Hello there! Yes, I am still here. I know that it has been some time. It honestly has been a tough and insanely busy past few months, but also an amazing and beautiful time for our family. Juggling work, the kids, keeping food on the table, spending time with my husband and my own mental health has been all consuming. Something that has been exciting and wonderful news for me is that I started a new role at my job in January. It has taken everyone in our family some time to get adjusted ...
Thunderbolt’s First Anniversary
I have been meaning to post this restaurant review of Thunderbolt, a restaurant with southern roots in the Echo Park neighborhood of LA. I wish I were able to be out dining this weekend, but we are staying in and safer at home. We are in the midst of the second closing of restaurant dining in Los Angeles in response to the surge in COVID-19 cases. Restaurants are currently closed for dining, but they remain open for takeout. Let's keep patronizing our favorite restaurants so that they can ...
We’re on the Black Love COVID-19 Special on OWN Tonight!
I opened up my email yesterday afternoon to see the above and was like OMG, that’s US! Lateef and I were asked in May to be interviewed for the show Black Love and had an amazing conversation with the director Codie Elaine Oliver (her husband Tommy Oliver is the Executive Producer). We didn’t know if it would air or not - they still hadn’t sold the special, but we were happy to spread our story in hopes it would help others. We talked about so much more - how we met and fell in love, how we’ve ...
The Power of Prayer – Our New Home
In early April as I began to turn the corner from the worst part of being sick with COVID, I began writing in my journal again. Writing in my journal became an outlet - a sounding board, an open letter with God or sometimes to my late father. It felt good to journal and I wanted to remember the ups and downs of it all. I also felt like I needed to break from just praying about gaining my ability to breath and getting my strength back. I needed to think bigger and also think about the next ...
Hero of the Pandemic
My husband, Lateef, is my hero of the pandemic. Our family’s hero of the pandemic. I know it sounds corny, but a close friend of mine started referring to him as that whenever I mentioned something he did while we were all home sick with COVID. "Lateef, the true hero of the pandemic," she would say. It is hard for me to put into words how thankful I am for the way that Lateef took care of me and our children over the past few months. It was all the little things he did. He has been more than ...
Mental Health In The Age of COVID: Interview with Carmen Margaziotis
It is certainly not business as usual right now. We have protests against police violence and systemic racism going on all around the world, which is occurring in the middle of a global pandemic of epic proportions. It is more than normal to feel stressed and have some anxiety around the future the future right now. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Because each one of us is going through something different - whether you are single or have four kids, are unemployed or overworked with no ...