Denver Natural Hair Care Expo 2014 Recap

Michaela Sanders and I
getting caught up

If you follow me on Instagram then you already know about the fun I had last weekend at the First Annual Denver Natural Hair Care Expo.  The event was one of many on the Evolution Tour which was founded by Malaika-Tamu Cooper, who was a special guest speaker.  Colorado Urban Naturals was the local group organizing the event with Phaedra High as the head coordinator.  The event was in the planning stages for 9 months and was received positively by many.  There were classes offered throughout the day on health, wellness, haircare and coaching for entrepreneurs in the hair field.

My mother, who is also natural, attended the event along with me.  We both enjoyed a Qi-Gong demonstration by Ronnie Ql and Pos from The Apprentice of Peace Wellness Studio in Denver.  I also caught up with an old friend, Michaela Sanders, who was an instructor for one of the classes.

Natural men and women in attendance
at this year's Denver Natural Hair Care Expo

Vendors selling jewelry, books and food

Natural hair blogger, Sabrina Perkins  (left)
with Sister, Author Dormaine G.

There were many vendors present including, Melissa Vas from More Than Curly salon, Ron Springer from Akente Express and Dormaine G, an independently published author.  Also, I was glad to have the chance to reconnect with fellow natural hair blogger, Sabrina Perkins who writes for her blog, Seriously Natural.

Pictured left; Melissa Vas discussing curly hair with an attendee, top right; Earrings from Akente Express, bottom right; Ron Springer, Owner of Akente Express.

Chatting with Facebook follower (and
future blogger ;) ) Keisha

Originally, I was invited to participate as a presenter on one of the discussion panels along with other bloggers and stylists.  Unfortunately, the heavy rain brought all of the outdoor activities inside which eventually led to a cancellation of our panel.  Still, the event kept on, regardless of the weather and concluded with an upbeat hair show that celebrated the beauty of natural hair.

Myself with Pos (left) and
Ronnie Ql of
The Apprentice of Peace
Wellness Studio

I worked for several years as an event coordinator and realize that an event of this size is a huge undertaking.  There are always hiccups here and there in the first year and I know that this took a lot of man hours and planning.  However,  it would be nice to see more publicity next time because it sounds like there were a lot of naturals out there who didn't find out about it in time.  It also looks like a larger venue may be necessary so that all of the vendors, classes, presentations and shows can be held under one roof.  This would help streamline the event schedule and shelter everyone from bad weather conditions.  Overall, the event was given a huge thumbs up by the naturals who came out.

Hopefully, there will be even more support for next year's event.  It will take all of us to help make it bigger and better!  My thanks goes out to Phaedra High who had a vision for a Natural Hair event in Denver and saw it through.  Congrats!

I had a lot of fun meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends at the Denver Natural Hair Care Expo.  For updates on future events follow my blog and check out Colorado Urban Naturals on Facebook.

Denver Natural Hair Care Expo this Weekend

I'll be a panelist at the
Denver Natural Hair Care Expo

My online blogging and vlogging life has always been more about my own personal hair journey than anything else.  I've watched how other cities' natural hair populations have grown leading to large events for naturals.  I kept wishing the same for Denver and even discussed the matter with a fellow blogger, Sabrina Perkins, of  Seriously Natural.  A couple of years ago, we hosted a small meet-up in downtown Denver for naturals and transitioners.  It was tons of fun to see local ladies getting together and discussing natural hair.

Since then I have noticed that other meet-up groups have popped up in the metro area and meet on a more regular basis.  Now, Denver is getting it's own Natural Hair Care Expo which will be held this Sunday, June 8th, at the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theatre.  The event is part of the Evolution Tour which is, "an 18 stop tour that crosses the country, educating people on natural hair care, holistic health and beauty." 



I'm so excited to announce that I'll be on the discussion panel.  Hopefully I'll get to meet some of my readers there but mostly I'm glad to be a part of it all.  Check out the promo photo below for more info.  Hope to see you there!

CLICK HERE FOR WEBSITE AND 

TICKET INFORMATION FOR 

THE DENVER NATURAL HAIR CARE EXPO

In the Garden

My family joined a Community Garden in Denver this summer.  We found out about it during our Heirloom Vegetable Plant Sale and decided that it would be a great way to grow some of our own veggies.  Our garden at home is full of perrennials and does not receive full sun so growing vegetables was never successful there.

My husband is the one who really knows what he's doing in the garden but after this summer I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it.  The hardest part was ammending the soil in the very beginning.  Later on I discovered the joys of weed pulling (heavy sarcasm) but things got easier once I got into a rhythm.

We were hit hard during the draught but our plants made it through.  For me the best part was watching the kids help out with gardening.  They were really excited to see all of the great food we were bringing home.  I've been very proud of our little garden plot and have shared our experience with friends and family.  Most recently I wrote a guest post for a friend's blog about our tomatoes.  When she was in town this summer, I showed her the community garden.  Since then she has started working on starting a community garden in her own neighborhood in Austin, TX.

READ MY GUEST POST @ HAPPYDIRT.BLOGSPOT.COM

Bringing home vegetables every week has forced me to learn a few new things in the kitchen as well.  Hopefully I'll be sharing some tips in the coming weeks.  For now here are a few pics.

