Black Friday, Survival Kit

Black Friday  approaching fast. Department stores are working hard to get ready for the mass of people that will be hitting their doors in the next couple of days. Pushing, shoving, running. ducking, bobbing, weaving, waiting and hurrying are all apart of the Black Friday experience. If you are planning to fight the crowd for good deals than you need to be prepared.

5 Things to help you survive your black Friday adventure...

1. Charged tablet, or smart phone, so you can tweet about the madness, check with your friends about deals in other stores, and check out prices on line. You can also plan your shopping agenda based on what time deals take place at certain store and what you plan to get

2. Small/ medium over the shoulder bag. You want something light weight, that will fit all of your essentials plus will not weigh you down. Plus your hands will be free to grab your goods and go, you will not have to worry about where to put your purse. Check out this bag from ASOS.

 Asos.com

3.  If I have to tell you this than it is obvious this is your first time battling lines. Protect your feet from the cold and the concrete with a pair of cute kicks....loving these Dunks....

Nordstrom.com $85.00

4. Snack + Espresso + Water= Sanity...need I say more? Throw some almonds, an apple,  and a bottle of water in your bag... and if you must, make a Starbucks run before the madness begins, especially if you are going to be out for more than a couple of hours.

5. A very calm and patient friend. The one who is going to talk you out of pushing the old lady or arguing over the last sale item that you really don't need with some random person. Hey we want you to make it home in one piece.

What's in your Black Friday Survival Kit?

Shameka

Why Not Just Believe....

For truly I say to you, If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there; and it will move and nothing will be impossible to you

Matthew 17:20

While having dinner with one of my friends the topic of belief arose in a discussion about religion. My friend began to tell me about the works of Jesus and how he could not perform many miracles in his home town because the people did not believe. I have been thinking about how powerful believing is. Knowing something is true despite what you see or feel.

BELIEVE

 1. To accept something as true, genuine or real 

2. To have a firm conviction as the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something

Believing is an verb, not a noun. It is something that you do, and not just something you say. It takes work and here are a few ways to turn your doubt into belief:

1.     See it 

• Go to a quiet place and imagine how it would look, taste, and feel to have what ever it is that you believe. Remember with out a vision the people shall parish. 
• Make a vision board, post pictures or words that inspire you or represent what you want.
• Post positive quotes and affirmations to remind you of what you want to believe

I want to be stylish, fabulous and chic as you can see on my vision board. Now I just need to believe that I am, that's the only way I will be....

2. Write it down

• After you see it you should have a clear picture of what is that you want write an affirmation ( start your affirmation with I am)
• Write your business plan
• Write your goals

I am Stylish, Fabulous and Chic

I say this every morning as I am getting dress to remind me what I want to be.....

3. Do it!

• Now it's time to take action. Speak it, claim it, declare it, walk in it, be it....you do not truly believe unless you are taking action, no matter how bad it seems, how far away, how impossible. The more you believe the harder you work.

Now all that is left is for me to make an efforts when I am shopping to pick items that fit that category, and before I know it I'm stylish, fabulous, and chic.

Take this into consideration:

Your belief determines your action and your action determines your results, but first you have to believe

Mark Victor Hansen

Then he touched their eyes saying " it shall be done to you according to your faith."

Matthew 15:28

Spend the week thinking about what you believe and ask yourself does it line up with the life that you want.... if not you now have the tools to believe in something different.

Connect with me on twitter @shemogul and let me know how your beliefs changed this week, or leave a comment below.

Shameka

Love List...+ My Letter to Michelle

The weekend is just around the corner. Another week down. I'm so glad that I made it , its the perfect time to reflect on the things that made this week awesome. Check out my list and think about the big or small things that made this week unique for you...

MY LOVE LIST

1. Chunky Monkey Ice Cream, one spoonful after dinner made the night just right.

2. An extra hour of sleep...need I say more.

3. My family, they are so supportive. I would not have been able to do half of what I have done with them...love you guys <3

4. Hearing KING talk his baby talk...it made the 3,000 mile distance evaporate.

5. Texts from PH. D Tracey Gunter they keep me thinking, and checking myself.

6. Barack gets to serve us again.

7. I'm as open as ever to new experiences, opportunities, and relationships  ( *smile*)

MY LETTER TO MICHELLE

Dear Michelle,

I assume you have gotten a million letters from a million young women across the country, let me say that I do not mind being  one-million and one. I am writing to say thank-you, not only for me but for my daughters yet to come. For the generations of women who needed a viable role model depicting all the hats a women  can wear with grace, love, influence, and victory. You have given us permission to shine, and be great at all the things we love. Watching you love and support Barack, nurture your daughters and influence the world teaches me that nothing is to hard when you put your mind to it. You have inspired me to live in my own greatness and for that I say thank-you.


Sincerely,
Shameka

My Journey to Gabrielle Union's Skin

One of my goals for the next 90 days is to improve my texture tone and overall quality of my skin. I want my skin to pop, glow and be as smooth as Gabrielle Union's. So I have done my research ( on you-tube of course) and here is what I found out.

1. You have to get to know your skin. What works for me may not work for you.

2. Invest in some quality products. They do not have to be really expensive but they need to be able to do the work.

3. Clean. Exfoliate. Moisturize. And in that order. Don't skip either of these steps and also do the regime morning and night. This is not just for your face but for your body.

