Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Hi y'all.... So some of y'all may be wondering.... What goes on at a Black Family Reuion? I've seriosuly have had people ask me this question. This is just my family, I can't speak for all black folks :)

Saturday 07.18.09
~ Family Banquet
7:00pm <---lol.....
(I'm sorry, but you can't expect a bunch of black folks to show up at 7pm... We didn't get started till 8:30ish. I think 7pm was in 'colored people time CPT).....

This was my FOTN.... Gold Winged Eye... That I jacked from Katrina and keep rockin'.... I know I had lashes on because that's how I roll but maybe I took the pic before I put them on. I don't remember what I used because my memory sucks and I didn't write it down, I didn't fill-in my brows FOTN FAIL!!! I was like an hour late and I know it was wardrobe makeup related.


When I walked into the banquet room I saw the people who we usually sit with. My g'ma Mommy Cat was missing. This was the 1st reuion since they started having them 39 years ago that she missed. I ran out crying.... I couldn't go back in... So I went outside then to the ladies room to fix my face that I spent so long on to go back in. I said, "I love you Mommy Cat, but I'm not gonna cry and upset people and potentially lose an eyelash and get my mother more upset..... Then when I got back my mom got upset about the same thing. It was her frist reuinion without her mommy....It was a sad moment. The other sad moment was the moment of silence, we do it each year... Bascially everyone is quiet and any family can say the name of someone who's passed away in the family. I heard all of the ususal names, then my g'mas sister my Great Aunt Jean said Catherine Crim.... Then my mom & I really lost it... It was the first time we heard her name called during the moment of silence.... :(

My cousin is soo gonna kill me for posting this but it's too cute. He wrote this song a few years ago and we make/ask him to sing it every year.... It's called "Family Love is Forever"... Kinda our 'tagline'.... He started a little choppy at the beginning but he did good for singin acepella. He's gonna be a Precher!! Headed to seminary school in the fall. Don't know why he needs to go, he got his bible game down pat, always telling me that all the answers to my questions are in the "book".
Ignore my cousins (yes, I have white cousins, we friendly & mixed) head holding the baby and the kiddies runnin' around, I'm not a videographer or whatever y'all lucky I figure out how to put titles and crap....
ATL CAM...

*Lyrics & Song Written by Brandon Wells don't steal I'll kick your ass, he's gonna be a precher so I dont think he's allowed to kick ppls assess.

So after the song, announcements, brief open mic session & blessing the food it was time for eatin'..... There was a good selection of food but the ATL Airport Marriott Hotel FAILED!!! When I'm "down south", I expect my food to taste SOUTHERN..... The food tasted like food, no flavor. There were a lot of other banquets and events going on at the hotel that night and the food tasted mass produced, like cheap Buffet food.... The mac & cheese broke my heart, it tasted like sh!t, nobody ate it!!! It tasted like somebody accidentally poured lemon juice all over it. I'm in no way trying to offend those who planned the reuion it wasn't there fault, they weren't cookin'... I blame the MARRIOTT!!!!!
*click to enlarge

Family Portrait
I remember the good old days when I was a kid and I got to plop my behind on the floor.... Now I'm old and I have to stand for 20mins while we get situated b/c everyone is talking and no one is paying attention..... I can't wait till I'm really old, then I get a chair.... Bless Marc's heart for doing this every year. I don't have the patience to pose and place everyone....

As corny as it sounds I actually look foward to our annual family reunions. You get to see the extended family that maybe lives far away. We (the NY Family) made that banner over 10 years ago. It gets passes onto the next host family during the Breakfast/Business meeting on Sunday morning.
Then the fun part!!! Dancing....

ATL Banquet CAM..


ATL FAM DANCE CAM...


Then is was time for the Southern Youngins' to educate us on the dance floor.......

