What's off my bookshelf
““A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.” ”
This might be the best book I have read all year and I have read a couple; no offense Gone Girl.
What are you reading?
The Secret of the Unengaged Bride-to-be
4 years before Ed proposed, I went on a mock wedding dress hunt with my sister. It was entirely her idea and i had all the possible imaginable reservations about it. For one, I didn't want to be the "crazy" lady who made wedding dress appointments and wasn't engaged......... but then again, why let all the "crazy" people have all the fun! So I booked an appointment with a local wedding store, over the phone, avoiding the question "When is your wedding?" ever so skillfully with a grunt, an "a-hem" and the word "Soon." At the appointment, the woman was definitely really, really interested in the date of the wedding, so i said it was "inconclusive" for now. I guess at this point she really just thought i WAS the crazy lady who made wedding dress appointments and wasn't engaged; the one her manager always told her about.
In retrospect, i think this was the most important part of my wedding dress hunt adventure. From the trip, I was able to understand what styles looked best on me; I knew I preferred mermaid gowns and off-shoulder neck styles (I always thought i'd be a Cinderella ball-gown-kinda girl). I knew lace it was and always would be. I knew my veil had to be a statement. I also became aware that sometimes when you don't know what you want some style managers try to force dresses on you. It was a real eye-opener for me ......and an eye-slanter for the suspicious style manager.
How to pull this off...
Let's get it out there; yes, you do require some level of nuttiness for this escapade and who isn't a little nutty, huh? Apart from the benefits of acquired knowledge, it might also set things into motion if you tell your almost-fiancé about the appointment (not with the intention to manipulate him into proposing but just so he's aware and doesn't stumble on your photos one day on your dropbox account and has a heart attack); might get him thinking about the next move too.
You can make it a girls' outing! Get a couple of your girlfriends, engaged or not and do a mock hunt (each of you could book appointments in different stores to avoid being thrown out into the streets, after buying absolutely nothing). My friend, Eki and I did it once on Oxford street. We ran around in the rain, ducking into shops soaking wet, much to the dismay of the preppy shop assistants. Then we ate street crêpes in-between the appointments and after it all, ended up in wasabi eating a spicy bowl of sweet chili chicken bento while flipping through photos of the dresses on our phones. Fun!
It helped me streamline my wedding dress hunt. I also went for my real fitting very informed and confident. I knew exactly what I wanted which made the job easier for me and my style manager. Not knowing what you want is the bane of every wedding-dress style manager's existence. I got a lot of "Thank God! You know what you want! That's impressive!" remarks.
If only knowing what i wanted got me a discount, lol.
It also gets you thinking about themes, flowers, your hair and jewelry. It gets you planning a shopping budget and helps with being realistic with the numbers. Best of all, it's fun and a great way to spend an afternoon with your girlfriends without looking like the lone crazy woman who tries on dresses.
Now when you start taking photos like this with no intentions of buying anything, you probably will get thrown out! Lol! Thank you Eki for letting me use this photo. mmuah!
What are your thoughts on mock hunts? Do you know what styles you would like? Share with a friend who is nuts enough to try this with you...and then book some appointments!
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24 fun things to know about Nigerians (P.s And 1 reason to have one as a friend)
It's cute and exhaustingly amusing when someone from another country tells me "Hey, you speak really good English" or when they think suddenly in their minds "EBOLA!" and begin to panic, just because i said i'm Nigerian (hehe) or when they think "Hmmm" and immediately activate their Inspector gadget Internet-fraud sensors. The best is when they think we are terrorists. Someone actually once referred to us (to my face) as "You terrorists!" LOL! I love foreigners. I'll be honest, i thought about hitting him over the head with the pack of pasta i was holding but then 1) It was a rare pasta that i usually buy from Italy 2) You really can't beat ignorance out of anyone 3) He was much shorter than i was (i might have been whisked away by the police for child abuse before they understood that he was actually 35). However, what can i say, we all are ignorant at some time or the other (e.g. my sore disappointment whenever i'm on Baker street and I don't run into Sherlock Holmes or whenever i'm in New York and i don't run into the cast of friends, so hey.)
when someone asks how I learnt to speak English
Here's the truth, the typical Nigerian has no interest in terrorism, communicates excellently and is quite the culinary beast. If you aren't friends with us for any reason, at least, for the sake of your olfactory and gustatory senses, make friends with one Nigerian!
Happy Independence day, baby!!!
Fun things to know about Nigerians:
We don't really believe in snacking (our snacks look like meals)
We don't eat food without meat. Lol!
We respect the elderly
We don't act up when we drink. We don't know why. No falling in the gutters, no puking, nothing. We just breath in the alcohol.
We are awesome drivers! We make it work without traffic lights, floor markings, reflectors or street lights. So to all my people who have failed their driving tests in diaspora, We Shall Rise!
