A Birthday Pictopost

On a horrific week that started with cleaning out discarded property and a lost uninsured phone, nothing was more pleasing than Google opening the day with special inedible yet fancy colored treats and a personalized "happy birthday."

And Twitter came with the profile balloons popping.

In North Philadelphia, I checked out Duafe Hollistic Hair Salon with Shea Moisture's dandruff line. I loved the minty smell of both shampoo and conditioner, feeling my scalp cool and desensitize under hairdresser's ministrations and gentle cruelty free healing. Fresh hairstyle by Miss Geneva, this new hairstylist (one of the friendliest chicks ever) who created this sophisticated open ended crown, is quite wonderful.

Cornrows up and around. Not too tight either.

It's such a beautiful, complicated design that I myself wouldn't have thought up. In fact, this wasn't what I had in mind, but in the end, I fell deeper and deeper in love. Superb.

A Confident Stance: I found this Jones New York vivacious purple dress at Philly Aids Thrift for a whopping $1! A solid steal! Definitely one of the best hidden rack treasures of the year. For a whole day, I didn't feel discomfort about body shape. I loved the color, the form fit, the bit of gold embellishment-- overall perfect for me.

A big thank you to my high school art teacher. She sent me this beautiful pink box of meaningful gifts.

A new scarf, journal, and trinkets were sweet, but the growing herbs carton (thyme, basil, oregano, and more) had a gazillion happy positive raining in my head. How I have always dreamed of growing an herb/veggie patch! I hope this works out.

Stopped by Dottie's Donuts (naturally) to indulge in true love. Just in luck, I grabbed the last pumpkin pie donut with cream cheese filling.

Heaven.

Lunch at Govinda's treated by my friend/co-worker. Note to the wise: not all vegan cheese are created equal. We were disappointed in the wet, soggy cheese fries. I took them to go and melted Field Roast Chao on top. Now that made those fries the bees knees.

Evening ended with a sweet phone call to my mother, an early time off work, white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, the latest episodes of "Queen Sugar" and "How to Get Away With Murder," and Ava DuVernay's new release 13th, which surprisingly enough contains powerful moments from various people speaking at Black Portraiture [s] this year. I highly recommend that you all watch this gritty insight on prison systems and the truth behind wording of the 13th amendment. Nothing is ever as it seems.

This special birthday card signed by staff and friends (along with some kind social media messages) made the day magical.