Ky Takes On New York

 Time To Put On Your Big Girl Panties!

   Man, has this week been a never ending emotional roller coaster. A few days ago, the day that I have been waiting for ever since my first day of senior year, the day that I have dreamt about a million times and feigned for had finally arrived --- move in day. I could not wait to hit the road and leave for the city where dreams come true. I was ready to start a new chapter of my life; in a place where I never thought that I would end up. However, I did not know that it would be so difficult to say goodbye to my parents, younger brother, and especially my boyfriend. The night before I departed Maryland, I could not do anything but cry! While watching Friday with my boyfriend, which I normally laugh historical at, was not as funny. I was stuck in this melancholy mood that I could not escape from. Emotions were hitting me left and right and I could not dodge them! On my last night, I wanted to be in a sanguine mood but I terribly failed.

Even though my mother was heart broken about me leaving, she had a blast when she got to decorate my dorm. My room layout back home had a groovy/boho feel and I wanted to try something different  at college. Throughout the summer, I used a polaroid camera to snap shots of concerts I attended,  parties I hosted and days where I would just lounge around. I love the lights attached to them. That's probably my favorite decoration that I have. 

My little man, my headache, my hype man and most of all my ball player <3. Of course he tried to act hard and act like it did not hurt him to see me go but deep down I know he misses his big sister! He was the first person, well besides my mom, to contact me and see how I was doing. Even though I could not stand when he was on 10 24/7 when I was home, I cannot lie I do miss it JUST a little bit.

Words cannot explain how much I miss Phonzo. We met at the end of May and have only been together for a few months but it feels like I've known him all my life! It's crazy how close we became in such a short period of time. I'm pretty confident that he will be around for a long time :)

I've always tried my hardest to make my parents proud and move-in day was proof that I achieved that. They have always motivated and pushed me to always excel and go above and beyond in anything that I do. Witnessing their success has motivated me to make sure I work even harder throughout these next four years to achieve the goals I have set for myself.

My Twin <3

First night out with some of my roomies :) 

My first week of college went extremely well. All of my professors are very passionate about their professions and I enjoyed hearing their stories about how their careers have went so far. I can tell that I will learn a lot from each and everyone of them, both academically and personally that will benefit me later in life. I have already been searching for internships around the city and on the internet. I plan on wasting no time here in NYC. I came here to conquer and fulfill my dreams and I plan to do so. I know it's cliche to say but Ky is on her "road to success". 

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Artscape 2015

         Its been awhile since I last posted but I'm back! This past Saturday I explored the Artscape festival in Baltimore. It felt like I was in a sauna all day. Right when I stepped out the car I started sweating :( literally drenching in sweat! It was pretty sad.

       Besides the unbearable weather, there were so many fascinating things at the festival. Here is a truck covered in recycled caps. It must of taken the man years to collect that many caps to cover his truck.

            Fish Camry.

      While my friends and I were exploring the festival we came upon this tent. We had no idea what was inside, until the owner's came out dressed in fish costumes made out of cardboard and jelly fish tops made out of colorful materials. They had hippie music playing and were dancing bollywood style. My friends joined in with them, putting on the jellyfish costume and posing when the owner's would try to snap shots of them.

Cierra posing with one of the jellyfish costumes.

    Everyone and their mother was out there hustling! On every corner there was someone selling water, soda, or shaved ice. I don't blame them though, it was extremely hot Saturday. I know each and everyone of them made a lot of business that day.

Trenice, Yemi and Cierra.

Eye Wink ;)

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    My parents and their friend Tomeika even stopped by the festival. They never go anywhere without their shades!

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        This is my favorite shot out of the ones that I photographed. I love this picture so much because it was not set up at all! Literally before I even hit the shutter button we were geeking haha dancing to the ice cream truck theme song. Gotta love candid pictures :)

:)

      Overall, I really enjoyed myself at artscape this past weekend. The only thing I regret is that I did not visit some of the free entrance art galleries :( Oh well, there will be a next time.

And then there's me :)

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New Color & OOTD

GOODBYE disgusting faded reddish orangish color and HELLO lavishing purple. I did not plan on dying my hair dark again but there were several complications that led me to dye it anyway. These pictures do not do any justice because you cannot see the actual color. In person and in daylight it is a deep plum color. I normally use Manic Panic dye but this time I used Twilight by Flare. I love this new color, it compliments my face more.

This is yesterday's OOTD and it is my most favorite outfit so far! The shirt I have on is a body suit that I purchased at the beginning of the school year from H&M. I planned on wearing a black skater skirt with this shirt at first but it was pretty chilly out so I wore these acid wash high waisted jeans instead. These are one of my favorite pair of high waisted jeans, I purchased these from River Island. I have on some high knee bow socks from Charlotte Rosse and my black boots/heels from H&M. I felt as if the addition of the bow socks made it more 90's style yet 50's at the same time.

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Omega Psi Phi Talent Hunt

 My weekend was pretty amazing. Not only did I have a blast the night before but I also placed third and won $100 in the Talent Hunt Saturday afternoon. I participated in this event last year and came in third as well but my routine was much better than last year; ten times better in fact. I took some time and actually chose a song that meant something to me. I danced to a cover by Ebrahim called "Found My Smile Again". My friend danced to this song in our annual school dance and I instantly fell in love with it. These last few months have been stressful and difficult for me. I have worried about school, senior week, prom, and most importantly college. I have honestly been in a funk for the longest and I have not felt like myself in awhile. Just until recently I sat down and had a heart to heart conversation with my mother and my boyfriend. They both made me realize that I should not be worried about anything. I have great grades considering the fact that I am in the top 5% of my class and I have received acceptance into every school that I have applied to. They both said that I should relax and just enjoy my last few months of high school. They were right and I'm glad I listened to them. My routine was basically dedicated to them because without their advice I would still be depressed.

