I Gotta Dream Big!! *Jazmine Sullivan voice*

(Ironically saw this, this morning walking up the stairs at work)

Ok you guys here I sit at my mundane 8-5 job, that for at the moment, is not providing me with the stimulus in which I need to conquer my goals. As you all know, I moved here to pursue my dreams and aspirations, and for those that know me, know that once I set my mind on something there’s no stopping until I do it. But as I sit here and think about all the things I aspired to do once I got here, I feel as though I have lost sight of that very thing. Chasing a dream by no means is an easy feat, but like countless others I’m determined to fulfill them. I’ve always lived my life with the mentally that you only live once so why not do what it is you love. I never want to look back on my life’s journey with the shoulda, coulda, woulda’s. And although that philosophy is nothing new to me, quite frankly I’ve done a lot of self doubting as of late. I ran across this post from Terrence J on a celeb blog that I read, and it spoke volumes as to how I feel. It was just the reminder I needed to help get my vision back and remember what it is I came here for.


"Today is a new day. A new opportunity to follow your dreams. Take advantage of this blessing. Take that leap. Whatever your dream is, you have to step towards it. The more steps you take the more the universe will conspire to assist you…
If you want to run a label, quit your job at the bank & intern at a label. If you want to be a doctor, apply to school today, etc. I wanted to act, so every week I go to acting school for 14 hours, study film & actors, read about projects, etc. Once I took steps, roles came.

A girl replied, how can I pay my bills if I quit my job to follow my dreams? – when following your dreams you will be temporarily inconvenienced. Tyler Perry was HOMELESS years before becoming a MILLIONAIRE. Only you can determine the amount of sacrifice your dreams are worth.

Before 106 I had a job making 30k but I wasnt happy. I quit. Moved to NY, worked small jobs to get by, & lived on @FredWhit FLOOR 8 MONTHS! I just meet so many people that want to reach their goals & then complain when it sounds hard! Go watch Pursuit of Happiness

Everybody has a different story. U may have kids, mortgage, bills, etc. But God is powerful. There is always a way to follow your dreams!"

I'll end with this...at the end of the day I want to be able to look back on my life, have this type of story to share and say "I wouldn’t of had it any other way" :)

P.s. for those that are wondering why my title is in Jazmine Sullivan's voice, she has a song I love titled "Dream Big" (I'm cheesy I know)

xoxo
JJ

Trader Joe's...where have you been all my NY life?!?

Sooo...you guys know my MOST HATED things about NY are the inconviences of laundry and grocery shopping! Well...as we approach our 6 month anniversary...we are finally starting to figure things out!

I always talked about my disgusting findings at PATHMARK...well...now my new favorite place to go for nourishment is TRADER JOE'S! It's CLEAN...and you can find HEALTHIER and YUMMIER (is that a word?!) things there!! I love that place! I bet you'll wanna come eat at our place now (wontcha ?! wontcha?!?)

Jamee pushing our little grocery cart...please note this is a fake smile...we had just concluded a 4 hour shopping trip w/o the use of a taxi as usual...NEVER AGAIN! Lol.

Another of our shopping aides on that long shopping trip....

Yummy...look at the whole wheat bread and pasta. This is my attempt at being healthy. Lol. My roommates know I LOVE white bread! (Don't judge me)

Yo! Our snack cabinet is always on point...its was overflowing!

So...we thought (or Jamee thought) these pomegranate seeds would be delicious! WRONG! It was like CRUNCHING on a batch of nail polish remover soaked kernels! Ewwww!

MY NEW FAVORITE SNACK! With some chai tea latte?!? WHAT?!? Yes!

Moral of the story: You can find some yummy and interesting stuff in Trader Joe's! AND its not NASTY like PATHMARK!

Rats on a Train!!

Most of my fellow NY-ers have seen this but for my southerners and all others feast your eyes on this........

2 questions...
1. Why is everyone sitting there like its normal to see a rat parade up and down the train?

2. Why isn't that man more hysterical?!! Let a rat run up on me, let alone my FACE, someone call 911 cause I'm dead!!

*sings* Now you're in New York, New York, New Yooooorrrrk!! *Alicia Keys voice*

I'm a fooooooool!

So being here in NY I sometimes find myself missing home, loved ones, my car, Pam (my Eye brow lady) and all sorts of other familiar things. Last night I found myself up till the wee hours of the night jamming to my ipod. Music for me is just amazing, it takes you to a place you’ve once been or somewhere you want to be. It also helps to put into words feelings or thoughts that I myself cant express. With that said Cee Lo’s “Fool for you” (1st verse) says exactly how I feel about love and makes me think of a certain someone, so I thought I’d share. Enjoy :)

That real, that deep, that burning, that amazing unconditional, inseparable love
That feel like forever, that always emotional but still exceptional love
Can’t nobody tell me nothing it is what it is
And any mistake you make I, I just may forgive
Right now, right now at this very moment I still love her like I loved her then
I love her in and out and up and down and ’round and ’round and over and over again
So rare they swear that you just don’t exist
And It’s only one person I can think of that makes me feel like this

And I’m a fool, such a fool for you!

