Braids..Braids..Braids...

For the last two summer braids have been on the come up!!!

R&B singer, Solange Knowles, played a large role in bringing back the "poetic justice"/Patra braids style and there's been no looking back.From stars like Solange and sister Beyonce, celebs have indulged in braids and now they can be spotted on everyone from your favorite "it girl" to the regular girl on the block.

I indulged and got my hair braided last month for my 23rd birthday and I absolutely love them. Although they are long as I don't know what, and kind of heavy, they can be worn in so many different styles that I can't complain. Shoot, the fact that one of my childhood friends took 10 hours out of her day to braid my hair for $50 has me without a complaint! 

Braids can be used as a protective style and can aid in hair growth. I've been dying to try something new with my natural hair and honestly, I felt like I needed to put it away. I've been natural for two years and I've never had a protective style last longer than 2 months at a time. Lately I've been rocking my waist length Patra braids in a high bun because its so convenient and it keeps all that heavy hair off of my back in this NYC heat. 

Take a look at some of my favorite braided do's.

That's me sporting my high bun!

In my mind she's one of my closets friends!

ahhh take away the hair and this is just a gorg pic all together!

Finding My Way Back...

Hello there, wherever, whoever you are. It's been about three months since my last post and for some reason my blog traffic has been crazy. There's been over 200 views in my three month absence so I'm completely astounded. I had no idea people still looked at this neglected blog of mine. But since you're out there somewhere, I might as well fill you in on what my life has been like over the last three months!

The last time you heard from me, I was one defeated soul! I legit felt like things were on a downward spiral and I saw no possibly end in sight. Luckily for me, I couldn't have been more wrong! I went to church one of the last sundays in May and the overall message was "Your release will come." The pastor spoke of having faith in the Lord's abilities and to never get so overcome with doubt that you forget that God's plan for your life will pan out the way he wants it to as long as you are faithful and believe. I left church that Sunday with some pep in my step. I knew that no matter what happened from that day forward I would continue to have faith in the Lord that I so desperately believed in so there was no room for me to wallow in my temporary sorrows.

The next day I was shocked to see that I had an email from Juicy magazine asking little ole me to come in for an interview!!! I was so thrilled but I tried to play it cool! My boyfriend's college graduation was the day before my interview so I tried to be positive for the both of us!

For those who are unfamiliar, Juicy is a fairly small publication(but its still poppin! lol) that's distributed by the same publishing company as King, Rides, and XXL Magazines. 

I got there a good 10 mins early and before I knew it I was meeting with the Web Editor of Juicy's  online website. The interview was amazing! We instantly clicked. She was so cool and relaxed and we had a regular conversation. All the usual tension that comes from an interview quickly disappeared and I felt like I was in a regular conversation with someone about all of my favorite things: writing, fashion, beauty, hair, and celeb news! As my interview concluded, I knew that I had the internship in the bag but on the unlikely event that I didn't get the internship, I felt a surge of confidence in myself that I'd never noticed before.

A week after my interview, I had yet to hear back from Juicy so I decided to be a little proactive and send a thank you note. Unbeknownst to me Juicy's web editor was out of the office as the result of a death in her family and she was excited to inform me that I got the internship and that she'd want me to start as soon as possible!!!

My experience at Juicy has been absolutely amazing. Located in the heart of NYC, across the stress from the beautiful Madison Square Park, and right next door to the 40/40 Club, stood my new home for the summer. At first it was a big transition from writing long drawn out fluff filled posts, like the ones I write here. I had to learn to get my point across in three quick, clever, and concise sentences. I had to challenge myself to write in a way that would be suitable for a site like Juicy. Even though I'm still fairly new, I've created a good rapport with the staff at Juicy and I made a really good friend in my sister soul aka the other Juicy intern.

My Web Editor took a brief vacay and entrusted my sister soul and I with posting on the site with little to no error and when she came back she commended us on how well we'd done. I was asked to go to a Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta screening and given the opportunity to interview four members of the cast. Even though these are little steps to some people, these experiences have meant the world to me.


The first time I actually looked around and took it all in, I was a little overwhelmed. Like wow, all the things that I want to do are being accomplished right before my eyes and that's so weird. Seeing your dreams come true is something that a lot of people never get the chance to experience and although I know this is just merely an internship I am eternally grateful for this opportunity. With my feelings as down as they were before I got accepted as an intern at Juicy who knows how low my confidence in my abilities would've tanked.

I guess this whole experience of applying and getting denied was preparing for the fact that in life there will probably be more times like this, although I pray there aren't. I suppose this is all about building my character and stamina. Testing my faith in the Lord and my confidence in myself. Whatever happens from here I know that I'm never going to feel as low as I felt in my previous posts, if for no other reason then the fact that I spent the last 2 months at the internship of my dreams.

