Size Matters… If You Let It

Source: The Gloss

The most hilarious Christmas-themed commercial I’ve seen this season is from the Georgia Lottery about unwanted gifts. Often, these gifts are either clothing or accessories that we know we would never wear.

It’s hard to buy gifts for some people, especially when it comes to style. But what about when you’re unsure of how to best shop or dress for your style, size, and personal preferences.  I find shopping to be exhausting, and my unhappiest shopping memories by have been (and still are) for shoes.  I’ve been wearing a women’s size 11 shoe since I was 11 years old. My feet don’t always look that big (it depends on the shoe style), but they got wider as became an adult. It seems that many retailers (or shoe manufacturers) do not make beautiful, stylish women’s shoes above a certain size. Sometimes it’s the brand or manufacturer. Sometimes the store will only stock a limited number of shoes over size 9. Whatever the case, it’s always been rough. I’ve heard the same kind of complaints from others regarding finding stylish clothes for plus size girls and women. It’s a great opportunity for a designer to get into, because there’s such a void in the fashion market for it.

I realize that I have a lot of plain-jane clothes like one-color hoodies, shirts and ribbed turtlenecks, and they have me in a fashion rut of sorts. Only with my recent weight loss have I started to consider buying new clothes for myself. So I was excited to find out that one of my favorite stylists* and What Not to Wear co-host Stacy London has written another book this year: The Truth About Style  (Viking) goes into depth about some of the psychology of how we dress, indecisiveness, how the way we feel about ourselves and others’ opinions and judgments of us influence how we dress, and why we choose (or refuse to choose) to give weight to those beliefs and opinions.

Some of Us Are Better Coaches Than Players

Source: EUR Web

I like the number 23 simply because it’s my birthdate–it has nothing to do with Michael Jordan’s number or the Brothers Johnson classic song, Strawberry Letter 23. But when I am in the car around 8 am on a Mon-Thurs, I have enjoyed the Strawberry Letter portion of The Steve Harvey Morning Show on the radio–even though it seems that many of the writers of those letters have no common sense.

During part of my road trip for the holidays, I listened to a couple of audiobooks. One of them was The Strawberry Letter by Shirley Strawberry, a radio vet and one of Steve’s co-hosts on his show.

The Wait is Over: “What’s Wrong With Me?” Book Release!

The wait is over! I am officially an author–two times over!

As I mentioned 2 weeks ago, today is the day of my dual book launch! While people are celebrating Valentine’s Day or going about their business, I am happy, excited, ecstatic and proud to revel in this accomplishment. If you haven’t already, please do browse my one-month-old re-launched website, check out my upcoming appearances, read unbiased reviews of my book, and participate in the special giveaway going on all week!

Paying The Cost to Love the Boss: An Ov[e]R’view of Platinum

Platinum by Aliya S. King (originally titled No Tea for the Fever) was released earlier this month, and it only took me a whopping three days to finish (’cause I’m in the middle of trying to relocate this week). This is the first fiction book I have read in YEARS. I’m all about inspiration, how-to, gaining knowledge, and promoting self-help, but when Aliya previewed the premise of the book and its cover on her blog, I knew right away that I was going to dig in, and dig in quickly.

Full disclosure: I’m biased. I am one of Aliya’s “dear readers” of her blog.  So this is not really a review, it’s more like an overview. I should have called it “A Look at ..” or “My thoughts on…”  She has much knowledge and candid insight about the writing biz for those of us on the come-up. And I consider her one of many writer/journalist/author “friends in my head”. I read “Keep the Faith” and loved it. Much later I was fascinated when Aliya finally sat down to explain to her writer fans how it came about. (Side note– she also mentioned that she’ll be working Faith on a new project very soon–yay! Honestly, I don’t know how she gets any sleep.)

I Wish We Could Go Back to the Way Things Used to Be…

Karrine Steffans

The story consists of rappers, the women who love them, and a video vixen that connects them. A younger generation of hip hop and R&B is involved. Families and groupie love comes into play. Lots of blurred lines here. Politics and self-doubt. Gossip vs. ethics. Self-respect, infidelity and loyalty. Other reviews give away more than I’m about to. The climax of the story comes when a rapper’s wife tells a journalist that she wishes she could escape all the drama and heartache of her life as it is now, and go back to the way things were when she and her husband were broke but happy. An R&B star and her BFF (a cheating rapper’s wife) also share similar sentiments.

Platinum is definitely the stuff movies are made of, like a biopic, or in a “based on a true story” kind of way. But I told you I’m not giving away much of the plot. However, I do have some questions, which Aliya may address in the sequel.

So, I Was Wondering… (SPOILER)

If you haven’t read the book, you might not want to read any further (IOW, spoiler alert!). Aliya, or any Platinum readers that can help me out with these, please be my guest. (The answers may be right under my nose, but I don’t read books twice—too many to keep with.)

1. We see that Jake was with Cleo (although he’s not named, there was that Good Times reference), but did she really keep her word and not put him in the original manuscript that Kipenzi read on the plane? I was pretty sad about her death (maybe that’s silly to say but I was, as I immediately thought of Aaliyah). Also, there’s no mention of whether Kipenzi and Jake got into it before the plane crash (he said he was going with her). He didn’t seem to show any grief or sorrow, or surviving any injuries in the remainder of the book. Dylan survived too, maybe she overhead something…
2. What happened when Zander and Bunny met at the hotel on the night of her abortion? Did she set him up for another trap? Did the side piece get an abortion, too?
3. Did Z’s side chick in Hoboken have a second baby by him for real? Did he relapse on the drugs that Cleo had waiting for him near the end of the book?
4. Is Cleo baby Reina’s mother? (I don’t recall any mention of her being pregnant with all her action.) If not then who?

What do you think about Platinum? Let’s discuss!