Bored

I have tried many times to post over the past few days but have had nothing to say really. My life has suddenly become quite dull - filled with work, being tired from work, sleeping, cooking and reality tv. I'm actually trying to think of a meal plan for next week. I have done burritos two weeks in a row and while they were splendid, I am not doing it for another week. And in terms of reality TV, I have limited my boredom fillers to Basketball Wives (featuring a bag of hot mess train wrecks who aren't even real basketball wives), Ice and Coco (Coco is a tanned, inflated mess, but they are a cute couple) and sometimes, Khloe and Lamar (she is my fave of the annoying trio, and I get to see the best Kardashian of all, Rob).

I'm bored really. Bored with the island. I get bored really quickly so here I am. I am (supposed to be) planning an escape for the Easter weekend but have made very little progress with that. I am so ambivalent to the world around me, it's not funny. I am not sure what this is, but it has gripped me, in a strong vice-like grip. The options for the weekend were the Big Apple and the Big Papi - or whatever the real moniker is for Miami. lol. I just need to get off my ass and do it already, or guess what? I'll be bored over Easter.

And completely random observation -shea butter oil smells so nice. I have been using it in my hair for a couple weeks now and the smell...mmm...I wanna just lie in bed and smell myself all day long.

No Neck-idness Allowed!!

Over the past couple weeks, a few people have commented on various necklaces I have worn while out. Since I have not done a Fashion post in a while, I thought I would share these necklaces with you - just because I can. I love necklaces. Love. I think I have a pretty awesome neck. lol. So I like to dress it up ever so often. So here we go...

So first is this multi-hued necklace.

Multi-hued bead necklace

The photo probably does not do it justice, but this one is quite a conversation starter. Hmmm...you actually get a better look at it from this obviously cropped photo of me wearing it at a sporting event.

It really is pretty

Yeah. That's much better. Quite a few people like...no...love this necklace. Maybe because I see it all the time but I don't quite understand it. I mean I love it but I still smile at the reaction it gets. I typically pair this with black, blue or purple, with simple earrings and eyeshadow in various shades of blue. My mother actually bought me this necklace - one of the rare times her tastes and mine have been in happy alignment.

This one I bought when I got back from London...

Earth toned braided necklace

... and it is really gorgeous and goes well with my earth toned outfits. It's pretty great - I really love it - and it always gets compliments. I tend to wear it with brighter hues or earthy hues.

I don't like wearing yellow gold by itself cause I just love silver and platinum too much, so when I feel an outfit calls for gold accessories, I go for a two-toned accessory approach instead and this necklace is gorgeous and just perfect for that.

Two-toned flat necklace - great if you want a bit of pop!

It's great if the blouse or dress is a low scoop neck or strapless.

I bought this one for an edgier look so I tend to wear it more at night. It's silver and black leather - heavy-ish, but totally awesome.

Silver and black necklace - evening look

I am really lazy with earrings for everyday life. For evening - formal evening events, I will do a conversation piece type earring and go bare on the neck. For going to the movies or the bar, I buy larger earrings on occasion but on a regular day, I am happiest with my diamond studs and not much else. And rule of thumb really is - if you are doing a chunky necklace, keep the earrings really simple. There is nothing worse than seeing overdone accessories, with overdone makeup as well. Ugh.

Prince Charming: The 2012 Version

Yes. I have never proclaimed my love or changed my Facebook relationship status to identify my love, but I think it might be time to do so. It's great when you finally find something real and reliable - trustworthy and delivering performance every single time. So I felt I should show a little appreciation and show him off for the first time. You guys are so lucky.

My faithful Prince Charming - the slow cooker, or crock pot

Isn't he fantastic looking!? Yes. My slow cooker is my Prince Charming. Not only is it trustworthy but when I am tired and need to whip up something delicious and nutritious without slaving over a hot stove for hours, he answers the call. I just dash stuff his way, turn him on and he does all the work, so that all I need to do after a nap is get a plate and dish it out. So at 6am, I dragged myself off the bed and popped everything in, and came back to bed where you can still find me. What man you know does this??

This morning I am doing burritos again for the work lunch for the week. I did them last week but with beef and they were awesome. This week - carnitas burritos! Today, I am doing some pulled pork and my Prince is doing his thing in the kitchen. I have already done the rice, and I am also making the wraps from scratch since I could not find any pre-made wraps in Hi-Lo yesterday. I am also wrapping baby gifts, for a birthday party I have to go to later this afternoon, and going over a presentation on reputation risk intelligence I am doing over the next 3 days at work. See how varied my life is? Pork burritos, baby gifts and high falutin sounding corporate presentations? I am the perfect 2012 Princess!!

White People in the Caribbean?? The Shock!

