Eclectic Lotus

Coming Soon. . . A remodel for 2018 Fun stuff. . . beauty stuff. I am not sure if I post this but I love beauty stuff!!! I love taking things that we should throw away or throw out and re-creating it and making it useful. Just like the whole, "I hate throwing out avocado" thing and making it into more than just guac. I am not saying I don't like guac but I love to make chocolate pudding for the boy and make hair conditioner for myself. One thing that does not get thrown out in my home is coffee grounds. I never realized that this is something that is not spoken about too often but please mamas. . . DON'T THROW THOSE COFFEE GROUNDS AWAY!! I make a great scrub with my coffee grounds but the recipes that I have found online has come up with runny coffee scrub. (Olive oil and brown sugar with coffee gets a little runny.) I have replaced the olive oil and brown sugar with amla powder, jojoba oil and castor oil. I added more oil in order to moisturize my skin better in ...

By Airmaxjunkie1 The planning has begun for Thanksgiving! I woke up this morning with the intention to gather what I am making over a four day cooking and cleaning fest! I have tried my hardest to incorporate our different dishes into Thanksgiving with some interesting findings. 1- My husband only cares about the bird. 2- I am all about the side dishes. 3- DON'T MESS WITH MY DOG SHOW!!! 4- My son loves to watch me cook and help. 5- I love adding soul food but can I remove the meat? If you are vegan or vegetarian and this is your first holiday it is quite frustrating! All the traditions that you have grown up to love come with the thought of. . .say goodbye to them. Out of the six years I have been a vegetarian this is not true. You can even add some fun items to the mix. Here are some links and recipes that I will be adding to our meal line-up. Kale Greens 1/4 cup water 12 cups kale, washed and coarsely chopped 1 cup chopped onion 1 tablespoon garlic powder ...

I love November! I am not 100% sure why I love November but the fact that the end of the month is almost a reflection of things to be thankful for as well as learning new recipes! When my mother was alive, I would call her and get the scoop on all the traditional family recipes. She would get so mad when I called her and say, "Why don't you know all this? Why do you keep calling me?" I would have to answer, "Because you kicked me out the kitchen." This November, I want to try and begin learning great Vegan recipes- soul food recipes. Because I love to record them on here I will try my very best and post them on this blog as well as give references on where to get these recipes. You would think living in Chicago- a meat and potato city there would be little to no vegetarian and vegan restaurants but that is far from the truth. This month, because I am still "gathering" my data I will post some of the best vegetarian restaurants in the city. What ...

Taken from mompopculture pin but no longer a website.  I actually saved this pin on pinterest but recently noticed that the whole site was taken down. I wondered why I had this because my son is pretty trendy. . . So, now that you know where we are here is a list of great clothes that I have bought for my son and they actually were not *that* pricey. 1. Nordstrom Rack    I simply love this place for Thanksgiving and Christmas clothes. I will only get one item and I usually let him pick his own clothing which has been a treat because he actually has pretty good taste November 2015- Nautica sweater, button up shirt and gold corduroy slacks. Brown boots from believe it or not, thrift store 2. Old Navy    I recently saw a blog of a celebrity who had a gorgeous picture of her daughter and said the outfit was from Old Navy and I wasn't shocked. They have an excellent selection for boys will truly exercise my credit card when we go in there. I buy ...

*cocks imaginary gun* WHO SENT YOU!? I post my job on famous job sites and sure enough, there it is! The mass amount of e-mails from "recruiters" and "people from HR" in high seeking companies that want to interview me. It has been an interesting ride the past 6 months as this has gotten much worse. I thought I would post it on here to let you know that if you see this, DON'T DO IT!!!! 1. You received two e-mails     The scammers are getting better and better at breaking through the spam mail. I recently got an email from a secretary who had pretty bad grammar. She wanted to let me and a group of people in an e-mail thread know that her boss wanted to interview us on a great opportunity. The job was a remote job that paid up to $113k per year. Her boss emailed me three days later and wanted my skype info for an interview. I looked up the company. It was legit. I looked up the man ready to employ me which I will give- Doug Ahrens. His information was legi...

I ain't playing! I hate them! They are necessary for my functioning existence. Any mom will tell you this but. . . do I really HAVE to have a set schedule? My son functions better on them. My daughter sleeps well with them. I can get much more accomplished with them. Whether or not I hate or love them, I do them throughout the day and week. I may adore spontaneity but a home can't function on that- a budding love affair can though. Says the woman who used to get surprise visits from *then* boyfriend at home or at a friend's home with *that look* in his eyes. (Shocked that it took me this long to have his babies. LOL!) The problem that occurs with me is that I do not have time to sit down and literally schedule creating my schedule. On top of that, I would lose my mind trying to keep up with keeping up with a schedule. If you do something 17 times, it becomes routine. There is my advice since I am not following my own advice. Learn from my flaws. LOL!

