Nominated for a Liebster Award

A month ago, I drafted a blog update that now requires its own update. See how life keeps moving? Beautiful. 

In the meantime, The Aje-Butter's Guide to NYSC recently nominated me for the Liebster Award. The Liebster award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers* (thanks!!)

The Rules:

1. Thank and link back to the giver

1. Answer the giver's questions

1. Nominate 5 other blogs with fewer than 200 followers

1. Ask five questions for nominees to answer

1. Post it on your blog

Thanks for the nomination Berry Dakara aka Aje-Butter's Guide to NYSC!!

What are you most thankful for, right this second?
At the moment, it's little pleasures such as stocking up on toiletries or reading a good book...all derived from the awareness of God's unending grace :)

What (if any) is your greatest fear?
I'm not big on sharing my fears. Maybe that's a fear in itself....

How many pairs of shoes do you have? Honestly?
Not many :)

If you could have a conversation with any celebrity/famous person (dead or alive), who would it be?
At the moment? Chinua Achebe. I think he'd have a lot of wisdom to impart on what it means to be a writer who happens to be African. I'll go ahead and add Maya Angelou to the conversation ;)

Would you rather go back in time or way into the future?
Back in time, I'd like to have a chat with my 10 year old self :)






1. Adura @ Healthy Living with Adura O 
2. Vickii @ I Bake Therefore I Am
3. Nibi @ The Kinky Apothecary 
4. Binie (?) @ Aisle Perfect
5. Aderonke @ The Love Chest

a What is your favorite book of all time and why?
b What are you most passionate about and why?
c. What are you up to at the moment?
d. What would you say to your 10 year old self?
e. Where and what would you like to be & do in 5 years? 




Peace,

Source: http://www.welovedhere.com/2012/07/we-loved-here-liebster-award.html

Bootcamp @ Radisson Blu

This past week something magical happened. I signed up for a fitness challenge and concluded the week with a bootcamp class. A bootcamp class at 10am on Saturday. Until now, 10am at Saturday has been consigned to lounge time at mi casa. Or in simpler terms: time to JUST CHILL.

I learned about the bootcamp class in the middle of the week and it seemed fitting to work it into the fitness challenge (aka 'get trimmer challenge' but fitness sounds snazzier :P) I got in touch with the coordinator, Marianna and received a detailed and friendly email in enough time to decide that it was worth a try.

The bootcamp was at Radison Blu and I assumed it would be either in a gym or a conference room. When I got there I asked for the bootcamp class and the receptionist directed me to the workout area. Before I got there, I paused for a second to take a picture (my near gut reaction for many things). The picture below hardly captures the way it feels but that'll do ;) As I walked towards the workout area, I noticed an older white dude swimming in the pool and it made me think of how luxurious yet simple life can be in this city. A swim on saturday morning, a movie, an (interesting) play, a book club, dinner etc…these things are simple luxuries that can make a difference while living here. 

When I got to the workout I was one of the few Nigerians and for a second I got that only black person in a room feeling ( a strange feeling to get in Nigeria!) I'm not sure why I felt that way but it was coupled with the fact that I didn't know anyone. The feeling died down when we started working out. Most people already knew themselves so it was a very lets get straight to work atmosphere. At the same time it was a very playful workout, Marianna with her latin vigor and the general lightness of her approach helped in this regard. We were divided into two groups one group worked out in the garage while the other worked outside, we switched locations then we all worked in pairs on the patio. We spent an hour and a half busting our butts. I took a break a few times and learned that the queasy feeling I sometimes get when I workout is due to lack of oxygen. I was advised by the instructor to take deep breaths. At this point, my group was in the garage. I took a break and went to the side of the garage to get some air and rest because my body needed it.

I wasn't able to get any pictures while working out but Marianna was very sweet to let me use the FB bootcamp pictures. See pictures below (of course this was all after we worked our butts off :)

I was struggling with this stretch :P 

The last-minute WARRIOR pose haha!

I have to admit that midway through the workout, I almost talked myself into walking out. I felt very exhausted and queasy but I carried along and I am so happy I did because right after the workout I felt energized. The irony of life!

Marianna & I. The pouch has got to go!

I hope to try this out again and if you're interested in giving it a try you can check out the NoPain NoGain Boot Camp facebook page. They have weekly workout sessions too :)

pEACE!

