Last week I was blessed to celebrate my 32nd birthday. Though my day was a bit more somber than I expected, the days to follow were quite fabulous. With 3 cakes and a slew of gifts, I'd say the celebration was still bomb. So as you already know, I attended Essence for the 3rd time. The highlight of this year's Essence for me was Mary J Blige. I first saw her at my first Essence in which I wasn't excited about seeing her but she gives such an awesome performance til I look forward to seeing her now. Aside from her Jilly from Philly was great and so was Jill Scott. I felt honored to simply be in the same room as Chance the Rapper. My biggest disappointment was not getting able to see Xscape. For some crazy reason Xscape were placed in a super lounge instead of on stage and the line to get in to see them was so ridiculously long til most people I know didn't get to see them. Now we all know that Xscape was like THE group back in the 90s and early 2000s. They hadn't been together in like 20 years yet we've seen Tiny and Kandi on reality shows for the past few years. Yet while we are on the topic, I could ever recall Kandi having an actual "lead" on any of Xscape songs but from the clippings I've seen from their performances, it looks like she does. It's nice to know that she isn't just a background singer, but it's indeed obvious that she's the weakest singer in the group. Regardless, I had high hopes for seeing Xscape perform and Essence took that away from me. I'm feeling like all ticketgoers for Essence should be offered a discounted price to an exclusive Xscape concert. The likelihood of that happening is slim to none. Just wishful thinking. I was also dying to see Chaka Khan... and to my surpise, I was hugely disappointment. Chaka didn't know the words to her songs and had moments where she was doing her high pitched scream for no reason. I did enjoy her "I'm Every Woman" that included Jazmine Sullivan, Mary J Blige and Lalah Hathaway. I also truly enjoyed Solange's performance. Her latest album was a favorite of mine and it was nice to hear her great vocals in person. That brings me to the No Limit Reunion. Why? Just why? We did not need a reunin and teh really awful part is that everyone seemed to enjoy Mystical, Choppa, Weebie and Snoop but Master P and all his children could have stayed at home. There were moments when the crowd would boo his kids when they said they wanted to do one of their new singles and they'd boo Master P when he would say he's gonna keep the party rolling. Truth be told is that I think after the Xscape travesty, no one was for No Limit and their mediocre music or Master P's promotion of his biopic called "King of the South". I won't be going to see it.
Overall, the weekend was a great one. I truly enjoyed being out of work for 12 days. I enjoyed the company of my family and some friends who joined in on the fun. As for next year... I hope to be back to traveling for my birthday. The staycation was necessary, but I enjoy travel far more.
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| When you and your coworker share the same love for Nothing Bundt Cakes |
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| From my coworker |
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| From my coworker |
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| When your coworker loves you enough to make her infamous seafood pasta. |
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| From my dad and sister |
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