ATL DANCE CAM- Dirty South Dancin'


So that's what we do. The next morning there's a family breakfast business meeting where the banner is passed to the next hosting family. I heard Boston, MA claimed it so I'll be in Boston next July. I didn't attend the breakfast the next morning b/c me and the 21 and over cousins went to a club after the banquet, I don't think I've ever made it to the breakfast..... They discuss grown folk stuff like the scholorship fund, dues, the family website etc....

This is gonna be a 3 parter, lol.... I still have the club, some more FOTDs & FOTNs and hauling with Ms. Jaimie at MAC!!! I also have an announcement to share with y'all!!! No I'm not pregnant!!!!!

XoXo
Tuesday, July 28, 2009

NuNu Dolly Is Having a Giveaway because she's nice...

Hi Y'all!! Ms. Nu Nu one of my Ace Boon Coons (it means like homegirl), I'm practicing Southern speak b/c I'm moving to ATL....


Is Hosting a giveaway with some sexy ass MAC Palettes........
If you want to know the rules and stuff like that you can read her blog entry here, I could post the rules/directions but I probably all ready messed up some kinda rule because I don't pay attention to stuff like that.

Just don't be a poser and flock to her blog because you want some free stuff! You should like read her blog because she's an awesome girl... She has her head on straight and her man is a TOTAL F.B.M. (Fine Black Man), and he's like America's Next Top Chef or something and cooks for the kind of people that can afford chef food. He's new to blogger so you should follow him to! There's lot's of food porn XXX......

Oh Nu & Katrina can y'all please hook a sista up?? Where do you find these F.B.M.'s?? I'm not hatin' but I WANT ONE TOO >_<

P.S. I'm still workin' on ATL Part II, so be patient!!!
XoXO
Sunday, July 26, 2009

ATL!!! Part I

Hi y'all!!! I'm back! Miss me??? I kept up with y'all while I was away I just didn't have the time to blog while I was in Atlanta. Half my trip was for my family reunion and the other half was to test it out to see if I like it enough to move down there and get the hell out of CT.....

MAKEUP & PRODUCT PACKING


Packing something I'm not good at. I manged to only take 1 big ass suitcase and my trusty L.L. Bean Back Pack that I've had since 8th grade (which is going in the garbage bc it's like discinagrating from the inside. I only brought one pair of high sandals, dress strappy sandles for my banquet, flip flops, 2 pairs of flat shoes. I folded all my clothes then rolled them so half my suitcase was clothes the other half was makeup & product.......

Makeup wise I knew that I couldn't go crazy so I only brought my "face staples"- MAC Fix+ which I poured into a 3oz spray bottle, MAC Studio Fix Pressed Powder, MAC Liquid MSF, MAC MSF Gold Deposit, MAC Bronzer and my Clinque blush.
I have soo many shadows pigments etc.... Again I couldn't go crazy so I only brought my Urban Decay Ammo Palette, The Balm Shady Lady Palette, Coastal Scents 120 palette, and I made a MAC x15 "All Star Palette, brought a few pairs of lashes, glue, tweezers, mascara etc...
Well Delta has gotten cheap and they charge $15 to check a bag.... Ms. Kendall's bag was 2lbs over the Delta limit so I had to open my suitcase all up on the curb at LGA and figure out what to take out.... My marketing textbook was 2lbs so I thew it in my backpack (yeah had to bring my books)... I manged to 30z travel size every product that I needed to survive for a week... I invested a lot in those little bottles and tubs.....

THURSDAY 7.16.09 @ 12:33pm

Landed at ATL Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after a lovely Xanax self induced coma I don't fly without being druged because I freak out, once I find my gate, I start pill poppin' because everyone starts to look shady to me.... After me and my momma got our bags we took the shuttle to pick up our rental car from National. Umm when you request Economy they don't play... The car we got had NO features like no power anything.... I am to irresponsible to have a car that doesnt lock with the press of a button..I'm also not a fan of cranking the window open with my arm.. I'm also glad I remembered to pack my GPS so I didn't have to rent one from the car rental place.

