WELCOME TO
Hey buds!! I AM BACK! I am so sorry for my absence as of recently but hey, life happens right? I've been trying to catch a grip on life now that I'm Senior Year GANG (let's gooooo), an intern and still trying to keep up with my modeling team. Which brings me to my topic today... how in the world do you force yourself into making hard decisions? This is something I have faced in my life in all aspects when it comes to school, relationships and just things I like to do. I'm sure this something many people have dealt with and it has taken me up until now to know how to navigate through these choices. So, with that being said... IT'S STORY TIME! At the end of last school year, I finally decided to switch my major to public relations from broadcast journalism (broadcasting was cool and all but I just knew it didn't fully fit me). Once I finally got accepted in my major I realized that I was going into my senior year and had never had an internship, so I applied to two. One being Redbird Athletics Communications Department and the other being Palace Events (wedding and party coordinating). I was blessed enough to get accepted into both and receive credit for them as well! But, on the downfall I was going to have 18 credit hours, no job, and the hardest part of it all was having to give up my presidency for my modeling team. But I felt like the sacrifice was worth it all to get myself where I want to be upon graduation. It sucked that I was putting so much on my plate and wouldn't be able to be as heavily involved with the one thing I love to do which is modeling. But sometimes, taking that leap of faith is worth it. My Dad always says to me "Do what you have to do, so you can do what you want to do," and I never fully understood until now. But wait! The story doesn't end there. After all that I had to give up my internship at Redbird Athletics because of needing to get a job (because let's be honest.. it's hard out here for a college student.) I really didn't want to quit because this was my chance to push myself to do something outside of my comfort zone. I didn't want people to think I couldn't do anything but modeling and fashion.. but there comes a point where you can't think about what others think and start BEING HONEST WITH YOURSELF. Redbird Athletics was a great opportunity, but I felt the skills I have been learning with Palace is helping me more for what I want to do once I graduate. I wanted to prove to myself and others that I could do it... But sometimes it's not about that, but more so what will impact you and help push you towards success? Do you need to give that person another chance? Is this going to push you towards the next level or are you just doing what you want to do? DON'T THINK YOU'RE A KNOW IT ALL. I'm still learning this one because I would much rather depend on myself rather than talk to others, but accept the help! If there are people in your corner that can give you advice and people who are more knowledgable than you, let them help! I know personally I hate going to my parents for stuff, but sometimes they are the realest ones on your team, so don't rule them out! THE PROS AND CONS. Corny? Yeah I know. But really, write out the list! What are the risks and rewards. Sometimes seeing it out on paper will help better than all the scattered thoughts in your head. Since I have been gone for a while, I'll be dropping multiple posts this week. BACK ON THE GRIND! Thank you all for the support and you know what to do... Give me feedback! Comment, slide in my DM's or even write me a letter (haha). Whatever you have to do to let me know what you think and something you would want to hear about next! Happy Sunday and have a productive week!
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HEY BUDS!
