'The Tequila Tales' Event Recap

Last night proved to be an amazeballs time as I ventured out to Red Kiva for another round of The Tequila Tales. The monthly relationship-based chat is hosted by Chrishon (formerly of Three Peas, everyone's favorite South Loop art gallery - - currently writing the blog Love Cork Screw ) and moderated by Isaac Paul and Dr. Candice.

As expected, the crowd took a little bit of warming up to let their guard down, but by the 2nd and 3rd drink, people were getting vocal and the groove had been set. I live tweeted the event using the hashtag of the night #TheTequilaTales and there were a few priceless quotes. Check them out here. So, what were my biggest take aways from the night?

1) A lot of people are in denial about being in the "friend zone" - - (i.e. you want them, but they don't want you.) It's important to remember that platonic male/female relationships are healthy, normal, and quite possible to have. A great point was made that if you're rich in friendships and have that balance, the loneliness and desire to be with anyone to quench that thirst (aka desperation) can usually be resolved.

With Isaac Paul and Chrishon

2) Many women put a price tag on their life force. Let's just keep it all the way real -- many women put a price tag on their life force. All of a sudden they need to eat at X restaurant, Y amount of times, for Z dollars. Give me a break. This mentality takes the focus off the quality of person you're actually spending time with and instead focuses on trivial things. If you want to go to a nice dinner so badly there's no shame in taking yourself.. but try and be open to the idea that successful dates can come in many shapes, sizes, and locales! You may grab burgers and beer in a dive bar and have a ball.

3) S-Banging - Meant to be said as one word, SBanging was the funny hybrid (Smashing + Banging) one chick blurted out in a rush. It was pretty funny and might become a new saying I'll use. I'd love to give her credit... thanks random girl! Overall, I had a ball... and I'm not just saying that because I downed 2 of my signature Hennessy cocktails lol... The conversation was lively and it was nice to be out doing something different.

To stay connected for upcoming events be sure to follow The Tequila Tales on Facebook and Twitter.

Flats Twists on Sew-In Weaves

I'm low maintenance when it comes to my natural hair and rocking my sew-in is not much different. I like to take the styling concepts I've learned with my curls and apply them to my leave-out and weave. So far flat twists have become a staple in my word. They're relatively easy to do, take almost no time, and can be a great option for the gym or going out.

Flat Twists on my Natural Hair

Typically, I'll style my natural hair in 2 flat twists (above) as a quick, go-to style. The picture above shows the way my flat twists look on my natural hair, no weave.

Flat Twists blended with my Weave

The idea of wearing a straight weave can seem like an invitation to OD on heat, but I actually have been using less heat than when my hair is w/out the weave. I wash my hair about once a week, following up with a quick blow dry on the leave out... letting the weave hair air dry. Once that is done, I'll take a flat iron to my leave out. Voila! I'm done. When I'm going to bed or the gym, I'll do 2 flat twists (above picture) and braid the bottom portion to help the hair not unravel.

2 Flat Twists pulled back - - very hippie lol

Like I said before, I'm low maintenance. My goal with the weave was to give the majority of my hair a break from styling, add some length and fullness, and ditch the curls for a while. I'm not someone that really has the  patience to come up with super edgy looks to rock with my weave, so I keep it simple. The above picture is an example of how I style my leave out blended with the weave for a look that requires no additional heat be placed on my hair. I actually have an inner hippie that loves this type of thing so it works for me. 

Most people think you MUST put heat on your hair daily when rocking a straight weave, but that's not the case. There are plenty of ways to have fun with a weave, while still taking care of your leave out.

Charlie leaves @girlsHBO. Hearts Break.

It's official. Charlie, the only legit male eye candy on HBO's 'GIRLS' has jumped ship, and we can all thank Hannah for his departure. I actually should use their real names, but I'm so wrapped up in GIRLS it feels like I know these people in real life lol...

