Looking for Trendy Not Spendy Eyeglasses???...Check Out Firmoo

Don’t I look supa dupa cute in my new glasses? 🤓

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Since the beginning of 2020, I have been looking for a new pair of glasses that were unique, lightweight, and under $100. And, out of nowhere, Firmoo contacted me and asked me if I wanted to try their eyeglasses—their affordable prescription glasses—in exchange for a review. Before I agreed to collaborate with them, I went on their website firmoo.com to check out their frames. I wasn’t going to accept their offer for free eyeglasses unless they were cute.

Then, I came across these translucent, cat-eye frames and I had to have them. They perfectly met my needs and, moreover, they were only $40!!! Including frames, prescription lenses, and shipping. 

I put in my prescription and received my new eyeglasses in less than two weeks. I've been wearing them for a month and I absolutely love these glasses.

They work (i.e., I can see through them). They’re super cute. They're lightweight and don’t leave impressions on my face after wearing them for a long time. Plus, I've gotten several compliments on them. They truly have me feelin’ myself (cue Nicki Minaj and Beyonce).

If you're looking for new prescription eyeglasses,  you need to check out Firmoo. The company was founded in 2009 by a group of opticians and designers on the belief that eyewear should be trendy and affordable. And here’s the best part, Firmoo is offering FREE PAIR OF GLASSES for new customers exclusively! Use code "AUFFF" or click Here to get one right now! (The shipping fee is not included)

My Word for 2020 is “Meghan Markle”

Forget “manifest” or “growth.” My word for 2020 is “Meghan Markle.” _ No more suffering and enduring in spaces filled with negative energy and people who do not respect or support me. Instead, I will be Meghan Markling to spaces where I’m wanted, respected, and celebrated.

***Merriam Webster needs to hurry up and add “Meghan Markle” to the dictionary.

Be Kind to Yourself

If you can’t be kind to yourself, how the hell are you gonna be kind to anyone else?

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Make a conscious effort to say at least 3 kind things about yourself to yourself every day this week. Celebrate your accomplishments, both big and small, and see how much of an impact positive self-talk has on your life.

#mondaymotivation #motivateyourself #talktomenice #bekindtoyourself #beyourownsupporter

My Natural Hair Story | How I Went from Natural To Permed and Back Again

My Natural Hair Story | How went from natural to permed and back again? I am talking about my natural hair journey as I take down my loc hairstyle.

SUBSCRIBE to Toya T! https://www.youtube.com/c/ToyaTsubscribe

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“You know this hair is my shit
Rode the ride, I gave it time
But this here is mine”

— Solange ("Don't Touch My Hair")

Giveaway Alert!

‘‘Tis the season of giving

🚨 GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED AND A WINNER HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED

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Ready to end 2019 in style? We are giving away a gift card for one free month of Rent The Runway’s Unlimited Membership ($159 value). Enter now for a chance to win. 🎉

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Rules:

1️⃣ Sign up for the Figure It Out Friday newsletter at www.figureoutyourlifeblog.com/newsletter

2️⃣ Like this post

3️⃣ Follow @figureoutyourlifepod and @latoyat on Instagram

•••

One lucky winner will be randomly selected on Friday, December 13th. Good luck! #sweepstakes #giveaway #enternow #win #rtrunlimited #figureoutyourlifepod

Stop Breaking Yourself Down Into Bitesized Pieces

Always show up as your full authentic self. There will be people who can’t handle everything that you are. But, that’s their issue. As the saying goes, everything ain’t for everybody. #mondaymotivation #beyourauthenticself #dontchangeforanyone #figureoutyourlifepod

Accept the Person You Are

Focus on who you are, and not who you will be! 🖤 Be the best you now, and you will be the best you in the future.

#Mondaymotivation

Are You Afraid of Failing?

Fear and failure are parts of life. They are often intertwined. And, they feed into each other. But, fear and failure can’t be avoided. And, they shouldn’t be.

We need to experience both fear and failure so we can learn from our actions and grow. Fear helps us determine the boundaries of our comfort zone, and refusing to feel the fear prevents us from taking risks, learning new things, and moving forward. It prevents us from failing.

But, we need to fail. Failure helps us grow by showing us whether or not what we’re doing is working. It forces us to stop and reflect, change perspectives, redirect energies, try new strategies, develop new skills, and become better. To use what we have learned and eventually succeed.

How can we truly understand the meaning of success if we do not know failure?

Happy November: New Month, New Blessings

I Am Ready For Change...Are You?

It has been over a month since I last posted. Ugh! Where has the time gone?

I have been meaning to get back to you all, but your girl Toya T has been busy. The past month I have been traveling (Charlotte, NC, Washington, D.C., New York City, and now Southern California with a short stay in Las Vegas ), searching for and applying to jobs, connecting with friends, partying, crying and being fully in my feelings, taking long walks, and trying to figure out my life (of course!).

During this time, I realized one major thing: I am ready to move. Specifically, I am ready for things in my professional and romantic lives to move in new, better, and more fulfilling directions. I love my job as a college professor. Working with, mentoring, and teaching students is my passion. It energizes me and has helped me grow and learn more about myself and the world.

