ZenSLAYA : Her Spring Collection Speaks to Queens of All Sizes

QUEEN OF INCLUSION

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There’s not much Zendaya, a superior trendsetting artist can’t or doesn’t do.  The 20-year-old actress, singer, author, dancer, and most recently added to her resume- fashion designer, has launched her Spring Collection for her clothing line, Daya by Zendaya. Her brand was developed and brought to life with her long time stylist, Law Roach.  In an interview, Zendaya explains why she wanted to expand her shoe line into a clothing line with no one other than Roach.

“Law is my style partner in crime, my fashion guru, [and] the person who I go to for all things fashion related. He gets me; he’s been my one and only stylist my entire career, and I’m so excited to have done this with him. He’s got an incredible eye and he understands things so if I can’t make up my mind, he will definitely make it up for me!"

Mimicking her unique, fresh and respected taste and eye in fashion, that landed her a spot as a guest judge on the Emmy Award winning show- Project Runway, ZenSlaya’s collection features pieces that can be mixed and matched to seamlessly fit into a dope mix of street-style and high-profile wardrobes, such as her own.

Everything in the new line runs from size 0 to 22. “I wanted to make sure the sizing was right and that no one felt alienated or didn’t feel like they were included in my line. I also wanted the androgynous, gender-neutral aspect of the clothes to be a big part of this. People should feel confidant and feel like themselves in the pieces,” Zendaya explains in the earlier quoted interview.

All clothing is priced between $18 and $158.  “I wanted this not to be something they go to wash one time and it’s done after that. I want people to have these pieces for a long time in their wardrobe…It’s basically elevated street style.”

According to Google, 2016 was the year of the Celebrity Fashion Designer.

Every year Google releases its list of most trending searches and in 2016, Zenslaya ranked #4 in most searched fashion designers. She beat out Kanye West, Kendall and Kylie Jenner and Beyonce for that spot.  With Daya by Zendaya continuing to be inclusive to queen’s of all sizes and made with luxury material that won’t break our pockets, I’m sure this mogul will be higher on this list in the years to come.

There's No Right Time (To Expand Your Family) Just Your Time

“Your daughter is so beautiful! When are you having another?”

“Oh, you just turned 27? Better start having the rest of your children now before you’re 30 and too old.”

“You really should give her a friend to play with.”

Personally, I’m not willing to give into the secret society of parents who set the standards and rules for when I should be expanding my family. I am an exceptionally emotional and passionate person. I have always felt everything strongly- love, happiness, sadness, hurt. I’m still full of amazement that Arelis Mercedeslee Troncoso is my daughter and that her and God deemed me worthy enough to love her and teach her love, too. So, until I've actually experienced this human being in all her great forms, where a pinch is not needed to assure me I'm not dreaming of this blessing I have, I will not be having other children. Despite the pressures I’ve seemed to encounter every day since my daughter was three-weeks old.

 I'm not through loving my baby with all I got. She is my first, and factoring in my experiences with women and mothers in my life, I want to feel everything strongly as a new mom, and in the now with my daughter. I don't want to miss a cut, a tear, a laugh, a milestone because I was preoccupied elsewhere. That’s not to say it’s not possible and having children back-to-back is “wrong”! Hats off and kudos to the mommies who choose that route. It’s our prerogative as mothers to decide when and how to expand our families. There is NO one, right, way to be a mother. Regardless of what society, your tias, abuelos, co-workers, or even your single-no-kids-having- friends, with the best intentions, say.

Mothers and families do it all the time. “Pop them out,” “Get it done with,” for reasons that we hear too often from strangers- “Better to do it all at once instead of reliving the craziness.” That's ALL great, and God willing if I get pregnant again in the future, I too would want to have my 3rd child within a few years of having my second.  I am not opposed to this thought; just don’t find it suiting for my life right now. Being selfish, at this moment, is my right. I am beyond in love with my lil’ mama and I'm giddy to witness her grow up.

That’s the gag. I want to relive the craziness and the memories with every baby. It's not something I just want to get done with all at once - it's something I'd like to fully familiarize myself with repeatedly, like riding my favorite rollercoaster at an amusement park. You don't go on Nitro three times in one day then never go back! I could imagine riding Nitro at different stages of my life and recalling special memories because of it.

Not having a mother present growing up or many women in my life that I genuinely admired and respected - I always believed, deep down, one of my callings would be, to be a phenomenal mommy and role model to children I would love boundlessly. For as long as my health, finances, and pre-mommy-weight snap back is on my side, I'd produce an army to love. I'm all about love and nurture and making sure people know I love them, because I didn't get that when I was younger.