Sorry for my absence recently but I've been a little tied up between traveling, visiting with family and trying to get ready for my senior year! (WOOHOOO!!) But I am finally writing on the subject that is most important that many have wanted for a long time.. Let's talk about my journey with God and accepting Him into my life. Now before I begin, let me start by saying I am not an expert or exactly where I want to be fully in my relationship with Christ.. but that's what I think is the beauty in this blog. We all have different paths and we all go about our journey in the best way to see fit. This is an open dialogue to allow my truth to help you and for you to help me and others that will read the comments. I want us to not only be able to express what it is like once you get to a great place with God in your life, but what it is like in the midst of it. I have grown up in an house hold where God has always been very important: say your prayers before bed, grace your food, and attending church on Sunday. But as I have grown up I have had to learn that a relationship with Christ is SO much more than that, from when you were little and just recognized his presence. Because when you start to read the Bible and you live by His word... it is a lot of pressure to feel that you kind of have to be perfect. Of course we all know that God is accepting and loving us for who you are, but when you have that sort of unconditional love knowing in the back of your mind all the wrongs you have done and all the times you didn't place God first when you know you should have... it is hard to believe you are even deserving of this kind of love. But I have found that you and I and all of of us are. Hard to accept right? Once I got to college my relationship with Christ suffered because I was away from home and wasn't surrounded by that constant reminder to keep God at center like I had with my family. I finally had to learn to do it on my own and I was lost. I realized that my life had shifted. I was hurting and constantly trying to fill a void for something that I didn't even realize I lost. I was going out with my friends trying my hardest to have a good time but every single time it ended the same... and that was with me in tears. I was going through so many emotions at the time because I didn't have any sense of stability. For a while I didn't care, then I was mad at the world and then just felt complete sadness. Until one day I just had a revelation and I realized that nothing in my life was centered because I had not placed that importance on God that I once had when I was at home. So, I changed. I altered some of my habits, woke up every morning listening to Gospel, started REALLY reading the Bible and daily Devotionals on my Bible app (I know y'all know about that app.. and it is the TRUTH!! So if you don't have it, go get it!). What I found from just after about a month or so of doing this was peace, an eased heart and an unconditional love that I was looking for in everyone else besides the one I knew had my back the entire time. And the results have been amazing. Since then I have had my best ever semester I've had in college getting 3 A's and 2 B's, landed 2 internships in my field, gotten a car, started this blog and most importantly I have peace. Yes, of course there are days where I hurt and worry just like everyone else, but good days surely are outweighing my bad now. It's all because I have been serious about my prayer life and my relationship with God. I might slip sometimes with reading my devotionals or praying as much as I can but I always give thanks, even in the bad times. If you are reading this and want to take that leap. Do it. I promise you won't regret it. Friendships, relationships and family is all great but nothing can stand in the place of having God in your life. I'd love to hear from y'all about how you are dealing with your journey, what have you found to be helpful or destructive? Do you have people in your corner to help hold you accountable on your journey and pray for you and with you? Thanks for reading! Comment, share and give me feedback. Be back next week!
Hey buds!
I'm back!! As many of you may already know, I was able to take an awesome 5 day trip to New York City with my good friend Keely! Her sister and now my friend, Madisen, has moved there to start her career working with Condé Nast (or better known as the people who run Vogue, Teen Vogue and GQ, just to name a few.) I was super pumped about going, not only for a nice vacay from working and every day life, but also to get a behind the scene look at what Madisen does and all the cool things New York has to offer. I'm going to go day by day and tell you about some of the highlights of my experience! T H U R S D A Y CONDÉ: Keely and I flew out at 6 a.m. on Thursday morning and were honestly dead the entire plane ride haha. But when we got to NYC we had a packed schedule and got a move on! We went straight over to Condé after dropping our stuff off at Madisen's apartment and got a tour of the whole place. Best way to describe it is simply... WOW! I've never seen such a great place to work at. There was an amazing food court, gallery and an awesome view of the city... just to name a few. 9/11 MUSEUM: Afterwards we went to the 9/11 museum which I would highly recommend to go see if you are ever in NY. We were there for 2 hours and still didn't make it through the entire thing. But the records that have been kept is absolutely mind blowing. From left over pieces of the trade centers to actual documented voice messages to people that lost their lives, I was truly blown away (and I'm not a huge museum person lol). WESTLIGHT: Before we turned in for the night we went to a hotel that had a rooftop looking over the city. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!
F R I D A Y
BROOKLYN BARGE: There was a cute place that Maddie found to take Keely and I that was like a bar with little tables on the water. Although me and Keely felt a little motion sickness at first, it definitely got better! I really enjoyed this cute place looking over the water and Brooklyn Bridge. HOTEL CHANTEL: Actually not a Hotel at all but more of a cute rooftop that had awesome Happy Hour deals and my favorite drink that I had while there... FROSÉ!! What's frosé? Frozen Rosé for a great deal of 4 dollars that left my pockets and taste buds happy. It was absolutely great! LITTLE ITALY: We had some bomb dinner here before the play and it was set up exactly how Italy is with all the outdoor and open front eating options. Pasta was so yummy and I didn't even get to finish it because of how filling it was. ANASTASIA ON BROADWAY: This play was so cute! I had never seen the movie before so I really enjoyed seeing the play. The actors did a phenomenal job and Maddie even cried at the end lol. STARDUST: If you ever go to New York please go check out Stardust Diner! It's a little restaurant near Time Square where all the servers are trying to make it to Broadway so they perform! They have a wall on the inside of all the people who have made it out and the rest of the people there are surely on their way!
