'Tis the Season!

Raise the roof because Christmas is only one day away...say that again...CHRISTMAS IS ONE DAY AWAY!  

Am I the only one the feels like the holidays have arrived too quickly, like super express mail fast? The other day I was literally like "ummm...when did we get a Christmas tree and how long has it been there in the living room?..right after thanksgiving?!...Wasn't thanksgiving just last week?"

Ugh! Now all of a sudden I have to start thinking about how 2014 is almost a thing of the past! I must say, I really do hate the fact that as you get older the years go by faster. 

In January, I wrote a New Years post about how the year was 365 blank pages for you to fill. Now it's getting close to flipping back through those pages to see how the whole story of 2014 has unfolded. But I'll save the reflections for another blog post because as of now, I am celebrating the season. 

I am celebrating that I'm done all my SAT's. I'm celebrating that my role as Diana Ross in my local theaters Christmas show was a success. I'm celebrating that I have my college application pretty much done. I'm celebrating that I actually finished Christmas shopping before Christmas. I'm celebrating the love of family and friends because 'TIS THE SEASON! 

Tinsel Filled & Shatterproof.

Sometimes the light is so bright it's all you can see.

FEED US Santa, we've been good.

Happy Holidays Everyone XOXO ~ Summer
Photos ft. Marie &  Izzy 

The College Application Tool Kit

Around fall last year I was a snobby little junior in high school that looked down on those group of seniors who still hadn't applied or decided on the colleges they wanted to attend. Fast forward a year and I (that once snobby junior) am now that unsure and confused senior. It's November and I am falling behind on my apply "to do" list.

I'm not the only one right!?! Many of you must be sharing my anxiety right now and I know at least one person feels the need to have a temper tantrum about how "it's all happening so fast." *sob sob*
For my own sanity and for the benefit of yours, I am making this blog post a designated place for all tools that will make this process run smoother as crunch time approaches. If you have any helpful tools I haven't mentioned leave it in comments!!! So here goes...

1. College Application Timeline
Print this out and staple it to your wall, it is your ultimate month by month guide to where you should be in the application process. Click here to get it.

2. Awesome Note
This is the ultimate life organizer. It's a to do, note taking, calendar, reminder, all-in-one app and it's saving my life. Click here to get it.

3. Study Buddies
If you still need to take the SAT the last date for 2014 is December 6th. This gives you only 2 weeks form now to study. My best friend for this process had been Magoosh SAT which is an online service that provides lessons, practice tests, and analyses of how well you are doing. If you are not looking to spend money check out these cool free apps that you can use on the go.

• Root Words
• SAT QOTD
• SAT flashcards  
• Varsity tutors  
• SAT Vocab Mindsnacks  
• SAT UP

4. Suggested Reading
Get these books from your library and page through them quickly, you'll pick up some really good information.

• Get it Together for College by College Board
• B+ Grades A+ Applications by Joie Jager-Hyman
• College Admission by Robin Mamlet

5. Online College Reference

• US News College Rankings - US News offers a college ranking system with easily accessible information about each school at your finger tips.

• Collegeboard.org - an organization that literally has all the information on  SAT, colleges, scholarships, application, and anything college related you can think of!

So that's what I've got! If you have any other tools for this kit leave them in comments! Hope this helps!!!

Feminist Music Revival

2014 has been a great year for women in the music industry. We've seen new artists like Meghan Trainor redefine body image and rappers like Iggy Azaela break stereotypes. Women in music are finally pushing beyond what is expected of them. Today they are reflecting the beautiful, flawless, bad-ass, queens and hard working bosses out there  that are much more than any single word (or song for that matter) can define. Here's an empowering playlist showcasing the many faces of women by feminist music revivalists. 

Feminist Music Revival Playlist

Smile it's Monday!

www.jasminedowling.com

Smile it's Monday! Is that a weird thing to say? Well...to bad! I'm a morning person, plus there are always reasons you can find to smile. 

Reasons to Smile on Monday: 

1. You are alive! 

2. The sun will rise! 

3. You are 5 days closer to Friday! 

4. Americas Next Top Model is on tonight!

5. In front of you is a new day that never existed until the moment you woke up this morning! 

Call me optimistic, kiss me on the cheek, and make it a wonderful week! 

