50 Shades Of Wrong

 

 

 It was my first day of Drawing Anatomy class and I was nervous. So nervous that I showed up 30 minutes early. I thought that perhaps talking to my professor before the class would help to settle my nerves a little. Ten minutes later, instead of the professor,  a blonde haired medium built, very attractive man with an athletic frame walked in. Since it was only the two of us there so far, we greeted each other and immediately struck up a conversation. This guy was so confident and so very easy to talk to to!  We discussed all manner of subjects including our home countries, he is from Scandinavia and I am from the Bahamas which made for some pretty interesting questions and stories. Before we knew it, the rest of the students began to come in and our Bob Ross look -a -like teacher was ready to start his class. He introduced himself and welcomed us to out first Anatomy class and then he asked the model for the day to come forward so we could begin. Would you believe the model was the guy I was prattling to for 30 minutes??? So let's call him "Tom for discretion purposes".  Tom got up, expertly peeled off all his garments and stood before us in ALL his male glory. As if that wasn't bad enough, he now had a friend he could "focus" on in the class to make him feel more comfortable. ME.  

First Pose, a straight armed plank with both legs positioned as far as the east is from the west......while intently staring me down. That pose combined with gravity, which was very present and at work, told a visual story that I would gladly pay to delete from my brain.  I was praying for dear life at this time. "LORD please let this cup pass from me". You see, in the Bahamas, we wear ALL our clothes and we take pride in that. Though unspoken, we believe that nudity is for married folks and babies. This is why my fav TV show is Naked and Afraid.  I can't do Naked without the AFRAID.  I was raised that way. 

 Everyone was drawing except me. I was mortified and  grossly uncomfortable. The embarrassment was almost tangible. Thankfully I had managed to start sketching but man was I struggling. Now Tom was on his second pose. A Cirque du Soleil contortion of sorts. He balanced on his shoulders with his legs pointed straight up towards the heavens, then, slowly with deliberation, he parted his legs as far apart as they could physically go.  And yes, STILL looking at me.  Always looking at me.

 

 

 By this time my professor noticed that I was not progressing very well so he came over to see what the problem was. He look one look at my drawing and noticed that my sketch had a blank space where Tom's private parts were supposed to be. He tapped my sketch book aggressively with his pencil, ...."Have you ever seen a man with a blank spot there????"  Without waiting on me to reply he looked me dead in the eyes and said very sternly,

  "DRAW IT!"   

So now, I was given a command and what I was not going to do is destroy my 3.9 GPA for this absurd drama. 

 All I can tell you is, I gathered my composure, pulled myself all the way together and I started drawing. I focused and drew. To this day, it was one of the hardest projects I ever completed. It was straight up spiritual and psychological warfare combined with the unfamiliarity of drawing the human anatomy, which is a difficult undertaking in itself. Despite it all, I decided to just do my best. Tom was in his element by this time doing a full split and smiling like a cat who confiscated all the cream. He totally misread my new found focus on him. He did not know that I was now locked in only because of my GPA.  That I was determined to NOT let 50 Shades of Tom defeat me. 

Needless to  say I got through that class and I passed with flying colors!  3.9 GPA intact. I also learned a very valuable lesson. One person's comfort zone could be another person's Achilles heel.  Tom is a very confident man. clothed or unclothed.  It was I who was not  ready for Tom the "bare version" and he was totally oblivious of that. He was in his comfort zone, I was not. And so from that point on I NEVER judge a person based on their appearance or underestimate what they are capable of, good or bad.  I let them Show me who they are first. 

 

Cherio!  

I Love Gray Beards And I Cannot Lie

 

 

Calling all lovers of immaculate beards, let's gather here. This is a non judgement zone, nothing but L O V E darlings.  Now before I continue, I want you to understand something. I am not only a beard lover, I am a confirmed and registered connoisseur of the BEARD. Yes, I take my passion seriously. 

My fellow follicle enthusiasts already understands why I feel the way I do  but for those struggling to understand my obsession, here are 7 reasons why the beard reigns supreme....

1. The beard is like "man makeup". It takes a man from "My name is John" to "Say my name!"

 2. It looks so touchable and sexy… almost irresistible.  A good looking beard can make a girl sit on her hands just to control them. Do not ask me how I know this...

3. It is the epitome of masculinity!  

4. it smells soooo darn good when groomed and treated well.  

5. The color communicates power, refinement, swag, elegance and confidence 

6. It has that ‘grown man’ vibe.  Like this man is matured and knows who he is. 

7. A full immaculate beard looks rich and healthy. It is a natural glow-up for most men

 Of course this is just a condensed list for you newbies...

