Ktown.. Building the Empire!

As someone who has been blogging on and off for years as well as hosting, recording voicework for commercials and so much more I started thinking about this blog and how nice it would be to have an audio version to accompany the words that I write. I love to write but I also love to talk and I know not everyone has time to sit down and read ALL the blogs that their friends write or even those of the people they follow but almost all of us have time to push play and listen while we move on about our lives. When I started looking into how to make this happen there were so many options available to me but none were just a simple add audio to your blog so I decided to make it work for me in the best way for me. I will be using both my blog site as well as my YouTube to make this work. Each time I write a new blog I will also be recording an audio "podcast" of the blog and posting it to my YouTube channel. The blog will have the video embedded and that gives you all the choice as ...

Have you ever heard a song and just saw a visual in your mind as you listened? During the COVID 19 Pandemic I have found myself painting even more. Having created my whole life I'd never painted actual paintings on canvas. My medium has primarily been wood and glass, learning as I go with no real teachings from anyone other than hours and hours of playing with my Gramma's paints or watching my Mom draw. When painting my first canvas piece of a sunrise last year I immediately knew I needed to paint more on canvas. I grew up at a time where music videos were EVERYTHING. The effects, guest appearances and story lines mattered. When most songs from my teen years start playing I immediately see the video in my head and think back to what was happening in my life at that time and the impacts the music and more made on me. That's what art does. It comes in so many forms but it is always a part of the times. After painting that first canvas I was riding in the car one day and th...

Let's catch up a little: Last year was hell. I took almost 6 months to self-care. Still posted on social media, just not as frequent and focused on getting a lot of things together. Started 2020 off celebrating hubby's birthday at a cute little AirBnB in St. Augustine and preparing for travel as my son was having surgery and daughter coming home from deployment in South Korea. These events ended up being scheduled within 10 days of each other so it got a little crazy. So January 29 me and hubby drove to Orlando where a friend dropped us off at the airport and we took our first flight together (we have both flown independently) to Baltimore, MD then a train to DC and my oldest son picked us up there. The next two days we had an amazing time around the area visiting the Natural History Museum, African American History Museum, Hornets vs. Wizards game and more. That Friday he had an outpatient procedure on his hip and was sent home to rest. Hubby and me woke up Saturday morni...

I love traveling.. road trips, flying and even by boat. I just love to go. I didn't travel a lot as a kid.. Until I was 10 the only states I'd been to were my home state of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and Washington DC. By the time I'd graduated I had added North Carolina and Kentucky. I live in Florida now but my first time here was in 2002 and at 38 years of age I have only added South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, New York (airport only) and Connecticut to the list as well as The Bahamas (Freeport) and Cuba. I still have a million places I want to go.. Now though it's all a bit trickier because of my allergies.. I have been diagnosed as allergic to gluten, cats, pine trees and a few other things. I seem to have reactions to other things and need to be tested for more in addition to other health issues I have that food can complicate. This makes traveling HARD. I have to be careful at every place I go.. eating at events is completely out of the qu...

I need your help everyone!!! So you guys know hubby and me have Salted Culture which stands for Shining a Light Towards Entertainment, Diversity & Culture. We highlight artists, entrepreneurs, bloggers, community leaders and small business owners through our weekly FB LIVE Series, on-scene correspondence, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks and so much more! We are currently in the running for up to $50,000 in grants from FedEx AND additional prizes including printing, office services and website help to name a few. It takes less than 30 seconds (yes we timed it..lol) and your vote could help change our lives! You can get more information about Salted Culture here and when you are ready to show some love please click HERE and then the orange button to vote! Remember you can vote once every 24 hours! Feel free to post your vote screenshot on our fb page or let us know somehow that you voted, showing us love and support so we can make sure to thank you! VOTE

Just thought I should jump on and write an update blog.. We moved into a new apartment in December and things have been a little hectic since. We absolutely LOVE the community and we know the new company is doing amazing things to improve the property but due to our apartment being an older one and on the bottom floor, there have been some issues.. I won't get into things in depth but we're looking for them to relocate our apartment as I write this so hopefully it all improves soon. That being said we have been crazy busy and dealing with a lot as a result, including having to stay in a hotel briefly. The best news from the last few months- Kaliyah is done with physical therapy! She broke her neck in May 2018 and finished up with her PT in February 2019. She pushes herself so hard, goes to the gym on her own and has really shown some amazing growth, even starting her own YouTube channel! It's so funny to watch your kids do things and see little pieces of yourself i...

My whole life changed (for maybe the billionth time) on November 3, 2017. I had watched my son graduate from his Army AIT training the day before and traveled back from SC only to wake up with my entire face so swollen it looked as though I could burst at any moment.. the pain was real. I had done some blood work at the docs a few weeks earlier and we had not gotten the results so my husband drove me straight to the doc that day to demand some answers. I was told a few tests needed to be redone but the one thing she knew for sure is no more gluten... I blogged about it here. Before you ask, no I have not found out if it's Celiac, Lupus or anything else, even though the doctor seemed concerned about Celiac. Insurance issues. Yay life... The last year has been a huge journey. Figuring out that EVERY little thing matters. Cross-contamination is real (if you don't change your gloves I will have a reaction), almost everything has gluten in it from shampoo to sausage and you ...

I post some pics of these from time to time and almost always people ask me what the heck they are.. I have tweeted how to make them before but I thought why not make a blog and fill you guys in on all the yummy details. Since being diagnosed allergic to gluten in October 2017 I have found it VERY hard to eat. Yes just simply eat. Gluten is in EVERYTHING! So from time to time I'll share some fun recipes you can make from home that are super safe because I break out in hives with even the tiniest amount of cross-contamination and I want to help anyone out there struggling with the same! This is called Pika Tacos because a friend of mine named Pika used to make something similar after making spaghetti. She'd make a HUGE pot of sauce and when all the noodles ran out she would make tacos with the leftover sauce. I have not found a safe spaghetti noodle I like yet and I love these so I just skip the whole making spaghetti part, my kids and hubby don't even mind, and go strai...

