Best of Memphis

Hello Everyone!!

With just a matter of months left here in Memphis, I have decided to spend the next few months showcasing the highlights of living here over the past five years. Although one might think, " what highlights are there in memphis?", I will have to admit the city grew on me. I spent more time hating the city and trying to find reasons to hate it rather than explore it and get to know its culture. And ironically with this said, I can totally see myself coming back here for a few years, or to raise Layth. When people say, " it's a good place to raise a family," they were not kidding; Memphis is home to some of the top schools in the country. Even though I doubt we will return, Memphis will forever be in mind since it is the place where the love of my life, Layth, was born. So without further ado, here are some of our very first pictures in Memphis:

The house before we moved in and painted all the walls

Terry Pera, our real estate agent, handing us the keys to our new home

Adding our touch to the house: Tulips which only lasted one season. Afterward, we lost our green thumbs :(

Wish Boutique Fashion Show: Beautiful Clothes, Girls Not So Much

Wish Boutique Fashion Show: Beautiful Clothes, Girls Not So Much

For almost two years now, I have been intrigued to set foot in the " Wish" boutique located in the Saddle Creek Mall, Germantown. However, the unwillingness to drive to a different part of the mall deters me from getting in the car, taking Layth outside of the carseat only to repeat the process once again upon leaving. And so, it has been my incentive to go one day when Layth is in school, browse the store and get everything I want in one trip. Unfortunately, that has yet to happen until recently where I attended the Wish Boutique Runway Show at the Southern Women's Expo located at the Agricenter. Based upon the fashion alone, the store has great potential, there were many items I could totally see myself wearing. The girls modeling, on the other hand, just did not do the clothes any justice. Many of them were so stiff, their hands looked as though they had been physically glued to prevent moving them down South. Others tried to walk the runway as fast as they could to avoid having to be in the public eye any more than needed to be. While some blew me way with their ability to engage the audience while still maintaing their model like pose, the lack of enthusiasm from their other models took from their moment. Although I am not a model expert myself, I do know how to train girls, I know what to look for when I see models. In my little experience on the runway I knew we had to always make sure our eyes engaged the audience as though we were mentally seducing, walk with some character and keep our hands either on our hips while still walking elegantly and/or keep our hands down without looking a drag queen flapping around her arms ( it always depended upon the designer's request on how to position our arms). As a person with previous experience and as a potential " Wish" customer, I would advise the " Wish" owner to hand pick her models and make sure they train and know how to walk the runway. Because its the girls that are selling your clothes, make sure they do not distract your audience from the clothes by having them focus upon their faulty walk.

Monogramming Everything

Hello My Lovely Readers,

For those of you who follow and have not already figured it out, Layth loves art. He loves anything that requires drawing, painting, cutting and constructing. And it seems that a bunch of scholars agree with his love for art, and thought I would share before proceeding with the blog post. According to PBS. org, " Creativity is the freest form of self-expression and, for children, the creative process is more important than the finished product. There is nothing more fulfilling for children than to be able to express themselves freely. The ability to be creative can do much to nurture your children's emotional health. All children need to be creative is the freedom to commit themselves to the effort and make whatever activity they are doing their own." With this knowledge a domestic goddess would be finding new and innovative ways to express her child's creativity, but since I am neither no where near nor dare to put myself in that category and am simply trying to acquire the " domestic diva" title, I found an innovative way that helps Layth with both learning his letters and spelling while still allowing him to express his creativity. While at Target the other day, Layth insisted upon me buying him these plastic foam letters that stick to any surface allowing you to personalize any item. Layth, on the other hand, was simply attracted to them because they were letters ( he loves anything involving letters and numbers). And so, here I was torn between simply buying them to satisfy my child or thinking of an activity of how we can use them. Without hesitating, I immediately thought we could monogram some cheap gift bags, and or some notebooks, anything that would allow Layth to use the letters without wasting them. So as we were making our way outside of Target, I stopped by the gift wrapping isle and bought some cheap gift bags. A domestic diva would have already had a surplus of gift bags and would not need to waste six dollars that could otherwise be spent on her Starbucks as she exited the store. But since I already had my Starbucks, I would not allow that fact get the best of me! Once the gift bags were purchased, the groceries were put away, immediately my little lion made his way to the table with the box of letters in tow, and started peeling them onto pieces of construction paper he saw lying around. While I could have allowed him to continue to waste the letters on construction paper that would eventually make their way to the trash, I dropped everything and grabbed the gift bags. Then I instructed him to hand me certain letters, as he peeled them and strategically placed them where I instructed him to do so. A few gift bags later, we have several birthday bags waiting to be used in the event we should be invited to a birthday party!!

Hunter Boots Blowout!

Hello My Lovely Readers!!

I do not know if any of you recall my previous post a while back about finding the perfect rain boot, before settling upon my Jimmy Choo designed Hunter boots. If you do, and are a fan of the prestigious Hunter boot line, they are on sale at Lansky 126 conveniently located in the historic Peabody Hotel. While depositing a check at the B of A which is within walking distance of the Peabody, I decided to stop in and get a cappuccino ( simply out of pure laziness and unwillingness to walk three more blocks in heels to the Starbucks on 3rd Street). There I saw a sign with the words marked clearance located above a ton of boxes labeled Hunter upon them. I was not quite sure if I was believing what I was seeing when my shopaholic self decided to walk in and ask. Apparently, they are going to discontinue carrying them, and are selling them for a steal. The boots range anywhere from $49-$90, and so, if you're a fan like I am, I urge all you fashionistas to stop by before they sell out!

More Dinosaurs at the Zoo!!

