Pick 6| Spring 2017

Hello Folks and Happy Summer to you! 

Hope your Summer is full of refreshing drinks, poolside reading, coastal views and grilled delights. 

Before we get too far into Summer, let me share what I enjoyed this past Spring!

Hair| Twisted Crown
This Spring has been a hit or miss with the weather; some days are comfortable and other days have been so muggy you can barely stand it #NCWeather. On those days where it is too hot to rock the puff and I want my scalp to get a little exposure, I wear two simple FAT twist that look like a lovely crown. 







Fashion| Tie Dye
So, for the March of Dimes walk our team was uniformed in DIY purple tie dye shirts. I have since been wearing my shirt just about every week and have been making plans to dye more shirts and more colors (may I'll share here on the blog).










Beauty|Kenneth Cole BLACK body spray for her
Made this purchase from Ross while on a hunt for bathroom decor. The fragrance is a fresh, out of the shower fragrance and I love to splash on on my down days. Of course, with this being a body spray it does not last so but I enjoy using it when I'm not looking to have a long lasting lingering smell throughout the day.







Skin|Cotton Rounds
Simple pack of (30?) cotton rounds that come in handy when applying astringents, toners and even nail polish remover. Since I've switched up my skin care regimen, I've been purch






Accessories|Necklaces
In my attempt to get back to jazzing up my attire to get back to the semi-fashionable person i once was, I have reintroduced my necklaces into my wardrobe. I have many and for a while they were decoration on our bedroom wall.

                                     





Random|Out doors
With the little ones love of the outdoors, we spent a lot of time outside enjoying nature (but being mindful of mosquitoes). I've take the time we spend outside to take her on short walks, attempt to plant flowers and veggies, exercise and just blow bubbles.





What were you enjoying this Spring?

Motivation Monday| Social Media

We know social media drives a lot of lives; whether it be yours or people you know. Lot of us take time out of our day to stroll down timelines on Facebook, view the visual art that is Instagram, catch up on what is happening now on Twitter, watch reality on Snapchat or whatever other sites you have access to. 

In a small attempt to keep a positive flow of energy going, I use some of these outlets to post quotes from empowering, motivation and memorable people. 

I'm not a big fan of constantly posting on social media however, thanks to Snapchat and [the shady but cool feature that is] Insta-Snap (or whatever it is called) I post there:

Insta handle - creatively_coiled

What are your favorite types of post on social media?

Ancestry| Tracking Our Lineage

A few years ago, my sister and I talked about tracking our family tree and lineage. While the thought was awesome, it was difficult knowing where to start. With the bit of research we were able to do then, we found a few names and following names, tracked our lineage back to Nigeria. But other than that, we found limited information on our family (ie: names, US location, etc.)

2017 lit a fire under my sister again to start researching; looking at county census and speaking with our parents and grandmother to obtain and confirm information. My sister really hit gold with finding family signatures and tracking children she was able to trace our family back to the early 1800's... Which is more than what we recovered previously.

While confirming names with relatives, we also decided to take an ancestry.com DNA analysis: This requires a saliva sample that is sent off for analysis to identify the region(s) your ancestry is strongest in. 

Well, we received the results in April and discovered that we [of course] are of African decent (87%):

• 45% - Ivory Coast/Ghana
• 21% - Cameroon/Congo
• 8% - Nigeria

We also discovered that of the information reported so far, our family has not ventured too far from the East Coast of the US (NC, VA, DC, MD, VA, NY). This helped us confirm some family members by location to confirm that what my sister previously uncovered were the right records. 

So we know that our lineage is strong in West Africa which means that we were on the right track a few years ago when looking but gives much more than what we were able to find. 

Things to know about DNA analysis: 

• The results may vary from test to test - We used Ancestry DNA however, if we were to take another from a different service it is possible that the result will be different
• Siblings can carry different numbers - Siblings carry a difference percentage of DNA from both parents so your siblings results will of course be different from yours. We only sent in one sample may do it again to compare the results.

Are you tracking your family tree or thought about it? Have you submitted a DNA analysis to any sites? 

Let me know!

Flashback Friday| March For Babies walk 2016

Happy Friday!

Thank you again to everyone that donated, shared the links via social media and those that even took the time to look up March of Dimes and their cause. 

I have been a supporter of March of Dimes since my undergrad years and I plan to continue to support this organization as it helped my family out when we weren't sure of the next steps we needed to take and how to cope with the what was going one while our little one was in NICU. 

Last year we had a blast at the walk; congregating with our team, sharing stories and evening meeting up with one of our little ones nurses who came out to support the cause: 

Tomorrow we are in for year 2 and I'm excited!

Want to know more about March of Dimes and how you can support?

                        ♡♡♡CLICK HERE♡♡♡

Flashback Friday| Then & Now

Happy Friday!

Sharing photos from Easter past and present of my little lady. 

PROGRESS IS EVERYTHING!!

2016 to 2017

Little-miss-ma'am is a busy body and will probably be walking alongside us in the March for Babies walk next Saturday.

Want to know more about her story and how you can help families and premature little ones?

♡CLICK HERE♡

#WalkForButton 

#MotivationalMonday

Happy Monday!

From what I hear, Monday is not a favorite day of the week for most people; it kicks off the start of yet another work week and reminds us that the weekend has once again left us. AND I GET IT! Mondays are seen as the uninvited visitor at your house.

I however, like to try the view it more from a "cup half full" standpoint; It is the start of another work week which means...WE'VE MADE IT THROUGH ANOTHER WEEK... Which gets us through a month...and through a year!

No, I know some people are side-eyeing me like "girl, save that noise" but hear me out:

Mondays is a chance to reset and conquer or attempt to conquer another week.

With that being said, I want to share a mantra that I recently found while scrolling on Pinterest via www.curvyyoga.com ...

It has easily become one of my favorites because I'm all for spreading positive energy around to any and everyone who may need it. 

What is one of your favorite quotes that help to exude positive energy?

Humble Beginnings...

I can look back and smile at the progress that Button has made.

I shared last year the story of our little lady coming into this world at 24 weeks and 6 days and how it was a trying time for my husband and I.

Those days seem so long ago as Button is almost 2! I sometimes look back at trinkets and pictures from her younger months and sit in disbelief because she is doing so well physically and mentally (Praise him!).

With help from the man upstairs as well as the hospital staff at Duke ICN, TCN and March of Dimes we can look back on her humble beginning and smile.



Want to know more about premature birth and how you can help support babies and families?

♡♡♡♡CLICK HERE♡♡♡♡