Monthly Archives: May 2012

Good Eats: Grub Squad [Feature]

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Earlier last week, I got the chance to sit down with the Founder of a new food delivery service called “GrubSquad.” Interestingly enough, founder Ogo Ifelayo and I have been family friends for a long time. I had no idea he was sitting on this gold mine of an idea all along.

We met up at Dunn Bros Coffee shop. Check out my “Good Eats” post on Dunn Bros Coffee (link to follow)

Meet Ogo, founder of GrubSquad, food enthusiast, LSU alum , and all-around good guy.

Check out his interview:

Naturale Chronicles: First off—GrubSquad, that’s a great name!
Ogo: Thanks! It’s better than “OJ Deliveries,” and the other names I came up with before [laughs].
NC: Congrats on the recent launch!
O: Thank you. Yep, we launched the site on April 3rd. We had our launch at Sushi Raku. We had a great time.
GrubSquad launch party (April 18th, 2012)
NC: Ogo, for those who know nothing about GrubSquad, how would you describe what you all do?
O: Our slogan is “feeding productivity enthusiasts.” We know that life is busy. There are enough things to worry about. Getting something to eat shouldn’t be one of them. We are an online food delivery service that connects customers with the food they want, when they want it. There are great restaurants that don’t typically deliver, we’ve teamed up with them so they can give you “EXACTLY WHAT YOU, DELIVERED.”
NC: How did you come up with the idea?
O: I used to help out a lot of my friends with catering businesses by taking their orders to big events, parties, weddings, graduations, etc. When my brother got married and we were catering food from all over the city, I thought to myself “What if there was a more effective and efficient way to get the food you wanted?” I talked to a few buddies of mine and tossed around the ideas. I suddenly got organized and started writing down my ideas in a journal.
I always say to my creatives, “Show me your IDEA JOURNAL so I know it’s real!”
NC: What’s your favorite part about being the GrubSquad founder?
O: Honestly, the deliveries.
NC: Really! You mean to tell me the founder of GrubSquad still makes deliveries?
O: [laughs] Yes! We just started up, so I still make some deliveries. I enjoy serving people. I’ve done it all my life with through church, camps like Camp Quality (a camp for children with cancer), helping out friends, etc. I like meeting people and being able to help maximize their day in a cost effective way.
Ogo’s GrubSquad Mobile
NC: If you could name 3 goals for GrubSquad off the top of your head, what would they be?
O: Grub Squad wants to help customers:
#1. Be more efficient and productive with their lives.
#2. Have access to their favorite restaurants and a variety of healthy options.
#3. Explore new good food in a convenient way.

Sidenote: I wanted to check out the ordering process, so I pulled up the website, typed in my zipcode and Grub Squad pulled up their partnering restaurants in my area. I was delighted to see new places I had never been to and many of them at relatively low cost. Once I selected where I wanted to eat, the specific restaurant menu pulled up and I could click and add to the cart what I wanted. Very easy to use!

NC: Do you have a target audience?
O: GrubSquad is for everyone. Our primary market has been those busy professionals who barely have time for lunch.
NC: Yea, doctors, business people, teachers…
O: Exactly! A lot of times, the lunch break is too short to hop into your car, wrestle through traffic, and find a proper meal. We do the hard work so they can eat and still be productive and keep it moving.

NC: So…I’ve been eyeing that GrubSquad tee. Any chance I could get some GrubSquad gear?
O: Of course! We ordered some new batch of shirts. We’ll put them up for sale on the website sometime in the near future. We’ll hook you up!

Bottom line: GrubSquad gets my NC stamp of approval! All the foodies of Houston will love them for bringing good food to a central location. Ogo was telling me that Houston has a great food culture. I’m discovering that myself, and I think GrubSquad can be the tool we need to try new foods and still stick to our busy schedules. Foodies and “Productivity Enthusiasts” are in good hands with GrubSquad.