I just got back from a five day vacation to Orlando... While there is so much about this trip we will keep to ourselves because it was all so special I did want to briefly talk about it as a whole. About six months ago my best friend in Virginia hit me up. Her oldest daughter was turning 21 in July and she really wanted to do something special for her. My oldest had just turned 21, who also happens to be her Goddaughter, and our girls had known each other since birth as we were there for the birth of each other's firstborns. Her idea was to come down to Orlando, stay at a nice resort or hotel and have the four of us hang out a few days at the pool, maybe a bar or two and hit up an amusement park. This sounded amazing and it was before the car accident my youngest was in, as well as a few other things to recently hit our family. When the accident happened she asked me if we should cancel. I asked her please not to, I knew by the time it came around I was really going to need a f...

May 13, 2018.. Mother's Day. I worked an event.. I am always working.. helping coordinate a yearly brunch for my friend Chef X I was gone from about 8am until we got home about 6pm. I had been in communication with the two kids still at home throughout the day. They are 14 and 15.. generally mature and great at keeping in touch with me. Until 7pm that evening. Then 2 and a half hours went by where we had absolutely no idea where my daughter was. 14 years old and it was all silence. More than a few minutes is already scary, this was unlike ever before. I am a mother to five, yes five, amazing kids. They are far from perfect, but I was far from a perfect parent, we managed. Being in the arts and entertainment industry there is sometimes a fine line between what is private and what I talk about. Most of the time though I know I am not alone. I know there are other moms, parents, loved ones who are experiencing some of the things I go through and talking about it helps. It helps m...

Hey everyone! So hubby and I have been in this amazing program for the last 3 months from the Jax Chamber called Jax Bridges. The goal of the program is to help entrepreneurs and small businesses with building their business model while connecting them to money and resources. To say we are excited may be an understatement. This program has brought so much organization to the process. We are able to articulate what we do, how we do it and what we can do for you specifically. We have gained an amazing amount of information, connections and so much more. We have a 2 meetings in the next week, then Tuesday, May 15 we go before a group of company owners, CEO's, etc. and pitch our business to them in the Bridge 2 Business Event. Is it weird that I am not nervous? Like at all? I am sure I will probably get a little nervous the day before but for right now I think excitement is in control which works for me!. I feel like we have built something pretty awesome and unique t...

It's has been one of those weeks.. where nothing I plan seems to work out, where I am on edge and irritable. While there are probably a number of reasons for this the biggest culprit (aside from being a hormonal woman reaching her forties...yikes) is, I believe, Mercury Retrograde is on the way... This is a term a lot know, some have heard of and a few of you may be googling it as you read this. It is a time of year where things can just seem to be a little "off". About 3 to 4 times a year Mercury comes close to earth and once it hits a certain spot it "appears" to go backwards leaving the earth and all of us on it to feel its effects and get thrown off track for about 3 weeks, sometimes a little longer. I am by no means an astrologer or claiming to have an expertise in this field, all I can do is tell you my own experiences and maybe help you through the rough time that can usually accompany it. I have found it can cause electronics to go crazy, people t...

*This is a sponsored post as I received these products to test for free as a member of Crowdtap. I have received several boxes from Crowdtap since signing up and while most will tell you exactly what the sample is the Unilever boxes are something quite different. Each one usually is a box of products all either similar or covers an array of uses. For example one box might be 5 products of all hair care items designed to help with dry hair while another box might have lotion, deodorant, body wash, makeup wipes and some hair spray. This was something I actually enjoyed the most about the Unilever boxes because it really is a surprise in each one. So let's break down the TRESemme box I recently received. Inside were the following: Everything in this box was absolutely perfect for me! I have very thick hair but I don't always get the best volume not to mention it is extremely damaged so it felt like this box was tailored for me.The shampoo smells like clean the moment yo...

*This is a sponsored blog from Garnier Nutrisse and Influenster as I received this product to test for free So recently I was selected to receive a new #VoxBox from Influenster of a beautiful light brown (#630 Toffee Nut) hair dye from Garnier Nutrisse. I have used this brand a few times in the past so I really had no worries with trying out this new one. I set up my phone and did my first "unboxing" video which was kinda fun and something I think I may do more of. Inside were: After mixing them as instructed I kept the dye on for the recommended time of 30 minutes in going from a dark blonde color to this light brown. I must admit I was a little worried the color would properly cover my head as I was applying; the bottle felt so light but I ended up with just a little more than enough and I still applied that to be sure. My hair as you can see is just at my neck length so I imagine if it was longer than shoulder length you'd be better off grabbing two boxes...

Let's talk about last night! Hubby and I went to the 6th Annual Toy Collection Benefit and Holiday Party at The Law Offices of John Phillips . Each year grows to an even better event which you don't think is possible until you get there for the magic. They bring in over 20 TONS of SNOW, yes snow, in Jacksonville, FL and its formed into a hill with a play area surrounding it, as well as having blowers set up at various points blanketing SNOW flurries over the entire event. Lights are strung up around the trees and stage along with other decorations, the huge boombox he owns is parked behind DJ EL , there are fully stocked bars inside and outside (with plenty of Capri Suns for the kiddos), a room literally filled with food, the mascots for the Jaguars , Icemen and Jumbo Shrimp plus Santa and the Chik-fil-a  cow even made an appearance with free chicken biscuits halfway through the night. Mama Blue kicked off the night before DJ EL and had everyone swaying to her soul...