The Procrastination List

Hello everyone! Today's post is about something we all may have dealt with at one point in our lives - Procrastination. By definition, to procrastinate means to put off or delay - to go or move slowly so that progress is hindered. Ouch. Reading that hit me like a ton of bricks. As much as I wanted to be productive and make serious progress in my life, I was the reason why I remained stationary. Learning this lesson brought me to my latest project called "The Procrastination List". (My version of The Bucket List- member that movie?) Anyway, what I did was very simple. I made a list of things I've been saying I need to do for the past 2 weeks or so and I made a self commitment to complete them all this week! My list had over 20 things on it!! wow.

Day One: Bright and early Monday morning (yesterday), I grabbed my list and started moving. As I completed my tasks, I would cross them off. (simple enough) Thing was, the more things I crossed off, the lighter I started to feel - it was like I lost weight or something (also on the list, lol)! Crossing off each item felt so good, I was anxious to cross off another. This helped me to stay focused and by the end of the day, I had completed 10 things! *side note* I took my list with me everywhere I went and as I worked, more things came to my head to add to my list. At first, I felt discouraged because I thought I would never get this list done if I keep adding stuff to it. BUT, as it turns out, adding to the list kept me goal focused and before I know it, I was making some serious progress in a short amount of time.

Day two : So excited to get started, I grabbed my list and highlighted what I hadn't accomplished the day before and I started working on that. Then I got a call from my sister who needed me to handle something for her. I was willing to help but that meant time away from my list. *NOTE* Distractions are the open door to procrastination if you are not focused on your goal. *End Note*
I kept my list with me at all times and referred to it often. I also added "help my sister" to my list so that once I completed that task I crossed it off. It is now 7:39pm and I have completed 6 items. (hitting send on this blog post makes 7 :o) Then on to Day three...

I'm looking forward to seeing all the things I get accomplished this week and curious to know what new opportunities I can now take advantage of because I got rid of procrastination!

How many of you made a New Year's Resolution's list? It's now the middle of March. How close are you to reaching those goals? Don't let this year go by without accomplishing your old goals so you can make some new ones! Pick a large goal then break it down to smaller ones. As you get them done, cross them off and when you have crossed off that last item, Congratulations, you have reached your goal!

Life is to short to spend it standing in place. Let's make it happen, yall!! Hope this helps someone like it's helping me!

Sincerely,
Tasha LaRae

P.S. Please feel free to post your comments below. And I invite you to start your own "procrastination list". We can help each other stay focused :o)

It's Fun Rocking Earjeans!

Well hello, everyone! I hope this blog finds you smiling this wonderful Tuesday morning :o)

I am excited about today's blog because it features some of my dearest friends showing off their Earjeans! I have a lot of fun making Earjeans and it's even more fun when I get text messages, emails, pictures, etc from satisfied customers who say they get tons of compliments on their Earrings. I thought it would be really cool to start a running blog segment where we show off their pictures and talk a little about them. If you want your picture featured, just send me a good picture (doesn't have to be professional just great lighting where we can see your face and your earrings really good) to earjeans@yahoo.com and put "Earjeans Pics" in the subject line.


Earjeans Diva: Queen La
North Carolina

Beautiful woman, inside and out! I love her positive attitude about life and making every moment count.




Earjeans Diva: Donnita Hathaway
Chicago, IL

Fabulous woman! Full of creativity, drive, and always knows how to make something happen!




Earjeans Diva: Judith Franklin
Georgia

Another beautiful spirited woman! An amazing singer and friend :o) (Hope you are enjoying Africa, Judith!)


Earjeans Diva: Sherron Days
Georgia

Another beautiful woman inside and out! So pretty!



Earjeans Diva: Kayte Burgess
Canada

Another singing, soul diva! Kayte Burgess is a name you won't want to forget! An amazing voice and really fun person to be around.


Earjeans Diva: Avery Sunshine
Philadelphia, PA

So many things I can say about this power house of a woman! Shine on, Ms. Sunshine! Sang!!!
Yall check her out!! Buy on Itunes


Thank you all for being who you are! I am so grateful to know you and equally grateful that you are all rockin Earjeans!

Until next time, keep smiling and being beautiful YOU!

Tasha LaRae

Behind the Scenes - Making of "Greener" Music video with Arrested Development

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I wanted to share with you some behind the scene footage of Arrested Development shooting the music video for our 2nd Single "Greener" from our latest CD 'Strong'.

"Greener" is a song about everyone doing their part in taking care of the earth. It also spreads a message of hope that we all can make this place a better place to live. We shot this at Botanical Gardens in Atlanta, GA. If you've never been, it's a beautiful place to visit ;o) So here are a few pics for you. Scroll to the bottom to watch the final version of the video!! Enjoy!

Namir as "The Sunshine"
Jimmie, our wonderful director!
Here's a shot of the crew getting ready for a different scene
A picture of yours truly ;o)
Baba Oje sitting in deep thought. and he didn't know I was taking his pic!
Eshe (yellow dress) and Mia (make up artist) prepping Peyton for her next scene as "The rain cloud"
The guys hanging out (Speech, One Love, JJ Boogie, Za, Ras)
Speech in action
Namir and Peyton happy to be on the set!


