February 2012 Archives - cafe mocha reflections

Spring Time

February 28, 2012 by Whitney Leave a Comment

We’ve had a mild winter, but I’m so looking forward to spring, tulips blooming, leaves on the trees, birds and yes, a little shopping to update my wardrobe. I absolutely love tulips, my love took this picture last year on his route.

I’ve been looking at the new spring fashions and I have to truly say I’m ready to do a little shopping. I have a laid back style, love the carefree maxi dresses that are out now. I like to wear dresses/skirts in the warmer weather because all winter long, I’m in jeans, slacks, tights and leggings. When spring comes, I’m ready to be free. Time to hit up TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Nordstrom Rack, DSW, Justice (for my youngest daughter), Gordman’s. I have to shop for my girls too, so you know it’s gonna be costly.

Spring is also a good time to go through your makeup, maybe donate some clothing, shoes and accessories. Let’s start with makeup, throw out anything you haven’t used in the last 3-6 months. Bacteria builds up and it can cause infections. Also, it would also be a good time to replace any brushes or give them a good spring cleaning and sanitizing. I’m going through my closet and if I haven’t worn the article of clothing, accessory or shoes in two years, I’m donating the items. I have plenty of things I don’t wear now because I work from home. I know that someone could use the items just sitting in my closet, and I could use the closet space too. I don’t like to donate shoes, because once you have broken in a pair of shoes, the fit isn’t right when someone else tries to wear it. I’ll give them away if I didn’t get much wear because it was something that was probably not a good fit, like hurting my feet. I have never been one to wear shoes that hurt my feet. Did you hear about Octavia Spencer crying on the red carpet because her feet were killing her? That’s me…I’m the take a flat pair of shoes kinda of woman, you never know what will happen, so I’m prepared.

One of my long time sistah/friends won tickets to Oprah’s Lifeclass coming here to St. Louis on March 26th. We are attending the evening class which is featuring Iyanla Vanzant. What a way to start a new season, being able to hear Iyanla speak. I’ve been a fan of hers for a long time, I was introduced to her when I lived in Los Angeles in the 90′s.

Spring also means no more excuses from me about getting out to walk! I like to dance for exercise, Zumba, Electric Slide dance classes, but I also like to walk. Time to dust off the Nike’s and get ready to walk and smell all the pretty flowers and trees blooming. Love the spring!

Whitney

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Filed Under: Fashion and Style, Lifestyle Tagged With: clothes, makeup, spring

Give Us Our Daily Bread

February 26, 2012 by Whitney Leave a Comment

How often do you say the Lord’s Prayer? What does it mean to you? If you are like me, you learned this prayer when you were a child. My pastor preached on this one Sunday. He spoke about our daily bread, based on our need, not our greed. Our need for the word, and how it can save us, deliver us and how we are to share it with others. One thing he also said during his sermon that stuck with me is that we need a priority transfusion. How awesome is that, it should make us think about God’s grace and mercy with no limits for us. Isn’t that the truth? I thought about that, what my priorities were. My priorities are God, family, friends, others. I don’t worry about myself, because I know God will provide for me. Don’t get wrong, I in no way neglect myself, just the opposite. I pray daily and make sure I get plenty of rest. We need to stop worrying if we believe God will provide. What are your priorities in life, does it include sharing God’s word, and truly living on faith?

I just like to share and be a gentle reminder of how blessed our lives are, always offer words of encouragement and show love. I hope this video by VaShawn Mitchell lifts you and let’s you know that God is all we really need as our daily bread. Have a good week & take care…

Whitney

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Filed Under: Inspirational Tagged With: inspiration

Our Health Issues

February 21, 2012 by Whitney 3 Comments

We have a long and complicated relationship with our issues with our health, eating the right foods, exercising and just taking care of ourselves in general. I’m not sure about you, but I come from a family of serious soul food eating. We grew up eating pork, beef, chicken, fried foods, including fattening deserts and breads. We had to eat bread with every meal, my mother made sure of that.

I bet you already know what I’m going to say…I grew up as an overweight girl. I used food as a comfort, and I still do that, so I have to be very careful. I’ve lost a lot of weight, and I struggle to keep it off because I’m an emotional eater, stress will cause me to start eating. Trust me I work on this daily, almost every meal, because as much as I try when something real stressful happens, I start to eat. Plus I’m learning to let go of stress.

I am much better because I keep plenty of healthy alternatives in my pantry. I love all kinds of nuts, so I keep plenty of those. I also love Honey Crisp Apples, I’m enjoying them until spring. I eat a banana every day because I need the potassium in my diet. I don’t drink soda, that wasn’t hard to give up. I drink lots of water and for a change, I’ll drink a Vitamin Water, I love those. I know it has the sugar, but I like them and drink one probably twice a week. And as the title of blog states, I love coffee. I even learned to drink it without sugar.

I am not a expert on health issues, I research on what is right for me. I know we have to take care of ourselves so we can enjoy a life well beyond what the life expectancy used to be for women, especially women of color. Take care of yourselves…your mind, your body & pray everyday, God will listen.

