My Whole Life is Great!.. I Can Do Anything Good!

I got an email last week, and it was right on time. I have been trying to put into words my parenting style of choice, and I definitely wanted to blog about it. But I just couldn't quite find the RIGHT words.

Well in this email, there was a quote. Simple. Something that is not so "deep". Not so "profound". Words I've heard before.

"Your children get only one childhood-- Let them enjoy it in their own way."

Hm. That summed it up for me. My parenting steeez is a lot less conventional, I know. I mean, I use words like "steeez" right? But as an artist, I recognize the need to allow my children to be themselves and embrace the things that come naturally to them. The things that feel good and "right" to them- before society's standards and rules embed their minds causing them to follow the majority as opposed to individuality. To deny what they love and are drawn to for fear of being negatively labeled "weird" or "different" when in actuality it is our individual gifts of difference that add to the beauty of this life we live.

I try to allow them to think things through, and my how surprising it is when they dont do too bad... It helps me to see that there is more than one way to accomplish something, and there is room for others' ideas, so to be mindful of thinking someone's thoughts are "insignificant" bc of their age or level of experience. Children are just as quick to follow our positive examples as our negative ones. If we cultivate good things within ourselves, our children pick up on this, and they are learning as well. And how lovely it is when you see their growth through your own...

The point I am making is, in doing the best that I can, for myself which in turn has its highest benefit to my babies, and remembering (as Lisa C. put it) that I am not perfect, and they are not perfect, we can all be ourselves and feel just like Jessica says below:

I LOVE MY LIFE!

There u have it, its my glass house and I'm naked in the window.

Cookin Exotic With All My Exoticness!

So anyone who knows me, knows that I have no place in the kitchen... Back in my heyday I could really foul up some Jiffy on any given attempt! When I got married, young... I decided my poor, sweet husband needed some good home cooked meals without having to drive all that way across town to either my mother or his mama's house. So I enrolled in small cooking classes, watched some demos, even employed some of my best buds to come teach me their favorite recipes. All to no avail. Everyone wasted time bc to this day, altho I have gotten a little better for the sake of the babies, I am still known to burn toast, and boil water wrong.

Needless to say, a few weeks ago I felt COMPLETELY inadequate and out of place during the cooking demo at Excumama and NaturiBeauty's With Mom In Mind. As a makeup artist and lover of all things fabulous, I was more concerned with the way her glam slam energy filled that kitchen and the end result-- VOILA! A glam meal set for Queens! It was a done deal in my head... I have to make this meal at home and eat like a Queen.. and my babies cant have any, bc its only for the Queen.. And I'll have it with wine bc I love wine and thats what Queens do- Whatever we want. In a fabulous way. As soon as my brochure (recipes from that event were enclosed) came in the mail, I sought out to get the ingredients at my local farmers mkt. Got my wine. I was good to go.

All the while, I knew I was gonna screw it up. But I didnt care. She was just too fabulous and Im fabulous and I was gonna make my Queen meal anyway! LOL Imagine my surprise when all that paying attention and following the directions to the letter paid off!!! The kitchen was a horrendous mess... but my mealll...... babaaaaayyy... it was slammin! And fit for any Queen!! I made Greek Pesto Swordfish Skewers, Cous Cous with Currants and Feta, and a Mandarin Cardamom Trifle. It was delicious!! I had it with my favorite Riesling, and it was a done deal. I did feel kinda bad about giving the little Princesses PB&J for dinner tho... Oh c'mon son!!! They asked for it! I just didnt put up the fight with them! Whats an exotic Queen to do?!

There u have it, glass house with open doors, the kitchen was hottt, the babies were fed, and LLP passed out full of exotic loveliness. And wine. Dont judge me. ;)

xoxox LLP

Siggghhhh... I Think He Might Be Addicted To Me...

Here we are. Its been 9 years. 11 total. And I feel like I've known him forever, plus 1 day. We married relatively young... And here we are looking each other in the face. I cant say its been a walk in the park, especially more recently. Do you know what this man says to me after this 9 years of matrimony?? I'll tell u what this, this, MAN had the audacity to say to me.

He says:

Im addicted to you, Chante'.

Im addicted to my woman, and I cant lie.