 

And now I have some tea for you...yeah, fresh tea from last week concerning a particular immaculate gray beard wearer. 

So, I was looking all cute in my outfit and "feeling myself" while on my way to see a girl friend who owns a store located in a mini shopping center. As I opened her shop door, I felt like someone was watching me. I turned to my right slightly and entering the store next door was the most regal, fine, striking specimen of a man rocking the most glorious white beard that instantly had me clutching ALL my pearls for dear life. We both froze like as if flash-frozen in time for at least 40 seconds. He did not move and neither did I. Not even a blink. We did, however, have a had a whole conversation with our eyes. He was like "dang woman, you are looking so fineeeeee...... and I was like brotha, (blushing furiously) you just snatched all my pearls!... but you can keep them." And then I went inside. By this time, thankfully, my legs remembered how to walk again but he remained frozen even as I went inside. 

It took me a few minutes to regain my composure. The image of that guy kept playing on a loop in my mind, this guy's beard game should be declared lethal in all 700 islands and Cays of this, my beloved Bahamas.  It was that beautiful. I  recounted the story to my friend when I eventually stopped fan girling and she laughed until she teared up.  She asked me why we did not speak to each other.  I still don't know really, maybe because we were both paralyzed by shock and awe??? 😂  Sounds crazy but this actually happened last week.

So now that I offered you receipts in the form of this incredibly weird but true story you see how much I love a beard. A graying or fully gray beard in my opinion is simply top tier!!! I look forward to being married again one day and when I do it will be to a wonderful Godly man equipped with THE MOST immaculate gray beard. And, I do hope he likes me to touch his beard because if he does not, I will be a natural terror to his facial hair for the rest of his life. As soon as we are married, his beard becomes MINE. Just like the precious in the Lord of the Rings. So in advance, I am asking those of you who know the virtue of prayer, please pray for my future husband's strength in the Lord! He's gonna need it. 

 

Cheerio! 

 

Choose Life

 

Hello Lovelies!!!!

Yesterday was the 7th of October, a regular day, except it marked the day my husband passed exactly six years ago. I tried to be more upbeat, but I was struggling real hard, so I just decided not to “people.” I actually called and asked folks nicely to give me space. Thankfully, they did.

As a result, I was able to spend the whole day reminiscing and resting. Something I had not done in a very long time. To my great surprise, what started out as a solemn “leave me be” day turned out to be hella fun. I read old blog posts and laughed myself silly. I cried too, but mostly happy tears. Through it all, I realized that this gal was built strong. Teflon ain't gat nothin' on me!!! 🤣 (In my best Denzel Washington voice.)

I saw so many facets of myself, battles I fought and won, epiphanies I had, lessons I learned, beautiful moments I experienced, and all the incredible things I accomplished and created, like my gorgeous “Choose Life” tee shown above. More on this later.

Seriously, like WOW!!! Wanda, girlfriend, you did that!!!! I am so very proud of myself. But what I am most proud of is that while I appreciate the occasional pat on the back, I don't NEED anyone else to co-sign this proud feeling. I am PROUD all by myself. No assistance needed.

Cheerio!!! 

 

 

Hola lovelies!

I thought about what I would say in this post—my first post after years of not blogging. Life was life-ing the heck out of me. 😂 It has been one seemingly endless roller coaster ride, one that has tested my endurance, faith, and peace.

In 2020, during COVID, I lost George, the love of my life, whom I frequently blogged about here. It was the most traumatic experience of my entire life, but through my strong faith in God and the support of my family and friends, I am happy to report that I survived it.

I wish that was all—that it is the end of the story—but it is not.

Two years ago, I shut down everything to take care of my dad, who had dementia and other health challenges. It was a most grueling experience, but a rewarding one as well. I got to spend quality time with my dad before he passed at the beginning of this year.

That almost broke me.

Almost.

But here I am—thriving again, grateful to God for His blessings and for another chance to live this beautiful life.

Why do I say that despite all of the sadness, loss, and pain?

Well, I realize that without darkness it is impossibe to even perceive light. It is the weight of the sadness that made me appreciate and CHOOSE joy.

Oh yes.

I choose joy.

And I want to share that joy with all of you.

There are so many stories and experiences I can't wait to share with you, so stay tuned!

The best is yet to come.

Cheerio! ❤️

---

One Side Hustle That Pays!

Hello lovelies! Today I want to introduce a side hustle that I have been using successfully for more than 4 years.  My only regret is that I did not do it sooner. :)  The side hustle that I am talking about is Fiverr. 