Guilt, Dignity & Flame-grilled Chicken

If I had to put to the test whether or not my new blogging craze is just a phase (a "look at what I am doing for myself" pseudo-documentary) last weekend was a great opportunity. It turns out I am partly guilty of such. In my defense, I think this new approach is also an avenue for being honest with myself (which is never a bad thing). I wasn't in the mood to do anything last weekend and yet I felt the urge to do something for the sake of documenting it. I was going to go for a book signing event, bake a cake and take it to my grandmother. The idea of baking a cake came weeks before so gimmick can be thrown out as evidence for the above claim….okay, .005% of the thought was self-indulgent and I felt very guilty :P

I want to document the things that bring me joy. If I can do anything that brings me joy (or the expectation of it) while living here, I think I'm okay to slap it on with a "look at what I'm doing for myself" badge.

So back to my story, nothing caught my eye on Saturday but the urge to provide another side of my life: the one of the compassionate granddaughter. It was quelled in the favor of dignity. Mama is much more than a pat-me-on-the-back blog post :)

For another day….

However, Sunday presented itself as a natural blog-friendly day when I suggested a last-minute family lunch at Barcelos.

If you haven't already noticed (and wondered why), I like to dig up the history of things when I bring them to mind. Today is no exception. My link to Barcelos goes back to 2005 when I briefly moved back home right after college. The Lagos I left looked worse off than I remembered it (things have thankfully improved since then) the streets were cluttered and I noticed more vendors on the street. But there was something new on scene and the people I left came back home to where intent on showing me this improvement. It was called Silverbird Galleria and it was deemed a shopping mall, it even had movie theaters. It wasn't quite a mega shopping mall but I was somewhat impressed. I don't exactly remember how Barcelos came to the picture but it is one of the restaurants in Silverbird. I vaguely remember my sister saying I had to try it out (she was on a visit after a long time away from home as well). Anyway, Barcelos it was. Barcelos left a little place in my heart (until Nandos hijacked it) as the place we all sat and rested....

DISCLAIMER: This is my personal opinion of Barcelos and Grey Velvet, I have no affiliation or hidden agenda for Barcelos or Grey Velvet.

Introducing: Barcelos

Introducing Barcelos is a little like introducing Nandos or Denny's. What is there to introduce other than to say their chicken, garlic sauce or breakfast is especially good? What made me happy last Sunday was that we had a familiar place to go to. I've often longed for that comfort of strolling into a chain restaurant knowing that I can spend a reasonable amount of time (and money) and have a good time; that cross-breed between a fast-food restaurant and the regular chinese/ethnic restaurant. We take it for granted when we live in cities with countless restaurants as these but I've come to appreciate them!

I thought it was neat that they had a bookcase with novels.

We were pretty much decided on what we wanted so we ordered once we all got settled. I ordered for the half chicken and chips and it was sizable. For some reason, I thought the half chicken would be a drumstick and thigh but I forgot it was exactly what it says it is: half of a chicken. I ate enough and took some home for dinner. Overall, the pricing was reasonable but I thought the prices on the Drinks menu were a little high (chapman goes for N1,200). They also have a dessert menu with waffles and ice cream but I forgot all about desert after my full meal.

Half Chicken & Chips

It was a great way to spend my Sunday and I'd love to make it a tradition. We went to the Barcelos in the Ikeja City Mall and after the meal, we strolled around the mall. 

I got myself involved in a mini dress-up situation when we stopped by Grey Velvet. My love for ankara, patterned, colorful fabric, white walls  and contemporary african fashion always draws me into this store. On Sunday, with my mom and sister as audience, I tried a few dresses and took photos of the ones I liked to share on here (the things I do for my blog).

My mom, out of the kindness of her heart, offered to get the first dress for me but I wanted to make sure they could provide alterations before taking up the offer. My mom is of the "If this is your dream dress you ought to have it" mindset. I'm more of a "If this is my dream dress it should fit right without hassle". I liked the dress but the bust area was a little loose and, as the picture shows, the gown was very long on me (especially as I was wearing wedges) so I wasn't 100% sold on it. The attendants said they had to speak first to the designer so I left my number with them to get in touch with me. These days I'm more on the lookout for the event to wear the dress to...let's see how that goes :)

It was a pleasant shopping experience, save for the attendant who farted in the dressing room when I called for someone to zip my dress up. It wasn't me so I'm pretty certain, lol. If you're into Nigerian fashion, I advise you check out Grey Velvet. Be prepared to spend at least N10,000 on sale items. They sometimes have dresses on sale @ N8,000 so it's not a bad idea to check them out from time to time. 

