Moving Day!

What’s Jack up to? Jack is super excited today. Running in circles, yapping and constantly underfoot. Why you ask?

Because today is moving day!!

That’s right I’m taking the plunge and moving kwanawrites over to WordPress and a new home called Kwana.com

Who do I think I am Cher or Madonna with the one name thing?
It’s a scary step that had me with some sleepless nights and plenty of nail biting and yes, WordPress codes they be complicated. Eee.

But thankfully I had the help of a lovely friend Jax who was by my side (well over the net and phone) with her vast knowledge of WordPress webery (made that one up). Who knew that besides being a super talented writer she was also such a talented web designer? Thanks so much Jax.
Also thank you to Patricia of pve design for my header and her wonderful artistic talents.

Now it will take a while for me to give the new home a full inspection and work all the kinks out and of course I still have a lot to learn. Please hop on over and let me know what you think.
Those of you that are kind enough to follow me or have me on your blog roll please change the address to my new home of Kwana.com

Lots to see. Come join the party! Oh and thanks so much for being such loyal and lovely friends to Jack and I.

Best,
Kwana

Change

With Spring in the air I'm feeling the need for a change. It's time for a long overdue sprucing up on ye' old blog.

But as with all change it's a little scary. I have tried going at it with help from the professionals but it was not meant to be so I'm taking matters into my own hands and working on things myself-ish (a little help from friends is nice).

But, I love control anyway and sometimes it's better to control your own destiny. At least that's what I tell my kids (cut to me biting my nails).
I have long wanted to go from Blogger to Wordpress or maybe do a Full Blown Site so wish me luck (Lord knows I don't want to lose a bloggy thing). So please keep checking back here for updates and hopefully a new home coming soon.
Time to spread my wings!




Have any of you made some significant changes lately or are planning to?



Best,
Kwana



images from here.

Help When You Need It

What’s Jack up to? Jack is doing good. The silly little dog is having a day with the dear twins since is been officially called a snow day so the weekend begins early at my house. Enough with the snow please. I'm done.

And yes, this was a huge honking storm. Trees down and all that. My DH got stuck and his car couldn’t make it up the hill coming home last night. Thankfully he was in front of the town’s fire house and a bunch of young guys came out and pushed his car up the hill.
It’s so good to have help when you need it.
These pics were taken at night.


Then later when walking Jack late in the evening he saw a huge tree had fallen around the corner. Of course I had to go out and see. Down right on the power lines.


On our walk suddenly the big guns were out, this huge tractor. The driver was so funny. He pulled up beside us and said, “Did you call a cab?” Yep, Good to have help when you need it.

Speaking of help when you need it... Laura from Shore(house) Chic blog is doing a Help for Haiti auction over at her blog. Because they still need so much help and will for a long time to come. Laura has some wonderful handmade pieces to go to the highest bidder. Go here to check it out.

Best,
Kwana

I’d Like To Thank The Academy…

I’ve been surprised and honored to receive some very kind (though I’m not sure deserved) awards for ye ol’ blog here. On behalf of myself and the Jackster I’d like to give hearty thanks. Uh-oh here comes the ugly cry.

The first was the Over The Top award from Christine from over at The Happily Ever After.
The Over The Top Award is given to blogging friends whose blogs you consider over the top, in a complimentary way, of course. As in, they are "far more than usual or expected; extraordinary."
Now receiving this award tell me I need to go even further to be a little more Over The Top. Look out world I’m coming for ya! Thanks so much Christine. You can visit Christine here.
Before passing this award on I have to complete this little survey. Okay. I’m game.

Your cell phone? Blackberry Storm

Your hair? Hot Mess

Your mother? Wild

Your father? Passed away

Your favorite food? Too many to choose

Your dream last night? Deep

Your favorite drink? coffee

Your dream/goal? To be happy

What room are you in? Bedroom

Your hobby? Reading and Knitting and TV

Your fear? So many

Where do you want to be in 6 years? A multi published author

Where were you last night? home

Something that you aren't? Patient

Muffins? Sometimes

Wish list item? Marc Jacobs Lisa bag.

Where did you grow up? New York City

Last thing you did? Washed Dishes. So glamorous

What are you wearing? Sweater and flamer pj’s

Your TV? old. Really, it has a turn dial.

