It's December!

In just one weekend your life can do a complete 180 degrees. Now that I am alone in the apartment, there's tons of things that are going to be done within the next few weeks before the holidays. & when I say few, I mean like three weeks. lol

• Steff has moved out. It had me on edge, but honestly as I've stated, I really just want the best for her. We served our purposes in each other's life & hopefully by living with one another she learned something as I learned more than plenty.
• We'll see what ends up happening. A beautiful apartment with so much potential & now it all is up to me to see what will come from it. Guess you'll all find out in 2013 what ended up happening.
• I'm addicted to some of Rihanna's songs on her new album. Between her, the Miguel album & an underground group of rappers that I love. You guys should definitely check out B.I.C (Bitches Is Crazy) & their "Yo Soy Widdit" video. The editing & the rawness of it all drives the crazy bitch in me wild. I warn anyone checking out know it's rated R...seriously! lol.
• I'm emotionally unavailable. Emotions just get you in a heap of trouble & with that comes trusting the person with how you feel. Clearly friends or lovers are not ones to be 100% trusted right now. So I'm just living how I need to, loving myself.
• Three feelings I want to share: excited, nervous, scared. But with the proper communication, vibes & honesty it will definitely turn into something better than before.

Hope everyone is ready for the holidays. I will take photos of my life renovations soon.

- Ahlexandria

Another good song by B.I.C:

& Over The Course of a Few Weeks....

The panoramic photo I took of NYC.

A lot ends up happening. Between learning a lot of new things, finding out new things & just living life things just occur. With the this little "hiatus" I guess I've taken, more so because I didn't know what to write, it's crazy what comes along. My lack of writing has shown me so much more.

• Clearly my career as a professional blogger doesn't seem like it will ever happen. Maybe it's due to not being inspired, not knowing what to write, or unsure of how to say things. The last thing I want to do is offend anyone because they believe my words are directed towards them with my generalization. Then I realized I can't stop writing how I do or what I write because I care too much about what someone else thinks. That's my problem, I tend to care too much.
• It's not a lie when you're told your parents know you best. My mother & father know me in & out, they know how temperamental I am, my highs & lows. The thing that I appreciate the most is that despite it all they love me. My parents will tell me how it is, where I went wrong, where things are going. They provide me with blunt advice on how life is & how I could handle it. Even if I didn't go about it the right way they will help me see all sides of the fence. My father recently said "Life brings you things that you just have to take it & run with it. People shouldn't run away from the problems they will always linger. Those who can not confront it are scared of the outcome. Be yourself, you will get far by just being you because you are amazing even if you're flawed." Now my mom is not as calm as my dad. My dad has a subtle approach to things but has no problem putting a fist through someone's face. My mom on the other hand has this "Fuck you if you fuck me over & you'll know I'm not about this shit" approach. I guess it's a mother's instinct to protect their children, but even if so she just says: "No one likes to hear negative about themselves, I know I hate it. If you have to lash out there must be some underlying reason for it. If people would listen the first time around they wouldn't be so offended when it was repeated." The joy of parents, the way I love them, the support they've provided me through recent times.
• As it comes to it people change, relationships change, things are not the same. I recently found out that Steff is looking to move out. Even if she wants to deny it or say "At the moment I am not going anywhere" or "It is not your concern, I owe you no explanation" - in the end it's me who she lives with. When I wanted to leave I told her (even if it wasn't the nicest way) & it's me who she's fucking over. By all means, if she doesn't want to tell me I don't mind, but I clearly know otherwise. Apparently questioning the lease wasn't the only thing, but the fact that this world is soooo small is what blows me away. My friend moved into a place with someone else & they have a third room they're looking to rent. A "$700 room for rent" & Steff's e-mail was one they received. How do I know? Well my friend came to my house & has met Steff. I tagged Steff on Instagram & she asked me "What's the 'Vee' stand for?" I told her it's her last name -so & so-. Guess she remembered it pretty well & mentioned it to me, the e-mail & all. I let out the ultimate laugh. Steff is right about one thing she owes me no explanation, but be decent enough to tell me straight up. It's ok though, I wish her nothing but the best with her search for a new place & her endeavors. She's an amazing person & all of the crap we're going through doesn't make me stop loving her. We all fuck up & think what we do isn't wrong. Shit! I didn't think cursing her out & telling her she was a fucked up friend & roommate was wrong, still don't. It is what it is. As outlandish as it all sounds it's just things that end up being those little "outcomes" of choices made. I will just wait for that notice so I can help get the apartment situated into a better place.
• Cyber Monday is really not all it's made out to be. I was dying to try & get tons of new electronics for the living room set up I have in mind & kitchen appliances. TUH! I didn't think the deals were all that great except for one crock pot/slow cooker I was waiting for. Walmart had this 6 quartz slow cooker for $9.44. You can only imagine how fast that ended up going! Although my self purchases were a fail, I didn't fail on one thing. I got my mom an awesome birthday gift that was long overdue. My mom always seems to bend backwards to make sure she can provide me all that she does. So I decided to get her a nice 32" flat screen for her birthday. Time for her to get rid of that other TV & upgrade to something sleek. I can't wait until she picks it up!
• Do you ever realize that the people you deal with on the day to day basis actually become a great part of your life?! Well I have & I wouldn't trade any of them. Not only have they become my day to day, my friends, but a family to me. They have taught me so much about life, told me so much & continue to help me build myself as a person. The main thing I learned with them is that no matter what little arguments you go through with one another you have to look past it. Not only for your sanity, but for the sake of what you have gained & built with that person. Seriously, if they even read any of this, thank you!

