Boston’s Newest Hot Spot-bartaco

July 11, 2019 · Leave a Comment

bartaco is Boston’s newest jumping eatery located in the seaport district. When I say jumping I’m telling no lies, the place is always full of excitement and people. Walking into the restaurant is like stepping into a beach side California eatery complete with upscale street food and refreshing drinks. The interior reminds me of a boat house with intricate woven basket light fixtures and comfy wooden chairs filled with guests chatting over tacos and house-made margaritas. It’s the perfect spot to sit down and hangout for lunch, dinner or just some casual drinks—you’ll instantly feel immersed in the exciting atmosphere.

bartaco aims to give guests a coastal comfy vibe. There’s literally something for guest of all ages and food pallets.bartaco features a full menu for kids, including four different child-friendly juice cocktails. Nothing beats enjoying your adult margarita on the patio while the kids sip on a nojito (mint + lime juice + club soda) also if you have a friend that’s vegetarian or vegan there’s so many yummy offerings for them to enjoy as well.

Some of my fav items on the menu are the plantains, fried fish taco, pork belly taco and chips and guacamole. Besides their extensive taco menu, bartaco also offers rice bowls, soups and salads. It’s basically every food lover’s dream under one roof.

I can’t forget to mention how every month they feature a new secret taco that’s not on the menu. It’s kinda cool playing a guessing game seeing what they will come up with next. So if you’re in the Boston seaport area check it out, or check the site to see if there is a location near you. bartaco is at the top of my list of places to check out when it comes to date night, girls night or a simple quick lunch.

Thanks For Stopping In

Vana B

That Christian Omeshun Love Part 2!

February 18, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Hey Everyone so Valentines Day just passed. I hope none of my single ladies let the day of love bring them down. For years, Valentine’s Day has been a holiday reserved exclusively for those in a serious relationship, dating or married, meaning those of us not spending the day with a significant other often felt like we were missing out.

However, if Valentine’s Day is a celebration of “LOVE” like they say, it seems only right that we should spend it with whoever we love doing what we enjoy – even if that’s not necessarily a romantic partner. It can be spending time with your self, a pet or even some close friends.

I don’t think anyone should let one made up holiday make them feel sad and depressed just because they don’t have a significant other. I rather spend the day surrounded by friends letting them know how much I love and appreciate the support they give me every day. Life is already hard as a woman and being a black woman it’s even harder. So this year I got to celebrate Valentines Day again decked out in a fabulous dress from Christina Omeshun .The founder A’Shontay Hubbard based out of a ATL makes custom made to dresses and outfits for women size 12-30+ ( Yesss to being size inclusive) I love that she caters to all body types in the plus size market whether big or small. My wonderful friend and fellow blogger Chardline gathered us all together to rock our custom made dresses to celebrate the joys of friendship and loving one another on Valentines Day.

The ladies and I all had fun feeling like goddess taking on the town. I loved being able to connect and chat with the ladies. Surrounding yourself with woman who support you and believe in you, tell you that you can achieve your dreams and that you are beautiful and intelligent, is invaluable. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of women to spend Valentines Day with. Now enough about that let’s get into these looks.

CO Velvet Sparkle Gown

CO Velvet Ruffle Flare Set

CO Reversible Sequin Dress

CO Iridescent Sequin Gown CO Kaftan Gown

CO Triple Ruffle Dress

21-Days Of Self Care Challenge To Start The New Year

January 5, 2019 · 2 Comments

Happy New Year !!!!! In honor of it being a new year, I wanted to challenge myself and hope you all will join me on this new journey of Self Care. Last year was a very emotional and stressful one for me, To be honest I heard 2018 was a pretty hard year for many. So I figured why not start the new year on a positive note of self-discovery. I want to focus on more self-care and get right with myself first.

Self-care is a word I heard being thrown around a lot pretty often, most frequently coming out of my own mouth to justify things I did. Let me go to $5 dollar Tuesday because ‘self-care’. I’m gonna buy the outfits because ‘self-care’. I’m eating the damn tacos because Hello hunny Treat ya self and “ self-care”

While reflecting my past year a few days ago, I thought about how I been dealing with all my stresses and emotions. If I was doing so much so-called “self-care”, then why didn’t I feel any better? Why did I not genuinely feel self-love? If I’m 100% honest, did I even know what the hell self-care meant?

