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!

Thursday, November 30, 2017

My Awkward Thanksgiving Dinner

Welcome back! It's been a minute since I last blogged. Apologies for keeping you waiting. When I tell you what I've been up to, you will be surprised I was even able to sneak this blog entry in. Trust me!
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with a long list of things to be grateful for and continues the gratitude journey beyond Thanksgiving. Please find, below, my awkward Thanksgiving story:
 Also, what did everyone get on Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Me?

Tuesday, October 03, 2017

Namaste!

Moving on from that awkward moment at the OBGYN / Gynaecologist 

In June of 2016, I weighed myself for the first time in several months and found that I was the heaviest I had ever been. That scared me! I then started making simple changes like drinking a gallon of water every day, counting calories, and eating less junk food and cooking more balanced meals. I gradually upped my game,

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

My Nightmare Gynecologist Visit


At the gun Show in Orange County. We bought a few things, some bullets and such. Of course, Calvin wanted to go Newport Beach to skimboard some afterwards. Unfortunately, I was too tired. I told him

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Spoiling Myself

before weight loss, before and after

Now that my Immigration application is done and dusted, I can put some lipstick on and take a selfie.

Babalwa brook before weight loss

The second selfie, I posted because it's a good reminder of how far I've come weight wise... and lipstick-wise haha. That was my around the house lipstick. Not flattering but nice and moist for the lips.

Thursday, August 17, 2017

How to Apply for Green Card. A to Z

In as much as I'm going to miss my sister, there was a ton of stuff idling at home, awaiting my attention. My heart wept on my way home from the airport and beyond. As soon as I got home, I had to deal with paperwork sht. Immigrations. I had to do a change of status. 

This process can take months. It can take years. The sooner you get started, the better. You can get a lawyer to apply for Adjustment of Status or you can totally do it yourself. It's a very self explanatory process. You go on the USCIS website and follow the links to what forms exactly you need to fill out depending on what you are applying for. I did just that. By myself, no lawyers. My husband, Calvin, still doesn't know what's what. I singlehandedly did the whole application myself 

It's a long and tedious process that requires all your focus. Think of it as the final exam!  I filled out four application forms in total. And submitted a lot of 'evidence' and all kinds of back backing up documentation. 

I was doing my adjustment of Status in The US based on marriage. In this case, one has to prove that your marriage is legit. They want all kinds of proof to back this up from photos, to legal documents, to letters to each other, to both of you from others etc. Most of all, Immigrations wants co-mingling of finances, things like joint bank accounts, joint credit cards, leases, tax returns with both your names to name a few. These are pretty much the most important documents. You may not have all these if you are a newlywed like we were, so of this is going to be you somewhere down the line, you want to compile as much proof of a bona fide marriage. 

You may miss some things later on, my advice to you is to compile as you go along. Get a file/folder/drawer or shoe box and dump things you think may come in handy with Immigrations as you go along. You would rather have too much than too little. Trust me! This is like your day in court. You only get one chance! They will white you if they need more evidence. That's called RFE request for evidence. You really don't want that as it may slow down your application. Plus, what if you don't have what they want ready? What if it's going to take you months to get it? Get ready way in advance! 

You can even save texts you exchanged when you first met. This applies to people who met online while one of them lived overseas and to people who know each other in person. The texts that have date stamps help prove that the relationship has been going on for a while. If you go for vacations together, keep receipts, copies of tickets, reservations, photos from the trips. Try and make sure your photos aren't just selfies of your faces but include background. This helps show that you were in Different locations, different tomes of day, different seasons. If possible, include photos with extended family from both sides. Don't force or trick people into taking photos. That's weird and creepy! Let it all happen naturally. If people send you invites to events as a couple, keep copies or even originals if possible and add those to your proof that your marriage is not fake. 

It goes without saying that it is not advisable to marry someone for green card as the burden of proof is tight on you! Also, the mail is to prove that you love together. Don't get caught in a lie by USCIS or any legal entity for that matter. It's embarrassing and it makes them wonder what else you might be lying about. If they want all your previous addresses, give them to them. Don't try to outsmart them for whatever reason because, when the law asks you a question, chances are they either know the answer or they have a way of finding out. Don't let them find your answers inconsistent. 

Everybody has a fair chance of being approved for the green card, there are cases that may require a little more digging from USCIS. If you think your case may raise red flag or people are asking a lot of questions or look at you and your spouse side ways, pile up that evidence! Chances are Immigrations will wonder too. No shadow of doubt. 