S A T U R D A Y
MET STEPS: Where my Gossip Girl fans at? I know y'all know the famous steps that Serena and Blair ate their yogurt at, well I got to visit! I honestly just wanted to be cliché and get a picture on the steps lol.
DA BOAT: LOL Y'ALL!! This was the HIGHLIGHT of the trip. This boat cruise we went on one night took us out on the Hudson River around the Statue of Lib and had a DJ and a bar. When I tell y'all it was wild... I mean it was crazy! That was the most fun I had in such a long time. Everyone was just turnt and no one sat down the whole time which made it even better.
S U N D A Y BRUNCH: We went to a brunch at this place called Staton Social that served spiked snow cones. It was really cool! They also served food in appetizer style so we were able to go multiple rounds of different foods. M O N D A Y SHAKE SHACK: This was our last time out before we went to the airport but it was a good way to end the trip. A really good burger and shake place that definitely had me stuffed!
NYC was such a great time and I feel so blessed to have been able to visit and see all that I have seen. New York truly does have so much to offer, especially for people with BIG DREAMS. I would highly recommend visiting if you have never been. If you have comment and tell me what was your favorite thing you did! If you have any questions about my trip please feel free to reach out. Until next week!
Hey buds! Sorry I was gone last week but I have a lot going on and I am also in the works of getting my new website up to post my blogs on. So here’s some good news! If you haven’t heard by now, I have just received not one… but TWO internships for this upcoming year. The first working with Redbird Athletics Communications Department and the second working with a party/wedding planning business. I am too pumped! But now on to the post. I asked on Twitter and Facebook what you all wanted to read about next and the post that won is my hair journey. I know plenty of you are wondering why I would even think to cut my hair off when my hair was so long, right? Well the problem is I was everyone’s hair goals besides my own. When I was little my hair was probably at its peak… it was poppin’! Lol, look at baby Kay! I didn’t even know what I had. But my hair was so long and healthy because my Mom and Nana both worked hard to take really good care of my hair and no one was allowed to touch it! Fast forward, when I was at my elementary school, my hair started to change. Although I do have a really fine texture of hair, my curls weren’t as wavy as you see in the picture but a lot more full. I didn’t like that. So what did I do? Put a ton of mousse on it and try to weigh it down and basically not take care of my hair the way I should have. And what is the result? A terrible mess. Lol. I know it was still long but it wasn’t really at it’s potential and I wasn’t taking care of it the way that I should have. Pretty much, I thought I was white and was washing my hair WAY more than I should have which stripped a lot of my natural oils. So in high school, I didn’t think curly hair was cute because this was my first time going to a diverse school and all the girls were either wearing weave or their hair straight and so I wanted to fit in…. DAMAGED THE MESS OUT OF IT. I know y’all see how fried my curl pattern was. And because it was so fried, it led me to straighten it more and more. Until I finally came to my senses around my Junior and Senior year of high school and started my own little “hair journey.” I went 8 months without putting any heat to my hair, and my hair truly thanked me for it. As you can see my curls were really the best that they had been in such a long time. All that damaged hair in the front was gone and my hair really was doing so much better. It motivated me to keep doing better and use limited heat on my hair. But of course, I went and messed it up again. I got bored with the plain brown curly hair and added color into the mix that has had such an effect on my hair and it’s curl pattern. Although since I’ve been in college, I’ve been devoted to taking better care of my hair… it just hasn’t been the same since adding color and also still putting some heat on it here and there. So I battled for a long time about cutting my hair because I really just wanted a fresh start. I noticed my hair wasn’t curling to it’s potential and it made me start to hate my hair. I was taking care of my hair for such a long time trying to get it to grow and it was just staying at the same length. I realized the only reason why I hadn’t cut it is because of what everyone was saying around me.. but I had to make the decision to cut my hair for me and I’m so happy I did. My hair has been so much healthier and it’s been a lot easier to take care of my hair as well. The original purpose of me cutting it was so that I could get it to grow back longer and healthier than it was before and so far so good! I hope this helps some people that have thought about cutting their hair. Know that it is just hair and it WILL grow back. your beauty is not defined by the length of your hair and if you ask me, I feel more beautiful with short, but healthy hair.
