"Spread/X17online.com/Spread/X17online.com
Simon Cowell soaking up the sun with a Lauren Silverman in St. Barths on his yacht in January 2012, Andrew Silverman, Lauren's husband was present on the trip. "(NYDailyNews.com)
We ladies have what's called The Sister Code.  The Sister Code means we don't exchange former flames.

I saw this lady's photo on a Natural Hair Facebook group post. Wendy Ida is 60 years old and appeared in ESSENCE for their Ageless Beauty 2013 spread. Not only is this lady fabulously fit at 60, but she also lost 80 lbs in her forties to get this age defying body!

I stopped in for a quick pedicure today. A lady sitting across from me became chatty about her life and relationship. I still don't know why people do that. She said she doesn't really want to get married to her boyfriend of 4 years, she's too happy with the way things are now and doesn't want to compromise. She's 57, but looks like she's late 30s early 40s no lie...I was shocked, and was married for 19 years.

While writing this blog, people always pepper me with questions about why I'm not the girlfriend or significant other to some of my guy friends. The number one answer is: We don't see each other "that way". Number two answer: I have my own situation to deal with. Number three answer: WE DON'T SEE EACH OTHER THAT WAY.

There is a hard line between being a guy's best girl friend and being his GIRLFRIEND. Those paths do not intersect. Or at least not in the realm of platonic friendship. (Now becoming your man's best friend is a different story.)

Girlfriend's get special treatment. Girlfriends get the benefit of all the advice given from the best girl friend and the Prince Charming side of the frog.

Here are Five Things Guys Do With Their Girlfriends, but not their best girl friend:

I went home to help my mama get rid of some stuff and look what she found! Right before my eyes were my books from the past! 
How many of you remember Teen Witch, Sweet Valley High, Girl Talk and all of those books from the 80s and 90s? Oh my goodness! I was so tickled!
I have always been an avid reader, so this is just a testament of it.  Seeing all of these books took me way back! Growing up I was a combination bookworm and tomboy. I was both silly and serious. 
That being so, I had friends who ran the gamut in personalities and cultures. I remember my friends S.A., C.C. and I would exchange books and talk about them. I guess we had our own little book club going.
S.A. just so happens to be Caucasian. I bring this up because of a question I was asked this week. A young lady asked me how it was for me going to college with a lot of Caucasian people. For me it was no different than any other time in my life.

I spoke to a group of kids who were aged 5th grade to 9th grade on Thursday.…

If you ever visit Charlotte, make a trip to Discovery Place located at 301 N. Tryon Street. Oh...and you can bring your kids too! I hadn't been in years, but the place is so much fun. I would actually recommend it for a date night. 
Last night I attended the #WCNCMeetup, sponsored by the local @NBC affiliate. 
In attendance were media gurus and Charlotte newbies getting a taste of the town! (Hi ladies if you're reading!)
Oh and I also ran into my cousin who I haven't seen in a minute!  I actually played with some of the gadgets. The one above is a pulley apparatus that utilizes isometrics (using your own body weight to exercise). That's my view from the one labeled hard. Nikki Panache is on the harder one. Then there's WCNC anchor Dion Lim on the hardest.
I did actually pull myself up, but couldn't snap a pic while pulling. This is a good upper body workout! lol

Dion gets a little help from the Southern Cake Queen's husband. (They run a cupcake bakery on w…

Shout out to the homie, Troy for bringing this up. Good Times set a precedent way back in 1977...before I was born...
Michael Evans was the first person to introduce being "catfished" to the world. Catfish on MTV has taken off and should pay homage to Michael and the Good Times crew! LOL
In Season 5, Episode 8, "Bookman has just bought a CB radio and to hide it from Mrs. Bookman, he keeps it in the Evans apartment. Michael passes himself off as J.J. while using the CB and quickly discovers he's not the only one who's putting on an act. A girl he contacts who calls herself Fun Girl really turns out to be a paraplegic."