Order now at grubsquad.com

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Mothers’ Day Photoshoot

Life, Sunday Best
My Sweet Moda

My mother is one of the sweetest, most selfless people I know. I love her for how she loves people and how she loves God. My mommy is insightful but also unintentionally hilarious. She is my biggest cheerleader and makes me believe there is nothing I can’t do with God and hard work. I thank God for my sweet moda.

Mummy and her men :)

Mummy and us

After church, we made our mom a Mothers’ Day feast. My dad made a tasty salmon dish. We had sauteed shrimp, rice, and asparagus. It was a great meal.

Happy Mothers’ Day!!


Good Eats: Dunn Bros Coffee

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I recently visited Dunn Bros Coffee for the first time to meet up with Ogo Ifelayo, founder of GrubSquad, to do an interview. I’m not a coffee-drinker, but I wanted to try it out anyway. I actually liked it. It was interesting to try a non-Starbucks coffee place. It was spacious on the inside, with couches and high tables with stools for patrons to sit on. It was relatively quiet— quiet enough to study, read a book, or have a meeting without being disturbed.

Dunn Bros had a cute chalkboard menu. They served beverages as well as food.

Here is part of the menu:

The prices were pretty low; most of the beverages were under $5.

I ordered a Chicken Pesto pizza (pictured above). I’m a pesto fan! The only thing on it that I had to remove was the artichoke on the top of the pizza. (I forgot to tell them to take it off when I ordered). I’m kinda picky, but I still think the pizza was delicious.

I also had a strawberry smoothie (also pictured above). It tasted like fresh strawberries! The only downside was that the cup was on the small-side. I was a little bummed when I finished the smoothie and had no more left.

It was a nice, light meal. Good taste. Laid back atmosphere. I’d recommend Dunn Bros Coffee if you’re looking for good beverages (coffee/smoothies) and food.

Next time, as per the GrubSquad founder’s recommendation, I will try either the Chicken & hummus sandwich or the salmon w/ chunks of mango sandwich. Both sound promising!

Looking for NATURAL HAIR Info?

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(frolab.com)

By now, you all know I love fashion, good food, and adventures. You should also know that I love natural hair! I have been natural for almost three years and I’ve loved every minute of it. Maybe it’s because it’s been a while since my Big Chop, but I don’t talk about my hair as much anymore. My hair used to be all I talked about!

I don’t want you all to miss out on all the lessons that I learned while I was transitioning and first growing out my hair, so I am going to dig deep into the recesses of the blogosphere and find some of my older stuff to share with you, if you are interested in natural hair.

In the drop-down menus, you should see a “Natural Hair” tab that should tell you just about anything you want to know about natural hair from transitioning styles to hair maintenance. You can also find popular natural bloggers and vloggers under the “Afroinspiration” tab.

The NATUAL HAIR section will be updated periodically.

Thanks,

The MANAGEMENT ;)

I’m Houston Fashion Bloggers’ “Blogger of the Week”

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Hey peeps! The past couple of weeks have been very busy, with school closing out and a lot has been going on. Just wanted to stop and share my “Blogger of the Week” award from Houston Fashion Bloggers:

I’m humbled to be given this nomination by the talented bloggers at Houston Fashion Bloggers. I’m also excited and encouraged by all the encouraging feedback I’ve been getting from family, friends, and even strangers. I started Naturale Chronicles for people who, like me, who were going through a transitioning time in their lives. Whether it be graduating from college, moving to a new city, going natural, changing up your look, I relate to you in some way. I want to share my experiences with you so we can learn together.

Naturale Chronicles has:

Style- “What You Wearing?” and “Sunday Best”

Food- “Good Eats”

Adventures- “Jump Houston” (co-written with Tobs)

Crafts- “DIY Machine”

Natural Hair- “Naturale Chronicles”

Click the links to check out the posts!

————————More news!!———————–

June 1st is Naturale Chronicles’s 1/2 birthday! To celebrate NC turning 6 months old, I will be having a giveaway!! Stay tuned for more details.

NC currently has 30 followers and 3,000 page views, and that’s just enough encouragement for for me. I look forward to more adventures and collaborations in the future. Thank you, supporters and readers, for letting me be me.

Sincerly,

Timi