Obviously there's a lot of updates. Plenty that I haven't pin-pointed in here but just things I've come to realize, or what I want to share because I need to get it off my chest. Nothing changes who has come into my life, they are all experiences that I wouldn't go back on. Just because respect is lost, doesn't mean the love is. I love you, just don't respect you for what you've done. Do I support you? Absolutely! In whatever ends up making you happy. Clearly my parents & my day to day folks love & care for me even with my faults. All of this time, what I've been going out & doing, the way my outlook has changed - it's just all something new for me. More knowledge for me to gain from everything, more reason to learn how to control my anger, all the more reason to never stop being myself. In the end I am still happy!

"Because your best is your best, no matter what the outcome, your best is enough."

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well.

Talk to you soon lovies.

- Ahlexandria

9th Month of the Year.

Summer is over & the fall is rolling in. I ended summer properly. I have several pictures for upcoming posts that I can't wait to share. Also have posts lined up ready to be posted. 

I've been on a "stay-cation" over in Long Island at Mom's house. It was nice to be away, spend time with my lady & see the people I grew up with. Family is important! I have always been the outcast not wanting to spend time with family, but this year I've made it a priority. I try to see my mom once a month, see my brother for his important days & when we can get together & spend time with my cousins. Two of my cousins are my closest friends & I have made that effort to not only always keep in touch with them but see them when our schedules allow it.

The time away from the apartment was nice. The things I usually do; cooking, taking out the trash, trying to stay on top of things - those are things I didn't have to worry about this week. Before I left the apartment I cleaned it up, took out trash that Sunday & made sure there was nothing much Steff had to do except stay on top of it. It's nice to have an easy going vacation with no much worries. I didn't have to cook this entire week, worry about chores (except personal ones that had to be done while out here) & all I had to do was let it all go. Everything that has happened this summer, the tension that is there with people, just stress...I've set it all side or let it go. It's about mutual respect & staying true to who you are & what you promised. Not everyone can do that, so those are people who you shrug off.

I've gone out, I'm done some DIY projects, I've tanned after not being at the beach since Costa Rica. But more than anything, I spend time the past two weeks with the ones I love. Catching up with old friends was nice. To see how things have changed over the years. To rehash the memories we had & just share the good ol' times. This little get away was much needed. As much as I can hope for things to get better, there to be less stress - all I want is for people to step it up where need be. But hey, if they can't then I am absolutely fine with it, it is me at the end of the day.

A new month is supposed to bring about new goals. I have plenty of them, but I honestly rather share the goal through a blog when I actually do it. This month there is plenty planned & I have already started that by freeing myself, getting some projects done, feeling just a little above normal.

I hope that you all have your fall goals ready! Very proud to see you all back in school, your babies going to school, just things coming together for a lot of us who were down in the dumps. Positive thinking, hopes & wishes can bring out positive outcome. Don't ever forget what you can accomplish!

