Weekend Recap

hewwo peeps....

tired and busy.. went out to U st the last 3 Fridays in a row up till 5am.. im 29 body is old LOL

Friday night attended the Kem/Ledisi and Mint Condition show at DAR Constitution Hall
Being lazy and not up for the 10-15 min walk from Farragut North/West metro I drove and didn't even leave my spot until 730 show started at 8 and oddly it started on time LOL
so I missed Ledisi who they only gave her about 20 mins bc Mint Condition came on 830 I got there about 845 so I was able to see some of the best R&B band of my era!

Kem came out very dapper gray suit hat.. slim and short dude. He sung a variety of songs from each cd and genuinely sounded just like his cd very strong voice.


---

I'm geeked off a new tea shop I found down that National Harbor in Maryland.
Capital Teas - the shop was small but I loved the wall of tea. The tea was held in glass jars for customers to smell. I purchased the basic 2oz (minimum) of Basil/Lemon Oolong [can we say perfect with an Italian dinner] & Stimulating Herbal Tea - it is an intense blend of ginger roots, cardamom, coriander, tumeric, cloves and nutmeg. I could not help myself I brewed a halfcup of the herbal tea tonight and OMG - u know anything w/ ginger is spicy-yum but the other herbs heighten the senses to a new level - I LOVE THIS TEA!

Also after a long convo with my tea twin at work.. I invested in a measuring spoon to help with ensuring my tea purchases last- ex 4oz of tea should yield 20+ cups.. me scooping a pinch of tea each morning LOL kills the ratio and now that I'm on a tight budget (explain lata) plus honestly adhering to proper temperature, quantity makes for a better cuppa...I'm slowly getting there.




Anyway about to finish watching my FAVORITE show Chopped (All-Stars) than going bed TIRED

its december

Tea leaves
tea loves
loves tea
Lives tea
leaves tea?
never.
-UNIEK SWAIN

I'm excited just sent out invite to my fab0O-ulous birthday tea party.
this is the year of 29 - no comments on that LOL....so I know yall she just gonna flow into blog without apologizing for the 4 month lay off.. I think my thirst for twitter slows my passion for blogging. I plan to work on that ratio in the 2011

One of my good college friends "j9musiclife" started her own blog and I served as a guest poster when I reviewed the Rhianna concert in Sept. Horrible I know :( neglecting my own blog for someone else. Here's the story

So in July - I was a disheveled mess preparing for the CISSP exam.. the great new me passed! woooot I'm a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) feels good I def worked hard for it.

I've been peeking back into the world of academia. Sat in for a GRE course- went WAY like Stratosphere over my head. I felt like ok did I even get a college degree the math was okay but that GRE verbal no good son! I also enrolled in pre-req (Networking 101) for the grad program I'm feeling GWU High Tech Crime Investigation. The program is excellent the tuition OC & the GRE is required unlike most other grad programs in the area, but I know its worth the struggle to get accept so I'm still 50/50.

as always attending the 2010 Logan Circle House tour this year with one of my coworkers. Upset I went on a slight work trip to Hampton last month and left my digi cam in the rental major FML.. so no pics this year though Ill get my friend to take some. Just a sidebar but I'm def moving into the city next year possibly a house staytuned #stillscared ...but there are deals so lets just claim it early for the 2011 #noshopping I've given my CC, Neimans, & Macys cards to my best girlfriends so and I'm about to start leaving my debit cards and home I really need to focus and not be a "single black female/addicted to retail" such a capricorn/woman issue LOL...

let see back to tea.. I've tried many of the last few months .. thanks to my new fav forum
tea chat I found new vendors:

Golden Teahouse
First-Grade Tie Guan Yin- basically an oolong best tea i ever. It had like sweet rose tasting tea and what I've learned good tea can be re stepped a good 4-5x and the flavor gets better each time.. yum a 5star tea LOL

Jing Tea
Lychee Red Black Tea- naturally sweet black tea no sugar/honey needed
Li Che Hong Cha- chinese green tea..i like normally the 2nd steeping and beyond is when the flavor really takes off
Traditional Iron Buddha Oolong (Monkey Picked*)- I ordered this bc local shop pearlfinetea had this last yr 2nd best tea I ever had.. this was good but not like the one I tried in the past
Tie Guan Yin Wu Long- umm was not as good as Golden Teahouse version but I enjoyed

