The Re-Election of the 44th President of the United States " Barack Obama"

I would first like to start this blog off by saying congratulations to President Barack Obama on being re-elected as the 44th President of the greatest country on earth. Being apart of this victory was a great feeling. 

When the results came in that President Obama had reached 270 electoral votes my heart literally fluttered and I instantly smiled. I smiled for myself, my grandparents, the generations before me, and my ancestors. History had been made once again, and I knew that my future was in great hands. 

 Election years for me always tend to be great years. Not only are election years Olympic years but I also tend to reach major milestones in life during this particular season.  In 2004 I graduated from middle school, 2008 high school, and in 2012 I earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point. I'm going to see if I can do something big for 2016.  

November 6, 2012 was a very special day. Majority of the day I walked around with butterflies in my stomach, while managing to send out words of encouragements to my friends and family via text or social media who were voting that day. 

Then the night time came, and 6pm central time arrived, which meant the polls on the east coast were starting to shut down. At that moment I said to myself, here we go. The moment of truth had now arrived and it was time to countdown the electoral votes and see which party candidate would become the president of the United States of America. 

I was somewhat nervous during the early part of the countdown only because I thought some people would have not voted for Obama because the economy is currently not where he hoped it would be now 4 years ago, but the American people did not disappoint. 

I would like to take advantage of this opportunity and discuss something that could possibly be upsetting a few people and this topic deals with 4 words,  "MY PRESIDENT IS BLACK"

I've seen a few people get upset over the fact that this statement was being made, so I wanted to take the time to break it down for you.

The statement MY PRESIDENT IS BLACK, is not racist. It simple is stating a FACT. President Obama identifies himself as being an AFRICAN AMERICAN. Members of the African American community are proud to have a president who is African American. It is an honor for our people to have a man of color in the highest position in the country. By making this statement it is their way of saying my president looks like me and I'm happy to have something in common with him. (Let's be serious here) everyone can't have an ivy league degree.

I am absolutely overjoyed that President Obama has been re-elected. I donated to the campaigned, by donating money and even buying cute Obama shirts for the babies in my life. I also took it a step further and called registered voters in the state of Florida on the behalf of #ObamaforAmerica to confirm that they were going to vote, and that they were going to vote for President Obama. 

I look forward to the next 4 years and am proud to serve under such a great individual. 

xoxo Fierce & Love 

Lela 

The Houstons "On Our Own" Season 1 Episode 1

Last night (October 24, 2012 ) the first episode of THE HOUSTON's reality television show ( ON OUR OWN) premiered on lifetime. The show follows the Houston family after Whitney Houston's death. The cast includes

Bobbi Kristina (Whitney Houston's daughter)

 Cissy Houston (Whitney Houston's mother)

Gary Houston (Whitney Houston's brother)

Pat Houston (Whitney Houston's sister-in-law/manager)

Rayah Houston (Whitney Houston's niece/Pat and Gary's daughter)

Nick Gordon (Whitney Houston's extended son/Godson)

The first episode of the new show was filmed in May 2012 and was focused around Mother's Day weekend. Krissi and Nick announced to the family that they were engaged and the news did not sit well with Gary and Pat.  The family flew to Newark, to spend time with Grandma Cissy for Mother's Day. The plan was to go to church with grandma, brunch, and then visit Whitney's grave site. Bobbi Kristina chose not to attend the church service that morning, because she felt as if she was not ready to go back in the church only 3 months after her mother's funeral. She stated, "I would have flash backs of her casket being at the front of the church." I definitely can understand why Bobbi Kristina does not want to go back to New Hope Baptist Church just yet. Alot of tears were shed in that church on February 18.2012, and there is still much healing left for her to get through. This show seems as if it will be filled with love and drama, I look forward to the next 13 episodes.

