Our New Favorite Artist!

Praline and I were in Starbucks one day and she ran up to me and said "mom this lady looks like you!" (to say the least, I felt honored that she looks 20 years younger than I actually am).

It was a CD by Corinne Bailey Rae, besides gospel we often listen to neo soul and we decided to try it out. To our surprise every song was a hit, for us that is. We call her a cross between Macy Gray and Jill Scott.

When we got home I googled her and found that the evil "racism" exists even in England today. Check it out a little of her story I found on the the internet.....

She was born February 26,1979 and is an acclaimed English singer and Songwriter who released her eponymous debut album in February 2006. Rae was named the number one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC poll of music critics. The poll's predictions subsequently came true, as she became only the fourth female British act in history to have her first album debut at number one.

Rae was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, to a Kittitian father and an English mother and she was the eldest of three daughters. She used to be racially abused on a regular basis while growing up, even though her verbal attackers mistakenly thought she was of Pakistani origin. She says about the situation, "My sisters and I were different and people used to say, 'Ah, aren't they cute, the little chocolate children, and look at their hair.' "I know they were only being cute but it was over the top. "Then people from other schools would shout, 'Paki' to me because it was the most common racist insult of the time. At least if you're going to do it, get it right. "I used to shout back, 'But my dad isn't from Pakistan, he's from St Kitts - so there.

She began her musical career at school where she studied classical violin before she turned her attention to singing: "I started off singing in church, I suppose, but people think it must have been a gospel church because of the whole, you know, black assumption," she says in reference to her mixed-race background. "But it wasn't gospel at all, it was just your regular Brethren church, very middle-class, where we would sing these harmonies every Sunday. It was always my favourite part of the service, the singing. Rae later transferred to a Baptist church, where the choir would sing traditional hymns. "We changed the words though," Rae states on her website. "We didn't want to offend the regular churchgoers, now did we?

Nappy Tool Follow-Up

I've received several email questions about the Nappy N Happy Tool (my tool of choice) and thought I'd do a follow-up from my previous post.
To the far left is the SL Hook Tool, middle is the Medium Nappy Tool and far right is the Small Nappy Tool. I have both Nappy sizes because my locks in the back are larger than the locks in the front of my head.

Adonna, I could not respond directly to you because your email came through as anonymous:

Hello LaChanda: First off, just want you to know that I am enjoying your blog quite a lot! It has a friendly and laid back "feel". Since you are familiar w/doing loc maintainance w/this tool can you explain in more detail how exactly to use the Nappy Locs tool? I'm looking for a "once the tool is in your hand, place your loc here, pull/twist then do xyz" sort of answer (if you're up to sharing that type of detailed info) :).

I've used the latchook to maintain my roots but, I'm looking for something that is a bit more fool- proof. My issue w/the latchhook is that I sometimes end up grabbing nearby locks or get the hook tangled in my roots. I've started to buy the Nappylock tool several times but I guess that I'm looking for a little reassurance that the Nappylocs tool is easier to use than a latchhook. Also, have you ever run into any problems in using the tool that you could elaborate on? Using the latchhook if one is not careful one can end creating a "hole" in the newgrowth part of the lock which can be undone if found early. Are there any similar pitfalls to lookout for in using the Nappy locs tool? If the answers are somewhere else please redirect me.

Thank you and God bless, Adonna Adonna when I tell you I "Love" the Nappy Tool I mean it with all of my heart. The demo pics are the best I could do to show you and others how easy it is. (Hope the pics are good enough)

I'm pictured here retightening Pralines (my 11 year old daughter) locks and it takes me about 2 1/2 hours to do hers and about 3 hours to do mine.

You feed the lock through the open end of the tool, then you feed the tail end of the tool in the direction of your beginning pattern and pull the tail end through, you continue in your pattern until you have a full rotation. Its' that easy, no fuse and no hassel with holding the tool a certain way so that other locks are combined. I must admit though, the only problem I have is that I love retightening so much that sometimes I don't have enough growth for a full rotation so I have to settle myself down and be more patient so that I don't retighten too often. That's it! I think every locked sister should have the Nappy Tool because it's wonderful for emergancy situation when you need a quick front edge touch up. Go out and order yours today! Addendum: The SL hook tool was just too tiresome to my hands and wrists because I have Carpal Tunnel. I found that the Nappy tool was so much easier and I did not hurt afterwards.