Your pets? Jack the wonder dog

Friends? sweet

Your life? Complicated

Your mood? Complicated

Missing someone? always

Vehicle? Ford Edge

Something you're not wearing? shoes

Your favorite store? bookstore

Your favorite color? Green sometimes other times,black.

When was the last time you laughed? Hmm… Must get on that.

Last time you cried? Hmmm… sure it won’t be long now.

Your best friend? Loyal

One place that you go to over and over? Bathroom. TMI?

Facebook? 1 x a day. Not a huge fan

Favorite place to eat? Johnny’s on City Island

Now I’m supposed to pass the award to 5 other Over The Top Bloggers. Okay Dokey!
Kate at Babbling about Books

Megan Frampton

Kristen’s Divalicious Blog

Amanda McCabe

Jax’s Artistic Journey

Now the fun doesn’t stop there I received yet another award. Man, you’d think I starred in Precious or at least Avatar and was painted blue with all the awards.

I received a Beautiful Blogger award from Tia at Stoic which is a super cool blog that you really need to check out. Beautiful? Wow. Look at me blushing.

Now of course all things come with a little catch and you have to pay in order to play so here are the rules behind the award:
1. Thank & link to the person that gave you the award
Thanks so much Tia. You really are the fairest of them all. Link here.

2. Pass this award onto 15 bloggers you’ve recently discovered & think are fantastic.
15? I agree with Tia. These folks are not playing around but ok. Check out these cool peeps. Some may be a bit older than the rest but you won’t be sorry. Click away:

Get It Girl Style

West Family Advetures

Laura at the Shorehouse

Architect Design

Chocolate Covered Daydreams

Gossamer Obsessions

Jumping Tandem

Lenorevermore

Literary Rambles

Louise Fury's Blog

Midwestern Malaise

North of 25A

Romance Reading Mom

That's Not My Age

Lifescapes

3. Contact said Blogs & let them know they've won
Uh, don’t they have Google alerts for that? Sigh ok.

4. State 7 things about yourself

Come on. You people must be bored with me by now. Sorry if I repeat myself:
1. I can’t walk in heels. My feet instantly hurt. I wish I could though.
2. I usually have at least one twin pissed at me. Ugh. Parenting sucks.
3. I really love shrimp. Wish I had some right now.
4. I adore a good bath. I’d like a nice hot bath at having a nice plate of shrimp.
5. Throw some pasta with those shrimp and I’d be extra happy
6. Put it all in Italy and make my day. I really want to go there one day.
7. Maybe on a book trip?

Whew. I made it. Thanks for reading and playing along. At least I hope you do. I really am honored to be thought of and so grateful to all of you who stop on my and hang with me every day.

Best,

Kwana

My Space- Check It Out

What's Jack up to? Mr. Jack has been just feeling hot lately. Being snippy and peppy. His most fun this week? Driving me crazy by getting into the trash whenever he can. We have one of those step-on cans that has a slow close lid that doesn't just slam shut so it won't take off a finger or make a ton of noise. Well, Jack is very aware of this and and just lays in wait for a person to throw away some food and then walk away while the lid is still closing so he can make his move. Yeah, Life with Jack is never dull.

So what's up with me? Well, my exciting news is I was featured over at one of my absolute favorite blogs yesterday The Musings of Ondo Lady! I've been a fan of Ronke and her cool British style since I first learned of the blog world and was honored when she interviewed me for one of her My Space pieces. Please stop by here and check it out. Thanks.

Best,

Kwana

Letter to My Younger Self

The dear Chocolate Covered Daydreams has put up a challenge on her blog here to go with a pretty great giveaway. The challenge is to write a letter to your younger self. In it she asks what would you say, would you be serious or funny? Tough call. There is so much I’d want to say to myself and so much that I’m still in the process of learning but here goes:

Dear Young Kwana,

Relax, it’s not all that bad. Stand tall and when you smile mean it, when you laugh mean it and when you cry mean that too. Slow down and take your time because time is all you have. Realize now how precious it is and please don’t waste so much of it worrying. Trust yourself and have faith that you will make it through. Always.
Oh and you are really beautiful. Did you know that?


Don’t dream it, be it.

Love,
Kwana

P.S. don't forget to scroll down and enter my PVE giveaway. Thanks.

Book Squawking

What's Jack up to? Jack had a calm and, I think for a dog, pleasant weekend this weekend. Knowing Jack he thought it was a bore. The weather was nice, so decent walks and the nights were cool, so good sleep. That plus food and treats what more could he want? With Jack-trouble.

