Poetic Justice

As of late, I have been very self-aware and conscious about the type of energy I put out into the world and likewise, the type of energy that I receive. I have always been a very sensitive person. By sensitive I mean that I have always been able to read people very well and examine their energy - be it positive or negative. I can usually tell a person's true colors within the first few hours around them. However, in the past, I have been known to spot out negative energy and still allow it into my life. The older - well more like wiser - that I have gotten, I have definitely let that go. At this point in my life I have adopted a zero tolerance attitude for negative energy in all forms that it may come.

I'm not sure if you all have seen the movie Poetic Justice starring Janet Jackson and if you haven't then what on earth are you doing with your life? Well, the outfit I am wearing in this post got me thinking about poetic justice and its literal meaning. Side note, if you don't know why this outfit made me think of Poetic Justice, here you go. Great movie! Anyway, literarydevices.net defines poetic justice as "an ideal form of justice in which the good characters are rewarded and the bad characters are punished by an ironic twist of their fate." This got me thinking a lot about the kind of energy I want to put out into the world. I strive every day to be the best person I can be in all aspects of my life. I realize that nobody is perfect and mistakes will always be made, but it is important to me that I at least try every day to do right by everyone I encounter. I hope to always put out good and positive energy and I expect the same from the people I allow in my life. Do good, get good and do bad, get bad. 

DRESS LIKE JO

Vintage Levi Jeans - My local Goodwill
Floral Croptop - Similar on missguidedus.com Here 

Smell The Roses

Hey Everyone! Sorry, I've been kind of neglecting you all. Things have been quite hectic and busy around my way this past week. Last week consisted of a work trip, my personal life, and a mini vacation. This past weekend I took a road-trip with some friends down to Savannah, GA for some fun in the sun. I had never been to Savannah before so I was super excited for the experience and for a chance to getaway.

Sometimes, life gets so busy and we get so wrapped up in our responsibilities that we forget to take a second to smell the roses. We actually kind of forget that there are roses there to begin with. This Savannah trip was an awesome decision because we had A BLAST! From the beach, to great restaurants, to a wonderful hotel, and yummy adult beverages, I definitely smelled all the roses there were to smell. 

When you decide it is time to take a vacation, I'm sure Savannah, GA isn't the first place that pops in your mind. Never say never because after this weekend, Savannah has become my new favorite mini vacation spot. I loved every second of it. After working so hard and grinding for so long, it is a healthy decision to escape your responsibilities even if it is only for 48 hours like we did. Also, when you decide to go on a vacay, it is important to go with the right people. Don't take vacays with a frenemy or someone you don't like. We had a drama free and blissful 48 hours of laughter, drinks, great food, and genuine fun and that is how it should be! Thank you ladies for a great weekend! 

My outfits during the Savannah trip were very relaxed. I decided I wanted to be cute but comfortable. I only packed comfortable shoes like wedge sandals and jellys (yes, I brought jellys back). I opted for fluid high waist shorts, a jumpsuit, and a dress for my outfit options. Comfy but cute was the mission.

DRESS LIKE JO

I got A LOT of inquiries about my woven sun hat. I purchased it at Express and you can purchase your own HERE! 

"Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time"

Time Out

If you haven't heard already, Lala Anthony wrote a book and it's titled "The Love Playbook." I recently purchased the book and I have really been enjoying it. The metaphorical title of the book is extremely appropriate as she basically compares the relationship game to the game of basketball. She uses appropriate terminology like the term "TimeOut," which appears quite a few times.

I was particularly intrigued by her definition of the term timeout.

"A halt in the play. this allows the coaches of either team to communicate with the team, e.g., to determine strategy or inspire morale. Timeouts are critical components of the game and can be the difference between winning and losing." - Lala Anthony

In life, sometimes we need to realize that it is okay to call a timeout. This doesn't mean taking some elaborate vacation or planning an extravagant trip (although there is nothing wrong with that). To me, a timeout is simply a chance to regroup, re-evaluate, and re-energize. Life can be stressful people! Don't be afraid to call a timeout. Gather your team of friends, family, or mentors every now and again for a quick pep talk and discuss your strategy to get back in the game. Like Lala said, the purpose of a timeout is to "inspire morale" and it can really be the difference between winning or losing. If you never regroup, there will be multiple occasions when your head isn't in the game and that's never a good thing.

