The Life of A Ladybug

Happy birthday, to the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!

Happy birthday to the most fittingly named Sarai Michaela (Sarai = my princess, Michaela = Who is like God?).

Princess Sarai ... Growing you, carrying you, birthing you and mothering you has been and continues to be, the joy of my life.  Everything else I have ever done pales in comparison to you.  Every compliment I have ever been given means nothing, unless you feel that I've done well.  Hearing applause from audiences is great, but when I hear yours ... my feet barely touch the ground.  Seeing my articles in print rocks, but reading your first love note to me in your lopsided scrawl made my heart sing.  I dance because being your mother has added new dimensions to my life.  I sing because I am happy in my heart.  I write because knowing you has given me new things to say.

Simply put, you are my magnum opus.  Pinky fingers forever, Sasha.

From this:

To this:

How did it happen so fast?

Beauty Queens (and King!)

Sarai declared me Queen Mommy of Windsor Mill, herself Princess Sarai Michaela of Kevsway and Vic, King Daddy of Windsor Mill.  Unfortunately, the only tiara she has prominently features purple and pink "jewels."  Vic was not so happy about sporting it, but I managed to get the picture anyway.  He's not sure how he feels about my posting it on the blog, but I couldn't help myself.

A small natural-haired beauty

Sarai just got her hair washed.  This is it, in all its natural, curly, kinky, thick, shiny glory.  Wow.  I wonder where she got that hair from?  LOL!  She definitely takes after her mom in the hair department.  Fortunate girl.

I love that I decided to go natural when Sarai was just an infant.  That means that I'll have the privilege of teaching her to how to nurture, protect and love her hair just as it grows from her scalp and that I have the fortune of having already gone through this journey, so I can give her firsthand knowledge of how to love her own unique little Black beauty.

Intervene Makeup SPF 15

Elizabeth Arden graciously allowed me to try their new foundation, Intervene Makeup SPF 15.  I started off happy with this foundation, as it has the minimum acceptable amount of sunscreen, SPF 15.  I am a huge believer in wearing sunscreen every day, rain or shine, so this makes me happy.

According to the Elizabeth Arden materials, this liquid foundation is supposed to "smooth away imperfections for brighter, even-toned skin" and I've found that to be true.  It also supposedly "visibly delays the appearance of fine lines, protects skin with antioxidants, [and] offers medium/full coverage."  To test out these assertions, I took a picture of myself sans make-up (yikes!) and then a picture wearing nothing but Intervene Makeup.  I used it as foundation and did spot treatment to cover dark marks.

Before:

And after (with silly pics of me and Sarai thrown in for good measure):

I don't have any visible lines yet, but I can say that my skin looked much more even and smoother after application.  I picked my shade from looking at pictures on the website and was pleased to find that the shade match was pretty good, though I might have been able to go a shade lighter.  I think this is a great addition to my "foundation wardrobe" and can see myself putting it to good use during the summer.  It offers medium/full coverage, but I didn't find that it felt heavy or mask-like, which I love.  You can buy Intervene Makeup SPF 15 at Elizabeth Arden counters for $36.

For Suzanna

I don't know if you can see it well, but this is a pic of me rockin' the red lipstick/black liquid liner/old Hollywood look.  Vic and I were at a friend's Valentine's Day party (hi, Brookie!).  I was an old Hollywood screen queen and he was a gangster - LOL! (click on the photo to enlarge)

New digital camera for Christmas!

So, yay!  Mama got a brand new digital camera for Christmas (to replace the one I lost - who does that?)!  Look forward to lots more pictures here on The Life of A Ladybug.  At least once a week, I'll be posting a pic of my make-up and walking you through how I achieved the look.  And maybe I'll throw in ensemble pictures, too.  I'm so excited! 

Since I'm on my new picture kick, for your viewing "pleasure", I'm attaching a picture of me au natural.  I'm wearing absolutely no make-up and my glasses in this picture, so you can see exactly what I look like before my beautifying process.  Please keep in mind that this picture was just taken a few minutes ago - so please excuse the weariness of my "Oh my God, it's the day after Christmas and I was so tired I had to take two naps today" face.  By the way, you can get a good view of the Sisterlocks in the pic.

Some pictures from my photo shoots w/Shannon

My friend Shannon is a phenomenal photographer and since I didn't have any great pictures of myself in costume, she agreed to do some photo shoots with me.  These aren't all of them, but yesterday, we went to the most beautiful place and took pics of me in tribal bellydance garb.  Also, if you scroll all the way down, you'll see a couple shots of me from my cabaret shoot. 

I love them!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/s_parks_s