Today I'm happy to introduce you to a new blog called Booksquawk. It's a writer's book review blog and I'm honored to be one of the contributors. The tagline for the blog is: really good book reviews by professional writers.

Now that for me is humbling. Really good? Hmm... I'm not so sure. Now I'm new to this review game, but, um, let's just see how it goes. Shall we?

And as for the professional writer part... I don't think I've been a professional since my fashionista days and I sometimes had to wear heels and even then it was kinda loosey goosey. But hey, I am writing and I do want it to be my profession so, well, I guess that counts. Hey, they called me. I don't know who did their background checks.

Either way the cool thing about Booksquawk is that all different genres will be represented since the contributing writers have such varied tastes (yeah, expect some romance from me, yay!).

So there is lots to look forward to and you may find a new favorite author.

Please stop by Booksquawk here and stop by often because new reviews are popping up all the time. Heck, if you're feeling fancy become a follower and get a big cyber type smooch from me! Thanks.

Oh and scroll down on Booksquawk to read my review of ACCORDING TO JANE by Marilyn Brant. Thanks again!

Best,

Kwana

Walking with Friends

Jack took a stroll yesterday with one of his oldest friends, Bentley!

Though they paid each other little attention each going their own way.

And Jack clearly was in no mood to be photographed. Ugh, paparazzi!

But he was happy to catch up with this friend and so was I.

Patricia of pve design. Why don't you pop over here and give her a Hi. I'm sure she'll have something inspiring to get you over this hump day.

Best,

Kwana

P.S. I'm still rolling along with The NaNowrimo challenge. The words are addling up nicely. Yesterday was a bit of a bust with the being election day and the kids out of school, but I hope to put it in a higher gear today. I think I can hear you all cheering me on from your homes. Thanks.

Smart Women Reading

What's Jack up to? The Jackster is chilling still recuperating after a busy Halloween weekend. Spending much of his time under the bed or lazing about in the couch. For Halloween he just about barked himself out with the ringing doorbell. My favorite was him trying to push through the glass door and my little neighbor girl dressed as a very annoyed nun holding it shut with one hand and looking at him with reproach and he bounced up and down just tuckering his self out.

Last night I did my monthly escape to Lady Jane's Salon. New York's only romance reading series and once again had a fine time.

This month the featured guests were:

New York Times and USA today Bestselling Author Caridad Pineiro.

Caridad read from her newest book Sins of the Flesh. A sexy paranormal suspense novel that at times can hit a little to close to home. You can check out Caridad here.

Also reading was Joanne Rendell who did a mock play of sorts with excerpts from her book Crossing Washington Square with the help of a hilariously funny cast of helpers.

It's the story of two strong willed university professors and the tensions between them. Check out Joanne, her musings and her first release here.

Lastly, helping to MC the night was Elizabeth Kerri Mahon of the Scandalous Women blog who was celebrating her birthday while dressed as Marie Antoinette who shares the same birthday! Happy Birthday again Elizabeth. You looked wonderful. You can check out Elizabeth's scandalous blog here.

Best,

Kwana

P.S.

Please remember to vote today. Thanks.

Anna and Grace a Love Story

Hello Monday! How was the weekend everyone? It’s sort of still going on with it being a holiday today and the family is home.

This weekend I did get in a bit of fun going to see The September Issue with my good buddy PVE. Now Patricia was the perfect person to see this with since we’ve been friends for X number of years when we were both still working in fashion BC (before children).

I thoroughly enjoyed The September Issue or Anna and Grace A Love Story as I'm calling it.

The whole story arc that pitted Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington (Vogue's creative director) against each other, but still united in their love of fashion and Vogue was wonderful. I was sucked in by the fact that both women started at Vogue on the same day over 20 years ago. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in those days.

It does make me wonder if people will one day think of me and my friend PVE once we're both big names. Her a famous artist and me a bestselling author (wink,wink-Universe).

Will they wonder how we were back all those years when we were still cubicle girls in the fashion biz? Still wide eyed dreamers tottering on our heels and looking for recognition. I wonder.
I do know we'll still be dreamers.

Once a dreamer, always a dreamer.





Best,
Kwana

Fashion on the Brain

I've got fashion on the brain. It's that lovely in between time in New York right now when you just don't know what you'll get weather wise at any given moment so you need to be ready for anything.

