I WROTE MY FIRST CHILDREN'S BOOK!

I have wanted to be a children's book author and illustrator since I was a child. With the encouragement of my first grade teacher Mrs.Simpson I put crayon to paper and created my first series. She laminated and bound them and I kept them all these years as maybe a reminder of my childhood dreams. Well 40 years later, I did it! I officially published my first children's book. I kept the color scheme the same as a nod to my DIY craft book from first grade.

This is a beautifully illustrated picture book, dedicated to all Aunties who love their littles. Perfect for birthdays, baby showers, christenings or just because gift. I want to thank you all for your encouragement over the years, I'm so grateful to have you along on this journey with me. Please visit the Amazon link to support: https://a.co/d/0ur3tTm

Is Anyone Still Here???

 Well, this is awkward! I haven't created a blog post since 2018 and maybe for good reason.  A lot has certainly happened in my life over the past few years....bought a new house, divorced, started a new business.  Those of you who keep up with me on YouTube may already know all about that stuff.

I love creating content and recently started writing again.  Alongside painting and content creation, it was also an outlet for me that I sort of pushed to the wayside.  

I can't say I'm back for sure but this does feel good.  So my question is, in this new era of  TikTok and short form video, does anyone still read blogs?  Should I bother?  

What are your thoughts? 

TOP 5 GIFT IDEAS FOR THE MAGICAL BLACK GIRLS IN YOUR LIFE!

It's that time of year again!  It's time to start your gift giving list so I wanted to compile a list of my top 5 suggestions from ToniDaley.com for the magical black girls in your life!  Or even as a wish list for yourself!

1)  AFRICAN PRINT SATIN LINED BONNETS

 These are perfect for the hair fanatics in your life.  Whether natural or relaxed these satin lined bonnets will protect your hair styles and your hair from damage at night.  Currently available in 3 prints and even a few kids sizes left!

Get them here: https://www.tonidaley.com/collections/headwraps


2) HEAD WRAPS

These tube head wraps are super convenient.  They make styling easy and are great for locs and loose naturals alike.  They can be used for updos, gym days or bad hair days and are inexpensive.  Great for stocking stuffers.


Get them here: https://www.tonidaley.com/collections/headwraps


3) CUSTOM EARRINGS

Nothing says 'I'm thinking of you' more than a custom gift.  Get a pair of custom earrings for the fashionista in your life for only $20! 
Custom made with the name/word of your choice.
Up to 7 letters, Arial font, Caps Leave name in the special instructions/message to seller box during checkout.

Get them here: https://www.tonidaley.com/collections/earrings/products/custom-earrings


4) ARTWORK 

This is a super unique gift that is sure to brighten up any room.  Great addition to office or living space.  Wood cut art made on a sturdy wooden canvas.  The beautiful fine grain of the Birch makes each piece unique. Panel construction is attractively finished so framing is not necessary.

Get them here: https://www.tonidaley.com/collections/artwork


5) CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

How adorable is he???  Ok so I'm not normally a fan of gifting Christmas ornaments for Christmas but I do think there are some exceptions.  This would be a great early Christmas present for an office mate or co-worker or if you are mailing something off early to a far away friend or family member.  That way they get to enjoy it for the entire season and again year after year!

Get it here: https://www.tonidaley.com/products/black-santa


Happy Shopping!

xoxo
-Toni

CRUSHING THE 2ND HALF!

The time has come. The second half of the year has begun. If you’ve been to the gym lately you may have noticed empty locker rooms and less bodies huddle together near weight machines. Your social media timelines are less flooded with posts claiming, “Girl this is my year”. Maybe the things you have planned for yourself have slowly begun to look like wishful thinking. I’m here to encourage you to not give up. The mid-year slump hits all of us. Here are some tips on how to get back into the game.

Regain Focus 

It is very important to remember why you set your goals. Hopefully, you wrote those goals down at the beginning of the year. Go back and read those goals out loud to yourself. Do those goals still entice you? If not, think back to how you felt when you initially wrote them down. If it still makes you get in your feelings a lil’ bit, then maybe it’s something you still need to work on. There are plenty of distractions in our day-to-day lives but we can’t allow those distractions become more important than bettering ourselves.

