Wordless Wednesday-July 31, 2019

In Diva Love, 

Pamela 👑💯💕

Wordless Wednesday-June 12, 2019

In Diva Love, 

Pamela 🙏🏽👑❤️♊️

Wordless Wednesday-June 5, 2019

In Diva Love,

Pamela 🙏🏽❤️👑

Wordless Wednesday-May 29, 2019

In Diva Love,

Pamela 🙏🏽💕👑

Wordless Wednesday-May 1, 2019

Blessings,

Pamela 🙏🏽❤️👑

Wordless Wednesday-February 13, 2019

In Diva Love,

Pamela 👑🙅🏽‍♀️✊🏽

Wordless Wednesday-January 30, 2019

In Diva Love,

Pamela 💜👑❤️

Wordless Wednesday-January 16, 2019

In Diva Love,

Pamela 🙏🏽👑💯

Welcome to 2019!!!

I didn’t compose this but it is a great way to begin the year on a positive note. God always shows up even when things look cloudy to us. Trust Him and His timing. Trust the process too. Make this year your best year! Chose you! Take risks! Love well! God bless! Happy New Year!

In Diva Love, 

Pamela 🙏🏽🥂👑

Wordless Wednesday-November 28, 2018

In Diva Love, 

Pamela 👑♥️🙏🏽

Wordless Wednesday-November 21, 2018

In Diva Love,

Pamela ♥️👑

Wordless Wednesday-September 19, 2018

In Diva Love,

Pamela 💜🙏🏽👑

Summer Roundup

As summer draws to a close, I have been remiss in writing my blog. Way too much fun to take the time and get it all out. So here’s a brief review of how I’ve spent what several of my friends are calling #theyearof50. After returning from Nawlins, I caught up with my friends, Van and Terry. No laughs spared with those two. This time we got to celebrate Van who got a new job. Next up was a celebration of my oldest BFF, Monica and her Golden birthday. What a great reason for the college BFF, Sonja and me to make a road trip to the place that built me. Hello, Cleveland! Guess who we got to hang out with there? My brother, Gerald. We saw lots of my family and friends and ate way too much but boy did we have a wonderful time. 

Monica planned a weekend long celebration with her very closest girlfriends and called it Monica 5.0. Talk about a fun time. Seven women embarked on downtown Cleveland, OH and had a blast. On Friday, we were supposed to do a Happy Hour boat ride but we enjoyed each other so much that wearrived at the pier and the boat had already departed. Not to be thwarted, we made arrangements to get on the boat on Saturday and came up with a new plan. The drinks and conversation flowed effortlessly despite the fact that some of us had never met each other. We ended up doing a small photo shoot in downtown Cleveland and eventually made our way to Michaels Simon’s restaurant, Mabel’s BBQ. Let’s just characterize that as a meat fest. Then we made our way to the chocolate bar for late night drinks. To say I felt like a stuffed pig would be an understatement.

On Saturday, it was a bit dreary so we took our time motivating. Once we got it together, we did another mini photo shoot and headed to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Can you believe that this native Clevelander hadn’t ever set foot in that place? What a gem! It was a great experience because I absolutely can’t live without music. There is much to experience and learn about the history of Rock and Roll. I think the layout is pretty nice and I didn’t feel like there was a need to rush through any area of the museaum. While I think there might be way too much information on Elvis, I learned a lot and was impressed with the artifacts on display throughout the museum. I loved the Evolution of Hip-Hop and silly me got a great picture with my favorite artist, the Purple one, Prince. Once done, we got ourselves together to take the boat ride. We did not miss the Goodtime III this time. A dance party was the theme and the people watching was epic. It was a gorgeous night to see Cleveland’s skyline from Lake Erie. Sunday culminated with one more group photo and a lovely brunch where a few more folks joined us and brought Monica’s 5.0 to an end. 