Our hotel was nice we stayed at the Atlanta Airport Marriott. It was kinda boring, the bar closed at 10pm, wtf, but that was the hotel that the family stayed at so we had a special rate and it was our family reuion so we had to stick by the familia.



We (my mom and I) didn't do much the first day. She had a friend in Hampton, GA who she hasn't seen in yrs. so I drove her out there and dropped her off and had my first ever meal at the Waffle House!!!!

I don't even really like waffles......... Oh lawd have mercy!!! This was like heaven!!! I like my hashbrowns "covered & chunked" (that's with diced ham & cheese)....There's seriously a Waffle House like every other mile.... Oh my my booty got sooo fat!!! After I ate and drove around I went back to pick up my mom but she was still catching up with her friend. I was supposed to hook up with Ms. Bombchell & Ms. Jaimie but I didn't want to rush my mom, I'm a good child. After we got back to the hotel I went for a drive to downtown ATL in the middle of the night. If I'm considering moving there I need to see everything & I'm a unsafe retard who likes to drive around strange cities at night. I did it in Memphis, Cleveland, Boston, NYC.... I ended up in the hood and saw tons of homeless people sleeping on church steps... Like 100's!!! I guess you have to get to the church steps early to get a good spot. I didn't take a picture bc its probably rude and the red lights changed to quick! I also saw some real prositutes!!!! Like real ones with coochie cutters, bad weaves, and neon tube tops!!!! I didn't get to take any hoe pics.

FRIDAY 07.17.09- Going to the country.....

Since I was shacking up with my momma she got my nocturnal behind up at some ungodly hour like 11am or something and we got dressed and grabbed my Aunt Jean and my cousin Justin and got ready for a road trip to McDonough, GA to visit Uncle (my g'mas little brother I call him Uncle but his name is Lawrence and his wife is Aunt Irene) They moved down about 3yrs ago. First we had to eat breakfast so where did we eat WAFFLE HOUSE!!! Since my mom was on a restricted diet they were kind enough to boil her an egg she'd been surviving on crackers and I think if the poor woman ate another cracker then she's rip her hair out!

*Click to Enlarge*

After "sitting a spell" at Uncles. My cousin aka Black Cowboy James wanted to take me, my, mom and his sons who live in NY into the country to see his horses.

*Click to enlarge*
It was real country where he took us. The kinda country where a I saw some kinda homemade house with a tin roof and a HUGE CONFEDERATE FLAG!!! The kinda of country where my momma stays "drive right or the Klans people are gonna get you".....

ATL CAM



It was really nice out there but not someplace I can stay for to long. So we headed back to the hotel to nap and then get ready for the Friday Night Fish Fry... I'm a hungry greedy beotch and I totally forget to take food porn.... I was really excited to see my cousin Krissy!!! It's the first time that I've got to see her since she got back from Korea!!! They had soo much food!!! Two kinds of fried fish, hot dogs, fries, baked beans, Key Lime Cake, Peach Cobbler, Red Velvet Cake, regular Vanilla cake and sweet tea in like a bucket. My poor sick mama couldn't enjoy the food, she had to take the fried part off the fish and try to eat it that wway :(


After the fish fry I hit up Ms. Jaimie and she was at Hooters and since I've never been I drove up to Duluth to meet Ms. Thang and her friend Keanna (not pictured I don't know why :(. Jaimie is soo nice!!! Her and Keanna just accepted me into their little twosome world and now we ace boon coons!!!! I was kinda dissappointed bc Jaimie doesn't have a southern twang >_< style="text-align: center;">
Saturday 07.18.09- Touristy Stuff & Family Reuion

So when you in a new city you have to do touristy stuff!!! It's a rule that I made up. I want to soak up the culture!!! I want to see the sights!!!! So again I woke up crazy early on Saturday morning like 10am and me and my momma headed to Downtown, ATL.... My family pretty much did the same stuff on a bus tour but since my mommy was sick we didn't want to go on the bus in case she ummm needed a bano real quick.

