CurtissePearl's Blog

2012-01-19T04:17:00.001-05:00

Locs

2012-01-19T04:14:00.000-05:00

2 Year Locs

2011-05-09T15:29:00.001-04:00

Gardening

2010-07-22T01:32:00.003-04:00

Building a Raised Vegetable Garden with my Dad. My Granddad wanted a veggie garden, but on account of his health he can't get down like he used to. My dad and I took the initiative to build this garden for him. We planted beets, radishes, eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, and cabbage. This got his juices flowing and in the following weeks we added corn, string beans, tomatoes, okra, crooked neck squash, and some sort of hot pepper throughout his yard. I've been enjoying it and so has he. I will update this post with pictures of the harvest. It's sure to be a big one.

Springtime Locks

2010-05-07T17:03:00.004-04:00

Spring in DC is the best season to me (rivaled only be Fall). I tried to get out and really enjoy it. Looking at these pictures lets me know that yes, my locks are progressing (as well as my life). Happy Spring!

1 Year

2010-02-16T11:15:00.005-05:00

It has been one year. I thought my hair would lock faster, but I know I have to be patient. As far as growth, slowly. Luckily I no longer have the afro look going on, but i still do have a lot of loose hair at my ends. I absolutely love my locks and am looking forward to my hair's progression in year two! I plan to snap a closer pic with more details visible soon.

Bathroom Remodel

2010-02-13T11:37:00.005-05:00

Over Christmas break, my mom started on her bathroom remodel. She loves to do things herself. Progress....

Backsplash

2010-02-13T11:33:00.002-05:00

After watching HGTV for 4 years, my dad and I decided to tile his kitchen backsplash ourselves..

How I wear my sisterlocks most days

2010-02-13T11:31:00.004-05:00

Snowed Innnn

2010-02-13T10:55:00.002-05:00

This has been a rough winter for a Cali transplant living in Southern Maryland. Being trapped in the house is no fun, but their is a quiet calm to all the snow. However, the resulting traffic is horrible, and overrides any sense of serenity.

Steve Madden Trinitie Shoes

2009-02-14T21:57:00.003-05:00

These shoes are so cute. I want them in every color!

Inaugural Images

2009-01-20T15:45:00.007-05:00

The inauguration was amazing. A big love fest. I am a California native, so although I have been living on the east coast for over a year, I am still not accustomed to this cold weather. Luckily my mom is a hiker, backpacker, and snow-camper. She lives in REI. So she made sure we were prepared. I had on a great base layer (thermals), leggings, and ski pants. On the upper half of my body I had on about 4 or 5 layers. I also had on snow boots and we had hand and foot warmers just in case. Oh, wait it gets better! I was wearing my mom's gloves. No they were not your normal gloves. I had a pair of liner gloves, a regular pair, and a pair of mittens on top. They were 3-in-1 gloves. So needless to say, I did not freeze. However we walked and walked and walked. The metro station we planned to get off on was closed (there were too many people exiting). So instead of exiting at L'Enfant plaza, we exited two stops down at China Town. So at this point we were north of the mall and had to walk ALLLL the way around the parade route. We walked about 2-3 miles to get to the mall. It was such a great feeling though. When will I ever be able to walk down the middle of the street in DC with thousands of other people? Needless to say, we had a ball. It was a day I will always remember. We walked another couple of miles to get to a metro station to get home. The only negative event of the whole day was my dad getting separated. He got a phone call, walked off, and in two minutes he could not find his way back. There were that many people coming. February 20, 2009. A day I will always remember!

Twas The Night Before The Inauguration

2009-01-19T20:32:00.006-05:00

My sister-in-law, dad, and I went on a test run to the mall.

Regrets?

2009-01-15T11:50:00.002-05:00

No, I don't have and regrets regarding my Sisterlocks. I was worried that I had too much hair loose at the ends, but a couple fellow Sisterlocked Sistahs, assured me that my hair would fall more into line (stop looking like a straight afro)after a washing. Although we share Sisterlocks, each person has a unique set. So, my journey will include an afro stage, but hey, it is MY journey. So I appreciate those who calmed me down (Linda and CarmenNC). One other thing. I love all the support. I put my doubts out there in cyberspace and was responded to not 12 hours later. Now if only I could have such efficient communication with the cable company.....

Sisterlocks Complete!

2009-01-12T13:43:00.004-05:00

My Sisterlocks are finally done. My consultant worked on my head from Thursday to Monday. It was nice to split it up cause I never had to sit for too long. But whew, it took about 30 hours to get all these little babies in. My consultant lives really close to me and we had a good time talking about family and friends. I can't believe I am finally locked! I love my locks, but i really don't know what to do with them now. I have about an inch loose at the ends, and I have an afro look going on. I think I may just cornrow them down for the time being. Well here are my installation pictures....

Sisterlocks, here I come!

2009-01-08T17:28:00.002-05:00

I have about 3 hours worth of Sisterlocks installed. Excited to get my whole head finished!

Scrapbooking

2009-01-08T16:43:00.005-05:00

I love to scrapbook. I am a beginner, but i love to let my creativity shine. I have a 12 inch paper-cutter, rubber stamps, and plenty of glue. Eventually I would like a die-cutter (sp?) and scrapbooking software for my apple. Until then, scissors will do.

2008-11-29T03:15:00.002-05:00

Your Summer Ride is a Mini Cooper

You are all about unique, one of a kind adventures.

The only thing predictable about your summer is that it's unpredictable!

What's Your Summer Ride?