Fun Girl: (to Michael) You were going to take me dancing, skiing...you knew I couldn't walk and you still wanted to be my friend.
Michael: Well you know...
Fun Girl: But you did it pretending to be something you weren't...and I did the same thing. I guess that's why they sell so many CBs, on the CB, you can be anything you want.
http://w…

As I wrote my book (now editing) and chronicled my life as a tomboy, I thought deeply about my guy friends. I traced back to the point at which I first had really deep conversations with a guy.

It took me back to middle school. This particular friend was one of the funniest people I had ever met. He was really easy going and talked a lot.
We would sit and chat whenever he came to my Phys Ed class. He was in eighth grade and I was in sixth. He and I would always clown each other about different things. If he had witnessed me miss a layup on a fast break, as I played my last year of elementary school basketball, trust and believe I wouldn't hear the end of it. 
I would always go in on his big ears, but we would both laugh about it. We talked about other things like goals and dreams. He encouraged my nerdy side and always asked to see my report card.
We kinda lost touch when he left for high school, but reconnected when I joined him there a couple years later. That's when we real…

I remember growing up as a tomboy and running into "girly-girls". They annoyed the heck out of me. One got on my nerves intentionally, I believe.
She would always swear to me that boys would never like me because I was a tomboy, and "boys don't like tomboys". She insisted that boys only liked girls like her, ones who played in makeup and not mud. Her hair was always in place and mine always had a bow missing from playing tag football or swinging from the monkey bars. 
I smelled like sweat and baby powder and she smelled like lavender or some other potpourri. LOL The boys picked me to play on their teams at recess and her to carry her book bag to the bus. 
So was she right? As we grew up would I always be the friend? 
Not really. Though I talk about my homeboys all the time, those were not the only guys who were around. Guys did tend to approach me differently as we grew up. Well some approached me exactly the same way they did her before noticing my "tomb…

So my 49ers lost the Super Bowl to the Ravens this year. Are you going to let them lose the uniform challenge too? I don't think you will.

I know...I know.. the NFL season has not yet started, but it is gearing up to be a great one. The NFL has fans engaged with their social media campaigns, one of which is the Greatest Uniform in History contest. The competition is in Round 5 with the 49ers going up against the Ravens and the Carolina Panthers going head to head against the San Diego Chargers.

I am a Carolina girl so you know the Panthers are also getting my vote. You can go vote here: http://www.nfl.com/greatestuni.



Follow @YBBG_Blog on Twitter and use hashtag #YBBGTopic for more interesting discussions. 
Check out YBBG on Facebook. 

So the other day I noticed a new actor following YBBG on Twitter. It was this guy, David Lowe, one of my favorites from the web series the Unwritten Rules.

Peter, as a character, is absolutely hilarious. He is quirky and clueless in so many ways, but the naivete of his character functions to make uncomfortable conversations less heavy.

Peter is in love with the main character, Racey. This guy plays the awkward guy so well. He actually reminds me of a guy I went to school with. Actually he's like a few of them rolled into one character.

In the first episode of season two, Peter asks about Juneteenth. He cannot fathom how no one told the slaves in Texas that they were free. The question seems so obvious but funny at the same time. Peter is that guy who is able to talk about controversial topics in ways that you cannot get mad at him.




Follow @YBBG_Blog on Twitter and use hashtag #YBBGTopic for more interesting discussions. 
Check out YBBG on Facebook. 

So a guy I know became a meme. There was a mix up with his photo at the school where he works. The yearbook staff put his picture with the kids.
This happened quite awhile ago. Fast forward and he is now a meme. One of his former students posted this pic with the ill-placed photo. Then Twitter meme world got a'hold of it. This guy I know became the oldest kid in whatever grade this is...in history. 
The truth did not matter. The fact that his pic was placed with the kids instead of the staff is inconsequential in a world of 140 characters. 
So if you ever wondered how real memes are...here you have it. 
It goes to show how even innocent mistakes can be fodder for jokes on social media. Instagram, Tweet and Facebook at your own risk. LOL

I always have funny conversations with my homeboys. We can also chat for extended periods of time on the phone. This week the topic of discussion was what guys don't do with other guys but may do with chicks that they are friends with.