If you have anymore questions about my hair and my big chop let me know! Share and comment back please! So last week I did a little fashion but this week it’s back to the advice and the topic is *drum rolls* how do we keep motivated when it seems like everyone is passing us by?
I don’t know about y’all, but this is something I know I struggle with a lot because it’s so natural to believe you are never doing enough when you see others are doing such amazing things! Especially when things aren’t moving at the pace you would like. I know this feeling very well because I have been feeling like this my entire college career and still a little bit now, but ever since I’ve been doing these few things, it has gotten better. My freshman year of college I was a hot mess to say the least. I came into college thinking I could coast by like I did in high school and thought I would just major in Broadcast Journalism like my older cousin and life would just work itself out…. WRONG. I fell flat on my face after that semester and ever since have been digging myself out of a deep deep hole and have always felt 10 steps behind everyone else. You would’ve never guessed, right? Many might not know this about me because of all the things I’m involved in, but in reality, those things I’m involved in have saved me. This brings me to my first point of actively seek what is for you. When you are aggressive in this process of finding what suites you, you’ll find many things you are good at and like to do and you’ll also find things that you aren’t so great at or don’t enjoy that you can cross off the list. Being really proactive in this process has only made me feel more secure about where I am heading and has allowed me to enjoy the process of figuring me out a lot more. Their journey is NOT your journey. When you see someone doing great things, you have to realize it might not be your time yet but it is probably theirs. You don’t know their struggle and hardship to get where they are, so you have to let them be great in that moment! There are things we learn by going through certain things that will prepare us for when we have good things coming to us. It’s better to be in your moment and realize you are getting prepared for better, rather than being mad for not having better in that moment. Sometimes I think, “if I had this in this moment, would I even know what to do with it,” or “have I learned everything I need in order for me to be successful in what I want.” When I ask myself those questions it puts a lot in perspective for me because I would rather go without having now, if it means that I can be successful and have all I want in more, when the timing is right. Don’t block ya blessings, being jealous of someone else’s. Not saying y’all be hating but let’s be real, everyone gets a little jealous when you see someone with something you want or feel that you deserve! But you have to remember it’s their turn and you want to make sure you’re genuinely supporting people when great things happen for them so when your turn comes around you have people ready to cheer you on too! We all need a support team, and in this day and age with everyone being everyone else’s biggest critic, we definitely need to spread more love! God is watching and y’all know he don’t like ugly. #heknowsyourheart #soactright #amen This too shall pass. Oh yes, hard times hurt and suck, but know that no season lasts forever! Things will always get better and everything you are going through is building you into the great and ORIGINAL person you are meant to be. Don’t stunt your growth by trying to rush yourself into something you aren’t ready for, because believe me, when you’re ready, it will happen. Just like life deals some bad cards, it deals good ones as well. It’s your job to keep the faith and speak POSITIVITY over your life. That’s all I got for this Sunday but I hope you all have a prosperous and wonderful week! I can’t say enough, thank you for the support. Comment, share and chat with me about what y’all think! Hey buds! Sorry for the late post today. I was able to be graced with my Nana’s presence this weekend! For anyone who knows me, knows I adore my Nana and she came to visit me at school. Here’s a quick pic of us from yesterday. But this post isn’t about her lol! (maybe next time). I ran a poll on Twitter and asked around on Facebook to see what everyone wanted to read about first and although it was close, most people wanted to read about finding yourself after relationships. I wasn’t trying to sway the votes but I’m too excited to write about this because this was the topic I was rooting for. I think this is something huge this generation needs to speak on so let’s start chatting. Picking up my broken pieces has been something huge for me in these past few years. My only lasting relationship was in high school and the beginning of college that lasted for two years. I believe that this was the only time I have experienced real love and because of me falling head over heels, this unfortunately was also the time I lost who I was trying to give my all to my boyfriend at the time. When we broke up I was embarrassed to show that I didn’t really know what to do with myself because I portrayed myself to be such an independent person and didn’t want anyone to know I lost who I was. I went through many phases after that relationship… sadness, anger, and even a bit of bitterness. I tried dating other people to only be let down time and time again. I thought for so long that I needed someone else to make me happy just because who doesn’t like having someone there giving you unconditional love? But I eventually realized that I would never be happy with anyone else until I could be happy with myself and love me for who I am. The process has not been easy, and it still continues on today but I have found some key things that has allowed me to get to a place of being content.
