Showing posts with label Happiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Happiness. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Creepy Photographer

Outdoors photo shoot

The rest of our time in the desert was nice and peaceful. I don't know if I was kidding about never going there again, though.

Friday, November 23, 2018

Is This What BIPOLAR Looks Like?

This blog post will explain a lot of why I have been dreading blogging lately. It is also the beginning of an off ramp that my relationship with Calvin went on. Read on and share your thoughts in the comments section.
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Hey, yall! It's ya girl, Brook! I've been hectically busy! This post will probably been typed in more than one sitting as I have to rush out to Orange County within the hour. My Liquid diet post got a lot of attention. I hope that you got what you needed out of it. I must tell you though, that I didn't lose all the weight I have from consuming fluids only. Some people are under that impression on Facebook. That is completely false!

Friday, July 06, 2018

Stay Woke!

Speaking of being too tired from tasting for TaskRabbit; I had a number of recurring clients. Which was nice! They would just message me when it was time or tell me at the end of the task, when they wanted me to return. Inasmuch as I was flattered that they liked my work that much, I get bored doing the same thing. One of the things I enjoy about doing all the jobs I do, is because no two days are alike. Some clients have a tendency of

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Designer Wear Shopping for Upcoming Birthday!

My birthday was approaching! Do you celebrate birthdays? I do! I celebrate everything in the form of gifts from myself to myself!
This time, because I had been working so hard, and always deserve the best, I decided to

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

My Experience with Central Casting and Calling Service

Happy Pride, to those who observe it!  (Pride is about celebration of the LGBTQ {Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer} community).

Apart from getting jobs through the app, Taskrabbit, I didn't want to neglect my reason to breathe, acting! I looked into calling services. A calling service is a company that help casting companies like Central Casting place background actors (extras) in roles. There are several calling services in LA, where I am based. I assume they are available in cities like

Monday, January 15, 2018

A Very Shitty Situation!

Happy 2018, everybody! It's here! The year I've been waiting for all of 2017, haha! No lies! 2017 was so interesting, I'm considering writing a

Sunday, December 31, 2017

December Picture Blog | Liquid Diet Guide


Last Meal At The boiling crab before liquid diet

First and foremost, Happy New Year, my loves! I hope this will be the year you will go gusto after your dreams and make them a reality! If you need weightloss or any kind of accountability partner, heat me up, either here, Brook@BabalwaBrook.com, or on all social media under my name: Babalwa Brook. Weight wise, what I have been doing is have you send me a photo of your starting weight, that's you on the scale with the weight on, then have you send me updates of your progress. I will keep your information private, of course. This is a free service, use me!

Friday, August 11, 2017

Hollywood And Beverly Hills Tour

Our time in Vegas is running out, we won't be able to meet up with Tortoise. I called and let him know that. We made our way to the bus station. A little waiting and we were on the road back to The City of Angels. Calvin picked us up from Union Station. He took us to the famous Phillippe's for breakfast, downtown LA. I was too tired to care, so I waited in the car for them. We took the food home. There was so much

Tuesday, August 01, 2017

Haunted Hotel in Las Vegas

Happy New Month of August, everyone!

We're in Vegas, they let us check in early, thank goodness! Our room did smell like cigarette smoke though! We turned on the A/C as soon as we got in there, to try and, I guess, kill the smell? My sister, Pumla, took a bath first. I was walking around, taking videos. Here's a video of our hotel room...

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Vegas Bound With My Sister

Vegas, it is!
Now, to find accommodation and transportation at such short notice! We both jumped on our phones and got to getting! We didn't want to stay too far from The Strip, so we searched for something along those lines. or Strips?
We found a room on the Vegas Strip with

Sunday, July 16, 2017

My Cooking Husband

shopping sisters
Shopping Time!
Speaking of Shopping! Here we are with our new bags. I'm the one with glasses on! Haha! Kidding aside, the bag my sister is carrying, she bought the previous day. The one she had on in the previous post, she must've have bought the day before that. The shoes she has on are new too! They are cute rose gold Steve Maddens. You already know my Calvins from this blog. The orange top I have on, she brought me from South Africa. She brought me a pink one and this orange one amongst other things. I did pick up a new watch one of those days,

rocawear watch
Rocawear Watch
One of my favorite things about the watch is that it comes with three different straps, a royal blue one, white and the one I ave on.