I'm surprised at how many pumpkins we've grown!

Heirloom Tomatoes on the Vine

 If you're in the Denver Metro Area, check out Denver Urban Gardens online to get info

on joining and/or starting a local Community Garden 

Harvesting veggies each week keeps me busy in the kitchen!

Mmmm Mmmm

To Market, to Market

This weekend I'm helping my husband sell the plants he has grown for our  Heirloom Vegetable Plant Sale in Denver.  This is our second year and the turnout has been great so far.  I have to admit that the past ten weeks have been full of ups and downs.  Still, we like the fact that the plants we watched grow from seed are now strong, healthy and ready for the garden.


Why buy Heirlooms?

Heirloom Tomatoes and Peppers

Normally you'll find hybrid vegetable plants at your Big Box stores like Home Depot and Walmart.  This is when you cross two plant varieties to create a completely new one (a hybrid).  Because of this, the seeds cannot be saved to plant the following season.  Heirloom vegetables offer more taste and nutritional value than those that are grown from hybrid varieties.  Also, the seeds can be saved and used to grow new plants the following season.

It's fun to hear how the plants will be added to gardens and containers.  Still, even though we have been lucky with the warmer temperatures this spring, we explain to our customers the importance of waiting until May to plant them.  This is because of the unpredictable Colorado weather.  One frosty night can stop a healthy vegetable plant in its' tracks.

We are both weary from today's activities but happy to know that there are lots of people in town who prefer to by from local growers like my Husband.  We're so excited to meet others who appreciate the value of our heirloom plants.  The plant sale will continue through Sunday.  Here are some pics from the first day.

Straight Eight Cucumbers

Heirloom Bell Peppers

Genoa Basil

 CLICK HERE  for more details on the Plant Sale

Ron Paul Campaigns in Denver

Congressman Ron Paul
at the Renaissance Hotel in Denver

My husband and I have been longtime Ron Paul supporters.  When we found out that he would be in Denver this week, my husband made plans to go and hear him speak.  He made a stop here because of  the upcoming Colorado Caucus next week.  According to my husband, who is also a Precinct Captain, there were about 1200 people in attendance at the Renaissance Hotel on Quebec St. in Denver.   Afterwards, Congressman Paul was headed for another event in Colorado Springs.

Of course my Hubby picked up lots of bumper stickers and signage for the canvasing he and his Co-Captain will be doing later this week.  He also brought home something that I thought was really interesting.  It was the Ron Paul Family Cook Book.  Looking through it was pretty neat.  It included lots of pictures of Ron Paul with his own family and even his military portrait.  I'm looking forward to trying out some of the recipes from the book in the coming months.

My Husband
Supporting Presidential
Candidate Ron Paul

After the event, my husband headed over to the local Ron Paul office to volunteer for a few hours on the phones.

Denver Natural Hair Meet-Up: The Re-Cap

Me and Sabrina Perkins of
SeriouslyNatural.org

I'm winding down and letting my feet rest after all of the days' activities.  There were plenty of things to do today before the meet-up downtown but we managed to pull it off.  The great thing about all of this is that Sabrina (of SeriouslyNatural.org) and I have lots of ideas for the next event.  Getting ready for tonight was like opening up a whole new world of possibilities.  We met lots of great contacts and found support from places we didn't know were there. 

The Rio Grande Mexican Grille served up some excellent strawberry margaritas and mexican dishes.   Thanks to the friendly staff who were also very accomodating, we had an enjoyable evening.  A big thanks to everyone who came out to our first event.  It was really great to get a chance to speak with everyone and share our tips and experiences.


Rio Grande Mexican Grille
in Downtown Denver






Hair talk and good food

 


Me with Shanae Smith and Ayanna Blueford
Loved talking with you ladies

 



 


Goodie bags with free samples

Thanks to all of the businesses that offered items for our gift bags including:  

Kinky Curly

Curlformers

Sephora Shops at Cherry Creek Mall and Northlands



Giveaway Prizes

(Carol's Daughter & Ojon Samples) More Than Curly Salon in Aurora (Ouidad Samples)



We look forward to doing it all again in the future so be sure to email either Sabrina or myself if you would like to receive info on upcoming events.

curlyincolorado@yahoo.com

Seriouslynatural4@gmail.com







Denver's Natural Hair Meet-Up is Almost Here!

I can't believe that the Denver Natural Hair Meet-up is finally coming up this Saturday, June 25th.  Naturals, transitioners and anyone considering going natural are all welcome to join us for what will be a "Girl's Night Out" style gathering.  We'll talk hair and swap stories while enjoying some great food.  We'll each be paying for our own eats but hopefully we can pick-up a sponsor for future events.

Sabrina of the blog, Seriously Natural, has done a great job talkin' the event up to local stylists who we hope will also be in attendance.  She has even gathered samples of hair goodies from companies like Kinky Curly and Carol's Daughter!  I'm excited too because this will be the first hair meet-up I've been to.  Hope to see you there!

Source: SeriouslyNatural.org

Don't Forget to R.S.V.P.

seriouslynatural4@gmail.com