It was quite emotional to finally be able to open it and I was a little scared to be honest. I had kept it in my old NRA folder (National Record of Achievement not National Rifles Association!) and pretty much forgot about it over the years. Then I stumbled upon it last year and realised it wasn’t long till I would be able to open it… At last, Monday August 22 2011 arrived and it was like an alarm went off in my head as I realised the day was finally here.

So I dug out the letter and carried it around with me waiting for the right moment to open it, which uneventfully turned out to be outside a Tesco’s in Piccadilly Circus (the suspense appeared to be killing both my mum and sister who couldn’t wait any longer).

I won’t post you all the details but in summary after I wish myself a very happy birthday in my best squirly and romantic handwriting I go on to:

• congratulate myself for being an “award winning journalist”.
• hope I got a wonderful prezzie from my boyfriend
• ask whether I’m in touch with several school and church friends
• remind myself to start planning on getting married and having kids “in the next decade”. I actually say “before you turn 40 eh!”
• Warn myself that I better not still be eating chocolate

I actually laughed out loud when I read it. I know I was quite opinionated as a teenager but it’s a bit surreal to come face-to-face with your teenage self wagging a long finger at you and prodding at your life.

Much of my anxiety before opening it was that I suddenly felt accountable to my 15-year-old self. Had I achieved my goals? Would I be a disappointment having done nothing I had hoped to do at that age?

Well:

• I may not be an award winning journalist but fortunately I was nominated for a Precious Award for my blog and am currently working quite happily as an online community manager. Ultimately that’s all I’ve ever wanted is to feel happy and successful in a career I’m confident in so haven’t done too bad in that regard.
• No boyfriend so no special boyfriend prezzie. Sorry little Harlem
• Thanks to Facebook I’m still connected with 8 of the 9 friends I mentioned in my letter. Even got invited to one of their weddings next year!
• As for planning my own wedding one day… Name it and claim it sister! Can I get an amen?
• Chocolate is the one exception where I do deserve a scalding given I’m currently staring at an empty pot of Pret’s 5000-to-infinity calorie Chocolate Moose Pot. I enjoyed every mouthful too. Big Harlem is so baaad.

Anyway, I’m really glad I took the time to do that and I think I set myself quite sensible ambitions which I haven’t gone to far off from overall. I’ll probably do another two letters this year. One for when I turn 40 and another for when I’m 60. I already have such romantic notions of what I’d like my life to be like when I’m 60 so it would be interesting to see if it matches up or goes beyond.

I had a great time… no, an AMAZING time.  Sunbathed a bit, ate a bit, chilled a LOT. The perfect break for me to unwind with family, reflect on life and reconnect with God.

So like the beginning of a new year now that I’m back I’m trying some new things… waking up earlier before work with more time to pray, plan for the day ahead and do some morning stretches… my goal is to finally get past the shame of being unable to touch my toes by my 30th birthday. Yes sirree! The days of me serving as the punchline to endless family jokes are numbered!

Not to mention after a Caribbean diet of fresh mangoes, fried fish, more fresh mangoes, freshly baked roti, more fresh mangoes and starfruit (yum) I thought I’d give my diet a bit or a refresh too which I’ll share in my next post…

So here’s a few snaps of Nevis for you… land that I love. Hope you’re well too. What’ve you been up to while I’ve been away?

After spotting The Culture Club was having a Meet and Mingle session for the new and uninitiated, I was looking forward to popping along and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Matilda equipped us all with a fab set of questions and we ‘speed-greeted’ each other for the evening, finding out everything from where people were born (Hong Kong, Bahrain, Somalia…) to what they’d do with a £1 million (Pay off mortgages, Travel, Give it all to charity… ). It was really interesting with such a great group of people that I often found time ran out before we were ready to end the convos.