Moral of the story is this...don't be afraid to call a timeout in life. Whatever the best method for you is. Maybe it is a bubble bath or maybe it is time with nature. Take timeouts seriously!

DRESS LIKE JO
Check out this dress similar to mine that I am currently obsessed with here. 

I'm So Here For This Cyber Lipstick

I'm so here for this liptick by Mac Cosmetics called Cyber! Hope you enjoyed the seflies above! Check out the video below to find out why! 

DISCLAIMER:

I was not paid by MAC Cosmetics for this post and this post is in no way endorsed by or sponsored by MAC Cosmetics.

I'm So Here For This - Pink Lotion by Victoria Secret

At the end of 2013, I promised you all some new and exciting things for 2014 and of course I am going to deliver! On the blog every Monday will be a post titled "I'm So Here For This." As my friends and family know, this is a phrase that I use on a daily basis regarding anything that I admire or that I am currently coveting. I'm so here for this basically means I am definitely in love with this (whatever this may be)!

So, what can you expect from the "I'm So Here For This" blogposts? Well, you can expect to see everything from beauty and hair products to music and maybe even restaurants and bars. You can pretty much expect to see anything that I am currently excited about.

So...let's get started. This week I'm so here for this body lotion by Vitoria's Secret Pink. I remember purchasing this lotion as an "impulse buy" that I definitely felt guilty about at first. However, I ended up falling in love with this lotion and went right back to Victoria's Secret for more. 

Not only does this lotion come in several enticing scents, but it is also the perfect consistency and texture for lotion. I usually struggle with purchasing lotion because I never want the consistency to be too thick, but I also don't want it to be too thin. I must say, I also love the shimmer that it leaves on my skin also. This lotion will literally make you glow! 

My favorite scent so far will have to be the Pretty & Pink, but they all smell so good it doesn't even matter. These lotions are definitely a must try! 

Click on the image below to be directed to the Victoria's Secret website where you can purchase from the collection of 8 scents!

DISCLAIMER:
I was not paid by Victoria's Secret for this post and this post is in no way endorsed by or sponsored by Victoria's Secret.

All Things Sequins

Let me start this post by saying HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone! I hope you all enjoyed ringing in the new year -- however you chose to ring it in! I brought in 2014 at my home with a few of my friends and family. This was honestly the best way to bring in the new year -- aside from Church of course!

I remember back in November, my friends and I were trying to decide which club package we would be purchasing for our New Years Eve festivities! However, the closer and closer it got to NYE, everyone decided it would be best to just host NYE at one of our homes. Nobody wanted to deal with the lines at the clubs, the crowds, getting our shoes stepped on, and of course the inflated costs of New Years Eve event packages. In addition to all this, I was pretty under the weather. Actually, I didn't have a voice during my entire party.

Well, that is how the festivities ended up at my home. It was all very last minute and not planned, but sometimes -- as this party proved -- the best times are the unplanned times. I hosted the event as a potluck and so everybody contributed something and this made things easier for me. Shout out to Walmart for the last minute decorations I purchased and to my brothers (Emmanuel and Joshua) for helping me put them up lol.

We had a blast and I couldn't have asked for a better crowd to bring in the year 2014 with. As you can see, I wore a sequin pencil skirt and croptop combo that I purchased at Express. I am in love with All Things Sequins! I literally purchased this outfit back in November and I said to myself this is my New Years Eve outfit and I don't care where I go but somebody's gonna see it. Lol

DRESS LIKE JO
Below is a croptop similar to the one I am wearing! Click on the picture to be directed to where you can purchase it.

I hope you all have a wonderful 2014 and join me as I chronicle parts of mine here on She's So Me!