If you can dream it, you can do it. – Walt Disney 

Scrap the Plans 

Okay, maybe you tried as hard as you could to accomplish your goals earlier in the year but things didn’t pan out. I completely understand. It is so easy to become discouraged when we don’t see immediate results. Were you trying to get into shape, but not seeing a difference in the mirror? Were you trying to save money, but pricey roadblocks kept getting in the way? It is perfectly fine to feel defeated but don’t accept defeat. Maybe the plan of action you set in place was not the best one for you. It may have worked for your cousin, your coworker, or your best friend but it’s not the plan for you.

Step back and make a new plan of action. 

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated. – Maya Angelou 

Life is full of twists and turns. Those twists and turns can discourage us from making accomplishments. No matter the bad days, unforeseen circumstances, and/or slow progress don’t quit on your goals. Take the time to refocus on the plans you have for yourself. Also, if you need to go back to the drawing board and scrap your old plans then do it! It’s not too late to make 2017 your year girl!

Keshia Pavey
www.colormyfootsteps.com

IBEROSTAR Playa Pilar - Cuba

The resort is large, clean and easy to navigate.  The landscaping is beautiful and well maintained. Shuttles/golf carts are offered to transport you around if you get tired of walking.

The resort beach has white sand and shallow clear waters for almost 100 feet out.  There are lots of star fish and crabs so watch where you step but luckily the water is so clear you can spot them easily. 

The food is what everyone wants to know about.  This was my first time in Cuba and I can say the resort food was decent for the most part.  The best meals were in the a la carte restaurants which were amazing.  I’ve heard many horror stories from people who have visited Cuba and could not stomach any of the food or got sick and luckily I did not have that experience.  My opinion is that you have to go higher end to get decent food in Cuba unlike other destinations such as Jamaica where you can go low end but the food is always good.

There is a buffet that is open 3 times a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  There is a lunch grill that offers hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries and other snack foods.  There is a beach shack that opens a few times a week for late lunch and offers fried fish or chicken wings.  There are also 5 a la carte restaurants scattered across the resort that offer Italian, Mediterranean, Japanese, Gourmet and Cuban cuisine.  I was able to try the Japanese and Mediterranean and they were both excellent.  There is no room service which was a major con imo.

The drinks were all very good and top shelf alcohol was readily available. 

The staff was friendly, most spoke English although not very well.  Maid service was regular and very efficient.

There is one large pool and two smaller ones attached.  One of the smaller ones is used as a kids pool and the other for water volleyball.  The large/center pool has a swim up bar and lots of seating.  

There is a nightly show on each evening prior to the disco opening and the Lobby bar stays open 24 hours which was great because we arrived at 5am and started drinking immediately, lol.

Overall I really enjoyed my time at this resort.  The beach and view were by far the best features of the resort.  The downside was lack of room service and lack of daytime entertainment.  If you’re considering it I’d suggest trying to catch it on sale.

New Pantene Gold Series

We’ve all seen it. Artists reinvent themselves all the time. The biggest and most notable artist in the past decade would have to be Lady Gaga. Every album is a new opportunity to introduce one of her many personas. Same Gaga just a different outfit. I guess it should come as no surprise when we see product lines doing a little bit of the same.

Pantene is a well-known hair care company. They have a large quantity of products available. The idea is that they have something for everyone. The recent addition to their arsenal is the Pantene Gold Series. I noticed the promotion of these new items on social media. When I initially saw the advertisements, I was like, “here we go, another one”. Yes, I felt like this was another large hair care brand that was targeting the natural hair community for profits only. I decided to dig a little to see if this was much of the same. 

