Exit Stage College

I was going through some faded pictures and I think the easiest way someone can gauge my changes is from the ways I've celebrated Halloween through college. As I'm graduating, and also looking for a new costume to wear this year, I thought I'd give my own little yearbook of pics. Enjoy throwback me, and encourage wholesome costumes for your daughters because they can't compete with this.
Really there's a point to all this, keep reading.

Freshman year: I was a schoolgirl. I didn't even know girls did Halloween in college until I saw them prancing about in their costumes on campus. They had these sexy costumes, meanwhile I wore stuff I put together from my closet. That Halloween was the first night I had alcohol that wasn't my mom's champagne toast for New Year's. I went to this frat where a boy I went to high school with was a pledge. Brian Tyson had to carry me out of the house because I had two jello shots and felt "weird."

Times have changed.

Sophomore year: I was an AASU snob and went to this super hot house party we had. No costume, I was social chair of the organization and was just feeling like I could come any kind of way. It was, after all, my party (lazy).

Junior year: I still thought girls made their sexy costumes, so I made an apron that said "Chef BoyarDO-ME" and wore this shaper under it. Brian drove me to this predominantly Spanish party which was kind of dull.

Brian was always a one man UN. Here I am with Soulja Girl, a boxer, and Tom Cruise from Risky Business.


My First Senior Year: I had been having car troubles all day but there was no way I was missing this Halloween. I had this amazing fake ID and had been clubbing hard all summer and fall. I had to get a Brazilian wax for this sailor costume because it was so little. We hit Velvet Room and it wasn't long before we were in someone's booth drinking Goose and Rose. I spent the night with this guy I had been talking to at that time, and I realized in his bathroom that I can't mix Goose and Rose ever, ever again.

The ATLPics show how into the club life I was. Wild.




My Second Senior Year: Don't judge me for the two and a half senior years, I was still finding myself. By this point however, the career college student thing was getting old and I had calmed down. I made my costume because I didn't want anyone else to have what I wore. I was decked out in pretty much all spandex, rhinestones on my face, and had a handy dandy whip. I called myself "your fantasy." My girls were kind of annoyed with the continual stings of my costume whip. How you think Toby felt? Of course, the only way to get me out the door at this point is with promises of VIP. We were at Life with a good friend, and that was all the partying I needed for the rest of the year.



My Last Semester: I don't know what to be! But you can visualize my transformation in college from being young, to searching for the party, to finding the party, to now leaving the party.

That's pretty much the way my time has evolved at Georgia Tech. I've learned from relationships with men, from friendships, from organizations, and faculty. I've changed my major and I've opened my mind to going after the career path I truly desire. I've opened my mouth to stand up for myself, to be who I want, and definitely to get what I want. In many ways I've shed my costumes and become confident enough to exit this stage of life, even if just to give everyone else hell as I attempt to run this media thing.

Really, how can you measure change? My hair has gotten a little longer, bank account a little bigger, focus a little more precise, shoe collection a little more stacked.

My grandparents have gotten a little sicker, my family a lot bigger, my friendships a lot closer, my weight a little up, but I've always been this bright-eyed girl looking for my piece of sweet potato pie in the sky. Am I closer to it or still a dreamer? Is anyone watching? Listening? Understanding?

If this is the end of my journalistic freshman year (as I'm coming close to the one year anniversary of sjbthewords.com) I wonder where I will be five years from now? Do you see how green I was as a freshman? The large growth I've experienced in five years gives me so much hope and excitement for what's to come. As I exit stage college, I know the Lord will let 'stage career' be just as much a blessing as the past years have been. You know I'm scared, but the beauty of faith is that I'm allowed to live in delight as He holds my problems in His capable hands.

I share those thoughts with you in hopes that you keep me in your prayers.

It's my time to be Pinky and the Brain and take over the world.

Ready for me??

And as far as this Halloween goes, ideas anyone?

Things I’m Loving Right Now: Brazilian Wax

I know some of you were looking for the oral sex issue, and it’s coming, but how can the first thing I write about this month be such a sexual topic? I still have to think about my mom reading this you know. To ease you into the cold water of private-part talk, I decided to start slower, with harmless hair pulling from the vagina. Don’t fret, your favorite guilty pleasure blog will still provide.


