EverydayNiayai Diary Excerpt #1 | December 5th, 2026

It’s a Friday morning in December.  I could just tell I was getting a suspicious amount of sleep. I woke myself up and you guessed it. I was. It was 6:40am. And I had to be in my car and on the road to my first campaign stop of the day at 7:30. My alarm didn’t go off at 6:00am as planned.

Shit. 

I frantically got out of bed, hopped over my dog Bentley who was fast asleep on my rug, ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth and take a 5 minute shower. I started going through the list of things I had to squeeze into 50 minutes. 

“Wash your face, shower, some skincare, lotion up, put your contacts in, 15 minute makeup.”

“I really need to find my nametag so I won’t spend all my time introducing myself.”

“Would love a cup of coffee right now. Hate the creamer I bought last week.”

“It’s raining? Maybe I shouldn’t wear the black knee high boots. Loafers? Heels? I have rainboots too.”

“Wait, What time is it?” 

I turn off the shower. I check the time and 6:40 went to 6:55 really quickly. Yoga teacher trainging taught me about my nervous system, breathwork and the power of your inner voice. And mine is telling me to pick up the pace. So I did. I took a deep breath. 

I threw on my cheetah print robe and flew downstairs. I wasn’t kidding about the cup of coffee. While it brewed, I breathed. I have the privilege of meeting two incredible Democrats today. And I wasn’t gonna let my nerves get the best of me, or let my rough start define my entire day. Governor Roy Cooper and Senator Raaphel Warnock. 

My coffee is done brewing. 2 brown sugars, 2 creams stirred into my favorite cup covered in national landmarks in D.C. The dream. I take 2 sips and realize that I can make the best of the next few moments to myself before I have to be ready to represent the North Carolina Democratic Party. 

I’m at my vanity. I pull out my daily makeup products and brushes. I organized my products last night so everything would go super smoothly. And it was about to, but then I remembered I needed to put in my contacts. 

I love my contacts, but I don’t love putting them in. And unfortunately for me, I had never put in my contacts with almond acrylic nails, there’s a first for everything. Like I did without nail extensions, I put the contact on the pad of my finger, hold my eyelid up and aim for my pupil.

Fuck. 

I stab myself in the eye. As to be expected. My left eye starts watering and I start reassessing the necessity of contacts for today’s event. I remind myself that i’m a little vain and I don’t want to wear glasses for the antifcipated photos and videos. I’m stuck. Like the greatest minds of our generation, I tried to find an answer quickly befcause I knew I was on borrowed time. I pulled up tiktok and typed into the search bar

“How to put in contacts with acrylic nails”

Five scrolls later and after two rewatches of a creators video I got the contacts in. It’s 7:07 and there’s no more time to waste. Contacts make my eyes water. I wipe the tears, throw away the packaging and get started.

Primer all over your face. This primer on your t-zone so you’re not oily.

Brows, a little concealer for clean up, let’s use the Nars foundation today. 

Skip the cream contour, you don’t have time. Blush on your cheeks and by your brows. 

Love this Laura Mercier powder. Under eyes, under cheeks, forehead too. 

See, in politcs, appearance matter. Whether people want to admit it or not. I dress the part for work, and that includes a full face of makeup, a few sprits of a light smelling perfume and an outfit chic enough to repeat. I’ve been working in politics for the greater part of 10 years. 

I realize that it’s quiet in my room. I check the time and it’s 7:18. I’m catching up on time, but not far enough in my routine to be out of the woods yet. I want to quiet my inner monolouge, so I scroll on my phone to find something to listen to. 

 A New Episode of She’s So Lucky. That’s perfect. 

I start wrapping up my makeup. It came together quickly. I let my nerves ease and then my phone rings. Dorian, my colleague is calling. He’s going to be at the campaign stops today.I answer. He has a question. I have an answer. 

He needs a tie. He’s in luck because I have one. I walk down the hallway, open the closet and grab the blue and white stripped tie from my older brother Togaa’s room. I throw it in my purse and tell him i’ll be there exactly at 8am, and will be there shortly. He tells me not to worry. I still do. We laugh, we hang up.

I put my jewerly on. I apply my lipgloss. My thoughts continue. At this point, it’s 7:30. I’m officially behind schedule. I try my best to not let the internal panic I have put me in a bad mood. I start giving myself compliments out loud. It always works, 

I love this Mac Lipgloss on you, Niayai.

This tweed jacket and shift dress are actually so cute togehter. Let’s wear this again soon.

Black slingback heels  and sheer tights is the best choice. 

Let me snap this tennis bracelet on really quickly. 

I’m almost ready. I check my outfit in the mirror, I give my makeup one last glance. I am worried about my under eye creasing. It already is, because my eye is watering from my earlier contact fiasco. I grab a compact and brush and throw it in the bag. We’ll handle that later. Everything looks good, let’s head out. It’s 7:40. I put the venue in my GPS. 23 minutes. 

We got this. 

I grab my overcoat, my bag and my lip combo. I head down the stairs with my waterbottle, phone and keys in hand. I head to the fridge to fill up and take a few deep breaths. My stomach growls a bit. I remember that I didn’t eat breakfast. I also remember I am literally going to a black faith leaders and business owners brunch. Surely there will be food there. Whatever,  I’ll be fine. My protein bar is somewhere on the bottom of this bag too.

It’s raining, my umbrella is open, I walk out the front door and into my 2015 Toyota Corolla. I plug in my phone, set my GPS on the dash and check the time. 7:45. The gas tank is low. I say a quick affirmation to myself and hit the road. 

Niayai, you’ll be fine, you got this.

I reverse out fo the driveway and head towards the first of three campaign stops for the day. Because the thing is, I was made for moments like these.

I had the opportunity to listen to the Governor and Senator talk about their plans for this country. One that prioritizes the people who need it most. One that gets money back in the pockets of everyday Americans. One that provides access to opportunity to follow your dreams and change the world. One that reaffirms my belief that our best days are ahead of us. As Govenor Roy Cooper later shared that day, I am a prisoner of hope. Hope in the future of our world. Hope in the future of our people. And Hope in the future I am creating myself.

Even on the important days, where I get a suspicious amount of sleep. 

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Check out my tiktok vlog of my day on the campaign trail by clicking, here.