I'd love some easy pants, comfy driving shoes in a few great colors, a fab trench coat and of course a to die for bag (you all know me). This lovely lady was taken from The Satorialist and she totally fits my bill.



Friend and author Melissa Walker was featured on NPR talking about her picks for fashion books. You can listen here:


You can read the full article and read more about the books here.




Melissa is the author of Violet On The Runway YA series.

Best,
Kwana

Do you Kotori?

A couple of weeks ago I was so happy to find out I was the winner of a really cool blog giveaway.

One of my favorite bloggers, Tonya over at Kotori was hanging her shingle and opening her own custom photo jewelry store. So to celebrate she held a giveaway for a piece of her beautiful jewelry and I won!

How happy was I to go to my unassuming little black mailbox the other day to find a lovely brown package waiting for me? Yay!

So happy that I had to open it right there in the car!

Watch me unwrap Tonya's pretty packaging.

All to find my own dear twins smiling back at me!

Thanks so much Tonya. I will wear this with pride.

Please go visit Kotori the shop here and Tonya at her wonderfully creative blog here.

Best,

Kwana

Interview with a Lady

Happy Monday!

Today we have a treat. An interview with fashion forward London blogger, one of my faves, Ronke Adeyemi aka Ondo Lady!

Hi Ronke. Thanks so much for hanging with us here at Kwanawrites today. I’ve been a big fan of your blog The Musings Of Ondo Lady for a long time and am honored to have you here.

Thanks for featuring me Kwana.

Please tell us a little bit about your background?

I did a degree in marketing and communications and went on to do a post grad diploma in journalism with hopes of going into that field. I did some adhoc freelancing for various mags such as Pride, Suave as well as The Voice and then got a job working on an entertainment publication called Ticketmania. I did a lot of general reporting and writing and got a real sense of what it was like to to work on a magazine. Then I launched an online magazine called kudosmgazine which covered the arts and entertainment scene in the UK. I loved working on this magazine but it did not exactly pay the bills so I began to take on freelance press and pr work which led to marketing positions.. I then saw a position as a marketing and PR officer for a film festival up in Manchester and I thought ‘oooh that looks interesting’ I applied for it and got it and moved up there. The job was certainly interesting as it gave me a great insight into using the marketing mix and brokering sponsorship deals so when I moved back down to London I was able to get roles freelancing in marketing. I freelanced for two years for a variety of companies and last year I saw a role advertised as a marketing officer for a creative arts university so I went for it and got it.

What was the inspiration for starting your stylish blog?

I have always loved writing, I actually used to have a print magazine and an online mag back in the day but due to cost and time I had to fold it. I came across blogs back in 2006 and saw them as a diary and I fancied the idea of having one but was not sure if I could sustain it. The last thing I wanted was to set one up and then leave it abandoned but on 1st January 2007 I decided to take the plunge. I started off on Yahoo 360 which was a really basic blogging platform but the community was great. I set myself a target of writing at least once a week and it went from there. The blog on Yahoo 360 was a lot different from the one on Blogger as it was more personal but I wanted to move from that and create more of a magazine like blog, also there were technical issues on Yahoo which frustrated me. So I began looking around and decided to go with Blogger and their format allowed to create a blog that is more visually appealing and also where I can write about things that inspire me like films, books, magazines, music, TV and art. It has been great.

You are always on the cutting edge of style and pop culture, how do you stay so in the know?

I get my sources everywhere and anywhere. I read Gawker, Jezebel, Catwalk Queen, mediaguardian and countless blogs to keep me in the know.

Where do you see your blog leading you to down the road?

Eventually I would like to see the blog turn into a magazine whether it is online or print. I guess online considering the economic climate.

What projects are you currently working on?

At the moment I am working on an event called, You’re Beautiful, Woman which celebrates Black beauty in all forms. There will be fantastic talks on styling, fashion, natural hair & beauty, health, relationships, fitness and inner beauty and there will also be workshops and stalls. The event takes place on Saturday 15th August at Highgate Newton Community Centre, 25 Bertram Street, Highgate London N19 5DQ. It is produced by a team of seven other wonderful and talented women; Angie Brice, Sophia Jackson, Aderonke Lawal, Angel Smith, Lillian Ogbogoh, Margaret Udofia. Between us we amass a wide variety of skills in marketing, PR, hair care, event management, graphic design and journalism.

