Sisterlocks Reflections

Well, the first week of 2007 has come to an end. Work was busy, but rewarding.

I had a drink tonight with my best friend and I'm in a reflective mood. I stopped by Target, my favorite store, on the way home. In line ahead of me was a gentlmen with a happy, smiling, cute little girl about 18 months. I watched as the cashier carefully wrapped a dozen roses. As I surveyed this scene, I smiled and said to him, "you get big props tonight. You're grocery shopping, have the baby and bringing home roses!" He said, "it's been a hard week for everyone - it's the little things that count." I thought, now that's one lucky woman.

So as I drove home, I began to reflect on the "little things." I got a prime parking spot at the Super Target :-). I have a wonderful best friend who I can talk to, listens and isn't judgmental. I'm blessed with a great job, two awesome sons and I'm about to be a grandmother in May.

And through Sisterlocks, I've gained some wonderful friendships. Here's a photo of TRA, Creyole and me on December 21 at Brooklyn's Jazz Dinner Club in Dallas. We had dinner and drinks, listened to some great live jazz and had some good ole gurl conversation. Ain't nothing like sharing with like minded sistuhs!

Here I am a couple of nights later. I enjoyed Brooklyn's so much that I went back to hear more live jazz (Music is one of my passions). Creyole asked how I got this "look." Well during our dinner TRA demonstrated how she created her cute, curly look with bantu knots. My "look" here is a combination of a bantu knot set the night before gone wrong (and not half as cute as TRA's) and a Caruso Steam Curler set the following day resulting in this crinkly/curly look. I probably couldn't recreate it if you paid me to. But that's the beauty of Sisterlocks...they do their thing while allowing me to express mine, whatever that may be and sometimes totally by accident.

Here's how I looked for most of my 12-day winter break. No makeup and freestylin' the whole time, a first for me. I got lots of compliments and my oldest son, "really liked it that way." Which was a pleasant surprise. A nephew home from college said, "your locks look real neat, not messy like some of the people on campus." I even wore them freestyle to work on my first day back. My co-worker (who is African-American) asked, "how'd you get your hair straight?" Which I almost found amusing.

Just random reflections - thanks for reading....peace.

Freestylin with Queen Hatshepsut

I had a great Saturday morning at the Kimbell Art Museum viewing the Queen Hatshepsut exhibit. It closes tomorrow and since I haven't been able to do any of the things I planned during the holiday break, I promised myself I'd not let the Queen leave town without treating myself to a viewing of her artifacts. X was kind enough to accompany me. It was a fascinating exhibit.

Can a queen be a king? In ancient Egypt, Queen Hatshepsut did and reigned for 20 years. Hatshepsut was neither the first nor the last woman to rule Egypt, but her reign was the longest and the most successful. She is not as well known as Cleopatra, however her achievements were more significant. She often dressed in the traditional garb of male pharaohs and even led her troops into battle. She is the only Queen buried in the Valley of the Kings. And check this out - many of the artifacts clearly showed and noted the sistuh's in braids or locks!

Here are some more photos of our visit. I hope you enjoy.

18M Retightening & Tipping

I had my 18 month retightening this past Saturday. It's such a wonderful feeling to have my whole head of locks retightened at one sitting rather than doing them myself over a several day period. I envy those who enjoy retightening their own locks. But having my consultant, GiGi Johnson, retighten my hair is a luxury I afford myself. My head feels so "good" for days afterwards and I walk around with a kind of "bounce" feelin' so free and good about my naturalness especially now that I'm gaining some length and have wonderful body. I can't explain it, but you lockheads know what I mean. (The pic to the right is at Gigi's shop immediately following my retightening. I sometimes curl my hair before my appointment. That way when she's done...I can just strut my stuff! Plus I was going to a concert later that evening.)
My locks grew quite a bit in the 6 weeks since my last retightening and there is definitely a marked difference in my length. At each retightening I experience a new found love of my locks and this journey.
Gigi presented me with this beautiful basket yesterday as a Christmas and client appreciation gift for all of the referrals I've sent her way via my blog and people who inquire "who did your hair?" How thoughtful - but that's just an example of her kind spirit. I am her biggest fan and count it a blessing to have her as a consultant and a friend.

Someone on LockItUp questioned whether they should tip a consultant after the initial locking session. There were a variety of answers from "yes, she has committed 2 days of meticulous work" to "no, you've paid so much already for the installation" Here's my response:

I did not tip after my initial locking session although I was extremely satisfied with my locks and my consultant, but I was also extremely broke afterwards...LOL and really didn't know that I could have/or should have tipped. I had not discovered LockItUp at that time (a wonderful resource for asking just this type of question and a million others.)

But I tip generously at every retightening which has more than made up for my not tipping during installation. I tip at each retightening because I appreciate my consultant's professionalism and speed. When I arrive the chair and my consultant are waiting for me. She retightens me in 2 hours flat, doesn't stop for breaks or to chat on the phone or eat or any of the other things that used to drive me crazy when I would go to a regular beauty shop. My time is precious and for this I'm more than willing to show my appreciation.

I never forget the days of being held captive by a beautician for 4-6 hours - just waiting - because she double or triple booked simply to make the dollars. Or my neck aching from being left in the wash bowl while she squeezed someone else in...so for all of these reasons and more I tip generously at each retightening.

It's really your personal preference and what you can afford...sorry that I went off on a tangent there....I have horrible memories of beauty shops.

More reasons why I just love my Sisterlocks and my natural freedom and will never again be enslaved to the creamy crack or money hungry beauticians.

Proud Mom!

I attended a semi-formal function on Saturday evening. My son was the DJ so I was a proud mom. (My apologies for the quality of the event photo, the lighting wasn't very good, so I made it a sepia tone for better viewing.)

18 Months & Still Luvin My Sisterlocks!

I don't have a whole lot to say tonight. So I'll just post pics of my Sisterlocks at 18 months. I was happy here as you can tell.

My best friend gave me the earrings as a birthday gift. There's a beautiful necklace that goes with them. I was headed to a semi-formal affair in these pics and my hair was set with the Caruso steam curlers. (In the last pic, I'm back home in my favorite silk pj's.)




When I locked in June '05 I remember thinking, "by my birthday my locks will be 6 months old and da bomb! Well I loved them here at 6 months, and I love them even more now at 18 months. And my journey continues...



Six Month Pic