However, what I do not love is the lack of upward mobility I have experienced in my career. I currently teach two courses a semester at a state university part-time, which means I am working without benefits or job security. For the past two years, I have been applying for positions in academic advising and student support, and I have gotten very few calls for interviews and no job offers. It has been hard to deal with because of the amount of time and effort and money I spent on my education. Excuse me as I toot my own horn here. I am a black woman with a PhD. I am part of the less than 1% of people in the world to hold this degree. Yet, despite my educational pedigree, I do not have a JOBB---extra 'b' for benefits, that is to say, retirement, health, dental, paid leave/vacation, and job satisfaction.

It is hard pill to swallow because I have degrees and not much to show for it besides the degrees. I am like the character on Kanye West's first album College Dropout who was homeless with only his multiple degrees to keep him warm. Okay...I may be exaggerating a bit. I am not homeless. I am fortunate to have two loving parents who have been able to help me financially by feeding me and letting me live in their home rent free, among other things, that allow me to pay my bills (including my 100k student loans), build good credit, travel, look cute, and apply to jobs that I want (and not those that just pay the bills). I am far from sleeping on the streets covered in my diplomas. But, I feel...stuck, blocked, unsatisfied, frustrated, unfulfilled.

Okay, so now what? How do I change this and get things in my life moving in new, fulfilling, and purposeful directions?

By changing my mindset to focus daily on what I want and how I want these changes to happen, and not on what I do not have or have not done.

I may feel that my life is stagnant now, but I can change that. I can live the life I want.

To manifest these changes in my life, I am going to set monthly intentions, and I am going to keep a log of my experiences and feelings here on Figure Out Your Life Blog for a year, so you all can follow my progression of change. The beginning of the month, or the start of a new moon cycle, is a great time to set new intentions or desires, since it takes 30 to 40 days to create a new habit or change a behavior.

If you want to join me on this journey, and you are also ready to make changes in your life, here are few things you need to know about setting monthly intentions:

First, when making intentions, you must make definitive statements. Not wishes, asks, or wants because you want the universe to know you intend, and not wish or want, for these things to happen in your life.

Second, you must state you intentions in the present tense. For example, "I am worthy of love" or "I attract a romantic relationship that fulfills me" (I used both of these statements in my romantic intentions for the month).

Third, you must TRUST these things WILL happen.

Fourth, if you feel blocked or deterred, you must take note of what is blocking you and confront it. Spend a little bit of time and energy dealing with this issue. What are the blocks in your life? How do they make you feel? What would removing these blocks do for you? Then, you must spend the majority of your time and energy on visualizing what is going to keep you aligned, attuned, and inspired.

I am ready to live my best life. Are you?


"We must remind ourselves that we are seeing only a small piece of the puzzle--that there is a whole picture, and we all fit in." -- SQuire Rushnell, When God Winks: How The Power of Coincidence Guides Your Life

Motivational Quotes | Today I Affirm...

#MotivationMondays | Know Your Self-Worth

#MotivationMondays | Get Up Every Morning with Determination

#MotivationMondays | Be Confident...Everybody Has Their Own Strengths and Weaknesses

3 Tips For Dealing with Thinning Brows

Where did my eyebrows go?

Why did no one tell me to that I might want to leave my naturally thick eyebrows alone because they would practically stop growing after I turned 30?  I blame my mother. As long as I have been alive, she has had no eyebrows. I would, and still do (since I live at home and her makeup dresser is in "my room"), watch her draw on her eyebrows. I never questioned why she had no eyebrows, until one day I woke and noticed my eyebrows were thinning and barely growing in. Ever heard that saying, "if you pluck one gray hair, two more will come to its funeral (at the location of the the plucking)? Why can't my eyebrow hairs do that?

I wish I could jump in a time machine and travel back 15 years ago and stop my younger self from allowing random women from plucking and waxing my eyebrows. Now I am filling in my thinning eyebrows with eyebrow powder every morning, so that I do not look like a big head alien. I already have a big forehead. The last thing I need is to bring more attention to that area between my eyes and my hairline.

What causes this thinning? According to my "Googles," eyebrow hair loss can be caused by a number of factors, including over-plucking or waxing (which can cause follicle damage or infection), excessive weight-loss, stress, vitamin deficiency, and aging.

To combat the thinning, I have done the following 3 things:

1. I cut down on my monthly eyebrow maintenance. I quit waxing my eyebrows around 2008, after some woman in some random nail or hair salon left me with pencil thin, uneven eyebrows. I transitioned over to Indian eyebrow threading after hearing about how great and mostly painless it was from several friends. Eyebrow threading is an ancient hair removal technique which uses a twisting thread to pull hair from the root. I love it because they remove each hair individually, which decreases chances of over-plucking. The threaders always ask whether you want to clean up or fully reshape your eyebrows. However, after noticing that I could barely see my eyebrows, even without a fresh threading, I had to change my brow maintenance from every three weeks to every three months. Ugh!

2. I started using eyebrow powder after a threader in Santa Barbara suggested I use it to get a fuller brow. She used the Smashbox Tech Trio on me and I instantly fell in love with the way my brows looked. Immediately, I headed to Sephora and bought a box. I used it until they discontinued it and replaced it with Smashbox Ultra Eyebrow Tech Shaping Powder, which I currently use in Dark Brown.

3. I have been applying Jamaican Black Castor Oil, which is multipurpose oil that I have been using for years to regrow my edges and moisturize my locs. But, recently I found out that it is also good for stimulating eyebrow growth (it is stated as a possible use on the box). I wipe it on my eyebrows before bed after I wash my face. I honestly haven't been applying as consistently as I oughta, but I definitely recommend other eyebrow hair loss sufferers try it out.