The New Me

I know I'm in a transitional phase. I just don't know what I'm transitioning to. As the weather changes and the Spring appears I feel myself longing to free myself of the Winter. Free myself of restrictions, cold weather, and even free myself from good disciplines that I have worked very hard to attain.

I'm thinking that instead of changing too many things in my life (especially the good things) I should just get a new tattoo, maybe a new piercing and definitely new hair. What do you think?

Please do me a favor and vote yes or no. Thanks!

Jogging Inspiration - If Only

It's like 70 degrees outside. It's been really hot all winter, but I'm still in my lazy phase. I feel guilty for not jogging and getting out and enjoying the weather. That is not fair! The Winter is my excuse to be lazy and out of shape. Now that it's Spring weather what am I supposed to do? Run? Ugh, I need motivation.

Okay, okay. I'm going.

We Are America's Biggest Undiscovered Country Talent

Just kidding. This just seemed like a really great idea at 3 in the morning.

Lindsay T's 26Soiree

Lindsay turned 26 and baked a ton which means I ate my weight in sweets.

Some really creative and intensely strange people were there...you know, my favorite type of people.

Scottie tried to pick me up and then failed. Fat.

He figured out how to lift 134 pounds eventually. We ended up having so much fun on our intense sugar highs that we just had to do a photo shoot. Of course.

The heels are a total joke. I guess you had to be there.

Overall it was chill but super fun. Happy Birthday Lindsay! I can't wait to celebrate 27 with you...and also possibly use your incredible loft for my next birthday party.

Bachelor 16 - Courtney, Courtney, Courtney!

I am still obsessed with Courtney Robertson. Not only is she beautiful, she is smarter than her competition. All the other girls wanted her gone last week...the entire world wanted her gone last week...but she has played her cards right and yet again, she beats out her competition.

I used to just like her for he deviant ways but now I think she is really falling for Ben and that makes me like her even more!!! I still think that he will choose Kasey B ultimately, but how great would it be if Courtney and Kasey were the final two? Let's face it, the other girls are just wrong. Wrong for him and wrong in general.

Kick them to the curb, Courtney. Kick all of them to the curb.

I ran across an article that asked the questions "Is Kacie B the New Mean Girl?" I would just like to say I TOLD EVERYBODY SO! I called that from Episode 1. As a former Mean Girl, I can spot them anywhere. No southern accent and dimples will fool me!

#Team Courtney

Grammy's 2012 - Return of the Hot Mess Championships

This post was written by Toya Haynes from blackgirlslikeus.blogspot.com.

My favorite group in the world, New Edition, performed the night of the Grammys. No way I was missing them for the Hot Mess Championships. That's what DVR is for. These are my real time thoughts while watching this year's Grammys.

• Love that Jersey is opening the show. Go Bruce! Bruce is a sexy beast at 63, aint he? *Cough* Jersey water *cough* Max Weinberg is killin’ on these drums. Steven Van Zandt always seemed like he is a really close talker to me.
• Pray Deacon LL! I wish that him praying and his wedding band would distract me from counting how many times he has licked his lips already but no such luck. Pray for me.
• Lici called him Yum Yum Cool J.  I can’t take it.
• Carrie Underwood looks great.

• Seriously, LL is such a distraction.
• Sitting behind Adele: Did they say that was Taio Cruz? Ooooh Victor Cruz! Never heard of him.
• OMG Taylor Swift get away from Nicki Minaj. Who sat them together? Is she still young enough to have a guardian?
• Bruno Mars is a cross between Frankie Lymon, Johnny Mathis and Israel Houghton. He is killin’!  Can he close the show too?  I had no idea he had all of this in him!  Let's give a hand for Sexual Caramel!

• Now the Etta James tribute.  I have friends that sing who call Alicia Keys “Alicia Off Keys”.  I can't always tell that she is off. My ear's not that sharp.
• Sing Mother Raitt! Bonnie Raitt looks like she keeps that good candy in her purse.
• I live for Adele's makeup.

• Chris Brown's on. That's right. You mad.
• “Beautiful People” is my JAM! I really like this performance.  I'm glad he doesn't look like one of those kids from Meteor Man anymore though.
• Yeeeah “Otis” won!
• Yall were wrong for letting Kelly Clarkson go onstage with her weave looking like that. She's done nothing to deserve this injustice.

• Poor Jason Aldean.  His mic just gave up the ghost.
• Foo Fighters!  BFF Fact: Tia has loved Taylor since he played drums for Alanis Morrisette and I have loved Dave Grohl since Nirvana days. I flew to LA to see The Police reunion and that was the only show on the tour they were opening.  We missed it because a 45 minute drive took 3 hours. That is why I hate LA to this day.

• I’m so proud of LL right now! He’s doing great.
• Rihanna's vocals are...better. 
• Okay “We Found Love in a Hopeless Place” makes me want to just be young and reckless. Like I just want to start spray painting stuff and running through the streets like that movie The Warriors. I like this performance!
• I’m not really feeling this duet though. Yikes.
• Is Coldplay still on? Is this a label showcase? Why is this so long? I hate a showcase (that was for you Tonya)!
• Teach the babies, Dave Grohl! Great speech!

• Ryan Seacrest is our Dick Clark. I just feel that he will be 65 looking just like he does now. He’s a machine.
• Adam Levine's high pitched singing and caressing of this microphone stand is not conducive to holy living. That's really all I have to say about that but yeah for PJ Morton playing on this Beach Boys tribute!
• Foster the People look adorably nervous right now.
• The Beach Boys have a combined age of 896 and still their harmonies are killin’ everyone in the place right now. It’s really that simple.
• In case you didn't get that, Stevie Wonder's “ok” after the audience couldn't clap on beat can be translated as “Yall are slow”.
• I. love. Paul .McCartney.