Another Day, Another Breakup, Another Blogpost

Break Ups!!!!!! We all go through them. Its a natural part of life, love, and relationships. Unfortunately I'm currently going through the "breakup phase" with my beau. We've been in an "on again off again" relationship for the last two years but we've been back on since June 23, 2011. The thing that bothers me the most about this breakup is that it was so unexpected. I was genuinely happy and so deeply in love that I honestly didn't see it coming. To be honest the reason he broke up with me is so trivial and small that I am pretty shocked things happened that way. He broke up with me because I fell asleep during a Facebook conversation at 3 in the morning. LOL sad right? but whatever.

It happens to the best of us. I'm trying to see the good in his decision and not hold any anger or hostility towards him because I'm so not the type of person to be bitter or have resentment towards anyone. I just think its pointless. I'm obviously a little hurt by what happened but I'm not going to let it make me sad or anything. I'm just going to use this time to work on me. I've been in and out of relationships since I was 15 years old so I just think its time for me to use this as a chance to get myself together. I want to dedicate my new single status to improve myself from the inside out. I just feel like there's so many things that I want to do by myself and for myself so I might as well take advantage of the opportunity this unfortunate situation has created.

Whenever I go through any situation, I always use music as my medicine to make me feel better. The songs that I've been using through this breakup are Deniece Williams Silly, Chrisette Michele Best of me, and Brandy's Brokenhearted. The three of these songs explain my current feelings and what I need to do to make things better during this difficult time. Hopefully things work out for me and if not I've got these songs to express my feelings and give me some kind of comfort and encouragement.

Have you gone through any breakups recently? If so what have you used to get through it?

The one that stands alone

In a room filled with smiles and happy faces, she stands alone, tired of being complacent.While the world around her quickly advances, she stands alone praying for 2nd and third chances. As she see the one's she loves move forward, she stands alone anxiously awaiting her moment.

Standing alone is something new and unfamiliar, for there once was a time where being alone was peculiar. Caps and gowns, degrees and tassels, she stood proudly amongst the crowd as she celebrated commencement. Her day of standing amongst the crowd ended just as quickly as it came. 365 days have gone by and the girl who stands alone has only herself to blame.

No career, no job, no chance at professional and financial advancement, the girl who stands alone feels like she's run out of chances. Smiles and words of comfort are said to the face of the girl who stands alone but behind her back those words turn into stone-As the one's she holds closets talk about bad about the overachieving girl who excelled all her life then graduated college and got lost on her plight.

She's been picked up only to be knocked right back to the ground. The girl who stands alone is a young queen merely in search of her crown.The more time passes by, the girl standing alone no longer asks why. Convinced that today's sorrows will be tomorrows testimony, the girl who stands alone takes pride in the fact that one day she'll find her way to her glory. Until that day comes, the girl who stands alone has a heart filled with peace, humility, and solace with the life everyone was too critical of to acknowledge.

Signed,

The lonely girl that's still standing.

My so called life.

As this week comes to an end, its a stiff reminder of the unfortunate circumstances that surround me. The end of this week means I've gone another 7 whole days without receiving a single job offer or a reply about an internship. The end of this week means the 30+ resumes I've sent out and the ONE job interview I've gone on this week was to no avail. I'm so confused and a few steps away from being depressed. I looked at my resume and started from scratch, because I felt like there may have been some sort of error or stiffness within my resume that made potential employers uninterested. I did research on the retail company I recently applied to before the interview just to make sure I was on my "A game" at the interview. I showed up 15 minutes early and was dressed very appropriately. I smiled, answered questions honestly, and the person interviewing me seemed very impressed. I'm trying to stay optimistic, with hopes that since it's only been a few days since my interview that maybe they'll call, but I just have this gut feeling that they won't.

 I'm not sure what all this rejection that I've been receiving lately means but whatever it is I pray to God that I never have to experience it again. I just want to go back to my normal, overachieving, goal accomplishing ways.  Some people get content with mediocrity but not me! I'm dying of infulfilment(I'm not even sure if that's a word) and I've only been unemployed for a month (but technically I've been on the "job hunt" since my college graduation in May 2011)...

This is sooo not the life I envisioned for my 22 year old self. I always dreamed that I'd be in graduate school or that I'd have a entry level job in my field, financially independent and stable without a care in the world but unfortunately that's not who I am today. The woman I see staring back at me everyday when I look in the mirror is someone I never thought I would ever be. I just always knew that things would be different for me but they are the way they are.

