NOLA IN PICTURES

Before the floody waters of Barry came and went (thank God) I was in The Big Easy for a few days last month. I frequent New Orleans quite a bit - and although I'm acquainted with the city, it's so jam-packed with such a unique culture that I'll always come back for a visit.

Our weekend trip was made up of walking the streets of The Garden District and French Quarter with hurricanes in tow, brunching at Cafe Amelie, a burlesque show, art, views, and historical sites. Here is a little piece of Nola in pictures:

SHEA BUTTER BABY

Musically, May was so good to me! Every time I turned around, my Spotify app was going off with album release notifications from a lot of my favorite artists. Notably, Ari Lennox.

I was introduced to Ari Lennox a few years ago. My niece was playing her EP, Pho in the house one day and she's been a frequent since then. Over time, she's released a good deal of singles, but they only made me more anxious. I was over singles - I needed an album...(and a headline tour if she could squeeze it in!)

SECOND QUARTER

: a course or series of events that recur regularly and usually lead back to the starting point.

This is life.
It has its way of keeping you humble - and planting your feet to the ground.
Life is a continual rotation of rises and falls.
Between times, it banes you with spells of unfruitfulness and mediocrity.
While other times, the universe blows you a kiss as you make strides in your favor.
You suddenly feel on top of the world - whereas you've taken steps forward.
Only to be knocked three steps back to square one.
Life - this is life.

It's been a while, three months to be exact. As much as I endeavored to capture all of life's moments (in real-time) on this blog - it's not realistic for me. I'm learning that at times, you have to take a step back and process all that life is giving you - and that's where I've been for the second quarter of the year. Working through it.

It's kind of overwhelming to try and pick up where I left off - but I owe it to myself.

April arrived and I was still coasting with the bliss that the former months had bestowed - in hopes that the latter would emulate the past.

I was in a really good (and stable) place - mentally and emotionally. I started going to therapy, I parted ways with my 2nd job to make more room for balance and everything was harmonious.

I was proudly nourishing myself, minding myself and rubbing shea butter over my entire life. Things were great!