Meet My Adventist Sisterlock Sister

I so regret that I wasn't able to get to talk with Dr. Naijean Bernard like I had planned to, as she puts it, "The brunch was like sensory overload, in a good way! So much to see and do. " Naijean drove down from Austin, TX by herself to meet and socialize with the DFW Gals!

Naijean has been locked since January 10, 2004, about 2 years, 10 months. She works as a psychologist for the State of Texas, and in the process of studying for her licensure examination.

There are many things she likes about her Sisterlocks. The main thing is the freedom. When she had a relaxer, she says, "going to the salon was enjoyable due to the social atmosphere, but it was not time effective or a wise way to spend money." When she last had a relaxer, the charge was about $60 for a touch-up, every 6 weeks. Now, she can retighten my own hair, at her own leisure, for free! Viewing everyone's blogs makes her want to start styling her hair more often. I usually just wear it straight and still loves the style. (Keep up the good blog work my blog buddies!)

We also share a common faith as a Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA), Naijean grew up a SDA in the Washington DC area and went to SDA schools up until college. She also attended a HBCU (Howard) and then a public university (So. IL Univ) for graduate school. It really wasn't until graduate school that she developed a personal relationship with God for herself. "I guess being away from everything familiar on the East Coast and my support system made me rely on God more. " She recently moved to Texas from Maryland and looking for her niche in terms of church ministry.

Hope to see more of you Naijean!

Another Mother/Daughter SL Team

After leaving the Sisterlock Brunch Blaqkofi and I decided to stop in the MAC store and pick up a couple of our favorite items. And....what do ya know...how be it we ran into this cute mother/daughter duo who had Sisterlocks!!!

They were just beautiful and they accepted our invitation to have their picture taken. Once again, I believe I'm getting like my friend and "Lock Stalker" Brunsli!

Mom says her daughter who is 12 is having difficulty at shcool with kids who tease her about her hair. I wish I could be twelve again and go to school just one day with her to have her back! Or better yet, I wish I could send Praline with her and the other 12 year olds could have a double dose of nappyism!

Blaq and I encouraged her and told her how beautiful she looked with her Sisterlocks. I'm sure one day those little chics at school will look back and wish they were brave enough to do what she did at such an early age!

New Addition to our DFW Lock Group

Meet my buddy Sue, we met on the bus from work one day and I invited her to our Reunion. She recently moved to Dallas from California and was excited to hear about our group. We exchanged email addresses and kept in touch. Needless to say, she met us at the Cheesecake Factory and had a blast with the ladies.

Sue was captivated by Brunsli's Hair Ties and wanted an abundance of her own collection.

It's so incredible how locks can bring a wonderful group of ladies together even when we've never met before. Once again, I can't tell you how much I love being part of such a great group of secure and beautiful ladies, inside and out!

Sisterlock Divas

After having brunch at the Cheescake Factory we went over to North Park Mall and took this photo.

I just love how the sassy shot came out. Click on it to get a large view.

More to come.....

Sam Cooke Request

Help, I need help! If anyone out there has music connections I will pay a small fortune (within reason, lol) to get the instrumental track to "A Change is Gonna Come." Listen to the moving song:

A Change is Gonna Come

Hurry and help a sistah out, oh how Praline and I are crazy about Sam Cooke!!! Quite a handsome fella too!

Some of our other favorites are Donny Hathaway, Ray Charles and Otis Redding. My parents raised us on all of these powerhouses and I appreciate the music still today!!!

Sam Cooke was a true superstar in his lifetime. After his death, his legend became even larger. His influence can be heard in the precise phrasing of Smokey Robinson, in the conscientious songwriting of Marvin Gaye, in the raw emotion of Lou Rawls and in Aretha Franklin's controlled passion.Sam Cooke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986

You can read more about his death here

Lots o Locks at the State Fair of Texas!