2004 Olympic Bronze Medallist in the 200M
Individual Medley, Trinidadian
George Bovell III -
OMG - he's WHITE!

I had posted a photo of myself during Carnival, with a friend, who is white. Someone asked me what he – White Man – was doing in Trinidad.  Ummm…what? I responded, “He lives here”, then jokingly added, “We do have white people here you know”.

Needless to say, the person was seriously surprised. I thought it was a bit shocking honestly. I mean, moving ahead of myself here a bit, is there any real homogenous country in the world? Believe me, I would love to know.

But back to this White Man thing, I would just like to confirm that, yes, we do actually have white people, not just living in the Caribbean, but who are part of a long generation of white people. I mean, this will sound really harsh, and may shock some of you BUT… black people did not bring slavery to the Caribbean. We have had white people here for a little while now, believe it or not. And not just white people, but we have…wait for it…people of Indian, Chinese, and Syrian ancestry, just to name a few. And it gets worse – some of them actually get along, so much so that they get married and have racially diverse offspring.

I am not sure what people outside of the Caribbean think happens down here, or what a Caribbean person looks like or sounds like.  I should have asked this question. The accent issue - that’s another peeve since I apparently, to some, do not sound Caribbean. The media stereotype of what the Caribbean is seems to be fuelled by one segment of one population out of many. So because I do not use stupid media clichés, like “irie” and “yeah mon”, I am not Caribbean by non-Caribbean standards, which is pretty stupid. They have even gone so far as to say I sound American, which is OBVIOUSLY not the case, but since to the ignorant ear, it is CLEARLY not a Caribbean accent, it has to be SOMETHING.

I know that some white people born and bred in the Caribbean, who sound like me or maybe Barbadian or Jamaican, also getting the strange looks and ridiculous comments about sounding different, and I can only assume, their strong Caribbean accents are not congruent with their paler hues.

What’s next? I know to some, we all sit on a beach all day, drinking rum-based drinks out of coconuts, and we only wear tied dyed shirts and skirts. We probably all know how to play the steel pan and all listen to reggae music. I am negative when it comes to all of these things.

I am not saying you will know everything about everywhere either, but I would think you would be interested enough once it came up on your radar, especially if it is completely foreign to you. Maybe it’s just me but I am always researching something. Instead of poking people on Facebook (yes, people still do this), I read a lot, about anything or everything. If I meet someone from somewhere I had never heard of, I make a mental note to go check it out and learn something. I met someone from Georgia and though I knew the place existed, I did not know much about it, so I Googled it and I am a little bit wiser, less ignorant than I was before. It’s not that hard really. I do it before every trip as well – to know where I am going, and what makes the place more than just a utilitarian vacation spot.

I met a lovely guy in London, who had heard of Trinidad but was not quite sure what it was all about. During our conversation, he was so fascinated that he whipped out his phone and Wiki’ed us, which I found very sweet and at least showed he was interested. Inevitably, he was really surprised to learn that we are very different to what he had in his head. Again, I did not expect him to be a fountain of information about the place, but just showing he was interested about the person he was talking to made the world of difference in how I viewed him as well. I am not linking to any sites about Trinidad and Tobago – I will leave that to you, IF you are interested. I am currently Googling “NY sales”, cause I am clearly interested and don’t know quite enough.

And somewhere out there, someone is reading this and saying, “She did not know about Georgia? Has she never heard about Atlanta?” and I would have proven my point yet again.

The Tragic Life of a Fashion In-Betweener

Gotta love Apple Bottom jeans.
Thank you Nelly!

Shopping in Trinidad can sometimes be very difficult for me. Not because I don't like shopping (what? don't like shopping?) but because I am an in-betweener, and in-betweeners have a really hard time getting clothes that fit right or fit at all.

An in-betweener is that girl who is not the photocopy of a pencil, and is also not a cinnabon away from weighing 500 pounds. The in-betweener is the girl who is somewhere in the middle - not exactly skinny but not obese. Retailers here shop on both ends of the spectrum and then display these items for sale. Having discovered a hole in my work jeans, I ventured bravely (foolishly) into the mall to scout out a replacement pair. It's bad enough that my ba-dunk-a-dunk is outta control and I always...always have to buy a pair one size too large in the waist just so the jeans can get past my hips and ass (except when buying Apple Bottoms, which were made for the apple-licious figure. I love my Apple Bottoms!!). 

It is even worse when your options are size nothing and size 28. I mean, how does that help me? I appreciate that someone out there who may be really really skinny or really really fat can look swanky in some jeans, but now I have to perhaps sew up this hole until I book a ticket to Miami or New York - just to get some jeans!! Or anything for that matter. 

REALLY??

Annoying.

And I must apologise again for the sporadic blogging. Life happens. Work has been a bit stressful. I have been more than a bit exhausted every single day. I wish I could give you more adjectives but it can become a bit of a sad story if I do. I am okay. Just living. Thanks to everyone who still visits despite all this, and my own lack of regular reading of your blogs. I do try. I do. I am visiting today so keep an eye out for my comments.