• happy valentines day
    Ramblings

    A Note on Love

    02/14/2017 - By 

    In 2015, I stayed single for nearly 365 days. In 2016, I somehow quickly forgot everything that I taught myself in that romance free year. Maybe some of you are in happy relationships, but can still relate to this—some relationships are so powerful that they can throw even the strongest of people off-balance. In my case, I found myself dissatisfied, wanting more, doubting, and thinking, thinking, thinking. I found myself feeling lonely in love. The end of 2016 was a bit stormy as my relationship practically fell of a cliff. It broke my heart and I carried that ache around…

  • thanksgiving toast
    Ramblings

    A Thanksgiving Toast.

    11/24/2016 - By 

    It’s Thanksgiving and I must say, I’m grateful for lots of things this year. I’m grateful that the only thing on the agenda today is to eat. And then to reheat the same food again 3 hours later and do it all over again. I’m grateful for Snapchat filters. Shout out to the puppy and flower crown filters for letting me pretend that my skin is always flawless. I’m grateful that dark roots are still in style. I haven’t colored my hair in months— both my wallet and I are pretty happy campers about that. I’m grateful for these holiday…

  • change
    Ramblings

    Season of Change

    11/16/2016 - By 

    Fall is known as the season of transition and change—both in the small ways and in the huge, life-altering ways. Changes in temperature, changes in color, changes in scenery, changes in time. But this year in particular, Fall came in guns hot. For one, my parents sold our childhood home in Orlando. We had lived in that neighborhood since 1998 and just last week my parents handed over the keys to the new owners. My last weekend at my house was definitely bittersweet. Sorting through and boxing up everything we had collected over the years definitely brought me back. Not to mention—…

  • wynwood
    Ramblings - Scrapbooks

    Gone MIA

    09/20/2016 - By 

    It’s been a hot minute since I posted on here, but here’s why I’ve gone MIA…because I’ve literally gone to MIA. I recently made the move to Miami and couldn’t be happier. In the beginning of July I packed up and started school. SCHOOL, AGAIN?! I know I know, if you would’ve asked me a year ago to go back to school, I would’ve looked at you, laughed, and then maybe thrown a bunch of sharpened pencils at you. But I am going back to school again, for the third time, and embarking on a whole new career path. I’m going…

  • introvert extrovert
    Ramblings

    The Yin and Yangs of Introverts and Extroverts

    07/06/2016 - By 

    I’m going to be completely honest—when I was younger, I always struggled with being an introvert. It was never easy. I always dreamed of being the first to raise my hand in the classroom. The one to express my ideas with full assertion. The one to step up to the plate and call attention. Before any party, group project, meeting or class presentation, I would give myself the same little pep talks. Speak up, Daphne. Say Something, Daphne. Be fun, Daphne. Don’t over think, Daphne. But really, all I was feeding myself was a big spoonful of pressure and bellyaches.…

  • Ramblings - Scrapbooks

    Happy Dad’s Day

    06/19/2016 - By 

    One of my dad’s favorite stories about me goes back to when I was just 2 years old. When my dad was finishing up his residency in New Jersey, he would come home from the hospital to our little basement apartment, completely exhausted. First thing he always did was take off his work shoes, slip on his black leather slippers and sprawl on the couch for a minute. I must’ve been a pretty attentive 2-year-old—with impressive upper-body strength, may I add—because soon after learning how to walk, I picked up on his little routine. When I heard him coming through the…

  • Ramblings

    We are Orlando.

    06/13/2016 - By 

    As I sit here in my home—nestled in the neighborhood I’ve called home for 20 years— I am overcome by waves of shock, confusion, sadness and anger. In just 48 hours, two senseless acts of violence struck my hometown of Orlando, Florida. Within four miles of my old high school, in the heart of the city that has helped mold me, many innocent lives were tragically and unjustly lost. On Saturday afternoon, I learned about the death of singer Christina Grimmie—The Voice Season 6 contestant—who was gunned down while signing autographs after her Friday night concert in Orlando. A deranged…