblackwoman.tumblr.com - A celebration of all that it means to be a Black woman.http://fuckyeahblackbeauties.tumblr.com - Beautiful Black women of all shades and shapes.http://allthingsblackwomen.tumblr.com - Even more snaps of gorgeous Black women http://black-berries.tumblr.com - See two previous entries http://darkskinnedblackbeauty.tumblr.com - Celebrating the beauty of women who often get overlooked

Celebshttp://fuckyeahfamousblackgirls.tumblr.com - Pictures and quotes from famous Black women http://fuckyeahfemcees.tumblr.com - Highlighting women in rap http://reelsistas.tumblr.com - A tribute to Black women in television and film http://fkyahdianaross.tumblr.com - All Diana Ross all the time.http://daily-mj.tumblr.com - Get your MJ fix
Diversityhttp://fuckyeahethnicwomen.tumblr.com - Beautiful women from around the world http://fuckyeahethnicmodels.tumblr.com - Featuring models of all ethnicities

Fashionhttp://blackfashion.tumblr.com - Stylish Black women and men http://fashioncitizen.tumblr.com - Fashion insight of a blogger and stylist http://www.mustluvvshoes.com - Shoe addicts of the world unite.http://blackstylecentral.tumblr.com - Black celebrity style http://streetetiquette.tumblr.com - Stylish Black men

http://fuckyeahblackmodels.tumblr.com - Beautiful Black models

Feminismhttp://fuckyeahfeminists.tumblr.com - Celebrating anything that’s anti-sexism, anti-racism, anti-ableism, anti-oppression, anti-kyriarchy, anti-homophobia, anti-hate and pro-equality.http://thefeministhub.tumblr.com - Community for feminists http://islamicfeminist.tumblr.com - Social commentary by feminist, Muslim woman

Historyhttp://fywomenshistory.tumblr.com - A primer on women’s history.http://vintageblackglamour.tumblr.com - Beautiful Black women from eras gone by http://blackvintage.tumblr.com - Historical photographs of Black men and women http://ofanotherfashion.tumblr.com - An alternative archive of the not-quite-hidden but too often ignored fashion histories of U.S. women of color http://fyeahblackhistory.tumblr.com - An entire blog dedicated to Black History tid bits

Humorhttp://littleknownblackhistoryfacts.tumblr.com - You won’t find any of these #BHM gems in a textbook.http://boogiechronicles.tumblr.com - The hilarious tales of poet Bassey Ikpi and her son Boogie.

Natural Hairhttp://peacelovenatural.tumblr.com - Highlights Black women with natural hair.http://locluv.tumblr.com - For the loc lovers http://naturalhaireverything.tumblr.com - #naturalhaireverything http://lecoil.tumblr.com - One of the better known natural hair Tumblrs http://fuckyeahcurlscurlscurls.tumblr.com - For everyone who loves curls

News and Politicshttp://thesmithian.com - A supremely well-edited collection of opinion, news and pop culture.

Lovehttp://blackloveisabeautifulthing.tumblr.com - Black love in the movies http://blackloveposter.tumblr.com - Gorgeous photos of real life Black lovebirds.

Writers/Bloggershttp://afrobella.tumblr.com - Afrobella shares her thoughts.http://angelonfire.com - Angel Laws—the woman behind Concrete Loop.http://www.xoxoclaire.com - Claire Sulmers the Editor in Chief of The Fashion Bomb.http://danyelsmith.tumblr.com - Veteran journalist Danyel Smith

Information from For Harriet

For Your Self-Esteem: Do Not Care What People Think

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