Quit the Job You Hate & Find the Right Career

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"It doesn’t matter how far you might rise...At some point, you are bound to stumble. … And when you do, remember this: there is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction."  -Oprah Winfrey

What I Am Reading: Along Came A Spider by James Patterson

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This fall, I thought it would be fun to mix my love for books with my love for movies by reading books that have been made into films, that I have watched (and in some cases loved). Using my library card, I have borrowed a several books from the Old Colony Library Network, which specializes in ebooks and audiobooks. Since September, I have borrowed and read, Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park," its sequel "The Lost World," and "Congo," and Lois Lowry's "The Giver." So far, the books have been way better than the movies (with the main exception of "Jurassic Park," whose movie surpassed the book with its simpler storyline and amazing Stephen Spielberg-directed visuals.) 

Now I am diving into James Patterson's Alex Cross novels, starting with "Along Came A Spider." I am currently on chapter 27 and I wonder why the movie, starring Morgan Freeman, did not more closely follow the book's storyline. 

I am really enjoying this movie to book experience. It gives me a better understanding of the movies, including their strengths and weaknesses, and helps me better visualize the concepts and themes of the books. If you are looking for a book club theme or just some reading list ideas, I highly recommend reading a books that have been made into Hollywood movies. 

Here are my reading suggestions for books that have been made into films:

Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling, the Hunger Games Triology by Suzanne Collins, The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Congo, and Sphere by Michael Crichton, Along Came A Spider and Kiss The Girls by James Patterson, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and The Giver by Lois Lowry.

 

Book Synopsis*

A missing little girl named Maggie Rose.

A family of three brutally murdered in the projects of Washington, D.C.

The thrill-killing of a beautiful elementary school teacher.

A psychopathic serial kidnapper/murderer who calls himself the Son of Lindbergh. He is so terrifying that the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police cannot outsmart him — even after he's been captured.

Gary Soneji is a mild-mannered mathematics teacher at a Washington, D.C., private school for the children of the political and social elite. He's so popular that the kids all call him "Mr. Chips." And he's very, very smart. Growing up, he always knew he was smarter than the rest of them — he knew that the Great Ones always fooled everybody. He kidnaps Maggie Rose, the golden-haired daughter of a famous movie actress, and her best friend, Shrimpie Goldberg, the son of the secretary of the treasury, right out from under the noses of their two Secret Service agents. But Gary Soneji is not surprised at his skill. He's done it before. Hundreds of times before.

Alex Cross is a homicide detective with a Ph.D. in psychology. he looks like Muhammad Ali in his prime. Cross works and lives in the ghettos of D.C. He's a tough guy from a tough part of town who wears Harris Tweed jackets and likes to relax by banging out Gershwin tunes on his baby grand piano. He has two adorable kids of his own. They are his own special vulnerabilities.

Jezzie Flanaganis the first woman ever to hold the highly sensitive job as supervisor of the Secret Service in Washington. Blond, mysterious, seductive, she's got an outer shell that's as tough s it is beautiful. She rides her black BMW motorcycle at speeds of no less than 100 mph. What is she running from? What is her secret?

Alex Cross and Jezzie Flanagan are about to have a forbidden love affair-at the worst possible time for both of them. Because Gary Soneji, who wants to commit the "crime of the century," is playing at the top of his game. The latest of the unspeakable crimes happened in Alex Cross's precinct. They happened under the protection of Jezzie Flanagan's men. Now Soneji is at large again, still wreaking havoc.

Alex Cross must face the ultimate test as a psychologist: how do you outmaneuver a brilliant psychopath? Especially one who appears to have a split personality — one who won't let the other half remember those horrific acts?

Soneji has outsmarted the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police. Who will be his next victim?

Gary Soneji is every parent's worst nightmare. He has become Alex Cross's nightmare. And now, reader, he's about to become yours.

*Book synopsis taken from http://www.jamespatterson.com/books_alongCameASpider.php#.VkFN74RZkz8

I Hit 1000 YouTube Subscribers

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I made a goal at the beginning of this year to increase my number of subscribers to 1000. I started around 400 subscribers in January and each month I created new video content to gain more subscribers to my channel. And today I reached my goal of 1000 subscribers.

I am so proud of my accomplishment. In gratitude for my loyal subscribers, I have made a little dance video. Looking forward to making 1000 more by end of next year. Enjoy!

Never Shop (Online) Without It: PayPal and Online Shopping

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I learned an important lesson today, after a certain celebrity-sponsored clothing line took my money and a month later sent me no product and no replies to my many email queries.

