So I decided to do a blog on My Best of 2013. I like a many
things but some things I like a little bit more than others. No, there will not
be a Worse of 2013 blog. Am I not critical enough? Even though I want in 2014, for
World Star Hip Hop to destroy All the Ratchet, All the Ghetto, and All the Dysfunctional
videos ever known to man on its website. I will not make a blog to highlight
the gross stuff of 2013. LoL
In 2013, I decided to make it a mission to try some new Restaurants
and make different recipes. Because No one will make New Foods, I had to do
something. I’m a foodie at heart. Probably why I picked the major. So here is some Good food worth sharing
Favorite Restaurant
Dish
Disco Fries (Houlihans)
I went here for my birthday dinner. French Fries, Pot Roast,
Gravy, Green Onions and Cheddar Cheese make a great dish. I had a salad also
that was delicious, but it didn’t make the picture (maybe I was eating it)
Favorite New Recipe
3 Ingredient Chicken
On Facebook my sister tags me when she shares some of the recipes
she wants to try. That’s how I saw this one. It’s just Chicken, dry Italian Dressing
mix and Brown Sugar. Bake it and you have a finger licking good meal. I pair it
with a simple Wax Bean & Carrot medley.
Favorite Meatless
Meal
Pasta Puttanesca
I try to go meatless once a week. Usually Mondays except
during Lent, which I go meatless on Fridays. One day going through recipes for
clients I ran across one I made in my Basic Foods class in college. It’s linguine with sautéed chili peppers, Spanish olives, zucchini,
diced tomatoes and oregano in light olive oil & garlic over it.
Favorite New Fast Food
Taco
Casa
I
saw a cousin on Facebook talk about this place. Well on National Taco Day, I
got try them. Yummy!!!
Okay I know you know I spend an obscene amount of time watching
TV. Of Course you know about TV Thursday but Sundays I’m a tad obsessive about
my shows also.
Favorite Food Show
Cutthroat Kitchen
I love this show!!! It is like Chopped, the childhood game Dare, meets Vegas
slots. It speaks to the creativity of a chef because these challenges can be a
doozy.
Favorite Instead of “Popular”
Reality Show I Watch:
Boardwalk Empire and Treme I love these two shows.
Hate that this the last season for Treme. If you keep up with life after
Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans or at least watch the two Spike Lee Doc for
HBO about it, you know Treme is very Accurate. Boardwalk Empire keeps my
attention in a way that frightens me. It is full of violence yet it intrigues
me. It’s like when Prohibition started and Atlantic City acted like it was not
law. Nucky Thompson is the man. And there is Chalky White, the lone black guy
in Nucky’s posse. How can one man be so upstanding and crooked at the same
time, beats me. Right now all the key players are scattered away from Atlantic
City so I can’t wait to see what brings them back to town.
Favorite Comedy:
Big Bang Theory
Are you shocked? Especially since Raj now can talk to women without the use of
Alcohol. Finally. That was bothering me. He was going to need rehab. Big Bang
Theory are the people I knew and myself in high school. I can name someone for
everyone on that show. Yes, I’m am Bernadette.
Favorite Rom Com:
Hart of Dixie
Still Team Zeorge (George & Zoe) even though Zoe is with some writer named
Joel & George is with the Mayor Lavon’s cousin Lynly. Zoe has finally
connected to her birth father’s family, the Wilkes. Lemon is even seeing some
promise in finding herself.
Favorite Drama:
Scandal &
Greys Anatomy It is a tie. Both keep my heart pounding. Shonda
Rhymes know the key to the drama side of my heart. Keep my suspense and tie up loose
ends all at the same time. She does it well. Even though the Yang/Grey fighting
stabs me in the heart and whenever Mama Pope calls Olivia, “Livie” scares me a
bit, I have to watch these shows.
Favorite New Show:
Super Fun Night Nope it’s not Marvels
Agents of Shield. It’s Super Fun Night. Little known fact about the Diva…I
don’t go out that much. When I do it looks a lot like this show (Dollar to
Donuts my friends will disagree but trust me I have stories to prove it). The
first episode with Kimmie jumping around trying to put on her shape wear I died
laughing. As a shape wearer I can totally relate.
I Miss the Most Show
Emily Owens Yep, a show that is about
an awkward nerd that went against the grain of pop culture’s definition of Nerd
on a Broadcast Station (The CW) that is filled with mostly shows that are geared
to fans of pop culture. Dr. Emily Owens, I still miss you!!!
Web Shows are next. Y’all know I’m addicted to them. Vlogs also.
I can’t go a day with watching something. I see a pattern I think my emotional & inner dating self is in its late 20's. Web Series might be my way of finding out what went wrong. Just a guess!
Favorite Continuing
Web Series (Tie)
Spoiler alert! Racy has a new boss. She thought it was going
to be easier. Umm new boss, new issues.
