Hi there my pretties! I've decided to take a day off from blogging the first Friday of every month. So, if you've missed me just know that I was thinking of you. (inserts smiley here) While I was away I had a conversation that led to questions about knowing what love is and how to recognize it when it shows up. First, lets face it! The landscape of love and relationships have changed quite a bit since the introduction of social media technology into the sphere of intimate personal connections. As a matter of fact, I met my husband on the all to well known social media mogul Facebook. It really was a chance encounter, but what's funny about this particular meeting is that it was predicated by an infamous physic astrologer whose name I won't mention here due to the controversy surrounding her.  

With that being said, I want everyone to understand that love is a choice, just like any other choice you make for your life. However, in order for it to work (the delusional "happily ever after") both parties must choose love and be committed to working out whatever obstacles that may (WILL) be presented along the journey of the relationship. And I will be the first to admit it... It's not easy!

We all know that saying, "Nothing easy is worth having." Well, the same is true for relationships. Every couple who gets married wants the 50 year anniversary kind of love. You know that love that amazes everyone in the room? Yeah, that! However, everyone does not make the cut because it's only possible if both parties are all in. A divorce is not worth having because it's easy. You never have to address your flaws or hold yourself accountable for your actions and ultimately you miss the opportunity to grow as a person. Walking away is easy. Staying is only for the strong.

I have learned that you should never go into a relationship with expectations. And this is not to say that you should take abuse from a partner; mental, verbal, physical or emotional. What I am saying is, you should understand the very basics of your love, friend or business interest before you enter into a relationship with anyone.

Where do you see the relationship going? What are you seeking from the partnership? Do they meet an overwhelming amount of your preferences? (hobbies, lifestyle, interests) These are not expectations! They are qualifying factors for a future relationship. This is very important to remember and understand. Once you get this, everything else is easy. You just go with the flow! Address challenges as they come, while remembering to eliminate expectations of a specific outcome.

​For example, you and your partner have been at odds for a week and the two of you finally resolved the disagreement where you proclaimed your love and your partner does not. This does not mean that your partner does not love you! Or for example, you text your partner and it takes them over an hour to respond. Again, this does not mean your partner does not care about you. It means they were busy and as soon as they had time to reply, they did! Here's another good one. They liked a picture on Instagram of another attractive individual. This does not mean they want to start a relationship with that person! Remember, they are also in the relationship putting in the work needed to insure a lasting partnership. Actions speak louder than words. So please, give them credit and be patient with their process.

Hope this helps...

Take care of you,
-AMA  

Its been pretty hectic in Louisiana for the past two weeks; jammed packed with my husband being in town, working two jobs, preparing devil eggs for a friend's baby shower, making sure my son is on track, along with  job fairs and job interviews. Whew... I am just catching my breath here, but this only marks the beginning of the journey I am about to take. And I am really excited about it! Hope can be a real game changer. It can override fear and this knowledge is truly a beautiful thing. So many great opportunities can happen when you cancel out fear and replace it with optimism and hope. I am undoubtedly blessed and I am extremely thankful. I have noticed in myself and also in others that we, at most times, try to fit into or live the status quo. However, what is really heartbreaking is the fact that people miss their blessings trying to fit in with the world and the ideas it creates. I have let go of what I think I want in a career in order to accept what the Creator has for me because I trust my God. I have realized, in this moment, that I am more than what I do. 

In good spirit I want to share a few links I love. I hope you enjoy them!

Take care of you,
Alicia

Susan Miller's Astrology Zone I read Susan's forecasts and blog several times a month. I absolutely love her attitude and her spirit. She is so uplifting and motivational! (www.susanmiller.com)

Kayture I found Kristina Bazan by accident. She is the creative mind and founder of the Kayture Fashion Blog. Not only is she beautiful. She is impressively young. I love her work! (www.kayture.com)

Super Vaidosa Camila Coelho is a Brizilian native living in New York who I found on Instagram a few years ago. She blogs about beauty, fashion and fitness. She is truly fun to watch, being that she creates a lot of YouTube videos for her followers! (www.camilacoelho.com)

Studio 404 Angela is a graphic artist who is the editor and designer of Studio 404 and co-owner of a brand strategies studio called Sevenality. The image in this blog post is some of her work! (www.studio-404.com)

Back rubs
And Sunsets
Love from your lover
Silk panties
Wild nights
Passionate sex

Tonight's a dream
Full of fantasy

You're naked
I'm donned in leather
Ready to beat you
For your transgressions

You're a sinner
I'm your redeemer
Bow and kiss my feet

Yeah, Daddy
Just like that

What did you say
I can't hear you

Yes...
​I'm your Queen

-Alicia Monique Adewumi

I was asked after my last post; "What does the fall beauty & makeup trends have in store for us this season?" So, here they are!