5 THINGS MEN DO NOT DO WITH OTHER MEN

1. Sit next to each other in a movie theater



"Guy's shouldn't sit next to other single random guys. If you see another single random guy, pick a different row. In fact pick a different auditorium. And if you attend the movie with another guy, put an empty seat between yourselves and use it to store your jackets, umbrellas, popcorn bags, candy boxes, etc." For some reason, I found this absolutely hilarious. However, I have heard it from so many guys that I guess it must be true. Men do not sit next to each other in movie theaters. They leave a seat in between no matter how many of them go to the movies together.

2. Talk on the phone longer than 5 minutes


Whereas I can spend hours on end talking to …

So I asked a few people how old is too old and how young is too young for them to consider someone mate potential.
It all stemmed from Al Sharpton and his alleged young tenderoni who is only a few years older than me.
Al is older than my mama! He's just a couple years under my daddy! I personally couldn't consider someone more than a few years younger or older. 
What about you? 

I always hear some guys complain about nice guys finishing last. My response is, like most things the dating game is about marketing.

How would you react if you saw a bride sashay down the aisle in a scarlet red dress?

Love and Hip Hop Atlanta 2 

At all times you should be mindful of the company you keep. Let me be clear, I don't even halfway believe this storyline between Kirk and Rasheeda on Love and Hip Hop Atlanta. But for discussion sake, I'm going to address this whole "Mary Jane" situation.

DJ Traci Steele has a nickname for women who take on the side piece role. She calls them microwavable popcorn b****es.

So y'all know Meagan Good has never been modest. The last time you've seen her covered up on screen was when she played the little kid on Friday standing at Big Worm's ice cream truck.

My brudda from another mudda, Brotha B, asked that I watch this show/movie from BET. I'm still without TV (by choice), so I finally scoured the internet looking for it. Voila!I found it.

Being Mary Jane stars Gabrielle Union as Mary Jane Paul. We find out in the scene with her baby brother that her real name is Pauletta. Mary Jane is living the life as a successful feature anchor with credentials to keep her skyrocketing career wise. Her home life isn't so grand. With a dysfuncitonal family, ailing mother, and heartbreaking love life, Mary Jane is trying to keep it together.

I honestly did not know what to expect from this show. After the week I've had with exes popping back up and having uncomfortable conversations with them...I needed a break. LOL

I've been following the killing of Trayvon Martin since about a week or so after it took place. I have my own opinions about what happened the night of the +NBA All star game in 2012 in Sanford, Florida. That is not my purpose for writing this post. I have written several posts on that topic.

My purpose in writing this post is for a couple of reasons. 1. I want to dispel some untruths I hear pundits on +CNN spreading repeatedly. 2. I want people to better understand the court process.

I realized by reading tweets and comments that people have strong opinions and have taken sides on this case already. The only facts that are known to be true are:

Trayvon Martin was killed and George Zimmerman shot him. 
You can be angry about that statement all you want. But those are the only facts that we have to start off from. Everything else has to be proven in court. Even though George Zimmerman had injuries, he has to prove that Martin inflicted those injuries as part of his self-defense cla…

Photo from NecoleBitchie.com



So last night Dwyane Wade won the Humanitarian Award at the BET Awards. In his acceptance speech, he acknowledged his long time girlfriend, Gabby Union as his "beautiful Black queen", and the trumpets sounded in Heaven... Sarcasm
I didn't watch the BET Awards, so all I know of it is what I read online this morning. People are really geeked over D Wade acknowledging Gabby Union publicly? 
He didn't propose to her, profess his undying love or save her from a burning house... He just said "yeah...we are together." All of the vainglorious tweets affirming Black love came pouring in.

Has society devolved to the point where a man merely acknowledging his significant other is cause for celebration?
I mean good grief! People have snake belly low expectations these days. 
Are people so used to being someone's secret booty call or sometimes "boo thang" that this type of acknowledgement is abnormal?
So what does this m…