Snippets from my Graduation Shoot

I'm pleased to announce that I graduated last Thursday with a Bachelors degree in Finance with a minor in African American Studies from The College of New Jersey (I'll share photos from the day within the next few weeks). The photos above are a few shots from my pre-graduation shoot with my  friend Alfred. As you can see my hair ended up in an afro, which was not part of the plan. However, it rained right before our shoot and the humidity caused my hair to shrink a lot. Anyway, I had an awesome time shooting and capturing my last few moments as an undergrad student. If you're ever looking for a photographer in the NJ/NY area, I highly recommend Alfred Sarpeh (www.royallight.co).  He'll make you feel comfortable and work with you to get the best shots possible. Oh, and you'll have so much shooting with him in case you can't tell from all the pictures of me laughing!

Sister Friends



Someone once said friends are the family you choose. I couldn't agree more with that statement. While I may not have biological sisters, I consider the ladies beside me (among others) to be my sisters. I've been friends with Dana (left) since I was about 10 or 11 and friends with Kia (right) since our freshman year of college, and they are two of my closet friends. I believe that every women needs strong female influences in their lives, whether it be mothers, aunts, cousins, sisters, friends, or mentors. I have been blessed with all those positive female influences, but I am especially grateful for my sisters. They have been with me throughout my journey through life (especially the tumultuous college journey) during the trying times as well as the happy times. They have pushed me to keep going and believed in me at times when I did not believe in myself. They continuously inspire me to work hard and pursue my goals. I could go on and on about them but I'll leave it at that for now. 

Basically, the message I want to convey to you is that we all need sister friends in our lives. They are not only there to chat with about fashion, hair, men, etc, but for the more serious topics in life as well. True sister friends will not only support you but inspire you to be the best woman and person you can be. So take some time to show your sister friends that you love and appreciate them! If you don't have sister friends, I encourage you to cultivate meaningful friendships with other women. There is something beautiful about woman who can inspire, uplift motivate, and support one another.  Lastly, thank you to all my friends who have supported me throughout the years and continue to do so!  

*you will soon be able to see the rest of the pictures from this shoot on hstylesquared.tumblr.com
hstylesquared is a budding joint venture between Kia and I where we seek to provide fashion and personal style content.*

My outfit:
Top: Zara
Jeans-Old Navy
Jacket-H&M
Shoes-Nine West
Necklace- Charlotte Russe 

Metropolitan Museum of Art



Top-Gap
Jacket-H&M
Jeans-Old Navy
Sneakers (also worn here)-Nike

Hey everyone! I hope you had a good weekend. I'm currently studying for finals. I graduate in less than two weeks! Last weekend, I spent a couple hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to complete an assignment for my Islamic art class. The majority of my time was allocated towards viewing the art in the galleries that featured Islamic art (although I did venture into a few galleries after finishing my assignment). Unfortunately, I decided not to share all my pictures from my visit with you because a lot of them did not come out as well as I would have liked (I was rushing to take pictures of as many carpets as I could in a limited amount of time). It was a pretty quick trip because I had a million things to accomplish last weekend and this was just one of them. Thus, I wore clothes that I could move quickly in. This trip was my second visit to the met and I plan to visit more often in the future when time permits.

Black White and Big Hair!


 Dress- Lord and Taylor
Shoes-Nine West

Hey everyone! I hope you had a fabulous weekend! My weekend was quite good! These past few weeks have been draining with final papers and projects. However, I got some great news last week (will share later) that totally brightened my week. I wore this dress to church on Saturday and it was perfect for the weather (unfortunately, I didn't get to take any pictures outside)! I actually found it in Lord & Taylor a few months ago and my mother treated me to it (mom, you';re the best). 

I've been wearing my hair in a lot of protective styles lately because of my busy schedule. However, this week should be a little less hectic for me so I'm letting my hair out this week! I'm wearing my hair in a Bantu-knot out done on blown-out hair. How did I achieve this hairstyle? 1) washed and conditioned 2) applied coconut oil  and shea butter mixture to length of hair 3) detangled and twisted sections of hair 4) untwisted and blow dried each section 5) applied Nubian Heritage Indian Hemp and Tamanu Grow & Strengthen Herbal Custard to each section and re-twisted hair 6) Bantu knotted each twist 7) unraveled twist the next morning (about 6 hours later) 8) separated hair