Sunday, July 09, 2017

Shopping Sisters

She's here! Now what? Just kidding!
This was a great period in my life, first the engagement, then shot gun wedding, now my person is in town! Talk about having the time of one's life! As my sister and I were walking to the care with me secretly wishing to bump into a celebrity or two. Why not? We are in LA after all, right? TMZ! Where you at? We'll just follow your lead!
This was her first time seeing my car in 'person', so she was excited for me. So was I!

Wednesday, July 05, 2017

Birthdays and Anniversaries

I hope those who celebrate had a nice 4th of July!
        Quick! Before today ends, I would like to make an announcement: It's my sister Puma Brook-Thomae's Birthday! Happy birthday, sis! I have sent her messages all over the technology globe because I love her so. I can't wait to call her tomorrow and ask her all about it. She's probably asleep now. Time difference. It should be 3am where she is now. I don't think she will appreciate being called at this hour for birthday details, haha!

Thursday, February 02, 2017

Camping in Santa Barbara

Our campgrounds were about 20 minutes outside Santa Barbara City Limits. It was already dark outside and trying to find the grounds to be a bit tricky. I thought we could just follow the GPS and we'd be as good as gold. Nope! The address we had was for the offices. When you look out the campgrounds, the GPS takes you to the middle of nowhere and then says, 'you have arrived!'. No, lady! We haven't! Calvin told me he thought he may have seen an off ramp further back. I had to make a U-turn but we were in a hilly, windy road, so first driveway I saw, I turned into, to turn. Here's Calvin freaking out, 'OMG, babe! Babe! We'll get killed here! don't drive into this yard! What are you doing, babe?' I thought I was dreaming. What kinda co-pilot is this? You job is to keep me calm, not get more excited than me!

Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Santa Barbara State Beach

The route to Santa Barbara was so scenic! So enjoyable! Plus, I love to drive, so this wasn't a stretch for me at all. We made one more pit stop before we got there. We got there sooner than I expected. One minute we were on the freeway, the next, we were on State Street!

Calvin suggested we head straight for the beach. Good idea, babe! Now, to find parking! We found a nice spot, probably the only one; right by the beach. Thank you, stars! I was so excited to be in one of the places I had always dreamt of going, I took a 360° video clip. Here it is!

State Beach, Santa Barbara, California

Monday, January 30, 2017

Nobu in Malibu

June was an interesting month in this household. It was the third month since Jim passed away, and since I moved in with Calvin. I was doing the best I can to settle in. I started my YouTube Channel and got my own domain name for the blog, around June/July. It was hot as heck and I was too heavy for the middle of summer in LA. I found the scale while unpacking the very last of my stuff from my old place. I mustered the courage to get on it. Oh my goodness! I was the heaviest I had ever been in my entire life! There goes my chance of being in the Weight loss Clinical Study! Now what?

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Bye Felicia!

After I confronted her about the toilet situation, Lisa left for work. Because she had only paid for one night, I told her that I would hold on to the key until she was paid up. I didn't want someone walking around with my house keys. She wasn't crazy about that idea because she felt like we had a deal. We did! It was that I would let her stay at my place in exchanged for payment. She paid for a night, I let her stay for a night! What's the problem here? Here's a stranger demanding that I give her a key to my house! She told me that, she felt insecure, as if she still hadn't found a place; that she could come back and I would have given the place to someone else. Don't give me ideas, lady! I told her that the only way to secure the place was to pay for it. I didn't understand the sense of entitlement.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Hiking Gear

One Sunday, Calvin and I went to church together. After church, Calv suggested we go to the mountains, just for fun. I was down! Ain't I always?

We didn't hike or anything, I mean, we kinda did but not a real hike because someone wasn't dressed appropriately. We did just come from church after all! The views were magnificent!

San Gabriel Valley view from where we were

There were quite a few cars parked in the vicinity, some folks had gone there for their Sunday morning hike.

Some were taking perfect shots

It was a beautiful day, as you can see, and I am sure a good time was had by all.