Hello Everyone,

So if you do not already follow me on Facebook, I'll let you in on a little secret, the rest of Facebook already knows: WE LOVE THE MEMPHIS ZOO!!! And with it being located minutes away from Layth's school, it's the best place to take him once I pick him up. There we can play on the playground, share a snack of cheese fries in the Cat House Cafe as we watch the monkeys entertain us, and see the animals. Unfortunately, at two years old, Layth only has a handful of favorite animals and the rest are simply there to watch in passing! Those favorites being, the monkeys, the lions, the hippos, the pandas and the sea lions. That being said, I was a little skeptical as to how he would react to the new dinosaurs exhibit, the zoo had been advertising for months now! As a zoo member, we were entitled to a sneak peek this week before it went open to the public, but unfortunately, still had to pay the $3 entrance fee. But in retrospect, it was worth paying the entrance fee to the life size dinosaur replicas as they moved, roared and attacked a Stegosaurus. Layth, who loves the PBS show, " Dinosaur Train" was not quite expecting the dinosaurs to be large. He kept saying, " Big roars.. where's the small roars." Thankfully, we ran into some pint size lizard like dinosaurs that suit his needs just fine. However, when we came across the life sized Tyrannosaurus Rex with a Stegosaurus caught in his mouth, which still seems to be alive, little Layth felt the need to run and hide in the gift shop. Once we explained to him it was not real, he agreed to go back into the exhibit and dig for fossils. Intrigued by the sand boxes, he insisted upon digging for fossils at all three stations. Soon we were done digging for fossils, and we were off to re-create a skeletal T-Rex with giant magnets. However, when the magnets proved to be too heavy for Layth, he waved good-bye to the dinosaurs and made his way onto the playground. We will definitely be returning to the dinosaurs, and urge everyone to visit them too at the Memphis Zoo!

Layth's Nursery

Hey Ya'll,

I figured I'd greet you guys with some Southern jargon for ya, since we're about to leave the South and head out West! Trying to hide my Southern roots for so long and fight the accent, I decided why not embrace it! With so many labels out there, a label of a Southern Belle would be nice to uphold! Speaking of moving, I figured I would share with you guys the one room I am most proud of in the house we are about to leave behind. If you do not know the story behind our house, I will give you the brief version so you won't be spending forever reading this post. We purchased the house in the process of it being built, moved within weeks of completion, days within the move I left to go overseas, returned to Memphis, only to leave for six months to complete my degree in Wisconsin. Upon visiting Chafeek one weekend, I was greeted with every inch of the house painted with the exception of the two extra bedrooms, which were at the time being used as an office and a guest room. And so, when we were surprised with the news of the Layth's arrival, this was my opportunity to take control of the office and convert it into a nursery. First thing I had to do was get rid of the extra bed we had, where I stupidly typed in the wrong dollar amount onto the Craig's List ad, and the mattress and canopy both sold for twenty dollars flat. Secondly, we had to move the desk, filing cabinets and desktop into the loft. And lastly, get rid of anything in the room we did not want. It was useless to put the things into the attic since it meant having to empty the attic and throw them way upon moving. Now that the room was empty and ready for a makeover, we first had to determine a theme: a lion/jungle theme since Layth meant " baby lion." Secondly, work with Deborah Sykes ( our painter) on colors that would be gender neutral should we move out and other tenants wanted to use the room. Then, came determining the furniture. We opted not to purchase a glider, since we already had a brand new chaise not in use ( Until this day, Layth and I read books on it until he falls asleep near the window before converting him to his toddler bed), it also came in handy on those nights when I would fall asleep on the chaise and find myself waking up and it be morning! Once thee furniture was complete, came the decor and numerous trips to Babies " R" Us searching for items that best fit our theme. Everything was complete, but something was missing, a toy chest. We had received a portable monkey printed toy chest when was born, but we found better use for it downstairs where most of his toys are located. For the longest time, Layth's corner would cover the entire living room since his toys would be piled on top of each other. Moving the money toy " hamper" was a life safer!!! And then one day, when I least expected it, Zulily. com was having a special on hand painted children's furniture where I found that final piece, a hand painted wooden chest with animals imprinted upon them with same colors of his nursery. And so, now tears later, I am sharing with you, the one room in the house I am sad to leave behind: Layth's Nursery!

Another New Exhibit Comes to CMOM

Hello Everyone,
If you guys have not already assumed this already, I will go ahead and inform you: Layth and I are always on the prowl to find new and fun things to do in Memphis! For while it was repeated trips to either the Zoo or the Children's Museum, only to be followed with dessert from Muddy's Bake Shop of Sanderlin Ave ( I had to give a shot out, because Layth and I cannot get enough of her goodies!). But now that Memphis is expanding, Layth and I have a list of things to choose from. And so, for a while, we were taking a break from the Children's Museum since it had been a while since they update any of their exhibits. However, it seems in the last months, the museum has undergone a transformation by constantly adding new exhibits, moving things around and removing older exhibits, making it not so boring for me, as I watch Layth explore the museum. Most recently, they added the Good For You: Healthy Fun on the Run exhibit, which has so far been my favorite behind the dinosaurs exhibit. Within this exhibit children get an idea or taste of what is like to explore the great outdoors, eat healthy, and plant your own make-believe garden. And considering, Chafeek is all about the outdoors, this a great way to mentally prepare what he has ahead of him! Although Layth was more intrigued with running in and out of the make believe cave pretending to be scared of the bats that light up upon entering and exiting, I enjoyed the message behind the exhibit. It taught kids to enjoy being in the great outdoors and eating healthy, rather than remaining indoors on mindless television and video games! If you get a chance to explore this exhibit, I highly encourage you to do so!