Whitney

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Filed Under: Health & Wellness, Lifestyle, Menopause Mania Tagged With: diet, health

My Social Media Addiction

February 17, 2012 by Whitney 2 Comments

Hi, my name is Whitney and I’m addicted to social media! Whew, I feel so much better. It all started when I began working from home. I’m on the computer all the time, so I started finding different websites, blogs, social media other than Facebook and Twitter. It’s so much out there for every interest you have. Let’s count, in the order I joined…Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, The Work at Home Woman, Fabulously 40, Mom Bloggers Club, Natural Sunshine, Scraps of Color, Pinterest and Etsy. I don’t check all these everyday, don’t have that kind of time, but I do check in at least once a week on all. My favorites are Natural Sunshine, Scraps of Color and Pinterest. Facebook and Twitter is how I keep up with family, friends and their lives. The others I use for networking, info and my personal interests. I have met some really nice women online, that’s the best thing about the internet. I really like Pinterest, didn’t understand it at first, but I’m getting the hang of it. If you want an invite, let me know. Check out my page, http://pinterest.com/agapewoman/

I read a bunch of blogs, too many to mention. That’s one of the reasons I started my own blog, a need to write from my perspective, a 49 year old woman, with children still at home (I know), faith filled woman of God, has a lot of style but not necessarily that of the younger women (I don’t do 5-6 inch heels). I have a lot of living to do and want to make sure I do my part to keep us included with our sense of fashion, love and lifestyle changes. I want to let women my age know that it’s okay to feel the way you do.

I don’t know if I’m reaching anyone yet with my blog, but I’ve had a few ladies show interest in what I have to say. We are visual, so coming up with ideas, pictures and other things to keep people interested is a lot of work, but I’m up to the challenge. Who knows, we could be the next social media! Can’t blame a girl for dreaming, can you?? Take care…

Whitney

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Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: addiction, internet, lifestyle, social media

Happy Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2012 by Whitney 2 Comments

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love 1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV

Today I want to wish Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone in my life present and past…my man, my children and all of my friends & family. To those I miss dearly, my parents, mother-in-law, my brother and sister. My heart is full of love and I want to share it with you all because tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us. Let’s love one another fully, openly and without judgement. Even those people in our lives that are HARD to love, give them love at a distance if you have to but love them. Take care.

Whitney

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Filed Under: Inspirational, Lifestyle Tagged With: family, inspiration, love

Living With Our Past

February 11, 2012 by Whitney Leave a Comment

I don’t want this to be a rant, but this past week I saw Mimi Alford on TV more times that I care to remember. If you are someone who follow or watches the news, you know who she is. She is the woman that had a 18 month affair with President John F. Kennedy. I promised that I would use this blog to uplift, but here’s what I want to say.

My sistahs, if you are living with something that is so terrible that it has consumed your life this long, then take care of it. Go to the person or address the situation that has caused your past to be a demon to you. I’m trying very hard not to be judgemental with this woman because I don’t know her or what she has had to deal with for almost 50 years. What I know, it is not healthy to live with something like that for so long. Writing a book about the affair doesn’t seem like the answer, but it bothers me that the media has this woman on every network interviewing her like President Kennedy having affairs was something new. She also didn’t think about how this would affect his family, or did she?

I don’t know about you, but there are a few things from my past that I’m taking to the grave with me, because I have either forgiven myself, the person or situation. Asking God for forgiveness is a wonderful feeling, maybe they should try that! I’m trying very hard to teach my girls to really think about things before they act, because your actions can haunt you a lifetime. Who wants to live with that? I hope my opinion on this was helpful and makes you all think about letting go of the past. Be encouraged and share this with someone.

Whitney

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Filed Under: Health & Wellness, Inspirational Tagged With: emotional, inspiration, mental health

Change

February 6, 2012 by Whitney Leave a Comment

People normally don’t like change. I know I don’t. It can stop you dead in your tracks. After you ask who, when, what and why, you start adapting (most of the time). It seems like the older we get, the harder it is to accept change. Why can’t things just remain the same?

To be honest, we need change, without it we are in one big rut all the time. It can be as small as going a different way to the grocery store, parting your hair on the left side instead of the right side. Drinking tea instead of coffee….um, no scratch that one, I love my coffee! Change could also be changing careers, or retiring.

I did something last week that I haven’t done in a long time, got my hair braided. It’s really a change and it is taking more time to get used to it than I thought. I did it as a protective style while I grow out my relaxed tresses. I’m still trying to adjust, so used to getting up, getting ready and doing my hair. My kids love it, and my man even likes it.

Sometimes change is a big deal, like moving from one city to another. Now let me tell ya, that one takes some time to get used to. I’ve moved several times, and I think I’ve adjusted each time I moved, although it was tough at times. I’m from Kansas City, but I live in St. Louis now. I miss my home town, but I really like St. Louis. I like the area where we live, and I love my church. I haven’t made many friends, but that’s because I’m a busy mom that works from home. I get around very well, and can tell you where all the TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Nordstrom Rack and DSW’s are!

Change can also mean what most of us are going through now. That’s what my momma used to call it, “going through the change”. We all know what that change does to us physically and emotionally. We just pray that we can get through it without losing our minds.

Change is a part of our lives, we can embrace it or stress out. I don’t recommend the stress part, life is too short for that. Keep your head up, stay prayed up and be encouraged! Check out my girl Ledisi….

Whitney