Ashy legs from our mini hike up the mountain

We were up there for a bit. I loved the idea. After the mountain, we went for brunch at Roscoe's Chicken and waffle. The first time I had chicken and waffle was this instance and that ended up with a grown man crying and me not knowing where I stood. Thankfully that's not how this date ended!

It's like a food court where they have the Roscoe's, there's a KFC and a few other chicken places in that very center. With all that going on, there was a huge line outside Roscoe's. We had to wait outside. I couldn't believe how busy one place can be! Eventually, we got in. 

I had their world famous, chicken and waffle.

Roscoe's Chicken and Waffle

That's butter! I know, it looks like ice cream, right?

My pretty drink. 

The drink was too sweet. I am not a big drink drinker anyway. I love water, but I will try something exotic just for the experience.

Calvin had livers.

Roscoe's Chicken Livers
I had never seen so many livers on one plate! My goodness! We couldn't finish our food. The rest went home with us and I forgot my left overs at Calvin's, so they all ended up in the trash because Calv doesn't do left overs.

My review of Roscoe's chicken and waffle? Meh! It was ok! I'm glad I can check it off my list. On to the next! 

Champurrado from church

Champurrado is crazy good! It's the best thing since sliced bread! And it's filling! It's a Mexican drink. I told my sister, Pumla (the one with the cookbook) to learn the recipe and make it. I don't even like porridge, but this is my jam!

Cherimoya

Cherimoya is a gigantic fruit that reminds me very much of pear from it's consistency. It's a Central American fruit. Calvin's parents have the tree. He picked this for me. I liked it. I'd have it again. Next time, I will put it in a smoothie.

Inside of Cherimoya

Speaking of picking things for me, Calvin has this South African plant in his yard. It's called elephant bush. When I first saw it, I picked a leaf and munched on it. Calvin was surprised. Can you believe it? The tree doctor didn't know that you can eat elephant bush. I didn't know that name, I think we call it something else. Some Xhosa name. One day, Calv gave me a bonsai of the elephant bush. He had been growing it for me. It was still a baby when he gave it to me. I was so toughed, I cherished it so much. I have received flowers before, but no one has ever given me  a tree!

Elephant Bush

Let me love and leave you with a picture of Calvin's beloved pet spider; Shiva, a Chilean tarantula.. one of the worlds most venomous spiders. He keeps it in a cage in his dining room.

Chilean Tarantula












Thursday, May 19, 2016

The Great Pretender

Back to real life. I still had my place to myself and was loving it. Well... I was spending more time away from my place than there. Four months into our relationship, Cavin had already asked me to move in but I was enjoying him courting me. Moving in was going to be a totally different stage to where we were. Also, when you ask for something, very specifically, as I did my apartment and get it.You want to savor it!

One day, while doing a random side job, I bumped into a guy  I had once worked with. He is from Africa. We had a mutual friend. That friend and I are no longer friends. I saw the guy once since the movie we met working on and he seemed like he was avoiding me. I thought that it was before when we met, I would joke around and his response was always, 'you're crazy!'. Maybe he didn't want to be associated with crazy people. If that's the case, good for him! Crazy people are crazy! I did say hi, but I got a feeling he was brushing me off.  That's ok. It didn't hurt my feelings. Now, here we are, more than a year later, I bumped into him again at this side job. It was late at night and pouring rain. I now have a car. When we met, neither of us were driving. We both took the train and the guy disappeared on me when the ticket police came in because he hadn't paid to get on the train. This was before I saw him again and he didn't seem interested. Back to the day of the side job; I didn't see him that evening until we were on our way out. He was sitting in front, I was one of the last people to walk in, he must have seen me but I can't say for sure.

At the end of the gig, he walked really fast when I tried to say hi. I got the same vibe I did the previous time. I caught up with him when we got to the elevator. We exchanged a few words and on our way out of the elevator, I asked him if he needed a ride. It was very late, dark and cold. No longer raining. He asked if I was driving. No, I am walking. I wanna give you a piggy back ride, smdh! His face lit up when I offered him the ride. I thought to myself, aren't you glad you talked to me now, even though your pedestrian ass was avoiding me? When we got to my car, his face lit up even more. He told me he loved my car, it's so cool. It's a solid car blah blah blah. He asked what I had been up to, why he hadn't seen me in so long. He told me how proud he was of me that I bought the car blah blah blah. I dropped him off on Wilshire where he was going to take just one bus home as opposed to buses and trains as he would've if I didn't give him a ride.

