Starting Afresh

January
Refresh

It's that time again.

The last day of 2016. So, it's only right I use this day to recap on what was an up-and-down year. Wished I published this recap yesterday to maintain the tradition of posting on Dec. 30, but your girl was lazy to the core.

So, here we are.

March
Not Done Yet
April
Spring Trends 2016 Lookbook

2016 is the year when America showed its true ass. When I already knew America was dumb as fuck but even I was a bit surprised at how much. It seems a lot of them wanted to experience 4 years of reality television live and direct by voting in dude with no political experience sportin' the most horrendous toupee combover as this nation's 45th president. And in between that ongoing fiasco, 2016 was about losing a lot of well-known, well-liked celebrities. Which bodes the question, why do we care so much about celebrities death? I think it's because one way or another the celebrity bought some happiness in our lives, a bit of escapism, too. So it stings when you hear Prince died or George Michael recently passed away. Then your heart is gutted when you learn Carrie Fisher died from a heart attack while on a plane and the very next day her mother, Debbie Reynolds, dies from a stroke while preparing for her daughter's funeral arrangements. It's heartbreaking. We put them in this bubble, so to speak. Invincible bubble. And we're brought back to reality, the bubble pops, when they die. Celebrities are human, too. They suffer the same pain as we do. And in retrospect they deserve to be mourned by those who loved them, from family to friends to their fans.

Tough year. Tough year for my family and friends who lost someone in their lives. Tough year knowing I'm now in the age bracket when damn near every other month someone my around age I know is dying from a cancer or disease or fatal accident.

And the world keeps on spinning.

Bad Boy Reunion Tour
May
Crossover
June
Modcloth IRL DC
There were some lighter moments for me. Like getting the opportunity to co-host two events for ModCloth. Then later on in the year, co-hosting a shopping event for Fashion to Figure at their Annapolis Mall location. Of course, there was the epic (in my head) plus size Spring '16 Trends Lookbook I did with my girls. Around the same time, I was selected by Goodwill DC to curate a collection of secondhand clothing to be sold at their Summer VIP Pop-Up Launch Party. I was featured in DC Refined, an online magazine. Finally, made my TV debut modeling pieces from the Nadia Aboulhosn x Additional Elle collection.


Visited SoCal for the first time - San Diego/La Jolla, LA/Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Palm Springs. Attended the CurvyCon/FFFW festivities up in NYC. Speaking of NYC, I was there for the Christmas holiday weekend. A lot of fun and a much needed getaway. I was meant to be in Atlanta for Blogalicious last month, bought my ticket and everything. But shit happened, life happened.  So, yeah, not much traveling.

No festival this year and really not a lot of concerts, either. In fact, I only attended one - Bad Boy Reunion Tour. Man oh man, was that a lot of fun. Amazing night. When DMX bounded on stage I damn near lost of life mind. Not gonna make this mistake next year. Oh no. Already headed to a couple of concerts in the early part of '17.

August
Bell
September
Different Kind of Maxi 

October
DC Refined

Still watched my usual amount of TV. Special s/o to myself for binge watching The West Wing over the summer. Still listened to my usual amount of music. American Idol is no more. Bruno Mars is back! Rae Sremmurd is back! My books list sucked ass this year. Oh wow. It was bad. Managed to read only 5: Purple Hibiscus, Year of Yes, Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Second Chance: Grace for the Broken. I console myself with the fact that two of those books clock in at roughly 900 pages each. That's like reading 4.5 books in one sitting! Yeah, my excuse.

Currently, my 2016 vision board is hanging on the wall, right above from where I'm typing this post. Came to the conclusion that I won't be doing a 2017 version. Instead, I'll add more quotes/phrases and images where needed on the board. This board is an ongoing project that doesn't need to be torn down for a new one. It'll be there to show me that, hey, I may not have completed all of my '16 tasks but now I have '17 to continue the progress.

November
Sunrays
December
Ready to Party

Wishing everyone a safe transition to 2017. '16 may have sucked in so many ways but there were some great moments that I'll appreciate for a long, long time.

And your girl did win herself $500. Not too shabby.