So yeah, Hannah and Charlie started bumping heads and Charlie decided to leave the show. This is coming on the heels of him and Marnie finally working things out, so I'm sitting over here all crickets and screw faced wondering what's going to happen with her story line.

Is anyone else a little bit sad that his luscious locks won't be viewable next season? I mean, I was actually considering joining Marnie and having his brown babies lol... though they would've been a bit browner than what she could produce. Oh, Charlie... please don't leave me (I mean, US) like this. Can we try to work it out? I'm shedding electronic tears.

Womp....

Fashion Fix: @Forever21 Cutout Geo Dress

The temps are warming up and my legs are ready to start frolicking in skirts and dresses! I headed to Forever21 today to see if they had any new stuff, and I was pretty happy to snag this Cutout Geo Dress for $24.80.

My life force does a little dance whenever I snag something cute from Forever21, and this dress is MUCH better in person. The site does the fit no justice. My rack is a DDD/G cup (depends on my weight) and a size Large fit just fine. I'm not stingy with deals, so I wanted to share this with my blog family - - plus keeping it 100 everyone in the world shops at Forever21, so it's not like you're buying something unique lol.

Anyways, Happy Spring and Happy Shopping! Time to clean those closets out and get new gear in there.

Sew-In Weave for Natural Hair (aka Protective Styling)

Instead of just spring cleaning my house, I decided it was time to spring clean my hair life force! I was craving a break from the daily styling of my curls - - something every natural can relate to at one time or another, and decided to go straight. While I wish my hair was long enough to rock a high messy bun (a la Curly  Nikki), it's not lol... so my ever so talented girlfriend Alicia hooked me up with a dope sew-in.

Most people know that I'm super low maintenance when it comes to my natural curls, and whenever I rock a sew-in it's more of the same. This was my first time getting bone straight hair, but the front section of my hair (aka "leave out") takes heat extremely well. Basically blending wouldn't be a major issue. Let's be honest - - there's nothing worse than being the chick with the bad weave.

I don't ever keep a weave in for a long time. I'm talking maybe 6-7 weeks at the absolute longest... therefore it wasn't crucial for me to get the best hair. I opted for a mid-range ($99/pack) brand: Outre Velvet Natural Yaki in 1B, 12 inches.

Outre Remi Velvet Natural Yaki

What I liked best about this brand was 1) it was available at the beauty supply 2) the texture was very similar to that of my flat ironed hair. It didn't look super silky, but you could actually see the texture of the hair and the luster was low and 3) It was 10% off.

I should also mention that I used Dark and Lovely Fade Resistant Rich Conditioning Color in Natural Black #372. I had highlights and didn't want to run the risk of turning my hair green using a rinse. I also wanted to make sure my weave matched and blending/color issues didn't rain on my hair parade. This did the trick and was a near perfect match. I will, however, point out that in the past few weeks the color has started to fade a bit on my tips. Don't know if it's just because of the sun, washing or what... but it's not as intense as it was initially. Still, the weave blends w/o major issues.

Blend, baby... BLEND!!!

I'm probably one of the only people irked by the term "protective styling" (it just sounds like it sucks all of the life force fun out of hair care...), but this is a great option to give myself a break from daily styling, and let my hair chill out.

For anyone in the Chicago-area interested in getting a sew-in done by Alicia, contact her via email at Ali_Ivy@yahoo.com. Tell her I sent you :)

@TheTequilaTales: Are you Ready for a Relationship?

Join in for another lively discussion as The Tequila Tales hosts their April discussion topic: Are you Ready for a Relationship? This free event takes place Wednesday, April 10th @ 7pm at Red Kiva in the West Loop. You can RSVP by clicking the flyer below.

The room fills up fast, so be sure to get there early and grab your seat! I'll be venturing out for this one, so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there. Don't be scared to chime in and keep the conversation going on twitter using the hash tag #TheTequilaTales.

RSVP by Clicking the Flyer