We can tell if you are not from Nigeria and we don't even have to speak to you to know
We really are very clever
We make amazing jollof rice #NigerianJollof
We know there's a God and he hooks us up
We love the familiar but we appreciate the foreign (We actually like foreigners, maybe too much)
We aren't all shafty and dodgy internet fraudsters
We love to dance! You have no idea
Our fight/flight system is off the hiz (does anyone even say that anymore, it was such a good adjective)
We love football
We thrive. We live in the most remote parts of the world. Ok that's stretching it, Iceland , Antartica.... all stretches. We thrive anywhere that promises economic prosperity.
We have a good ear for music
We drive a hard bargain. It's almost embarrassing
We have coded in our DNA the entrepreneurial gene; here, there, there, enough said
We discipline our kids, no back-talk or you get a back-hand
We make amazing Jollof rice (did i say this already? You bet i did, i'll say it again We make amazing jolly...even autocorrect be hating...JOLLOF rice!)
We can be naive and at the same time deeply cunning . Shrug, what can we say, it's a gift
We like nice things....very very very nice things
We dress up not down.
We DON'T enjoy extreme sports ; no bungee, mountaineering, hiking (less than a quarter mile will do)
Come on, love us will ya!
Add to the list! I know our traits are inexhaustible......
Weekend Plans!
Hey! Friday is here! Thanks for hanging in with me all week. If you are visiting for the first time this week, hey x 5! I hope your week was pleasantly eventful. Mine definitely was, so this weekend i am kicking back and getting in on some organizing projects (fun, bleh). What are you guys up to this weekend?
The rest of my weekend plans:
See "The Intern" with Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro
Make some awesomely moist banana bread
Shopping date with my friend, some fall boots are in order
Throw out most of my makeup
Go down town and check out the Sharwama in that little Meditterean restaurant
Ignore my pedometer (kidding)
Organize my email before Monday, I have altogether like 9000 emails across all my boxes, tut-tut-tut
Talk to somebody about Christ
Trying one of these
A bit of spring cleaning in September and some wall art shopping
Paint my nails an interesting shade of rose pink
Find some new blogs to read! If you are a blogger, please drop your url below or if you have great recommendations, please suggest below! Thanks!
So, what are you doing this weekend?
10 gifts (+another 10) to take to a bridal shower
Going to a bridal shower? And have no idea what gift to buy. Well, relax, I'm about to bring more than 10 ideas your way.
I am pretty sure I have goofed everytime I tried to buy a bride a gift. Simply because I usually buy her what I want. Hehe. There's nothing more demoralizing than seeing the gift you bought her, dusty and unopened, seating in her junk closet, after her third child. So let's try some personality linking to our purchases. What's her personality like? Is she adventurous or a couch potato? Is she glam or a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl? Does she live on a treadmill, does she eat oats and quinoa all day long? Is she a foodie or an artist? Pick out which of these the bride is and check below! If she's not on the list, drop a comment below...let's brainstorm together!
The Daisy bride (1)
The Musical bride (2)
Headphones (an upper grade Sennheiser, she will love you for life. Bose, if you can. Beats, if she loves color. Sony, if you are on a budget. )
The Foodie bride (3)
A cookbook or a paid trip to a chef's kitchen to learn new dishes, or simply lunch (as a foodie I know I'd rather just eat it. Away with any cooking!)
The Sexy bride (4)
The Health enthusiast bride (5)
A pedometer and/or a smoothie maker
The Bride who actually cares to wear an apron (6)
The Satchel-lover bride (7)
A purse of any kind!
The illustrator Bride (8)
an illustration of the couple or of both of you
The make-up on-point bride (9)
Of course, more makeup. And some makeup remover. Am I the only one who thinks everyone needs a good makeup remover?
The Shoe-lover bride (10) this works for most brides, it's a no-brainer
The bride who has now morphed into bridezilla (11)
Space (I'm kidding, I honestly don't know what would please a bridezilla) Any ideas?
The Adventurous bride (12)
The Stressed-out bride(13)
A spa voucher (she will need this the week before the wedding)
The Nerdy bride (14)
A Journal/book, not this book
That moderately Sexy bride (15)
Moderately Sexy PJs
The Bejeweled bride (16)
The tipsy bride(17)
A bottle of red wine
The Gym-junkie bride (18)
Gym gear or Boxing gloves and pads.
The student bride (19)
Money/ Some investment too
The blogger bride(20)
I'm stuck here. What do blogger brides want? A paid session with a pro photographer for her blog, maybe. A session that probably lasts a week!
What kind of bride are/were you or will you be? What would you want?!
Happy New Blog!
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome!!! This is our new space! Thank you to all who have followed me here. And a special thanks to all who gave me feedback on the old blog and in building this new one. There would be additions and changes on our new space. First, the posts won't be as long. Lol. I know, i know, i hear you thanking me. New also, are a couple of uniquely tagged posts. The most important being the "Selah" posts. They are bible-sourced inspirational posts, which I really look forward to writing. The "influencer" posts, which come up everyday are pretty new too . So brighten someone's day by sharing! Other than those, we're still about becoming life-love-relationship hackers, full of adventure, loving food, people and God; here to chill and grow together.
Drop in anytime and if you feel comfortable dropping a comment, please do!
Happy New Blog!
