Sidebar...I have to give a quick shout out to my wonder full sands!! 5 years ago today, March 29, 2006, my sands and I crossed the burning sands into Deltaland. And we have been kicking butts and taking names ever since. I'm very proud to say that all of us have been successful in everything we have done. We have a lawyer, Army officer, College Administrator, future lawyer, HR administrator, PR manager, Future sports agent/lawyer and Ortho Tech. We have continued to do big things. I love these girls to death. We have had our moments, our ups and our downs but at the end of the day, they are my sisters and that will never change. Oooo-oooop sands. love yall- azureDizzle

Sidebar...so I went to the Eric Roberson concert that was held here in Houston on saturday and as you know my great affinity for ERRO will never let me miss a show. And I'm glad that I didn't miss this show because I discovered an amazing artist named Avery Sunshine at the show. She "opened" for ERRO and I must say that I love her already. She hails from Philly and she has the most beautiful voice. I know some of you may have already heard of her but it's ok that I'm late. Better late than never right? I downloaded her album and yes, I actually paid for it via ITunes. It was instant love. The album instantly touched my soul. My favorite song is called "Pinin'". It makes me think of "homeboy" back home. Check out the album. I'm sure you will love it as much as I do.

Here are a couple pics from the Eric Roberson concert. Check out the guitar player...he was my eye candy for the night. lol-azureDizzle

Avery Sunshine on the keys...she is bomb.com

Eric Roberson





Guitar Player=Eye candy

Sidebar...last night the much anticipated documentary, reported by Soledad O'Brian, entitled "Unwelcome: Muslims in America" debuted. Soledad did an amazing job on the documentary. It exposes what Muslims are going through in a small town in Tennessee. They are trying to build an Islamic center because their current place of worship is too small to accommodate them and the documentary shows the opposition that they are facing within the community. I thought the documentary was extremely enlightening and also extremely sad. It brought to light how many people are opposed to Islam and are scared that those who practice will take over America. I found the people opposed to the Islamic center sickeningly ignorant. They are scared of something that they know nothing about. The community members who opposed the building of the center knew nothing about the Islamic faith and based their believes of of September 11th. I don't understand how the acts of a few can correlate to the believes of all Muslims. I would think that those same fears would be lessened through education about the religion but clearly not everyone thinks like I do. In my opinion, education is the best way to combat fear and ignorance. But I know this would only fall on deaf ears.

Another thing that saddened my about documentary is that an African-American man was heading the opposition and actually filed suit to stop the construction of the Islamic center. This surprised and disgusted me because I just could not believe that an African-American MAN could be so ignorant and blind. How can we as a people actually discriminate against a group of people when we were and still are discriminated against for the color of our skin? How can an African-American forget about all the struggles our people had/have to go through because we are black and yet discriminate against someone else because of their religion? Is not discrimination due to race the same as discrimination due to religion? At the end of the day, it is still discrimination. And now that we have a Black president, you're still acting like that? The black man on the doc really disgusted me and saddened me. The documentary really brought to light how far we have NOT come as a country. Most of us are still as ignorant and blind that we were before September 11th and even the Civil Rights Movement for that matter. Nothing has changed. If you watched the documentary, let me know how you feel about it.-azureDizzle

Sidebar...here are the people who inspire me through their hair...they are my "Hair-spirations". Corrine Bailey Rae and Marsha Ambrosius. When I am down and out about my hair and at the brink of no return, I look to my "hair-spriations". They give me hope. I think their hair looks AMAZING!!! I'm looking toward december when I think my hair is going to look like Corrines' and Marshas'. Keep your fingers crossed!!!!-azureDizzle

Who are your "Hair-spirations"??

Sidebar...so as you know, i've been on my natural-hair-don't-care flow for a while now. So I wanted to update you on new tricks and hair styles that I have tried.








Dry Twist out- These are my results from my first dry twist out. I've been hooked ever since. I love how my dry twist outs turn out. I used Paul Mitchell the Conditioner (which is a leave-in conditioner) to set my twists and I wet the ends with LottaBody. I wet just the ends because it makes them curl up and the twist stay in and because I don't want to have to sit under the dryer. With this method I can put on my satin bonnet and just go to bed. It's so easy and it looks amazing come morning. In these pics I used clips for the front of my hair because my ends don't curl like the rest of my hair. My hair is made up of different textures (like a lot of us naturals) so you have to find what works for you. I started using sponge rollers on the front to curl the ends and it works perfectly.



