Monday, November 11, 2013

Ladies Night Out


Hey Beautiful People,

Friday Night Out with the Ladies was something I have been looking forward to All Week! Somewhere in my busy schedule I managed to get my hair done on Friday evening but as the day came to a close I realized I was tired and as a result I began debating with myself on whether or not I wanted to go out Friday night. On any other Friday I would have been at home with a Redbox movie and takeout food. So why now the hesitation? Other than me not wanting to put the effort into "getting cute", I have come to recognize that I have my own issues with not having control over events that I have not assisted in planning. So I almost talked myself out of going because I wasn't sure how it would turn out. But I had to "check myself" and accept that everything isn’t going to be perfect and told myself to just go out, have a good time and roll with it. Sidebar - I should have known that anything planned by the Infinite Journey Book Club Ladies and/or Honorary Members would be an Adventure in itself and it was inevitable that I would have FUN!
 
 

So I went home, freshened up and headed to LA. We all met up at the hostess house for drinks around 6:30/7pm to get the party started!  But because it was so early half of us hadn’t ate dinner yet. Any lunch I ate was no longer in my system and drinking alcohol with no food was not an option for me. I know my alcohol tolerance level very well and I know that if I drink alcohol on an empty stomach it's not going to be pretty. So I tried to opt out of the pre-drinks...but the girls weren’t having it. The hostess supplied me with some much needed snacks - a rice cake topped with peanut butter and some cheez-its crackers, Lol. Hey don't judge me I was very appreciative of these snacks...only then was I able to fill up my red cup with some Seagrams Pineapple Twisted Gin which turned out to be Delicious! But I had to pass on the tequila floaters, I would have been f*c%d up before we even left the house, Lmao.

Please Note – I had one cup of alcohol. Me and one other person made sure we stopped at the bathroom before we left the house. We knew we were going to be on the Metro for at least 2 hours. Now remember I told you this, Lol.

Ok so our Clique was 9 women deep and we hopped into 2 Uber cars! 4 in the Honda Civic and 5 in the BMW X5. Uh yes some of the ladies were lapped up in the backseat…just illegal, Lol. We weren’t going far, so we said a prayer and rolled out. 10 minutes later we were dropped off at the Metro station off Jefferson and La Cienega. Did I mention most of the ladies were already buzzin from the pre-party liquor and therefore the conversation on the train was loud & hilarious. We boarded the Metro Rail and headed to Universal City Walk to eat, drink and be merry.

 
Now the first train was a little slow and of course we stopped at every stop. Unfortunately, one of the ladies (who forgot to go to the bathroom before we left) had a little too much to drink and her bladder decided it no longer wanted to cooperate on this trip. There was no bathroom on the train or at any of the stops. We were almost forced to get creative…we had a plastic bag and some tissue and we were going to make it happen some way, some how, Lol. But once we got off the 1st train we knew we had to find a bathroom before we transferred to the 2nd train. Eventually we found a restaurant downtown that she potentially could have used but our time had expired THE bladder was about to burst and something had to be done. So we did what we do best...Improvised! 
We were in Downtown LA and found a spot “in the cut” off a side street and my girl had to squat and make it happen. To give her what little privacy I could I had to squat down in front of her to camouflage her as much as possible so no one would see all her goodies. Of course, we had to have at least 1 guy passing by try and be nosey and actually attempt to see what we were doing. "Mind yo damn business" is what I wanted to yell but I couldn't get ghetto girl loud as it would bring more attention to us that what we already had! Thank goodness one of the other ladies I our crew came to the rescue and literally kicked at his ass to get him to keep it movin! The bladder was finally relieved and all was right with the world, lol. That shit was Hilarious! Of course, when we go back to meet the rest of the ladies at the restaurant they had access to the bathroom, Damn!! Really?? Don’t Judge Us!! (smile)

On to the 2nd train! This one was much quicker and as usual we had an audience enjoying our loud antics. Finally we made it to Universal Studios and were able to sit down and eat dinner at Camachos! The mexican food and my strawberry margarita was Delicious and well worth the wait!
 
Next Stop was the Saddle Ranch. No bull riding tonight, just music, more drinks and getting harassed by the extra friendly - drunk white guys! Ha! The one sitting at the bar by himself wanted to know everyone’s name and how we knew each other. His other 2 homeboys spoke to me and the drunk one wanted me to go outside and fight some random girl. Really?? I just got here and you already trying to get me caught up in some shit! I don’t even know you. His friend standing next to him told me to ignore his drunk friend and then explained that his boy called a girl out her name and she got mad at him and cursed him out, that shit was funny! Unfortunately, none of the guys were cute but they were cool and the conversation...or lack thereof...was interesting. A few drinks and a few R&B songs later it was time to go.

Sadly enough, once again...I didn't meet any potential dating candidates. But I'm glad I at least went out with the girls and had a good time! We may need to plan these at least once a month. You never know what shenanigans we may get into!
 
Stay Tuned until the next episode of...The Adventures of Single N Fabulous
Smooches! 