Its like you can just see the emotion coming out of his voice on this verse and it has that old school funk vibe to it. Makes me snap my fingers and tap my foot every single time I hear it!

P.s just so there is no confusion replace those “her” with “him” :)

P.s.p.s Cee Lo’s “The lady Killer” has some good joints on it, you should check it out… I love “Bodies”, “Love Gun” and of course “Fool for you”

Ima call you New New...cause its a New Year duh!

Ok enough with the trying to be serious tone lets get to the fun stuff!! Since it’s a new year I’ll start off with new things. So I got somewhat of a new job, well not really I just moved to a different area, but I’m excited to see the possible potential I have here. They say God works in mysterious ways and I’m watching him work despite uncertainty… I have new friends! You would be surprised at how true the 6 degrees (which I now believe is 2 degrees) of separation really is! I’ve met so many people who have either a common friend, origin, or interest as lil ol’me. I want to say new out look on life but just b/c it’s a new year I don’t believe you have to try and revamp your life and start all over. I just want to stick to my core outlook and do better at achieving my goals and aspirations. Hmm what else is new… I wish I could say new boo, but that department is seriously lacking (maybe that should be a post on its own….in fact it will be). Over all with a new year here I know it brings new challenges, goals, achievements, love, friends and one of my favs laughter! I look forward to all the new things, people and life lessons that are ahead! On that note I know I’m Exxxxxtra late, but better late than never…. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

Enjoy some of the pics from my unforgettable (insider) New Years Eve ;) P.s. Finally got a new camera (yay me!)

~Jamee J.

(Us girls!)

(From Dallas to NY!)

(Hey peeps!)

(Some of my new Friends!)

(I coulda sworn it was NY Eve not Halloween...)

(Snow ball fight!! ok not really they're just good actors!)

My PSA for the day....

…….......Omg I really feel horrible for not making a blog since Nov 5th, so much to the point that I was embarrassed to even show my face, but here I ‘am and instead of starting off with the same ol’ spill (Sorry for my lack of posts) Ill just jump into it and hope you guys understand!

So here we are 12 days into the new year and one month shy of our 6mo anniversary here in the city! I wouldn’t be honest if I said it hasn’t had its share of ups and downs (more ups than downs though) but being the person I ‘am I try not to focus on the downs, and quite frankly I don’t think they can really be considered downs. I say that only because despite my endless thoughts of confusion and sometimes doubtfulness as to why I’m here, I see the cup as half full rather than half empty. Meaning that although I think I’m suffering from a quarter of a century crisis, I know this is only the beginning and one day Ill look back on these times and will have countless “remember the time when” stories to share. With that being said when this blog started (I speak as though its been around for ages huh) its intent was to let friends and family take a look at our lives here in the big city. But sometimes I just want to vent, randomly blab on about my thoughts and even post things that have nothing to do with my life here. So I say alllll that just to say I hope you guys don’t mind that sometimes my posts will have no grand story about all the “cool” stuff happening here in NY but just me being me..... sharing thoughts or random tidbits as only I could (those of you who know me, know that 9 times out of 10 a word often used to describe me is random or weird, which I still dont understand why hehe) ok moving on… See post to follow.

Yours Truly
~JJ

Danielle's Random Thoughts of the Day

Train Dancing: One of my favorite things to see while out and about in NYC is a good street performance...singing, dancing, crazy randomness! I've seen some serious train dancing lately...like America's Best Dance Crew (MTV) type of stuff! Think acrobatic flips, breakin, "boom box" and all. When I really think about it...it really takes guts to dance on a train. Its actually kinda dangerous. I actually saw a dude bust his head on the train ceiling once...but he kept going. LOL.

The non-15%ers: Soooo...working in retail, you interact with all kinds of people. And things can get kinda crazy when there's a sale. And it always cracks me up when people ask me how much something will be with the discount. Maybe the public educational system should focus a little more percentages...because people never know how to figure out how much 15% off equates to. Lol. Maybe it just seems easy to me because I've always been in retail? IDK. Lol.

The not so secret secret: It kills me when I see chicks with weave wear "their hair" up in a ponytail. THAT'S NOT YOUR HAIR!! And we all know your secret! PLEASE JUST STOP! Thank you. Lol.

Come on guys...really?!: Why is it that when some guys on the street tell you you're pretty...they feel the need to look you up and down with THE LOOK? You know...that "I'm kinda crazy and just got out of prison" look? I just want to understand.

Ok...that's enough. Toodles!