I love online shopping. Etsy is one of my favorite places for unique items. Amazon is my go-to for books, household items, and tech accessories. Instagram is my favorite place to find out about different black-owned small businesses across the US and the world. Being able to patronize businesses via their websites gives me the chance to get unique items that I want without the hassle of salespeople, long lines, and missing out on cool items sold in cities far from me, and also the opportunity to read reviews and compare prices. Plus, shopping online offers more options for discounts, often not offered in stores. For example, I recently bought a Calvin Klein coat from macys.com, originally priced at $325 at the store, for $112 plus free shipping, due to a combination special online pricing, sales, and online coupons.

I have had very few bad experiences with online shopping. I usually get my purchases in a timely fashion and have been easily able to return the items that I don't want. But, this experience that I had with this clothing brand, which came to my attention due to Beyonce wearing one of their flannel shirts, could have easily turned me off to online shopping, if it was not for the purchase protection that PayPal offers. For the past three weeks, I have been trying to get someone from the online clothing company to tell me when I would receive my merchandise. They took my money immediately after I clicked "submit order" but didn't answer one email I sent after I had yet to receive my order after a month of waiting. Luckily, I paid for my order with my PayPal account and I was able to get them to contact the company. Less than two hours after reporting the company to PayPal,  my order was cancelled, and most importantly, my money was refunded to my account. Three weeks of complaining and trying to get this company to give me my order or my money back, and PayPal solved the issue in two hours.

Lesson of the day:

Always pay for online shopping orders with PayPal.

If you don't have a PayPal account, I highly recommend you get one

here

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Sometimes It's Okay To Cry At Work....

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Most of my family and close friends know that I am a cryer. I cry at the movies, graduations, baby showers, funerals, weddings, family functions, and the election of the First black President of the United States. I  am not an overly sensitive or emotional person. I don't cry if I bang my knee or cut my hand. I don't cry, if someone insults me or hurts my feelings (unless they are one of my parents or closest friends). I don't take any pleasure in crying in public or in private.  I don't cry to get attention. Being known as the one that cries is extremely embarrassing. But, for as long as I can remember, I have always had a hard time holding back tears when I see others cry, in person and in movies/tv. I was the kid that cried when Little Foot's mother died in The Land Before Time or when Kevin saw his mother at the door on Christmas morning, after praying for her and his family to return. I cry when I see others cry and/or when I see others suffering and in pain.

From kindergarten, I became accustomed to the hot feeling behind my eyes when tears start to form. The feeling is as natural to me now as the feeling of stomach grumblings when I am hungry. As much children do, I learned that being seen as a cryer is not a good thing. The kids that cried when they bump their knee or was teased were seen as weak. They were the wimps and the crybabies. And I was too strong willed to labeled as one of those kids. So, I learned how to hold back my tears. I take deep breaths and start thinking about silly or mundane things to move my mind and my feelings away from the emotional or tense matter in front of me. I drink water. When those things don't work, I have learned how to mask my crying by acting as if something is in my eyes or as if my allergies are acting up. When I got to college and started taking course for my Psychology major, I realized that I was empathetic. Not to be confused with sympathy (because I do not shed one tear when a homeless person holds a sign stating their misfortunes), empathy is the ability to share and understand the feelings of others. Add on the fact that I am a thinker and habitual dweller, my empathetic heart goes into overload when I see someone in pain. 

So, when one of my students started to tear up and eventually cry in my 8:30am Social Deviance class, during a discussion of labeling theory and mental illness, I felt that familiar burning feeling behind my eyes. But, instead of pretending my allergies were acting up, I let my tears fall and assured this student and the several other students,who bravely discussed their experiences with anxiety, depression, and mental illness, that I understood what they were feeling. It took me a few minutes to get my tears to stop falling. I engaged my "stop crying" techniques: wiped my eyes, drank water, and took a couple of moments to redirect my thoughts away from the stories my students shared and back to my lecture.

I never had an experience like that before in one of my classes. Crying in front of my students was never on my list of things to do in my life. But after it happened, I felt like God was giving me a wink  telling me that I was exactly where I was supposed to be and I was given an empathetic heart to better help my students both inside and outside the classroom. Depression and anxiety is a real problem on college campuses that often gets brushed under the rug as exam-related temporary occurrences. But the truth is, there are more than 1000 suicide deaths on college campuses per year.* Since the 1950s, suicide has been the second leading cause of death for college students.** 

I really care about both the well-being and the intellectual growth of my students. Thus, if crying in front of my class showed them that they could take me about any issues that they are dealing with,  and prevent them from letting their issues turn into severe depression, anxiety, or suicide, then I am okay with being known as the person who now also cries during class lectures. 