My niece is so big now!

2008-11-18T22:49:00.003-05:00

She was a butterfly for Halloween

Still no Sisterlocks

2008-11-18T22:46:00.002-05:00

I have yet to get my sisterlocks installed, but I am aiming for January 09. Nursing school has got me so stressed out. I am so looking forward to Christmas break.....and I keep telling myself that this time next year, I will be 3 weeks away from graduation. Then the NCLEX......

Dominoes

2008-01-24T01:00:00.001-05:00

I spend a lot of time questioning my decisions. Imagining what would have happened if I changed my actions in the past. Thinking that if I would have done this instead of that, a different set of dominoes would have fallen and led me to a totally different place. I guess for this reason I was never really happy where I was. I can't think about the wouldas and couldas anymore cause I am dating the man i think I was meant to share my world with. If I had altered any of my choices in the past I would not be with him today. So now I look back and I am satisfied with my selections. And I am satisfied with my life now. More than anything I am enthusiastic about my future.

Auntie Kilah

2008-01-24T00:33:00.001-05:00

I have always had a strong maternal instinct. Not that I mothered everybody..I ain't taking care of your kids. As for mine, I have always wanted children. Two, three, maybe four. It has been and itch that I have not scratched though. Yeah I could most likely conceive a child...but it's the raising part that I am not ready for. First off, I need a good man...better yet, a good husband. Secondly, financial security. I may be able to get by....but those pampers get expensive. Third, I wanted to experience life a little more. Travel to exotic places..that sort of thing. So at the age of 26, I am still not ready to have a child. But low and behold a great opportunity arose. My sister-in-law had a daughter, Sophia, and I agreed to look after her for a year. Was putting my life on hiatus for 12 months worth it? Well I also moved to MD to be with Sophia, and I had been hankering to move. I wanted to move to DC years ago, but it didnt work out. So...I love spending time with my niece...it never gets old. Best of all, I am getting this baby bug out of my system. I still want kids of course. But I can wait 5 or 6 years. It's fine. Now I want to put myself first (and my boyfriend). We can do as we please. Oh...but I sill want a dog soon. lol. A little responsibility and something to call my own please.

For Eva Eva?

2008-01-19T23:21:00.000-05:00

I have been in a couple of relationships. What do they all have in common? I stayed in them too long. Yep..that is the trend with me. I knew they would not last forever....whether i admitted it to myself or not. I hope I am not the type of person who has to be in a relationship to be fulfilled. I have had long spurts of singledom, but I do like being with a partner versus the alternative. Back to my point of this post. In my first relationship I was crazy in love. You know that volatile young love. One minute you feel blessed to have someone who loves you completely, the next minute one of you is freaking out and you end up with holes in your drywall. That shit ain't going nowhere...and you know it. I honestly could not get out of that relationship until I moved 2850 miles away. I tried previously, but it was easier to stay....so difficult to leave. I have no regrets, but I should have been outro alot earlier. So that is one relationship. In another, I tricked myself into thinking it could be forever. Although I knew it would be a miserable forever. Forever eva! Forever eva? Forever is a long time to spend with someone who gets on your damn nerves constantly. The fact that everything I did annoyed him did not help either. So why did I stay in that relationship. Maybe I am an eternal optimist, and i hope and wish things will work out. But lets keep it real, if i was in hell then why did i think i would not be in hell later? Eternal hell. I was selling myself way too short. So was he. Yet my ass would not let go of the relationship. I had to get dumped, get picked back up, and drop him to realize that life could be alot better. And I don't want to admit this cuz I already acknowledged i might be a part of the serial monogamy crew...but it took another man for me to finally wake up and know that love was not supposed to hurt. I wished I could say I figured this out on my own. So fast forward to the present. I have very high expectations of the relationship I am in right now. I don't know if I am playing myself again. I don't think I am, but damn, I think this will be forever. Forever Eva!!!

Contemplating Sisterlocks

2007-12-20T23:18:00.000-05:00

I have never blogged...so here we go. I decided to start a blog on account of all the Sisterlock sisters out there. I am starting my own journey towards this hairstyle (which also seems to be a lifestyle). I have thought about locks on and off for the past 3 years. However, I have been a slave to the perm. My hair is overpermed. So much that it reacts differently now. My hair won't straighten as much as it used to. And when permed it is very weak. So..the obvious solution would be to stop perming. Right? So..I am stopping. I have not had a perm in 6 months. However, in my circular pattern I would usually be back to the perm right about now. A couple things have changed. One, i moved to the DC area (lots of black folks with locs here) and I discovered the Sisterlocks method. There are several things I like about Sisterlocks. 1. I do not have to cut my staightened ends off right away. I know they will look raggedy and I eventually will need to chop them, but that is not neccessary to start. 2. I like the size of Sisterlocks. The small locks will allow me to style my hair in a myriad of 'dos'. 3. Last but not least I like the support. I know if i have a question, someone will be there to help me out. They may be in Maryland or California, but the support is strong. I am going to grow my natural hair out a little longer and hopefully i will be scheduling my install for the late spring. I am excited about my new hairstyle. I know I will look drastically different and may not be pleased with my hair's appearance initially. I have vowed to give myself 18 months. I know I will be SL'ed and loving it by then.
I am posting some pictures of the various hairstyles I have been through: braids, cornrows, relaxer, weave. You name it, I have been there. ahhh...to be a black woman in a eurocentric standard of beauty world. Be your self curtissepearl. Let your hair do wat it do! lol.