Link of the Day - The Simmons meet Obama and Family

"The Simmons girls-Ming,11, and Aoki,8,- pose with president Barack Obama during the White House Easter Egg Roll event on Monday(April 25th). Mom Kimora Lee Simmons writes:

“This year’s Egg Roll was the largest ever with 30,000 attendees. Thousands of families gathered to celebrate and welcome Spring to Washington. While spending time with the lovely and gracious first family, we learned so much about the history and legacy of the White House. From the inspiring collection of African American art to the centuries old reminders of our nation’s history, our private tour was unforgettable for Me, Djimon, Russell, Ming, Aoki and Kenzo. I’ll never forget the girls peeking through the door to the West Wing or when they met the very gracious President Obama. And Kenzo’s very important meeting with Elmo was a success too!! Who could have asked for a better Easter and Birthday for Djimon? Thanks again to the lovely First Lady, the people of Washington D.C. and all the friends we met during our trip! We’re forever grateful to you for an amazing weekend. See you again soon!"

 Sources:  Black Celebrity Kids, Kimora Lee Simmons

Not Long Now...

Hope you have a great weekend.  I am one of those looking forward to the Royal Wedding which is only hours away.  I am about to head home to immerse myself in the coverage!  I can't wait to see her dress!  See you next week...

image via this is glamorous blog

My Earrings from PURPOSE

Loving my new earrings from the PURPOSE jewelry line!  All of the jewelry from the PURPOSE jewelry line is handmade. They take ordinary objects and transforms them into unique pieces that are one of a kind. To see the earrings, check out the Raft Earrings and the Splint Earrings.  Stay tuned for an interview coming up next week from one of the designers from the jewelry line.

New Things

We've had another influx of new things at Black & Spiro this week.  The new blue and white inlay chest of drawers which we have placed in our front window with the butterfly fabric is very beautiful.  We also have new pale pink cockatoo lamps which we've had custom made for our store, lots of new cushions in fabrics I bought when we were overseas earlier this year, a pair of antique armchairs and yet another delivery of our special blue and white ginger jars. 

It certainly has been a busy week getting all of our new things into the shop.  Here are a couple of photos I thought you might like to see.  The colourful, mismatched and at times very wild style we seem to be known for is very noticeable in these pictures.

I can't believe it's Friday tomorrow already and another long weekend.  I don't know about you but I'm finding it hard to fit everything I need to do into these short weeks!!

Reader Question - From Thin Loc's... to Free Form

Question from Christy, Naturally Beautiful Hair Blog Reader:

"I've had my locs for 7 years and 8 months. They are the size of a pencil or smaller, and although they don't feel heavy, some of them have thinned at the roots. I presume it is from over twisting (in the past three years or so I've moved to twisting every 5 to 6 weeks which still seems to be a stress on my locs) when it is dry, or the small size of them in the first place. At any rate, to solve this I'm thinking of moving to free forming" in the hopes of slowing down the thinning of my hair, by not constantly re-twisting my roots. "I thought about cutting them but at this point, but I am not ready to let go of my length. If free forming doesn't help to strengthen and thicken my roots then I'll think about cutting them, to see if that helps with thinning. Also, I don't know if  I'll totally committ to free form for the duration of my loc journey. That being said, for those of you who free form,  are there any tips/advice/stories/products you use? Anything you can share with me, to help me start my free forming journey."  Please email "any comments, suggestions, advice to cskipperl@yahoo.com."  - Christy

Stylish Mohawk

Sources: Cassie's Look, Braided & Curly Mohawk, Afro Mohawk, Twisted Mohawk, Cornrow Mohawk

Lola Faturoti's Look Book

Lola Faturoti Autumn / Winter 2011 Look Book Fashion Peaks. 

- Source: HighSnobette

Happy Easter

The anticipation is building in our household for the Easter Bunny's arrival tonight and for what he might bring.  Today Harry made this large, colourful card for the Easter Bunny which we will leave out tonight along with some carrots and some milk.  It is so fun watching the innocence of young children at times like these.  I am looking forward to our annual Easter Egg hunt in the garden tomorrow morning which I have been preparing for over the last few days.  I hope everyone is enjoying special times with family and friends.  Happy Easter!!

Beads and Loc's

 Great use of hair accessories from Latrenia Byrant. 