* Pantene and Natural Hair… Sounds Familiar 

This is not the first-time Pantene has thrown their hat into the natural hair arena. If you remember a few years ago Pantene introduced their Truly Natural products. You can still find these products on the shelves of the larger chain department stores. I’m not sure why Pantene made the decision to create a new line instead of improving on the one they already had that was targeted towards natural hair. I can’t help but feel a little déjà vu with these new items. Some of the most notable products they now have are a leave-in detangling milk, a repairing hair mask and a hydrating butter cream.


* Worthy of a Second Chance? 


I’ll admit I have yet to try the new products from the Pantene Gold Series, but from my experience trying the Truly Natural product line years ago I am not in a hurry to buy these new additions. The Truly Natural products did little to care for my 4c kinks and curls. But there is always a chance that the team at Pantene got it right this time. So, I am slightly optimistic that they have made a more educated effort to formulate products that will truly work for natural hair and meet the needs of various natural hair types.


Have you tried any of the Gold Series? Comment below and let us know.

BREATHLESS RIVIERA CANCUN RESORT & SPA

BREATHLESS RIVIERA CANCUN RESORT & SPA

My husband and I had the pleasure of visiting the new Breathless Riviera this January.  It is a fairly new upscale resort that tries to appeal to a younger trendy crowd.  The average patron age seemed to be about 30-45.  

If your more of a visual person please check out our YouTube channel for our video review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvFiKrF2Xok&feature=youtu.be

Let’s start with the pro’s...

THE GROUNDS

You will be hard pressed to find a more beautiful resort!  The resort has a modern, sleek, clean, trendy and upscale feel.  Clean white lines and glass, infinite pools with views of the ocean. One of which has a literal unobstructed view with a clear acrylic ledge.

The waves are calm but the beach (sand) area is long, narrow and rocky so we didn’t spend much time there.  The 3 large pools and 2 Jacuzzi pools made up for it.  They are all large beautiful and well staffed.  

THE FOOD

There are several a la carte restaurants with their own specialty (Italian, French, Pan-Asian, Mexican, Mediterranean, and Japanese)  None of which require a reservation unless you want the hibachi experience at the Japanese restaurant.  FYI, men you will need to bring a pair of pants as most of the restaurants have a dress code and do not allow shorts.  There is also a 24 buffet which we frequented most often for obvious reasons.  The quality of food really impressed me as most buffets usually seem to be the worst of the worst.  The bartenders can make any drink and top shelf alcohol flows freely which is a nice bonus.

THE SERVICE

The staff here is very friendly and always willing to help regardless of whether it is their job or not...they will work to find you the answer and/or the help you need. 

Maid service comes around 3 times a day so no matter what time you leave your room it will be cleaned at some point.

ENTERTAINMENT

There is always some sort of entertainment going on during the day in the “party pool”: Foam parties, dance lessons, soccer, beach volleyball and pool games.  If you want some quiet time the farthest of the pools is the “quiet area”  It has a lot of water mattresses and gazebos where you can lounge and catch some zzz’s.  There are also a few fire pits, a Jacuzzi and bar to grab drinks. 

The best part is that there are so many options available for nightlife.  The purple roof top lounge is absolutely gorgeous with a view of the entire resort, a hookah bar with swings and an open air bar.  There are nightly shows in the theatre as well as a nightclub open until 3 am.

So let’s move on to the cons...

FIRST IMPRESSION

To get to the resort you have to drive down a treacherous 2 mile stretch in your shuttle bus.  We’re talking 4 foot potholes, craters and hills surrounded by swamp.  If they offer an ATV excursion they may as well do it there.  It was a definite deterrent as to why we chose not to venture off the resort and explore the local area around it.  

ROOM SERVICE

We ordered room service for one meal every day and EVERY. DAY. THEY. GOT. IT. WRONG.

MUSIC

The slogan of the resort is “welcome to the party” and I think their idea of party means dance music.  All day, every day.  I have nothing against dance music but it would be nice to hear a variety.  You will get some relief if you go to the nightclub which will throw in some top 40 but if your partying at the pool during the day it’s Jersey Shore fist bump 24/7.

Overall we both had an amazing time.  The quality of resort is great for the price and yes...I would consider visiting again :)