Hey Everyone! Hope you are enjoying Spring. The weather today has been absolutely beautiful here in Nashville! Seeing the sun brightens my mood quickly. Who doesn’t enjoy driving down the road with the windows down, with a cool breeze, shades on, and the sun beaming down? I am looking forward to the Easter weekend. I have an Easter look book post coming soon. Be on the look out for it. Yesterday, I was delighted to discover that I was nominated for a Liebster Award, an award provided by another blogger, for interesting bloggers who have under 200 followers. Christa over at
   Makeup Barbie Inc   ,nominated me as one of her top 10 bloggers to follow. I sincerely appreciate  being considered. Often, I wonder if I am truly making a difference by sharing my life, and being intimate in this space. I am not Instagram famous. I am not Tumblr and Facebook famous. My goal is to inspire my audience to be authentically themselves. As a child, I used to journal daily. After my granny passed, I turned to blogging as an outlet to express myself. Being able to share myself so intimately is such an empowering and refreshing experience. Thank you to Christa, and to my entire audience for supporting my journey. Simply knowing that future me, can look back on this space, as a point of reference for how far I journeyed, motivates me to keep blogging.

Liebster Award Rules:

1.  Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.
2.  Copy and paste the Liebster Award badge to your post.
3.  Nominate 10 new bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
4.  Answer the 10 questions the person who nominated you asked you.
5.  Create 10 new questions to ask the bloggers you nominate.
6.  Notify the bloggers you have nominated by leaving them a comment on their blog.

Here are the questions that Christa asked me. Make sure to check out her blog!

1. Where do you get your inspiration from to write your blog?  – I got the inspiration for my blog from interests in my life. Lipstick represents my love of makeup and beauty. Thighs, represents my passion for body acceptance and appreciation.  Plus Size life covers, my experiences and thoughts as a young, black, plus size, woman. In this aspect, I talk about social issues, romance, friendships, weight, family and my world views.  
2.  Why did you start blogging?- The origin of this blog stemmed from my disdain for the lack of representation of fat, darker skinned, plus size women in the plus size community. The industry is white washed. I want to change the plus size community by showing that non white plus size women are just as important. We should be in ads. We should be on the TV screen. We are important. When you think of famous plus size women, Melissa McCarthy, Rebel Wilson, the late Anna Nicole Smith ,and even Kristie Allen are always some of the first women discussed or displayed in the media. People tend to over look America Ferrerra, Sara Ramirez, Jill Scott, Angie Stone, Danielle Brooks, Amber Riley, Oprah, and so many other beautiful women of color.  As a former size 18 now 22-24, size and shape diversity are also central issues in the plus size community that are a point of concern for me. Women who are 22+ along with women who are not hour glass shaped, don’t receive much support in this community. I wanted other women to be able to see a non white,22+ size, woman killing the game. Representation matters.
3. Would you stop blogging if no one ever read it?- Look at me now! I am nowhere near popular for blogging. I am not Nadia or Gabifresh. I am no Tess Holiday. I blog because I love the art. There are days when no one reads my posts. I still beg my friends to follow my blog. Yet, I keep at it because I’m so passionate about empowering others through my journey.
4. If blogging wasn’t yet discovered what would you be doing right now? – Working my day job, buying clothes and make-up,talking with friends about love, style, social issues, and life. Trying to determine my next move in life. I like to play Sims and drink wine. Probably eating food. More than likely watching How To Get Away With Murder or Scandal.
5. What’s the one tip you would tell a new blogger just starting out?- Stay in your own lane. If you become consumed with the stats and popularity of other bloggers, you will not flourish.Don’t focus on numbers (followers and views), simply focus on your purpose. What is your message. What kind of blogger do you want to be. Who is your audience. What is the purpose of your blog?There are thousands of other bloggers that are interesting, but they aren’t you. You have a story to tell. You have a unique voice, a unique experience. Being different will take you farther than resembling the rest of the crowd.
6. What is three things people don’t know about you?- While I seem to be extremely open in regards to being social and comfortable in my ability to communicate, I get extremely nervous. Yes I am a people person, but I worry so much about how I am being perceived. My stage fright is on TEN! Public speaking wrecks my nerves! I want to be an entertainment reporter for Extra or E News!
7. What do you do in your free time beside blogging? This girl likes to eat! I enjoy trying new restaurants with friends.
8. Do you like your makeup natural or dramatic? During the day I like it natural, at night I will rock a dramatic look. My makeup depends on my mood mostly. Some days, I want a simple, clean look. Other days, I like to rock a winged liner and a bold lip color.
9. What’s the one makeup product you can’t live without? Liquid Liner and Mascara are tied for the number one spot.
10. What is your best achievement to date? Recognizing my worth has been the best achievement of mine to date. During the time that I did not respect myself, when I failed to acknowledge my own worth, I allowed others to do the same. I am powerful beyond measure. I am worthy of love. I am worthy of happiness. I am worthy of respect. I am worthy of existence. Changing the negative mindset that I am both undesirable and unlovable helped me in my relationships.

Here are my nominees:*Drum roll please!* Some of them may have more that 200 followers but I’m not sure.

1. Androvon
2.  A Pinch Of Brown Sugar
3. The Makings Of Her  
4. Fatty Boom Tatty 
5.  Beautyfuly Youniverse
6. U Can’t Wear That  
7. Amelia Pontes 
8.  Franceta Johnson 
9. Grrrcedes 
10.  Beauty Fash

I know that some of you haven’t had recent posts. I’ve enjoyed the posts that you’ve made thus far. Just know that I am extremely excited about your return to blogging, whenever that may be. Check out these bloggers!
My Questions for you:

1. Why did you start blogging?
2. How did you develop a blog/ website name? 
3. Who is you inspiration? (Style, Makeup, Music, Acting, Culinary, etc)
4. What is the most difficult experience that you’ve faced? How has  the experience shaped you as a person?
5. What do you enjoy most about yourself?
6. What are your top 5 goals in life? Have you accomplished any of them so far?
7. What do you do in your spare time?
8. Name one of you strengths, and one of your weakness (areas that need improvement)
9. When in a rut, how do you motivate yourself?
10. What’s the one tip you would tell a new blogger just starting out?

I can’t wait to see how you all respond to the questions.

Thanks again to Christa for nominating me!
Until next time,
-Nora