It was great to meet Tilly herself, rocking fantastic Ruby Woo lips, love that colour… actually speaking of makeup I also met the lovely Karen aka @misskhart who recommended Mac’s So Chaud lipstick… it’s orange people and looks amazing. Can’t wait!

Anyway I’d definitely look forward to other events run by The Culture Club. It was great to meet some new faces. Fab times.

So, The Culture Club have special events planned over the next few months. Do check them out as an added bonus they’re also running a promotion for 50% off bronze membership! Bargain!

I didn’t know what to expect really but what I got was a good show and here’s my 5 on it…

1. I’m a big fan of dance shows my favourite being So You Think You Can Dance US (UK version is getting there… slowly). I just love the energy, their ability to stir up emotion, make music translate that little bit deeper and of course wow with high kicks, splits and other tricks. In that sense Flawless didn’t disappoint as there was plenty of all of the above.

2. Diversity! I’m not talking about Flawless’ competitors on Britain’s Got Talent but boys showed us everything from old skool foot shuffling to bare-chested, hardbodied krumping… *fans self*… ahem. Anyway the point being there was definitely something for everyone.

3. They played a little Closer by Goapele. Nuff said really.

4. Major highlights: One of the guys in the role of being a gang member performing a dance all about being true to yourself and becoming a better person (emotional), a park scene performance featuring a police officer and a street cleaner (hilarious) and the endless odes to Michael Jackson (classic!)

5. I tweeted about white gloves when I arrived. Super intrigued about what they were going to be for. Well in the 2nd half that was all made clear when the entire audience got instructed in a hand dance something like a cross between the macarena and soulja boy. Brilliant idea!

So that’s it. My only drawback was the Matrix dance, sorry to say but I didn’t think the fight choreography had enough punch. Some cool tricks but not as polished and lacked some of the fire of the rest of the show.

Anyway if you want to see what they’re all about and share your thoughts they’re at the Peacock Theatre till May 28.

Occasionally I do feel like I spend a lot of time living my life in a rush so it was lovely to get to have this time out to relax and have a good catch-up with the friends I do know and some I hardly knew at all. At the end of it though, all have become bonafide members of my church family and I thought this pic summed up the experience pretty well…

PS: I really wish I had pictures of the delicious menu. It was amazing and they didn’t even skimp on the going home pack either…. ackee and saltfish, plantain, 2 dumplin and a festival! Yum!

Instead I like to take advantage of the highpoints in the city where you can see the fireworks across London. This years spot gave me a view across most of South London angling more towards the South West.

It was lovely but it seems I missed quite an event at the London Eye. I thought it’d be a while before something could top the display I saw in Atlanta for their Independence Day but this was pretty epic.

So what did you do for New Years?

If you follow my tweets you’d have witnessed my excitement and enjoyment of the show but I thought I’d better give a little more info.

My sister saw Alvin Ailey 8 years ago and has not stopped raving about it since. That’s right 8 years! Since then she’s been waiting for them to come around again so that I could share in her excitement.

I have to say considering I’ve had 8 years worth of anticipation I was not at all disappointed. I saw programme 2 which included performances called Hymn, Anointed, In/Side and Revelations, and enjoyed every minute of it.

There’s such a majestic quality throughout, and trust me I’m not just throwing out some over-enthusiastic compliment. The dancers literally enter and leave the stage with such an elevated poise,  it’s quite captivating and seems to be a trademark style to an Alvin Ailey performance, much like that slinky curvature is synonymous to Bob Fosse.

I found the video below on the Sadler’s Wells website where if you’re really quick you might still be able to find tickets for the show… It’s definitely worth it!

Admittedly, armed with only a thimble of knowledge as to the appropriate etiquette for such an event, I ventured over to the Freemason’s Hall in Covent Garden unsure of what to expect at Jasper Garvida’s Spring Summer 2011 show.

There were a variety of fashion bloggers in attendance, I met the lovely ladies behind Chic Mama, Style PA and Park & Cube as we mingled in the Sway Bar before venturing backstage to see Jasper Garvida himself and the rest of the team preparing for the show.

