Challenges of 2011

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Hey y'all....I'm not sure how your new year has been going but so far mine has been going up shit's creek. Things are not aligned as they once were and I'm questioning the people in my life and their motives. In a recent conversation with a friend we discussed how it seems that people are falling out of my life and the year just began. In his wise words he told me (in my interpretation) that I was "starting anew, starting fresh with people that want to be an active part of my life. People have a way of eliminating themselves and though you may want to have a new beginning with someone, you are getting it with them not being there. It's fresh." Words to live by I guess. Though his words were very recent, I see that for 2011, I wanted to do things fresh and from scratch. These are some of the challenges that are upcoming for 2011:

1. My hair- " I am not my hair" so blatantly stated by India Aire, that she could not be judged by her character just by looking at what she had on her head. My hair is not exactly a problem of mine or at least I thought it wasn't. There are plenty of times that I dress according to how my hair looks. If my hair is done then my outfit is put together. If my hair looks like shit... well you know the rest. For 2011 I have embraced the Mop Top Maven's (http://www.themoptopmaven.com/) Hair Challenge. Essentially what I am doing is growing out my hair. I am using ancient Indian secrets to add strength, limit dandruff, and add color without chemicals. Needless to say everything is natural including the dye that I will add in one of my Henna treatments in February. Within this challenge is not applying direct heat (flat irons, hot combs, etc.) to my hair for six months. I am already on month one and this challenge is not as hard as it seems. Styling however is where the problem lies. I am on a mission to try new styling methods with my curly hair.

2. My clothes- I told myself that 2011, would be the time where I would focus more on what I wore to work and in the streets. I think it's pretty sad when people sum up your fashion as " Oh, Chimi , yea she don't give a fuck. She'll come outside in sweatpants." That to me wasn't that bad until I had somone at work say something similar. "This will be an opportunity for you to wear your professional clothes." It's really funny to me how dressing with less effort can be characterized as not being professional. I am a professional and maybe I should dress the part. People's comments are not taken as ill-willed or ill-mannered I just see them as a CHALLENGE. So I am posing to have a 30-day challenge of wearing more professional clothing to work and thinking more strategically about what I wear when going out.

These challenges,  BOTH of them I will try to document with pictures. The good, the bad, and the ugly will all be put on here so you guys can see my progress.