Link of the Day! Cornrowed Braid-out Faux Hawk

Gorgeous kid style from Beads, Braids & Beyond. A cute style that can be worn in several different ways - Full Cornrolls, Braided Updo, and Faux Hawk.  Very cute styles... :-).

Dolls of Today

The progress of how dolls are actually starting to look like the diverse women of today is amazing.  We no longer have to go to the store and buy dolls that have features and hair that look nothing like us. We can now buy dolls for our young girls that actually represent us in our hair, features and cultural flavor.  I love that this is happening during our life time, and I hope to see more growth and progress.

See see more ethnically rich dolls, check Naturally Beautiful Hair album on Facebook.

Back Soon

These flowers have been sitting on the fireplace mantel in our bedroom for 2 weeks now.  I am surprised they have lasted so long.  At $3.00 a bunch at the markets they were a good investment. I have enjoyed looking at them every morning when I wake up.

I am taking off early this week for a few days away.  I am so tired.  See you soon.

xx
Anna

Good Old Blue & White

I have posted this bedroom before but I thought I would post it again today as I still love it and it reminded me that blue and white can look so beautiful in a bedroom.  I also love the black iron bed and the mix of furniture styles in this room.   {image - country living magazine}

Here are a couple of new blue and white fabrics which hit our fabric library this week.  I'm sure the die hard blue and white fans will be excited to know that we have had a very big influx of beautiful blue and white fabrics over the last few months into our library.  

PS.  It seems that the fresh flower post I wrote yesterday has created a bit of stir amongst readers from areas where it is hard to grow and buy fresh flowers/produce.  I am very lucky to live in a sub-tropical climate where flowers/foliage/fruit & vegetables are accessible and easy to grow.  I apologise if I have offended anybody with my post.  That certainly wasn't my intention.  I was purely stating my own personal preference and in my haste I didn't consider the circumstances of readers in remote/barren areas.

Fresh is Best

The other day we had a lady in the store ask us for some fake flowers.  I had to bite my lip and very kindly advise her that we only use fresh flowers.  I don't go for anything fake.  I'm a real or nothing girl in all aspects of my life.  If I can't have real flowers then I would prefer to go without.  Today I brought into the shop some of the succulent pots I have been potting up at home which I placed onto a tray on one of the coffee tables.  They look great mixed with the fresh lemons in the clam shell.  It just goes to show that fresh really is best.

Pooka Pure and Simple

I would like to highlight a wonderful bath and body line called Pooka.  The company was founded and created by Dawn Fitch. It is now run and operated by Dawn and 3 of her closest friends.  I was impress by the Pooka products, not only because of the great way the items where packed when I opened the box, but also because the of the great smells and textures.

Fresh Sugah Whipped Cream  - I tried the Fresh Sugah Whipped Cream, which is a body moisturizer.  I have very delicate skin and usually can not wear any products that have perfumes in them. But the whipped cream moisturizer smelled so good, felt good and my skin loved it. 




Shea Hair Cream
The other product that I tried was the Shea Hair Cream. Another great product. Works well with my scalp and loc's.  I used it after my last shampoo, and my scalp and roots look and feel great.

To learn more about the women that run Pooka, see their blog - The Pookalitas. And learn about their Products & Charity work: Pooka Pure and Simple.

Great Issue

I think this month's issue of Ivy & Piper is excellent.  They've certainly highlighted some lovely things.  In particular I loved their feature on Fenton and Fenton...one of my favourite furniture and homewares stores in Melbourne.

I also thoroughly enjoyed their interview with my friend Stuart Membery.  He really is such a talent and his home, which I have had the pleasure of visiting, is seriously beautiful and so stylish.

And last but definitely not least, I loved seeing our friend Paul Hunt featured.  He too is so talented and creative.  I am always inspired after he has dropped into B&S for a visit.

Overall a great issue I think!!  Our online Australian magazines are just getting better and better.  I can't wait to see what Adore magazine and Ivy & Piper magazine come up with next.

Natural Cane

We spent lots of time with my family on the weekend as it was my brother's birthday and birthdays in our family tend to be celebrated over a few days. 

Whilst at my parent's house this afternoon, I couldn't help noticing how beautiful the Stuart Membery cane chairs look with the older pieces of cane on their deck.  This is one of the chairs from Stuart's Home Collection above which we sell at Black & Spiro and when you look at it mixed with mum's old cane chairs as below, it looks like it has been part of her furniture collection for years.