You can check out the first episode here on  LIFETIME's website. Pictures of the cast can be found below

Fierce & Love

Lela

Bobbi Kristina (Whitney Houston's daughter)

Cissy Houston (Whitney Houston's mother)

Gary Houston (Whitney Houston's brother)

Pat Houston (Whitney Houston's sister-in-law/manager)

Rayah Houston (Whitney Houston's niece/Pat and Gary's daughter)

Nick Gordon (Whitney Houston's extended/Godson)

Brandy's 6th album TwoEleven

BRANDY IS BACK

 Today is an exciting day for the music industry, as most Tuesdays are, due to the fact that it is the day that new albums are released. October 16, 2012 marks the release of 33 year old Brandy Rayana  Norwood's 6th album entitled (TWO-ELEVEN) . The title of this album hits close to home for this Mississippi native and is very personal. 

Two Eleven is significant to Brandy because it is her birthday and the day that her mentor the late Whitney Houston passed away. Brandy is dedicating her album to THE VOICE herself Whitney Houston. The singles that have already been released off of TWO ELEVEN are doing well, especially her song PUT IT DOWN feat, the popular Chris Brown. It is one of my favorite songs, I just hate that Chris Brown is in it. (moving on from him), check out their video below

Brandy literally has me jamming every time I hear (Imma put it down, you gone fall in love) 
The album has a total of 17 songs on it, with her singles being (It All Belong To Me, Put It Down, and her latest song Wildest Dreams) 

She is such a talented music artist and such an inspiration to women all over. I will definitely be running (not literally) to the store on my lunch break to get my new TWO ELEVEN album. Thank you for sharing your gift with us Brandy. 

I have my COPY now go get yours 

Follow Brandy on twitter at @4everBrandy or clink the link BRANDY
and follow me on twitter at @LelaV89 ( Lela )

xoxo FIERCE & LOVE

LELA

Rihanna's Cover for her 7th album UNAPOLOGETIC

Rihanna seems to be the music artist that keeps on giving. This young songstress has yet to take a break since she has hit the music industry 7 years ago with her hit "Pon De Replay". This morning Rihanna released the cover of her 7th album entitled UNAPOLOGETIC. 

UNAPOLOGETIC

Unapologetic will be Rihanna's 7th album in 7 years and is set to hit stores November 19, 2012. On the cover Rihanna is rocking her newly cut short black hair, with a dark (maroon/brown) lip. She is displayed topless with words such as Victory, #Navy, Diamonds, Faith, ROC, Chalice, Fearless, Happy, Censore, Love, Side Effects, #R7, and Unapologetic written upon her body. Her most recent tattoo is also on display, this tattoo is a picture of Goddess Isis. Goddess Isis stands for Complete Woman and is a model for future generations. Rihanna got this tattoo in honor of her grandma Dolly who passed away this summer.

Unapologetic looks to be another winner for Rihanna. She currently has released one single off this album, which is entitled DIAMONDS.

Fierce & Love 

Lela 

New Single by Rihanna *DIAMONDS*

"Shine Bright Like A Diamond"

R&B singer Rihanna released a new song yesterday  called Diamonds. I have already listened to the track and find it to be quite different than any of her previous music, we are in for a great surprise when her seventh album hits stores.

I find the song to be quite motivating, especially the line 

( WE'RE BEAUTIFUL LIKE DIAMONDS IN THE SKY) 

Rihanna never ever cease to stop amazing us with her wonderful talented, and over the years she has definitely moved up my list of favorite singers. She is definitely in my top 10. 

Hope you enjoy the song

Remember SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND

Thrift-Her Fashionista

FASHION!!! FASHION!!! FASHION!!! 

That single word means so much to me. Through the art of FASHION I am able to express myself while also letting the world know how I feel. Although I love FASHION, sometimes keeping up with specific trends and specific designers such as ( Lela Rose, Mark Badgley, James Mischka, Anna Sui, Michael Kors, YvesSaintLauren, and Jeffrey Campbell) can be quite expensive. But the prices of clothes do not always hold us back. In order to counterattack extreme prices people have turned to thrifting. 

Thrifting (thrifting refers to the act of shopping at a thrift store, flea market, garage sale, or a shop of a charitable organization, usually with the intent of finding interesting items at a cheap price

Thrifting gives you the ability to turn simple clothing items into HIGH FASHION/VINTAGE looks. You can also create simple outfits from items already in your wardrobe. Recently one of my friends has started thrifting and sharing her finds and creations online. Her outfits are so stellar, that I would definitely hire her as a personal stylist (YES SHE IS THAT GOOD). I decided to write a BLOG highlighting FASHION and her amazing skills. 

 Meet SKYY MILLER (fashionista)

Like her TWITTER page

and add her fashionista page on FACEBOOK

Skyy Miller is a 7 time All American and 2 time BIG 12 Champion, in the sport of Track and Field. She is an alumni of the University of Oklahoma, and originally is from Daytona Beach Florida.

Representing for Oklahoma track and field 

Below I will present a few of her outfits, let us know what you think, please leave a comment thanks.

She turned this Maxi dress with a Broken strap into a Sexy 2 piece. She states that this is an ensemble that she would wear out with the girls" She used the 1 strap & made a unique design & added a broken silver necklace to create another strap! The  silver clutch was 1.50$ from goodwill & that broken belt was 89cents! She made the slit up the side herself (LiveFashionForALowPrice!)

Skyy got her shorts out of the 99cent bin at goodwill because the top 2 buttons were completely ruined, she pinned them & tied her blouse on top of the pins! "Can't tell there broke huh" lol Her clutch came from the kids section for 50cent & her oversized shades where $2 from eBay "Korean fashion sunglasses" was the search on eBay

Skyy brought a grandmother skirt in the thrift store for $3.39 it had a built in slip. Shecut the slip in half & made a top. She put a bold split up the middle of the skirt & made it a high waist trendy skirt :Who needs money when u have style!!!      

Skyy purchased a dress on sale at Wet Seal for $5. She then proceed to turn it into a high waist skirt!! Her belt,Blouse & Mini purse came from Goodwill :-) She thinks Thrifting is my calling and I definitely agree with her.

 #ChicagoBulls SnapBack D.Roseing!!! Skyy's outfit cost $8  $3 Clutch & 4.50 For the shorts!!!

Skyy's tassel purse was inspired by Paris Hilton's Prada one, her purse was 10$ Top was $2 & jeans $5.50

As you have seen from the looks above, a high fashion look can be achieved at a very low price. Skyy can take a simple article of clothing and turn it into a magnificent high fashion piece. View the photos once more, take note, and start saving money. You can achieve a simple everyday look that appears as if it comes from the pages of a fashion magazine for a very low rate.

follow me on TWITTER and like my FACEBOOK page

xoxo Fierce & Love

LELA

Only 1 can be TOP OF THE CLASS (ANTM COLLEGE EDITION CYCLE 19)

      Astounding news ladies and gentlemen, the smell of TOP MODEL is in the air and fierceness is all around us. Tyra Banks is back with her hit show AMERICAS NEXT TOP MODEL. This upcoming season will be the 19th cycle of the show. Cycle 19 is unlike any other cycle and has a unique theme "COLLEGE EDITION".

Tyra Banks holding her Business Degree that she earned from Harvard University

The girls in cycle 19 all are students (yes you read that right THEY ARE STUDENTS). Tyra recently earned a business degree from Harvard University, and while being a student herself, she noticed around her college campus that their were some very fierce girls with modeling potential, and this was her inspiration for the COLLEGE EDITION cycle of ANTM. Cycle 19 premieres August 24, 2012 at 9/8c.   

The prizes for this cycle have change. The old prizes were

• A guest correspondent placement with the Extra news magazine.
• A fashion spread in Vogue Italia, and both the cover and a spread in Beauty In Vogue.
• Production of a music composition that wil be performed by the winner that will then be released as a record single by CBS Records.^[9] and
• A US$100,000 contract with CoverGirl cosmetics

The new prizes are completely different 

• A modeling contract with LA Models & NY Model Management.
• The face of the America’s Next Top Model perfume product "Dream Come True".
• A spread in Nylon magazine.
• Campaigns with Nine West and Smashbox Cosmetics.
• A US$100,000 cash prize

I personally like the old prizes. I would love to be in VOGUE magazine and have the opportunity to be a COVERGIRL. The new contracts with Nylon and NINE WEST cannot even compete with vogue and covergirl. There are also some more changes in this new cycle to include the dismissal of some of our favorite  members of the ANTM CAST. Nigel Barker, J Alexander, and J Manuel will no longer be on the show.

NIGEL BARKER, J ALEXANDER AND JAY MANUEL

They are being replaced by Filipino fashion blogger Bryanboy and Johnny Wujek who will be the new creative director of photoshoots.

Johnny Wujek

BryanBoy

 I truly can say that I am going to miss Nigel , Jay Manuel and the diva Miss J Alexander. The show will definitely not be the same without these 3, hopefully the newbies can live up to the legacy that was left behind. 

WHO IS GOING TO BE THE RUNWAY COACH NOW THAT J ALEXANDER IS GONE ????

Cycle 19 is full of surprises and one of them is the British Model ROB EVANS. Rob is replacing Nigel and I have no complaints. He reminds me of Nigel, they both are hot and have BRITISH accents. I cant wait to see Rob on the judging panel he will be a great addition to the show. 

ROB EVANS ....

Tyra and Rob are hot together

Tyra is 38 and he's 24 (there's a rumor going around that they are dating ... hmmm get it girl..lol

Panel will be interesting 

What's underneath the sticker?

Kelly Cutrone will once again be a judge on this cycle. I personally don't like her. She is so negative and definitely not pleasant on the eye (and that's why Im not including a picture of her in this blog) For those of you who have no idea who she is, dont worry she isnt all that important just know that she is an American fashion publicist. 

There also will be an additional judge. Many of you might not know this person, even though they have been around with the show since the beginning. Have you figured it out yet? Okay I will tell you. The newest judge to the ANTM panel will be THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. We finally have a say so in what girl stays and what girl goes. Throughout this summer while the ladies were competing for the top spot, each week Tyra Banks posted their photos online and let us decide who should go home and why. In the end the final decision was still up to the judges, but it's nice to know our opinions matter. 

I can't wait to see what the American viewers had to say about the girls.

The entire new cast (Tyra, Kelly, Rob, Bryan, and Johnny) Kelly looks depressing.

 HERE IS A LIST OF THE GIRLS AND WHAT SCHOOLS THEY REPRESENT

Contestant	Age	Hometown	School[12]	Outcome
Allyssa Vuelma	20	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Florida State University
Brittany Brown	18	Gilbert, Arizona	Chandler-Gilbert Community College
Darian Ellis	22	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Louisiana State University
Destiny Strudwick	18	Columbus, Ohio	Aveda Institute of Columbus
Jessie Rabideau	23	Speedway, Indiana	University of Southern California
Kiara Belen	22	Las Vegas, Nevada	University of California, Irvine
Kristin Kagay	19	Jacksonville, Florida	Florida State College at Jacksonville
Laura James	21	Cambridge, New York	Paul Smith's College
Leila Goldkuhl	20	Framingham, Massachusetts	University of Rhode Island
Maria Tucker	22	Las Cruces, New Mexico	Harvard Divinity School
Nastasia Scott	19	East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania	East Stroudsburg University
Victoria Henley	18	Colquitt, Georgia	Liberty University
Yvonne Powless	20	Minneapolis, Minnesota	University of Texas at Austin

below is a video of Tyra talking about her newest season of ANTM

I am very excited for cycle 19 of ANTM, I have watched the show since season 1 and have never missed a season. What has truly sadden me though is that the show has been moved to Friday night. This happened because the show's ratings have dropped therefore the show can not be on one of the main weekdays such as Wednesday or Thursday. I think this Friday move will hurt the show, because less people are home on a Friday night. I will definitely have to adjust my Fridays and make them work around ANTM because I will definitely be supporting my girl Tyra. I hope you all watch and support the show as well


Fierce and Love
Lela Victoria