4. A monthly facial does wonders. It gets all the things that you missed

5. Stay hydrated. If your skin is dull and dry it may be because your dehydrated. Dink a cup of water before you go to bed and also when you wake up in the morning.

6. Exercise. It gets the blood flowing and helps release the toxins in your pores. If you don't believe me., look in the mirror after a good workout and see how you glow.

7. A good hair skin and nail vitamin will aid replenishing any key nutrients that you missed in your diet that contribute to healthy skin.

8. Eat for good skin. Check out this article on Self.com http://www.self.com/beauty/2008/10/clear-skin-diet, it tells you what you should add to your diet if your looking for certain results.

Here are a few of my picks of healthy skin:

1.) Sweet Almond Oil: Great light moisturizer, you can use on your face and body. Add a few drops to a hot bath and you won't have to worry about moisturizing after the bath.

2.) Nivea Soft Moisturizing Cream: Light moisturizing cream that softens the skin...love, love, love for winter months.

3.) Dove Shea Butter Soap/Body Wash: Very Moisturizing, great smell. It's a must have for me.

Doing the Work....

Saturday night I was glued to the T.V. watching Iyanla's Fix my Life as she worked with 300 women  on fixing there love lives. 300 women all trying to find love, keep love, and nurture love. 300 women who all had something holding them back from love, and what was holding them back you might ask...themselves.  It was the pain, the shame, the guilt, the fear of the past that had shaped their current circumstance. Now that they recognized what was stopping them they had to " do the work". As I thought about my own life I wondered what "Doing the Work" actually meant. How can I do the work....

THEN IT HIT ME....



I need to really face the thing that was holding me back, face what's standing in my way. Here are three ways I began to do the work....

 

1. Tell the open honest truth about what it is. Say the things I don't want to say. I have a bad habit of not expressing my true feelings about certain matters. Especially when I feel as if they are going to hurt someone's feelings. So usually I am burying my feelings, and they end up turning into living breathing pain. Some times you have to be an advocate for you and say what needs to be said.

 

2. Feel the pain. Often the root of the very thing that we are running away from is pain. Be willing to feel it, willing to shed a tear, willing to be vulnerable. Once you have felt the pain what's their to be scared of...now you are stronger and know you can survive.  I have learned that it's alright to cry. Some may see it as a sign of weakness. I see it as a sign of strength, that one is able to be transparent.

 

3. Finally, picking yourself up, dusting off and trying again. Nothing shows true growth more than putting yourself out their again, loving again, starting another business, building a new relationship, trusting yourself, or just living.

 

Doing the work is not easy. Often times once you release one thing, you find something buried deep beneath that's even harder to work through. So you can either stick with what isn't working for you or be willing to do the work.

 

 

Share. What are important steps to your for overcoming obstacles in love and life?

 

 

Shameka

Why Not Be Happy...?

Most of the things I write about are adopted from my experiences in life or from my observation of other experiences. Today I have been thinking about the concept of happiness and perception. Have you ever been in a situation and had to choose how you felt about it? If you said no then something is definitely wrong. Everything we go through or experience comes with a choice from us about how will view it, learn from it, react to it, and feel about it.

Don't get me wrong their are a lot of things in this world that could cause you be negative and think negatively, but the great thing is that you can either hold on to that negativity or you could push it out and grab onto the positive. There is always positive.

So my thought is can happiness be a choice? Can I choose to see the good in life, people, and experiences? I am in a place in my life of great change and adversity witch has the possibility to cause me to adopt a negative attitude when at times I have.

For the next thirty days I'm going to do a happiness experiment. I will choose to be happy, by doing a couple of things:

1. Start a grateful journal: in this journal I will write 5 things that I am great foul for each night. I think I'm going to do this electronically

2. Give a gift just because: Giving to others is an awesome way to lift your spirits

3. Find a new hobby/ join a group: spending time with others is a way to find balance and explore new things

4. Finally: Make more healthy choices.

I believe that you can't bring more positivity into your life until you let go of the negative that is weighing you down.

I hope that you will join my happiness experiment. Lets start today...share 5 things you are great full for today.


Choose Happiness,
Shameka
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I love my fro...

It's been 1 year and six months since I chopped my relaxed hair off. I rocked a TWA or fade as I liked to call it for a month. It was nice. I would wake up in the morning wet my hair a little put some moisturizer on and brush until it was smooth and wavy. A month latter I would add gel and watch my waves turn into a tiny curly fro. That was cute. As I went through various phases of natural hair growth I discovered my true beauty.

Trust me, it was really hard not to slap some perm on my hair and keep it moving just to please everyone who didn't like my hair. I heard things like " you need to do something with your nappy hair", " what? Are you trying to bring black back?", " Are you depressed?" All these negative things were thrown at me from the people I loved. It hurt, but it taught me that the only opinion that matters most times is my own. What's so wrong with a little kinky hair?

At the 18 month mark I am excited about my natural hair future. I've adopted some growth and healthy hair goals and am ready to sail toward two years. I plan to share with you the next phase of my hair growth journey and to encourage and inspire all those ladies who are having doubts to go ahead and do the BIG CHOP!!!!!

Stay tuned....