As he got off the car, He thanked me very much, asked me to take his number, so we can keep in touch. I'm sorry but I can give you a ride because I am kind and like to help when I can  but that doesn't mean just because I have a car, all of a sudden, I am good enough to be friends with you. No. I am not blind. I saw your ass avoiding me like the plague! We're still not friends, but I did my good deed for the day, we're good! Bye! This is all me in my head, of course! I took his number and told him I would call him when I got home. I never looked at that number again!

I booked a job where were were going to play spectators in a baseball game. It was a late shoot so we had to pile clothing on. We may be in Southern California but it does get cold here too sometimes!

Here we are, on set, filling in paperwork, who do I see? The ride guy! Great! Did I avoid him? Nope! What for? I did my thing, when our eyes met, I waved hello. When he saw me again, he told me I'm full of games. I asked what he meant. He told me I promised to call him and I didn't. I was like, 'oops!'

A Vuvuzela on set. Memories of Fifa World cup 2010

I saw the nice girl I once carpooled with who lives not far from my place on set and we sat next to each other. It was nice catching up. She had a lot of interesting stories. She had vacationed overseas, fell in love and someone fell in love with her at school 'for no reason' that she didn't love back, she was in love with the vacation guy.

Dummies to fill in empty spaces. Last time I worked with these was in Johannesburg

Come to think of it, a lot about that set reminded me of home.

While walking around, settling in, I noticed that the lead was none other than Terrence Owens. What? I used to watch his Reality TV show back in the day. I actually, had seen an episode he did of Celerity Wife Swap not too long before I saw him in person. I was the only one star struck! Nobody else around me knew who he was. He's an athlete turned reality TV star. I don't know him as an athlete, cos I was in Africa then and had no business watching baseball haha. 

I tried to steal a picture of T.O. but you would have to zoom in and squint to make him out

It was an ok night, we stayed on set for 7 hours.I hopped in my car and drove back home without giving anyone a ride. My friend had used her parents car, so she was fine. Had I known he was going to be there, we would have carpooled again. She followed me home until she was familiar with the area, then she sped off. That child drives fast. I'm not a grandma on the road , but I drive speed limit. boring!





Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Black Friday

On our last day in the desert, we got up early, as usual; Calvin made breakfast, we packed and loaded the car.

Calvin's dad has a friend of more than 50 years. They have been friends since they were in second grade and have been in each other's lives all their lives. The friend lives in the desert. Calvin called the friend and the friend wanted us to pass by before we left.

I asked Calvin to take a couple of pictures of me before we headed out. I was so glad to have finally gotten a chance to see the desert house.

It was kinda cold as you can tell by my outfit

Calv did what we used to call closing procedures in my years of working as a security officer; walking around the house ensuring all the windows are closed, doors locked, water thing closed, etc. As he was doing that, I walked around taking the scenery in one last time.

That's when I spotted these: 2 Prickly pears!

I come from an area named after prickly pear because there are so many of them. We used to even sell them growing up. We would fill old paint cans up with prickly pears and sell them to passers by along the main road from Uitenhage through Cape Town. I had never seen this shade though. Calv picked it for is...with his bare hands! I was like, are you sure you should be using your bear hands for that? He relied, 'babe, I'm a tree specialist! I know what I'm doing!' Ok, smarty pants!

Peach prickly pear. 

I had never seen a peach prickly pear before. Maybe it should be called prickly peach? I enjoyed it though. I hadn't had prickly pear since forever. Just before we left, I said something about my dry skin from the desert weather. Calvin ran back to the front yard, tore up an aloe and brought a piece. he told me to use some of the juices on my skin. I was like, ?!?!?!? I didn't want to say anything to the Tree Doctor. It's quite nice having someone so handy around, who knows things regular people don't know. He comes in handy more often than not.

