Cafe` Delta

October has always been an extremely busy month in my life. From midterms to homecomings to birthday parties, and the struggle to try to save money instead of spending it because I'm usually trying to travel for the holidays, I've always been a busy bee during this time.

Recently, I have found ways to spend money that I can justify to myself, and that's on some fun activities (including a cruise in January- YAY!). On Thursday, October 7th, I visited the campus of the Univ of Tampa for an "open-mic" type night hosted by the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. For a donation and a few bucks, I got a great show.

I'm not usually a fan of spoken word and poetry, so I was happy to see that the performers brought more to the event than those men-bashing, self-proclaiming poets that I run away from! As each performer was announced to come to the front, an artist made a drawing of each of the performers in her own unique way. As far as the performers go: some fraternity guys did a rendition of one of their organization's songs, one guy played the guitar and sang, there was a dance performance, a rap performance, an "I hate BET" poem, and much more. My favorite was the guy who read a children's book and made us participate by saying "choo choo" and chugging our arms like we were train conductors. It was silly, but fun.

There were, however, two poems that did some male-bashing and talk of the "other woman". I hate that stuff!  I don't want to hear about how you are better than the other woman because he's still with you.....blah blah... It's really annoying!

On the sunny side of things, two singers sung inspirational songs about strength and beauty. I thought these songs were very fitting to the environment we were in. It's highly important, this day in age, to remind ourselves about the importance of inner beauty and the power in loving oneself. Yes, easier said than done, but I'm sure the message through those songs was received by someone who needed it that night.

It was a very chilly night for Tampa...heck I even had a scarf on, so you would think the packed house and free hot chocolate is what kept me warm. But, I would have to say the warmth of the spirits in the crowd and the postitiveness in the performances (minus the male-bashing) is what blanketed the room and reminded me that amidst all the negativity in our world, there is beautiful energy that can still bring people together.

Great job Delta Sigma Theta!

12- One Nation Rally

Ahhh! Washington D.C.!!!!

Through the One Nation Working Together organization, I marched on Washington for true hope and change. I went to DC last Friday with 3 friends and we had both an amazing and sleepless time. I was trying to finish my darn shoe project before I left, so by the time I went to bed early Sat morning, I had been up 22 hours straight. I wasn't a morning person at all on this trip!

We arrived Friday night around 11pm and hopped in a cab to NW DC to Howard Univ. to see if anything was going on. Nope- nothing! It was about 56 degrees and we came with our Tampa gear on. My 3 friends are sorority sisters, so the Howard visit meant a bit more since their sorority was founded on the campus.  At least they got to get the pictures they wanted out of that late night adventure.

Going to bed at 4am Saturday morning was followed 4 1/2 hours later by us waking up to go to the mall to buy boots, scarves, and coats! Well worth it. We were warm for the rest of the trip! Sleepy, but warm.

After the mall trip, we packed up and headed on the Metro into the city. At first, we got on the right train but headed in the wrong direction!  After the Washington Monument disappeared from our view, we kinda figured it out. We had to transfer to two different trains, and each transfer was accompanied by greater hoards of people. I won't say how I almost got into it with a lady with her double stroller because that would take away from the bigger picture, which is the March itself.

The purpose of the March was to promote a message of hope, not hate as we approach midterm elections. It has been said that these elections are more important than the Presidential election. This rally allowed people to speak out for jobs, justice, and education for all. It was really motivating to see like-minded people being focused on working together to push our country forward into the right direction.

We can all admit that we need change, but we cannot get this change if we do not get up, get out, and do something about it.

Please understand the issues and get out and vote. For more info, try this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_2010
or
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2023181,00.html

If those don't work, just google or wiki!


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I have to say that although this event was not in Tampa (which was the point of this blog), I learned about this event through Tampa connections, and everything I've learned from this trip is being used to support my community service efforts in Tampa. 

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Here are just a few of the tons of pics I took! Gotta love my new camera! Woo hoo!

