Quote of the week

I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hate so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.

– James Baldwin

In summary

This week, I was moving and shaking. We kicked off the week with Father’s Day- shout out to all of the great dads in the world. I swung on a swing in the park (my favorite!). Me and hundreds of other attendees got torrential down poured out of an outdoor Juneteenth celebration. We all looked like we jumped into a pool with all our clothes on. It was nothing short of entertaining!

I finalized the vinyl decal designs to put up on the wall in my office area. I’m using my Cricut to make them. I’ll share pics when I get them up.

I started a Substack (newsletter)! Feel free to give me a follow or subscribe over there too. You can expect 1-2 newsletters a month. The first one is already up.

The soundtrack

The 19th was Juneteenth, a very significant holiday in America for Foundational Black Americans, so it was all about Foundational Black American music. It doesn’t get more FBA than James Brown if you ask me.

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Mama’s got a brand new bag

OBSESSED with my new bag.

I KNOW sorors are going to ask me about it when they see me out with it. I’m ready. 😆

Booktopia

New books and book marks. I promise I’m done purchasing books for a bit. 🤞🏾

I got the bookmarks from the Etsy shop Bookish Melange Collective. I could’ve bought more, but I stopped myself. They have so many cute designs and they gave me a 20% discount for a future order. Heeellp 😩😎

Summer 2025 Reading List

The 20th made it officially summer 2025. These books made the cut for my summer’s reading list. I’ve already started diving in. I’m one of those offenders who read multiple books at the same time. 🤭 I plan to discuss some of them. Deciding if I’ll share them on here, on my new Substack, or maybe both. We’ll see. Have you read any of these?

I just realized that there’s not one fiction book in my lineup! I will find at least one to add to the mix.

Early voter

I voted early for the NYC primary elections for local positions including the city’s mayor, comptroller, borough president, public advocate, and more.

I’m lovin it

During the week I was lovin

• Cleaning and re-organizing some parts of my home
• Still had house music in heavy rotation
• I noticed less inflammation in my body on this experimental blood type O diet (I will share my final thoughts when the experiment ends. 3 more weeks to go!)

This week I’m looking forward to

• The last procedure for removing the fibroids. A new journey begins!
• My mom being back in town for the week to care for and support me post procedure
• Creating gift bags for an upcoming event

What are you looking forward to this week?