Darker Than Brown and Random Thoughts

I never intended to become a weekly blogger. There once was a time (last year to be exact) that I blogged on a nightly basis consistently. Right now if I have more than 5 posts a month I am lucky!My life is hectic (I use that word way too often and it is such an understatement)! I have taken on a lot of responsibilities which leaves me little time to do this, blog. What makes things even worse is that I have so much that I want to blog about. I make notes to myself all the time on new topics, ideas, and thoughts. Sadly, oftentimes those notes go no further than the sheet of paper that I write them on until the idea is no longer relevant. Tonight I decided to do something different. I decided to carve time out of my day to do something that is important to ME. This is taking a little sacrifice on my part. It is about 1am and I need to be up in a few hours...but I have some help:



Before: Good old five hour energy!




After: Goodbye long blinks, hello bright eyed and bushytailedness!!!

Yes, it is that serious. I also decided this past weekend to take some time to attend the meetup group, Darker Than Brown's, monthly dinner meetup. This was another sacrifice for me because my to do list was a lengthy one. Ok,  I'll be honest, one of the biggest reasons I attended was because I had not been to a natural hair related event since Atlanta's 'Fro Fashion Week, and I felt out of the loop. Despite this I was apprehensive about attending. I am not a fan of "meetups". Especially huge meetup's with no real agenda or purpose because they typically turn into a "who's who" ,photo op spectacle. Days later (and most of my tasks still incomplete) I am glad that I went.  The women that I met were down to earth and friendly which exceeded my expectations. As a newcomer to this monthly event I felt not only welcomed but that people were interested in getting to know me. In addition to this the organizer , Nneka introduced herself to me as well. With 90 other people in attendance I was not expecting a personal greeting.

The one pic I took: Cutiekinks and Nneka (co-organizers) along with rep from Carol's Daughter  

 In addition to this I talked about more than just hair, in fact we all did.  There is something empowering about sitting and simply speaking to a group of women of color about their careers and lifestyles. I left the meetup feeling  like I made a connection with all of the people I spoke to that  was far deeper than learning their hair type and favorite products.

My tablemates, Ahsiek (Vlogger), and I. Pic courtesy of Darker Than Brown

And of course there were goodies (who doesn't love goodies). Samples of a few products were available upon entrance, raffle tickets were given to the first 40 or so guests, and others received an opportunity to purchase tickets for a dollar. Raffle prizes were provided by Carol's Daughter, the Curl Kit company, and a few other sponsors (Amazing Botanicals, I Love My Fro, and Curly Hair solutions to name a few.  



The goodies I picked up ....






I Love My Fro Shea Whip, Amazing Botanicals Black Soap and Hibiscus Gel, and Curly Hair Solutions Extenzz

If you live in NYC and are interested in attending a meetup group I would recommend Darker Than Brown as a place to start. Set up a www.meetup.com  account and sign up.  Hope to see you there!

Do you attend natural hair meetups? If so, what do you think? Waste of time or essential?