Jasper’s a Central Saint Martin graduate and winner of Sky One’s project catwalk in 2008. I was already a big fan of the harlequin print dresses in his SS 2010 collection so I was quite looking forward to this show, you can see the full collection in the videos below and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

Armed with my trusty Flip Video I also had the pleasure of catching an interview with Tim Furssedonn of Toni & Guy about the inspiration for the models’ hair which was styled into these cute candyfloss buns. I also brazeningly managed to grab the post-show opinions of two lovely front row guests, one of whom is the writer behind I Am Abi Marvel and the other works for the International Fashion Hub, Runway Passport. See all in the video below, enjoy.

]]> http://www.harlemloves.com/2010/09/the-style-jasper-garvida-ss-2011-show/feed/ 4 http://www.harlemloves.com/2010/07/the-experience-zumba-fitness/ http://www.harlemloves.com/2010/07/the-experience-zumba-fitness/#comments Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:20:34 +0000 Harlem http://www.harlemloves.com/?p=1933

I did a Zumba fitness class today at Sadler’s Wells. They have them once a month apparently and it was that good I had to blog about it.

If you’re not sure what Zumba is this video will give you a little taster…

So basically it’s a latin/aerobic work out. They have a bit of salsa, a bit of reggaeton, some very familiar soca moves in there too. Altogether I have to say even though I’ve never really been a fan of exercise classes this was officially the best one I’ve ever done. I mean you’re pretty much dancing for an hour whilst secretly working out your thighs, bums and tums. Genius.

Have you tried Zumba? Or do you have a favourite way of working out? Come on and share a little.

Although it didn’t quite all go to plan (my ticket holder arrived after the play started so we had to watch the first segment on a TV screen in the bar) I still found it very enjoyable. So here’s my five on it:

1: Phylicia Rashaad. What a legend this woman is. I grew up watching her on Cosby Show and have admired her ever since. She always seemed so respectable and strong I couldn’t imagine her playing the loud and fractious character of Big Mama. By the end of that play though I had to give her a standing ovation she was amazing and really stole the show for me.

2: Sanaa Lathan and Adrian Lester. She did really well as Maggie. In my eyes Elizabeth Taylor set the bar quite high for the role of Maggie but I definitely thought Sanaa took it on. Adrian’s accent however seemed to dip in and out which was distracting… wasn’t entirely convinced by his broodiness either but he did ok.

3: James Earl Jones shocked us all. As Big Daddy, James Earl Jones took to playing the crassest, brashest, most cantankerous man you could imagine with so much conviction. The shock was when he started swearing… I heard someone behind me saying “Oh Wow! James Earl Jones is swearing” like they’d just seen Father Christmas smack and child and set fire to the sack of presents. Yes the honourable James Earl Jones went there.

4: The play versus the film. I loved the play but I prefer the film version (see my Cat On A Hot Tin Roof movie review). It’s nothing to do with the actors who were outstanding but the film is just an excellently edited version of the play. Watching the play I found some of the monologues a little too much and I prefer the way the film ends too.

5: That said I thoroughly enjoyed it overall. It was great to see one of my favourite stories performed in front of a large audience and be able to share in all the laughs and gasps. Plus seeing such tremendous talent altogether in such a performance is something I’ll never forget.

Thought you might enjoy seeing some opening night footage. If you haven’t seen the play yet I highly recommend you book your tickets asap.

The Precious Awards celebrate the achievements of enterprising women of colour. Awards are given in categories which include online business of the year, creative business of the year and ethical business of the year.

So, in sticking to my ‘five things’ review technique (which is perfect when you’re as shattered as I am now) here are my highlights of the evening.

