BLOG BLOG BLOG!

So I'm taking the plunge. After watching this happen for a couple of months I’m wanting to join in on the phone. Hopefully it doesn’t kill me. I’m talking about blogging EVERYDAY in the month of September. Well not everyday, every WEEKDAY. Which I think is awesome because my schedule is cray and I think it would be a hot mess my first go around to blog 7 days a week. Whitney at Observant Turtle is amaze-balls for doing this. Now I get a whole month to not have to think about what to post. Its already done for me! Woot woot. I think this will forceably put me in the habit of blogging and then maybe I wont have 25 unfinished posts waiting to be done! I want to feel more motivated to do them!

Right now my engines are running on full blast balancing the 3 jobs, personal trainer, social/dating life, sorority stuff. But I’m going to make it work. Please don’t think I’m crazy, this is just what is needed in my life. In 2015 shit is going to change, trust me.

Okay, so without further ado, I bring you BLOG IS SEPTEMBER. See how epic I am making this?

Day 1 Reintroduce yourself to your readers.

Hola! I’m Nikki. I blog here at The Bourgie Chronicles.

Basic deets; 27, jobaholic, single, and I live in Charlotte, NC.  It is always the hardest when people ask me to talk about myself. Beyond the intro facts about me what do you really want to know?

I'm a nomadic. I love to travel. I grew up military and moved around a lot as a kid. I don’t really have a hometown, but technically its Hawaii (I know, OMG that sucks!) I lived there for awhile (2 times overall) and graduated high school there, so I call it home. If I could afford it I would totally go back and live forever.

Wonder Woman is my life. Period.

I am obsessed with glitter, leopard and shoes. I collect coffee cups and have an obsession with brunch.

These are all things that can be read in my side bar into on my blog that’s nothing interesting. But still very important to know about me. In fact, I have an About me page that if you really want to skip all this you can always check me out there.

I have recently gotten back into my reading habits and have a huge list of books that I categorized by season (don’t ask why) and I am trying to barrel through them. If you have any suggestions as to what I should read please send me a message! I’m definitely that person who will refuse to see a movie if its based on a book I havent read yet. Then it gets added to the list. I just finished A Fault In Our Stars and The Giver this week so its about that time to check them out.

The last thing I want to share is that I am absolutely a social media whore addict. I love all of it. Instagram (IG as the cool kids are saying), Twitter, SnapChat, and of course Facebook. I Instalurk with the best of them so go ahead and lurk on me too! All of my names are the same! MissNewBourgie.

Boom. Follow, like, @ me, snap, all that. I love new friends and making my timelines never ending!

Hope you havent left yet. Because I still need to catch up. Did anyone notice how I wrote the first prompt on the third day? Yeah….thats because I showed up late to the party and joined in this morning lol. But ill catch up this weekend. Promise.

Busy Busy Bee

Its been 2 weeks since I last wrote a post. But I need to keep my word and do better with posts so that's what I'll do. Starting a new job has been pretty stressful. But I like it. I like the people, the food, and even the hours. Anyone who has ever worked in the restaurant industry knows the real deal. But its a great place. And this place will hopefully help me for now. I am in the process of saving money for my own apartment and just being financially stable for once. 

This weekend was busy, fun, and exhausting. Worked most of the weekend, but I was able to squeeze some free time in. I ended up getting to check out the last day of Charlotte Pride. Each year it gets bigger and bigger. It was nice to see all the love and positive vibes.

I also got the chance to head to a Panther game. Preseason, but still a good time! I'm a Giants fan through and through, but I still like to root for the home team (when they aren't playing my team of course).

Summer is coming to an end so I've been trying to get a couple more fun things in. So I'm thinking a baseball game, brunch and maybe a couple more trips to the pool. School starts on Monday but the fun doesn't have to quite yet. Anyone have any other ideas of stuff I should do before Fall really hits?

Things that I have realized at 27

My birthday is 2 months away so I got to thinking about all the things that have changed. I thought that by this time I would be married or at least planning on it, and more permanent in a career. Currently none of those things are happening. Now as I get closer to 30 I am not as scared as I once was and I have decided to embrace my life as is. I've been telling all my friends that 30 is the new 20. Any else believe that? I have learned quite a bit over the last couple years and I have written down a few that I am willing to confess about.


1. Hangovers. They are the absolute worst. But they are more deadly now that I'm not heading to college night every Thursday. Senior year of college I was an absolute champ. Partying 3 days a week and going to class the next day no problem. I can still party into the night, but the recovery time is longer painless and fixed with a glass of water and some Advil. I need time to re-evaluate my life, roll out of bed, and eat something immediately. And now that could take hours! That means if there is any weekday shenanigans, I have to think very carefully how to approach my next day. I do work in the classroom after all.