We went to Underground Atlanta which is like a mall tourist place with restaurants and some clubs, it wasn't to interesting. I thought it was like a stop on the underground railroad, my mother gave me the side eye..... I'm sorry but if were in the south and you say were going to a tourist spot called UNDERGROUND ATL wouldn't you think that it had to do with slaves road to freedom?? I didn't take any pictures inside because its like a mall.......
We stopped by this park with fountains but your not allowed to stop and take pics.... Mrs. Officer told me to keep it moving and I got stank..... The new nice sweet southern Kendall got all New Yawk and told Mrs. Officier that she should be happy that I'm visiting her city and stimulating ATL's ecomony in such a bad market..... So I cranked up my window and kept driving......
We hit up some HBCU's (Historically Black Colleges & Universites), which I now regret not going too... I just applied because my mom made me... I went to white private schools since I was 2 1/2 yrs old. The idea of going to a predomadetnly black school didn't sit well with me when I was 17....
Here's little Wiki info :There are 105 historically black colleges (HBCU) in the US today, including public and private, two-year and four-year institutions, medical schools and community colleges.Great Depression and financial difficulties.The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, defines an HBCU as: "...any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary [of Education] to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation."Most HBCU's were established after the American Civil War. Lincoln University (Pennsylvania), established in 1854, and Wilberforce University, established in 1856, were two prominent institutions of higher education established for blacks prior to the American Civil War. Other educational institutions currently have large numbers of blacks in their student body, but as they were founded (or opened their doors to African Americans) after the implementation of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court (the court decision which outlawed racial segregation of public education facilities) and the Higher Education Act of 1965, they are not historically black colleges, but have been termed "predominantly black." Some historically black colleges now have non-black majorities, notably West Virginia State University, whose student body has been roughly 90 percent white since the mid-1960s.
White kids go to them too! My mom's roomate Sally was the only white girl in their freshman class at Hampton Insitute in Virginia and they are still close today...

We had to stop by and shout out Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. & his wifey's tomb. Since he had a dream and all.......
R.I.P. MLK & Coretta Scott!

The Eternal Flame...

The house MLK grew up in....
Shot Gun Houses across the street from MLK's house.
Back in the day the upper middle class and the lower class lived on the same street, just had different houses.....

His church....
Me & My Baby Daddy- 'anit he fine y'all.....

No I'm just playing I tried to take "funnier" pics but my mom said I was being inappropiate..... That's not my baby daddy, its the Behold Monument a 12-foot tall, stylized bronze statue of Kunte Kinte was made famous in Alex Haley's epic "Roots." The Behold Monument is part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. Sculptor Patrick Morelli based his work on the ancient African ritual of holding a newborn up to the skies and declaring, "Behold, the only thing bigger than yourself." Watch ROOTS people!!!! Learn something it's like 15hrs long so you'll have to watch it over a two week period especially if you have ADD like me......

So after galavanting around Downtown ATL, we headed back to the hotel to nap and get ready for the banquet. I wanted to flat iron my hair but I chose to nap..................

To be continued............
07.18.09 - Saturday Family Banquet & Clubbin' with my cousins...

XoXo
Thursday, July 16, 2009

Peace Up, A-town Down........

Hi y'all, I'm finally in "A-town", for my family reunion.

Ok, I couldn't find a better pic... We don't get down outside, and there's no way your gonna find my behind at a BBQ when it's all hot and stuff outside. We have our reunions in a hotel ballroom. This year at the Marriott Atlanta Airport Hotel.....

We will do the Electric Slide.... It's not a black family reunion without it. This is a pic from last year in Memphis '08.....

I'll be here from Thurs. 7/16- Wed. 7/22. ATL Bloggers hit me up!


I plan on hitting up a lot of "hood Beauty Supply Stores", so I can haul all my 'ethnic' product back to CT!!!!!
Maybe get my hair did again....

Check out the nightlife ....
Friday Night Fish Fry.....
Eat Chicken & Waffles....
Indulge in my fav dessert!! Red Velvet Cake.......