Friday, November 8, 2013

J. Cole Concert hit a Nerve!

Hey Beautiful People,

Finally I’m back to having A Life…it’s on a budget…but I do have a social life, LOL.
Unfortunately, I’ve been forced to get real creative in how I spend my money.

Lesson #1 - FYI -  changing from a County Job to a regular job is a BIG decision as it ultimately will affect your check immensely. What has baffled me is...now that I’m happy in my current position I’m forced to sacrifice financially. But when I was stressed the hell out, unhappy at my old job and complaining every day I was making a lot of money!! It’s funny how the world works. Would I change the decision I made NOT AT ALL!!! - I work a regular day shift and get home at a decent hour every night. I have my weekends to spend with my family and friends and I’m not worried about being blamed for a child dying on my caseload. I feel bad for my friends who are forced to continue working for the County but I say a prayer for them every night hoping they are able to find a way out. Okay enough about that depressing topic…lets talk about my Thursday Night Date with J. Cole, Lol.

So I started my weekend off by going to the J. Cole Concert - “Solo”
(by my damn self)
on Thursday Night, Oct., 24th
 @ Nokia Theater.
 
I originally thought I was going to the concert with a friend but he didn’t follow through on his end so I ended up going by myself.  If I want to go somewhere I will make it happen. I don’t have time for the Bullshit!

So you know attending this event was cause for a NEW outfit! So let me be clear…I’m not as young as I use to be. So my goal was to be cute and comfortable.  I knew them young girls would be running around the concert in stilettos. I was crazy enough to do the same thing “back in the day” when I was young but now I use my common sense, Lol.  I had an idea of what I wanted to wear but of course I didn’t have everything I needed in my closet.  As a result, I had several outfit changes and my twin sis Keesha can testify to this as it drove her crazy every time I tried to tell her what I was trying to do! She knows she’s my “go-to fashion consultant” so I don’t know why she was complaining as she knows this process is inevitable! Case in point – just last night we were working on putting together my outfit for a fundraising auction I’m going to next Friday and she was advising & complaining at the same time, LOL. 
 
We finally settled on my Hip Hop Heavyweight T-shirt (Biggie and Tupac) East Coast meets the West Coast that I hadn’t worn in months because I needed shoes to go with it (just hanging in the closet, nwt - new with tags). I got lucky and found my red, white and black Jordan’s in the Slauson Swapmeet (don’t sleep that’s my low key go-to spot). I got my camouflage cargo pants from Old Navy but I had to settle for this choice as I didn’t know where to go to get a more “girlie” version to fit my curves! P.S. I’m still on the hunt for another pair!! Since my hair wasn’t done I had to throw in my oh so favorite ponytail and topped the outfit off with my red leather jacket. I think the outfit came together  real cool and I was good to go!!

Now, truth be told, I REALLY went to see Wale but he was only up there as an opening act and so his time was limited. I had a good time rockin out to some of his most popular hits but now I need him to have his own gig!! He start out at Club Nokia and I will be there!

Mr. Nice Watch - J Cole put on a good performance too. Naturally he gave us a little bit of his first album and then performed his radio hits from the second album like Power Trip and Crooked Smile but I think he’s become a little more “hood” then I remembered from the first album. I become somewhat annoyed if every other word you say is “nigga”. After the concert I wanted to write a post on Facebook because it bothered me but I didn't because I knew it was going to be difficult trying to explain my position without writing a book! So here it is -

My argument in a nutshell: I don’t mind anyone BLACK using the word “nigga” in their own personal circle of friends but what has become an issue for me is this new generation that uses it as if it is the only word in their vocabulary. If you as an artist say the word “nigga” in your songs on almost every song on the entire album and then your records (explicit version, of course) sells to the “mass majority” who do you think now believes they have the right to say the word??!! And it’s not just J. Cole, this includes popular artists like Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and the new artist YG and his aptly titled song My Nigga! Really?? Don’t get me wrong… I understand that he’s trying to give love to his homeboys but did you have to release it as your next main stream single? In addition, you had the nerve to try and have a “clean version” called "My Hitta"!! This should have been released on an underground mix tape and stayed underground.

Oh this isn’t new…this has been an on-going debate within our society and now I understand why Oprah feels “no one” should use the word because look at what this has evolved into. Perfect example – the scene in the movie “White Girls” with the girls in the car singing Realest Nigga by Biggie Smalls feat. Eminem. The only difference is that, back then, they would say it when we weren’t around but now that’s no longer the case!! Some people of other races remain respectful and choose not to use the word but that is far and few between. All I’m saying is that if you hear anyone outside of the Black race (Latin, Asian, White) saying the word “nigga” in their conversation don’t get mad because our own black rap artists have basically given them a pass to say it. It's sad how the artists we have out now can no longer be viewed as a "role model" for this new generation growing up!
 
Well, that concludes me ranting on my soapbox...Just thought I'd get this off my chest!

Needless to say I still had fun at the concert and left “solo” just like I arrived, Lol. But, I’m glad I was able to get out and enjoy myself.
 
As You Already Know...The Adventures of SingleNFabulous must go on…Smooches!