a website & community for women who write & blog
Yesterday was my first day back in the classroom for the 2016-2017 school year. Every August I kick off the year by having my students write and share a six-word memoir.
Once asked to write a full story in six words, legend has it that novelist Ernest Hemingway responded: “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.
When I was a young girl I was terribly shy. Though I could be relatively outgoing when around close family members and friends, just the thought of speaking in front of people I didn’t know intimidated me.
Fast forward to adulthood: Today I am a teacher and a freelance journalist and someone who’s often paid to speak to large audiences on topics ranging from blogging and business to writing and women’s empowerment.
So how do you overcome a fear of speaking in public? By speaking in public!
You can’t talk yourself out of a fear. You have to feel the fear and do it anyway, again and again, and eventually the fear will melt away.
Of course I’ve been over the moon about the medals on medals female athletes have been winning at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, but I’m especially giddy for all the #blackgirlmagic that went down Thursday night. Simone Biles, who is already being proclaimed as the greatest gymnast ever, won the gold medal in all-around gymnastics and Simone Manuel made history by becoming the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in an individual swimming event for the United States.
If you’re looking for things to do in Birmingham this week, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered.
Food bloggers, it’s time! Birmingham Restaurant Week kicks off tomorrow. This 10-day event gives Birmingham residents and tourists the chance to get a taste of the Magic City food scene and cuisine. From Aug. 12 – 21 participating restaurants will offer a variety of food and drink specials, including two and and/or three course prix-fixe lunch and/or dinner menus for $5, $10, $15, $20 or $30 per-person. For more details and a list of participating restaurants visit bhamrestaurantweek.com.
Fashion blogger and freelance wardrobe stylist Victoria Sanders, better known as Vic Styles of VicStyles.com, says her friends have often compared her to Carrie Bradshaw of the wildly popular television show Sex and the City. “I think it started because I dress sort of quirky,” Styles says.
At a recent event I hosted for local women who write and blog, Styles arrived wearing a plum skirt, a black fitted off-the-shoulder top, white stilettos, and an ivory wide-brimmed hat. Since most other people in attendance were dressed in jeans or the office-appropriate frock they’d worn to work, Styles certainly stood out. If you’d been there, you might have leaned over to the person seated next to you and whispered, “She’s not from around here.” And you would have been right. Sort of.
Head to B-Metro.com to read my entire article on fashion blogger and wardrobe stylist Vic Styles.