Tickets are £5 and you can buy them online at http://www.yourebeautifulwoman.com/

Great! So all you in London should not miss this event. Wish I were there.

Once again, Ronke, thanks for taking the time to visit with us. You can check Ronke out at her fab blog The Musings Of Ondo Lady here.

Best,

Kwana

Happy Friday

What's Jack up to? It's been a semi quiet week for Jack. Not too much trouble (I had better not speak too fast) just up to his usual antics. I think the Dear Twins are driving him nutty (but he's not alone in that). And he's barking a lot more than usual (not alone in that either) But besides that all is cool with Dear Jack.

This pic is for Ina in Alaska who is always capturing the best licence plates. I snapped it when the truck of our local doggie day care was in front of me for a few blocks and I noticed the licence plate. Don't worry we were stopped at the time I snapped the pic.

Have a Happy Friday and a great weekend!

Best,

Kwana

I Luvs You Too- Friendly Blogger Award

What's Jack up to? Jack's a funny one. The poor dear is so confused this week with the Dear Twins coming and going at all hours of the day with it being finals and no set schedule. It's seriously cutting into his normal rest time. I know it's making me a bit nuts too Jack. Sigh.

I was surprised when I hopped on over to one of my favorite blogs, Get It Girl Style and saw that I had won a Friendly Blogger Award from Tamstyles This was so humbling and cool coming from such a chic blogger like her. It's also so nice to be thought of as friendly. I like that.

Here is the award's quote:

This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."
Pass along to 8 other friendly bloggers! I would love to put all of you guys down, but yall know how these work! You all are friendly and sweet to me on a daily basis. My giveaways are my way of showing you just how thankful I am to have the great, friendly, readers that I have!

I do try and be friendly even in my honestly. I'm not one of those bloggers where it's all Vaseline and soft focus. As a matter of fact sometimes there is no focus at all (my bad). I am here to give my thoughts, give a little taste of who I am, my style of writing, big up women, mothers, authors and the romance industry, oh and throw in a bit of whatever I'm thinking a the time.

But in all that I don't want to intentionally hurt anyone, assume I'm always right (we know I am. LOL) or create a space that belittles anyone.

So thanks Tamstyles and thanks to you all for putting up with me.

Now here's the part where I pass it on to a few other bloggers that I think are friendly too:

Jax's Artistic Journey

Megan Frampton

PVE Design

Lenorenevermore

Visual Vamp

Simply Seleta

Ina J. Offret

Amanda McCabe

Please go and check out these wonderful and friendly bloggers. They're nice and don't bite. Much.

Best,

Kwana

What's Is Women's Fiction?

What's Jack up to? The Jackster is getting ready for the weekend by ignoring this rainy day. He's chilling. Sleeping soundly and storing up his energy so he can have a wild time once the sun is shining again.

Remember when I told you here that the fab Barbara Vey was snagging folks at Lady Jane's Salon for one of her Drive By Videos asking the question: What is Women's Fiction? Well, here is the video and, eek, I'm on it! Lord, is my head that big and is my voice that... blah? Yep, sadly so. But I will buck up and get past it because the video is great with tons of wonderful, insightful and varied answers to the same intriguing question. Watch and check out Barbara's blog to let her know what you think.


Best,
Kwana

Crushing It!

I’m still talking BEA today. Sorry if I’m boring you all but it was a pretty exciting weekend for me. One of the biggest highlights was getting to see Gary Vaynerchuk at the Book Expo. It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.

I was walking around with Amanda McCabe since she had some time before her Harlequin signing. I had planned on going to the Bloggers panel when I saw the words Crush It listed right below the Bloggers panel. I turn to Amanda and said “I wonder if that’s Gary Vee the Crush It guy?” To which she looks at me like I’ve grown not 2 but 3 heads.

Then I explained to Amanda how Crush It is the name of Gary’s book that’s coming out and how I’ve been following him on twitter and how he’s a wine expert but I don’t really follow him for the wine I follow him for the inspiration. More strange looks from Amanda. Hmm? Now she may be questioning this growing friendship with me and the invite for drinks later. But I don’t stop.

Anyone who knows me, knows I can go on and on with a story. I explain how my friend N told me about Gary so I followed him on twitter then PVE ask did I see this video of this guy who's kinda funny but cool on Makeunder My Life. I clicked. It was Gary! Loved the video. It was all about The Hustle and your passion and combing the hustle with your passion in order to achieve your dreams. Now I could totally relate because one of my favorite little sayings besides, “All roads lead to Oprah,” is “Every day I be hustling, hustling, hustling…”

Here is the video from Make Under My Life. After watching this a new motto was born, “Hustle 09!” The DD thinks it's lame. I adore it.



