U Need This...PRO...In Ur Life

I should have spoken about this sooner but latest U NEED THIS IN UR LIFE is dedicated to the amazing-ness that is the MacBookPro!!!

I have no earthly idea why it took me so long to get this in my life...well actually I do but that is another story. All I know is I have it now & I will never turn back to a PC again. Don’t get me wrong, my Lenovo was good to me & continues to serve her purpose but she is on a long extended vacation from me. Why? Because Royal aka my MacBook Pro has entered my life. Its so fast and literally does everything I need ti to do and then some. There is so much going in this little 13 inch body that I haven’t even tapped the tip of the iceberg as for the opportunities awaiting me here. Royal is like my child...that is until I actually birth my own...one day soon. SN: No, I am not currently preggers...let me shut those rumors down now. But it just make life so much more accessible, especially since I am back in school. It’s like I literally have the world at my finger tips. It’s sharp, sleek, fast, actually not as expensive as I thought, approximately $1500 after I added the 3yr Apple Care Plan (UNeedThis) and the royal blue InCase (where she got her name). Even came w/ a $100 gift cad to be used in the App Store or iTunes. They must not have known how I a so driven by music...and to think I didn’t even use it on any music. LOL, doesn’t matter. Bottom Line: It was sooooooo more than worth it. I can’t wait to finishe out this semester so I can get rid of all this school software and transform Royal into my personal studio!!! Oh the creativity that will unfold in there. 

So glad Steve Jobs blessed the world w/ this little baby while he was here. May he rest in peace. Until the next time, world...

-DopeGirlNatalie

U Need This HYDRATION In Your Life! DopeGirlMarcia

One thing I’ve learned on my natural hair journey is the importance of hydration/steam therapy.   

Hydration/Steam Therapy is a service offered at salons that utilizes water/steam to build and retain moisture in the hair.  There are also hair steamers available for home use if you maintain your hair mainly at home.

Why Hydration/Steam Therapy? 

To Alleviate Breakage

Because the number one cause of breakage is dryness, hydration is critical to alleviate dryness and in turn alleviate breakage.

To Support Length Retention

When the number one cause of breakage is alleviated, hair is able to retain the length it struggled to retain due to breakage caused by dryness.

To Prevent Reverting

If hair is dry and thirsty, it will soak up moisture from the air (humidity) and revert. If hair has a high moisture content, it will not seek what it already possesses.  It will not be thirsty for moisture and not revert when it’s humid.

*Excerpt from my article "Finding Robin" which I will post later.

Check out my review below on the Huetiful Steamer www.behuetiful.com on my YouTube Channel, “A Crown’s Journey” and discover why you need this in your life!

          

A Crown's Journey: Str8Natural's Huetiful Hair Steamer Review

DopeGirlMarcia

DOPEGIRLATLNATALIE: Where It All Begins

Let me begin by giving a big shout out to DJ AppleJac for providing me with the link to Lalah Hathaway's new album, Where It All Begins, which drops tuesday, Oct 18, 2011. DISCLAIMER: I am a ginormous fan of the Hathaway family, Donny, Lalah & the ever blossoming Donnita so you know this was nothing less than sheer joy for me. 

My oh my, this project is such a beautiful creation!!!! Lalah does it again with 15 tracks armed to take you on a soulful journey from the title track all the way to the remake of her father's, You Were Meant For Me and more. She even brought along another ultimate favorite of mine, Rachelle Ferrell, to accentuate the ever so lovely, I'm Coming Back. Folks, this is how you remake your own hit...understand the original is a true classic that didn't need to remade but I truly appreciate the finished product of this collaboration. SN: I'd love to share the stage w/ both of these modern day legends...Lord please make that happen b4 you call me up. Amen. Ladies & Gentlemen, U NEED THIS IN UR LIFE!!! Please DO NOT HESITATE to pick up this project next week. For those music lover's that can't wait, DopeGirlAtlMarcia informed me you can get the digital download early for $10 via Lalah's site. I haven't checked into this so don't quote me on it but it's worth looking into. I can truthfully say that I am completely in love with Lalah's voice...the purity in her tone, her register and the runs & riffs she's capable of is beyond supernatural. I love the album in its entirety but stand out tracks for me at the moment are Small of My Back, Where It All Begins, I'm Coming Back & This Could Be Love. I implore you not to take my word for it but get your own copy ASAP and listen for yourself!!!! 