As much as I want to progress in life right now I have to realize that maybe its not me. Maybe its because of the fact that, although the economy is slowly picking up its pace, there are tons of people, many of whom have years of experience, that are applying for the same positions that I am. People with Master degrees and PHD's are willing to take pay cuts just to have a job in their field. Or maybe it is me. Maybe its in the way I've written my resume, or the manner in which I answer questions at an interview. Maybe its my talent, or lack-thereof. Whatever the case I genuinely hope I come to some resolution because I don't know how much more of this stagnant, boring, and miserable period I can handle. I have so many responsibilities now and not being able to fulfill them drive me crazy. I just wish I knew what to do or where to start... Hopefully I figure it out sooner than later or anytime before I lose my sanity.

 

What happens when over-achievers stop achieving?

I come to you today a defeated soul. After receiving another rejection email for a job position that I recently applied to, I am completely clueless about where to turn to next. I keep trying to be optimistic and look on the bright side. I'm 22 years old, a recent college graduate, I have good health, a wonderful support system but the one thing, the biggest thing that's missing in my life is a JOB! When I say job I mean JOB! I'm not expecting or looking for my dream job that comes with a six figure salary, I've been applying to all types of places from retail to administrative and it seems to always have the same end result. Everyday I check my email there's another email praising me for my qualifications but telling me  that I'm not good enough to hire. I've been on this job hunting journey for almost a year and it is really starting to tear down every single piece of self confidence I have in my body! I was always the over achiever in school. From pre-K throughout college I was that kid at the awards ceremony getting acknowledged for something and now its like I'm not achieving anything.((hence the title))

A lot of people around me are very critical of the fact that I'm unemployed and they make a mockery of it. So many times people say "Well what did you go to college for?" "A degree in American Studies & you want to be a journalist? They don't make any money." "You have to try harder to find a job. You're so lazy you only rely on the internet to find jobs." Like really I can go on for days and days about the criticisms people give me for my degree choices and being unemployed but no one really knows what its like to be here, in this uncomfortable, situation. Everyone and their grandmother has some sort of advice for what I'm not doing and what I should be doing but I really have tried just about everything. I'm like two seconds from applying to McDonalds but I learned from my undergrad experience from applying there that I'm "over qualified." Its funny and disheartening at the same time. All the jobs I genuinely want reject me because I am "under qualified." All of the jobs that I apply to out of desperation reject me because I am "over qualified."

Tuhhh Its hard out here for us college grads and I just wish people would cut me some slack. I spend hours a day trying to revamp my resume and applying to jobs on craigslist, careerbuilder, and google but its not coming up with any worthwhile results. I swore to myself that after college I would be in a completely different place that I am in now. I had my mind set that retail was out of the question for me in a completely different way then it is right now. While I was in school, I thought retail after graduation was out of the question because I'd find my ideal job but in reality retail is out of the question for me because of this crappy economy and the fact that no one's really hiring any more.

Whatever diligence and resilience I thought I had is leaving me with every rejection letter I receive. My faith in myself is like non existent at this point. I swear I've never been so insecure in my life. I pray and pray and pray that God shows me the way to whatever he has in store for me. I ask God to give me the strength to get through this very unfortunate phase in my life because without it I know I'm doomed. Its just so hard to keep a positive attitude when things are going so wrong. I've said all this to say what? IDK. I'm just here venting. I've been going through a lot these last couple of weeks, hence my absence. I just figured that I come and update my blog and possibly make myself feel a little bit better but ultimately the only thing that will make me better is a goddamn JOB! lol!

Thanks for sitting through my emotional rant,
Jas

A sneak peek into the Juniverse

Today is a wonderful day! Besides the lovely Spring weather we're experiencing in New York, celebrity stylist June Ambrose's show premiers tonight on Vh1! I absolutely adore June Ambrose! She's beautiful, fashion forward, and has an amazing personality! June Ambrose is responsible for styling celebs like Jay-Z, Diddy, Mariah Carey. She even styled Missy Elliot in her classic "I can't stand the rain" video. Ambrose has had an extremely successful styling career and is also renown author.

Vh1 was generous enough to release the first episode of Styled by June and of course I had to catch it!! Instead of summarizing what happens throughout the episode, I'll give you a chance to see it for yourself!!!! Just click the link below and you'll be able to get a sneak peak into June Ambrose's new show!!! Ahhh don't you just love technology! Sit back, relax, and enjoy as you prepare to enter the JUNIVERSE!!! :)

http://www.vh1.com/video/styled-by-june/full-episodes/mischa-barton/1681001/playlist.jhtml