Zhi Tea
Darjeeling Green- Green tea from Indian i loved it- quietly need to re-order some more
Dong Ding Oolong - Bought off of a recommendation it was OK
GABA Oolong- Gaba is a chemical that reduces stress.. but makes tea taste Nasty-- i hated this

ok me out.. hopefully catch yall before year end mi loves :)

.. i am the #1 Mary J Blige Fan

Thanks to beloved twitter I saw a link to

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see an intimate Mary J Blige performance live from the legendary Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City as part of the “Live on Letterman” web series. If selected, you and friend will be Mary’s guests as part of the live studio audience. If you live in the Tri-State Area and are over the age of 18, send us an email at mjbliveonletterman@gmail.com with your name, age and home zip code. Winners will be selected and notified by Saturday, 2/13 and must be available during the afternoon/early evening of Tuesday, February 16th.

So yes Md is so not the TRI-state area.. I emailed my girl in Brooklyn like girl please enter.
Well last Friday night I got a phone call of screaming and crying- WE WON! Sunday I had bought tickets on the BOLTBUS you can't beat it mann.. $38 round trip. I left Monday afternoon (yes was like eff- work lmao).. came back yesterday afternoon.

Was it worth it- HELL YES!!!

Now ended up we really treated to a special concert only aired on-line:
http://www.cbs.com/liveonletterman
Because the Tuesday night Letterman- MJB sung one sung and that was a different audience.

Maryland has been blizzard city aka baby Antarctica but Tuesday in NYC it snowed/sleet/iced all day and me and my girl trekked through the city to pick up the tickets and make the show.
Let me tell you MJB has a HARDCORE following, trust my friends thing I am crazy like groupie/stalker crazy..lmao umm im lightweight compared to the folks I had convos with while we were all waiting in line. Folks that seen MJB over 10 times - all races/sexes represented it was great to be with my 'own kind'

Playlist:

Grown Woman Intro
Love Is All We Need
i'm The Only Woman
Be Happy
You Bring Me Joy
Real Love
love no limit (remix)
Mary Jane (All Nite Long)
I Am (fans sing along & new begining)
Good Luv
Just Fine
Family Affair

She was WRONG WRONG for hitting all those mylife album songs..almost had a breakdown!

Pics:


8 rows back baby!

here and there...

sorry I haven't been in the bloggin mood lately.. yes twitter has stolen my heart but i also have alot on my mind.. i hope to end the year on a good note.. not that my life is bad.. I'm very blessed to be employed and with a home but i guess as I head towards 28 (23 days left lol) i've hit the panic button as far as the progress I'm making...

anyway good news DEC always a great month and my girl Mary J Blige has a new release schedule 22 DEC



Black Friday was fun...scored a Michal Kors bag $50 from $328 LOL 40% on top off the fact bag was marked down to 89 due to broken inside zipper (who cares)





also started a detox..haven't done one in a while.. still holding down my vegetarians (no meat/seafood) and 80% vegan (no dairy) i will eat slice of cake now & then LOL



ok...back to work

the love affair continues

with MAC

wooo me and lets call her lil caplady aka my shopping buddy lol went up to pentagon city 2 weeks ago for lunch and of course we did a lil shopping lol. Went to MAC to look around and the sales lady was giving us a preview of the new style black line and she asked if we wanted to get on the list for a free make over the following friday lol who's gonna say no to that. So Friday she and I went up there got our make over and end up spending $60 bucks lol we each got 2 eye shadows & 1 lip glass. The Style Black collection is amazing SOooo perfect for winter dark themes, grays & black shades. Its very extreme black lips black eyes black nails.

Me and lil caplady both jumped out there, she got the jet black lip glass omg its like tar on your lips but they advise you mix it with reds & pinks and it will darken it up. I got a demo of this, the lady put cherry red lipstick on me and took the black lipglass over it; turned into a deep burgundy lol. Too bold for my personality so I got the lip glass with the gray/purple hues.