I want to experience my baby in all methods that I experience everything else, deep and hard and engraved in my heart. This is my time to be greedy with my daughter before I have to share my corky obsession with other tiny human beings, along with a husband to love, a house to keep a home, and a career to flourish in. I'm taking this slow. I've been an aunt since I was 16 so babies are nothing new to me. But, MY baby, my daughter, motherhood, this is all a first for me - so I'm pretty comfy on cloud 9. 

It’s the mommy and Arelis show. She’ll be the first person to have my entire heart; open, pure and welcoming to everything we're going to learn from together. Society can take a chill pill; I’m going to do this mother thing, my way.

Published on JustBeParenting.com

Not All Things Are Fake in Hollywood

I know! We are all used to seeing flawless skin, make-up, hair — well, practically everything so perfect in Hollywood. The problem is it starts to blur reality of what’s real and our beliefs on what’s beautiful. As if to say; if you have real body flaws you can’t be beautiful in Hollywood?

Cellulite Is NATURAL & Beautiful

Celebrities are humans. Now, while some of them are praised for their money bought beauty, others embrace their flaws, proudly. Take America’s Next Top Model judge and Supermodel, Ashley Graham for instance, who showcases her curves often on her Instagram page. Proudly displaying how a real woman can look amazing in a bathing suit, work out constantly, and still be holding onto some cellulite — that will never define our beauty.

Women know this! When we are packing a little extra meat on our back side, lumps and bumps make our thighs and hips its permanent residence. Cellulite is real and nothing to be embarrassed of. This unrealistic Hollywood image has a lot of ladies running to a surgeon's office , instead of loving the figure they've been given. Shout Out to Ashanti, Serena Williams, Angela Simmons, and Amber Rose (to name a few) who've recently gotten heat from social media trolls for their not-so-perfect bodies. These Queens are inspiring, and reminding us, not everything is fake in Hollywood.

AMBER ROSE

 C'mon is it even possible for Muva to look bad?

NADIA ABOULHOSN

 Fashion designer/blogger and Model; embraces her flaws all the way to the bank!

ASHANTI

Her entire IG page will leave you speechless with how effortlessly FLY she is!

SERENA WILLIAMS

Ya'll deserved a time out for body shaming this queen's firm physique !

IGGY AZALEA

Fancy! and still baggin' bodies- mmm kay!

BRIA MYLES

A new name to some, but familiarize yourself with it quick! Her body is #swimsuitseason #goals!

COCO

Don't get distracted from the top, her bottom is perfect too!

ANGELA SIMMONS

If you follow her on Snapchat you know this queen lives in the gym. A recent new member to the mommy club, Mrs. Angela is looking like a snack!

Published on TheBlackMedia.org

New year, New Kim?

"A fan" - before, not about her on Instagram. I believe you control your image, be who you are and not who you think others want you to be. Kim K was great at playing exactly what the initial follow (media) wanted her to be: social media sex symbol, vixen, booty pictures, naked pictures, flashy style pictures. All things sexy and WORK. Kim K, even if not working, IS working.

Kim is a businesswoman. She made Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list, ranking No. 42, with an alleged net worth of $150 million- 2.5 times bigger than her husband, Kanye West’s net worth at $62 million.  A simple tweet from the mogul will cost you $10,000.00 and $200,000.00 for a shout out on the gram. With a combined following from both social media outlets, of nearly 140 million, it's worth the dish out, for an endorsement.

We’re nearing the end of the 1^st month of 2017, giving followers enough time to reflect on the TV personality’s rather refreshing, new approach to what she posts on social media. Could we be witnessing the rebranding of Kim Kardashian? Is she taking a page out of her sister’s, Khloe and Kourtney’s lives and being more candidly herself? Will she be focusing more on presenting who she is first, a mother, a wife, and a family orientated gal?

In the beginning, we were all probably sold on that concept.  Her 1^st few pictures captioned “family” and “mom”. But now we see a trip to Dubai, an appearance for a make-up class, and earlier on, a clever and kind of classic Kim way of showing us how Kanye has “her back” (a subtle booty brush).  Is she worth the follow on Instagram now?

Anyway we spin it, Kim will always remind us that through the years, she will remain a businesswoman who’s in charge of marketing herself. I for one, just hope she infuses a little more of this revamped edge, show casing the true life she leads and not just the one the media assumes her to live because of the money she makes. If I see one picture of her with a grill on in 2017, I’m going to un-follow too.

Reflections from Upsilon Royale, Convention 2016:

I was in awe meeting some of the founding fathers and trailblazers of LSU. Man, do they really define smooth. Not in their moves (although they had them when salsa was playing) or their clothing, but in their minds, demeanor, and education. See, my grandparents, on my fathers’ side, as typical Puerto Rican as they come, raised me. So, with no offense to the comparison of age, these men reminded me of my grandfather. They reminded me of my dad, my tios- every man that had a part in raising me. They really made me feel proud of my heritage and culture all over again.