The applications process may take you a couple of weeks or even longer: just you filling out forms and making copies of things, so be ready and keep a clear mind. 

Fill out form G325 and enter your phone number and email address to have them send you notifications on updates. When you have sent all your paperwork through and have received receipts; Create a profile on USCIS.com, add all your receipt numbers. This will enable you to go on the website to check updates. Sometimes, they will update the site without texting or emailing  you an update. They may even send you stuff in the mail without updating any of the afore-mentioned. 

There's an application fee. It's more than $1000. It may go up, so do check what it is around the tome of your application. You will need to write immigrations a check to pay for this. Check needs to be included in the application. 
Get paper clips or those giant black ones to clip documents that go together. Do a table of contents to make it easy for the person who will be going through your application. Don't rush the application process at all. Take your time and make sure your do it right once and for all. 

You're going to need all your ID's and just about all your legal documents, passports. And a bunch of passport photos. Shop around for passport photos, Costco, Walmart, Walgreens and CVS etc. 
read the instructions on all the forms. Don't skimp through them. These is not those times where you act like you're reading a documents and then sign. There's a reason every detail is in there! 

There will be parts where your spouse is also required to sign, so, no, you cant sneakily apply for a green card or change of status without your spouse's consent. Plus, don't do that! 

I went through this entire process from scratch myself, without any help, so I extend an invite to you to ask me any questions regarding your application. I will be answering questions here on the blog, please don't send them to me on Instagram, whatsapp and such. If you ask here, that helps someone else who may have a similar question and it prevents me from answering the same question more than once. 

Your spouse needs to complete form 864 if I'm not mistaken of the number. This is all about his or her finances. Your US spouse has to prove that he lives above poverty lines. Check the website to see what those are for the number of people in your household. If spouse can't afford to file alone, get a sponsor. Should anything happen, and you're not working or are trying to get on some government help in the first several years, your spouse or sponsor is responsible to finance you.think twice before you sponsor someone. If someone sponsors you, don't make their lives complicated. This is a huge favor! 

Find your i94. You will need it. In case, you thought now that you've entered The US, you will no longer need that little white piece of paper stapler to your passport. You will b hold on to it, find it! It's the paper with the date of your arrival and the type of visa you had at the time. 

Whether you overstayed your visa or not, once you marry a citizen, Immigrations, 'forgives' you for overstaying. You get to start your visa journey from scratch. Clean slate. I'm not gonna go into detail about what they really forgive you for but you know what you did to stick around the country after your visa expired. Crime is crime! That's a whole another department. 

You will be required to do fingerprints at some point. That's when your sht is gonna come up, so DO NOT COMMIT CRIME! Crime doesn't pay as we all know! Unless your boss' name is crime. Then, I guess crime pays. Unless your boss doesn't pay you, ....  blah blah blah! 

If you are out of status, meaning , if your visa is expired when you apply for green card, you will get a work permit within 3 months. That's valid for a year. By then, you should have received your green card. If you don't have a work permit by 105 days or so, contact immigrations customer service. They will probably expedite the process for you and you should receive your work permit pronto. 

When you receive your work permit, you can apply for social security card. This is going to be pretty much your ID number in America. There's a fee. Not much. Take all your legal documents with you to apply. No need to make an appointment. Just walk in. Process is fast. As soon as you receive your social security card, usually within a week, go to DMV aka department of Motor Vehicles and apply for a state ID. Social security card only has your name and id number but state ID will have all your details, just like a driver license. (Driver's licence). Weight, height, photo, etc. Keep your ID with you at all times and your social security card very safely at home. You can carry a copy on your phone just in case. With us, when we work on some studios, we have to provide social security copy or number. 

When you have State ID (in about 2-3weeks) and social security card, you can apply for driving license and work on your credit score. Credit is almost as important if not more so than cash in America. Get and maintain a good credit score! 
You can piggy bank on your US spouse's credit cards to get higher credit limits or you can get your own. There's such a thing as secure credit card where you pay a deposit to secure the credit card. Those are easier to get for people with no credit history or a bad one. 

After this, you can get a job, do whatever you want! CONGRATULATIONS! You're on your way to become an American Citizen! 

Let me know if I miss something out. 