When I first heard on Fiverr in 2010 I was instantly put off by the $5 jobs I saw offered on the platform. As an experienced designer I felt that a $5 job was not an option for me. Years passed and then one day after I relocated to the Bahamas and essentially had to start all over, I decided to give it a try. I really needed extra money. Imagine my surprise when after just one week jobs started coming in and not only that, I was able to send custom orders to my clients which were all whatever price I decided was fair. Turns out, $5 is the very base price for an item on Fiverr and you can set your own price. Needless to say, I was encouraged to keep going and now I can truly say as a "Fiver Select" seller with a 5 star rating that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

 

 

 MY STORE 

 

How Fiverr Works 

You do not have to be a designer to work on Fiverr and you do not have to do labor intensive work to earn money. Just find something you like to do that you do well, set your price and open your shop. Don't overthink it. My simple jobs start at $15 but Fiverr has 3 tiers of prices/packages you can set, my highest is $50. My Median package is $30. Many times people request custom packages though and they can be hundreds or even more than a thousand. It depends on what your customer needs.

To better understand how Fiverr works, there are two parties involved: 

• Sellers: A seller is anyone looking to sell a service to earn money. Simply put, sellers are freelancers showcasing their skills and services to prospective buyers. A seller lists their services on Fiverr alongside the amount they charge.
• Buyers: A buyer is anyone looking to purchase a service on the platform. Buyers can use the search tool to browse seller profiles and find the ones who meet their requirements before placing an order. The bottom line is that buyers hire sellers to accomplish specific tasks.

One of the things I like best about Fiverr is that you can get help creating anything on their platform. From interior design to ghost writing, web design, architectural drawings and video creation to some pretty unusual gigs...like yodeling for instance. Trust me, you can find whatever you can imagine and then some. :)  Fiverr also has multiple ways to make money on their platform.  Sign up and invest in some of the talented people there. Many businesses use the design services to grow their businesses and most times it is at the fraction of the cost they pay elsewhere. This allows for business opportunities and networking and most of all, PROFIT! Start using Fiverr to grow your business, trust me it is one of the best strategies I have ever used!

  3 WAYS TO START EARNING TODAY! 

 BECOME AN AFFILIATE

1. You can sign up here for Fiverr's affiliate program if you would rather earn money that way. The sign up is pretty simple and you will have all the information and tools you need at your disposal to succeed.

 

 

2.  Have videos for tictoc and youtube created for your customer base through Fiverr

 

3.  Get your own design ideas created for prints,  tees and mugs. Sell on Etsy, Redbubble or shopify 

   

Well, I do hope this helps you to try Fiverr, it is worth the effort of signing up. Your pocketbook and business will thank you for it!

 Cheerio!

 

You Are My Sunshine!!!

 

 Well, my dear blog, it's been a looooooooong time since I showed you any love but I promise to make it up to you.

There are so many things that happened to me in the last 5 years. I moved from the US back to the Bahamas and then the love of my life passed away 2 years ago in my arms, in the middle of Covid. Needless to say, life in the last few years has been really challenging at times. Forever the optimist though, I look for the bright spot in everything. Today I was browsing and came across these little beauties. They really made me smile. If my husband was here I could see him purchasing one for me and hiding it under my pillow. :) Today is the anniversary of his passing and I miss him terribly but I realize his spirit is still here with me, always showing up in little ways so I know he is here. 

 

Like it? Get it here.

 

CHERIO! 

Happy Easter!

Jesus Is Risen

May you and your family be blessed as you celebrate the true meaning of Easter, from the reflection of Good Friday to the joy of Easter Sunday and the promise of eternal life.

Best wishes to you this Easter.

 

CHERIO!

Art Crush Of The Week

Hello lovelies!  Hope you are enjoying the Easter holidays. :)

Today, I am so excited to share with you an artist that I stumbled upon last week.  This gal is baaaaaaaaaaaad to the bone talented.  Her Art keeps pushing all my happy buttons and I find myself smiling as I drool over her pieces.  And trust me, I am super picky so this is not the "norm" for me.  

Well, without further babbling, let me let you know a little about my new obsession.   

Emilia Elfe a Moscow-based collage artist creating decadent, vintage-inspired graphics. Using old fashion campaign images from the 40s and 50s, Elfe brings back retro glam with jewelry cut-outs that create alternative fashion covers. In her art, she makes references to the masters of fashion photography – from Horst P. Horst to Richard Avedon.


So fab! It was so hard for me to choose from her work.  I loved them all, so, please forgive me for the excessive pics.  All are different and so stunning in their own way!  Enjoy. :)

Cherio!