It was great bonding with them, listening to their stories and hearing the pride in their voice. I loved seeing the excitement in founding fathers eyes, for the future, watching them bare witness to the fruits of their labor still expanding and observing the younger generation of LSU staying true to brotherhood and betterment. Such gentlemen and revolutionaries indeed. 

The brother’s ambitions and character could only be over shadowed by 1 thing: the sisters. If we all thought the brothers embodied smooth, effortlessly- these mujieres were the epitome of sophistication, with 2 prime examples that stood out against the rest.

The poise from our national president, Josie and founding mommy in attendance, Sylvia, was unparalleled. Josie’s representation of the organization could only be categorized as 1 thing: sincere. With her knowledge of the business but more importantly to what degree she held the sisterhood and our interactions as sisters to aid in our org’s development and not hindrance. NGC board as a whole really delivered with leading by example, especially our chair and co-chair for convention, Ashley and Caro.  Clearly, all their hard work- along with LSU NP’s and NVP, Joe and Lem and the 2016 convention committee, paid off.

 I was lucky enough to room with a founding mother and NGC members from both spectrums of the early and more recent pledge eras and there were no borders, just sisterhood. We bonded, we laughed, we shared experiences and ideas for our sorority.

I saw a founding mother arrive straight from the airport, with no rest from traveling, Thursday night and greet members from both organizations with the same enthusiasm as she greeted everyone who approached her throughout the weekend. I saw founding mother be ‘nervous’ about public speaking yet still managed to have upsilons mesmerized with every bit of advice that she shared on our Upsilon History panel. I saw a founding father arrive with a pen and paper to our keynote speaker’s presentation, eager to take notes on how to improve our organizations.

We had 294 upsilons registered for the entire weekend; with well over 330 upsilons there by the time Sunday came to say, “See you later.” What a time to be present, with perspective, drive and fire, to take advantage of this platform, to engage in conversations with members from all years, to better both organizations on our journey of growth.

There’s beauty in everything and it’s our duty to cherish that beauty and allow that to be the driving force of our relations with our orgs and each other. Because the politics and what we don’t understand can get really ugly and it’s our responsibility to ensure it doesn’t tarnish our bonds or fire.

Seasons come and go and I’m hopeful that our season to work together under this capacity comes again, soon. So we could continue to be great in presence, in action, and in character, together… Siempre Unidos and Pa lante, siempre palante.

Published in MSU's Amazonian 

This I Believe ... (9-1-11)

I believe in 'Love'

and a man providing it.

Not in the cliche idea of a relationship/partnership, because that works both ways,
but in the form of the unrecognized, under appreciated 'Father'.

Being a 'man' is defined by many things
but frequently overlooked by the possibility of how they love, protect, and nurture their children...

I believe in talking to God and what it does for me (sing)

I believe in thinking out loud.

I believe in words and music therapy...


I judge so many things,
then I don't voice them.
I tell myself (convince, but not really)
it's/ they're not important to share my thoughts with ...

why don't I care for people,

but then I care so much ...

I believe, We don't question a lot of things.

We Accept,
Exist,
and
Prosper.

Old Notes that flow ... influences

1.13.14

We grind because it's instilled in us. We want more, we want better... But really, we have no idea what that is OR have substantial ways to go about it.
So we grind.
In accordance to what we've been told to do, by people who we're trying to do better by... but will have no tangible guidance from...

i.e- College, (sometimes) Love, Parenting, Fostering Friendships rooted with Loyalty, Our Appearances ...

8.18.15
Let's start light.
Amongst the many things that can fall under "Our appearances," I'll concentrate on our hair. (Because if I got into the weight issue and 'portion control eating,' to politely put it, i'd be addressing a subject that should be written about on it's own, right?)
Because we all know someone who's family is constantly nit picking at what they're eating. Constantly addressing how they're looking a little big (even when they're totally not) who encourages eating more salads than they'd like, not eating after 6, bringing them fruits to eat as snacks, and adding more or less to their plate if they're being served food- depending on if they view them 'too flaka" or "gordita" ...

Curls.
In most latina cultures, we're not raised to love or embrace our hair. It is not until we've grown a little and matured by exposures to other cultures and people who idolize our natural hair, that we choose to love our curls.

Personally, I was raised with the perception that straight hair is more beautiful. My grandmother would relax my hair and it was very rare that you'd ever see my hair with, my now, fabulous curls.

So how and where do we learn to love our natural self if we're not being raised with that mentality?

So the transition then becomes even more difficult because we have to break away from those ideas that have been instilled in us, by people who were only trying to do right by us ... only, their opinion ended up not being factual.


Want to read about the other i.e's ?