It is three days into Autumn and since the eclipse we have been getting our S together! The living room looks less like a brown explosion. The light fixtures in the living room have been replaced. All while I have been out doing odd Chiropractic jobs and writing jobs, studying for real estate, looking for homes, getting odd seasonal colds, etc. I have rarely had the opportunity to get on facebook for a while as the computer is getting slow from all the memory being used. The biggest thing I have done is take most of my shoes and donated them. It was a sad day because if you know me, you know I am a fanatic for shoes. HEELS!!! Sadly, I don't have many cute shoes for my daughter to inherit. Eh, fads change and it would be more of a joke for her to wear my rainbow platform slingbacks as I did with my mother's black rhinestone platform sandals from the 70's. Also, my mother threw her shoes in the closet and it was a mountain of shoes. I promised myself never to do that which ...

You sit here and pet my kid's head after less than one minute of speaking. I don't know you. My child is not a little dog that you can pet. I am sorry but do not touch my children. I am having a bit of a problem with. . .I hate to say this. . .white people speaking to me about my multicultural family and then proceeding to touch my children. When it is a white person speaking to another person that they don't know that happens to be white I see less petting like a dog. Yes, may be I am thinking too much about this but then again the sins of the past still run deep especially when you are reminded daily that you are not white. I wish that I could say that because my children are black but this is not true. I have seen white people not pat the heads of black children and may be I need to get out more and find more black children. May be there are black kids that are getting this treatment. I am only hearing about this from mothers that have multicultural children. Some re...

A male peacock has elaborate feathers and colors to attract a mate My sister-in-law called me a few days back as she needed to vent about some activity that is going on with her and my brother. I did not get her permission to post this so I am going to leave it very vague on her end of the conversation. The basis of the conversation: she has to do everything in regards to payment and business when it comes to their marriage. I had four words for her: THE WIFE DOES EVERYTHING From cooking, cleaning, paying bills, getting services to come to the house, etc. I have heard limited couples where there is truly equal playing field. I even have a girlfriend where she moved the family, worked on selling their home, worked throughout her pregnancy, worked on a masters degree all while her husband did not work and watched the kids. THE WIFE DOES EVERYTHING This should be told to engaged women all over the place. They don't know the truth and many of us married women aren't tel...

I ain't got time!!! I have a 3 1/2 year old who loves to play and a 3 month old who wants to nurse all day. She also likes to spit up on me- I know this because she smiles after she spits. I am always hungry so making food is a necessity. I have a friend currently who tells me that every time she talks to me, I am at the store. This is why I love the midwest in the summer. . . it is so easy to get cheaper produce in various places. My shopping adventures take about two days to get through because I ain't got time to go shopping all day. Weekly, I have to clean out the fridge. The boy and I eat to our hearts content all the veggies and fruits before heading to the grocery store. If there is still room for food, we feast away at all the samples. Most of the grocery stores have stickers that the boy enjoys and takes home to load up the floor and tables with that I have to clean later. Ah, a mother's work is never done. I have worked on making more foods and encorporating ...

For years I have been about the computer. Before the computer it was the typewriter and not to show my age but I was pretty young when I had one. I think I was around the age of 7 or 8 when I had it and I typed on it but then I really enjoyed writing things down. Since I have become a mommy of two, I try to get on here as much as I can and not just the simple tasks of paying bills but really getting into writing. I have even asked friends to send me their resume's so I can take a crack at improving the flow and style. I currently have a CV and a resume- the CV is for my Chiropractic prospects and the resume is for my write life. I have yet to dig into how to make a great writing resume but I instead of references, I have snippets that the scout can look into and determine if my writing style is what they favor. Picture "borrowed" from Neil Patel I can admit at this time that I actually wore my daughter while typing. I have nursed her in one arm while it was typing. ...

So, I frequently get, "WOW! Your hairstyles are beautiful."  Honestly, I don't know where the bug hit me but sometime between my son being two years old up until right before I got pregnant with my second I began to wear my hair in two strand twists. Since this has occured my hair has been growing or not falling out. I got one word for you. . . pinterest! "Stolen" from blackgirllonghair.com A picture of my hair in twists with a fold over bun. This was one of the pictures taken while I was expecting. This hairstyle is done with big chunky two strand twists, twisted together and ended with a fold over bun. I really like buns but I like the fact of long hair with it pinned up. When I was younger I was supposed to show it off but as I am older I like these styles with the natural texture of my hair. This was during my grandfather's funeral. I wore a straight hair wig because I didn't want to look like myself. The next couple of entries will be...