Stay tuned for some upcoming posts!

xo - Ahlexandria

Clearing Up 8.10

I find it interesting the amount of hits that post received. I got messaged and questioned as to why I would write that & then it dawned on me maybe my wording was incorrect.

If you've followed me for some time now, here or on Twitter, you'll know that I do not live with my Mom. I live with Steff in an apartment. People have asked for advice on how to live with someone, or how can you even live with a best friend. Simply, it comes down to rules & that was the message I was trying to state. That no matter WHO it is that you live with there has to be rules set in order to be able to live with someone. The fact that is came off offensive, eh...it's more of a research & experience based blog.

When certain messages come into play like that where they start to question what is going on in my household, it's like personal blogs can only be taken so far. I can not stress the fact that if I want to share with someone I will. When it comes to certain things, there is nothing to state than what I do here. Considering this, I think I've been an open book with my readers. I wouldn't want to not be who I am all to keep people interested. Of course some things will be more intriguing than others, but all I can do is share what I want to in that moment.

For those of you understanding the point in last Friday's post, thank you. Thank you everyone for all of your feedback & curiosity. My mission in blogging is not only be able to vent, but to share myself with all of you. Hopefully by doing so you can relate to me.

With that said - 

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

xo - Ahlexandria

"I want a roommate!"

I've been getting a lot of questions how to live with a roommate, how do I live with someone who is considered my best friend. Tons of people are considering moving out, finding a place with either their best friend, or renting a room from someone they know especially with September & college life. Let me just say no matter which you choose they are not easy.

Living on your own would seem like the simpler choice, but financially it might not be right or even some times just getting lonely. The perks of living on your own, solely you - it's your space, you only have to worry about yourself & if there's a mess it's yours & only yours. Now you would think, "Well that's the same case with roommates". Even with a friend or best friend, they can easily take advantage of it because they feel they can get over on you. Some times if you're going to live with someone, someone you don't know as well can be better to live with. So, no matter who you live with there has to be rules you agree upon prior to moving in. For example: Our rules were rotation of who takes out the trash, who washes the dishes depending on who cooks, cleaning once a week, no hair in the tub, toothpaste in the sink & splitting bills & food down the middle. The only way you can enforce these rules are by; constantly setting reminders & hope that the person/people you live with doesn't go back on what the priorities are for the home you both share, & respecting the agreement you came to with them from the beginning.

The problem a lot of times, more than most, people get too comfortable. One person can tackle more than one responsibility because the other person/people aren't holding their end of the deal. So chore charts are in place, or calenders to mark what was done. Once you see or just know your name is there all the time, then you have a choice to make. You can either reiterate the agreements, make changes, or do less of so the other person can step up. I personally just continue to do what I have to do for my home because at the end of the day it's where I live, & I benefit from it because it is me who will learn from everything. Laziness & being tired is understandable, but that constantly happening becomes an issue.

No matter what it is that you do; working, school, getting wasted - there is a responsibility that you signed yourself to,that you agreed to with someone. By not holding up your end, by slacking off all the time, by thinking someone is always going to do everything or cater to you, you are wrong. Eventually the person you live with will get fed up. There are tons of tips to living with people, great ones in fact (all websites listed below).

To anyone who is considering living with someone else, the people who keep asking me about it my word of advice is:

• Make sure there are rules set in place from the beginning.
• Make sure the rules are followed through the entire time.
• Sit down & talk about: how things are going at work, home & life.
• Keeping an open form of communication.
• Don't do more than your share especially if the other person doesn't care.
• Make sure the bills are paid on time between all parties.
• If bills aren't paid on time make sure it is made up for some how.
• Don't let anyone take advantage of you.
• Living with friends can possibly ruin your friendship.
• Some times you have to think to just do for yourself.
• Make an example & if that is not enough, leave it to them to learn.
• Set up goals for your home that you all agree upon.
• Remind your roommate/yourself of the agreements from the beginning.
• If things get hard say it.
• If you need help with things & they're too "blind" leave them a note or say so.
• Do not let anyone borrow anything without knowing it will be returned.
• If everything is divided equally, make sure it's paid at the same time.

