REPURPOSING CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS FOR MARCH

Second post for today, and I'm pretty much excited. It's just a few hours to we get into the month of April, the month of the a-z blogging challenge and 5 days to Easter sunday. I realized that I was thinking of easter decorations, then it suddenly hit me that I hadn't written a post for the month of March! 

So, without wasting any more time, I’d let you in on my ideas for repurposing your Christmas décor for the month of March. March has almost no significant holiday except for the international Women’s day. So, I had a few ideas for the month of March. Here they are;

• A parade: a march pass, how about arranging your decorations like they are on a parade marching down the street.

• A second thought though almost irrelevant was arranging them in the shape of a “match stick” or a fish for "pisces".  It’s a hilarious thought but it’s all about being creative right?

• Last and final thought that came to mind was arranging your decorations like they were playing a football match. Better still, a football match pitching the feminine characters against the masculine characters of the decorations. This was my best. 

That’s all for this month, have to run, I have a challenge to prepare for tomorrow. Hoping to get the post for repurposing of Christmas decorations for the month of April out on time.

Cheers….

REPURPOSING YOUR CHRISTMAS DECOR FOR THE WHOLE YEAR

‎So, valentine's day have come and gone and I had lots of fun. Finally was able to give by hubby the gift he wanted most (thanks to you all who shared some gift ideas with me). I was chilling (can't remember where exactly) one hot evening, and was thinking that I hadn't posted anything on interior decor  in a very long time, so  I decided to check out the web for some inspiration. Of all the sites I visited, this one stood out to me - patiencebrewster.com. She is an artist and illustrator known for her unique Christmas ornaments, holiday decor and gifts.  ‎ Now this is totally new to me, but I always aspiring for something new was inspired by her to come up with creative ideas to repurpose Christmas decorations for use all year round, instead of packing them up till another Christmas. I have decided to do this for each month of the year, starting with this month, (though it's almost over).

For this month, the month of February, the month regarded by many if not all, as the of love. I have been brainstorming to come up with a creative idea for Valentine’s day. Redecorating in the shape of a HEART is what instantly comes to mind, but that one is already taken and a bit cliché. Going with a "V" seemed a little bit too obvious, even though a heart shape without the top part leaves us with a "V" too. I then thought about arranging the decorations in the alphabets that spell LOVE, making the V more pronounced to represent valentine. Finally, I decided to leave the proverbial "box" to think, guess what I came up with? 

I thought about synonyms, antonyms, homonyms and I came up with a homophone - Heart vs. Hat. You could redecorate in the shape of a Hat! What do you think of that? Crazy creative right? Well, if we weren't repurposing Christmas decorations, then you could use your hats (for those of us who have lots of hats) to decorate in the shape of a heart. As for what specific colours to use, that's easy. Valentine's day share some similarities in color with Christmas - red. Alright, that's all I could come up with for this month. Hope you love it.

Cheers

HOW TO ACHIEVE THE SLENDER FIGURE

Hello everyone!!!...

Happy new year!!! After my last moody Christmas post, I actually got some excitement from the season, especially the new year's eve which I spent with my new family. I was actually anxious about how it was going to be spent, but at the end I just had fun! So, I am here to welcome you to the new year with some good news. A few days ago, I saw the photo below on my friends blackberry display picture. Initially, I just had a very good laugh, but as I thought about it, I realized that a lot of people do gain some weight around the festive period. The sad part is, that weight isn't as easy to lose, especially as not everyone hits the gym on new year's day despite all the new year resolutions.  Lol

A few months ago, I wrote this post on how to achieve a fuller figure, I got some sincere suggestions that some people actually want to be slim and that some men do indeed prefer them slim. To that I said "thank you +Agbani Darego for winning the miss world and giving black African women and men a change of thought". I decided then to write this post, but nothing has prompted me to do so more than now that people have almost no choice but to add to little weight that can't be easily lost. So, if you fall into the category of persons who have inevitability gained some over the holidays and you are in no hurry to hit the gym this new year, then here are some tips for looking trim like you did before the holidays.