May you be inspired my pretties...

Smooches,
-AMA

When I am passionate about something I always share what I have discovered with others. So, in acknowledging that, many people who know me can tell you that they have seen the infamous birthday book. My infatuations only grow from here, into a deep sometimes intense study of the lost art of Astrology; which was extremely popular during the 3rd millennium BC up until the 17th century and is now making a strong come back. Therefore, in researching this art form (once considered a scholarly tradition) I went through great lengths to hunted down my exact time of birth. For years, up until my 18th birthday, I did not have an official birth certificate. Instead, my christening documents were used in its place. When I finally obtained a birth certificate the time of my live birth was unknown by my mother. I contacted Lakeside Hospital, where I was born, in 2009 for archived information regarding my birth that turned out to be a success. The records even included an ink print of my little baby foot! 

I use Astrology to understand who I was, who I am and who I am becoming. Its study has had a very powerful and almost spiritual effect in my life. At times, when I feel the need for console, I turn to the stars; it’s like my own personal on call life coach/therapist. Astrology is a science that can be indispensable to those who can learn to appreciate it. In my unique birth chart My Sun sign and my Moon sign is in Virgo with Capricorn rising at 20 degrees. Knowing all three of these aspects of your particular birth chart is important in order to understand your relation to the cosmos. Once you find out your rising sign, you would read your horoscope for your Sun sign (which usually answers the question “what’s your sign?”) along with the horoscope (or forecast) for your rising sign (the zodiac sign with its degree ascending, on the eastern horizon, at the specific time and location of your birth). Basically, you should be reading two different horoscopes per month. If you know the time of your birth and would like to find out your sun, moon and rising sign click here.


What’s so above, is so below

Later for now pretties,
-AMA

Do you know that movie, 13 Going on 30? Yeah! Well, do you remember that part when Jenna exclaims to her mother that she does not want to be thirteen, but she wants to be like those people; while pointing to a picture in Poise magazine? "I want to be thirty, flirty and thriving!" Believe it or not, I think that scene pretty much captures and sums up how I felt when I actually turned thirty.

I think there's this myth surrounding the idea of turning 30, that it's the age when you figure it all out, when you have it all together, and you have the vision with the resources to not just dream, but to act it out. This was not the case for me. However, I have always considered myself to be a late bloomer. Most people see that as a bad thing, but not me. I have learned to master my beautiful flaw. And there's a possibility that it's not a flaw at all, but a divine gift given to me by God upon my birth. I prefer to think of it in this way!

2012 is a year I will never forget, and let me tell you why. I not only made thirty that year, but it was the year of a massive mental breakdown. I was diagnosed with clinical depression in March of 2012, after seeking professional help from a Psychiatrist. Due to that diagnoses, I began being treated with Viibry, an anti-depressant at a 20mg dose. However, I was still experiencing an up and down effect of my mood that led to the dose of the medication being gradually increased over a 9 month period to 40mg. Once the maximum dose was reached I continually experienced a loss of focus and concentration. Vyvanse was then added to my treatment which further led to serious complications of total exhaustion and deep depression. It was my intention at the time to improve my medical condition and succeed in the progression of my Bachelor's degree. These unforeseen events impelled me to retroactively withdraw from Southeastern Louisiana University (the university I was attending) in the fall semester of 2012; then take a semester off (which turned into a year and a half). I call this the year of the FALL. And only the ground was there to catch me. 

In June of 2014 I finally re-enrolled at Southeastern. By this time I had decided to end all medication that had been prescribed to me, including the relationship with my Psychiatrist. Some people asked me why I was wasting my time going back to school, but I knew why I was doing it and I had to finish what I started in order to feel right within. By May of 2015, I was a graduate. Now I'm on a totally new journey. I am not even close to where I think I should be, yet I still have hope that I will reach the highest possibilities of my goals and dreams. To all those turning thirty this year, keep your head high, this is only the beginning!

Take care of you,
Alicia

I die in silence
Beneath the dark fog of lies and deception
They kill me
Not without torture and suffering first
The perception lives underneath teaching me a lesson
To bow and submit
To surrender
Who I am
The truth of me
My intent
I will never be what you need me to be
You can burn me, bruise me and bury me alive
But you will never have my soul
My spirit will always remain free to fly high
And soar

-AMA