Calvin spotted a toad as he was turning off water. See? on the left? there were three of them

When all was said and done, we headed over to Cal's dad's friend's house. It's downtown, so to speak. Cute house. Cute Harley Davidson bike outside. Nice and clean. Red. Have you noticed how bikes are hardly ever dirty? The friend came out to great us. A True biker, he came out in jeans with a Harley Davidson T-shirt on and had shoulder length silver hair. It was nice to meet someone that cool. You wouldn't expect that in that town. always expect the unexpected. He gave me a good, strong hug and told me that he had heard so much about me; that Cal's dad loves me and always raves about me. It was such a humbling thing to hear. I love Cal's dad, he is the nicest person you will ever meet in your life and an awesome cook. I guess that's where Calvin gets it from.

Back to my roots!

We hung out. I love other people's homes. I love to see how they decorate them and stuff. I'm into that. Feel free to send me pictures of your homes too, for real! I love them, I think you can learn a lot about someone by just looking at their home. I specifically love clean homes, ain't nobody got time to tiptoe in a filthy house where you can't even put your expensive handbag. That ain't right! It doesn't have to be all white. Lived in but tidy, where you don't have to spring clean, or lock some rooms when you expect someone because you're embarrassed. The way you live also shows your state of mind. If your house is chaotic, it means your affairs are all over the place. I really believe that. You wanna keep things in their own place in your head and in your house. Why not? Life's easier that way. You want to be able to walk from your bedroom to the bathroom or any other room for that matter, in the middle of the night, in the dark or with your eyes closed because there is no mess on the floor that you will trip on.

Anyway, we sat on stools by a counter between the living room and the kitchen and drinks! The friend took out his precious stash for Cal because he considers him his nephew. We all chatted and joked around. I love that guy, he's so cool. So Fun! There were a lot of that's what she said jokes. And you know me, I always down for a that's what she said joke. The friend's wife came home. She had been visiting her sister in the hospital. This is the fifth wife. Apparently the friend had been married and divorced four times and Calv's dad was best man in three of those weddings haha. I love such stories, the craziest things you will ever hear. The friend told us their started off as a group of five or six friend but half have since passed away. He and Cal's dad are the only two that are still close. 

The wife invited us to their 20 something or so anniversary. This may be the fifth marriage but it stuck! They have been married for a very long time! Calvin agreed.. Not too long after the wife got home, it was time for us to head out. Back to LA, it is! I noticed Calvin walking kinda funny to the kitchen. I had asked everyone to take a group selfie. It came out great. I sent it to the wife's phone for them to have a copy. We walked to the car and that's when I saw that Calvin was really having a hard time walking. All that good stuff that the friend was giving him, may have been too strong for him. Great! That means I'm driving all the way home!

But first!We went to the mall. I had seen one of my favorite stores in the mall when we went to Walmart. I asked if we could check it out seeing as it was the real Black Friday. There was nobody in the mall, I think everyone was still at Walmart since the night before. I needed a black, everyday handbag as my old Ann Taylor one was busted. I had had it forever though. Since my sister came to The US for the first time. I was still in South Africa then, dreaming of coming to America. This was 2009 or 2010. I highly recommend Ann Taylor, a bit pricey but oh so worth it.

I found a cute BCBG Tote.

Cute and just the right size
Just what I needed! And it's reversible!

Yass! 

Not only that! It came with another bag inside. A Crossbody bag. My kinda sht. If you've noticed my bags over the years, especially on Facebook or Instagram; I always have a crossbody bag.

Amazing bag that keeps on giving

It seemed like I was getting three bags for the price of one. What more could you ask for? I also needed a pair of sunglasses. I had been breaking mine like there's no tomorrow. I found two pairs; one Oscar De la Renta and one Tommy Hilfiger pair. The Tommy was going to replace the Rockawear pair that stretched out on me. They were kinda similar.

I saw a cute pair of Navy  swede Calvin Klein Moccasins for Calvin. Unfortunately, he told me they're not his style. When it was time to pay, Calvin insisted on paying. I didn't even turn him down because I deserved it considering I was bout to drive us all the way back home and I drove to the desert as well. 

Approaching Johannesburg

What? Where are we?

Johannesburg with 172 population. 

This cannot be the same Johannesburg as the one in South Africa has a population of around 5 million.

I'll leave you with me in Johannesburg. See you in the next blog. Thanks for reading!