2. The junior section of stores is 90% of the time not suitable for me. It makes me sad seeing women forcing themselves into clothes they have no business wearing. Partially in my defense the store is called Forever 21, and I am 27; but if they make my size and I wear it appropriate whats the harm? Buuuuuut not everyone can wear anything just because it comes in your size FYI.

3. Living paycheck to paycheck has become an art form. I have a full time job yes, but that does not mean I always have money. That just is not realistic. Bills Bills Bills rule my world. I certainly know how to make 20 dollars stretch for a whole week.

4. Metabolism. Oh I miss the days of devouring empty calories and staying the same size. Now to counter balance I focus more on the empty calories of alcohol mixed in with eating healthier. Yes that sounds  like a good plan. I also got myself a personal trainer and he makes all the difference. No binge eating for me.

5. Keeping up with friends in high school gets tougher every year unless you live in a small town. It's to the point where I only speak if it's their birthday, or a new baby, or a wedding. Which by the way sucks because 9 times out of 10 I'm too far away to be invited to the wedding, baby shower, or birthday party. Womp womp.

6. My love for fashion has increased ten fold. My desire to be more daring and dress for appropriate occasions have gotten better. Or maybe its my love for shoes. Yes. I just love shoes. Outfits are only necessary in order to wear certain shoes. If I could, I'd go naked and have some hot shoes on. Guess I need to move to a nudist colony.

7. I am no longer dating for fun. Lol I mean it still needs to be fun, but I'm starting to get the itch for settling down...maybe it's because of all the damn weddings and baby showers I've been seeing. I think I'm ready for someone to make an honest woman out of me.

8. My increase in jealousy has come to the forefront. This might be due to social media and the parade of "new job" and "I'm engaged" and "bought a new house". Facebook/Instagram/Twitter breeds the jealousy but I can't look away. I know it's not my time and it's okay for me to feel this way. This just means that when it happens for me I'm going to have a freakin parade. Okay maybe not that much pomp and circumstance. But there will be a party.

XOXO

Confessions of a Blogaholic Link Up

Weekend Marathon

I had a pretty hectic weekend. It has been awhile since I've had plans everyday. From Thursday to Sunday. No stopping. But it was all a good time. I'm still getting back in my "take pictures of everything in anticipation of blogging" mode. But for now check out my jam packed weekend.

these crazy kids...

Thursday: Spent the day volunteering with Nicole's church Elevation. They have something called "Love Week" every year where everyone goes out into the community of Charlotte to give back and spread the "love". I've known about it for awhile but this is the first year taking part. Me and the roomies all decided to volunteering renovating a house in East Charlotte. Painting, yard work, etc. Good times.

The evening was really long and exhausting. But so much fun. Met up with some friends to see a Michael Jackson cover band...but it rained out and no performance. So what do you do when that happens? Bar hop around the city and try to avoid the rain (the weekend ending up being so gray and rainy). Highlight of my night. Eating some amazing Queso at VidaVida. Good food moves me to photograph it, so it only makes sense that this is the only picture I have of the night.

Friday: Had a friend in town so I mustered up the energy to go out again. Hit uptown to Cosmos. Thought I was really being creative with my Snapchat right here. Plus my makeup looks on point. 

Saturday: Early morning work. This time; Senior Basketball 3 on 3. I'm talking 50 and over running up and down the court (well half of the court) and shooting 3 pointers better than a lot of guys I see my age. They've still got it and it goes to show you that even though you get to a certain age, you can still do what you love. Just take care of yourself.

I spent my night with some of my favorite people. I met up with some of my best friends from college who are in my sorority with me for dinner and drinks afterward. It was so nice to catch up! The Plaza Midwood area of Charlotte is pretty nice. I had been to a couple places but not on a weekend. I love the casual atmosphere even though my attire didn't match. I wish I had gotten a full picture of my outfit that night. I was channeling the 90s with my high waited acid wash jeans, white pumps, and black blazer. I was taking it out for a test spin and it was a hit! Anyone else getting more into 90s fashion? Or just taking more risks in general?

Sunday I started my Job #3 as a hostess (more on that later), so my morning was spent training. And in the evening I watched the Giants play in their first game of the season. Its preseason, but still a win is a win. My GMen were looking pretty good out there! Lets hope that its a preview of great things to come. Anyone else overcome with joy that its time for football????

