I have a headache. I’d like to say that it’s because I’m tired, but I think it might have been that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup I ate. Damn you chocolate and peanut butter for going together so well!

It’s a startlingly beautiful day outside but I’m trapped indoors with no windows, fluorescent lights and air conditioning set at arctic chill.

I have been searching online for an ensemble to wear to a christening I’m going to later in the month. In typical Ethiopian fashion, this is not a one day event - thusly requiring me to have several changes of attire for the two day event. I would be angry about this under typical (read: any other time except right now) circumstances, but I kind of love the baby a lot so I’m suppressing my rage.

I sent a friend of mine an email to discuss a gigantic elephant in the room. An email y’all. How 2008 is that? Our once shiny and pristine relationship had somehow tripped and fell into a fat puddle of mud and become something not so great. It’s so silly to have even emailed about it, but I think we both feel better about it - or at least I do.

My friend Julio cooked me dinner last night and it was supremely delicious. Besides unemploymentgate 08 ©, this year has been pretty good to me, especially in terms of meeting people and building new relationships and I’m so thankful for that.

Joshua won So You Think You Can Dance. I love him and I want to have 453 cute, chubby brown babies with him.  Two of my favorite performances featuring his cute face here and here (couldn’t help myself) and here.

Did you know if you keep ignoring that smell in your kitchen for days at a time that when you finally look for the source of that noxious smell and you pick up that potato that’s been sitting there for a really long time, the whole toxic thing will probably melt into a rotting pile right in your hand and you will want to die because OH. MY. GOD. Do you smell that? Yeah, bet you didn’t know that.

  

My mother and brother in-law are in town, hence the infrequent updates. I am locked into a never-ending string of eating, family visits and eating and family visits. Oh, and we eat. A lot. Perhaps I nibble more than eat, but the food is in abundance and to turn down food in an Ethiopian household? Unheard of.

I feel like there has been so much to do and yet, I haven’t really been doing much at all. Cuddling with my husband’s cousin’s baby girl, playing (and winning) Conquer (a card game), and just generally being. I am very lucky to be a part of this family and I am so aware of that.

Today I have been wearing a pink robe all day and napping and gabbing in sporadic intervals. I begged my husband for one day of quiet where getting dressed was not a requirement. He obliged but really only since today he is beside himself because he’s getting to meet Mulatu Astatke, a famous and well-respected Ethiopian musician which would kind of be like meeting J. Lo in person.

Tomorrow is a new day and I’ll probably have to actually bathe and get dressed, but I’m trying to soak up these last days of summer which I am holding on very fiercely to.

I’ll be around.

Today’s Sunday Share is good. Really good. I’ve kind of been looking forward to it for days and so I hope that it makes your day a little nicer. As always, please right-click and save as.

Che’nelle: I Fell In Love With The DJ - This one is really just because I want you to shake your booty on a Sunday afternoon (or a Monday morning or whenever). A pop/dancehall-ish type track with a slick chorus and a good groove.

Jennifer Hudson: Spotlight - I really hated this song when I first heard it, but now I can’t seem to stop listening to it. I hope that Jennifer Hudson’s new album doesn’t suck. I hope that it’s not full of songs that feel like they should have been sung by Patti Labelle instead of a twenty-something with a big voice. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Mirah: The Garden - Quirky is the best word I can think of to describe this track. It’s a song I first heard on So You Think You Can Dance (Shut up! I know you’re watching too) and dance is just as quirky (and great) as the song.

Nas: Hero feat. Keri Hilson - I’m going to be honest and say that I’ve never been much of a Nas fan. I went to Rock The Bells (the tour) last week and left before he even hit the stage. But his new album, Untitled - has me a little bit excited. There’s a fire and a newness about his rhyming and I really appreciate that. Right now, it’s on my shortlist for top albums of the year, it’s just that good. This song, which features the omnipresent Keri Hilson is just one example of why Nas is so great right now.

Raphael Saadiq: Oh Girl - If you are not familiar with the brilliance that is Raphael Saadiq, you need to get acquainted right now and by right now I mean like, yesterday. This song is such a throwback, something Saadiq does so amazingly well. And yet, it sounds fresh and contemporary and perfect for a little summer romance.