Britney Annice

"I'd like to visit the Civil Rights Museum with my great-grands!" This has been such an exciting summer and I promise, I'm about to get somewhere and sit down. But not before I tell ya'll about this last trip I had to Memphis! I remember being a kid and being super excited for family trips because I could ride in a rental car, sit next to my cousins the whole way and maybe our parents would let us swim in that hotel pool. Ain't it something how life comes full circle? Last weekend, I watched my nephew and nieces experience that same joy of being on the road while their grandparents supplied all the snacks and their parents repeatedly told them to chill. Must be nice. My family had taken us to the Civil Rights Museum as kids but this was my first time there as an adult. I remember seeing the slavery and sit-in exhibit and being sad because black folks were treated so poorly "back then" but we have come a long way and everything was differen...

"They must not have nobody to tell em" You know those people in life that everyone knows, "you can't tell them nothing"? They either shut you down when you offer them helpful information or advice, they listen to what you have to say and still do their own thing, or they just flat out get mad when you call them on their bullsh*t. Hi, it's me. I was once one of those people....Until I met my Mama... DUN DUN DUN . I have always been a very independent & opinionated person. But, I can also be very sensitive (I ain't no punk tho). Whenever I would do things and people wouldn't agree with my decision, I'd take offense and think they were being mean or unsupportive. Photo: A Selfie From The Back of My Phone Guys, sometimes disagreement is an act of love. You know when you've had one too many drinks on your birthday, you head to the bar for another and your friend stops you in your tracks and tells you "No More." That...

"I'll never be able to do that..." Happy May ya'll. We are officially 1 month and some change away from my 30th birthday and I still have a back roll to get rid of. But that's not really what we're here to talk about today. Well...it kind of is. So, for the past few months, I've been talking about things that I'm overcoming or things that I've already overcome. I don't know if it's because I'm hitting a milestone this year or because for the first time in my adult life, I'm finally starting to slow down and reflect. Photo: My Mama Like many people, I've dealt with insecurities my whole life. I was chubby kid, who got teased. Then, I grew up, lost a bunch of weight, cut off my hair and went natural and nobody liked that either. Then I gained weight and my hair grew and that wasn't good enough. Then I lost weight again and had long hair and by that time, thickness was back in and I missed the boat again. Ya'l...

"Get ready for a shift." Aight so boom... I used to think that only crazy, unfortunate things happened to me . Like, I was the only one to be chubby and teased as a child, I was the only clumsy kid who dropped everything, I never really won anything, I was the only one in the world who tried to make a mother's day spread and it end up being too salty to eat. At one point, I started calling myself "Bad Luck Brit". Whatever energy you put out comes back to you. Photo: Sierra Campbell Because of those experiences, I went through most of life almost always expecting things to turn out for the worst. I mean, I would think of the most horrible case scenario for every situation. Me: *Gets a new job* Also, Me: "Watch, I'm gone get fired for this pink hair and nose ring." Me: *Meets a nice man* Also, Me: "Watch, he gone have a secret relationship, a hidden baby and commitment issues." See what I'm saying? There...

"You a flower and you need to make sure that man watering you." -Dude at the gym when when I lied about having a man When we think of GROWING , we usually don't see it in a negative way. When you think of GROWING , you think of words like: New, Exciting, Fun . But growth means change. And as we discussed a few blogs ago, change means discomfort and sometimes, that's exactly what growth is. I remember one summer when I was a little girl and I was out in my front yard playing jump rope. I was having so much fun! I jumped and jumped and jumped until I landed from one of those jumps with an excruciating pain in my knee. My parents took me to the doctor where I found out I had some type of growth spurt in my bones while jumping. That sound familiar to ya'll? You ever be minding your business, having fun and BOOM , growth spurt! Maybe you were having fun on that job you've been with for years and BAM , something happened, now you have to find another one. Ma...

"When is it gone be my turn?" -Me at God 3 times an hour When I'm traveling back and forth to St. Louis, I usually prefer to drive. Not only because I can comfortably transport 4 loads of laundry to wash for free or bring back pieces of my Mama furniture, but mainly because I can be the one in control behind the wheel. I don't have to worry about the train being delayed, who I'll have to sit next to or what I'm going to snack on because please believe, I'm pulling over for some Chick-Fil-A at some point during that road trip. Patience has never really been my strong point. That's why this season of WAITING is killing me. Being in control has always been something that is very important to me. Now hold on... before ya'll dudes start getting scared to date me because you think that I'm controlling, let me explain myself. Photo: I be taking these. Sit down. My whole life, I've always kind of felt like the underdog or late bloome...