We advised you this blog was dedicated to all things U Need In Ur Life....trust Where It All Begins is definitely a must have. You can thank me later.

Until the next post....DopeGirlAtlNATALIE

Origins: DopeGirlATLEricka

So if we’re going to go back to the beginning we must take it back to the first week of April 2011.  It was Epicurean Fashion Experience’s annual reunion weekend in Atlanta.  After club hopping with the group of Epicureans! there was 5 of us (Marcia, Natalie, Candace, Naeemah, & I) who just wanted to grab some food and chill.  After hitting up J.R. Crickets we went back to Candace’s room and began the first “4DopeGirlsATL briefing.”  As much as I love Naeemah, it was clear to me that 4 of us were really connecting on a deeper level due to our same level of interest in soul music.  On the way back to the car, Natalie and I started talking about our experiences seeing Jill Scott on her last tour.  Natalie shared with me that Jill was releasing another project this year, and it was then we made a pact to come back to Atlanta to attend the concert.

Fast forward to August 2011.  When Natalie & Marcia picked Candace & I up from the airport, feeling the energy in the car was something I truly needed in my life.  There are just some things that you absolutely know, and I knew we were in for a phenomenal weekend.  From hanging out with James Bing & Darryl from Moods Music at Do, to the hook-up shopping outing with super sweet Donnita at Apparel Mart, to after attending Jill Scott's Block party dancing the night away at DJ Kemit’s Spread Love event, to having a revelation regarding what I thought about my hair from the consulting session with my new hairstylist Robin D. Groover, to hanging out with Wayne & Eric from Jill’s band, to getting into Jill’s concert for the 2nd time from people giving us really good seats for free, to seeing Balla & Geoff in Lenox, to hanging out at Moods for Jodine’s interview/listening party with DJ Applejac releasing “Playin’ Favorites”, to dancing until we almost dropped at Cafe Circa...THE WEEKEND WAS BEYOND AMAZING!!!  From that point on we agreed to forever be...4DopeGirlsATL! 

Some where along the way Natalie kept telling me about music I needed to get, so I told her I would need a list of these things that I need in my life...which in turn birthed this blog.  It is really something how this blog is becoming an outlet for more than just music.  I look forward to seeing what the 4DopeGirlsATL bond delivers from our love of many things. 

WE ARE!!! 

Origins: DopeGirlATLMarcia

My reflections of 4DopeGirlsATL take me to a memory of being an only girl sibling who always wanted sisters. Who knew years later I would be blessed with sisters not birthed from the seed of my parents, but birthed from the seed of our beloved Epicurean! Fashion Experience on the highest of 7 hills in Tallahassee, FL on the campus of Florida Agricultural &Mechanical University? :-) Who knew 12 years after leaving the hill, that seed would mature our acquaintanceships into fully-fledged, deeply-rooted in good soil friendships during the Jill Scott Block Party Extended Weekend (Aug.18-Aug.22, 2011)? It truly was a “You just had to be there!” type of experience. I promise you the details would be overwhelming. I’ll just say that I pray that anyone who believes that  “women don’t get along” myth will come to realize as we do that genuine, female friendships do exist and will one day personally experience the joy of that truth.

I trust that you will check back with us frequently. WE ARE 4ThankfulDopeGirlsATL whose desire is to share with you all things dope in our lives and consequently believe are things in which you will find value and “need in your life”. So just sit back, relax, enjoy and be dope!

What’s In Store You Ask?

4DopeGirlsATLNatural, 4DopeGirlsATLMusic,4DopeGirlsATLFashion, 4DopeGirlsATLLaughter, 4DopeGirlsATLFood, 4DopeGirlsATLFun, 4DopeGirlsATLExperiencesOrganicallyFallingIntoPlace, 4DopeGirlsATLCoolMoods, 4DopeGirlsATLLittle5, 4CoolOutrageousDopeGirlsATL, 4DopeGirlsATLTweets, 4DopeGirlsATLDance, 4DopeGirlsATLDriveThru, 4DopeGirlsATLBondships, 4DopeGirlsATLFavor, 4DopeGirlsATLFlavor, 4DopeGirlsATLWHCF!!!!

I’ll start there…

I AM #DopeGirlATLMarcia