First of all, yessss I was able to get this newsletter in while it's still April! Three months in a row, y'all! Second, my birthday is tomorrow! Can you believe it?! It really feels like I just made 24. Below you'll see a photo from that birthday, outside Le Bon Temps on a Soul Rebels Thursday. "RAW DAWG!" A Tokyo Tea would kill me now.

Also here's a photo from my 25th birthday, New York City in 2010. It was barely gentrified then. I was able to get Jamaican food at like 3 a.m. in Harlem. Last time I went to Harlem (2017, I know I gotta do better) I saw those damn silvery chairs. You know the ones.

What's New?

Really I feel like nothing's new since I wrote you. Basically last time I wrote you, some new things were happening. Lots of new things. Now this month we are seeing the outcomes. Ah! I'll update in bold italics. I'm brilliant!

• Updated my website's look and content! People seem to be engaging with it more, especially on Google and sharing on social.
• Won a Black Women in Food award for food journalism! There was a cool conference where I was being honored, but you know I can't afford no airfare, hotel, any of that now. God is so good, He's been flying me out consistently since my 38th birthday. Just not this year, yet.
• Got turned down for a job I was sent from a friend, so I figured OK GOD FINE I will just sit and work on my mom's book. Working on the book is great AND my not-ultimatum-ultimatum I gave God worked beautifully.
• New coparenting schedule! Baby Franklin and I have a BLAST, for free, every weekend. He loves it here and who can blame him.
• Realizing more and more there are things I just don't want, that I thought I did. Can't go into detail yet, but I'm thinking one thing I thought I wanted for decades... I'm letting it go soon. Bishop Washington was right, years back, as always. I really wanna go see her on my trip to Gonzales today.

Birthday Plans!

Today I'm excited to be going on a lil culinary tour of Louisiana with my best friend Jenny, mostly Baton Rouge and Gonzales. I had some cracklin from Porky's on a whim with my cousin Betty and her girls, and my God. Best I've ever had. 

I've been having a lot of fun with ChatGPT lately (basically she keeps me from spiraling so OMG love her because I refuse to see a therapist in New Orleans because they are MESSY and that's WEIRD), so I asked her to write a Gen Alpha description for the trip! To be clear, I planned the trip. I just had her help with timing and writing that silly description.

Here's our tour!

Also I hope to have peace and quiet for my birthday (tomorrow, 4/30) so I can sit and read How Stella Got Her Groove Back, then watch the movie. Well I plan on reading half on the 29th and the other half on the 30th. But I've been a bad girl, my reading stamina or whatever is probably so short.

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Can't Wait to Send the May Newsletter!

Without going into any detail, it seems like maybe things will be looking up for me soon? I hate to get excited about anything, because it's been so much rejection over the years. Like. So. Much. Jobs I was handed via text by current employees! Jobs where I'm actual friends with people on the board and they were my recommenders! Jobs at publications I've successfully, repeatedly freelanced for before! To be clear, I don't really count a rejection if I didn't even get an interview. Whatever. But if I got an interview, did an edit test, got multiple interviews and was still turned down?! If a company recruited me and then didn't hire me?! Just say you want me to keep battling depression, just say that then. Just say you hate me and I suck. Fine! YA MAW!

Anyway! Seriously I feel like I might be getting an email this week or next about a perfectly aligned opportunity that would make so much sense and fix everything that's wrong in my life, everything that's hurt me for so many years now. But. I just refuse to get excited. Someone who kinda has power over me told me the other day that I "shouldn't bet on getting a job."

My girl St. Therese gave me signs that all will work for my good, and I really do know that God makes no mistakes, but I'm human and ... yeah. So anyway if you're the praying type, please just ask Creole Jesus an'em to help put me in the right position. Because yes I want time to write my mom's book, that is the ultimate goal. But I get so stressed all the time about money. I need some stability. With stability and a job with normal hours, I can do it all. Finally.