5. Find What You like: Yeah so basically, if you’re single, mingle! I know, I know.. we’re all dating for marriage and want to find the perfect one, but we are still young! It’s no way you’ll know everything you like/don’t like or need and don’t need in a relationship by not getting to know people. It doesn’t always have to be super serious. Get to know people, build friendships and if it leads into something, then so be it. But you will only lead yourself into being stressed out if you think every person you encounter is the one. Be patient! It’s going to happen in time. Although I’d rather be in a relationship just because I’m a hopeless romantic, I am so content and even borderline happy with being alone… But it’s only because of the five things that I mentioned that I was able to get to this point. Like I said before.. it is not an easy process, and it definitely won’t happen overnight. But enjoy every moment of it because you are getting preparred for better things every step of the way. I’d love to hear what you think or if there was something this blog didn’t address that you are still wondering about, let me know! Thanks for reading. HEY buds!
Welcome to my blog Bouquet of Kay. I guess the first question you all have is “where did the name Bouquet of Kay come from?” Well, flowers is something that I truly resonate with for more reasons than one. As some may know, when I was in 8th grade my life changed forever. I lost my best friend, who happened to be my Mom, to colon cancer. #yeahCancerSucks Since then, I have been trying to find ways to allow her light to shine through me in whatever way it takes form. Growing up, my Mom and I would always do arts and crafts together and one thing I distinctly remember is her doodling flowers and at some point making flower pens and selling them to friends and co-workers. Ever since, flowers have been really symbolic to me. In a bouquet of flowers, they have all grown at different times but are placed together. Some may bloom faster and undoubtably, some will serve their time quicker than others. For me, this represents the passing of my Mom, Papa and many other loved ones I have lost along the way. But, regardless of the flowers whose petals have fallen, that made the bouquet unique and beautiful, there is still a flower blooming. Me. Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember not to compare my blooming process to another flower. However, as of recently I have really been enjoying every bit of my growth and I hope that you will follow my journey with me with this blog because it is not only for me, but for everyone who reads as well! You may notice I have some previous blog posts that are a little more serious and news like. Well, this interest sparked because of a class I took last semester where I was assigned to build my own website. I decided to continue it on and make it more fun. On Bouquet of Kay I will be focusing a lot on fashion and lifestyle stories.. but I want to hear from you as well! Tell me what you want to talk about! Another cool addition to this blog that I am doing is called “The Rose Bud,” where I will be taking any questions or any situations that I would love to give you advice on… and no worries, it will be completely anonymous! To stay connected with me beyond this blog, I will be doing pickings of the day on Instagram and Twitter where I will post quotes, scriptures and affirmations. I will make posts every Sunday and I hope if there is something in particular you want to talk about you’ll let me know so I can write and we can chat. I am really excited to get this blog going and I hope you all are excited as well to follow along and grow with me! |