To be quiet frank in my eyes, self-care just meant doing things I liked and kept me happy. To me, it was taking some time away from things that took work or effort, or things that were bothering me wherever possible.

I’ve spent many days alone indulging in retail therapy or taking myself on solo dates. All in the name of ‘self-care’, only to find that when I got home and crawled into bed, I felt just as awful as I did before. I had avoided my problems for a couple of hours, but my feelings and pain was still present.

I started thinking about what I been doing can’t be the ‘self-care’ people raved about. I was causing myself self-destruction. My “idea” of self-care was all wrong and needed to be fixed.

Self-care is about listening and being truthful with yourself, and sometimes doing things that take work. Like looking deep within, asking yourself uncomfortable questions about your character, analyzing bad habits or addictions. Self-care is about wanting to be better and taking care of ourselves on the simplest of levels. It’s not taking ourselves on a date to eat or shopping stores you like. To really work on me I decided to partake in a 21 Day Self Care Challenge made by my friend Shirley who goes by Timeless Essence on IG. I like the fact her challenge really pushes the limits on getting to know who I am and wanting to be better. I started the first day Jan 1st by unplugging from everything for an hour and writing my feelings down in my journal. I wanted to really dig in deep to the issues that brought me down this past year. I even cried matter fact I ugly cried a whole damn river lol (Thank goodness nobody was around to see that madness). Which by the way crying is perfectly okay, sometimes you gotta just let yourself feel whatever is bothering you.

After writing and crying, I must say I felt a lot better to get how I was feeling down on paper. The Second day I cooked a new recipe while listening to jazz and later wrote in my journal some small goals. I’m looking forward to what i’ll tap into next. The great part of this challenge is I’ll be able to look back in a few weeks and say wow this is how I was feeling then, but look at me now! I’ll add the challenge down below in case you want to join me on the journey to a better happier you. Here’s to really knowing what real “self –care” is and becoming more in touch with myself for 2019.

Happy New Year!!!!!

Love Vana

21 Days of Self -Care Challenge

5 Holiday Gift Ideas For The Adult Doing The Adulthood Thing

November 29, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Adulting is hard work. Cleaning, entertaining, ironing, Not having fast food every day and being on time for work isn’t easy… Adulting it’s not for the faint of heart. So I wanted to make it easier for those folks who never quite know what to ask for when it comes gifts on the holidays. It’s always during this time of year family and friends ask “what would you like?” Ahhhh man to be young again and say a Dollhouse or a game system. Well here’s a little help with 5 things that you just may need this holiday to take ya adulting NEXT LEVEL!!!! that’s right items you can make use of all year round and enjoy.

Air Fryer

I promise you mine is the best gift I could have ever gotten. I literally cook everything in it. Air fryers take away all the fatty oil and cut calories from anything you cook. I cook everything from french toast for breakfast to chicken for dinner. It’s great for that busy adult who want to cut cooking time in half.

Dish Set

A good dish set goes a long way. We can’t have you entertaining guest with paper plates all the time. Sometimes you wanna feel fancy and hear that clank and clack of a spoon on a cereal bowl. A good dish set really can make any dinner table feel super fancy.

Food Box Subscription

Sometimes being an adult were always rushing and never have time for a good healthy meal. A nice food box subscription like Hello Fresh or Plated provides pre-portioned meals for one to make depending on the size of the household. Nothing beats getting home having everything prepped and ready for a good meal after a busy day. Also what to cook for dinner is one less thing to stress about when you already have it waiting for you.

Mattress

Now most adulters sleep on a terrible mattress or sometimes even simply sleep on a blow-up bed or futon. It’s time to get rid of that !!!!! Nothing is better than giving the gift of sleep. The great thing about investing in a mattress is it’s something you can enjoy for years to come. My Big Fig Mattress really is the gift that keeps on giving. Every morning I’m able to wake up without back pain and feel well rested. Yes, it may be pricey buying a new bed but think of you investing in sweet dreams of slumber.