While visiting the fair we came across this awesome show called "African Acrobats," if you look real close you'll see that each and everyone of them has locks!!

When we stopped to see them perform, Praline said "mom, look they all have locks!" We both celebrated as they continue to do unbelievable stunts.

Most of the guys have mature locks but two of them are just starting out. There were six in all.
 

Pumpkin Patch

Praline and a buddy taking a break after I walked them to death through the fair grounds and exhibits!

I just love Fall!!! This is such a cute picture I could not resist sharing. 

State Fair of Texas is here!

It's fair time and here we are enjoying the parade in downtown Dallas.

Ummmmm, how I killed myself eating the roasted corn (w/butter & lemon/pepper seasoning) and funnel cakes.

My favorite exhibit this year was the Vita-Mix blender. Our family makes smoothies on a daily basis, we buy a blender once a year and I still could not convince Beignet to spend $479.00 on this wonderful machine. Maybe I'll find one on ebay. lol

Cheetah Girls and Hannah Montana Live

How lucky can these girls get? We arrived at the concert ready for the Cheetah Girls and Hannah Montana action! (click on picture to see larger image)

Seated in front of us were four adults and no children?? Leave it to me to notice and ask them...."you all like the Cheetah Girls so much as to come out and see them without having any children with you??? I continued on to say, "girl if it were not for my Praline I'd be at home preparing for work."

She responded with the sweetest smile by saying, "it's just that we wanted to come out and see my niece perform." The girls lost it and immediately knew she had to be the aunt of Aqua!

She WAS....so after I took my foot out of my mouth the aunt laughed and accepted our invitation to take a picture with the girls (top left). The conversation continued with jolly laughter between us all.

What started out as a simple friendly question landed us backstage passes to meet the Cheetah Girls and Hannah Montana. The "sweet aunt" thought our girls were such nice girls and loved their excitement, she saved the surprise for last because we would have never gotten through he concert with them thinking about meeting the Hannah and The Cheetah Girls!

I'm known for always talking to any body and taking for ever to finish up the conversation but this is one time Praline did not have any complaints. By the end of the night (12:30 and school the next morning) Praline thought I was the BEST MOM in the whole world. (Honestly though, I don't think beats my first concert at 15..Parliment and Funkadelic in Baton Rouge, LA.)

That all went out the door after I told her to clean her room today! Such short term memory but she cleaned that room though. LOL

We had a great time and I must tell you all Hannah Montana has such a personal touch with children, she issued compliments and hugs to our girls!!!! Big shout out to Hannah Montana!!!

DFW One Year Anniversary

What a beautiful flyer Sister-In-Locks created, she is so gifted and talented with making such beautiful invites. With that said...I hope to see you all there!

BTW, you can also RSPV here in comments if you like.

LaChanda

Our Goddaughter - File'

I could not resist featuring our little File' (pronounced fee-lay) and is a Louisiana Creole seasoning. File' is dried sassafras leaves which we use to add robust flavor to any dish, especially gumbo.

I gave her the name because she is full of flavor! You would have to see for yourself to understand the wisdom that flows from this child.

Born at six months and could barely fit in the palm of my hand. File' survived on prayers and the love that both her parents showered her with for months and even until now.

She's such a character because she often calls for an appointment so that I "Nanan" (which means Godmother) can braid her all natural hair. This is a pic from one of her recent hair appointments....as she poses! What a ham!

Meet a small gift from God......

Another Locked Brother?

Another brother locked brother working in my area and he is originally from New Orleans! Now, living here in Dallas, James Milton IV started his own lucrative business in a building where shoes need to be shined on a daily basis. Something I've missed since leaving Chicago, where there was a shoe shine man on every corner in the Loop.

I know some people probably think I am "certified crazy" when I ask if I can feature them on my blog. I just get caught up in the moment and thank goodness I have not run into anyone that shy away from me. I'd be so embarassed...ummmm, no I wouldn't.

When I first saw James his locks were past his shoulder and he recently cut them because he does not really like long hair. Here's a close up!