Watch the final version on "Greener"

Make up: Mia Young
Stylist/Wardrobe: Harley

New Year's in Japan 2009/2010

So much to tell about this trip! I'll do my best to tell it all...

At 4:30am December 25, 2009 we all arrived at the airport in Atlanta to catch a 6:30am flight to Houston, TX. We catch a connecting flight about 2 hours later headed for Tokyo (13 hour flight) Needless to say, we got some great sleep on the plane. (at least I did!)

Around 3:45pm December 26 we land in Tokyo (they are 12 hours ahead of us on the east coast) and we checked into the hotel - only to leave an hour later to head to JWave radio for an interview and an on air live performance. The city was lit up with white Christmas lights and lots of people walking about the city. So pretty... Anyway, we sing two songs, "Tennessee" and "the World Is Changing" and answer several questions. Then we took a few pics and headed to our hotel for some much needed rest.

The next day, we have sound check at Billboard to make sure the sound is right for the show day #1. The wait staff at Tokyo Billboard is so nice! After each show they would line up in the hallway and cheer for us as we returned to our dressing room. It was so cool. They fed us in between shows (the food was delicious!) then we freshened up for show number 2! Yep, that's right! We did 2 shows per night and each show was at least 70 minutes long. And for those of you who have been to an Arrested Development concert, you know we don't sit still! BTW, our first show was recorded and aired live on Pay Per View (that was cool!) After the shows, we signed autographs and took a lot of pictures (see below). We performed for 2 sold out crowds!!

Next day, we got to sleep in because we didn't have to be back at Billboard until 6pm. And that day, I slept until 4pm! I was wore out completely. I slept so good I didn't even get food. I just drank water and ate the meal replacement bars I brought from home, ha! Show day #2 was just as successful as the first day. Both shows were sold out and we were signing autographs for a long time. It's really cool to look out in the crowd and see people singing along to the songs- just proves that there is no language barrier in music. The audience seemed to be drawn to the music by the feeling they got as they heard it. It was awesome.

Now with 4 shows down and 4 more to go, we pack up and head to Osaka which is an hour flight away from Tokyo. This was a travel/free day as we did not have a show that night. A break I believe we all needed.

The last 2 days of 2009, we spent on stage rocking in Osaka! We played to 4 sold out crowds and it was a blast! The more we did the show, the better it got. People dancing everywhere and singing along to all the songs-amazing. I even saw a couple who appeared to be in there late 50's early 60's singing and dancing to the music. So encouraging!

The second show we did on New Year's Eve was also recorded and it was the best show of the entire tour! People screaming everywhere, over 80% of the audience stayed on their feet the entire time! We sang for about 70 minutes then took a 20 minute break. We came back on stage at 5 minutes til the new year with wine glasses and noise makers to count down the new year. A hugh clock is displayed on the screen and then the count down begins 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! The entire room is filled with celebration, toasts, and cheers! Then we sing about 4 more songs and end our concert. Shake a ton of hands and give well wishes to everyone. About 5 minutes after we've left the stage, someone comes backstage and asks us to do a double encore because the fans have been cheering for us to come back for the past 5 minutes! Can you believe that? That is so awesome! I was so humbled by the entire experience. And we went back out and did 2 more songs! I don't know where they got all that energy from but I'm glad they had it!

I returned to my hotel room exhausted and exhilarated! It was hard to sleep but I eventually drifted off to sleep.

This trip was one of the funnest trips we've taken and I look forward to more shows in 2010. Here are a few pics from the tour taken by different members of the group.

For more pics, info, tour dates, videos, etc you can visit our website at www.arresteddevelopmentmusic.com and join our mailing list.

We are all on facebook (arrested development), myspace, and twitter- which ever social network you prefer ;o)







A.D. advertisement in the subway/ Tokyo in the daylight/President Barak and Michelle Obama dolls!

Pic of candy in a coner store in Tokyo/ street life in Japan/ Sold out A.D. CD stand in HMV record store!



Fans stand in line for autographs after Tokyo show/ Billboard Live sign/ more autograph sigings



A.D. group shot at JWave radio station.

Women Love Compliments!

Well hello, all! I am so excited because this is my first blog! In light of that, I will keep this one brief :o)

This one is for men and women of all ages......


Let's face it. Women love to get compliments. It adds extra spice to our walk. An extra sparkle when we smile. And a huge self confidence boost. It's not that our self esteem is low, (oh, no!) it's just nice to know that other people appreciate our beauty as much as we do!

Fellas, if you are married or in a committed relationship, hear me loud and clear (eeh humm) COMPLIMENT HER! and please, be genuine :o) We know how to spot fakes. (don't ask how, just know that we do ;o).

Ladies, this advice applies to us also towards our men. Why? Because it boosts his ego. Yep. Makes him feel like he's on top of the world. Especially when you tell him how strong, smart, funny, or handy he is.

So if it's a new hair do, outfit, hand bag, shoes, haircut, ... say something nice! A little bit can go a long way.


I hope you enjoyed reading this. (told you I was going to be brief!) I had fun writing it and hopefully I will get a lot better at blogging soon :o) but for now, enjoy the rest of your day and make someone else's day by doing/saying something nice.

I've added few pictures of my latest jewelry creations I've been working really hard on. Enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think. I also have an online boutique at called Earjeans if you'd like to see more of my work.

Here's to a beautiful blogging relationship...cheers!

Tasha LaRae