Hope everyone has a great week!

Monday Morning Gossip Weekend Recap

Hello August...I'm back!

So it’s a new month.  My Hiatus is over, again. This time I’m going to stay on the plan. I may sound like I’m an addict trying to stay sober for the umpteenth time, but that’s okay. I realized in the last 2 months how much I need blogging. It’s become something that I use for sanity, strength, and clarity. That’s a lot of pressure on something that is supposed to be just a fun hobby. But with all the things I have going on right now, it’s very much needed. Summer is almost over and I plan to spend these last couple weeks developing my “habit” again. But I am not going to be over ambitious and blog every day. For now, I’ll give myself 3 days a week. Maybe 4 if there is a special occasion. We will see how that goes.

My need for structure (military kid) and lack of stability in my life recently (job, friends, money) has caused me to miss what blogging did for me. It became work and I avoided it as much as possible. But when I got a chance to read some of my favorite blogs, I suddenly was recharged again and wanted to comment and use some new blog ideas I had. Very quickly the motivation fizzled out as soon as something frustrating happened in my life. That actually should have been the time that my computer was attached to me; using writing as an outlet and giving me something positive to focus on.

So this time I want to blog again because it makes me happy and I enjoy that connection I have made over the years with the community. I want to build that back up again. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for me.

Now being that it is Friday, I thought I would also do a little recap of how my week went so I can say goodbye to July on a good note.

1. Tried 2 new Pinterest recipes this weekend. 1 was a success and the other was a mere “Eh”. I will definitely be doing posts on those because I need to share with the world the improvement of my cooking skills. Or maybe the improvement of following directions.

2. I got a call on Tuesday that I got the Hostess position I interviewed for last week! I’m excited because I needed for more money coming in. 2 months late but it’s still happening. I am now officially a “Jamaican” with all the jobs I have now (if you have never heard that joke, don’t worry about it. It’s a Caribbean thing, being that I am Guyanese).

3. I’ve been on 2 dates with the same guy. I’m starting to branch out and be more open to the idea of new people.  Dating such a trial and error. I can’t believe I wanted to do it so bad when I was IN a relationship. Grass is always greener on the other side I guess. But we will see how things go with this guy. For now he’s someone I can continue chilling with.

4. It’s not exactly a highlight, but things have been going well with my personal trainer, but I suffered my first “injury” with him. Box jumps are not for the faint of heart and I was able to reach my goal of hitting the highest box, but not before achieving an abdominal strain. Right below my bellybutton feels like something ripped. Luckily it’s not too serious. But me and icy hot have become very good friends lately.

5. NSYNC released a compilation album. Well the record company did, not actually the guys. If that’s not a great highlight to my week I don’t know what is! This will be ordered ASAP!

High Five For Friday

Johnnyswim

I spent an evening last week with my best friend in the NoDa Art District. We were at the Neighborhood Theatre and I have to say the venue is pretty cool. Very open, relaxed atmosphere and acoustically awesome (you could hear them clearly in any part of the building!)

We had the pleasure of getting to see JohnnySwim. They are a married duo from Nashville and they are amazing. The woman Amanda Sudano is Diana Ross' daughter! Talk about talent! Now I remember seeing a song by them in 2013 called Heartbeats and I loved it, but then I didn't hear about them again until this year when Nicole told me about their album finally coming out and they were headed to Charlotte on tour. Apparently I'm the last one in the house to listen to them because both of my roomies have been blasting them over the last couple of months. 

Their opener was named Liz Longley and she is great! Another artist coming out of Nashville I was really able to relate to most of her songs and my friend even bought her CD. She was out front selling them herself btw so we got to talk to her and everything. I didn't get to record any videos of her because of memory saving tactics on my phone, but enjoy this grainy action pic and a YouTube video of the song I love called "Camaro". This is my absolute favorite of hers. Mostly because I relate to it completely. Dealing with heartbreak is rough.

"Camaro"

So before the Johnnyswim concert I listened to their new album on repeat and I have to say I quickly developed some favorites. Check out their album "Diamonds" if you get a chance. You won't regret it. I only videoed snippets of my favorites. Take the World, A Million Years, and Pay Dearly are at the top. Enjoy my videos and pics, even though they do not do them justice!

 Heartbeats Video

 A Million Years (close you eyes and the video wont be so bad lol)

Mama, I Love You...