• Ladies, it's time to bring out your pencil skirts.  If you didn't have one, then I guess it's time to do a tiny winy bit of shopping. A pencil skirt gives you that elongated look, making you look taller and very sophisticated too.
• Secondly, if you must wear clothes with stripes, then go for those with vertical stripes.  They also create the slim look by making you look taller.
• slide into the new year with some heels. Something a bit higher than what you are already used to.
• When deciding what colors to go for,  make them dark with a pop of color (an accessory- bag, shoe, scarf, whatever).  
• Assymetrical cuts are the in-thing at this time, whether they are the trend or not. Also it doesn't matter if it is a skirt or a dress or even a top.
• The neckline of your outfit is extremely important, especially if you are busty. Go for V- neck or assymetrical cuts like the shoulder style or a bow on one shoulder. 
• Create a waist by cinching it in with a belt. Also, a peplum top or dress with the cut on the waist rather than the actual waist gives you the slim tall look.
• Long flowy dresses are also for you at this time. It not only makes you look taller, but also hides any excess baggage perfectly. 

DON'TS

• No excess embellishments,  no ruffles, no ruching, it ends up adding unnecessary bulk to your frame.
• No flared skirt
• Nothing with bold prints, if you must wear prints, go for tiny ones. Definitely no horizontal stripes.
• Don't go for one-size too big or one-size too small in an attempt to hide the weight. Guess what? It will further enhance it.
• Be careful with that have the A-line cut or an empire waist dress. It can have the effect of making you appear taller when worn properly. It can also have the opposite effect of making you look shorter, especially if it is a short dress or skirt. 

That said, I hope this goes a long way to making you look and feel good as we move on in the year until you can find yourself in a gym, (please hurry and do so).

Yours truly, 

Cheers.......

TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE OF VIVIAN AND CHIKA

Hello everyone, 

The year is fast coming to an end, and everyone (well maybe, almost everyone) is counting down, 3 days to go! We are taking stock of the events and thanking God for his many blessings. We also remember the not so good moments and how somehow we overcame trials. We remember the lessons learnt from certain circumstances. This post is one of being thankful.  Earlier in the month, my elder brother celebrated his traditional marriage to his long time heartrob.

Their relationship is like one of those you see on the telemundo series. They may not be as hot as they telemundo characters but they are beautiful and they had similar problems to the characters. You know the ones where two people so love each other and want to be together, and everything else is totally against them being together? Yea, that's the kind of relationship they had. From long distance relationship to job issues to opposition from all angles. I'm sure glad that they overcame. Now let's move on to unravel the event of the day and the road to it.

As with every Nigerian traditional marriage, especially with the Igbos, there has to be some African time (never showing up early anything). If you remember clearly, I had some time issues during my traditional marriage earlier in the year. And as with almost any event there are bound to be glitches, hopefully sorted out before the D-day. My new sister-in-law is one efficient person I know.  If she's asked to do something,  she gets it done fast. So about a week or two before the wedding, she came to visit, to conclude certain arrangements. I remember asking if she had sorted out her asheobi outfit and she said she didn't need them. Two days later, she'd gone back, I was still sleeping when my mum barged into my room screaming that my brother wanted to get married without an asheobi group like it was a huge crime. I tried to explain that the couple thought they didn't need that, but mum was having none of my explanations.  We had to immediately inform Vivian, who without qualms got 7 girls ready with measurements sent to the tailor for express dress  and bead making. That's how efficient she is.

On that day, I guess my parents didn't want to be labelled as late, so we got up quite early,  prepared ourselves and headed out to go bring the new wife home. We got to our destination almost 2 hours later (mostly because my parents didn't want to drive fast and no one else could), and we are the only ones around. The makeup artist was just about to start, the photographer had not yet decided where to set up.  The in laws weren't ready to receive us yet, and we had a very long way to go in this particular celebration. Many deliberations transpired according to the customs of the land and finally
the bride was called out to identify her husband to be. I realized that even though they were Igbos, their culture differed from mine a little bit.

