Jumping the Broom Vol. 4-Our Wedding Shower

Last Saturday some of our wonderful friends and family gathered here in Harlem to shower us with gifts which will help us establish our new home. It was so lovely to see faces of loved ones. From the festive Hollywood style decor, to the wonderful food, (delicious Thai and Cake Man Raven Red Velvet!!!) we felt so overwhelmingly loved. My favorite part of evening was the games we played. Hashim and I were tested on our knowledge of each other and we did great! I am so thankful for everyone who was there and I cannot wait to see everyone at the wedding. My Matron of Honor and Hashim's Best Man gave their whole hearts in planning the event and it was a moment we will never forget.

We've finally booked all of our main vendors and we are working hard to keep calm and and carry on.
Even though we try to deal with our stress on the conscious level, I know that I need to stay constantly in prayer to deal with the stress in the subconscious which my body lets me know by all kinds of things such as eye twitching, headaches, and all kinds of other things you don't want to know about.

Our marriage counseling has taught us so much about God's plan for our lives. We still have much to learn over the course of the next few weeks (YES! WEEKS!!!). It's time to begin the countdown...44 Days!

Project Runway!

I can't wait to watch the Project Runway season finale this week.
This is definitely the best season since Christian Siriano's group. I can't wait to see Emilio Sosa's and Seth Aaron's collections! It will be a fight to the finish!

Jumping the Broom Vol. 3-Getting to the Good Part

Hashim and I have exactly two months before our big day now. All that's left to decide on is the flowers, cake... and a million other little (but really really important) tasks!
But, finally, I feel like we're getting to the good part. The ups and downs of planning this ceremony and reception have brought Hashim and I so much closer. We laughed so hard together and even shed a few tears but as we knock down the ceremony details we can focus more on planning what our marriage will be like. It's my favorite part.
We started marriage counseling with a loving married couple at our church and its been so much fun. So far our first two meetings have really opened our eyes to the possibilities of what an incredible opportunity we have. I believe in my heart that God made me specifically for Hashim and that together we will be a powerful force of love in this world. Breaking down our understanding of marriage based on society, movies and couples around us and really honing in on God's design of what marriage is really supposed be; fun, exciting, sacrificial, beautifully intimate, spiritually focused. It's so refreshing to learn what God's original plan for it is supposed to be. It's way better that what we could ever hope for watching "Why Did I Get Married, Too?".

The closer I draw near to God the more excited I feel about the wedding and our marriage. I am looking forward all the really fun activities that are coming up and most of all to every day and night beyond June 12 that I get to spend with the love of my life!

I'm Changing...

On my way home today I was doing a mental self check in and discovered that in someways I'm totally different than I was a few months, ago, or even last year. It's like the time in college when my Mom and I were at a new mall and she exclaimed, "Look they have your favorite store, Claire's." I had to reply, "Mom, I haven't gone in Claire's since I was like in 9th or 10th grade."
Please keep in mind, I have no judgements to anyone's favorite things, this is just a personal self-check in. I'm sure that next year it will be totally different all over again. So here's my new lists.

THINGS I'M OVER:
Eating at McDonald's
Going to the movies when I'm bored
Starbucks
American Apparel
My Space (save for my DJ Phoenix account)
Violent loveless television shows

THINGS I'M ALMOST OVER:
Dunkin' Donuts( bagels, sweet tea, munchkins)
Cheese
Eggs (unless they are cage free organic)
Eating too much
Needing to wear something different every day
Processed sugar
Tolerance of clutter
IHOP
Putting things off until later

THINGS I'M GETTING INTO:
Soulful House Music
Eating fruit and vegtables every single day
Taking dance technique class regularly
Cooking as many meals as possible
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Granola
Greek Yogurt


THINGS I'M STILL INTO:
Funky Natural Hair Styles
Amazing heels
Fashion and Home decor mags
Singing, Dancing, Acting, Writing, DJing
Riding my bike whenever possible
Playing in the park
Picnics
Summertime!
Netflix movies
Watching tv online
Collecting arty postcards
Hanging out whenever possible


What's on your list? I would love to hear it!

Jumping the Broom Vol. 2-Developing Resiliency

No matter how organized you try to be, or proactive or on top of things sometimes things fall apart. In our quest to do our homework and really try to know as much about each other (and still be righteous according to God's word) we are learning to surrender to the fact that there will be things we won't know and that no matter how well you plan sometimes things get messed up. This is a really difficult thing to realize being the type A, artist type perfectionist that I am slowly realizing that I am. Sometimes vendors let you down, disappear, close down, don't call you back, etc.






I have to admit after watching The Bachelor Wedding special with Jason and Molly last week, I was beginning to get wedding envy. With the network providing everything from celebrity hair and make-up stylists to Manolo Blahniks for EVERYONE(!!!) I began to sigh. If money were no object this would be so much easier. Right?

Nah. Having parameters is a great thing. How else will learn to grocery shop and pay all our bills every month?
I think God is trying to teach us to have a unshakable faith. This is not my wedding, or Hashim's it's God's. However, he wants that day to look and the process that he will take us on to get there is perfectly directed by Him. Even if we don't understand in the moment.

Hashim pointed out that if we can survive this we can start our own business, renovate a home, raise children, pretty much anything we want to do in the future, this planning process lays a strong foundation.
So, even though it can be frustrating to hear that butterflies on the cake are way too feminine for Hashim's taste (AH!) I'm glad that we're doing this together. There's no one else in the world that knows how to go to God with me when I am twisted up with anxiety, that makes me laugh this hard, that I have this much fun with: Hashim really is my best friend.

Balmain's Done it again

Balmain, DJ Phoenix would like to order these dresses immediately to rock while working on the 1's and 2's. Thank you. Very Much.

Totally Feeling Dolce&Gabbana Fall 2010 Collection

I love these...It's where I'm headed, fashion wise...