Don't forget to add me on Social Media: Babalwa Brook
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Friday, August 11, 2017

Fare Thee Well

After our fun time in the west side, I had a lump in my throat. I knew that the time was near for my sister to leave me. I get sad just thinking about that, even though she's been gone for a while now. That feeling, is the worst! You just wanna go back with her! Everybody loved her, which was no surprise to me. There's so much I still wanted to show her and share with her. Alas, she had to head back to her life in South Africa. My husband took

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

Friday, August 04, 2017

Shopping in Las Vegas

Having survived our haunted Las Vegas Hotel room,  and good buffet food, shopping was the next logical step. Shopping in Las Vegas! Let's go! I know a few Vegas Malls, so it wasn't a train smash finding one. or three. There are also the Las Vegas Outlets. Two of them, one on each end of Vegas. I am not a big fan because I may or may not know of Outlets in Los Angeles too that are

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!

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Wedding Gifts

Honeymoon? 
Not yet. Calvin has always wanted a big wedding, I've always just wanted to be married in name. I have ever cared for big weddings, wedding gowns, gifts, the whole shebang! Our compromise was that we will do both. We have done mine, his will be in a while, then the honeymoon. I say, why postpone fun? Let's go honeymooning now! In fact, let's honeymoon after both weddings. Why not?

Sunday, June 11, 2017

My Wedding Day

Ok! So! W're back in LA. Nice and full from the Lamb shank stew! Around 9:30pm, Calvin came to me in the living room. Babe, My mom said she can marry us tomorrow, are you busy tomorrow?
WHAAATTTTTT??!?!??!!? What the freaking freak? My head was spinning! It spins just thinking about that moment! What would you have done?

Thursday, June 08, 2017

Lamb Shank

Please Check out my eBay store under seller: TheLovelyBrook


On our way to The OC from San Diego

On our way back to Los Angeles from San Diego, Calvin took me to a German shopping center type place in Orange County. Apparently, he used to go there with his ex, so, needless to say, I needed to know that he had to take me there as well. The funniest thing was how some lady stared at him as we were approaching the restaurant. The ex lives in The OC, So, that lady could've been her. I half jokingly mentioned to him that the lady was staring at him, is that the ex? He missed the stare and was so curious to see the lady, it almost made me uncomfortable. Like, dude, why are you so interested?

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

San Diego! I'm Back!

Calvin had taken the car in for service in Pasadena before our trip to San Diego.

Picking up Calv in Pasadena

Press play on above video, if you like. 

We also went to the shooting range downtown LA one night. Here's that trip below. Click below. 

LA by night!

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Amber Rose's Butt

Guess who forgot her ring home?

Ima have to get used to this ring wearing thing! It's too precious, so I take it off when I deal with water. I have ring boxes planted all over the house so that I can stick it in them whenever need be. Of course, I forgot it at home on my trip to the 99 cents . Come along with me! Click play or on the above picture.

Calvin is not cheap. In fact, he is not a fan of thrifting at all. I don't tell him where I buy some stuff for the house. Why pay more, when you can pay only 99 cents? Don't answer that! Wanna see what I got? Click on the video below.

Go Tell It On The Mountain

After I said YES! I called mom while we were waiting in line for Our tacos. I wanted her to be the first one to hear the news. She picked up! It's always a shocker when she does. I told her the news. She kept asking "what?" "What?" I don't know if she was surprised or what. Eventually, she got it and said, "OK". Her enthusiasm was underwhelming to say the least. We didn't talk for long because I wanted to stay in my bubble and she was outside the bubble?. Next! My sisters!

Monday, May 15, 2017

The Proposal

After the story about the missing ring money, I was despondent. I didn't want to be in a funk, so I had to find positive things to think about. I knew what kind of ring I wanted. I had a ring on my vision board as you may know that I put pictures of my desires up there to encourage the process of them manifesting in my life. After Calvin's trip to the jewelry, where he almost brought home I didn't like, I started saving photos of my ideal ring from the internet. I narrowed it down and made a collage which I subsequently saved as the screensaver on my phone

Thursday, May 11, 2017

There Will Be No Wedding!

My hopefully soon to be fiance and his friend went out to dinner after ring shopping. I was at home dying to talk to him in person about the whole thing! He finally got home and brought me cow blood taco as per my request. I had sent him to try out the tacos Carly got me into when I stayed at her place while apartment hunting a few years ago. Unsurprisingly, they loved them. Now, back to the ring story...