The "event" as we know it took off at about 3 pm. The asheobi girls were colorful. Makeup was perfect. Pictures came out nice. There was more that enough food and drinks for everyone. We laughed, we wined and dined, we moved to the dance floor to show off whatever skills we thought we had, then we took our wife home. All in all, the event turned out nice. Below are the pictures to show you a glimpse of the event.

Cheers.......

Getting ready to go and pluck the flower from igboukwu

Handsome bro

pretty Viv

Beautiful couple

Selfie with beautiful asheobi girls

Bride with friends

Bride and her siblings

Ada, ada time

Bride getting her  groove on and relegating her hubby. Chai! My brother doesn't know how to dance

Bride with her new family members. Welcome girl!

WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS?

Hello everyone,

Merry Christmas and a happy new year in advance. I have a few of my thoughts to share with you about my experience this year. But first take a look at my last year's Christmas experience which I shared with you, writing with so much joy and gusto. This year, I’m not having nearly as much fun, so I sat back and reflected on  how my childhood Christmases where spent. I began to wonder what had happened to change things so much. I decided that it was one of two things; either I grew up, or someone stole Christmas.

To start things off, I guess I woke up on the wrong side of my bed yesterday, because I woke up feeling sick. I prayed and prayed that it would be one of those transient ill feelings, but my hope was dashed. I got to the hospital and my colleagues said I had sinusitis, maybe with malaria. Then, number 2 problem came when I couldn’t get fuel to buy for my car. I can’t imagine why the petrol dealers try to make life difficult for people during festive seasons. The demand is already high, why horde the products and hike up the prices to make a little more bucks out of greed. Thirdly, a perpetual problem in Nigeria, NO ELECTRICITY (and the ministry of power just donated N500 million to president Goodluck Jonathan in the PDP fundraiser. *Story for another day*) So, no fuel in my car to make moving around and visiting friends easier, no fuel to power the generators since we have no electricity. Indeed it was looking like a very blue Christmas.

To remove myself from this almost near depressive state, I decided to reminisce of my childhood Christmas. Back then, I didn't know what Santa Claus was, didn't get to hear about the word until I was almost in secondary school. In Nigeria then, we also didn't have the western practices of Christmas trees and gifts placed under them by Santa. There was definitely no snow and many homes didn't have chimneys to allow Santa in, (even if he decided to pass through). But the more I thought about it, I realized we had Santa Claus, only we named him "Father Christmas". I remembered that we used to go to some events where "father Christmas" would carry us on his laps and give us gifts. We were also afforded the opportunity to take a photo with him. Many of the smaller kids used to cry so much because  father Christmas was a fat man with red clothes and plenty white beard. They just couldn't understand it. The older kids came out to compare the gifts they'd received. This wasn't the fun part of Christmas for me. I used to have much more fun than visiting father Christmas 5 to 7 days before Christmas day.

Usually, the frenzy of Christmas started much more earlier in November. This is simply because in Nigeria, parents got to realize that waiting till December to start shopping would make things difficult for them. In Nigeria, the prices of goods double and triple because there is a celebration around the corner. Everyone tries their very best to cash in on the suddenly high demands of the populace. So my mum used to share us into two groups for shopping. One day for the boys and another day for the girls. We usually shopped for clothes and shoes to wear on Christmas and new year's day and probably the following Sunday. At the end of it all, we had almost four new clothes. Then, she'd shop for clothes to stay at home with. After the whole shopping fiasco, came the preparations the travel to the village. Sometimes we had to travel even before Christmas day. 

