Tag: ATL

Nelliel Approved – “Best of”, Awards

Uncategorized

A lot of life occurred in 2025, so much that I cannot blog about it all. I’ve considered vlogging some things, but I think that writing on my blog is truly the best medium for me right now.

I personally support each and every one of these recommendations. I have first hand experience with them. All things mentioned in this post have helped to make this year really great in some way and I want to share the experience with you. I hope that you take some time to either visit, purchase, or listen. Let me know if you feel similarly, have different opinions, or suggestions of your own. I’ve made this post specific to Atlanta as I am Atlanta based, however, most products or media can be found online, if there is something that must be done in person, please consider giving ATL a visit. šŸ™‚

We’re full, but not so full these days.

Without further Ado.

Best of the year Nellielytu – ATLANTA 2025

Hair/Beauty/Skin

Most of my content has centered around this the entire time the website has been up, but I do have a products that I want to spotlight.

Lady Speed Stick Brazilian Mist Leave in Spray – I found this product at DOLLAR TREE of all places. I love the ingredient list, it works very well for my hair, it is super cheap (I go through a lot of this product as I use it as a daily refresh spray, so the price point is amazing. Pro tip: add aloe vera juice for additional moisture.) And the scent! It smells so much like Sol De Janiero (pistachio!) that it is hard to beat. The best, truly. A runner up would be Lola from Rio Rapunzel leave in. Also good but about 15x the price at my local Beauty Master.

Entertainment

Sinners. I know that everyone has been into SINNERS over the last year and I am no different. This movie was truly a treat – not too scary, fun, creative, well shot and acted. I love the use of imagination to create this work. I plan on seeing it again as they have brought it to IMAX for an additional showing. Woah!

Monster Rancher. What a blast from the past. I saw a post about this show mentioned on Threads (my newest social media obsession) and I knew that I had to watch it again. I have not been let down. UPN69 ahead of all the other stations with anime. Definitely worth a new watch.

Lupe Fiasco’s free concert in Boston. Lupe Fiasco and MIT hosted a concert in May with the Orchestra program and it was definitely worth flying in for. Anytime he posts about these types of events, try to check them out.

Interviews

I really love this man.

When I’m working, If I’m not listening to music, I’m listening to interviews/podcasts. I listened to this interview several times throughout the year and it is a good listen every time.

Food

Slim and Huskys. Best pizza on the planet this year! My love of the pizza that they serve is so great. The Rony, Roni, Rone is my go to. As I’m not a tomato eater, their pesto and Alfredo sauce is top tier. Add in that jalapeno cilantro dipping sauce and it is truly a treat.

Music

One Republic. Anything from them or from The Fray is on this list. Their music catalog got me through the workday on days where I’m doing a lot of data work.

Clothes

Rainbow Dresses. I love the simplicity of the standard rainbow dresses and you cannot beat the 10.00 price tag. The look good on everyone with a body con fit – just layer them with some thin heat tech and you are good to go for the winter. I’ve been trying this out during the late fall in ATL and it has served me well without having to pull out the chunky coats. I am just as sad as everyone else that the temps have been hovering around 35-45 degrees, but this combo has kept me well in the early mornings as I walk to work.

House Maintenance

Brookstone heating blanket – I have two of these and they are so helpful in the winter so I’m not running my heating bill through the roof. I have one for my bed and one for my couch.

Places to visit

ATL Botanical Garden – This is truly one of the best places to visit in Atlanta. I have been so many times over the last quarter – they have some of the best exhibits bar none (Alice in Wonderland) and the best winter light show in A.

Curlsqueen Nightmare

ATL, Atlanta, Beauty, Cosmetics, Enhancements, Entertainment, Reviews, Threads, Uncategorized

During the height of the Curlsqueen craze a year or two ago, I bought several curlsqueen products (just for your knowledge – 2c/3a curly half wigs, clipins and some straight halfwigs) When the products arrive, and you pull them out of the packaging, the hair is sooooo gorgeous! Stunning even. I thought to myself – trying to grow my hair back to waist length would be so easy!

Curlsqueen is my first true foray into hair extensions. If I can remodel my home, I can surely learn how to attach hair to my head, and make it seamless.

I was, however, very badly disappointed. After a few months of wear, the hair tangles, it no longer has body or flow, and just does not reflect the amount of money spent. Human hair lasts for forever. I know that there are not many people that feel this way online about Curlsqueen, but I do. What a waste of money. After attempting to coordinate returns or new products with the company, one gets fed up (they did attempt to rectify things a bit by sending me a free halfwig for the points status I possessed, but that one quickly tangled up as well). Is there a brand with curls just as beautiful that does not tangle? I have yet to find them. Most companies charge an arm and a leg for the length I need and the quality. Iā€™m thinking that Iā€™m going to have to go with a no name brand to get my new wigs made – and they will be to my specifications.

Curlsqueen is a big no for me.

Take a look at some of the others online experiencing similar issues with them. Why is this happening only to the looser textures? Very strange. As it is human hair, the hair should not tangle. Letā€™s be honest, if this is Cambodian/Indian hair, it would tangle on the heads of those selling the hair just as badly. Hair being attached to a weft does not mean that the hair should now tangle.

This user with a similar experience was found on TikTok

As Curlsqueen is China based, it is hard to get returns made without it costing as much as the product did! ah! I do think that the straight textures are nice – they do not tangle or shed. It is really important for products to be and perform at the level advertised and promised.

What did I do with the tangled weave? Iā€™ve chosen to cut the hair off the weft and use the very expensive hair as bulk hair. It will be used in my twists and braids. It has been so costly.