Check out some big southern bootys!
Do something educational...
The Tomb of Martin Luther King, Jr. Atlanta, GA Photo by A. Rebic May 30, 2004

And of course stalk my ATL Beauty Bloggers!!!!!


Ms. Jaimie

Ms. Bombchell


Sorry, if I missed anyone!!! If I did hit me up!!! Shoot me an email mskgreenel[at]gmail[dot]com, it'll go staight to my Blackberry which is in my hand 98% of the time.
I have a bunch of family stuff to do but after the old people go back to their rooms, I'm GOING OUT!!!!


XoXO

Monday, July 13, 2009

I Want A Girl w/ Extensions in Her Hair..........

Hi y'all!!! So I finally "installed" the hair that I wrote about last week!!! I've become such a greedy bi!tch when it comes to my hair.... I remember the simple days when I'd go downtown to the Korean Beauty Supply Store. Yes, they are Korean I'm not generalizing, I know them well, no they don't sell any Pocky, Yan Yan, Hello Kitty Hard Candies, or ingredients for Hurricane Popcorn, or BB Cream (sucks right).. They only sell hair, wigs, luggage, cheap jewerly, universal cell phone accesories and ethnic hair products...., I'd walk in and "pick my hair"2 packs of 16-18'' Milky Way Hair, a bottle of glue and a rat-tail comb and then glue that crap to my head with "black glue"........


Ohhh, the glue so easy, so fast..... So craptastic for your hair!!!! If you FOLLOW the DIRECTIONS and don't become a glue whore your fine... But I took that crap too far for too many years and just got careless.........

I started lurking on Black Hair Media in the Weaves/Extenstions and I became enlightened and educated !!! I learned that glue is not the answer!!! It was time to grow up and bust out a needle & thread and learn to braid & sew!!!!
I also learned why my "beloved" Milky Way hair sucked! Bascially BSS Hair (Beauty Supply Store) is crap! Although the package says human hair it still sheds like a dog, swells, poufs, and tangles after about two weeks!!! That kind of hair is soooo processed that it just looks pretty in the pack and for about a week on your head! The cuticles aren't aligned and it's the crap hair collected from floors and brushes and doesn't come from the same donor.
As I read the BHM boards, I started to become a bit of a length whore......... 14" wasn't enough, so I went to 16", then 18" and I stopped at 18" for a while.........

Then I found out about Virgin Indian hair and it was a WRAP!!!!
My greedy behind ordered 22''!!!!!! This sh!t is sick!!!! Call me Mochahontas.......
This hair is slightly booty sweeping as my friend who did it Anya said!!!!

Boob Covering............

Crazy Hair!!!!!

I was blog browsing about a week ago and I saw her hair & I WANTED it!!!!

The Lovely & Fierce Katrina M.
So I left her a comment on her blog, twitter, FB, email.......... Informing her that she was my weavspriaton and I needed pics of her hair, like ASAP! I'm such a stalker/weirdo.... Thank you sooo much Katrina for sharing your hair porn! ♥!!!! YOU MY WEAVSPIRATION!!!!

Is it believable??? Probably not.. Do I look like I belong to the Indian family next kinda. Do I care?? NO! I'm dramatic, I like things BIG!!! Big butts, boobies, hair, purses & wallets.....


I know it's coming so heres some Q&A..... I'm NOT a professional!!! I'm answering these questions based on my personal experiences and research........

Q&A
Q.-Why do you like weaves so much?? Are you bald??? Do you hate your natural hair???
A:-No, I'm not bald, nor do I have some kind of good hair vs. bad hair complex. I just like big long flowy hair. God didn't give it too me so I buy it :)
My natural hair is about mid neck length. I had a horrible experience with a too-tightly braided weave last summer and I lost huge patches of hair from the roots!!! On top of losing a lot of hair I also cut alot off because it was in such bad condition.


