Thursday, April 26, 2012

Vote to Send Me to Peru!

There is a running joke amongst my friends that I am ALWAYS applying for a grant.  Such is true.


In my latest quest, I am applying for a Travelocity Volunteer Vacation to Cuzco, Peru this summer. Part of the process was to make a video about why I qualify for the grant. There will be 4 winners, and part of the selection is to get as many votes on the video as possible.


Please click the link below to get to my video page on the Travelocity website, and then click the green button under the video to vote for me!  You can vote once every day.  The contest ends at the end of May. 
http://www.volunteerjournals.com/volunteer-travel-grants/entries/send-me-ill-go


Thanks for your help!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Confessions of a Product Junkie

Hi, my name is Kel, & I'm a product junkie.

***HI KEL!***

Y'all, I knew I had a problem, but I didn't think it would ever come to this.



My lease is up in a few months and I plan on purchasing either a house or condo.  I promised my mother that I would spend part of my spring break going through my closets & drawers to find items to purge so that I would have less to pack when I do move.

Getting rid of things is relatively easy for me.  I grew up in a house where if you left something unclaimed for a few days, it WOULD get thrown away because, as my mother STILL quotes to this day, "Material things don't get you to Heaven!"

Anyway, after going through my clothes & books twice (SEVEN bags worth of donations & a trash bag of discards), I decided to tackle the hair collection in my closet.  The last time I moved, I can't remember how many boxes/bags of hair goods I brought with me.  My friends thought it was hilarious.

I took what was in my closet & put it on my full-size bed.  I was embarrassed & appalled to see that my hair products almost filled up my entire bed!


Clearly, there were some painstaking decisions to make.

For instance, my homemade tracks & hair spray. I was the maid of honor in my cousin's wedding a few years ago.  She wanted everyone to wear their hair down, so I had some tracks added that clipped in.  Then I got nervous that the hair wouldn't match my color, so I bought some spray.  My cousin found out about the spray & wouldn't let me use it.

Or what to do about this electric hot comb?  I went to college in Oklahoma, where there was a shortage of Black people, Black hair salons, Black beauty supplies, etc.  I bought this my freshman year of college before I had a car to get off campus & travel to a decent beautician.  Obviously, this is before I decided to go natural.

How could I get rid of this stocking cap?  Don't judge me.  You all KNOW you have a stocking cap made out of one of your mama's (or your own) stockings.

And last but not least, HAIR!  I need to have my own side business slingin' hair!  I got everything!  Afro-kinky! Outre remy! Toyokalon! Brown, black & red!  What do you need?!?!?!?!  I gots it all!

Ok, so clearly it was time to let go of some things, especially since I have not had my hair pressed in over a year & have not had it regularly pressed in about 6 years.  So I said goodbye to my tracks, spray, hotcomb, and a myriad of other things.  Out of all the fake hair, I did keep the afro-kinky, because it matches my current texture & I never know when I am going to need a filler.  I am proud to say though, my collection shrunk significantly.  Woo-saaaahhhh! :-)


Hopefully my mama will be proud!