Bill Payments

Not having to worry about a car note payment or a student loan payment is a huge stress lifted off your shoulders. Asking to have a bill paid lets you either invest your coins on your self or get ahead on other expenses. As responsible adults, we sometimes don’t always treat ourselves to what we really deserve. Having an expense-paid gives you the opportunity to take that trip you may have been putting off.

So when Granny or the parentals ask the big “What gift would you like?’ this year you can reference back to this little guide. Hope this helped show everyone what’s practical to ask for when trying to adult in today’s world. Lets have people invest in items you can enjoy for endless years to come even when the holiday season is over. Happy Adulting everyone!!!

Taking On Curvy Con With The Big Fig Recap

September 25, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Hey everyone I know I’m super late on my Curvy Con Recap but better late than never right. Two weeks ago I attended The Curvy Con in NY during NYFW. This year I got to team up with my Big Fig Family and hang around the booth. I wanted to give you a little recap of why I really loved attending this year.

This was my 2nd year attending Curvy Con thanks to Big Fig. Now If you aren’t aware of who The Big Fig is, I advise you to check out my previous post here. Any way Curvy Con is a three-day event created by Plus size Bloggers Chastity Garner of Garnerstyle and CeCe Olisa of Cece Olisa. The event brings plus size brands, fashionistas, bloggers and more into one space to chat, shop and embrace being curvy.

On Friday morning I arrived for the first day of Curvy Con ready for the festivities. We kick-started the day with well-known dancer Jessie Diaz and Beyonce …Yes, I said IT!!! Beyonce’s very own choreographers Amore and Jore Marshall. Jessie 1st lead us in a great early morning workout to wake us up and get our energy going. Then Amore and Jore taught us all the latest Beyonce moves. I was ready to go on tour with the queen herself after learning all her latest dance moves.

After the workout, we got to indulge in an infused water station and got free goodies from Target. Later in the afternoon, I threw on my outfit styled by Courtney Noelle and attended the fashion show sponsored by Loft. Loft showcased the latest styles for the new plus size collection currently available in stores. The styles on the runway were absolutely amazing, I can’t wait to buy a few items for myself. What I loved most about the fashion show was the diversity in the model’s used to represent the brand.

The second day was when the fun really happened. It was a day full of panels and celebrity guest speaking on different topics and workshops. Since I was working with my Big Fig Family I spent the day at the Big Fig Booth. I loved the fact I had a chance to meet and greet some of my fav influencers, celebs, and bloggers and share how amazing the Big Fig brand is. So many people loved just lounging on the huge king size bed and were shocked to find out just how comfy it really is. I always tell folks sleeping is a key factor in life. So having a good supportive mattress is key to getting good rest.

Also the day of the event there was a huge shopping area for attendees to shop different brands. Many brands had discounts exclusively for attendees and offered items only being sold at the event.

Last but not least they ended the event by giving all those who purchased platinum or glitter tickets a cute giant swag bag full of goodies. Hunny let me tell you the number of goodies given was BOMB. My bag was full of stuff such as pants, panties, gift cards, portable chargers, and coupons. Also throughout the event, there was plenty of raffles and tons of free items. I literally had no room to put all my stuff going back home lol. The night ended with the Curvy Con after party which was full of laughs, memories, and lots of dancing.

I had such a great weekend attending this event. I’m also happy I got to spend it with my Big Fig family and share just how amazing the brand is with all those who attended. I literally can’t wait to attend next year’s Curvy Con. If you missed this year make sure to buy tickets for next years event because they SELL OUT FAST. Thanks to Courtney Noelle for dressing me and Big Fig for bringing me to this awesome event. Hope you all enjoyed and Owl talk to ya soon.
Love

Ps. Make sure you check out the Big Fig mattress if you’re in the market for a new bed, I promise you won’t be disappointed and make sure to use code VANABLACK for a big discount !!!

Stavana