There's probably a whole list more but these websites can definitely help.

1. Roommate Survival Guide
2. Tips & Tricks for Living With Roommates
3. Surviving Your Roommate/Surviving Yourself

Good luck!
- Ahlexandria

All of this is from experience from living with people, friends from my Mom's home (renters & friends), to staying with people, to living with a person I was with, to my apartment now.

Apartment Update!

Instagram photo of my photography now up with my bed.

We've been at the apartment for 6 months in a few days! I can't believe it's honestly been 6 months already. I expected so much more to be done to the place, a guest room set up, a kitchen table, a new sofa for the living room & stands. I will say the fire in February was a set back as well as a temporary addition to live with us for two months, but I guess it's really no excuse for all the things in the guest room not being put away. We have been either exhausted, or lazy.

I know there are a lot of things I don't need to sort through & can just put away into the nook of the hall, but it's a matter of dragging it all there. As for furniture I guess money becomes the issue. Once I get the money back & Steff & I figure how we will contribute to things then I guess we'll finish it all out.

I'm disappointed in the progress, it really is a sad thing. All of this though takes efforts from us both so hopefully we can come together & make this place look nice. Over the course of the next month I really would like my money to get back to where it's supposed to so that I can invest it into the apartment. The only thing I have to worry about are the usual monthly bills, I don't owe anyone anything. Well, with the exception of just a little bit more on a credit card that I have been paying off. YAY ME! :) The only thing I can't imagine is staying there another year & not having everything already so we can then have small things fixed in the house.

As for my room, it is my personal space & it is where I would like it to be for now. I don't want to do much else. Simple space like I wanted.. I think both of us have our rooms to where we would like it at, so hopefully we can start getting the rest of our place up to par. lol

So goals (at least on my list lol):

Guest room -

• My mom gave me a mattress to go with a frame that I already have purchased & need to bring to the apartment.
• Getting the clutter out, putting things away & storing them all.
• Get a nice little desk for the office part of the guest room once it's clean.

Living room -

• New sofa for us to just lounge & chill at so we're not always in our rooms.
• A nice little fan to keep us cool while we watch TV.
• A new stand for the TV.
• Some decorative items for the living room.
• Frame & hang the painting that I purchased for the place.
• Print out some photography to hang up in the living room.
• A huge area rug so we can just be barefoot all the daggon' time.
• Put the curtains up that came down from the fire.

Kitchen -

• Invest into a kitchen/dining table that fits lovely.
• Get curtains for the windows so it looks like a home.
• Get a weather strip for the bottom of the kitchen/fire escape door.

Bathroom -

• Hang pictures up to give it a nice cute feel.
• Maybe add a small mirror on one of the walls.

Lets hope that some of this will be crossed off the list by the end of August.

Fire Aftermath.

Yupp, that's our apartment there. That's how it looked when I first walked in. Now it has wooden boards & plastic covering it. Not exactly what you'd expect to happen, something that was completely unexpected. There was an electrical shortage in the wall which had flames on the outside of the living room window/wall to go up in flames & flames coming into the apartment. Our fire escape, as we were told, is too weak to walk on.

The worst part of all of this is the fact that we just moved in a month ago, we have new things coming in within the next week & we have to wait for our wall to be cleared by insurance to fix & then we have to repaint. Thank goodness the amount of paint we purchased was more than enough! The other downfall of all of this is that the inspectors kept the furnace of the building off. There's no heat, gas or hot water. Does anyone know what it's like to wash in cold water when it's only 40 degrees outside?! Not fun at all! Thank goodness for the people who have been helping us & offering us a shower. We do have electric in the house, but to spend money on a heater, then a hot plate so we can cook? Yeah right. So I'm asking around to see who has an extra one.

Anyways, that's enough sad news for one post. Updates:

• I am going to create & sell some studded/spiked iPhone cases once product comes in.
• I plan on having another photo challenge, which I hope brings about more entrees.
• I also plan on having a contest & give away within the next two weeks as well.
• Making earrings have been on hold, but they're going to be back in the next month.
• Keys is doing a lovely give away on her blog right now. Check that out & enter!*

Aside from all of that, I hope everyone is enjoying their week & it's going a bit better than ours, or at least mine. I want to thank you all once again for your blessing, support & kind words to help me & the ones I love get through this slump.

