Monday, December 16, 2013

Mexican food truck diaries

Today has been action filled! As I type this I am on Hollywood Blvd sitting in front of a Mexican restaurant shaped like a truck about to eat. I just left from famous hair stylist Kim Kimble's salon where she personally made me a hair unit for my upcoming photo shoot! Yes, Kim Kimble (google her if you don't know). Before then I was watching the private premiere screening of the newest BET show 'Being Mary Jane' starting Gabrielle Union surrounding by stars like her, Magic Johnson and a host of others. I'm currently typing this on my phone because time and the day has gotten away from me and I could NOT allow myself to miss a MeTime Monday. No matter how late it is. My next post will be thorough and a lot longer lol. But right NOW I'm about to down this quesadilla, drive home & prepare to leave tomorrow for Orlando, FL where I'll be attending the Bowerman Awards! Fun!

Sorry for the short post but if anything this is an accurate description of my life today, quick & unpredictable LOL.

Until next time...
MUAH!!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Trouble in the Airport

Happy Monday everybody! This past week has been pretty rough, battling with being sick and having the flu has its way of keeping you from doing things you want and wanting to do anything at all. That especially sucks when you have plans like going to the USATF annual meeting out in Indianapolis and presenting an award at the Jesse Owens Awards banquet! :( Yes, sucky. The good thing was that I was asking to help present the award to my coach Lawrence "Boogie" Johnson who was named USA Track & Field's NIKE Coach of the Year! (Go LJ, go LJ, it's your birthday but not really!) Now I'm not a NIKE athlete so I'm just going to refer to him as USATF COACH OF THE YEAR, taking a bit of the name away from the title but not any of the honor that comes with it lol (just kidding). Anyways, I really am proud of him and the fact that I wasn't able to go out there and share the special moment with a man that has been in my life and career for over 7 years now was very disheartening but I know that him and the Johnson family had a great time regardless!

OK Enough about how much Boogie is the man and let me tell you all about my VERY eventful attempted trip to Indianapolis. Like I mentioned, I caught a bug over the Thanksgiving holiday and it beat me up pretty badly but I was determined to go to the annual meeting not only because I made the commitment but also because I really am interested in the change that I know is coming to our sport. I know that sometimes the youngsters on the scene kind of take a back seat and let the veterans deal with all the political stuff but I have grown to love this sport and want to be forefront in helping it grow. ANYWAYS, so I woke up on Wednesday still deciding if I was going to make my 1pm flight out of San Diego and once I talked to my mother and decided yes I'd go I mad dashed for the airport and got there on time. Now the "fun" stuff, after seamlessly going through security I stopped to get some food before I got on my first leg of the trip to Salt Lake City. To say that was an unpleasant flight would be an understatement, I think between having a window seat and the heat and elevation of the plane, it did nothing but make my coughing, stuffy nose, and other symptoms worse.

After a couple winks of restless sleep against the window I awake to the plane descending and my nose noticeably running. I quickly grabbed my spare napkin to catch the nasal drip and to my surprise I am greeted with a runny, bloody nose. Now, I don't know about any of y'all but the sight of my own blood is not my favorite thing to face so I panicked a little bit but luckily not enough to scare the already horrified lady sitting next to me on the flight. So I continue to dab at my nose while the rest of the plane quickly rushed into the terminal. Once I got into the airport off the plane I started feeling worse than when I started and decided that this probably was a sign that I should've stayed at home in bed, nursing myself back to health instead of traveling across country. So I go to the ladies at the Delta desk at my gate (sans bloody napkin) and proceed to explain to them that instead of catching the last leg of my trip to Indianapolis would it be possible to take the next flight back home to San Diego. I told them about being sick and coughing and the bloody nose incident on the flight and automatically the very helpful agent said "Oh my, I can take care of it you go ahead and sit down over there (secluded corner) and I'll send someone over there to help you right away."  Now I kind of assumed that she would be sending another Delta agent to help me with my flying plans while quietly removing my coughing and contagious self from the desk but instead she called the AIRPORT FIREMEN & EMS! OMG! Talk about embarrassed! I'm sitting over there and 4 firemen come over to me (with a wheelchair!) and ask me am I Queen Harrison, am I OK? and proceed to take my vitals and ask me loads of health questions.

Now don't get me wrong I do appreciate the gate agent and especially Delta airlines for being so gracious and changing my flight without putting me through a lot of fuss or change fees, but it definitely didn't take away how embarrassed I was with everyone looking at me like I should be QUARANTINED! haha. OK I'm really dramatic but it all goes to say I really did WANT to be in Indy for the annual meeting but sometimes when nature tells you to sit yo ass down, you listen. haha!