Because we were in a much more developed environment than the village, most times, we had to buy all that we would need for the period of our stay. Two days to take off, our clothes (definitely nothing old and worn out) would be brought out for ironing and packing. We had to have our clothes ironed because in the village, you could stay for a month without the slightest show of power. The village used to be so.... much fun! We got to see our cousins who also came in from different parts of the country. Back in the day, when we arrived at the village, we were left to our devises. There weren't many cars on the road,  and the available ones had to move much slower because of untarred roads, therefore, the chances of having an accident was lower. We also didn't have all this wahala of kidnapping. We would take out our bikes and just going riding (most of the time, in turns) for the fun of it. In the almost two weeks spent in the village, I can honestly say that we don't look for the location of the parlour.  It used to be wake up, eat, go out, eat at whatever relatives house you find yourself,  come home dirty and and worn out, bath, maybe eat and go to bed.

Finally, the funnest (if there was a word like that) thing about those Christmases was throwing what we Nigerians call "knock-outs" or "bangard". Later got to realize it covered for fireworks.  Lol. My brothers and cousins would light it up and throw into the air and it would make such loud noises and almost no light. I was too afraid to throw one myself, but I used to just stay on one side and watch them throw it while I jump up and down in joy. These knockouts were used mostly on Christmas and new year's eve. It used to be amazing!!!... 

At some point in my reminiscence, I thought we don't have as much fun anymore because maybe the children in my neighbourhood grew up and none yet to replace them. Or maybe the environment is a lot more hostile than it used to be. Maybe things would get better when there are kids in the neighbourhood again. But then, I remembered someone already stole most of the childhood.

I hope my little journey down memory lane would cheer you up a bit if you were having a blue Christmas like myself. Remain blessed and have yourself a merry merry merry Christmas! 

Cheers........

THE HONEYMOON, PHASE 2: SEYCHELLES

Hey everyone, 

The much awaited grand finale to the journey from the announcement of my great news to the weddings, and now the phase 2 of my honeymoon is here. And yes, I had a BLAST!!! let me beginning by thanking you for following me on this journey, even though the posts took a long time in coming sometimes. I'll just get down to the gist of it. Remember in my last post I complained of the cold in Kenya and was praying for a better one in Seychelles? Well, God answered my prayers. We arrived and it was to a semi-sunny day (few drizzles that stopped in a few minutes. The drizzles actually felt like a heavy wind). It was still 80 degrees F. in went the jeans, long skirts and jackets and out came the shorts and tank tops. Did I forget to say bikinis? The honeymoon was definitely in full swing and Sexy was back!!! During the day and at night. LOL.

Seychelles, pronounced "say shells" or "see/sea shells" (I'd love to know exactly how they came by that name) is a beautiful group of islands divided into 8 provinces. I was told it had up to 115 islands but only 60% of those were inhabited. The capital Victoria is in Mahe. Mahe Island is about 27 kilometers in total. They said you could drive around it in 2 hours (that's its perimeter, not entering the town). They have a population of about 95000 and they national language is either English or French, but they have a local language "Seselwa".

DAY 1

Okay, okay, enough about history. To go to Seychelles, you have to be 2 things, brave, (to be able to face the tiny, extremely curvy roads up and down the mountain paths in moving from one point to another,) and rich (for it is a very expensive country). We stayed at the Eden holiday villas for the first 3 days. Since we booked fro our accommodation online, we didn't want any surprises. Thank goodness it was a lovely place with beautiful views. They welcomed us with drinks. It was a 10 minute walk to the waterfall and 30 minute walk to the main beach.

The photo above shows a tiny island opposite the hotel. We were told we could go there anytime we liked. So we went to check in out only to realize that there was no land connecting the two islands. When I inquired as to how we were supposed to get there, we found out that all we had to do was buy "water shoes" and walk across the ocean. I swallowed my saliva, thanked him very much and decided to take the long walk to the main beach. "It's very shallow" he said, "just go during the low tide". LOL.