Slowly. . .

It's slowly coming together! As you all can see it's getting its own touch. There's more to add, things to hang up & this is just my room. Steff's room is coming along as well. We moved into here just saying lets take what we have & then gradually buy things that we need. That is exactly what we've been doing; IE: That futon that I had gotten when I moved into the old place is in her room with her furniture & it's still so relaxed. It made the setting in her room at such a high level. In my room I am trying to add some other items just to finish it up. Once we're done with our rooms we are going to focus on the living room, then the guest room/office & lastly the kitchen. I know the order seems weirds, but it's like buy something here, add it, get something for there, add it.

I love the fact that our apartment uses only two of the same colors but each room speaks volumes of it's own, makes you feel at ease in so many different ways. The dynamics of these rooms, sigh I love it!

I will continue to update everyone on how the apartment is looking. I know you saw it a week ago & above is what it looks like now. :) Two-thirds of the way there.

As for my "To Try" list, I am going to continue with the 5 photos a week, sending out e-mails for features. I also want to attempt to cook a new dish this week since we recently have gotten some items for our parents to help with cooking. I need to add one about the apartment, so...unpacking another 4 boxes. Lastly of my "To Try" list I am determined to make Steff's birthday in six days, AMAZING!

So much to do so much do - not to even mention new jewelry ideas that I am going to come out with & start selling in the next two-three weeks! =X

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.

xo's.

Oh My God BECKY!

It's Tuesday & I'm updating my blog!
Let's see...what should I share?! Oh wait, I know!

WE MOVED INTO A NEW APARTMENT!!!
& let me just say there's a lot of work that is going into this apartment, a lot of decorating, cleaning, organizing, but so well worth it! I couldn't be happier with finding the place, seeing it & coming here to live. This is hopefully the place where no one feels they are going to go insane. I hope this is the place where we can come home to, kick it & just relax.

It's a two master bedroom, third room which will be the office/guest room, nice living room space, kitchen that leads to the very well sized bathroom. My closet is huge, but I still question how many things I have & not having the space to fit all these things. The only issue was the people who lived here prior to us. They were absolutely filthy & we're hoping that the paint, the new furniture, the art will all place it together.

So I wanted to share what the place looks like currently. With our vision we are hoping it's going to look gorgeous. The space so I can get a nice backdrop making do some shoots, the office/guest room so I can work on my jewelry & blog. With the money we are investing, how broke we are going to be, we are hoping this will all be worth it.

Using the Photosynth app I pieced together pictures of my room in the current state. There are things in here that won't be after we're done. When we got the cable & internet yesterday we set things up & the only room where you can sit is my room.

You can see I moved a bit when I was turning in a circle to use it, but it looks so cool when you're looking from the phone. The photo is going around the room how you take pictures of it. Here you just see it in how I took it & pieced it together.

Well as you can see: the bed color, the items that we have laying around, the door between my room & Steff's, the door to go in the hallway. The curtain we purchased Sunday, we moved in Saturday. The color of the room Jazz & I chose. Steff has a nice light hot coco color. We then used those two colors throughout the entire apartment. The fresh paint & new rug gave these rooms the life we needed. & the natural light is amazinnnng!

Anywaysssss....besides my excitement lol! I hope everyone has been doing good. Trust me I've been reading up on your blogs when I get the chance.

Tomorrow I will be getting questions together for the features. :)

xo's - Ahlexandria

If you haven't been following me on Twitter you should. I couldn't contain the excitement so I shared it there & posted a few photos.

Stuck Inside.

Due to the hurricane I'm stuck inside. It's a lot easier to post on Tumblr then it is here from my iPhone, so I posted some pictures of the apartment while I was bored. Unfortunately since I've moved there, there has been issues. Flooding has occurred, as well as making sure the wall that was taken down to fix the electric was rewired properly, & tons of other things. Finally after some time of being there I got to put things up & decorate. It's coming together slowly. I still need to add some things, but so far so good. :)

Chalkboard wall in the hallway going to the bathroom.

Check it out & let me know what you all think. Click here & see the rest of the pictures from today.