What is Becoming Woman?? New Blog

Hey!!

So I started a new blog! I'm so excited about it and what is in store.

I decided that I was outgrowing my Nappy Nikki blog (If you are not aware here is the link www.nappynikki.com). I needed something that would grow with me during the many changes that are going on in my life.

• I finished my Masters in Publishing! 
• I got engaged and will be a married woman very soon. Like very soon! 
• I moved from Brooklyn out to the suburbs and in a town that is 100% Jewish.
• I got a new job, pretty much my dream job in publishing.
• Lastly, I am in this odd process of making new friends in a new area and balancing my existing friendships. 

To some people these things may not seem difficult to manage. However, I tend to be a bit hard on myself and forget to take my time and focus more. I always have it in my mind that I have to be perfect and the best at everything. This time around things will be different. Instead of applying unnecessary pressure to myself I will focus on being the be me I can be. I will focus on becoming the woman God wants me to be and the woman that only I can compete with.

I welcome everyone to join in on the discussions by leaving your comments and questions under each post. I am open to advice and words of encouragement.

For this new blog I also want to develop consistency. There will be two blog posts every week. One on Sunday and the other Wednesday both releasing at noon EST.

I want to thank everyone for your continued support. This is the beginning of something great. I can feel it, I believe it and I know it will flourish!

Peace and Blessings

Dominique

Quarter Life Reflections...

It's 10:09 on Sunday night. Yesterday was my birthday and I turned the big 25. I can now check the 25- 32 box on random applications. All day I received happy birthday wishes in various forms. At one point it got very overwhelming. I didn't realize how many people I had met over the years and the many different friendships I had formed. For a second I had a  Big Fish moment, where everyone I had met throughout my lifetime had all come to one place to celebrate my life. Everyone having different stories of how we met and the crazy situations that we got into. There were even some people that I pushed out of my life because they brought no peace to it. Those people were reminders of how far I have come as a woman and also of how I should continue to live my life.  I felt blessed to have such amazing people in my life to celebrate my life with and I can't wait to do this again next year.

I was able to celebrate in a true 25 year old fashion. Ending my year with a night of 10 amazing friends and some new ones too, wild sweaty dancing, chocolate chip cookies that Martha Stewart couldn't compete with, 10 shots of liquid birthday cake,  5 beautiful Irish men that each came with a shot of something called Jameson, a crazy taxi ride, a platter of fried goodness and my very own Coyote Ugly experience. That is all just putting it lightly.  My last night as a 24 year old rocked my socks off!

(Disclaimer: I realized the morning after that I cannot hang the way I used to in college. lol However it was fun while it lasted.)

So, now that I am officially an "adult" what do I do? What are my goals for the next 25 years? To be honest it's a little difficult to say what my goals are for the next 25 years, which is expected. However, I can say that for the next 5 years I see myself becoming something more beautiful and amazing. Not to sound cocky or anything.

In my professional life my goal is to complete my masters program and begin my career in the magazine world. I also would like to go back and do some work in the non profit sector. In my health life my goal is remain a healthy lifestyle, maybe get to my goal weight of 150lbs, I'm at 165 lbs now. This is not a major issue since I don't believe in putting pressure on oneself about this, but it would be pretty sweet to get there.  I would also like to learn a form of dance, maybe salsa. That's random but it goes with health. I would like to visit 3 new countries within the next 5 years. Traveling is very important to me and I find it to be an essential to personal growth. Lastly, my love life. Oh my infamous random love life. I don't want to make goals but I do know what I am open to. I am open to a relationship, possibly with someone that I can learn and grow with. Have wonderful experiences with and discuss a future with. I am also open to starting a family. Let's get real, I don't want to have children at a late age. I would rather start a family before I'm 35. I think it's very important for children to have parents that will be around when they have start to have their own. True, these things will come with time and patience but it's alright to put them in the air.

For now I will continue to live the life I have built for myself. Enjoy my little apartment in Brooklyn, enjoy my masters program, run around New York City and get lost from time to time, laugh and sing with my girlfriends and enjoy each day as if it were my last!

Sheldon and I

For the last six days my life has been in a tiny bubble. Filled with laughs, smiles, great Thai food, Game of Thrones marathons, and hours of much-needed conversation. Thankfully my bubble stayed safe from intruders, judgement and naysayers. I traveled across the big pond to visit a friend that I haven't seen in nearly 3 years. I met Sheldon, my friend, when I was very young. He is a year older than I am, but that really doesn't matter. I won't go into great details because that would take more time than I can spare at the moment, but I will say that our relationship is truly a rare one. As I said before I spent six days with him, catching up on our lives as they are now, reflecting on pastimes and discussing our dreams of the future. I was originally hesistant to make this trip because I was a unsure on what I wanted to gain from it. We hadn't physically seen each other in 3 years, but with the help of Facebook, Skype and email we were always only a few clicks of a mouse away from each other. So having the opportunity to physically reconnect was definitely something that I could not miss. My trip started Thursday afternoon, I was eagerly awaiting my arrival to a land that was rather unfamiliar to me. After landing in the new place I had to go through the usual customs dance. While examining my passport and other paperwork, the customs agent questioned my relationship with the person that I was going to see. After informing her that I was visiting a friend from college she still asked if I was visiting my boyfriend. I unconsciously replied yes. What did I just do? After customs and a quick cleanup in the bathroom I see him, Sheldon, waiting for me just like he said. Ecstatic about seeing him we leave and go on about our way. Sheldon is just as I remembered him. Same smile, dimple on each cheek, and same smooth lips. What I don't remember about him is calmness. Not that he was a hot head before this was different. A difference that I definitely enjoyed. Each day following that was perfect. Aside from good times with friends, great food and a little touristy adventures the most important moments to me happened in the comfort of his own home. Sounds crazy to travel so far to just sit on a couch, but I was more content than ever. The point of this story is to explain the importance of friendship over love. After many talks about what we wanted from each other and the future it was clear that what needed to be protected was our friendship. The most difficult thing for me to do was tell Sheldon that I was in love with him. He too told me of his feelings for me but his hesitations were not being ready for a relationship. That I completely understood and respected. The last thing I want to do is rush into something prematurely. However, it was very important to me that he knows how I feel and vice versa. Talking with Sheldon as adults put a lot of things in perspective. Perspective that my little eyes and heart needed to hear and see. On my last day I was in another world. Sheldon, not understanding what was wrong, thought that it was something that he did. I reassured him that everything was ok. I just needed a moment to reflect on my trip and to make sure that I was making good decisions. In the end I have no doubts nor regrets from this trip. I may still be a single woman but I gained something much greater. Sheldon is no longer that immature selfish boy I once knew, he is now a man who has grown into someone I would've never imagine. So if it means that the universe never puts us together as husband and wife but we get to remain in each others lives through no matter what then that's fine by me. So to Sheldon, I said it once and I'll say it again, I love you, always have and always will. And I'll always have your back, literally. ;)