After we settled in, we decided to go for a walk. We saw the bus-stop. Never seen anything like that in my life! After the walk, we had dinner and went straight to bed.

This is the Bus-stop

DAY 2
We woke up the next day very late. Way pass the time for church. When we inquired, we learnt the mass was held in French. My hubby then decided to check out what the TV had in stock for him. He was hit by only one local TV channel, the SBC (Seychelles broadcasting corporation). They spoke mostly French, except when the movies came on. (By movies, I mean ancient movies and soaps like 'Young and the restless' or 'Santa barbara'). I understood very very little, he didn't get it at all. We decided to go out instead. We went to the waterfall, then to the beach.

We weren't properly dressed for the occasion so we couldn't get into the water. We just hung around, ate our hot-dogs, took some pictures and headed back to the hotel. When we got to the hotel, the next thing I saw was my dear young man watching the TV with such an intensity like he understood a word. A silly thought came to mind though and I asked him if he thought the language or channel would change if he looked long enough.

We saw many crabs, running into the holes on the road side. I began to wonder why their were so much if they were eaten. I confirmed that they weren't when I didn't see and crab dish on their menu. Later I found out that the road side crabs were "bad" crabs, that the good ones were deep in the sea and since it wasn't crab hunting season, they couldn't put it on the menu.

DAY 3:

We started the day by looking for new accommodation, for even though the Eden holiday villas was cool, we wanted to move closer to town. It just was too quiet for us, with almost nothing to do. Plus remember I told you my hubby has a restless streak, we ended up booking for 2 different hotels. We decided to go to the beach again since we had nothing else to do. I picked some corals, didn't see any shells. I began to marvel as to how there were no shells in Seychelles. (I got my answer later. The native pick them early in the morning and make them into souvenirs).

Different ages of coconut (young to old)

We drank a coconut, ate an extremely old one whose water was dried up and it tasted like a kind of sponge cake. We made a few new friends among the locals who invited us over for dinner. (This just goes to tell you how very hospitable the Seychellois are). Everyone you meet on the road or shops are smiling at you and saying "hi". At the end of that day, It was time to pack again. Moving on to the next phase of our adventure.

DAY 4:

Moving time. Annoying check-out rules!!! We had to check out at 10 a.m. Who does that?! In Nigeria, you check out at 12 noon. Anyway, we moved closer to town. The hotel we booked for was appalling!! ( Name withheld, the next day we were out of there with much speed). We went sight-seeing to Eden Island, breath-taking, and did a little shopping.

Lunch had to come in at some point, so we were taken to this restaurant. We were actually adviced to place an order for only one person first to see if it would be enough for us. When they presented us with this mini buffet, I understood the reason behind the request. There were currency notes from many countries around the wall pinned to one wall, I even saw the Nigerian naira. (And here I was thinking Nigerians probably haven't heard of this place). Mtscheeewwww (this is the Nigerian way of spelling *hiss* LOL).

Currencies

Mini buffet

Indian temple

Shopping

Out on the town

Eden Island

We went to the top of a mountain from where we could see a majority of the city below. The airport and seaport,  as well as some other islands could be seen. There was even a key (graphic representation) of what could be seen. On the drive back, while chatting up with the cab driver, we learnt of the regulation of alcohol. Alcohol can't be sold at certain hours of the day. We also realised how much money we've wasted on airtime, because they had a different call card for international calls and for local calls. So if you happen to find yourself in Seychelles, buy the 25 rupee card for local calls for without it you can't make any calls, then get the 99 rupees one for your international calls. 

Giant Tortoise

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We went to check out some other hotels that the driver told us about since we hated the current one so much. This new location was in Beau Vallon. When you hear them pronounce it, it sounds like buffalo". There was a long beach opposite they hotel, (you could get hotels from cheap to expensive in a straight line). Many restaurants, shops and boating/snorkeling shops. Infact it was the ultimate holiday get away. Almost anything you could need was to be found there. After we checked it out, we decided to move here and cancelled our reservations with the other hotels. That night, we wasted no time packing since we didn't really unpack in the first place.