I also got some more makeup (going crazy right) shipped to me this week. Tried this new brand [Coastal Scents] based on a lot of good feedback online and personal recommendation from a friend. They have several different 88 pallets & I finally upgraded my brush set. Trust granted the kit was only 30$ its wayyy better than what I'm using now LOL. Reviews to come later...

On the music tip I have to speak on the state of 2009 Female R&B singers. I recently just got put on to Letoya Luckett lol remember her the chick from Destiny Child she had the hit torn. Basically I didn't dislike her but she didn't really impress me. My friend was cising her cd on facebook like everyday so finally I gave it a listen. I was blown away like this joint rocks!! So here how it stands Best cds: Beyonce > Letoya > Keyshia Coles > Keri Hilson . Either way Im happy I swoon for female R&B/pop.

where i'll be Thursday

if you don't know who Teedra Moses is yet.. I suggest you 'google' here and GET FAMILIAR!

things im feeling

..so yall know I just became a huge vocal trance fan the last few months and the king of trance is Armin van Burnin so of course being a black person loving electronic friends are always like yuck when it comes to trying out techno clubs..I only got them to go to town danceboutique because of the draq queen shows, but if you are talking glowsticks, foam and black lights- I'll get the "ill pass" responses. According to my Asian co-worker back in the day (90's lol) DC used to have many spots for that type of party Nations etc but just like the classic go-go spots its all shut down. She's now over 30 and married so she can't hang out with me like she wants so the point of my story is I just become a fan (thanks Facebook) of Glow (Fur-transformed into dance club) and I see this posting from 19 March

Glow Washington DC The #1 DJ in the world ARMIN VAN BUUREN live tonight @ Glow. Tickets will be available at the door. www.ClubGlow.com for more info

Mad as a mofo out here... I would went to that event ALONE if had to. Anyway I will be checking out this Glow place see how it compares to town and hopefully my bff will come she like dance music but won't go to Town because its a gay club and that's against her religion (not even getting into that story) im like uhhh dance clubs=gay guys .

Anyway.. feeling good in a great mood knocked out a bunch of spring cleaning this AM. About to get my locs retwisted soon as my girl wakes up and come through so before I wash my hair here are things I'm feeling:

Don't know if I posted it but for lent I went back on raw food/vegan - 1 hot meal a day fast && also gave up shopping so I'm digging these:

Raw Revolution Live Food Bar
the coconut & agave nectar - yumm
spirulina & cashew- yumm tasty way of getting some algae into the system lol

:sidebar for the fast and forever no more eating honey as technically its an animal by products the agave nectar is good very sweet not alot is needed read up on what exactly it is here

Dooney & Burke Rolling Trunk- $325
LOL being press since I'm an international travel star now I want a nice piece of lux (carry on) luggage- I would not bread on something nice that could be stolen for me to have to kirk on the airline. The price is not bad but my aunt reviewed the measurements and shes like its TINY L 13.75" W 8.5" H 19.5". I would only want to carry laptop or 2, electronics, maybe 1 outfit and 1 pair of shoes.. still debating this one


Coach Bonnie Cashin Line
Can't never say Coach has fallen off.. they price still seem to be flatlined at to me LV rates but there stuff is hella cute. I was at Pentagon City yesterday when I walked in (looking) very impressed.






Scarfs are like my new fav accessory going nuts for them.. I'm planing to save for Hermes scarf for le birthday but meanwhile.. this LV hair scarf is calling me.. man I'd be killing them and this would be so cute with me locs.. HMMM
$145


Last item my new glasses have arrived I can't even get into the story about these things.. lets just say they are discontinued and I had to go through at least 6 sites before I found one who had them in stock. When Caplady wants something she will search the world for it LOL
YSL- Yves Saint Laurent

These are replacing these Fendis had them for about 2 years then all of sudden seen too many bammas in the area with them.. gotta keep it original ova here


one thing I forgot to i'm addicting to nu-jazz (remixed, electric, acid) in particular my Jazz Diva's been downloading oops acquiring albums like crazy