Weekend Advice

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... & dishtowels as head wraps.

Socks

One (of many, many, many) thing I love about the Karen is their style. It's quirky. Functional. Thrifty. Unique ... & Hilarious.

I would love to start a Karen Fashion blog, but alas, my clients are scared enough of me - it's hard to imagine how they'd react to photo shoots. So I'll just say - in the last 24 hours I've seen: 

A bath towel used as a scarf. Bathrobes. Socks used as arm warmers for adults and tights for children. A Winnie the Pooh costume. 


I'll keep you updated. Love them.

Oh, Georgie

"Tell me, who am I without you, by my side?" 

- George Harrison, What is Life

Monday Blues

I had such a fun, thrifty, cozy, filling weekend with my mom and Sister. Wish it wasn't over.

Van

Cruised around downtown St. Paul in the KOM van this morning... hadn't driven one since LSI intern days. Made me feel like a refugee resettlement Super Mom!

bigcoffee

I start work at 8:30. Today, I woke up at 8:20. 
What do most people do when they realize they've overslept? I'm curious. Here's my breakdown: 

- Panic.
- Determine if hair needs to be washed (it always does)...
- Wash hair. 
- Call boss.
- Throw together a lunch. 
- Run around the house 4 times. 
- Buy a HUGE coffee and caramel roll from Swede Hollow Cafe. 
- Freak a bit more, then immediately enjoy: lack of traffic, sunshine, coffee, extra-sleep-energy.
- Bust into work at 9.
- Practice "GOOOOD MORRRRNING" with eager ESL students in the hallway.

Lets do this.

It Gets Better

If you have the Internet - you've probably heard about Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burn's video speaking out to youth in the GLBT community. Sending the message that IT GETS BETTER. 

When I saw how much the video had affected my dear friend Kimberly Hope Athay I decided it was time  to make the 13 minute commitment to watch it myself. Because Kim - she has a good sense for important things. Here you be. Watch it. Think about it. & I added in another for good measure, because today - I too needed someone to tell me - It Gets Better. 

"happyiest moment"

I probably over-use my 23 year old limit of omg, o.m.g., oh. ma. ga., so on & so forth. BUT THIS, this is a top OMG moment.

Due to my space travel a few weeks ago - I failed to update my lovely blog readers about some of the best news (or the best news) I've heard in weeks, months, maybe even the last year (that is - after gettin' hired).

Khalda had her baby*!!
Anwar sent me an e-mail titled, "you invited to chair our happyiest moment". Wasn't expecting ... "As I told you the doctor told us the baby is girl, but surprisingly the baby is boy." It looks like Sarah Jeanna is out of the name game, but oh well, Ahmed Anwar probably sounds better anyway.

Immediately I splurged on some Skype minutes & called my sister up! Thinking I was being sneaky ... Khalda didn't think twice about it (note, we haven't heard each others voices in over a year) she just goes, "Oh HI. You hear the news? Jeanna - I SOOOO happy."

We chit chatted for about 10 minutes & I can't even begin to explain how happy it made me. Hearing her voice/laugh was meaningful enough, but to be able to share in such a happy moment. BEAMING. SMILING. GLOWING.That's all I've got, I can't form sentences.

Welcome to the world baby Ahmed. You've got yourself an amazing mum, & an excited American Auntie.

PS: I keep pestering the woman for pictures, & she keeps reminding me that I should cool it- she just had a baby. She wins. Updates to come. xoxo

*Didn't remember she was preggers? No problem - here's a reminder.

Homebody Weather

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Most of the time - I itch for the go, go, go. But lately - all I've been cravin' is a nice chair. Plenty of adventures in books, cups of tea and nap-dreams, yeah? 

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via:  1. pink of perfection 2. elle deco 3. uo 4. severely vintage 5. yvestown

InstaFan

 

...of Information is Beautiful. 

It's just that! Informational & Beautiful. 

Check out the website & I can guarantee you'll learn something without straining your brain. Awesome? Yes.

Burma: It Can't Wait

30 pages deep into Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo soooo my head is filled with an anti-celebrity aid talk, but my heart still says whatever works, works. Be entertained, learn something. xo

now

"The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second-best time is now."

- African Proverb

Ready for a Rant?

