Confessions From A Black Rose

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a safe and adventurous weekend. If your weekend was catastrophic, I am deeply sorry. I know how tough Mondays can be so I am providing y'all with five songs to help escape the misery of a Monday. I have been bitching about the current state of popular music for months and it is always amazing when I actually hear a great song on the radio. Can we all have a moment of silence for the state of popular music? Now that the moment is gone please share with my some of your favorites as well. 1. Shot At the Night - The Killers 2. The Art of Letting Go - Mariah Carey 3. Burn - Ellie Goulding 4. Human - Christina Perri 5. Do What U Want - Lady Gaga Featuring R. Kelly

I admit that I do not make it down to the DMV area as much as I should. My twin sister finally dragged me out of the comfort of our home to spend the weekend in Maryland. She even convinced me to attend a Halloween themed party in DC. Pigs must have been flying because we rolled back to the hotel in wee hours. On Sunday afternoon we were blessed with a beautiful fall afternoon. We took full advantage by spending time in downtown Silver Springs. We met up with a friend and had brunch at Eggspectation.

I hope all of y'all had a fun but safe Halloween. I cannot believe we are already in November. I just remember it being summer and now we are in the middle of fall. I absolutely love the fall and here is a list of things that I am currently obsessed with this season. 1.Autumn Squash Soup Panera Bread has outdone itself with this delicious fall treat. The Autumn Squash Soup is a blend of pumpkin and butternut squash. It is garnished with roasted pumpkin seeds. 2. Luther This British drama is one hell of a ride. I love how complicated the character of Luther is and Idris plays him to perfection. This drama deserves all of its accolades. 3. Gary Pepper Gary Pepper is a lifestyle, fashion and travel site created by the lovely Nicole Warne. I am obsessed with her photographs. They are full of vibrant colors and life. Make sure you check out  garypeppergirl.com  and follow her on Instagram as well.  4. Tegan and Sara  I have heard about Tegan and Sa...

All the ingredients you will need One of the things that brings me a lot of joy in life is cooking. Looking back at all of my blog posts, I was shocked that I have never shared that side of me. To my loyal blog readers, you are in for a treat because this post is the first of many cooking posts. Over the weekend, while I was home alone I decided to make myself a delicious treat. Inspired by a recipe I found in the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book , I choose to make my own version of their Peanut Butter- Oatmeal Rounds. Ingredients 3/4 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup peanut butter 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups rolled oats 1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

This past week, the East Coast has seen some wet and dark days. When I woke up on Saturday morning and saw the sun shinning I knew it was a great day for brunch in the city( New York to be exact). After a one hour bus ride and few minutes on the subway I arrived to my location. I was meeting up with my sister, my niece, a few childhood friends and my brother-in law for brunch at Rayuela .  Guava Sangria It took forever for us to be seated. I was getting a little nervous because brunch was almost over. I guess the wait was worth it because we got a fabulous table. There were tons of delicious options for us to choose from but I decided to be a bit adventurous and order Eggs Benedict. That was a huge step because I hate poached eggs but they sold me on the concept of it being on top of a crispy yuca-quinoa cake. I also ordered myself a guava sangria.  Eggs Benedict  The food was absolutely delicious. We were suppose to have bottomless sangria but shortly af...

I did if for me. I liked it, I was good at it. And, I was really...I was alive  On Sunday evening, one of the best television dramas came to a close. After five incredible seasons, it was time for the world to say goodbye to Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. I admit I had been dreading watching the series finale of Breaking Bad because I was not ready for it to be over. I just wanted to go back to the time when Mr. White and Jesse were cooking meth in the RV. The time when things were not so complicated. I had no idea how it would end but my curiosity forced me to complete my journey. After watching the finale I was left feeling satisfied. I am not going to write any spoilers because I hate spoilers. I read a spoiler on Linkedin of all places. All I will say it was a perfect ending for an incredible show. I became a Breaking Ban fan last August after binge watching the entire series over a weekend. That was four seasons worth of episodes. In my defense, that was the best way to...

I write this blog post on the eve of a likely strike on Syria. The thought of an attack on Syria leaves me with a heavy heart. There is no doubt in my mind that crimes against humanity have and are occurring in Syria. Blood is on the hands of both the Syrian government and the armed rebellion. The past few weeks it was revealed that chemical weapons were used on the Syrian people. If this is in fact true, an unthinkable crime has occurred. I just do not believe that military action is the best solution to the Syrian crisis. There will be civilian casualties and that is something I do not feel comfortable with. I can understand theoretically why the Obama Administration is pushing for military action, but I don't understand it on a spiritual level. War is something that changes a country forever. I have lived in countries that have experienced devastating civil wars. I have witnessed the destruction war has on the infrastructure of these countries. I have seen how children's ...