African print Series - “High-Life” Crop

For the past week, my mantra, my iPhone wallpaper, and the caption of my last Instagram post was "positive mind, positive vibes, positive life".  I stole the quote off of Tumblr; it's nothing too highly spiritual, it's composed of six words - three of which are repeated, but these words hold the laws of this very universe. "Positive mind, positive vibes, positive life" it's that simple...think well, be well, live well.

The final item to bring this “African Prints Series” to a close embodies this "positive" mindset. A yellow, blue, and red Ankara print crop-top will have you feeling good wherever you go. Not to mention that this specific material has the words "high-life" scrawled throughout it!

Thank you sooo much for following me on this African Prints Adventure! I’ve enjoyed sharing my new wardrobe with you! Do you like “series” like these? Make sure to let me know by leaving a comment below.

A huge THANK YOU goes out to my girl Olivia who photographed all the photos in the series! As well as the wonderful women in Nigeria who made my ideas come to life!

African Print Series - Pretty Serious Peplum

Hi everyone! Hope you had a good week! My “African Prints in Fashion Series” is almost ovaaaa, this is post 3/4 of the wonderful articles of clothing I had made while I was in Nigeria.

Talking about things being almost over...summer is almost over! Whether you've already started school or your about to, make sure that you make the best of this long Labor Day weekend! Just have funnnnn because things are about to get serious. Serious as in school is starting - serious! Serious as in we are approaching the ending 2014 - serious! Serious as in guys I'm a senior now - serious!

Since we're on the topic of serious...this weeks outfit, made with DaViva materials,  is a peplum top paired with a pencil skirt; perfect for feeling serious. The pink and orange striped African pattern gives it a nice pop which is my friendly reminder to you that even though school is starting, remember to find something to keep things interesting within all the seriousness!!!!  

Make the week amazing! 

Photographed by Olivia 

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“I am not crazy, I am unique”

There is this show on Netflix called “Orange is the New Black” which I'm sure some of you reading this have already taken the time to binge watch. I was watching this series but... my mother found out, and well, that was the end of that! If you’ve seen the show then you know that it is highly explicit and the themes are  inappropriate and the characters are quite crazy “unique” but that is all part of what makes the show pure genius, right?!

You know how some shows require that you to sit through the first few boring episodes in order to truly start enjoying it? Well, “Orange is the New Black” is NOT one of these shows. I knew it was going to be good within the first five minutes, when a jail inmate named Taystee says to another inmate named Piper, “Gurl, you got those TV titties!

The whole show is about women (one of my favorite themes) – REAL women, of all types. Smart, dumb, pretty, ugly, lesbian, strait, old, young, CRAZY, unique, confident, shy, vulnerable, and strong. I think it's the first show I have ever watched where women are depicted in their five dimensional glory. These women have depth! And I almost forgot to mention that these women are all inmates - in a jail (the title orange comes form their orange jump suits) - but doesn’t that fact make the show all the more interesting!?

This week "Orange is the New Black" took home 3 Emmy wins having had 12 nominations.

My favorite character from the show (from which the quote “I am not crazy, I am unique” comes from) is this wacky, large eyed, rough, yet vulnerable inmate named Suzanne ‘Crazy Eyes’. ‘Crazy Eyes’ is played by an up and coming actress named Uzo Aduba who took home the Emmy for "Outstanding Best Actress in a Comedy Series" for her performance in this role.

Uzo Aduba

To my pleasant surprise Aduba, like me, is an America-born Nigerian actress (I knewww I liked her!). Being a fellow Najia Girl in the African Diaspora I am a true fan! I now follow Aduba on Instagram and Facebook.
 