OK Hope you all enjoyed reading this because I know I've been laughing the entire time I'm writing it haha. Until next week!! *MUAH!!


Monday, December 2, 2013

Post Thanksgiving Revelations

Being sick and battling the flu has almost cost me a MeTime Monday, but thankfully as I lay on this couch pale and sickly I miraculously remembered that I had an obligation. *insert weak smile here* So let's get to chatting about the what's happenin'..

Training is going really well, besides these recent setbacks from the flu where I have barely been able to get out the bed, I can really feel my strength increasing! I'm still in the base training phase of pre-season training so that means a lot of strength based lifting, a lot of meters, and a LOT of supplementals like abs, pedestals, etc. It feels like a lot of busy work but I know the importance of it so I just keep on trucking.. :)

Thanksgiving was great! A holiday filled with food, fun, and loads of conversation and controversy, this year didn't disappoint. Every year there is always a major discussion that goes on especially with the ladies in the kitchen cooking and this year was all about women serving men, being submissive, and treating brothers and sons like our husbands. Whew, yeah it was quite a conversation. Let me give a basic outline of the going-ons.

Every year the guys in our family do the same thing during Thanksgiving, NOTHING. At least nothing to contribute towards getting the food or house prepared for the holiday meal (scratch that, they went to get more firewood lol) but as much as some of the women complain about their non-contribution, I honestly think that it's better to have them all stay out of our way and just continue to play video games and pool downstairs out of our hair, until its time to eat.

So the day after Thanksgiving when we're all looking to eat leftovers and plan the after Thanksgiving activities, the women were once again in the kitchen finding ways to stretch the leftover food so that everyone could get some. Once we decided to make turkey salad wraps (like chicken salad just with turkey) and made them my cousin Melody suggested we go serve them to the men downstairs. This struck a cord with my big sister Graceful which turned into a discussion of why can't they come upstairs and make their own plates. Seeing as though all us ladies just salvaged the food and turned it into something a little less "Thanksgiving leftovers", she felt that the least the guys could do was come upstairs and get their own food instead of us bringing it downstairs to them. The end result: Some of the women brought the food downstairs for the men lol.



Back when I was younger I used to think it was ludicrous to have to serve the men but as I've gotten older it actually doesn't bother me as much. I am starting to come to realize that men NEED us (yes, you all need us lol) and for holidays and special occasions it's OK to cook and bring them the food and just allow them to do nothing but enjoy each other's company, because we love them. After all the discussions died down and the men finally came upstairs we proposed that the men do the cooking for the next Thanksgiving and the women swap with them, doing all the "stuff" they do instead of helping out with the food. (I'm still not 100% sure of what all that is lol but I'm eager to learn). Of course all the men CLAIMED that they could do it, but it was quickly finished with "Why? Y'all already do such a great job at it!" LOL Men.

Needless to say I'm sure that will never happen and that our Thanksgiving tradition will stay the same for years to come but if the guys do decide to surprise us, I'll be more than open to the changes lol.

Well, I'm exciting for some new changes coming into form for me and can't wait until they're finalized to discuss them in my blog with you all! Like always, thank you so much for reading and until next time!!
*MUAH!


PS. Thanksgiving with the boo included was a hit! He successfully integrated into the "doing nothing" crew downstairs and even managed to dunk and earn some respect on the basketball court from my brothers (which is NOT easy) Two snaps for William :)

Monday, November 25, 2013

Lemme look through your phone boo.. ;)

"To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved." -George MacDonald

Trust is a 5 letter word and while it's one of the hardest things to find it's also one of the easiest to lose. Nowadays I feel people have a really tough time trusting one another whether it be because of past indiscretions, paranoia, or just plain fear based from what they constantly see in the media. If you watch television on any given day it is filled with liars, adulterers, secret baby mamas, and loads of Maury "you are not the father" type shows that can convince the faint and strong of heart to just remain single and not put your trust in ANYONE..except your momma. LOL. Luckily for me I don't have a past soiled in scandal or unfaithfulness but even us strong hearted have the tendency to be overly careful when it comes to letting people into your "circle of trust".

Talking about trust leads me to the topic I want to talk about today and that is... going through the phone of your significant other lol. Even the most trusting girlfriends and boyfriends can't say they never got the urge to look in their partner's phone, even if only for a peek at a random message because you were being nosey. But when is it OK or is it ever OK?

Recently this topic was brought up and as we were discussing it I really realized how different people's view are on the topic. To me, I enjoy a certain level of privacy in all aspects of my life including the contents of my phone, whether that be from my family, friends, or boyfriend, but in the same token I am an open book with nothing to hide. My philosophy with my phone is: anything I text or send in private I have to not be embarrassed or arrested if it became public! lol Sounds extreme but that's forreal. So while I don't promote full access of my phone & messages to my boyfriend, it's also not a deal breaker if he does look through it (which he has and so have I) but that doesn't apply to every one.