• Taraji looks great! Side note: I know that she and Common used to date. I don’t understand how one can function as an ex of Common. I really don’t. Not without a restraining order. Moving on.

• So Chris Brown won. Besides El Debarge’s record, I haven’t heard any of the albums that were nominated so I have no opinion. 
• Say what you want about Taylor Swift. I can hear her song one time and know all of the words to the song by the second time I hear it.  That girl writes. It has to be so liberating to sing “Mean” on the Grammys. That “alone in life” line cracks me up every time.
• I like so many Katy Perry songs...except this one.
• Yes Adele. Fun sized girls stand UP!  I can't tell if her voice sounds different or not since the surgery. I need her to come out with a clothing line.  I will say this about Adele though:  I appreciate her but I do think that she's a tad overrated. However I also thought Lauryn Hill's debut album was overrated. At the time it was released there wasn't too much greatness out there, similar to right now. It's easy to shine. Not to take away from her talent. I’m just sayin’.
• I have completely blacked out during this Glen Campbell section.  I don't know any of these...wait! *Fist in the air* ”Like a rhinestone cowboy!!!!”
• Ok until "Rhinestone Cowboy" came on, I actually forgot that I was still watching the Grammys.
• I love that Bon Iver looks like a physics teacher. I'm gonna check him out.

• Is Tamar Braxton Lady Gaga's seat filler?  Umm...hmm. Okay.
• I think that Jennifer Hudson did a great job doing "I Will Always Love You" her way under the pressure she was under. I have no problem with her not doing the “big ending”. It sounded as if she was singing to Whitney directly and she seemed rather emotional. The pressure of hitting that note after losing one of your idols the day before?  Much like the critiques following the performances at the Michael Jackson memorial program, I think people have been very unfair to her.
•  I know some people were salty because they didn’t show pics of Etta James and Don Cornelius during the tribute to those that passed but they did each get their own separate tributes. Who they didn’t show ANY love to however was Jani Lane from Warrant and yes I do feel a way about that.
• If they don't bust out with a Soul Train line, this is going to be one crappy Don Cornelius tribute.
• That was one crappy Don Cornelius tribute.
• I thought Chris Brown was J Cole when he came out. I don't know how I feel about him performing twice, even if it is David Guetta. They couldn't get someone else on a song?
• And why are the Foo performing again? I'm confused by everything right now AND I have a headache.  I'm getting too old for all these glow sticks flashing. I don’t understand at all what is happening right now. What is this?
• If you can't dance to dubstep then why is it called dance music?

• Umm, right after Drake introduced Nicki Minaj, a commercial came on. What have we been spared from?  Is this so we can gather for prayer before we watch it? Okay, it’s back on.
• Real talk?  I'm concerned. I’m very concerned. Like, I can’t even clown it. I’m so serious.  And everyone from her label to the Academy to CBS who okayed this in rehearsal is suspect to me right now. Something is really terribly wrong.
• I love that Adele is weeping and wailing over winning. She’s adorable.
• I love Paul McCartney and all but why is he performing twice again? What is really going on? Can we just bring back Bruno Mars please?
• Well that’s it.  I'm yawning heavily and it's only 9:30. That pretty much sums up how I feel about this year's Grammys. It was just… a-ight.

Alright the floor is open. What did you all think?

Check out the next best minute by minute opinion here...

Addiction - The Honest Truth

Truth is a battle of perception...people only see what they are prepared to confront.When perceptions battle against one another, truth has a way of getting lost. And the monsters find a way of getting out. - ABC's Revenge

All of my life I've been saying certain things that are questionable in reality. One of my favorite sayings has always been "Everything in moderation." That and, "I think addictions are wrong, if something has a hold on you, you should probably let it go." WELL I WAS LYING! I didn't know I was lying, but I was lying just the same. Here's the thing, I'm addicted to so much stuff. Yes, I could quit all of this, but I'm not going to! That is what I call addiction. Here's my top ten list of "Can't go withouts"...

1. Chapstick. This might seem like a simple thing but I assure you, it's not. I just ran out of chapstick and my lips are already crying.

2. Revenge. I can miss a week of most tv shows, but this one is my "must see." Last week's episode where Charlotte found out who her dad really is was so epic!

3. Coffee. This is a no-brainer. Literally. My french press is a daily life saver.

4. Taco Bell. Barely a day goes by that I don't think "Mmmm, I really need chicken quesadillas, a nacho supreme, a chessy beef burrito, a soft taco supreme and a caramel empanada. RIP Gidget.

5. OCD Tendencies. I count backwards from ten all the time. ALLL the time. When I wash my hands, while cleaning something, when walking, when jogging, when I eat, when I fill my water bottle, pushing my french press down, when my plane is landing on a tarmac...ALLL the time. If things don't end at # one I have to start over from the top.

6. Blogging. When I first started blogging in 2009 I thought I would write 4 blogs entries then quit like most people. I had no idea I would like it this much, that a dumb blog like this would get so popular, or that I would start a second blog and write there regularly as well!

7. Business cards. I collect them and I love to make them. I don't do much networking but I adore judging people based on their choice of cards. Here are mine. Judge away.

8. My iPhone. How did I ever live without my iPhone? The commercial is correct "If you don't have an iPhone, well, you don't have an iPhone. There is a hilarious parody on YouTube but it says the F word so I didn't post. 

And Instagram is everything. You can find me under daniellebeauty.

9. Dance parties. Well, video taping other people dancing that is.

Oh. Who am I kidding? I have an addiction to being in dance videos too!

10. I think 9 is all I have...I truly do everything else in moderation. ;)