Fall forward. Denzel Washington. 
No matter what in life you keep moving forward, you can look back on life to see how far you have come, but remember to keep taking that one step forward. You can fall, but remember fall forward, not backward so that you are able to be one step closer to your goals and dreams. No matter your pace, keep going forward. Remember there was a reason the turtle won the race. Slow and Steady, Patience. Perseverance. Focus and Forward on. 

If you have a moment, listen to this speech by Denzel Washington.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpW2sGlCtaE

Chicken Lettuce Wrap

Another Friday is here.  Last year I had the opportunity to put together a Spiderman Birthday Party at an office space that we had with the SABURA program (you will be learning more about SABURA in the coming weeks).  This birthday was for a one year old.  It was a lot of fun to put together.  There were quite a few DIYs involved.  The buildings were done by my cousin Neila from T&N Events for a previous Spiderman Birthday party.  There's the Pick A Pop game that is an alternative to the Pinhata game for children.  

My favorite part was creating a web on the ceiling with white party ribbon.  and some of the items that I utilized for the birthday party were actually Halloween decorations, such as the spider stickers on the wall, the spider table runner and spider curtain (that was actually a tablecloth).  Enjoy!​

"Ka bu decha ninguem disanimabu.  N'sabe ma vida as vezes e deficil. Si bu acredita na bo proprio, bu ta alcanca tudos bos desejos...bo tem ki tem fe... " Johnny Ramos

Today's Throwback goes to Johnny Ramos.  Another Cape Verdean singer with great skills who has been a part of many great groups, collaborations, and has had great success with his own solo albums.  

I had the opportunity to meet Johnny back in 2006 when Replica Creations brought him to perform for CV Night at UMass Amherst.  He gave me a piece of advice that weekend, that had a lot of meaning and brought a smile to my face.  He told me I had to learn how to say "No" to people.  But, that's just the way I am though.  If I know I can help you and I can make it happen, I will help you.  It's difficult for me to say no.  If I say no, it's either because I can't do the task or the person has lost my trust and confidence and they are abusing my niceness.  

His song Tem Fe with Splash has a lot of meaning and as I'm listening to it, it should have been a part of my inspirational Tuesday, but I'll leave you with it.  Song is talking about having faith and not lose hope.  Keep your head up.  These are my top five from Johnny.  Enjoy!

Splash - Tem Fe
Mobass - Dam Mas Um Chance featuring Medina
Johnny Ramos - Largal
Johnny Ramos - Bu Amor Ta Completan
Johnny Ramos - Tu e Eu
​

You know you have accomplished your task, when your 3 year old calls you out for placing a toy in the wrong toy bin.  Few years ago, I set about organizing the girls' playroom.  I updated the room by adding more Trofast Storage systems from Ikea.  I then set about labeling each bin, so that clean up could easily be done by anyone including the kids.  I also bought some house shaped bins, and put them on the wall for extra storage.  I had the girls look through the toys and put aside any toys that they did not want.  The toys that they did not want, I donated to other kids or the Salvation Army.  I then put the toys in categories and labeled the bins with words and pictures, so that the younger one, would understand which toys went in each bin.  

I put the puzzles in a toy chest and put wheels on the bottom, so that it could serve as a flat surface to put puzzles together, storage, and allowing me to roll it away, when needed for extra space.  I also took one of their favorite games, Candy Land and put it in an acrylic frame that I bought from Micheals.  I hung it up on the wall and now it serves two purposes, we can take it down and play a game on the surface of the frame and once put back on the wall it serves as an art piece.      

So the other day, I was fixing up the room and my 3 year old was helping me.  I took a tin purse that had some doll clothes in them and put it in the doll bin.  As I walked away, she was like mommy you put it in the wrong bin.  I was like "I did"? and I was like nah! So upon further inspection, I realized they were Disney doll clothes and yes indeed I had put it in the wrong, bin.  They should have been with the Disney Characters, lol.  So, thus at that very moment, I felt like I had won the lottery, because I realized she understood the system and would easily put things back where they were supposed to be and I would have a clean room (upon clean up time).  

I'll keep updating this posting but for now I welcome you to an organized "Toys R'US, lol.  Enjoy!  

This quote is so true and inspiring.  Life can be beautiful and complicated.  We have our good times and our bad times.  Many times we lose focus on what is important and we dwell a lot on the negative.  It's important to remember that we will have bad days, because life is just not perfect, but that we need to learn from those difficult moments in life.  I'm one that likes to look at the positive of things no matter how difficult a person or situation may be. Yes it is hard, but many times, we don't see that when we keep looking at things negatively, we are only bringing ourselves down even further.  

I say learn from the mistakes.  If someone is being negative towards you, process what they are saying and see if what they are saying makes any sense, but don't feed into their negativity.  I would say, if things just don't add up, be careful around this person and/or remove this person from your life, by just making a mental note of it and keep things moving.  It's important we don't feed into the negativity, because it just brings about more negative energy.

Learn from the negatives that happen in life and just keep on trying to move forward.  There are some things that are not worth dwelling on and we just need to focus on the positives.  Best thing is to grow, keep on trying, and let the negative things make us into a stronger and better person.  Success doesn't just come about; it comes through learning from our mistakes, taking our time, and taking another "shot". 

Friday is here and time to relax and enjoy the weekend.  Today's highlight is on my cousin Neilda Alves.  Neilda is talented in many realms, from art, to makeup, to photography, but today I will be highlighting her skills in facepainting. 

Neilda has been dabbing in the arts for a long time and since she loves makeup, it's no surprise that she would enjoy doing facepainting.  Facepainting is basically makeup for kids.  She has had the opportunity to do facepainting for many children's parties for the last few months.  She did facepainting for a Paw Patrol, a Rainbow Shine, and a Train Themed Birthday party.  

​She does an incredible job leaving not just you the parent happy, but most importantly the kids. The kids are so happy with their facepaint design, that she has had to do touch-ups throughput the party and some kids go home unwilling to wash their faces off at the end of the night.  She will work with you and tailor the package according to your party theme.  She can be reached at [email protected] for questions and pricing.  You will not be disappointed.  Enjoy her work below. 

The playroom is an area that I am constantly rearranging and organizing.  It's an area that requires attention after every birthday and Christmas.  When you have two girls with a five year age difference, it makes for a lot of toys.  Today I'm going to share with you one area of the room.  They have a lot of books, and I needed a way to store them without taking over more floor space.  After some searching and thinking, I decided to utilize some wall space.  I bought the Ikea Bekvam spice racks at $3.99 a piece and set about installing them.  I installed 3 of them, giving me ample space to put a good amount of books for reading fun.  I put in the removable quote to help finish off the room from Target. 

In honor of "Black History Month" (every day, we should learn about our history) and Valentine's Day I share with you a quote from Nelson Mandela.  We are in a world where things have always been shaky, but not as shaky as the world we live in right at this moment.  We learn to do a lot of things and one of them is hate.  A baby when it's born does not know the difference between skin color, heck the baby is born not being able to define faces or see color the first few months.  A baby's line of communication is by sound and thus, how important it is to help raise that baby from day one, by not teaching or spewing hate.  

We can teach one another to love by treating each other with respect and communication, and being compassionate towards one another.  So on this day, let's not show love only to our loved ones, but to everyone around us, and not only on this day, but every day thereafter.