"Black is Beautiful!" I chose this week's topic as BLACK AND CONFIDENT because of the importance it is to have confidence in your black skin. Society often urges us to "tone it down" a bit. We can't be too much of ourselves or people will start to feel uncomfortable. But on the other hand, folks can take our culture and everything that makes us unique, do the same thing and be praised for it. Nope. Not here for it. Okay so, it's been a rough black history month. Everybody done went to jail, most of ya'll tax money already gone and I did not enter into a relationship with a strong black man. But on the other hand, Kaepernick won his case against the NFL, Solange revived black planet and I slid back into some skinny jeans so that I can slide into somebody DM's this summer. See what I'm saying? God will turn it around, if you let him. When I was a little girl, I was very shy around strangers. I usually walked into a room with my hand...

"While ya'll being distracted by this, look what's happening over here..." Ya'll know exactly who those types of people are on your friends list, don't you? You can't share a few funny memes, indulge in a hot topic discussion or post pictures of your lit brunch without somebody saying "Some of ya'll black folks be worried about the wrong thing!" And yes, some black folks ARE worried about the wrong thing BUT some black folks can worry about more than one thing at once. I mean damn, don't ya'll want a break sometimes? Photo: My Mama. Today's topic is on being BLACK AND CAREFREE . I wanted to make some heart warming post about black folks being able to be happy even in the face of adversity. Being able have joy and be aware at the same time. I had all intentions of posting photos of myself and my friends full of smiles. Making jokes about being black, educated and well spoken but being able to turn that off to be b...

"Pull up or leave it on the playground." -Dr. Britney A. Douglas I'm just kidding, I'm not a doctor. Happy Black Love Day! I know a lot of folks dread spending this day alone, but for the past few years I have been using this day as an excuse to eat something very fat and unhealthy in the middle of week while ya'll are out making children. With this being the day of love, I chose to make this week's topic BLACK AND LOVING . One thing I have enjoyed seeing on the internet as of late is images of black love and black families. I mean, I clicked on a black love hashtag one day and was just lost in Instagram for a while marveling at these positive, loving images of us. We ARE some loving people, you know. Photo: Selfie Game Strong This past year I have really dug into practicing self love. I know, it sounds much easier than it is. And it's so hard appreciating yourself right where you are. But one day, I thought to myself, " God has given ...

"I'm black every month." Happy Black History Year! Because I am black all 12 of these months. But, I am going to give y'all some dope, black content for the duration of February. Perhaps a little more aggressively black than other months. I don't know. Hang out with me and see. This month I want to explore the many layers of us as a people. Black folks are often stereotyped in the most horrible and degrading ways. Our beautiful stories aren't always being shouted from the mountain tops and we have too much diversity within our culture to ever be put into a box. Which brought me to this month's topic of being " BLACK AND ..." I guarantee that phrase will end differently for each person. This week, mine is " BLACK AND TALENTED ". Ever since I was a little girl, I've always admired people who did it all and weren't afraid to explore the many talents that they have or even want to learn. We've seen Jada Pinkett Smith as a...

"I just don't understand why this is happening to me." -Me, during any minor inconvenience. How many times has unexpected change come knocking and busting down your door before you even had a chance to put on your drawers and get ready for it? For me, more times than I can count. In the past few weeks of January, we've discussed change of habits, unexpected change and changing the way you deal. But, we haven't discussed ALLOWING change to happen. Sometimes, we can see change coming. We don't know when, but sooner or later it's going to happen. And sometimes, we may even try to intercede in order to prevent it. So peep this: I used to struggle with the thought of someone not liking me. I never wanted to be the person to make someone upset, ruffle feathers or cause confrontation. (Now, don't get me wrong; if you come for me, you can have these hands but, I'd rather not, okay?) Ya'll, do you have any idea how hard it is to NOT piss someon...

"I didn't ask for this." Someone once said, " Change happens when you least expect it ". I don't know about you, but when I hear that, I'm always thinking of the good kind of change. Like that one time when I was broke, I found 20 dollars that I hid from myself in the pajama drawer, or when the dude I liked finally hopped in my DMs, or when they sent the new lease and the rent actually went down 50 dollars... Okay, that one never happened but ya'll get the point. You ever been sitting in the break room at work, chilling, scrolling your phone, having a good day, then somebody comes in there talking your ear off, annoying you and now your peace of mind is disturbed. Plus, you now have only 33 seconds left of your break  which you spend hiding from them in the bathroom but it doesn't matter because you see them all day anyway. Photo: Britney Annice That's kind of how UNEXPECTED CHANGE enters your life. It's like "Damn, I w...

