I'm real into emerald green velvet furniture right now. I have my eye on these chairs.

1. Ubers/Lyfts - I just don't need to waste so much money on these. I spend at least $1K on ubers last year and I wish this were an exaggeration, but it's not. Public transportation, here I come haha. 
2. Overpriced drinks at bars and restaurants? Please tell me WHY I dropped $55 on 2 drinks and a glass of ginger ale at a dumb ass rooftop this weekend? I'm honestly mad at myself for giving in to peer pressure and spending money I knew I didn't really want to spend. Oy- if I don't pregame a night out, I'm just not going anymore lol. 
3. Eating out/Food deliveries. I'm still going to go to special occasions and birthdays, but I have zero desire to casually spend money eating out anymore. Not for lunch, not for dinner, and not on the weekends which is when I tend to spend the most money on food. I'm excited to start making healthier decisions. 

Photo by Osman Rana

Is anyone else as excited about this holiday season and for 2020 to begin as I am? I don't know what caused this sudden shift in my attitude, because I have always been the type of person who doesn't want to start celebrating Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Because let's be honest, Black Friday is my ultimate weakness. But this year, there's something different in the air. My drastic stance on the Christmas before vs Christmas after Thanksgiving debate might be correlated with the drastic winter weather we are experiencing in the northeast. It got cold real freaking fast here. We had like 3 weeks of nice fall weather, and that was it. So instead of being sad that fall ended sp quickly, I'm just going to embrace all the winter holiday activities asap.

We had our Holiday Editor and Influencer event at work this week and that just sealed my fate. I'm in full holiday mode, and it feels freaking incredible. Christmas music makes me happy. Drinking hot chocolate while walking through all the holiday markets in NYC makes me happy. Watching all the painful cheesy, but somehow amazing Hallmark and Netflix holiday movies makes me happy. It's so easy to integrate simple and fun things into your day during the holiday season. I constantly talk about how I am on a mission to add more joy and fulfillment to my life. You know, make positive changes so I'm not miserable. And in my opinion, the holiday season offers so many low-key, yet rejuvenating activities that you can do solo or with friends, family and SOs. It's the perfect season to ignore all the commercial crap/societal pressures and learn what really matters to you. This is where I'll be focusing my attention for the rest of the year. I'm sure some of you can relate.

• We partnered with popbar at our work event this week and it was amazing!!! There's a cute location right by West 4th St. in NYC. I'm planning to stop by soon, grab a cup and walk around West Village and look at all the holiday decor. 
• Shopping Cart: Here are all the accessories I’m loving from work right now for the holidays!!

• I’m copying this holiday makeup look from Ashley Brooke!! But tweaking it to fit my skin tone!
• Menu: I want to make both of these dishes ASAP. I'm not going to lie; I'm pretty lazy when it comes to cooking but I also want to eat clean, budget-friendly meals. This walnut crusted salmon seems like the answer to my prayers. And this side dish just sounds incredible. 
• I need this Zodiac necklace. Been wanting to invest in quality pendants because they are my favorite jewelry piece and my set from Madewell tarnished. Need a classic set 
• So Cute!!! I want this Christmas themed Monopoly board game! I believe Carly the Prepster shared this and I was like "add to cart".
• Charm School: What a cute post about being charming... but not in like a manipulative, sociopathic way. More of in a "spread kindness" kind of way.  
• I think I’m more of a townhouse gal than a luxe condo girl… but I wouldn’t be mad about living in any of these luxury high-rises in NYC. Oy … one day haha.
• Champagne Problems: I need to go to this new Champagne bar in NYC sooooo freaking soon! Champagne is my favorite. 
• Financial food for freaking thought!! I love reading all the financial diaries that are so popular now. It's so fascinating and usually, I can learn from the smart money moves or financial mistakes of others.  
• Boss Babe: It’s totally ok if we don’t have a clear career path. In fact, there are a lot of pros to it… thank goodness! 

Photo by Nicolette Meade

Hope your day is off to a great start! I'm currently writing this post from a coffee shop in my neighborhood. I haven't worked from a coffee shop in a while, and I almost forgot how much I love this ritual! It's so blissful to take two hours for myself and block out the surrounding world. I used to fear to be alone with my thoughts because I didn't know how to be kind to myself, but now alone time feels like a luxury. I hope you can sneak in a little alone time this weekend as well. It truly is quite refreshing. I also hope you find the links below to be helpful, entertaining or inspiring. I know I do! If you have any links you want to share in the comments below, I'd love to know what meme, article or video has put a smile on your face this weekend. 