One of my girlfriends is 100% ANTI going through each other's phones w/her boyfriend and while I'm not as strict, I do feel like I can understand why. Does going through your SOs phone mean you don't trust them? No. I think that it can but I feel like it really is 1. Something to do when you're bored, 2. A fun peek into how your SO (significant other) talks and acts when you're NOT around, and 3. To CHECK on what they are saying and who they are saying it to. lol. While some of those reasons are more harmless than others, I've come to understand that looking in the phone of your man or woman is almost always ALWAYS going to cause friction between the two of you, whether it be a lot or a little! lol Not because everyone is doing something bad that their SO wouldn't like but because there will ALWAYS be something that was said or not said that the other person thinks wasn't right, always. Por example: You're looking in your man's phone and some girl whose name you don't recognize says something like: "I heard Ex-Factor today and it made me think of you...." Now some questions are going to pop up in your head after seeing this. You're going to want to know, Who is that, WHY is she thinking about you during that song, WHY does she feel the need to tell you that, and WHAT kind of response is she searching for leaving all those damn ...'s at the end!!?? LOL! You see where I'm going with this? 

Now I'm not saying I know it all nor do I have everything figured out and I do think that going through each other's phone is most of the time harmless but it does have the potential to make someone feel some type of way. So the question is, is the risk worth it? lol

I really want to know what you all think about this topic. I know I'm going to get a colorful array of different answers but I am interested to know am I treating it too lightly or is going through someone's phone really not THAT serious?? Comment below, tweet me, or facebook comment me!

Thanks for reading you all! :) And like always.... SEE YA NEXT MONDAY!!


*MUAH!


Monday, November 18, 2013

What a Week!

I have to remember that now that I'm on the West Coast my time is behind my East Coast counterparts so I have to try to write and submit earlier! lol Oh yeah, so I'm in CALI! West Coast living, going going back back, WestSIDE, W's up, The Wood and any other West Coast reference you can think of. haha Clearly I'm excited because I'm currently listening to Bizzy Bone in true WestSide fashion...OK I'm done, I should be ashamed of myself lol.
But so far so good. I arrived out to San Diego on Saturday morning and it's safe to say I've been loving it ever since. I've escaped the cold of the East Coast and its been replaced with sunny days and 70+ degree weather (yes, I'm bragging a little bit lol) not to mention what is the Olympic Training Center. It is pretty beautiful. Today was my first day up there with the scenic view of the mountains, fully equipped sports medicine center and weight training center. Ok bragging again. 




This week has been pretty eventful to say the least. I've been approached with a certain business venture (that I can not speak about until it comes to form OF COURSE) so this past week I've been doing so much stuff down in Atlanta towards that. It sucks when you're working on something and you're so excited about it but you can not talk about it. Ahh, the FRUSTRATION!! lol 

But what I can talk about is me broadening my horizon and hiring a publicist/PR rep!! YAY ME! I'm really excited, she works in the music and entertainment industry so its something new for both of us but I think with me wanting to dive over to other things outside of track and her knowledge of the entertainment business we will be a wonderful match! Fingers crossed! :) We're still in that beginning phase but with my eagerness to work and her eagerness to work I'm sure that things will take off like a rocket. I'm about to BLOW UP!!! lol I'm humble but I'm hungry so I know that if no one else believes in me, I believe in myself

Hmm let's see what else has been going on with me? Really just packing up my house to move out and doing all the last minute things you have to do when you're moving. It's funny because you never realize just how much stuff you have until you have to pack it all up and move it. There has been so much sorting, donating, throwing away, and moving in my past couple days that I don't even want to hear the word 'MOVE' for years to come (though I'll be removing my stuff again from storage in about 2 months) :( Overall it's been quite the week! I'll be able to tell you all about what I have cooking up in the next couple weeks so just be patient with me OK? :)


As always thanks for checking me out and until next week...


*MUAH!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Pre Thanksgiving Jitters

By tracking my days this way (writing every Monday) I realize how quickly time is flying by. I feel like I just wrote my blog entry from last week about my giveaway (Side note: Congrats to the winners again! @TeamRunner4Life, Aeisha Ellen & Charlissia, @MGAlexandra1213, @VivalaRia, and @emmaverick23) and already I'm back writing out what is my life all over again.