Change The Record

I would like to start by wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas Eve! I hope this Holiday brings you and yours nothing but joy, fortune, and blissful happiness. In today's post I would like to kind of discuss my goals for the new year. Well...not necessarily my goals but more what I look forward to for this coming year. 2013 has been a very interesting (to say the least) year for me. Although I have no regrets, I certainly can't wait to change the record and play the wonderful soundtrack of my life called 2014!

Like most of us, I am most excited for this coming year because I am ooooo sooo ready for something new. There is nothing more refreshing than the beginning of a BRAND NEW YEAR because well ... it only happens ONCE a year. 

Personally, I like to think of each year in my life as a soundtrack or something like a playlist. Music is very important to me. I love love love music. If you are anything like me, there are certain songs you hear that remind you of certain moments in your life -- both bad and good. So with that in mind, I thought it would be a fun and interesting to make a list of my personal soundtrack for 2013. 

1. We Found Love - Rihanna

2. Rehab - Rihanna

3. Never Would Have Made It - Marvin Sapp

4. Doo Wop - Lauren Hill

5. Stay - Rihanna

6. Get Me Bodied - Beyonce

7. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley

8. Champion - Nicki Minaj feat. Drake, Nas & Young Jeezy

9. Party - Beyonce

10. Listen - Beyonce

11. What Now - Rihanna

12. Leona Lewis - Better In Time

13. Start Of Something New - High School Music

14. Roar - Katy Perry

15. Hero - Mariah Kerry

16. Marilyn Monroe - Nicki Minaj

17. Love Gun - CeeLo

I had a lot of fun sitting here thinking back through my year and assigning songs to certain significant moments. I definitely recommend that you all try this activity out as well. I certainly enjoyed it.

With all that being said, I am so excited to create a brand new soundtrack/playlist for the year of 2014. It is definitely time for me to change the record and start fresh! I have so many awesome things I plan to work on for the new year -- both personally and for the blog. I have no idea what this year has in store for me but I am certainly excited to find out. 

The 2014 Joanna is a happy girl! She knows what she wants and what she doesn't want. She knows herself and loves herself. She has learned to say no when no is necessary because she knows her worth. She will love like she has never been hurt. She will cry when she needs a good cry because she knows that sometimes a good cry is healthy. She will continue to work hard to accomplish all her goals and aspirations. She will do her very best to be an amazing daughter, sister, friend, co-worker, Godmother, aunt, family member etc. And whenever she fails to do so, she will be apologetic and she will try her hardest to fix the problem. She will never see anything as a failure but rather a lesson learned. And finally, she will love love looooooveeee herself! 

This will be the last She's So Me blog post of 2013! I can't wait to share more of me with you all in the year of 2014. Happy New Year in advance to you all. Thank you for reading my blog and I hope to continue spark your interest in the year of 2014.

xoxo JO

All photos by Karen Simmons

BOW DOWN

If you haven't AT LEAST heard about Beyonce's latest self titled album, then I just don't know what to say to you. Anywho, my favorite song off the album is EASILY flawless. Flawless begins with her self-empowering song Bow Down in which she demands the respect she deserves. However, the BEST part of this song is when you begin to hear the voice of Nigerian feminist and writer -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. 

There has been a lot of criticism, hate, and whatever else about Beyonce being very openly and unapologetically feminist. All of which I will not even address because it overshadows the amazing and impactful words spoken by Adichie! Amongst my friends and family, I am known to be unapologetically feminist myself. When people ask me why I feel the way I feel, I often get into lengthy discussions explaining my thoughts. However, I am relieved because this poetic collection of words below is a concise explanation of the way I feel. 

We teach girls to shrink themselves,

to make themselves smaller. 
We say to girls,

‘You can have ambition,

but not too much.

You should aim to be successful,

but not too successful.

Otherwise you will threaten the man.’

Because I am female,

I am expected to aspire to marriage.

I am expected to make my life choices

always keeping in mind that

marriage is the most important.

Now marriage can be a source of

joy and love and mutual support.

But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage

and we don’t teach boys the same?

We raise girls to see each other as competitors –

not for jobs or for accomplishments,

which I think can be a good thing,

but for the attention of men.

We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings

in the way that boys are.