That Guy Season 2 Link
Two guy Mike & Judah, somewhat trifling, but they have good
hearts and they mean well. Season 2 delves into the emotions of That Guys.
Hilarious stuff.
Favorite New Web
Series (Tie)
Think living in a New city gets rid of you. Nope! You are
still you.
Dixon, Dixon, Dixon! Go through a journey of a man who finds
out if relationships and the problems in them are illusions we make for
ourselves.
Favorite Vlog
You know those quirky churchy/non churchy articles we read or
videos we watch and can’t believe they are real. Meet the man to discuss them.
Also he make the “Cartoon Scandal” videos we all love so much.
Favorite Sketch
Comedy
The future of Christian Comedy is on YouTube. I first fell
in love with The Playmakers with a video called “Stuff Black Church Girls Say” http://youtu.be/uGKWVv53eX0. Black
Church Girls now have Web Series and also check out Music Videos by a group
called Praydeci. Good Clean fun!!! Oh and KevonStage is member of The
Playmakers
Yes I still read books. In 2004 I heard myself go stupid and
was losing my grasp on the English language. Never again so of course I am
still reading. I read some wonderful ones this year.
Best Fiction
The Awesome Girl's Guide to Dating Extraordinary Men by Ernessa
Carter
4 Women in 2 years get nothing they want but All that they
need. Also look for cameos from Davie Jones, Main character of 32 Candles by
the same author.
Best Non-Fiction
Ghettonation: A Journey Into the Land of Bling and Home of
the Shameless by Cora Daniels
I wrote a blog about it sometime ago. Go read it Here
Best Sci-Fi
Long Division by Kiese Laymon
Defying a patronizingly racist contest on live television,
14-year-old Citoyen “City” Coldson’s rant goes viral and becomes an
embarrassment on a national scale. Sent to stay with family in the small town
of Melahatchie, he distracts himself from Internet infamy, redneck racists, and
a grandmother who’s not afraid to make him cut her a switch by reading a
mysterious book where his name and the name of his grandmother's teenage
missing neighbor appear.
Best Novella
I Met Him in the Ladies' Room (pt1) by Michelle Simpson
Where did you meet the Lord? Kerri Dalee met Him in the
Restroom. That simple, right? Read it and find out.
Favorite Memoir
Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic
Humiliation by Aisha Tyler
Okay only Memoir I read. Charging $12-$15 for your life on
my Kindle is gross. No one is that interesting. When they go down, I’ll read
more of those. The Nerd Queen proves why she is just that. I love this book. I
know she and I would have been friends in Latter Elementary & Middle school.
For Lent, I’m giving up buying makeup. In 2013, I found
myself buying product after product. So let me share my favorite lip products for
my looks I experimented with this year. Yes, All lip products. I didn’t do anything
new with my eyes.
Favorite Lip Stain
Loreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain
It stays on for many hours, moisturizes and has shine.
Favorite Go To Lip
Stick
Maybelline Color Sensationals Vivids - Pink Pop
If I needed to add some color to a look it was my trusty bubby.
It is smooth & long lasting.
Favorite Trend (Ombre’
Lips)
Two tone lips are not new. But 2013 was the year of doing
more than red lip liner and pink lip color. I saw ladies adding different
colors to their Ombre’ lips. And I am happy to say I think the Black eye liner on
the lip phase may be going away (cuing the praise music, I’m going in, in
advance),
My October Awareness Ombre’ I talked about in a Blog earlier this fall, was achieve with COVERGIRL LipPerfection Lipliner – Plum & Loreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain - Rose On and On.
Yep, those looks were that simple!!!
Favorite MakeUp Vlog
Oh I fell in love with another Makeup Vlog. She’s the only
Vlog that made me truly understand Ombre’ Lips
Alright the video playing while you were reading is one of my
favorites in Music for 2013
Favorite Sacred
Ultimate Relationship by Donald Lawrence (Ft Lalah Hathaway)
I follow Lalah
Hathaway on Twitter and I saw tweets about this song. It’s remake of a song
fame Gospel artist Donald Lawrence wrote for Mary J. Blige. Who is the Best
Person to wake up and talk to in the morning? I added it to my worship playlist
and never turned back.
Favorite Secular
Finally by Carolyn Malachi
Watch the Video Here
Y’all can play this at my funeral (Bishop might not mind)
LoL On Sunday evening I listen to a Podcast called Black Girl Nerds http://www.blogtalkradio.com/blackgirlnerds
(Shout out to BGN) and this is the opening song. It’s simple, “Finally, I’m
Finally Me. Finally, I’m Finally Free. Refreshing!!!
And that wraps up my favorite things of 2013. Hope you
enjoyed it! What were some of your favorite things of 2013? Let me know in the
comments below. If the Lord says the same I’ll see you in 2014.
As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms
