Home video of me in 1989, co-starring my little sister Kimme:

WOW, what an attention whore I was….

There I was, 4 years old, with rollers in my hair singing for the camera.  From an extremely young age I knew that I wanted to be in the entertainment business…and clearly I thought I could sing (with that accent what was I gonna be…a Country singer?!?!).  I loved for the attention to ALWAYS be on me, notice how I would get upset if my sister got even 1 second of camera time….Kimmie tried to tell me “shhh” in the video, but nobody was gonna steal my screen time.  I simply loved the attention, especially from my parents.  It was a hard adjustment for me when my sister was born, my mom told me that they had to bribe me with 3 dresses…YES 3, to bring Kimmie back home from the hospital.

"Take a Pic of MEEEEE"....Attn. whore at its beginning stages

Growing up I was the epitome of a girly girl, NEVER a tom boy, you would not usually catch me running around outside in the heat getting dirty, I loved playing inside with my barbies and polly pockets under the air condition.  I always wore accessories, sunglasses, bracelets, purses…you name it.  My hair always stayed done…hence the rollers.  My love for fashion started at an early age as well.  At the age of 4 I would beg my mom to take me to the mall, and I would tell her that she could sit in the food court while I walked passed all the stores…I still window shop to this day.

Bows, Dress, Ruffled Socks.....Extreme Girly Girl

Craving attention is no longer what I do.   I am no longer an attention whore, and the word diva is not what I would ever want to be.  I was extremely shy once I hit middle school, always wanting to be in the background, and honestly it took me until my jr. year of high school to break out of my shell.  After breaking out of my shell I allowed myself to be the real me, which is an extremely goofy, un-coordinated, dork of a female.  I feel extremely comfortable being the goofy me who can joke around, or break out in a random song and dance….I can thank fem-fATL for that.

I liked to be photographed at ALL times, even during potty training...SMH

Now fast forward 20 years. The person who once craved attention, and solely depended on her parents for EVERYTHING is now a certified INDEPENDENT WOMAN….she got her own.  I will admit I’m still an extreme girly girl, I keep my hair maintained and I feel completely naked without an accessory or two.  I own only 3 pairs of tennis shoes (do vans count?), and own way too many heels (my closet should be renamed ALDO).  I love makeup (an extensive MAC collection) and wearing dresses.  But even with all of the material girly things, I make sure to always remember that those items do not make me.  Dresses are just clothes, accessories are just items, and makeup is just paint on your face.

The 23 yr old ANTI-Diva me... stipped of all make-up & accessories

I have a tattoo, called Sankofa, which is an Ghanian term that symbolizes “one taking from the past what is good and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress through the benevolent use of knowledge.“  With this tattoo, I always remember where I came from, and stay as humble as I can….. So Don’t worry… The diva with the rollers in her hair was the 4 year old me, the 23 year old me will now allow others to have the screen time.

-urbanSocialite