Where Did the Love Go?

Okay, so I've been blogging for one week now and already it took me like 6 days for an updated post...I'm sure I'll get better as I get more acquainted with this.

So, FYI - I really haven't cooked anything recently, but I'm going to look through some cookbooks today with the hopes of cooking something DELISH tonight!

I have been running, and I messed with my hair recently. My running update is quick - so that first...I ran on Thursday, Sunday and Monday, about 3 miles each day, the majority of the run consisted of actual running more each day. Now, I can run 2.5 miles straight at a decent pace w/o stopping. WHOO!

SWITCHING GEARS...For my hair...check it out...

So, I did a braid set last week that actually turned out really cute (unfortunately, I forgot to take pics...sorry). So I like braids for protective styles, but not for events where I know my picture will be taken! So, I had an event to go to on Saturday, and I took the braids out Friday after 1 week of the braids.*DIGRESS - Taking those braids out took FOREVER* I was able to do a cute bang/fro look w/ the braid out look.

Forgive me for the second pic - my 10 yr old bro took it & I wasn't ready...I LOVED this look, unforch, the next day, the braid out crinkle was gone, and I ended up doing a cute flat twist up-do thing for my Saturday event (which I forgot to take a pic of too :/).

After Saturday, the twist up-do was okay (I don't think I did it tight enough), and I took it out and wore a crazy fro.

Maybe it's not SOOO crazy, but I will say that my little elastic band thing that I use to pull it back does give me headaches...SMH.

So, on Sunday it was about time for a co-wash (1 week since the last one) b/c whenever I wear a fro, my hair is moisture-depleted really quickly. I decided to take some inspiration from my FAVORITE BLOG, Black Girl Long Hair . The editor, L, suggested using banana for a deep condition, and she said it didn't work well for her (L's banana Review), however I REALLY liked the idea of putting banana in my hair (lol), so I did it anyway. My recipe:
1 Banana
1/2 cup water
2 tspns ACV
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp honey

In the end, I concur w/ L's review as I was picking banana out of my hair all day the next day and during the co-wash, but I can say the moisture I felt in my hair was AMAZING! After the banana conditioner I used another wash-out conditioner, then another leave-in conditioner both from Aubrey Organics and divided my hair up to total of about 8 big twists. I also added some castor oil to each twist section, before twisting. I went to bed and let it air dry. The next day, I did some really small twists to help get rid of the rest of the banana. The twists are super cute, and my hair is SHINING!

*This pic is also the morning after, it looked even better yesterday and I haven't oiled it since the castor oil seal after my co-washes.

In summary:
1. I'm running 2.5 miles now!
2. If you do a protective style, plan it b/c it should last more than 1 week.
3. If you want to use banana, you definitely need a mortar & pestle and some type of strainer to prevent the "bad stuff" from staying in your hair. Let's just hope we can still extract the "good stuff" using these tools*I may be investing in some tools soon as I like the idea of making stuff (Remember, I studied chemical engineering so I like mixing stuff together!)

Dining & Running

DISCLAIMER (before I start my shpiel): Everything written is IMO, take it for what it's worth (but I'm normally pretty dead on...[in sarcastic voice] right).

My food scale:
5 - Spectacular! I.e. OMG, can I order 10 more plates of this
4 - Close to spectacular, I.e. Better than my cooking but nothing extraordinary
3 - So, so, I.e. I could have eaten at home for this
2 - Not awful, but not good, I.e. Not my cup of tea
1 - Awful, I.e. Wowsers, this really was a bad night

So, yesterday, my dad came into town because he had a business meeting the next day. So, naturally, he took me out for dinner and we ate at one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES in Philadelphia: Continental-Midtown.

We ordered the following:
Cheesesteak Eggrolls - 4: If you like beef or cheesesteaks, you MUST get the eggrolls - I mean, you have to, you're in Philly!
BBQ Chicken Quesadillas - 5: The BBQ Quesadillas provide the perfect blend of sweet/salty with the BBQ sauce mixed with the cool avocado spread - it's so satisfying to the palette.
Lamb Flatbread - 5: It was my first time trying the lamb flatbread and it was DELISH! This tapa totally hit the palette with a nice salty flavor and the lamb was extremely tender.
Cantonese Spring Rolls - 2: Although the pinch of lime added a nice refreshing taste, the rolls themselves did not have a lot of flavor. I found myself eating them and feeling that they were bland.
Carrot Cake - 4: Bite-size quantity, but still good. Plus it has no nuts or raisins...my kind of cake! *Carrot cake it's my all-time-life fave*

After (I mean literally 15 minutes after) I finished eating I went to meet a co-worker to run. I'll just say that it wasn't 100% a bad idea. I walked ran for 40 minutes total (okay, probably about 7 minutes were walking). Total, I ran at least 3 miles. I'm trying to figure out how to build up my endurance so that I don't feel like crap after the first 15 minutes. However, it is not easy! I was supposed to run for 30 minutes at a medium pace (says my Unrealistic Training Plan). Total I probably did 15 minutes medium/hard and 18 minutes easy. I'm open for any suggestions about building my endurance for this medium/hard pace long run.

[In my best MLK, Jr. Voice] I have a dream...that one day I'll be able to run a whole 30 minutes at a medium pace without walking...I have a dream!

My First Day

So, I've contemplated blogging since I first moved to Philadelphia. I thought it would be a cool way to keep me busy. However I then came to the conclusion that I shouldn't blog b/c I thought I wouldn't write everyday and I thought I was pretty boring. I don't know that much has changed about me in the past year (i.e. I'm still pretty boring), but I did decide to blog. So here it is. My goal for this blog is to write about a couple of key topics, mainly the things I love/hate. *DIGRESS - There's such a thin line between love and hate, and some of the things I love, I sometimes hate (i.e. hair), SMH* So topics: food, music, hair, holistic health and whatever else may come to mind.

Another goal is for this blog to not be all over the place, so I'll try to label the various posts accordingly to keep things organized. Since I'm in Philly, some items (I.e. restaurant critiques) will be specific to the city.

Just in case I do generate a "following" lol, I thought I would introduce myself and talk about the inspiration for my blog name: SoFull Sista. So, I like the play on words in the title "SoFull" - if you speak slowly, it almost sounds like 'soulful' - but the actual spelling 'so full' has so many more meanings. I see myself as a wild & crazy beautiful black woman who truly appreciates life. I love eating, cooking, music, fashion and living!

Some inspirations for me starting this blog were:
1. Untwisting my dreadlocks to rock my afro *Power to the people*
2. Getting off my lazy @ss and deciding to run a half marathon in November
3. Moving into my own box studio apartment in a new section of Philadelphia

So this is some of me, in a nutshell, hopefully I won't be too long-winded ALWAYS!