DAY 5:

Again, we were welcomed with drinks. We went out for lunch, walked on the beach and slept most part of the day. At night, there was a little get-together where everyone is invited. people show up to play music from their cars, sing and dance. Others come to sell their wares, from food to souvenirs. I'm almost sure you are wondering what kind of fruit or nut I have in the photo below, well wonder no more. It is a double coconut called Coco de mer exclusively to Seychelles. (Actually, it's to Praslin, One of the islands of Seychelles). It is shaped like the lower part of a woman. It actually has 2 distinct trees for the male and female species. The male fruits are shaped like a man's phallus, seriously. Photos below.

Peeled Coco de mer

Unpeeled Coco de mer

Chatting

This bird is not afraid to perch by me

with the rasta man

Sunset in Seychelles

DAY 6:

We visited the popular neighboring islands - Praslin (pronounced Pralin) and La digue via fast ferry ride. Mehn! that was one hell of a ride. When asked closed or open-air? we chose open-air, little did we know what we were in for. Trust Naija babe like me with posing. Sharp, sharp, I climbed up and sat down. Next thing. They started the regular safety rules you hear when an Aeroplane is about to take off. That didn't make me relax. I don't think I did even after I saw the life jackets. We started moving and it was initially slow. When it took off in full speed, I thought we were going to capsize. To make matters worse, when we hit  the waves, it came as high as the top of the ferry. Many people ran below for cover, I was too dizzy and too nauseated to leave my seat. Dear hubby had too bear it out with me. That was the longest 1 hour of my life! (anyway that I can remember right now). At the end of the 1 hour, we were soaked to the skin and cold.

Before Take-off

After landing

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When we were about to embark for the second 15 minutes lap to La digue, no one told us to go below deck. We met a fellow Nigerian. He thought we were Kenyans or South Africans. (arrghhh!!!.... not again! everyone seems to think we are Kenyans. LOL...) La digue is so small, we had to hire bicycles to get around. Since it was either that or a cattle drawn cart, we decided to go for bikes. It was so much fun, a form of exercise, and I hadn't ridden one in ages.We went to the national park that hosted the "anse source d'argent" (pronounced "an sue da jean") beach. It is said to be the most beautiful beach in the world.

2nd lap

Fellow Nigerian

Bicycle riding

ANSE SOURCE D'ARGENT BEACH

On the way to the beach, we saw more giant Tortoise. Did you know that they live to be over 90 years old? We also saw a vanilla plantation. Never seen the vanilla plant before. Photos are shown below. You also see I wasn't exaggerating about the male Coco de mer. We rode around the town a bit, more shopping then headed back to the jetty to catch our ferry back to Praslin.

Vanilla plantation

Male species of Coco de mer

Female species of Coco de mer

While in Praslin, we visited the Vallee de mai. It is believed to be the garden of Eden. It is were the Coco de mer plants grow. The Coco de mer, according to legend is believed to be the forbidden fruit. It also boasts the black Parrot said to be in only 2 countries of the world. We had lunch, walked on the beach for long hours, I finally saw shells in Seychelles. By evening, we were so tired, we just too a taxi back to the ferry and headed to Mahe. We got home home and did our final packing for this journey. Tomorrow, we'll be going home. Then I remembered how cold it was in Kenya and wasn't looking forward to that at all.

House of the Calypha

On our way to the airport, we saw the house of the Calypha on a mountain. They said it was a 7 storey building for his 7 wives

Bonny & Clyde bebe!

Excited much

Bye bye Seychelles, Hello Naija! Feels soooo good to be back home, even with all the kpalava. I can sincerely tell you, truly there is no place like home.

Finally! I can ping!!!

I hope you had fun reading all my updates on this wonderful Journey. I also hope you continue to be a avid reader of my blog. (Even when I get boring).

Cheers guys....