Legendary photographer Bill Jones shares a moment with Oscar winner Halle Berry

Sometimes, you have to do the right thing, and let the chips fall where they may fall! I’ve been meaning to share this post with you, but my day job got in the way!

Anyway, in my last post, I wrote some funny commentary why I was glad the BET Awards show was over –that is, the constant need to suck in my stomach and wear shapewear to look good in all of my dresses, posing next to twentysomethings!  Read it, here. I’m happy to report that since the writing of the post, I’ve begun my workout regimen! A girl can only suck in so much! Plus, I’m eight months away from being the BIG 5-0, and I want to be fit and fine! But again, I digress.

Anyway, the dirty little secret that I didn’t tell you about the BET Awards was how the powers-that-be didn’t credential Black press to attend and cover the awards show. Yes, you heard that right: BET brass denied access to Black press to cover a show, whose demographics target Black people. Did I mention that the “B” in BET stands for “Black.” And yes, this is beyond cray cray!

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GIVING GOOD GLAM! (l-r) Kudos to Jai’Lauren Griffin, 21, and reality star Brandi Maxiell, twentysomething, for giving good glam on the red carpet at the BET Awards. xo

I’m so glad the BET Awards are over! I’m physically exhausted after endless days and nights of beauty suites, special events, and parties. Most of all, I’m tired of holding my stomach muscles in, as I posed for the cameras and worked side-by-side with my glamorous clients. Case in point:  the lovely Brandi Maxiell of VH1’s “Basketball Wives LA.” With model good looks and built like an Amazon, she towers over me at 5’ 10” flatfooted!

After a week of festivities, I feel I can finally breathe again, because my stomach area isn’t all bandaged up with some type of shapewear, albeit Spanx or the new line, Shaped by An Angel, designed by my friend  and celebrity fashion designer Angela Dean. Every day, I’d  spanxed (is that even a word?) myself up to give the illusion of a very flat stomach! Once upon a time, I had the flattest stomach of them all. But, I was also in the gym five days a week, running at least 15 miles on a treadmill. Those were the days, when I lived for the gym. I was a regular gym rat!

Luckily, I’ve always been physically fit and athletic. I really never had to watch my weight. And yes, it’s a wonderful luxury. My freshman year in college, I weighed 100 pounds, and some of my friends would call me “Slim” on the yard because I was well … slim! Of course, I didn’t appreciate my body back then because I had other issues to worry about  – like being skinny with no curves and flat chested. Oh lord, I can only laugh now when I think about of ALL OF THE AGONY I put myself through over a bra size! Shoot, I wish I’d known back then that I could just buy some boobs as big as I wanted to my heart’s content. I would have saved up some cash! LOL Oh well, I’m over it now. I’ve accepted myself as I am.

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