I’m a fan of the Brazilian wax, and so are many of my friends and family in Atlanta. Maybe there’s something to be said about emerging from the salon looking like a five-year old girl, and maybe it’s just a curious naked change a woman can make. Either way, if you’re wearing a small swimsuit this summer (which I definitely am), I recommend trying the Brazilian wax at least once, and here is your confidence guide to taking it all off.

First, pick your salon:
I’ve been to three places in Atlanta for a Brazilian wax, and although the end result has always been the same, bare vagina, the processes have all been extremely different.

Hair Images off North Druid Hills : $32 – Hair Images is THE place to go to get an amazing eyebrow threading with mediocre customer service. However, behind the rows of threading chairs there are rooms where they rip hair from your cooch. Literally, they rip it. My very first Brazilian in the world was at Hair Images. Hair Images uses the wax strips, which were super painful, and they double dip the applicator into the wax heater, which isn’t very sterile. The pain I endured was phenomenal and the cosmetologist told me to stop squirming because I was annoying her. Pros: It was cheap and my hair was gone. Cons: I love myself too much to put myself through that place again.

Sweet Samba on Monroe Dr : $35 for your first time, $48 after that – Sweet Samba is the salon that makes you feel like a pretty princess. If you can find a parking space to the little house on Monroe, you’re met with big smiles and a glass of wine if the city hasn’t stopped them from serving that perk. With an in-house boutique and TV’s over each waxing bed, Sweet Samba has bells and whistles for sure. Luckily they have the hard wax instead of the strips, which is a little (and I mean little) less painful. The chatty cosmetologists make you feel super comfortable as they snip and wax all your privates, and you can’t miss the friendly sign over the register reminding customers to tip. Pros: It’s too cute to hate. Cons: The price jump for returning customers makes me only a first time customer.

Brazilian Wax by Andreia : $35 – Everyone’s passed this salon on their way to Lenox Mall. It’s got bright pink letters that explain their specialty service, and in my quick visit I became a fan. In short, I had never considered going regularly until I spread my legs on their table. The cosmetologist wasn’t very chatty, but she was so quick I forgot to feel pain. Before I could flinch the hair was gone. My baby girl was bare, and my tummy too at no additional charge. Andreia’s salon prides themselves on taking less than 15 minutes for the process, and the nerves on my va-jay-jay thank them for that. Pros: They’re good at what they do. Cons: The experience is so fast, you may not feel pampered.

Second, you may want to choose your own place to get it done:
There are a few things you will want to check out when choosing a Brazilian wax salon.

• Read the reviews of the salon. This isn’t a place you want to blaze trails, this is your vagina. Make sure the people who are handling yours have ample experience handling others.
  
• Know what you are asking for. A Brazilian wax leaves a landing strip. If you want all your hair removed, request a Hollywood wax or simply say “take it all off.”
  
• Make sure the salon is sterile. There should be a paper on the bed where you will be waxed, and the salon should still clean the bed between each client. Your wax should come in its own disposable container if the cosmetologist is using the same waxing stick. If she’s using wax in a heating pot, she should never put the same stick in the pot twice, because… eew.

Last, prepare yourself!

• Book your appointment for one week after your period ends for your own sake. It’s less painful right at that time, and any leverage you can get on this end will be greatly appreciated.
  
• Take 2 advil an hour before “show” time if you’re uber sensitive.
  
• Be clean! Shower two hours before your appointment. Any later and you will sweat on the table, and it’s always polite to freshen up.
  
• Afterward, rub an aloe lotion all over your waxed areas, just so they don’t stick together.

My crazy wax stories:

• The first time I got waxed, I was definitely on the phone with a friend for comfort. I screamed and squealed right into my blackberry.
• I kind of wish the women at Andreia’s would talk a bit more. It’s like I invited you into my secret garden and you didn’t even buy me dinner first. Come on. What's my last name at least?
  
• I’m always stuck together afterward. Cosmetologists always recommend waiting a few hours before putting hot water down there to separate yourself, but give me a break! It’s a weird feeling, and aloe cream makes me tingle.
• I like to look at the finished product. Don’t tell anyone. It’s kind of weird to be hairless! And kind of hot and Brazilian all at the same time!