This picture is a terrible quality but here is a photo of the member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity and myself. The founder of the fraternity is the gentlemen to the left of me in the black suit. When we posing for the picture he commented, "My goodness you have so much energy. You're a dancing machine," I could not do anything but laugh and smile. 

Even though I did not come in first place, I am still proud of my accomplishment. Everyone of the other contestants worked hard and Aaron deserved first place, his piano skills were very impressive!

This was my last year competing in the Talent Hunt because only high schoolers are eligible to participate. Hopefully next year my younger brother can show his dancing or "singing" skills.

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A Night To Remember

Towson Nights

         Friday night was definitely one of the best nights I've EVER had in Maryland. This night I really felt like myself and actually had a great time. My guard was down and all. My friends witnessed the real Kyra! That whole day I did not do anything besides clean the house and work on my routine for a talent hunt. I usually get dressed at my house but I got dressed at my friend Cierra's this time. I tried to rush to get dressed because I normally take hours lol I did not want to be the last one done. 

    This was my first time wearing makeup this whole week. I have been avoiding wearing any product besides eyeliner because I broke out badly on my forehead :( With every outfit I wore that week I added a funky headband to cover the acne. 

               I was feeling my outfit that night! I had on my favorite shirt from F21. I purchased this at the beginning of the school year when they had the back to school sale. Because it had been snowing so much lately, I was afraid that I was going to freeze to death wearing this shirt but thank god I did not. The jeans I have on from H&M. They are regular jean material at the top but have a leather material attached at the bottom. I also purchased those during the back to school sale. And of course I have on my favorite boot/heels from H&M.

          The earrings and necklace I had on are both from Charlotte Russe. This bracelet I have on is my mother's (I always take her jewelry). I'm not sure where she purchased this from but I adore this bracelet. It gave my outfit PIZAZZ!

There was some other girls in the bathroom taking "off guard pictures" but my friend Taylor and I :)

           Once we arrived back in Riverside, we stopped at the Waffle House to get something to eat. My friend Pam works there and she always decorates the waffles nice with whip cream! I was craving her waffles but unfortunately she was not working at this hour :(

      I asked my waitress could she add whip cream thinking she would decorate it like Pam but she did not. I was some what disappointed but the waffles were still delicious so I guess that's all that matters. 

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Birthday Dinner

 Saturday night I went out to my friend's birthday dinner at Lin's Hibachi. We were supposed to go last week but the snow ruined that! I was so excited to finally get out for once during this cold winter. The last time I went to a restaurant similar to Lin's was when I went to Benihana's in Hawaii. I feel like Lin's food tasted just like Benihana's, maybe they all use the same ingredients because I didn't notice any difference in either one. It's so exciting seeing the chefs do tricks with their knives! Even though I always have a fear in my mind that they'll accidentally drop one and it'll cut someone at the table. 

I promise I was so glad when my food was done. I was literally staring at the chef season the shrimp and steak. I was a human timer, just counting down the seconds until I could put some food in my mouth! I had not eaten anything that whole day besides some doughnuts :( I was the only one on my side of the table to finish all of my food lol I couldn't help it I was starving all day. The steak and fried rice were to die for!

My friend wanted us to get dressed up so I kept my outfit rather simple. I wore one of those long shirts with the slits on the side with black leather leggings. Since I was wearing all black I wanted to add some pizazz! That's why I added the beaded/jeweled headband with some earrings I purchased from Express a few years ago.

For makeup I did my usual routine: eyebrows, foundation and eyeliner. I used this pinkish color for my lip that I stole from my mother lol she'll never notice that it's gone.

I really need my hair shaped up and colored again! You can't tell in this picture but my hair is three different colors right now. It's red, orange and black :( Since I don't have work this Tuesday I'm going to make sure I stop by the barber shop. I'm tired of this red color and I'm sure what color I'll do next but I need something different. Everyone and their mother's have red hair.

These are the heels I wore that night. I've only worn these twice and I see why I don't wear they often. They had my feet crying rivers! I couldn't wait to get home and take these off. I love the spikes on them but my oh my these were a killer.

Here's just a few of the girls from the other night. The birthday girl is the one in the middle <3. I really enjoyed myself that night and I'm glad that I came out for her. Thanks for the invite Ebony :)!

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Eastern State Penitentiary

     A few months ago my photography took a field trip to the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philly. We had not had a field trip since last year when we went to the Greenmount Cemetary in Baltimore. This trip by far was the best one. Even though it was colder than Antartica on its coldest day, I still enjoyed myself. It's so much history in this penitentiary and it so fascinating exploring it that day. I took 200 plus pictures, both with a film camera and a DSLR. Here are just a few photos of what I shot that day.

  For one of our assignments my teacher wanted us to edit four photos of our choice that all had the same look to them. In each of my photographs I added a water color filter to them in addition to some basic edit techniques that photoshop offers (sharpening, color balance, exposure, spot healing brush etc).

     In each of my photographs there is the green and brown colors as well as the strong textures that are shown on the walls, rails and the ceilings.

    This photograph is not edited at all but I wanted to post it just because I admire all the texture and colors in this shot. I'll most likely edit it sooner or later.

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