After hanging our with more of my family, Sonja and I made it back to the DMV safe and sound. My July culminated in celebrating my niece, Jayla’s  6th birthday. That stinker is growing up way to fast. After an impromptu dinner, she choraled us into a dance party and and game night. On a sad note, we bid her and the rest of my sister’s family goodbye as they relocated to Rochester, NY. My month ended with a bowling fundraiser for PAGE, Inc. That is a non-profit, started by my friend Telia, to help teens succeed in every area of life. August brought me back to reality. Work was calling and we had to be ready for a new group of students. We bid good bye to one of the Village children and headed to Baltimore for those farewell festivities. It was a great opportunity for us to catch up with our friends who are like family and some people with whom we used to attend church. Sonja and I once again to a quick road trip to NC to drop off my godchild for her last year of college at NCAT. 

I got to visit with my brother once again and even got to see him perform two pieces in a spoken word event. My own Thorpettes also embarked on their own journies as seniors in their respective schools. My older one will graduate in May from  JWU and the younger one is completing his last year of high school. Time flies. Next year this time, I will be an empty nester. What a bittersweet, but sobering thought.  So sobering that I ended my summer with a trip to a winery I hadn’t visited before. This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend a performance of Hamilton at the Kennedy Center. It was worth the hype! I loved the diversity of the cast and found the production quite entertaining. If only I could’ve learned history this way. 

I am ready for Fall. It’s been a full summer and I have enjoyed every moment of it. God is good and I feel blessed to have spent most of my time with the people I love and care about the most. Count your blessings and remember, life is about experiences and the people you encounter along the way. The year of 50 is shaping up just fine. Again, I am here for it all. I apologize for the length of this post and I will try to be more diligent about posting. In the meantime, get busy living because life is precious and it waits for no man (or woman). 

   

                      

In Diva Love, 

Pamela 👑💜🙏🏽

Wordless Wednesday-May 2, 2018

In Diva Love,

Pamela 💯👑❤️

Wordless Wednesday-April 18, 2018

In Diva Love, 

Pamela 💜👑❤️

Wordless Wednesday-April 11, 2018

In Diva Love, 

Pamela💜👑❤️

Wordless Wednesday-March 21, 2018

In Diva Love,

Pam💯👑💜

The Commandments of Pam

We all have a set of rules or core values that we live by, whether spoken or secret. Since the New Year has begun, I’ve been relatively quiet and mostly keeping to myself. Kind of a switch for an extroverted person such as myself. For whatever reason, I am in a very self-reflective mode and doing some serious introspection. I think I live pretty authentically but I want to make sure that I’m putting my best self forward and being the best version of me that I can be. As I grow older my tolerance for BS is extremely low and I really am having a hard time with phony and fake. So it came to me that I have some rules that never change....like God had the Ten Commandments. Here they are, in no particular order, but each one is equally important.

1. Be Pamela-I can’t be anyone but myself...the sum of my successes and failures, my hopes and dreams including the ones that have been deferred. The uniquely blessed, somewhat flawed woman who has become very comfortable in her own skin.

2. Just because someone is treating you poorly, doesn’t mean you have stoop to their level. Karma never arrives when you want her to but she will eventually show up. 

3. Build your tribe well. Choose the people who have a front row set to your life wisely. My core circle of friends is tight, trustworthy, and supportive.

4. Live your truth and reality. Your life and experiences have been crafted for you and the grass isn’t alway greener in someone else’s yard. 

5. Have a belief system. My hope and faith are in the Lord, Jesus Christ. I love a divine appointment where God shows up and shows out unexpectedly. Prayer does change you and the situation.

6. Take time for yourself-indulge in your favorite hobbies-for me it’s reading, traveling, coloring, and wine tasting. Getting by yourself and focusing on things you love takes you away from the noise and distractions of the world.

7. Find at least one positive in each day. Trouble don’t last always and joy does come in the morning. Smiling is free.

8. Follow your intuition and trust your gut. 

9. Things are just things. Don’t let them define you. You can’t take any of it with you when you leave the earth.

10. Choose love. Choose forgiveness. Choose kindness. 

These are my basic principles. I am sure you have your own. Let me know yours. Be a blessing!