Roller Set- Love, love, love this look. I used Med/Large rollers and Paul Mitchell Styling Foam to set my hair. The key to roller sets is that you MUST SIT UNDER THE DRYER AND LET YOUR HAIR DRY COMPLETELY before taking out your rollers. If not, your curls will not be defined and you will end up with a half curly, frizzy mess. I have a soft bonnet hair dryer that I use and it takes me a couple hours for my hair to completely dry. I know we are trying to keep as much heat off our hair as possible, but a couple hours of dryer heat a week will not hurt. When I took my rollers out I flat ironed just the roots to make my hair lay flat (again this little gesture will not kill your hair). This style lasted about 5 days.





Dry Bantu Knot out- My bantu knot out turned out pretty well however the knots were too tight and made my head hurt (I'm heavy handed lol) and it was uncomfortable to sleep in. I used the Paul Mitchell the Conditioner again to set my twist and then i knotted them. As you can see, I had to bobby pin the knots so that they would stay. Over all I liked the finished look but not the process. I probably would not try this look again. But let me know how it works for you or any other tips you have for this look. I am willing to try again.



Dry twist out/middle part- I usually ALWAYS part my hair on the side but I wanted to try a middle part. I really liked the results. I see a lot of people around and at school with middle parts and they look good on them. I tend to not do them because I think it makes me look like Side-show Bob from the Simpsons. lol. I used Paul Mitchell the Conditioner to set the twists and LottaBody for the ends. I also flat twisted the top/middle twists.

I hope these pics give you some new I style ideas. I'll make sure I keep you updated about new products and styles that I try. Also if YOU have any tips and tricks that work for you, please comment!!-azureDizzle

Sidebar...so here is an update on the new Adele and Marsha Ambrosius albums that I gushed about before. Basically...both are amazing albums and definitely worth having in your collection. I absolutely LOVE Adeles' album "21". It is amazing. I can play it from beginning to end and then on repeat. Then repeat again. Yes. It's that serious. I really like Marshas' album also. She has some really nice cuts on the album. The feel is more baby-making...so if you're trying to seduce someone, definitely put this on.

Sidebar Grade:

Adele "21"- A
Marsha Ambrosius "Late nights and Early mornings"- B

Sidebar...is it still taboo to have babies out of wedlock? It seems now a days that having babies is a normal regular occurrence for people my age. Babies are popping up all over the place. What is it? Has pop-culture corrupted us into thinking that it's ok to have babies, babies and more babies without being married? It seems to me that the media has almost glamorized being a single mom. TV reality shows such as "Teen Mom" and "16 and Pregnant" have sort of made having babies out of wedlock cool, or the norm. Celebs have also glamorized being pregnant and not married. Natalie Portman, for example, is now pregnant by her choreographer boyfriend and is winning all types of Oscars and Golden Globes. And believe me, she is not the only one. What sort of image is this setting for our young girls? From these television shows and celebs, I could see young girls thinking that having babies out of wedlock is cool or that it will be fun and exciting to have a baby. That being a single mom is easy. Does anyone else see a problem with this? I'm 25 and I still don't think having a baby will be easy, even when I am actually ready. What do you think?-azureDizzle

Hello All!!! I havn't wrote about music in a long while. To be honest with you, it's because I havn't heard an album as of late that has really captured me. But you will be excited to know that I have some new prospects. Last week Adele released her new album entitled "21". I absolutely love, love, love Adele. She as an amazing voice and a great sound. If you are not hip, please check her out. I turned a skeptic on to her just a few weeks ago and he is hooked. I can listen to her first album "19" from beginning to end and then repeat. I cannot say this more a lot of artists out there today. If you need a preview, check out her new single "Rolling in the Deep".

Just today, former member of the duo Floetry, Marsha Ambrosius, released her debut album "Late nights, Early Mornings". I am uber excited about this album too I heard her single "Hope She Cheats On You (with a Basketball Player) back in September of 2010 and since then, I have been not-so-patiently waiting on this album. I love her voice and the neo-soul/ r-n-b feel of her music. I have heard only good things about her album and I can't wait to hear it. I'm hoping both of these albums will become my theme albums for 2011. Keep your fingers crossed.-azureDizzle