“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” as John Lennon sang in his ode to his son Sean, Beautiful Boy. If you saw me a month ago and asked about my Thanksgiving plans, I would’ve started gushing about recipes and table setting ideas. I was planning a fabulous Thanksgiving for… read all

9 years ago, I changed my life. I didn’t realize it at the time, I didn’t go into it with intent. I noticed a void, I felt a lack of inclusion. 2006. Natural hair hadn’t yet become a movement. Plus size fashion was in some dark days. I wanted to read consistent information for me about… read all

It’s 2015 and I’m still getting used to it. The holidays whizzed by me in a blur and now here we are, in a brand new year filled with promise and opportunity. It’s the season for vision boards and resolutions, a chance to dust yourself off and try again. January 1 is a natural invitation… read all

January 5, 2015. Day 5 of 365. We’re in the heady days of New Year’s resolutions. Everyone’s making a list, creating a vision board, and planning new ways to become better people in the next 360 days. It’s an exciting time. A time of promise. A time of self flagellation. A time of personal critique,… read all

This particular year, this particular season, this particular time of year is proving to be rough on many of us for many reasons. Life is wearing us down. It can be excruciating, trying to balance the weight between your work, your personal life and what’s happening in the world. You can only shoulder the weight so… read all

Can I just lay down the beauty/hair/lifestyle blogger mantle for a minute and speak what’s on my mind? Quite frankly, I’m struggling to do what I’m “supposed” to do right now. I’m struggling to find the right words, and as someone whose livelihood is in words, it doesn’t feel good. It’s Christmas and there’s this… read all

There was a wedding in my family this summer, and one of the things that I had forgotten about weddings and being a bride was the number of RULES. My husband and I tied the knot twelve years ago and we were babes in the woods when we did it. The rules that we broke… read all

On May 28th I got up early, made tea and toast, puttered around my apartment unloading the dishwasher and throwing clothes in the washing machine. Regular, routine life stuff. I’d planned to blog about an amazing new chicken recipe I discovered before heading to a dentist’s appointment. It was going to be the most mundane… read all

There were times in my teens and even early twenties when the title of this post would’ve seemed like the worst thing ever. As I grow older I realize how hard my mom worked to raise us kids and how much of herself she poured into us. Things that flew over my head, decisions I… read all

Normally I like to keep things positive and uplifting, light and fluffy over here on Afrobella. I see my blog as a respite, an oasis, a safe space. And it is in this safe space that I’m going to share my story even if some of this is TMI. My TMI could help someone else…. read all