L.A.L #1- The Root Restaurant and Bar

Hello and Welcome to Spring 2012!!! We have had some of the most beautiful weather for Michigan which definitely lightens the moods of many including myself! In taking my own advice about living a little, making the happy times last and being more active I started a series called "Live A Little". Well the L.A.L series begin its journey in the culinary world; I, like many of you 20-Somethings, love to cook and just as many love to eat. It just so happens that the beginning of this series fell in the same week as my supervisors' going away luncheon... what luck!

The Root Restaurant and Bar in White Lake, MI

 



 It was so peaceful and calm inside opposed to the busy parking lot and shopping complex its located near. This restaurant specializes in all things Michigan; MI grass feed beef, MI grown shrimp, etc.

 

Me being happy (So not a good pic) lol



Beautiful Place for anytime of Day!







And the portion sizes were out of this world! Luckily I skipped breakfast that morning so that I could really partake and enjoy the entire experience  (Greedy Comment lol) Having to wait about 30 minutes for my appetizer to come and then an additional 30 minutes for my meal was well worth it when I seen the presentation! 

  



Crab Cakes .... So Pretty and Tasty!




Could Not Finish this, but def tried! lol

Needless to say my entire team enjoyed themselves... with great atmosphere, great food and great jokes (Yea IT Techs have the best sense of humor cause we're all smart asses lol) how could we not! It's definitely sad to see my supervisor leave but we gave him a gift card to Nordstroms and made sure the amount was something he could play with lol
I wasn't trying to necessarily critique the restaurant but I guess in sharing my experience with you guys, I did a 2 for 1! My friends all laugh because up until recently I have been a very regimented person, so when I introduced the concept of  L.A.L to them, some of them twisted their heads sideways and laughed like "Yea, I'll believe when I see it!" well SHOW AND PROVE BUDDY! As I always say, life is about growth and change... its the only way to become a better version of ourselves. I encourage you my dear 20-Somethings to step outside the box and try something new.... you know Live a Little ;)

Live A Little

So in taking my own advice about making the happy moments last and learning to just enjoy this life (esp. if you don't have a spouse or children just yet) I'm going to be posting pictures from different outings this spring and well into the summer. I believe that for every person that works hard, you should equally play as hard... besides we're only 20-Somethings for so long. So I have a laundry list of events (some with friends and others with my hunny :) ) to show that you can be a well-rounded hardworking 20-something... Successful and Fun-loving. I"m doing this because I like most of my friends, are burden down with responsibilities and daily routines that by the time we look up, its time for bed. My mom told me, while I was in the midst of deadlines and graduation lol "Ebony, I'm proud that your so driven yet remember while your reaching your goals... Your only young once in life and the rest of your life is spent growing old" and she was right.

So I'm implementing the "Live a Little" series... bi-weekly I will post pictures of places, recommendations to eat/visit, concerts and festivals that are 3 of my favorites things: Low Cost, Low Gas Usage and Loads of Fun! I believe the biggest lesson in life to learn is how to relax; to be able to turn off the "gotta go" buzz and just enjoy these moments. I'll still post about the ups and downs of being 20-Something ( I have great piece on apartments coming very soon!) but I want to include everything in between. I always stated I wanted to be young enough to keep up with but old enough to teach my kids lessons from my life's experiences. In order to do so I have to "Live a Little" :)

Soundtrack to My Life

I apologize for the lateness of this post.... Life gets hectic sometimes, but nonetheless Here I am ;)

I absolutely adore music of just about any kind... Jazz, Hip-Hop, Alternative Rock even a little Country; I try not to discriminate. I'm listening to a little John Legend as I speak/type lol The love for music developed for me as a child. My Step dad and mom would play music whenever they had friends over or on holidays.... On Saturdays in the summer, my dad would open the windows to the house and play his music loud; I could be a on a bike ride 7 or 8 blocks away and here is music lol He would play a variety of music Kiko Matsui, Incognito to Red Hot Chili Peppers and my mom... she was a R &B person. Toni Braxton and Mary J. Blige were among her favorites to play (One Christmas, she played Toni Braxton "Talking In His Sleep" so much the CD scratched lol) As a child I remembering dancing to "Whoop there it Is" and was apart of any choir you could think of; from church to school girls chorus to freelance mirror singer lol and when I couldn't sing, I would play my flute ( yea drove the parentals crazy until I learned how to play University of Michigan's "Hail to the Victors... then it was all good lol)

As I got older I started to develop my own musical habits... Listening to FM 98 "Quiet Storm" every night while I ironed my uniforms to recording songs off the radio for my my shoe box of cassette tapes lol Eventually I started listening to artist like Jay-Z, Nas, Lauryn Hill and paying attention to the lyrics only to discover that the beats weren't the only thing to move me but the lyrics seem to speak to me. From the first time falling in love (Jagged Edge- I Gotta Be) to my first broken heart (Kelis- Caught Out There) arguments with my parents (Will Smith- Parents Just Don't Understand) and everything in between. It seemed like it was a song for every emotion I could ever possibly feel and I absorbed every one of them. Party Anthems that got my thru college ( Anything Lil' Jon, Kanye West or Jay-Z did lol), cheating exes ( All of Usher's "Confessions" Album) to my political mo it was a song or artist for it all.

It was these beautifully mastered songs that lead me down the path to writing. I drew inspiration from my music to express the things that I failed to verbalize. Never really one for confrontation ( Don't get it twisted... test my gangsta if you want too!!) I began to keep notebooks to diaries to full out Journals of my every thought and what I was listening to best express and relieve any tension/stress I may have been feeling. It's been 17 years that music and I have been working on the soundtrack and 10 years since I began to write out the "Manuscript" that will one day be my greatest work of art: My Life. Any type of freeing expression of self, my dear 20- somethings should definitely be explored. I'm nowhere near finished, esp. with artist like Kid Cudi, Adele, LMFAO and Mac Miller.... this journey is far from over. On your soundtrack of life my dear 20-Somethings, what songs are the make-up who you are today?