Today is Mother's Day, so its a celebration of the woman that brought you into this world, or who raised you, or was just there for you in any capacity. Now we definitely live in a world where a "mother" can be any type of woman, not just someone who gave birth to you. I applaud all the women (and some men) who are mother figures in people's lives. Because we all need that. Someone who cares about us and has set a good example. I applaud all of you.

So this is a post about who else? My Mom...my Mommy; my Mama, or whatever name I feel like calling her at the time. I want to talk about how awesome my dear old Mom is. Okays she's not old. Actually she pretty young and its awesome the fact that you really can't tell how old she is. But she has a 27 year old daughter so that's kind of a dead giveaway of what age she is near (sorry Mom, I know you want your age to be a secret, but you can't be 35!). When I was in high school people would be like "OMG you look like sisters!" and I would just roll my eyes. But seriously. We could be.

But back to how awesome she is. There are hundreds of reasons why my mother is amazing. And if it wasn't for the fact that this post would be sooooo long and no one would read it, I've narrowed it down to 3 important ones.

My mother is awesome because....

1. She is the Queen Diva. Period. Now let me elaborate. All my shopping addictions; all my interest in fashion and shoes, and creating "looks"; that all comes from my mother. My shoe collection is not even close to half of hers. And neither is my closet. I'm pretty sure between the two of us we could provide everything for an entire season of ANTM. My mother has never been afraid to try new things with hair, make-up, etc. Now I'm doing the same thing in my 20s and I'm realizing more that at one point my mother may have already done it. I appreciate the fact that she let's me be me. And even though I'm just the Princess Diva, I'm following in her footsteps quite nicely.

pretty sure this is where my leopard obsession came from

2. She has always been my #1 support. For as long as I can remember I have always been involved in activities. Gymnastics, Cheerleading, Show Choir, Theater...The list goes on and on. These things kept me busy and ultimately out of trouble. But my mother was the one who was taking me to and from practice, in the stands of every game, and being a ear for me when I need to vent. I always knew that when I needed her she was there, cheering me on. I can even go back further and remember her being my Girl Scout Troop Leader. It was never my dad that I depended on when it came to these things, always my mom. I love her for that because I know what its like to always have someone in my corner. It has made me see how important it is.

3. She's my best friend. Okay I am not a gross mushy person (although lately I have been) but my mother has always been the one person I have wanted to turn to with all my issues. And even with good news she is the first person I want to call and tell. She listens to me and also offers advice if I need it. Most of the time its things that I never want to admit to myself. But because its coming from her, I know its the truth and from a good place. We have had a some rocky moments that have tested our relationship, but in the end it has made us closer.

So I celebrate my mother today, and everyday. I love you!

Sunday Currently...

Hope everyone is having a nice relaxing Sunday. I am absolutely loving this weather! The sunglasses have not been put down this whole weekend and today is no exception. I plan on getting some meal prepping and the gym in today so it will be a busy day for me, but with the sun shining who can be upset about it. Here's to the last week of April!!!

Thought I would get back into some of my favorite link ups....I love Lauren from Siddathornton's Currently Sunday....so here is mine!

R E A D I N G  Where She Went by Gayle Forman. I have a long list of books that I have been interested in reading in the year 2014, and Gayle Forman's books were at the top of the list. Her first one What if I stay was pretty good and I am now reading the follow up. I like them. But I wished she went into detail with more stuff. But I still can't put the books down so they are definitely interesting.

W R I T I N G  my meal plan for the week. Since I got a personal trainer last week, I've had to also transform my eating habits. Now I was already doing that a little bit, but having to track 30 separate meals is a little time consuming especially calorie counting.

L I S T E N I N G to a lot of Hip Hop. I mean I listen to everything but I have been hitting the Rap hard. I guess it is just a energy lifter for me. I spend a lot of time in my car dancing and getting pumped for school or the gym. Gotta get the motivation from somewhere.

T H I N K I N G  that I really need to follow up on my 101 in 1001 days list. I'm sure I have accomplished some things in the last 4 months. 2014 has been such a roller coaster but I need to still keep some things going for me and this list gives me life.

S M E L L I N G  my Sexy Little Things Black Noir by Victorias Secret. My favorite right now.

W I S H I N G that I could lay by the pool all day...I think I should have done that yesterday. Duly noted for next week. I think I may do that before my Cinco De Mayo Bar Crawl. But my skin in peeling from my Miami trip so I WILL be wearing sunscreen. I should be using it all the time anyway.

H O P I N G that this week will go by fast! Only 5 more weeks of school left. The countdown is on! 

W E A R I N G  Gym clothes. I worked out today...keeping it up...but I need more cardio in my life!

