March 16, 2025

They same time flies when you’re having fun!

It feels like it’s occurring at lightning speed. I wish my great-grandma Pearl was still alive so that I could tell her she was totally right when she told me not to grow up because it only makes the time move faster. Oh, and every time you turn around, there’s a bill, which is another warning she gave me. Lord knows I would’ve asked her more questions if I had taken her precautions more seriously.

To be fair though, I was a kid (lol), so everything was going in one ear and out the other. However, what did stick were affirmations that she said I would grow up and do great things because I was so different. She was just about the only person who embraced my uniqueness at times. I was a nerdy child, always getting lost in a book or a thought, talking the adults in my life heads off, but listening just as intently when they told me stories about life, love, and everything in-between. My favorite thing in the world, though, was listening to gossip. Even as a kid, I lived to be in the know.

Grandma Pearl and countless others planted seeds in me very early on that are still blooming. Fast-forward past my years as a kid, soon I would become a tween and that was around the time that my beloved great grandmother transitioned. It was also the first time that I felt and understood what it felt like for my heart to ache because I had lost someone so very close to me in the physical. She became the subject of many of my oratorical contest speeches throughout middle and high school. It wasn’t long before I decided to move just about 45 minutes away from my hometown to study mass communications at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).

Within my first week on campus, I got my first tattoo at this shop (can’t remember the name to save my life) on Broad Street. Of course, it was something that paid homage to my ancestor. I knew exactly what I wanted before myself, my suitemate (shoutout to Lexi), and my newfound homie (Miguel, waddup?) from down the hall set out to get some fresh ink. Mine wound up being a heart (with a purple shade) that was enclosed in pearls with the initial N.P.Y at the top, which stands for Nannie Pearl Yates.

Recently, I returned to my alma mater for homecoming. While this isn’t my first rodeo at attending our annual winter (yes, during the cold because we still don’t have a football team) gathering as an alumnus, it was the first time I was invited back to host an event for the VCU Black Alumni Association.

When Stefani Bonner, whom I spent countless nights with during my freshman year at house parties, the club, you name it, reached out to extend the invite, I was so excited. I knew that I couldn’t miss it! And a huge shoutout to Rob Chisley. What he and Stefani are doing with the VCU Black Alumni Association is so beautiful (and necessary because we’re the adults now, which is wild)!

In May, it will mark 10 years since we graduated from VCU. To commemorate this milestone, I hosted their Sip and Spin event alongside Ern (or Cuffy C), another person with whom I partied hard throughout college. The irony is that he went from throwing some of the most ill house parties throughout our college years to curating Richmond’s current night scene—it’s safe to say that we turned out alright!

It’s been just about a month since the event, and I still do not have the words to describe it. Everyone was on their grown and sexy vibe, looking so chocolate and beautiful—if I'm honest, it was the best way to bid Black History Month 2025 goodbye.

From the food to the Black art, VCU's Black history past, present, and future was on full display, and I am still completely floored and honored to have been a part of such a fantastic weekend. Sounds were curated by fellow alumnus JAXNN and one of my faves, DJ Jarvy Jarv, another person who played a massive role in my college experience (you simply had to be there during the 8 ½ and Carriage House run).

Not only did I fulfill my dream of returning to my school’s homecoming as a walking success story, but I did it looking so doggone good, if I do say so myself! And I couldn’t have done it without being Maddie’s Muse. Thank you to my girl Madison Cotton for pulling me so many HOT looks and with my face BEAT for the gawdssss. Shoutout to Nicole Gore for slaying my makeup for the Sip & Spin.

When I first set foot on VCU’s campus as a freshman in 2011, I knew I was one step closer to making my dreams of becoming a journalist come true. We are nearly 10 years later, and not only am I living in that dream, but I am doing far beyond what my mind could’ve imagined (God’s plan is always far more impressive than mine). It was an honor to party with so many familiar faces, meet some new ones, and leave Richmond full and refreshed.

Without VCU, I wouldn’t have my own version of the Flossy Posse either, and to be still rocking with my girls Brittany, Priscilla, Alexis, and Mecca is something I do not take lightly at all. This friendship has brought me amazing women like Ava and Octavia, and as a result of our sisterhood, they have a bonus sister through my bestie for the restie, Ebony. It is just a testament to how meeting the right people can change your life for the better.

Additionally, this great institution connected me with Chris Fuller, co-founder of Dreams To Reality (alongside Jon F), my current management group who continue to make my dreams a reality (pun all the way intended) through my Music Bytes podcast.

Overall, VCU’s homecoming this year was the place to be. We've lost quite a few along the way, so to be able to let our hair down, vibe, and celebrate where we are in life in the midst of what can often feel like chaos is a moment not to be taken lightly.

Until next time