By the end of my long story Amanda agreed to sit in on what she could of Gary’s talk before her own book signing. She was instantly drawn into his ideas about the new ways to do business and decided I wasn’t a total nut. Whew. Not cra-zy! You can click on his site here to see the full BEA talk. Or check him out at Wine Library TV here for good wine talk.

I don't know if Gary was signing but I can't wait to get a copy of Crush It when it comes out Oct. 13th.

By the way Gary has a 10, yes, 10 book deal.
Also big congrats to Gary and his wife on the birth of their baby girl, Misha, born Sunday! Sweetness.

So what are you willing to do for your hustle? Me? I'm working. Hard.

Best,
Kwana
H09

Have You Met Anne?

What's Jack up to? As I write this Jack is snug and happy sleeping on the couch. Oh yeah, he worked so hard for the day. So darn hard. Not.

So have you met Anne Harwell otherwise known as Annechovie on her super cool blog?

Anne is a talented artist that creates the most beautiful pieces. Watercolors and ultra cool quote prints.

She has a wonderful way with color and a fabulous sense of style.

I have been an admire of Anne for quite a while and finally ordered some of her prints from her Etsy shop. I was so excited when they arrived last week along with the sweetest note thanking me for the support. I couldn't wait to run out and get frames for my prints. Here they are hung in my living room. Now I just need new curtains, maybe some throw pillows. All in due time...

I heart them!

Check out Anne at her blog here and at her Etsy shop here.

Thanks Anne.

Best,

Kwana

Lucky Surprise

What’s Jack up to? Jack’s Chilling. Working on his coolness. As if he need work. Ha!

I’m a winner!

And I’m really shocked about it since I entered the Save The Contemporary contest with my usual thought of, “well you’re not winning that.” I know, I’m an eternal optimist. I even went over to one of my favorite blogs Ramblings on Romance and saw that Kristie did not win and made a premature comment that I didn’t win either. So Embarrassing when I went to Smart Bitches Trashy Books a moment later to find that I did win a copy of the new Lisa Kleypas book Smooth Talking Stranger. Now all my usual blog readers know what a big Kleypas fan I am of both her contemporaries and her historicals. I can’t wait to get my hand on this next installment in the Travis family saga. Fun, Fun Fun!

Here’s a synopsis:

Jack Travis leads the uncomplicated life of a millionaire Texas playboy. He makes no commitments, he loves many women, he lives for pleasure. But no one has ever truly touched his heart or soul. Until one day, a woman appears on his doorstep with fury on her face and a baby in her arms. It seems Jack is the father and this woman is the baby’s aunt. The real mother has abandoned the child to her more responsible sister. And now, Jack is being called upon to take responsibility for the first time in his life. With delicious romantic tension, characters so real they walk onto the page and into your heart, Lisa Kleypas delivers the kind of novel that makes you laugh, love; cry and cheer.

Don’t you just love an unexpected surprise? I hope you get a good one today.

Best,
Kwana

Alter Ego Hotness

Don't ya wish your Alter Ego was hot like me? Don't cha? Well she or he can be. Just go make one for yourself. I'm so thankful to my buddy Mel Francis (her book Bite Me is ready for pre-order now at Amazon yo!) and her Month of Mel challenge for sending me over to The Hero Factory to create her. Isn't she the Hottest. Too bad I'm not feeling quite up to her kick butt status just yet.

I went to have my back checked out and the doctor feels I have a pinched nerve. The lesson here is listen to your body. Really listen. You see I've been having a problem with my big toe on my left foot for quite a while that has taken me off track with my running challenge. Giving me annoying pain that has me saying, Hmm... I really need to check this out... someday. Well, yesterday while barely being able to stand in the doctor's office without holding the wall and having to have my DH help me to the bathroom. I said to the doctor, this is probably unrelated, but I have this crazy pain in my toe. He tell me it's not unrelated at all. The nagging toe pain was a symptom of my pinched nerve.

So all of you 'do for everyone else in the world first' out there folks take a cue from me. Listen to your body and get things checked out. Make yourself a priority. Those little things may be telling you something big.

Best,

Kwana