The pic below shows him working with a client. If you ever decide you need a nice shine or shoe repairs check him out, he's located in the Chase Bank Bldg, 1717 Main Street #C-130. 214.744.2444.

He's already saved Beignet money buy repairing a couple of pair of my nice shoes that did not have to be replaced. LOL!

My "Jade" Hair Tie

I've been waiting for the picture perfect moment to showcase my Brunsli "Jade" hairtie since receiving it three weeks ago! My pineapple was the perfect hairstyle to showcase it.

This is the best picture of the bunch and I can't tell you how much the picture displays "no justice" to the beauty of the piece itself. I eye balled for a while before I finally had to break down and spend the $$$$ to get it. Without regret!!!

Brunsli you really out did yourself this time galfriend! I get so many compliments while wearing it and I haven't taken it off in four days!

Take a closer look at it below, much better pic up close!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Football season is here and our son "Roux" (pronounced "roo or ru" and named for his constant hunger for my mean dish of gumbo) desires to play football soooooo bad. He has this thing in his head that he wants to be like his father. My hubby whom I call Beignet (pronounced ben-yea and is a French delicious doughnut, from our native Louisiana, we have one everytime we return to New Orleans) retired from the NFL in the early 90's.

Roux was not even thought of then, he has only seen pictures and heard all about the good "ole" glory days we experienced before deciding to have children. But the testimonies Beignet has given over the years during youth conferences explaining why he retired after five years has not seemed to convince our dear son that football is not for him.

While the NFL has slamming advantages it can also have a dark side if one does not make good decisions. Why deal with the temptation, we just believe God has something more for our son to do in life. Let me get off my soapbox, for now, we'll just support him and hope he makes the right choices. Roux is doing pretty well, making the grades and getting good playing time. He's the first little guy in the red and white uniform to the left ready for a tackle.

Can you imagine how many people actually make it to the NFL?? A very small number, so we've told him to he has to have a back up plan........Brunsli, he want's to also be an attorney!

We've pushed the academics so tough I don't know how the poor guy even continues to hang in there with football. This will most likely be his last year anyway because once he hits high school our belief in God's Sabbath will cause a conflict with football games on Friday nights.

All I have to say is if Roux turns out to be half the fine specimen of a spiritual and educated man his father is......he'll be alright!

This is one of my favorite pics of Beignet taken during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Whew....good night ya'll, got to go, touchdown!!

I Called 911 Today

Looks are very deceiving! When you first view this photo it appears that the lady is helping a man in his wheel chair, right? WRONG!

Let me explain. After having lunch with a couple of co-workers, we were walking back to the office when we ran into these two people. The deranged white lady in the green shirt was cussing and beating the Hispanic man in the head with her fist. She then took his wheel chair and ran him into a building then off the side walk and into oncoming traffic. One of his legs was in a cast and the other had blood all over it. She was literally trying to harm him.

Finally, the rubber from the wheel came off his wheel chair and she was trying to put it back on so she could continue on her stir crazy journey. People walked past them as if nothing was happening and we just could not leave him alone with her.

I immediately whipped out my cell phone and called 911. I was hysterical on the phone with the operator and every time the lady punched the man in the face I would yell and scream to the operator to hurry up and send someone. Finally, she calmed "me" down enough so I could give her the location and description of the two.

We had no idea if these two people knew each other or not, it appeared to us that she just started picking on him. Obviously, she was mentally ill and the man did not deserve the abuse he was receiving. He kept saying, someone help me, she's trying to kill me!!!

Five minutes later the police and ambulance arrived, I and two others gave witness to the incident and she continued to talk real crazy and get aggressive the officers. They handcuffed her and sat her on the ground. After answering the officer’s questions I added "you all need to lock her up before she kills someone!" Then, she and her demonic strength got up off the ground while three officers were holding her and she came up to me and spat in my face. All, I heard was the crowd go....... UGH!!!! Now, this is the one thing I have often said I would never allow anyone to get away with. Never say never!