*inforetrieved from http://www.emorycaresforyou.emory.edu/resources/suicidestatistics.html

**info retrieved from http://www.nndc.org/perspectives-on-college-student-suicide/

Product Review: c.Booth All-Over-Body Sea Salt Scrub

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The Product:

c.Booth All-Over-Body Sea Salt Scrub

As the weather is getting colder in the Boston area, I have been looking for different ways to keep my skin smooth, soft, and hydrated. I have eczema, and as I have gotten older, my skin has gotten more and more sensitive. I have to be very careful about what I put on my skin from my body wash, lotions, perfumes, jewelry, and clothes.  

I really like to use sugar scrubs in the colder months to help with some of the rough patches that develop on my arms and legs. 

Before I could buy one for this Fall, I got selected by Influenster to try out this sea salt scrub by c. Booth for free. I got this container of sea salt scrub from Ulta Beauty  (priced at $8.99). 

My Thoughts: Recommend as a Winter Body Scrub

This was my first time using a sea salt scrub and I was not sure how it was going to compare to my usual sugar scrubs. When I opened the container, I immediately noticed that the grains were bigger than sugar scrubs and that the grains were a really nice blue color. The scrub has a nice fresh smell to match its sea-like blue color. The sea salt scrub scoops out of the container and rubs onto the skin very easily. I have used the sea salt scrub a few times over the past two weeks in the shower and I have definitely noticed a difference in texture of my skin. I focused the scrub on my elbows which were forming some rough spots. Now these rough spots are gone. The skin is visibly smooth and soft. I definitely recommend if you are looking for a quality scrub to help keep your skin smooth during these cold months. 

I Was Janet Jackson For A Night

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Oh what a night! My Halloween 2015 was great in part to my kickass costume. I have wanted to dress up as Janet Jackson from her Pleasure Principle video for the past few years, and for some reason or another, I kept pushing it off to the next year in favor of another costume idea. But not this year. This year I was determined to transform myself into Ms. Janet Jackson (circa Control album days), and I did. Check out how I became Ms. Jackson (if ya nasty). 

The Inspiration

The Costume

  • Black t-shirt (I used a white paint pen to write the same symbols from Janet's shirt in the video).

  • Black wavy wig with bangs (to get the slick haired Janet look).

  • White/Maroon Adidas wristband.

  • Silver hoop earrings (I put a key in the left one to perfectly copy Janet's signature key earring that she wore everywhere in her Control days).

  • Black knee pads (Ms. Jackson was working it in the video and needed those babies to protect her knees as she danced her way through an abandoned warehouse).

  • Black high-waisted jeans.

  • Black Adidas Superstar sneakers (I made the ultimate commitment and bought these sneakers to complete my costume).

The Completed Look: Toya T as Ms. Janet Jackson from the Pleasure Principle Video

Did I nail it? 

Click

here

to watch the video that inspired my costume. Enjoy. 

Find A Signature Fragrance Using Your Zodiac Sign

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I know what you are thinking. How can you use your zodiac sign to find your signature fragrance? A few weeks ago, I found an an article on the Influenster Blog that claims that your zodiac sign plays a role in the kind of fragrances you attracted to. I didn't take the article's claim serious until I scrolled down and saw my Fragrance Horoscope. I was shocked to see the exact perfume I was planning to put at the top of my Christmas list. 

A few months ago, I had met a girl who smelled absolutely enchanting. The fragrance that she was wearing seemed to call to me. When I asked her about the perfume she was wearing, she told me it was Chanel Coco Mademoiselle. Right there and then, I made a mental note to myself to get my hands on a bottle. And, as fate would have it, I completely forgot about the perfume, until I saw this article. Right underneath my zodiac sign of Cancer was a bottle of Chanel Coco Mademoiselle. I took it as a sign that this perfume may be my signature scent. The perfume is a bit pricey. But I have been a good girl this year and hope that Santa will a bottle under the tree for me this year. 

Want to know what your Fragrance Horoscope says? Click

here

to find out.

CANCER

 (June 22 - July 22)

Traits: emotional, imaginative, cautious, protective, moody, clingy, touchy, complicated, complex, homebody at heart, traditional, creative and artistic

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle

Fragrance notes: bergamot, orange, jasmine, rose, patchouli, vetiver, white musks, vanilla.

Fragrance Horoscope:  The Cancer woman has a creative, artistic soul -- so it’s no surprise that she’d be drawn to Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, a fragrance inspired by the spirit of a young Coco Chanel, the iconic fashion designer who brought Parisian glamour to the masses.  Cancers are the dreamers of the zodiac (bright notes of orange, jasmine, and vetiver pique their interest), but remain most comfortable at home (exciting bergamot and patchouli helps them imagine worlds beyond their comfort zone). They are homebodies at heart and can be moody and complicated -- but what great artist isn’t, after all?