Feminist: the person who believes in the social,

political and economic equality of the sexes.”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I know I said I wouldn't address the critics, however give me a second to do just that. A lot of people complained that Beyonce contradicts herself because feminism and her marriage don't go hand in hand. To those people I say, you have missed the point. Feminism doesn't aim to destroy the institution of marriage or to belittle its value. Feminism calls for EQUALITY of the sexes. Feminism says, that which is taught to the women should also be taught to the men. Amongst other things, Feminism asks why women are taught that marriage is the ultimate goal and men aren't? Feminism asks why female sexuality is such a taboo and male sexuality isn't? To be a feminist doesn't mean you revoke the institution of marriage. 

Celebrate Good Times

In this fast-paced and on-the-go life, we often forget to acknowledge some important moments. I can be very guilty of this. Recently, She's So Me reached 10,000 views (something I am very happy about) and one of my good friends persuaded me to celebrate this accomplishment. I am so glad she encouraged me to do this because it was just the burst of energy that I needed. 

Sometimes in life we get blindsided by all the things -- both negative and positive -- that we have going on. Again, this is definitely something I am guilty of. My family and friends are constantly telling me "Joanna, don't forget about all these awesome things happening" or "Joanna, you don't give yourself enough credit" and they are totally right. When certain things are going askew in your life, don't forget to still celebrate good times!

So, in celebration of She's So Me's 10,000th view, me and a couple of my friends enjoyed a ravishing night of dinner, drinks, and live jazz at Atlanta's own Churchill Grounds. If you are into jazz, I totally recommend this restaurant. The ambience was so romantic! To all my lovebirds out there, this place is the PERFECT spot for your next date night! However, I must say, I was a little disappointed with the service. With that being said, it wasn't enough to overshadow how beautiful this restaurant/jazz club is.

So, I know what you are all thinking right now! "Blah Blah Blah Joanna, tell us where you got that skirt!" Lol! This fabulous skirt was handcrafted by up-and-coming indie designer Chinyere Nwokah! Her amazing collection of designs will soon be available for purchase through the online store! The collection will be an authentic fusion of West African aesthetics and Western fashion trends. Don't worry, I won't let you all miss out! You will definitely hear it from me once the store is up and running so STAY TUNED! You can also keep up with the designer herself by following her on Instagram @chichiwonder and follow the clothing line also @OKOclothiere

Eye Of The Tiger

I am so excited to announce the winner of She's So Me Blog's Very First Giveaway!! 
***Drummmm roooooooolllll*** Aaaaaaand The Winner is Ms. Janice Phillips! Congratulations and thank you so much for entering the giveaway and being a loyal reader of The She's So Me Blog!!!

So yesterday was a very cold and rainy day here in Atlanta and, I must say, my mood definitely coincided with the weather. With that being said, I refused to let that slump control my day. Usually, when I am having a crappy day, you can tell because I will mostly likely be dressed sloppily. Here's a fun fact about me also, when I am dressed crappy I feel even more crappy. So, yesterday I decided to pick out something nice to wear and show everyone that I have the eye of the tiger!

A little info about the outfit I picked out!

As you all know, I love to mix prints. It drives my mother crazy but I love it: polka dots with stripes, animal print with tribal print, stripes with animal print. It doesn't matter to me as long as I can make it work.

 I mix my prints in such a way that you almost don't realize I am wearing two (or more) different types of prints. 

The secret behind mixing your prints is to always match the undertone. Find one color and build the outfit around it. In this outfit, my color was navy blue. I created my navy blue outfit first, then added the tiger print cardigan to it after. When it comes to mixing prints, in the words of rapper Drake - "started from the bottom now we're here."

Don't get overwhelmed and think too hard about the outfit. Fashion is an art. It should be effortless and it should be an illustration of what you feel. So, don't sit for hours trying to figure out which prints go with what. Just take it easy and build your outfit from the bottom up!

Click the picture below to check out an article by Refinery 29 titled How To Mix Prints. Check out these chic and effortless mixed print outfits!

ON MY RADAR

I'm currently obsessed with this Animal-Pattern Furry-Knit Cardigan from YESSTYLE.COM