11- Garage Sale (9-25)

Going to this garage sale made me come to realize that I am officially a morning person! My twin used to think that I would need to be on medication or something to get me out of bed in the mornings.  But you know what, at that point in time I really had nothing to get up for (don't stretch this saying too far). I didn't have a job that required me to get up early and I really had nothing going on. Why not sleep in?! Interestingly enough, at that point in time, I also felt very "here and there" and I really didn't have a focus. That was right after I graduated college and I really didn't know what to do with myself. I was happy and having fun, but I always felt something was missing.

Nowadays, I find myself getting up at 6am...... on the weekends! Can you believe it?  I have completed all of my "to-dos" by the time the mall opens!

 There's nothing like coming back to my crib from my morning power walk to a cup of vanilla coffee, my classic rock station, and school work (yes, the nerd in me reigns supreme).

But, I digress - back to the garage sale.

My coworker is putting down some new carpet and buying some new furniture for her home, so it was natural to go with that "out with the old, in with the new" spirit of having a garage sale! She had some great furniture and smaller items to sell. Two other co-workers helped by working the sale, but I was busy shopping. I only left with one thing, but I tried for more. I scored a leather ottoman for 5 bucks! Can't beat that!

I was there about 2 hours and she ended up doing very well. I have to say that it was pretty entertaining watching 5 people try to get a bunk bed set (with mattresses) into two minivans. They made it fit somehow!

10- Tampa Bay Rowdies Game

Oh back on Friday Sept. 24th I went to a minor league soccer game here in Tampa at Steinbrenner Field. I guess you can call the team "minor league"... I mean, it's not baseball or anything.
My bff works for the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies and I got the chance to sit behind the scenes. I actually didn't even make it out of the box office to watch the game, but more about the game in a moment. She worked the will call window which kept me very entertained. Most people were family members who kinda felt a little privileged (As if this were a Yankees game or something). It was pretty busy, but all those fans and family couldn't fill up half of the stadium. I hear that it used to be packed in the summer, but I had to remind them that football season is in and even on Friday nights, high school football is the entertainment of choice in the South.
The will call window was pretty uneventful until right before halftime when a group of drunk college boys came up the window. One guy came up to the window like he was the "big shot", telling his friends he had tickets reserved for them. They stood behind him and let him do his thing.....you know, pick up the soccer tickets........"really" I say to myself?  My bff wanted to mess with his ego a bit and joked like she didn't have the tickets. That didn't go so well! He started cursing with his slurred drunk language and his friends had to get him to calm down. Even when she told him those were his tickets, he couldn't understand what she was saying. Her coworker who was working a couple windows down leaped out of his seat and yelled at the guy for cursing at her like that. He is an older gentleman who is super sweet- put that guy in his place real quick!!

After that fun mess, we hung out a bit more.

About the game- when halftime approached, we saw a lot of people leaving. It was most likely because the team had scored nothing against their opponent, Minnesota. As we walked the stadium, it was pretty sad. I really couldn't stand to stay, so we left to grab a bite on Davis Island.

I hope drunk guy had a blast and enjoyed all the festivities!

(Say no to alcohol people if it affects you like it did that guy- trust me, it's not super sexy)


(See pic below) I was told that the fans got to vote on the mascot some time ago, and the sock mascot won. Pretty cheesy, and I have a hard time believing that the people who voted were over the age of 10!

Maybe next season the team will come around and really kick something with those cleats. But until then, football is in effect and basketball is on the horizon.  Go Falcons! Go Celtics! I heart Rondo!

9- Passport Time!

I am definitely including my adventure to the passport office in my 30 things because I have been trying to get my passport for 5 years now. I guess I never had a reason to have one, really. I always felt kinda "behind the times" because the only country I have visited is Mexico, but I have to remember that I haven't had any money to go anywhere! Paying for school pretty much soaks up all my change. I try not to beat myself up about not having taken a trip across the world yet- heck, I still have time.