Friday, April 28, 2017

Ring Size


On my way home from the Nigerian Restaurant. Nice drive, a bit of traffic but nothing new. We are in LA after all! 

My new friend and I stayed in touch. I really appreciated her treating me to Nigerian food. Did I tell you she paid at the restaurant as well? How nice was that? I owe her one! 

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Nigerian Food in Los Angeles

I had gone against my better judgement and befriended a girl from asouth africa. Nice girl. We had so much in common, when it comes to values etc. It was mice to find someone who gets 'it' we had spend a great deal of time talking over the phone with each other. I mean hours! The girl had a craving for African food. She told me she heard of a Nigerian restaurant in Inglewood. Neither of us had been there before. I was up for it though. When am I ever not? She doesn't drive. She offered to pay for gas if I picked her up and dropped her off afterwards. With a truck like mine, someone offers to pay for gas, you accept! It was a date!

Saturday morning, Calvin was at home. I had already mentioned to him that the girl and I har plans. I left him at home and headed off to hollywood.

Click on the picture/video above

Thursday, April 06, 2017

Do You Know What Today Is?

Independence day, we were at home. Calvin and his family and friends had a ton of fireworks that they had ordered from their 'fireworks guy'. They must have spent a couple of hundred dollars each on those! Talk about dedication! They all congregated at Calvin's parents' house and did their thing. The entire neighborhood was fireworksing. It was much louder than Beverly Hills. It had been a long weekend for me, so I stayed in and let the boys do their thing. I went out just for a second when they were exploding their biggest firework and then back home. Apparently, Calvin's brother fell in love that night... on the roof top of his home.. with a woman that had been friends with Calvin for pretty much ever. Yay, love!

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Ring Shopping

It had been three to four months since moving in with my boyfriend, Calvin and a year since we started dating. At this point, we had already talked about the future. I think that if you're going to move in with someone, you need to have had a conversation or two about the future. You wanna know the other person's expectations etc. No surprises! After Calvin mentioned, in Santa Barbara, that he wanted to shop for a ring for me, I knew we were headed the direction I wanna head.

Friday, March 17, 2017

Worming Your Way In

Back in LA! Santa Barbara had been an interesting trip. I would like to go there again under different circumstances with positive vibes all around. Life's back to normal, neighbor's kid had a birthday. We were invited, Calvin's mom gave gifts on our behalf. We just showed up for the food!
Birthday party, barbecue, bbq
Birthday Barbecue 

Sunday, March 05, 2017

Grumpy Gina

After Chumash painted cave, we went to Solvang; a quaint  Dutch town in Santa Barbara County. I wanted going there since I saw photos that one of my friends had posted on Facebook. She hadn't been there yet but had always wanted to go. Calvin's cousin happens to live in that town, so we arranged to meet up with him while there if he were available.
solvang windmill, dutch town, santa barbara
Solvang Windmill

Friday, February 17, 2017

Chumash Painted Cave in Santa Barbara

It's the morning after the night before.We were going to head back downtown Santa Barbara. After a warm shower and some green tea, we were good to go!

designated driver, betsey johnson sunglasses
Still the designated driver

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?

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Aloha Festival

A few weeks after filming the Short Film scene where I played a homeless person, I got a call from the director. He wanted to book me again. I was so thrilled! This time, we were going to shoot downtown Los Angeles, which is not far from where I live at all. It was going to be a night shoot. It didn't matter to me because work is work! Right?

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Playing a Homeless Person

Apparently, in 2015, I had submitted myself for a role of a homeless person in a short film. I forgot all about it when I didn't hear back from the casting people. Mid 2016, I got a call from a local number to my new home. I was surprised. I hardly knew anyone locally. It was the director of the short film! He wanted to see if I was still available and interested in playing the part. WHAT? Which role? Who? How much? Ahhhh, ok! Yeah, sure, I'd love to!

Thursday, January 05, 2017

Camping in Catalina Island

Happy 2017! I wish you nothing but the best in this new year. I hope you have already started on your New Year resolutions.


xoxo

Wrapping up my Catalina Birthday, we headed back to the campgrounds. I couldn't wait to put my feet up...or down, seeing as we were sleeping on the ground! Our tent was already up, we just had to blow up the beds and go to sleep.

camping, catalina island, sleeping bag, neck pillow
My California King.