I can't get her off my mind, so I dont try.

You see, Im addicted, because in her womb, she carried my seed.

And to have her by my side is all that I need.

Im addicted to your smell, your touch, your taste, and I cant get enough of that tresure between your legs that's right below your waist.

Im addicted.

And to other men, your body's gonna always be restricted.

And to the man that tries to violate this rule, to that man, serious pain will be inflicted.

Don't make me get wicked.

I told you when I started this poem that Im addicted.

Just one thought of you, Chante' and my spirits are lifted.

Im addicted when you're being rude.

Im addicted to your sassy ways.

Im addicted to your attitude, babe.

Im even addicted on your moody days.

Yes, Im addicted.

And I guess you can call me a fiend, but you see, Im not hooked on dope, Im hooked on my Queen.

And I dont mind being her King.

'Cause as far as Im concerned, she's my everything.

And to keep her near, I'll do anything.

Thats why I saved that money, and bought that big, old, pretty wedding ring.

You see, me and her together, we make one heck of a team.

I mean, Im the cornbread, she's the beans.

She's the peaches, I'm the cream.

Hell, I'll be the yo-yo, as long as she's on the other end of the string.

I guess what I was trying to say was that Im hooked to the extreme.

Just the sound of her voice, the touch of her skin, it makes me wanna sing.

And I cant even sing.

But the words of this poem cannot express the joy she brings.

You see, if you've ever been addicted, then you cant comprehend what I mean.

Im addicted.

Can you believe he would say something so sweet?? :o So after a beautiful dinner (that he prepared) and plenty of wine, we fell asleep talking about the past, present, and future... All the good things. :)

My glass house. Exposed once again. I dont mind, sharing makes it that much more real.

xoxox Peace n 1ove...

How World Fitness Day Changed My Perspective

So there we were. Workin it OUT! And when I say workin it out, I say BILLY BLANKS! Hello.

So there we were. Workin it out. Sweat. Photo op. Sweat. Photo op. And while I was taking pics and mental notes and tweeting between kick backs, it dawns on me. Small people, big people, skinny, fat, men, women, children, elderly, moderately sized, mamma, grandpop, sistas, white, indian, asian, well known, not so popular-- everyone was there, doing the same thing. And it was no big deal.

World Fit changed my thinking on two things. 1: Its time to get my exercise plan back up and running. 2: I take myself too seriously sometimes.

It takes realization to promote change. This is especially true within ourselves. So when the thoughts came down on me during World Fit, I felt at peace. Its time. For the past few months I have been self neglecting in order to make sure everyone else is ok. Now it is time to get back on track. What happened to my daily run? I have a free gym membership that I dont use. Although I have not been gaining weight, (I've actually lost 10 lbs), does that mean that I should no longer take my personal resolves seriously? I was never a fan of overly processed foods high in additives, preservatives, and scientifically engineered "edible" crap. So why have I been chompin on chips and other snacks that I usually walk away from? While I havent gone completely nuts, (I still visit my local farmers mkt and health food store bi-weekly), I have definately let daily exercise slip my grips. Its time to replace my new-found laziness with productive and much needed MOVEMENT!

The second thing: I take myself way too seriously. I do. It is ok to take yourself seriously. Where else are you gonna get self assurance? But taking self TOO seriously? Thats a problem, and for me, it is a problem that prevented my embracing blogging. I journal, bc some things are personal, writing to release is my drug of choice. But BLOGGING?? That takes grammar, some type of "blogger etiquitte"... I mean people would be READING it after all! But looking around World Fit, taking pics, I noticed no one cared that they were on the big screen, they actually cheered it on! No one cared if they were short, tall, moderately sized, overweight, or skinny as skinny gets! The body builders didnt care. Grammas, children, women, men-- they didnt care. They were there to exercise, have a good time and support a good cause. I have certainly learned my lesson! I have to learn to say "Lady, its just not even that SERIOUS!" Life is lovely when you can embrace it with open arms!

So from now on, you will catch me, on my blog... grammatical errors and all (sometimes, anyway), sharing the contents of my glass house.

For now: Peace n Love (Pursue Peace n Loveliness...)

cs LadyLovelyPeace