So, I am no making a bigger effort to travel abroad. I love to travel, whether it's on my own or with my friends and family. What better time for me to get that darn passport?

Besides the passport lady not believing that my birth certificate was certified, thus keeping it to send in to be verified, AND me having to ask my mom to go get me a couple copies from the records place in OKC in case someone further questioned my certificate's validity......the process was very smooth!

We'll see what I have in my hands in about 4 weeks LOL!


FYI- My top 5 cities/countries (in no particular order) to visit are:
1. Tokyo
2. Thailand
3. South Africa
4. Brazil
5. Germany

Wanna go? Let me know!

8- Champions for Children Breakfast

I am on the Community Involvement Team at work, and we do a lot of fundraising for the Child Abuse Council/Adopt a Child Program here in Hillsborough County.  We initiate christmas gift donations for Bay Area children by hanging names in our employee breakroom (like on a paper stocking cutout). Our employees come and pick out a name, which has a list of items that the child is asking for, and the employee will purchase all of the items and bring them into work. Towards Christmas, we gather all of the items, wrap all of them, and distribute them to the centers as elves, or the centers come to pick them up.

The breakfast I attended last Tuesday was an appreciation event for those in the community who have put forth their time and energy to assist with this cause. I normally wouldn't attend any recognition events, because I don't expect any recognition, however, this was more of a "thank you" breakfast. There was one award given to a local news anchor who has been working with the program for many years.

It was nice to be in such a huge ballroom full of those who have good hearts. The music was a bit sad for so early in the morning, and I was a bit afraid of the puppets (see pic), but I'm glad I went anyway!


 I'm already prepping my elf costume for this season......

Christmas 2009

Breakfast

Ella's Folk Art Cafe

This past Sunday in Tampa brought beautiful breezy weather and sunny skies that made me think I had all day to spend reading the paper and thinking about life. Truthfully, I made the stop to Ella's in between trying to shoot pictures for my project and trying to finish running my errands for the new week. 

I read quite a few reviews about Ella's Folk Cafe, and after checking out the website, I knew I had to check it out. From what I read, Ella's reminded me of the Little 5 Points/East Atlanta area I had frequented when I lived in Georgia (ahhhh, Atlanta!). The environment seemed as if it would be full of wonderful people to meet that were "my kinda crowd".......Funky, hip, cool......young and good-hearted.

I just had to see what Ella's was all about....

I arrived for Soul Food Sunday Brunch just before noon and the parking lot was already full. There was a lot next door, so I parked there and was surprised that I was able to be seated immediately. I asked for the patio area because I wanted to take advantage of the great weather. Seated under a huge tree, I found myself jumping a few times at leaves falling- mistaking them for bugs! (You never know here in Florida). I did rush through my meal, unfortunately, because there were bugs and they were too much for me!!!! Even the peeps at the table next to me felt the same way. But, what do you expect sitting outside with such yummy food all out in the open??!!!

I had the REAL soul food Sunday brunch: fried chicken and waffles and a mimosa. Superb. The meal arrived with both pieces of chicken being dark, and I completely forgot to ask for white meat only. Nonetheless, the flavors were on point, and I was pleased. I am really not a bone-picking kinda gal (well, in the meat way), so I would have also liked just a boneless breast....but hey, I'm not going to be picky.  Overall, the food and atmosphere was what I expected, and I even had a super cool server (hi Caitlin)

who told me there are cool people in Tampa lolol. 

I also read on the site that there was live music from noon to 4 on Sundays, but I only experienced satellite radio music, which was still a good mix of blasts from the past. I was sad about not hearing someone totally rock it out on such a beautiful Sunday, but I will definitely return on a Fri or Sat night to experience the crowd and live music.  

To my daddy......this is our kinda place! You'd LUV it lol!

Summary:

Fav: the food and cool people

Least Fav: Darn bugs

Advice: Try to go on a Friday or Sat night and check out the music

Found out about it: From reviews in various papers/magazines

**pics from tbo**