1. Seeing women like myself being rewarded for turning their ideas into a reality was completely inspiring and gave me a good nudge to get my own ideas going.
2. Meeting a number of fascinating characters and familiar faces. I was finally able to meet Foluke, the founder of the Precious Awards. She is such an inspiration herself and is now celebrating 10 years of Precious, a remarkable achievement. I also managed to catch-up with celebrated entrepreneur Jessica Huie who happened to work at Pride Magazine whilst I was an intern there. Her career has sky rocketed since then so it was great to finally be able to congratulate her in person.
3. Blogger spotting. I bumped into Eva, the blogger behind Pretty Stylish London who was nominated for an award herself *applause*. We were both disappointed at not being able to attend the blogger meet-up organised by Ondo Lady yesterday but should hoepfully make the next one.
4. Spotting an interview with the Ondo Lady herself in the Precious Awards magazine was a lovely surprise. Seeing that Ondo Lady mentioned Harlem Loves as one of her favourite blogs was a lovely shock! What a star she is!
5. Finally seeing the inside of Smollensky’s on the Strand for the after party. I’ve heard great things but never been myself. I was too tired to stay but I did catch enough of a glimpse to lay my curiousity to rest. Lovely venue.

Anyway I can barely keep my eyes open so I am off to bed to dream sweet dreams of becoming the CEO of something that sprouted from one of my great ideas. Night.

Firstly the lovely Ronke invited me to take part in her My Space series on bloggers and their favourite blogging spots.

Read the Harlem Loves interview in full on Ronke’s blog, The Musings Of Ondo Lady.

Secondly the equally lovely Gabrielle (who also harbours an amazing talent for graphic design) gave me the privilege of including me on her blog too.

• Wondering if I’d ever have people following Harlem Loves then being completely over-the-moon when the first ten of you chose to do just that. When we reached a hundred I very nearly fell off my chair.
• Excitedly blogging the fact that Harlem Loves was just two weeks old.
• Discovering other great blogs and bloggers it’d be ridiculous for me to even attempt to list them all. Just know that if I’m following you’re blog, it’s for a reason. There are so many characters I’ve met on here and on Twitter that have inspired me in one way or another.

Anyway I just wanted to thank you…again… for all your support and encouragement and in celebration of this wonderful milestone not only have we given the blog a bit of a makeover (what do you think?) but we have some exciting news for you too… coming very, VERY soon so watch this space *grinning excitedly*.

I think we had to draw the line after the year we went twice, bringing our parents along as a treat but nearly passing on the frenzy to them. Following that we promised our next trip to Europe would take us elsewhere.

Well that was the plan but one look at this gorgeous and probably ridiculously expensive deluxe hotel named El Palauet and I’m so tempted to go back.

[via CoolHunter]

I always approach my birthdays the same way. There’ll be a low level of anxiety in the run up to the day about whether or not everything will go to plan but when the celebration does take place I’m always blessed by the presence of the fabbest friends and family a girl could ask for.

Whilst at a friends house, I succeeded in taking the Girlfriends-esque gathering down a notch as soon as I spotted her hula hoop peeking out from behind the sofa.

Before I could restrain that eternal-kid-hyped-on-sugar that lives inside me, I had grabbed the hoop and proceeded to attempt a successful hula before realising several tries later I just couldn’t get it to stay up.

I’m almost offended by the suggestion that the swivel of my hips isn’t good enough for a 2.99 ring of plastic. In fact it’s an embarrassment I can no longer bear. I, Harlem, refuse to be defeated.

So it’s my new challenge. To purchase a hula hoop and keep practicing till I’m an expert. I was prompted to blog this after I spotted Solange Knowles with the gold hula hoop pictured above.

Gold! Look how shiny it is! As I’ve confessed many times for someone with magpie tendencies like myself I am all over this dazzling circle of challenging fun.

As an added bonus I’m also told hula-ing (is that a word?) is a great toning exercise for the abdomen, butt and thighs so here’s to the honing of a new talent and a fitter physique.

[image via Necole Bitchie]

Aretha Franklin – Day Dreaming