I have been collecting a few of these old cane chairs {like mum's above} for our house which I have also mixed with Stuart's chairs on our verandahs.  I really love the look of this natural cane and I think it looks particularly nice mixed with Antique furniture and blue and white fabrics and china.

photos by me at mum & dad's house

Gianmarco Lorenzi Double Platform Pumps

Wow!

 - Source: What Women Want

Stylish Blogger Award!

Thank you Roots Of Blackness, Chasing Metamorphosis  and Nappy Headed Black Girl - for naming our Blog one of the top Stylish Blogger!!!

To Spread the love, I would like to share this award with some fabulous blogs that I follow daily:

Franchesca.net
I Love My Loc's
Le Coil
Beads, Braids & Beyond
Chasing Metamorphosis
Baby Makin(g) Machine
Goapele
Runway Wonderland
Wahidah Fowler
i Rock Loc's

& sooo many more!

A Perfect Flower Stall

When I was a little girl I was as obsessed with flowers as I am these days. 

I think I might have been around 8 years old when we lived in an old Queenslander at Wellington Point with a beautiful garden which my mother absolutely loved.  I would collaborate with my neighbour Angela who was about a year younger than I was.  We would pick flowers {mostly the daisies} out of mum's very large garden and we would set up a flower stall in front of my parent's house and sell the flowers on the roadside. 

I would never let my children do that these days but back then it was different.  When I spotted these little stalls by Mouta over on Poppy Talk earlier this week memories of these fun times came flooding back.  I wish I had one of these back then.  I think if I did it might have improved sales!!

Featured Reader - Helena!

Meet Natural Beauty - Helena! Thank you Helena for submitting your story about your natural hair journey.

Q: What is your hair story?  What kind of hair styles have you rocked, before embracing your natural hair?
A: Being a little girl I enjoyed my hair as it was, didn't think a lot about it and my parents have always taught my about natural beauty.
But growing older and watching music videos with Beyoncé, I saw her hair and was like, I want hair like her. I thought that it would be possible with a relaxer. But of course not. I tried a relaxer, but it didn't work at all. Only my hair ends got straight. And only a year after that, I cut my ends of and went all natural again. But now I'm happy it didn't work because i love my naturally curly hair and I'm proud of it.

Q: When and why did you decide to start wearing your hair naturally?
A: In the Christmas/January 2009-2010. I cut my straight ends off, and it was at the length was of a twa. And I loved it. I love my curls, and I am proud to wear it natural.

Q: Did you have any big fears about going back to your natural texture?
A: Not really. My hair was really dry and frizzy, with the straights ends. And I had read a lot about natural hair, so i was very excited for me to go 100% natural and rock my natural hair.

Q: What are three products you can't live without for nurturing/styling your hair?
A: My favorite is coconut oil. It's amazing for shine and makes my hair super soft, and it's great to prevent hair from frizzing. I also loves Aubrey Organics B5 Designer Gel - it's great for braid-outs, styling and it really moisturizes your hair. Also Aubrey Organics Natural Island Conditioner is really good.

Q: What would you say to someone who's thinking about embracing their natural hair, but scared about being rejected in various parts of their lives?
A: I thinks that natural hair exudes confidence, pride and beauty.. whatever what style you are rockin! It's for you. You are beautiful. Don't think so much about what people may say.
Accept and love your self and your natural hair, and others will to as they see your natural beauty shine.

Q: How can we keep up with you and your journey i.e. blog, twitter, facebook, fotki, tumblr, personal or professional website?
A: Yes i have a blog, naturalhairisbeautifull.blogspot.com.

Ned Turns 2

I can't believe our beautiful Ned turned 2 the other day.  It feels like it was yesterday that I picked him up from the airport.  He has been such a wonderful addition to our family and we just love him so much.  Golden Retrievers are the BEST family dogs! 

This week whilst Brad and Harry are away at Brad's family farm in NSW Ned has spent a lot of time on our bed.  He isn't usually allowed on our bed but I let him when Brad isn't around....just down on the end of the bed.  He loves it and secretly so do I.  I feel safe with him there as I can be a bit of a scaredy cat when when I am home alone. 

Oh and just in time for Ned's Birthday this week Max {our 11 month old} started saying woof woof...exciting times in our household!!  Happy Birthday Ned.