DISCLAIMER: If you're not in the reading mood - skip to the second half. 
Tonight. I* almost didn't go. I'm tired of being alone. I'm tired of venturing to events alone. For paying for parking alone. I'm tired of being the loner the corner. Tired of creeping people out by attaching too quickly - talking too much - trying to force/flatter people into being my BFF - & if not forever, at least the evening.

I almost didn't go. I went in circles around Dinkytown trying to find free parking. It was a failed attempt. I was going to have to fork over an hour of pay for a mere two hours of parking.

I almost didn't go because I walked in the wrong direction. With my phone (aka safety net) sitting where I accidently left it - the driver's seat of my car.

I paid an hours worth of pay for parking. & I was arriving late (from walking out of the way) to an event where I knew full well I'd be the girl hangin' solo in the corner.

But, Alhamdulillah I went to the Not for Sale sponsored event at Bordertown Coffee to listen to James Stewart lecture on what it means to be an an abolitionist. The twist - Stewart is a historian and his claim to fame is expertise in the US abolitionist movement during the transatlantic slave trade. Back in the days of the civil rights movement when he was 23 and in college - he asked - how did we get here? How did we get to this movement? & has spend the last 45+ years figuring it out. & has been quite successful.

So why is Mr. Stewart is a bit annoyed? Because he has spend his entire career studying the grassroots and political movements that eventually abolished slavery ...no regrets... BUT today - there are double the amount of slaves in the world in comparison to time of the transatlantic slave trade. Yes, I said DOUBLE. 27 million enslaved people today. So this guy - abandoned the Historian way - and started using his knowledge of history to bring awareness/progression to the future. Because even if you don't understand modern day slavery - we must question - where are the lines between slaves and oppressed persons?

Are you catching the drift that I love anyone who motivates me? Therefore, I love this man. His humor. His drawl. His analogies. e.t.c.

Stewart asked as all to become abolitionists. Not half hearted abolitionists. Not tomorrow. But today. This is where I wish I could quote/would have taken better notes - ready for ramble? He said that in all his studies, all his books, travels and research he found it was the committed, full on abolitionists that found success. The people like Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman and John Brown weren't all that different from you and I - but they, they woke up abolitionists. They brushed their teeth as abolitionists. They wanted slavery to be abolished yesterday.

He asked us to look at the person next to us - and truly imagine owning them. He asked us to close our eyes and imagine being the forced prostitute, child solider, enslaved laborer - and attempt to feel owned the way in which they do. Afterwards, can you really feel comfortable with what's going on around the world?

Maybe it was easier back in the day. Slavery was visible. It was acceptable. There were records. There was something/one to fight. Today, the average person cannot stand up to a trafficker, we're dealing with the secrecy of the Internet, there is no opposition, the industry is HUGE, slavery is not in our faces. But slavery is in our world, in our state, in our city. It is in our products. Our chocolate. Our coffee. Slavery is still everywhere.

Welcome Non-Readers: 
So what? What do you do? How can you even start to end something so gigantic. & the answer is - what you're good at. This is where I got excited. Because it doesn't take someone powerful and famous to make a change. Anyone can be and act as an abolitionist. Because the only way modern day slavery will ever come to an end - is if we can create a movement. If we can start seeing human beings. It can end if its demise is engrained in our everyday. If we can agree - that it should have been obsolete yesterday.

Some people, can go out and be committed lawyers for victims of human trafficking. Others can write heart-wrenching/warming pieces about slavery today. Myself - I can educate my blog readers & refugee co-workers/clients & beyond! You - could choose to read a book on modern-day slavery. Or donate a book to a library, a high school. Not a reader? Watch a documentary on modern-day slavery - then pass the title on. Watch it with friends. Are you an artist? Create. Are you teacher? Teach. Are you a crazy person? Do something crazy. Bring your talents and abolitionism together. It's possible. & together - everyone teamed with their passions/talents - can create a movement. We can end it. Because we've done it before.

& so. When I left. I wasn't alone. At least my parking spot was an hour's pay rather than a week, or the value of my sold body. I left part of a group. A movement. & with that friends will eventually come. & until then - at least I have my voice and freedom. & some energy. Come on. Call yourself an abolitionist.

*my apologies for the whinny I I I I I talk, but it got better, right?