In Diva Love,

Pam 👑🙏🏽💜

My #hashtag

It’s the year that most of my closest friends and I

Celebrate our golden birthday. When I look into the mirror, I find it absolutely unbelievable that I’m turning 50. It is what it is and life continues no matter what curves and valleys we face. So it’s definitely real. Thank goodness, Black don’t crack and we all look fantastic for our age. We got them good genes. We have weathered many storms and are still standing. That being said, until June 3rd. My birthday in the best month of the twelve, I created a hashtag to keep the occasion in perspective. I’ll be #flirtingwith50.

Join me as I celebrate the entire year. In fact we got that party started this past weekend. We celebrated my college BFF with a great party. They say fifty is the new forty. Whatever it ts, it’s going to be fabulous for us.  Hers s peak of how cute 50 can be. 

Aging can be priceless. No botox and no medical procedures. 

Here’s my #hastag. Hope you like it:

 Feel free to comment. For now, I’m out! 

In Diva Love,

Pamela 👑🥂💜

What Makes Me Feel Better, Always

Hey, Hey, Hey! Got a minute and thought I should put something out there. We all have good days and bad and let's face it, there are those things that just always can turn your day around. For me there are several very important cures. First, prayer. Nothing like a heartfelt conversation with the Lord. No judgment and He is always there-whether you think so or not. Sometime I have to remember to be still and silent so I can receive whatever it is is He has to say to me. It can't be a one way communication. 

Music. I don't go a day without it. It is always going on my computer at work. I have uplifting play lists and ratchet ones too. No day begins without gospel music. It gets my mind and spirit right. I am not a huge fan of hip-hop but give me some old school and I can jam my day away. Jazz for relaxation, R&B anytime. I've even been known to play Broadway Hits. Don't sleep on the Hamilton tunes. 

A great Conversation. Nothing like catching up with a heart and soul level friend. You know the ones who know you well...even when you aren't saying what you're really feeling? Those are the best. Also when you and a group of girlfriends come together and the conversation flows in such a way that you know you could solve all the world problems if they just gave you all the power for a couple of weeks. Had one of those moments a couple of weeks ago. There were good side conversations taking place too. No explanation, no reservation, no hiding or adapting just real heartfelt discussion without apology or agenda. Refreshing as a brisk morning wind. 

My mom. Love her to pieces. I talk to her almost every day on my way home from work and whenever the need arises. My brother does too. I know she loves me unconditionally and worries about both of us being so far away from her. It works both ways. I can discuss most anything with her and she is terribly amused by the rants of both my brother and I with ridiculous traffic antics and drivers in our respective cities.  Sometimes, I do have to remind her to let me get a word in because she truly has the gift of gab. I get that from my momma too but I am a thoughtful listener. She's getting better. Just the sound of her voice usually makes me feel good inside. 

In no particular order, these things always get me smiling too: my children and their conversations or crazy jokes. They are hilarious, yet interesting individuals. Even better, when they cozy up to me for no reason despite being 19 and 16. The best moments of my life. I love to hear little children laugh with reckless abandon. I love getting a card in the mail....If the words and message are right for me, my tank is immediately filled. A good book. Coloring-such a childlike innocence to picking the right colors and getting the picture just the way you want it. Doing a kindness for someone else. Writing or journaling. Travel would work too but sometimes funds are scarce. 

So no matter what, there's always a positive in the negative. What does it for you? What can change your day no matter what? If you can't figure it out, take a moment and get quiet, meditate on the things that bring you joy. Ask God to show you how to find that fleeting joy in the midst of pain. Trust God and trust the process. You can always start with a gratitude list. There is ALWAYS something to be thankful for. Find your joy and peace and hold fast to it! 

In Diva Love, 

Pam