Weekend TV Guide: 10 Documentaries every woman in their 20s should watch  
BYOB restaurants in NYC - Because we all need to save money this year! 
BYO food bars in NYC - Great for all my friends who are on special diets 
Terrible People: Ew!!! NEVER eat here! I hope this manager got fired for being so sexist! 
Self Love - What you should focus on instead of focusing on finding the “love of your life” 
Beauty Bar: I’m intrigued by this new beauty trend  
Fashion Nerd: This is so interesting! I’m excited about this new fashion/psychology series. I’ve always been fascinated with psychology and have a deep connection to fashion. Here’s one I’m excited to read this weekend. 
HBIC: An interesting resume tip 
Black Girl Magic!!! Time to celebrate these amazing black women 
Get It Together - This inspiring closet organization article plus the new Marie Kondo show on Netflix is going to help me feel more put together. 

Weekly Highs:

This week was a whirlwind! A lot of stressful incidents happened over the past 7 days. But oddly, I’m in a much better mood than I’ve experienced earlier in the month. I guess a lot of shitty things happening all at once helped me re-adjust my perspective and focus on what truly matters and why gratitude is so important. The best part of this week was the fact that I proved to myself how resilient I can be. 

Yes, I cried a lot. Yes, I let 95% of my weekly to-do list fall through the cracks and beat myself up about it. Yes, I have a loving boyfriend who comforted me and told me everything was going to be ok. Yes, I called my best friend Kendra to help cheer me up. I know I am blessed to have their love and support, but at the end of the day, we have to depend on ourselves in order to see the light again. Words of comfort from other people are nice, but they don’t magically change your mindset. Only you have the power to focus on the positive side of things. And unfortunately, that’s a skill that we all have to work at every single day if we want a sustainable positivity. I’m just grateful that all of my loved ones are safe and sound, I have a source of income in my dream industry and I can start planning to redecorate my apartment for the spring. 

Weekly Lows:

I want to keep this part short and sweet because: 
a.) I don’t want to sound like a whiny little punk and 
b.)listening to me complain won’t help you on your path to success. 

But I will briefly list all the poo things that happened in my life this week so you know how unperfect my life is. This way, you don’t feel so alone when poo things happen to you.

• Lost my Chanel wallet in a cab 
• Was overcharged $152 by the terrible restaurant/bar Tijuana Picnic in the LES (which refused to answer the phone, return my email or speak to a manager when I went back to the bar). 
• One of my immediate family members in Georgia was rushed to the hospital (this emergency made all of my other problems seem very small)

As you can see, my life is messy. I think our social media society has caused us all to compare and desire the lives of others. I don’t want to portray that my life is better than yours. I want us all to work together so we all live the lives of our dreams. Thank you so much for stopping by my site to read this post. I hope this article helped you smile. Until next time my friend! 

Photo by Marion Michele

Another week has come and gone. It's officially summer, and I'm baffled by how quickly this year is flying by. I'm still trying to figure how to stop letting life fly by me and actually enjoy each day.  But hey, slow progress is still progress.  In the meantime, here are some things I've found around the web this week. I hope you enjoy!

• For My ATL Peeps: I found out about this new lifestyle site called Infatuation and OMG I LOVE IT! I signed up for the NYC newsletter and yesterday the guide was about the best places to eat and drink on boats in the city... It's like this site can read my mind. But guess what, the site just announced an Atlanta section too! So now you'll never run out of things to do during your free time. You're welcome 
• Shop Til You Drop:
• Saks is having a major sale! Up to 60% off site wide! Go be buojie on a budget; you deserve it. 
• TopShop sale = up to 70% off ... aw yeah! 
• Weekend Fun: I'm thinking about going to this Rosé on the Water event in NYC on July 12 (there's also one in Chicago on July 20th). It looks like a lot of fun. 
• Menu: I never thought I would say this... but I've actually been enjoying cooking lately - mainly because it's an easy way to save a ton of money. And I'm very excited to make this healthier version of blueberry banana bread! 
• On My Radar: I'm been kind of obsessed with Pretty Little Thing. The clothes are super cute and super affordable. 
• Fight for what's right: This is super fucked up and is proof that the fight for immigration reform is far from over even though he who shall not be named just passed an executive order to stop family separation at the boarder.
• Gotta Get My Mind Right: Here's a free 5 minute meditation app that seems pretty cool. I love 5 minute meditation sessions because my mind is super active and I can only sit quietly for 5 minutes. 
• You Are Enough: Here's a great article about not comparing yourself to others... something I struggle with daily. 
• PRIDE: It is finally PRIDE weekend here in NYC and here is your guide to celebrating love & equality. 
• Morning Moves: I just did this 12 minute morning yoga routine by Tone It Up  and feel like a million bucks! It definitely got my blood pumping and activated a lot of muscles in my body. Try it if you need a quick pick-me-up! 
• Wish List: Bauble Bar just launched their tropical jewelry collection... and I want it all! Check out some of my favorite pieces below - oh, and this section has affiliate links, just FYI.