I was so mad at myself............... because I did not move fast enough to get out of the way of her flying DNA...it just happened too fast! I know there is a God because it took God and ALL the heavenly angels to restrain my will to punch this lady smack in the face. Then the Holy Spirit spoke to me and I realized it was not worth causing additional drama to the scene by having the both of us handcuffed and given a free ride down to the county jail in the same car. I must admit her eyes were void and I am a scary cat when it comes to mental illness so the further away I was from her the better.

The officers covered her face with a mask and handed me towels to wipe off with. By this time there were now 7 officers at the scene. Needless to say, after completing the police statement for the Hispanic mans court case I went right over to CVS and bought alcohol, cotton swabs, toothpaste and a toothbrush. I must have swabbed my entire face, my face powder was no more and I didn't want to even drink water with my own lips. Oh Lord help me!!!

My day was over and I could not wait to get home to my shower. I felt like I had been in a fight with the devil himself.

After reflecting on the painful journey, I'd do it all over again knowing I did not have to hear/see on the 6:00 news that the same deranged lady had killed a man in a wheel chair.

I carry my camera daily for hair features on my blog and I could not resist using it for this situation. I hate I did not get a better photo but I was a nervous reck while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Those five minutes seemed like an eternity and I'll be taking my lunch to work for the remainer of this week and maybe next week too.

What would you have done?

September 11th

While visiting New York this past summer I had the opportunity of visiting "Ground Zero."

The very pit of my soul was ripped with emotion as I meditated on the memory of what shocked the nation five years ago this very day. My spirit spoke through the goosebumps raised on every inch of my skin.

Many lives were lost on the ground in which I stood in this photo. I know that the memory will remain because for me it was one day that the color of our skin made no difference. Humans helped other humans without judging, from the words of Public Enemy "911 is a joke".........911 was not joke that day! 

Brunsli Pony Tail Holders

We love the cute afro centric hair ties by Brunsli. Baby girl wore them to school this week and she loves how the pony tail holders "don't" make her look like a "baby." In her own words...

I've tried to get her to start a blog of her own but she says "she has too much on her plate with school, church, basketball and playing with her friends." So, we'll continue to include her journey along with mine.

We love the ties! Oh, and my favorite "jade" hair tie came in, I'll have to find the right style before I post on that one... more to come.

There's No Place Like Home...

I went home to Louisiana for the Labor day weekend and my sister and I took this picture in her back yard. She and her hubby have over three acres of land and can you guess was is growing behind us???

Louisiana is a major producer of rice and soybean, yep you guessed it, it's soybeans. Seeing rice and soybean fields always reminds me of my wonderful childhood growing up in the country of the Bayou State. Good people and good food! If it were not for the mosquito's I'd move back home. That's one thing I do like about Texas, no mosquitos!

My sister is in the process of letting her perm grow off so she can get Sisterlocks. I'm too excited and she can't wait. She has always wanted a low maintenance do and while I'd like think it was me who made her decide to go for it, I must admit that I'm sure it was my daughter.

Now, she and my niece will be Sisterlocked soon! She's wearing the braids until her hair is long enough to get good locks started without the perm on the ends. Who know maybe by December she'll be ready.

I could not resist having the shirt made to get my cousins off my back during my visit! My cousins always have something funny to say about relating me to Whoopi.....sometimes I fight dirty! LOL! The Shirt reads "Don't Live a Lye"

A co-worker with Locks

I was shocked to see anyone in our office with locks as I thought I was the only locked person in the entire building.

Last week, I met Joseph while in the elevator of our building. He is originally from St. Croix but grew up in Boston, Mass and was in Dallas working on a project.

Naturally, because we both had locks and since my hubby and I have vacation in St. Croix and lived in Boston we immediately had much to talk about.

Joseph shared with me that when he interviewed for the position with our company he informed them that if his locks would be a problem they could stop the process and not waste anymore time. Well, not in those exact words, but close enough.

Fortunately, they saw beyond the locks and knew he was the man for the job along with his extensive educational background. He's been with the company for three years now and moving up the ranks. Another testimonial for the locked community!

BTW, since I travel with my camera in purse at all times, he allowed me to feature him on my blog. Thanks Joseph and keep hope alive!