In an interview with NPR she talks about the struggle of growing up as the only Nigerian in her town, she also tells the story of the time when she asked her mom if she could be called Zoe; her mom "without skipping a beat, said, 'If they can learn to say Tchaikovsky, and Michelangelo and Dostoyevsky, then they can learn to say Uzoamaka.' "

Listen to the amazingly captivating interview here: http://n.pr/1p9TRtW

…and remember you are unique…

Uzo Aduba as Crazy Eyes in “Orange is the New Black"

 Photos courtesy of: tv.msnbc.com & Tumblr

African Prints Series - Ghanaian Print

This weeks featured African Print is a Ghanaian tie-die pattern. It's hard to imagine how this material is hand dyed but that is the wonder of it! The material is a dark purple with lighter purple florescent-like-floral-zigzag-tie-died circles of various sizes...pretty unique (and extremely hard to describe)!  

So the dress itself is a simple circle skirt and low cut back, with cap sleeves. I'm not sure where and when I'm going to where it but I can't wait for that day to arrive! What do you think?

Photographed by Olivia 

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African Prints Series - Floral Crop

While I was in Nigeria this summer,  I had the opportunity to design some original articles of clothing. I went to various markets choosing uniquely designed materials ranging from Ankara fabric to Ghanaian tie-dye. After finding materials that I loved, I scoured magazines, Pinterest, and my own creative brain for styles of clothing that I felt would fit each pattern. I took all of my ideas to a seamstress, and before I knew it each lovely material was transformed into an even lovelier article of clothing! All eight pieces were made for under $200 (material included). I'm telling you, if I lived in Nigeria I would never need Forever 21 again! 

Over the next few weeks I'm going to have an African Print Series that will showcase some of the things I had made. Check back every week for a new African Prints Post! 

Photographed by Olivia

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#Throwback Nigeria

New Haven Market, Enugu

I've been back from Nigeria for exactly two weeks so I figured it was time for a little bit of reflection on the whole experience...get ready for serious nostalgia!

Here, as I promised in a previous post, I’ve answered some of the most  frequent questions I've received about my trip, hopefully they'll give you a better understanding of the type of things I encountered while I was in Nigeria!

Goat Heads -New Haven Market, Enugu

Street Kids, Lagos

What was the most unexpected thing you encountered in Nigeria?
My parents did an excellent job of telling me what to expect, so nothing was too overwhelming. But it was still a shock to see how the social class system worked. In Nigeria you’re either well-off or poor; the middle class population is almost nonexistent. Because there is no middle class to serve as bridge between the lives of the rich and poor there is a harsh class system, one in which the two groups don't associate at all unless business and money are involved or one is talking advantage of the other.

#BringBackOurGirls Protest Signs, Lagos

How safe were you considering the threats of Boko Haram?

I never felt the need to worry about Boko Haram because much of the violence was happening in Northern Nigeria while I was mostly in the South East and West. But towards the end of my visit many public places began doing car checks to prevent car bombs. The worst was finding out there had been a bombing in Abuja, a city I had just been in a couple weeks before the attack. You could tell that Boko Haram was always on people's minds. Every person I interviewed for my film spoke of their anger towards the terrorist group and newspaper headlines always tended to focus around the groups latest engagements.

View from the Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos

How about electricity? Did you have internet?

Internet and electricity were a little more… scarce. It was not as if I could walk to Starbucks to enjoy free Wi-Fi! Instead I regularly bought and loaded cards onto my phone that gave me Internet access. As for light and electricity, supply lines for whole parts of the town would go off for hours at a time and this happened at least once a day while I was in there. Because electricity cuts so often individuals have gas run generators that they use power their homes (which is extremely expensive)!

the type of security wall that surround most homes

Seams like you met a lot of people. Were people friendly?

The thing about Nigerian culture is that they are not polite. But I mean this in the best way! As in, they say what's on their minds, they are honest, and they are real. For this reason I was able to meet and relate with people at a deeper level because there was no pretending. People were nice because they genuinely liked you and you can tell because they made an effort to make you know it. For example, a text message saying "I like you, we should hang out tomorrow", forward, direct, yet meaningful. Be careful though because this can work against your favor, if someone calls you fat…try not to take it personally...

Ibadan

Coming back, do you have culture shock?

More like separation anxiety! I miss Nigeria so much. I love having constant electricity and free Wi-Fi here in the U.S but I would give that up to spend a few more days in Nigeria. I plan on going back to realllll soon ;)