Can you believe that those are the only negative reviews that I can find this AM?Wow. I do not think that the 2c is as popular as the coarser textures and that might be the reason that there are few updates on the loose textures online.

Peanut butter hot dog

ATL, Atlanta, Dining In, Dining Out, Eateries, Recipes

I just wanted to talk about a strange hot dog I recently sampled. On one of my outings in the A, I stopped by an Irish pub known as, ā€œThe Nookā€ in Midtown. The menu is, in general, quite quirky, but the crunchy peanut butter hot dog is what I decided to tryā€¦delicious.

So good, Iā€™m gonna try my own at home. ?

Website Attack

ATL, Atlanta, Enhancements, Entertainment, Google

I’ve been getting a lot of reports of spambots attacking this domain. I wonder what is going on – I barely get hits, so I’m curious as to how I’m getting so much spam in the comments. I’m well protected by my host, I guess. Over 900 attempted log ins in the last month. Whoa.

That aside, I have found THE CUTEST Nelliel stickers on Etsy. I’ll link to them once I get them and see how I like them. Other updates? I am trying to prepare for fall, it is fast approaching.

I ainā€™t eatin without a Michelin, uh – Lupe Fiasco

Anime, ATL, Atlanta, Dining In, Dining Out, Eateries, Lupe Fiasco, Michael B Jordan, Naruto, NELLIEL Approved, Pharrell Williams

I am a hardcore Naruto fan – the anime is great – but I do not want to talk about that right now. What I want to talk about is how Naruto used to chow down on that ichiraku ramen (Iā€™m sure those days are long gone as he is now married ?). I didnā€™t understand it, the Maruchan ramen is good, but not that good. Prior to eating at Okiboru, Iā€™d never had ramen made by a professional chef. Truly it is a treat for the tastebuds. The ramen costs no more than $16.00 a bowl. Such a nice treat. They even have mochi ice cream desserts.

The ambiance is beautiful, the food is delicious, and the service is truly great. Just so you know Iā€™m also a fan of their rice bowls.

The Buckhead ATL, Ga location is rarely packed. You can sit and enjoy for a while. Oh and did I mention that this chain of restaurants has received a Michelin star? ?

Check them out in the Atlanta Georgia area, NYC and LA.

You will not be disappointed. I thought that it was a great experience for my first time trying true Japanese ramen. ? share what you think about this spot if youā€™ve been.

Paint Shop Pro is Gone, Gone, Gone

ATL, Atlanta, Dining In, Eateries, LifeLine Atlanta, Lupe Fiasco, NELLIEL Approved, Nsync, Pharrell Williams, Recipes, Threads

Thank you for all the entries.

I didn’t get any.

The lucky winner is Lupe Fiasco – I’ve been sending this man items that remind me of his songs. šŸ™‚ I will include this in his latest package.

Thank you. Sorry I haven’t been updating. I’ve been really busy. I do plan to have some posts on hair soon and I’ll probably share some updates on my threads, I just posted something we made up today – I called it a Kimchi Scramble.

Pro tip, unless you like warm Kimchi, add it at the end. On top with the goat cheese. Yes!


Recipe on threads – threads.com/nellielytu

Btw, Lifeline brought Flow back. šŸ™ I love this little beautiful kitty but I don’t think that my cats can tolerate another one indoors, I’m trying to get my sister to adopt Flow and King Louis Vuitton. I need to try to get King Louis to Lifeline for a neuter. It has been hard to do without a car. The older cat that keeps dropping by chases him away but I love his tenacity – I’m clearly someone he loves and trusts.

Pharrell x Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Apple Music, ATL, Atlanta, NELLIEL Approved, Pharrell Williams

Iā€™m really into music and art. I lovvveee hearing from the artists about how they crafted their work and the kinds of things they haven taken into consideration as they have created a project.

Take some time to listen to Pharrell (music producer extraordinaire) and his artists, the Clipse. they are discussing their new work, Let God Sort Em Out. I feel like this rap style is more along the lines of gangsta rap, which isnā€™t really my favorite, but I do still think that the music is interesting and good. What do you think.

Btw, why does Pharrellā€™s skin always look so soft? I tried his skincare brand and my skin looked nothing like that. ? IRL filter.

Ghibli Mon

ATL, Atlanta, Entertainment, NELLIEL Approved

I havenā€™t been able to post about Ghibli Fest as of yet, Iā€™m not sure that Iā€™m a real fan of this particular studios work, however, I did recently see something really cool on TikTok. A Ghibli mashup art style with Pokemon. What a cool idea – Iā€™m really into animation styles, so this got my attention. Iā€™m unable to share the videos (canā€™t embed TikTok) but I think that their page is worth a follow. See below imagery, all rights/credits to ghiblimon.studio on TikTok.

Btw, it is national video game day. What are you playing? Me? Pokemon of course. Legends Arceus to be more exact.

Dollar Tree

ATL, Atlanta, Beauty, Cosmetics, Uncategorized

I really, really love Dollar tree. Here are some truly great dollar tree finds that I was able to score/note on my visit today. Make sure to patron them so that we can continue to enjoy these types of stores.

I truly love them for snacks – now they have the speed stick leave in and the speed stick deodorant. ? they smell so much like sol de janiero.

Update

The lady speed stick does smell nice but I do not believe that it is a real replacement for the sol de janiero. My fave sol de janiero scents are the 40 and 59. The speed sticks are very nice ā€“ not to mention you can get 10 of the speed sticks from dollar tree compared to one stick of deodorant from Sephora for 15.00 dollars.