Life's A Beach

I’m back from my weekend getaway in California. My husband and I took my son to the Golden State to get away from the Southern heat, humidity and RAIN this past weekend. We mainly visited beaches on our short journey (Manhattan, Santa Monica & Venice) but we also did the tourist thing and headed to Hollywood Blvd. to check out the stars on the Walk of Fame, took pictures at the Hollywood Vista point (good spot to photograph the Hollywood sign although the drive up Mulholland is treacherous!), and we drove down Rodeo Drive (didn’t see any celebs though). A highlight of the trip was eating at Sizzler! Ha ha! Don’t laugh! That was a big deal in H-Town when I was 16 but the buffets ran them out of town so, it was a bit of a nostalgic trip to get the steak and endless shrimp with the all you can eat salad bar. Reason number 4,576 why I need to go on a diet right now!!!

Anyway, even though the trip was brief it was nice and relaxing and helped me focus even more on what’s important in life. God, family and love. Nothing more, nothing less. I am so grateful for so many things and as I stared out at the majesty of the Pacific ocean I started to compile a list in my head of what I’m most grateful for:

1. Being in God’s favor
2. A husband who adores me
3. The unconditional love of my son
4. My sister (for incessant laughter)
5. Sight
6. Mental health (some days ;-)
7. Physical health
8. Freedom
9. Books
10. Chocolate

Gone Fishin'

I'll be back!! Needed to get "Far Away" for a few days. . .

Book Spotlight: Ruby and The Booker Boys

Eight year old Ruby Marigold Booker uses her style, charisma, talent, and all out girl power to make it in a household full of boys. But these aren’t just any boys; her brothers (Tyner, Ro, and Marcellus) are Hope Road Academy’s and Chill Brook Avenue’s famous Booker Boys. She’ll do whatever it takes to get out of their shadows and make a name for her self.This colorful and rhythmic new series in children’s lit is all about the love and support of family and community. Ruby finds the strength and confidence to overcome any obstacle and accomplish everything she sets her mind to.New Ruby books are scheduled to be released every three months!
(Excerpt from derrickbarnes.com)

These books are from the creative mind of Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton. This series is sure to follow in the footsteps of the Willimena series by Valerie Wilson Wesley. There aren't many books marketed to young black children especially with illustrations that look like them. Be sure to support this series and Mr. Barnes.

Inviting Images

Looking for stationery, labels, invites and more that are designed especially for US by US? Check out My Mimi Pie. Too key-ute!!I

Get Moving

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about making some life changes. The number one thing I need to do is commit to getting healthy for life instead of just losing weight and going on diets every time I have an event to attend or a vacation coming up. I need to start eating healthier and exercising daily. I feel so much more energized when I exercise on the regular and it seems the older I get my ability to drop 7 to 10 pounds within a couple of weeks is starting to diminish. My metabolism is almost at a screeching halt.

Not to mention I want to be around and healthy for a long time to come- my son is only four, I can’t afford to be falling a part. I’ve got to be around to cheer him on at his college graduation! I think I’m going to meet with a nutritionist and set up a plan for healthy eating, I’m also going to start walking in the downtown tunnels at lunch coupled with working out two days a week at the Y, and 15 minutes of yoga in the mornings.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle is a great thing that parents should do not only for themselves but for their kids. In this high tech/computer and video game era we live in childhood obesity is at an all time high. But parents have the power to help change their children’s sedentary routine and dependency on snacks high in fat and sugar. When children grow practicing healthy eating habits and getting regular exercise they are more likely to continue these habits into adulthood. I’m fortunate because although I definitely need to step up my game when it comes to physical fitness, I am married to a runner and exercise enthusiast. My son is definitely influenced by his marathon running father and he participated in his first kid’s race a couple of weekends ago. He loves to run, play all kinds of sports and he gets daily exercise at school each morning, so I would say he’s off to a fairly good start. Now, if I could only get him to eat his broccoli and understand that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches do not constitute a well balanced meal!

H-Town Review: The Woodlands

The Woodlands is a suburb/city North of Houston. Many of the residents of this 55,000+ populated city have no reason to leave their hometown unless they are unfortunate enough to work outside the city limits.

The Woodlands has a plethora of retail shops (Wal-Mart to Pottery Barn to Anthropologie), restaurants (McDonald's to Grotto), a two story mall (with a Children's Museum inside), Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (which showcases concerts featuring some of the hottest acts in the country), a waterway (you can hop a water taxi for a scenic view of the area), a hospital, hotels (designed especially for conferences), and top corporations like Anadarko, Hughes Christensen, & Hewitt Associates.

We spent Sunday afternoon in The Woodlands and let my son run through the water fountains at Market Square after having lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Our trip to the Woodlands was about 50 minutes one-way but a great way to spend the afternoon. I highly recommend this excursion for visitors and hometown residents as well.

Pay it Forward

I've talked about my passion for reading and how my son is following in my footsteps not to mention how we both get giddy about trips to the library. Well, in addition to checking out books from the library I also buy a lot of books. So you can imagine that our bookshelves are little over run from time to time.

We have some books that are like old friends, they contain a favorite passage or they were a special gift or perhaps they were signed by the author- those books we will cherish and keep forever. Other books that we enjoyed but have no interest in reading again are finding new life at the local library.

We donate our used books to the library and even if the library has those titles already they have programs that give the books to needy children or children in hospitals or they will sell them for a $1 at their annual book sale to raise money for library programs.

So, I encourage you to gather up all those books you don't read and have forgotten about and take them to the library! I think it teaches children a good lesson too when they feel they are doing a good deed for someone who may be less fortunate or like my son says, "a little kid who is learning to read will like these books,"

Whatever the case it's a great thing to do and your local library will be extremely grateful.