So, it has been eight weeks and all has collapsed and come together. We have battled mold in the cloth diaper, toddler tantrums, blowouts, the occasional dropped the newborn, drinking reusable ice cubes. I never knew how much of this mess happens to moms of multiple children. Yikes!! I should have kept my damn eggs to myself this time around. Compliments of funny memes My son is getting better but began a little troublesome. Again, he ain't perfect! I am beginning to feel like this meme down here: He is now beginning to read many sight words as well as spell. He can spell like crazy and I wonder who's child is this. Will post another post about advancement in toddlers. Also, I will post on my mistakes and how you can correct them so that you have better know now on it all. I go just about everywhere with my two kids in tow. I had to actually set up a mild schedule because I really hate schedules but believe me it does pay off. I still do my hair just about ever...

Man, I am a ugly chica! Having a baby does it to you- men need not complain about life because when you have a baby you go through the RINGER!!! It seems somewhat worse when it is the second baby. So, all the crap you hear about in the post partum phase ( or 4th trimester) is true. I am going to tell you how I am battling it. 1. Your Hoo-Ha!    - I should re-name my body parts after giving birth "Rocky Balboa" because they tell you NOT to look down there. I did not in birth #1 and I haven't and will not in birth #2. I did touch down there and I am really NOT going to look down there. How to help this out: - Confession: With my son, I had a third degree tear. ( click  here  for more information of tears.) With my daughter, I have a first degree tear which is pretty much mostly healed. How did this happen? All the research that I looked up before giving birth this second time assured me that I was going to rip again as I did the first time. I was actually EXPECTIN...

A few days before, I felt great. I was dressing up and cleaning and cooking. I was dancing around the house with my son. I had a craving for Italian Ice and mostly water. To prep for labor, I drank a pitcher of red raspberry leaf tea. If you have tried red raspberry leaf tea- try it iced! Avocado corn and quinoa salad with iced red raspberry leaf tea. Water is in the picture all that big belly glory! Shot out to Jessica Simpson line for the shirt. Thursday around 1AM, I began to feel something wasn't right with my contractions. The baby was moving so I knew she was okay. They were the Braxton-Hicks contractions but at the tail end of the contraction was accompanied with abdominal, thigh and low back pain. It was mild so I did not worry about it but my husband was. "I will call the midwife tomorrow." I said putting him at ease. "It might be the beginning of early stages of labor. Go back to sleep." He went back to sleep as I went into the living...

As I forget to mention the GOOD things that happen during this time of my ultimate LAST pregnancy. ( I promise this is the last one. If I have another kid - I am seriously adopting!) Something that I actually didn't realize I was doing in the first place- EXERCISING!! First Trimester- I was tired but not as tired as I was when pregnant with my son. I did a lot of walking. Here was my scattered but effiecient schedule I attempted daily: - Walk at least 20 minutes - 20 tricep dips off the couch or bed - 20- 40 push ups - 20 squats- regular - 20 sumo squats - 20 lunges - plank pose for up to 1 minute in various positions yoga - mountain pose - downward facing dog - cobra pose - upward facing dog - chair pose - triangle pose - forward bend - warrior I, II and III - tree pose - cat/cow Second Trimester- I was in between having a job and not having a job but tried once again to get in working out when I could. Another scattered schedule: - 20 tricep dips - 20 p...

This is about how the bed looks or how I arrange it nightly except I am stubborn enough to sleep on my left side so there is no identical side. Because I am not in the hospital this time around it is a little different so I am trying my best to take advantage of it. Here is that old questionnaire from when I was pregnant with my son: How far along?  36 Weeks Total weight gain?  Unsure- last weigh in was 16 pounds total at wk 33 Maternity clothes?  Still hospital gowns although I might wear an outfit this week Sleep?    Not much some days. Other days I can. More so now though. Best moment this week?  I am off the fetal monitor for all day and I skyped in another shower. Miss Anything?  This is the time of year where I begin doing more cooking and baking. Movement?  Oh yeah!! Food cravings?  My own cooking Anything make you queasy or sick?  No, not really. Gender? A sweet little maverick! ( Oh boy oh...

I was 27 weeks- and very late for my 20 week ultrasound. The tech was a friendly and great guy who his wife was also pregnant but with their third child. He states that they found out they were having another boy which he states she was a little disappointed as they were trying for a girl. I told him that I have a boy already and I am just looking to see if there are two babies in there and not one. I usually don't tell people what I think the sex is going to be of the baby until we find out- except with my son. The ultrasound tech asked me do I want to know the sex. I said no. He suggested a card with the gender on it and I kindly replied no. This time around, my husband was not with me- he was at home with our son.  While pregnant with the boy I knew he was going to be a boy from the 11 week ultrasound I just knew. His name was selected before we concieved him and we went in head first not even thinking of selecting a name if he was a girl. We tried when I was in my second t...