This has been a rough week but not in the same stressful way that was my life two weeks ago, instead it's pertaining to training. My coach has been laying that hammer down on us!! All of us athletes know the importance of base training and how imperative it is to the success of your season but I mean DAMN!! lol We had A LOT of 300s today and its safe to say I'm pooped out. I literally came home from practice, got in the shower and laid on my bed for close to 2 hours in and out of sleep in a semi comatose state. If it weren't for my stomach feeling like it was eating itself I probably would still be lying there wallowing in my post-practice soreness. Yes I'm pouring on the dramatics lol but it really has been that kind of week between our weight room sessions in the morning and afternoon runs on the hill or grass, I AM TIREDDD, good tired. Butttttt enough about track!

Something fun and exciting will be coming up in the next couple weeks and I can not wait until then to talk about it so I'll start now... THANKSGIVING!! As soon as November rolls around I immediately start thinking about that last Thursday of the month and all the joy it brings for me.
I know that in a lot of households Christmas is the merry time of year where the family comes together to celebrate their love for each other through time and gifts but for my family Thanksgiving is that big holiday. Mostly because I grew up in a household where we didn't celebrate Christmas so Thanksgiving was the forefront holiday that our whole family came together and when I say whole family I mean WHOLE family! Its our mini family reunion of sorts every year us rotating between the 4 major locations that most of my family (paternal side) lives: Chicago, Delaware, Virginia and Georgia. This year being Delaware! I can't say I'm that excited about going up North with the brutally cold weather right around the corner but I am thrilled to see family. But with this year's excitement comes a little nervousness lol. I'm a very picky and private person especially when it comes to relationships but this year I decided to bring my boyfriend along to the Thanksgiving festivities, a huge first for me! Yes, yes one small step for mankind but one very LARGE step for Queen Harrison. I'm not embarrassed about being in a relationship nor trying to hide it but it definitely has a way of upping the antes when you decide to bring a +1 to any family function. Y'all know how aunties and cousins can be, asking all the cliche first meeting questions, "Who's he?", "How long y'all been dating?", "Y'all doing it?" lol OK maybe not the last one but in my overly analyzing brain I'm a bit nervous of what types of things may come out the mouths of my family members, both while I'm listening to them and while I'm out of earshot. BUT there are certain things you can't control and with that being one I'm choosing to not try to. Instead I'll just look forward to the fun, food, and family time!!

Who else is excited for Thanksgiving?? Tell me! Also let me know about and how you handled your first time including a significant other into family only events :) I love to hear from you all.

Like always thanks for reading and until next time...

*MUAH!

Monday, November 4, 2013

Did you say... giveaway?

Cue the music, TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY! No forreal it was lol. I had a lot of ripping and running around to do all this week, including today, but everything that I did was beneficial to me or those around me so I'm happy with all this progress I've made! I'm finally back home sitting in my favorite corner of the couch typing away and reminiscing on my weekend. My best friend Jaron came over for a "help me pack/movie night" and sometimes I honestly wish there was a secret camera recording us in here haha. We could literally taste the desperation when Jennifer Hudson was singing 'And I Am Telling You' to Jamie Foxx in the movie and Jaron and I were exuding all those same emotions as we reenacted the whole entire scene! Complete with dropping to our knees, crying faces, and tugging on the bottom's of each other's shirt when we tried to "leave". So funny! Thinking about it actually makes a little bit sad though because I know that nights like last night will soon be scarce because I'm moving from SC soon. :'(

Training, packing, donating, and throwing away LOTS of stuff took over the majority of my week so me going into further details about that is pretty unnecessary so insteadddd I'll get to the fun part, the giveaway part! Whoop Whoop!

So I'm new to give aways so my methods may be a bit unconventional but I'm sure they'll still be appreciated nonetheless.  I tweeted yesterday about it being the season of giving and me really feeling it! With Thanksgiving right around the corner and Christmas less than a month later, I feel like 'GIVING' will be all around us so I might as well join in on the fun and you all should too. 

The instructions are simple. Send me a tweet (@goqueengo) on twitter or comment on my Facebook fan page with the hashtag #GiveQueenGive with your name/twitter handle AND the name or twitter handle of 1 other person you'd like to gift something to also. And VOILA! You're entered. Both you and your friend, mom, teammate, babysitter, WHOEVER you choose will be entered to win special treats from Queen to you both. I will keep the giveaway open from tonight (Nov 4th) when I post it until the end of the day (11:59pm EST) on Wednesday November 6th. Any one can enter but please don't send more than 1 per day and don't forget the hashtag #GiveQueenGive or else yours may not be seen. I will randomly choose 3 (THREE) winners on this Thursday and post the names on my Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Now while YOU may only enter once per day, the more people you encourage to enter and add your name to their "give list" the better chance you'll have. 
No I won't tell you all what I'm giving away but I will say that you all will send a huge THANK YOU tweet to +Saucony once you receive it ;)

Thanks for reading, good luck, set... GO!