"Ugh, I'm bored." Hey ya'll! Welcome to 2019! I'm so glad that you decided to bring me with you instead of leaving me in the old year with all the people you hate. I know it's the top of the year and most of us are already a few days into our new diet plans. We cold. We mean. And we hungry. But, if you want to see change, you have to make a change, right? Photo: My Mama Change is the one thing that is consistent in our lives. Nothing ever stays the same. For the month of January, I'll be talking to you all about CHANGE . Which can mean a lot of different things for a lot of people. For me, this first week of 2019, it meant boredom . Before Christmas, I promised myself that after I finished my last blog post, I was taking some time to myself. Now, if ya'll follow me on social media, you know I go hard with the self promotion. I'm in ya'll face every. damn. day. And it ain't nothing you can do to stop me because I feel like I ha...

"New year, New me." -All of ya'll, every year Well, since we're still in December and on the subject of gifts, let's talk about the gift of a FRESH START . Nah, I'm not talking about you calling your ex back and acting like you weren't trash for the bulk of the year. You need to get left in 2018. I'm talking about truly stepping back, reflecting and taking action in new ways. Now, I know a lot of people roll their eyes when folks start talking about the things that they want to do differently in the new year, how they about to be skinny and how they not bringing all that negative energy into this new chapter. And yea, they might be a little extra with it, but that's the beauty of a reset. Photo: Britney Annice I used to think that New Year's resolutions meant that I had done something wrong and needed to change it. Like this was my time to reflect on my mistakes, my weight, my eating habits, my career and change everything about ...

"You ain't got it right now, fam." -My bank account Around this time of year, a lot of people tend to stress themselves out. You're sad because you don't have the money to buy gifts for loved ones. You're upset because it's cold outside and it takes 20 minutes for your car to warm up. You're salty because nobody is cuddling you by the Christmas tree. And what's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, turns out to be you with an attitude, pushing your shopping cart on the back of people heels in Walmart all season. That ain't it, fam. Photo: Yajaira Suriel Look, I'm going to be transparent with ya'll: I am not where I want to be or where I thought I'd be in life. Especially, on the financial tip. In previous years, I'd get really upset when I wasn't able to get the gifts I wanted my friends and family to have. And sometimes, I'd find myself spending more than I needed, with nearly nothing left ov...

"It sounds like you got trust issues." Ya'll remember when we talked about vulnerability a few weeks ago? Well, I feel like that and this week's topic of TRUST go hand in hand. When I put my trust into someone, I expect them to do right by me. And when you don't do right by Britney, you gotta catch these hands. I trusted you, even though you got a booty chin. Just kidding, I've never trusted anyone with a booty chin. Photo: Yajaira Suriel So look, I'm a bit of a loner. Always have been (See "LONELINESS" post). I never felt like I needed a whole lot of people around me because I don't fool with ya'll like that anyway. I can always tell when something is off about a person. I often try to see things through and tell myself "Maybe it's not what you think" but every time I've tried to give someone the benefit of the doubt, they end up showing me why I can't trust people. Let me see if I can give you a short lis...

"I don't want all them people looking at me!" It's October! So I want to get real spooky with ya'll on this here blog. For the rest of this month, I'll be talking about some of the things that scare me. I know what you're thinking right now, "Damn Brit, I thought you was a real gangsta. Gangstas don't get scared." Hold on homie, let me explain... I'm a pretty outgoing person. I always have been...around my family. Most people didn't even know I could talk until I was 15. That's a little bit of an exaggeration but you know what I mean. I had to pick and choose who I showed my personality around. Because if anyone knew how silly I was or that I liked to dress up as different characters and perform for my family, they would make fun of me and I'd be the weird girl with the glasses. Photo: Sierra Campbell I've always felt so awkward being the center of attention. Something about it gave me the creeps. And sometime...

"You're still young, you've got time." "You don't need to be worried about that right now." Look man, I know that a lot of people mean well when they say these things. Usually, they want you to take comfort in the fact that you're younger than them and they also just don't know what else to say to you. It's like the equivalent of expressing your feelings to a black person and them hitting you with a " Itta be aight " or a " Damn, that's crazy ." Can I just be blunt with ya'll? Ain't nobody trying to hear that. Plus, who told ya'll that tomorrow was promised? Anything could happen. Good or bad. Something that I have learned is that everyone's path is not the same. Neither is everyone's thought process. For example, what I am ready for at the age of 29, may not be what you were thinking about at my age. So, in your mind, it seems like I'm too young but in reality, it's just the way tha...