Q.-
Doyou relax/chemically straighten your natural hair?
A.-Not anymore, I'm off "creamy crack". My natural hair has flourished and has become so much stronger, fuller & healthier since I stopped using relaxer. It's been about a year since I've relaxed my hair. I like wearing full weaves so relaxing my hair isn't really an issue. Also why relax your hair when all your gonna do is cornrow it?? If I choose to not do a full weave I would either flat iron my leave out, tex lax, or do a quick relaxer using the EVOO method.


Ladies if someone is braiding or sewing to tight, please SPEAK UP!! I'm blessed that my hair grew back in those spots. If your face is being pulled back and if you can feel the blood flowing through your head and get white bumps along your hairline. REMOVE IT ASAP it most likely will not get better and its not worth the damage to your natural hair. You still have to take care of your natural hair!!
Hair Tradgedy of July 2008...



Q.- How much did the hair cost?
A.-I used a closure piece at the top b/c I don't want to deal with matching texture and abusing my leave out...The hair was in the $300 range for 3 4oz bundles in the following lengths 18'', 20'', & 22"......
Underside of a closure... Allows freestyle parting for a full weave with no "leave out" or horseshoe. (The white spot it just conditioner that I got on it).
The closure was about $120. Virgin hair is a lot more expensive then BSS hair but worth it b/c I can probably get 4 installs out of it and I wear my installs for about 3months. Long lenghths cost more.

Q.-How much hair did you use?
A.-I ordered 12oz. (I'm greedy and I wanted extra). 4oz is equal to what you would buy at the BSS. I think I used about 6-7.5oz + the closure. The average "head" can probably get away with 8oz (two bundles). I will probably sell the 18' bundle b/c I didn't use it. Yes, girls swap and sell hair, just like how us beauty bloggers sale & swap makeup :)

Q-How long did it take to put in?
A-Normally, 3 hours but my friend did my install and it was actually the first time I met her and we ended up talking, hanging out, shopping, taking breaks so I was there all day.

Q-How much did it cost to put in?
A.-A friend I met on Black Hair Media needed a "model" to build her portofolio and contacted me to see if I would mind "modeling" in exchange for a free install. I did tip her :) My regular stylist charges $150. My project hood girl charges $30... But you get what you pay for.. I can do it myself but I fail at braiding/cornrowing I did it once and it took me over 10hrs......

Q.-How do you, can you wash it?
A.-Like regular hair.... In the shower so the water flows down the hair and I try not to srunch it up when I shampoo, because it can be damaging to the hair. I also air dry, if I blow dry I use a heat protecant. I wash my hair once a week, if I have a funky night out and I get really sweaty or smoky I'll wash it or "co-wash" (which is washing your hair without shampoo just water and conditioner. Daily or too frequent shampooing can dry up the hair. Also my natural hair wouldn't appreciate being washed daily it would be soo dry and brittle if I did.

Q.-Can you go swimming?
A.-Yep, I just put it up in a bun or make one or two big braids and then try to rinse or wash & condition ASAP... When I took aqua fitness I wore a swim cap bc I went 3 times a wk and I'm too lazy to wash condition etc. that often

Q-What Products do you use?
A-I try to use shampoos that are Sulfate free. My fav is Creme of Nature (you can find it in the "ethnic hair care".. It's sulfate free & certified organic. I also am loving Neutrogena Conditioning Mask. When I feel like I need "shine" I use a little bit of Fantiasia IC Hair Polisher Mist (Sally's carries this product). I try to stay away from any products that have alchol bc I can by drying to the hair.

Q-Can you straighten/flat iron or curl it?
A.-Yep, I make sure to use a heat protectant and not turn the iron up to the highest setting.

I think I covered the basic questions... I still have reader Q&A that I haven't touched upon in this post or the other one that I wrote about extensions. My next post on extensions will answer those questions and any more that you have for me......


XoXo
P.S. KT!! Your up next girly!!! I have to take pics ASAP!!! I have empty wrappers and an empty box of Hello Panda, lol...... I must take pics for I shove mailed love in my face.......