L O V I N G The weather lately. I love the Spring has finally arrived and its time to have my legs out and get a nice pedicure!

W A N T I N G  Chipotle....and then I took a break from this post and got some. I am being healthy with it though...cutting out sour cream and chips and flour tortillas...all not good!!

N E E D I N G  a re-evaluation of my friends. I found out some news today that didnt sit with me well. I know my life is pretty chaotic right now, but what I do need is my closest friends by my side..and i dont have that right now...

F E E L I N G  ready for the week. As soon as I finish packing all my lunches and dinners and take a trip to Walmart I will be ready to start it.

. 

C L I C K I NG Twitter Follow Me @MissNewBourgie

XOXO

Been gone for a minute now I'm back with the Jump Off...

Wow that was an old Lil Kim song reference....those who don't know it shame on you! 

(just kidding Lil Kim is pretty awful). But hey, it seemed fitting...

Anyway....

I'M BACK!!!

It has been a crazy couple of months, busy as hell, but I felt really ready to come back to my blog. I want to approach it differently and have more fun with it. It was starting to make myself post just to say I did and keep my tiny gang of followers when really I should be writing on this thing because its fun and I feel inspired and I want to continue my connection to the world (or maybe North America...I'm not quite global yet.)

I've already got some great post ideas lined up so I am excited about those. 

Ideas that have been sitting in my Iphone waiting to be used. Well they are about to be!

But this post is strictly a little baby catch up...

It's my blogs 2 year anniversary and as cool as that sounds, it sucked that I haven't even been writing on it! I feel like men have popped in and out of my life like that. Here for awhile, drop off the face of the Earth for 2 months, then hit you up like it was nothing. Ugh. Tell me I didn't just do that.

So rather than make a whole bunch of promises that I will be held accountable for (or at least hold myself accountable for) I will just be making small changes when I can. No fuss, no announcement...just do it.

Now its time for my baby recap. Just a small glimpse in what I'm doing and what keeps me soooo busy!

*Got in the GYM! Got myself a Personal Trainer. 

It's been a week, but i'm still going! So far so good.

* Joined Tinder (DO NOT LAUGH) Yeah I'm way late....

It's actually pretty comical and interesting to say the least.

* Went to Miami (not real breaking news but still so much fun). 

I had a reunion with some of my closest girls and had a weekend of chaos!

* I'm on a Weave Strike. Well more like a hiatus.

 My money is disappearing daily to "Nikki's long list of things that I need in my life".

So I can't exactly afford to get my luxurious locks done. This won't last very long. I can feel it.

* Two jobs are still the worst. Since its getting closer to summertime I NOW have to find a new job to take place of school. I kind of wish I was working at a year round school. 

No muss, no fuss. And their vacation time is awesome! 

Hopefully I won't end up in retail, but if I have to....Ill do it.

So things are still hectic for me right now...

and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Great to be back!

 Hope everyone had an awesome Easter!

XOXO

Snopocalypse

This has been a crazy last couple of days. Being snowed in made me a little crazy, but I still made the most of it with my roommates. I know everyone has been talking about over the last week but its my turn and I want to share all my lovely pictures! This is the most snow I have seen in over a decade, and my roommates and I decided since we couldn't get out of our neighborhood we would make the most of it.

Now that its the end of the weekend, most of it has melted and now its no longer a struggle to leave the house. Overall I was happy the snow came. I know we were lucky; no power outage and plenty of food and supplies, so it was basically just a couple days off that I could relax and recoup. Since I returned from Chicago last week work was pretty gloomy, and the snow day(s) gave me some time to myself and get some more focus.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Valentines Day

Today is not only about declaring your love for your boyfriend or girlfriend, your wife or husband. It's about LOVE overall. I know I'm single this Valentines Day, but I know that I am loved by a lot of people. I will be honest and say that the little jealous bug on my shoulder pops up every time I see a bouquet of flowers or a sweet message to someone on Social Media, but it will pass shortly. I feel like its normal and we all want to be spoiled on any day. But if you Love and are LOVED let the people you love know. Doesn't have to be materialistic, just something simple goes a long way...

I'm letting my nerd flag fly and I found these JL8 (Justice League 8 years old) Valentines. Me being the Wonder Woman Fanatic that I am, I had to post these. If I had to work today I definitely would have tried to print these out and give them to my students. If you have never read JL8 before check it out!

Hope everyone has a great Valentines Day!

To go with Valentines Day I picked one of my favorite songs right now for #backthatazzup Friday. 

Enjoy!