We rounded the day up with grocery shopping and headed straight home to rest and digest the half chicken lingering in our bodies :)

Later!

Speed Dating @ Café Maison

Expanding my network is one of the goals I have for this year but when the opportunity came up to attend a speed dating event, my first reaction was to shrug it off. After a few hours in "neutral" mode, the idea of attending seemed like a good blog post in the making.* Meeting new people with the possibility of finding love is bound to have an interesting angle...

So from not caring about the event to already planning out my outfit and thinking of how awesome it would be to find a kindred spirit to explore Lagos with, I convinced myself to attend this event! (yes, my head was full of exclamations :) Add to the fact that I thought it would be a great "trying something new" blog post.  

Technically, this wasn't a first for me…. 

My experience with speed dating in Lagos began as a promoter. In February 2010, I had just moved back home and was excited to help out with promoting a speed dating event for the hotel. I edited a 2 part stop-motion video and posted it on our facebook event page:

This time around, I was set on attending a speed dating event with no ties to the coordinator. I got my nails done did (that last picture of my nails was a wakeup call :P) and unleased the fro.

After the speed dating event, I planned to stop by Whitespace to check out the ROF Fashion Night Out and maybe head over to L'escape to get free gifts show face at the launch of Nibi from the Kinky Apothecary's concession stand. The day was young, the speed dating event was set at 3pm with the words PROMT right next to the time. I was not going to be the one who walked in while everyone was engrossed in conversation so I set out in enough time to get there on time.

DISCLAIMER: This is my personal opinion of Speed Dating by Bisola and Café Maison, I have no affiliation or hidden agenda for the event or Café Maison.

Introducing: Café Maison 

I got to Café Maison at 3 oclock-ish and was greeted by an assistant. I signed up, made the payment and headed straight into cafe.

I was the first to arrive and met the event coordinator, Bisola. There was another speed dating event on Friday but I was drawn to the poster above and I was curious about who this "Bisola" was. It turns out that Bisola is a down-to-earth matchmaker who is also a tax attorney. We had a brief chat about why she started coordinating speed dating events and I learned that she started in 2011 and has always had a flair for matchmaking. She shared a few stories and pointed out that it was a venue for young professionals to mingle. She also mentioned that having a positive attitude an open mind were important factors in speed dating. 

Meet Bisola :)

To kill time, I walked around the cafe and as there was no angry supervisor to stop me, I took pictures. I loved the ambiance of Café Maison and was especially drawn to the cashier's area, it had that rustic coffeehouse touch; a blackboard with house specials written in chalk and the sound of world music playing in the background. All that was missing was the smell of coffee and the hissing sound of a coffeemaker. I hadn't eaten lunch so I ordered a panini and settled on a couch, flipping through magazines until the event started.

Chicken & Chorizo Panini

The panini was decent. The chorizo was sliced just as I like it but I would've liked more chunks of chicken. I opted for the tomato salsa instead of fries, I had a little of the tomato salsa and thought it was promising. Based on this meal, I won't mind stopping by the cafe to try a main entreé with their lemon grass tea. I think it's a good place to catch up with a friend if you are around the area. Having said that, there are many other cafes to try out so I won't be running back just yet.

I had it in my mind that the event will go on till 5:30ish so I was pretty relaxed with the passage of time. At that 4 o'clock mark a few more ladies strolled in and one of them sat right next to me. We chatted briefly and as time passed, she got a little antsy about the female to male ratio. She said she had invited people and most of the men were too traditional and viewed a speed dating event as "desperate." We both disagreed that it was "desperate" and she pointed out that it was probably because we were exposed (in a non-elitist way, she had a good point) The inner Rachel Bertsche in me wanted her to become my new friend. I thought she was cool. She ended up leaving before the event started. I, on the other hand, took the silence as an opportunity to reflect on my bad conversational habits and recorded them in my iPhone notepad (partly out of restlessness) to never repeat them again. 

The List

Sidenotes and dialogue are added for the blog, I'm not that weird :P

1. Apologizing for what I need to do. e.g. I'm sorry I just want to…

2. Always trying to make connections with what other people are saying. e.g. You went to school in [insert state] ? I know a school there! 

3. Being self-effacing/timid. I think it's okay to brag and be loud once in a while. I need to incorporate this somehow. e.g. 

Person: Traffic is so bad in this city

Me: Yeah, I know *giggle* Not if you have a private jet like me! *guffaw*

4. The old record player. That thing I ALWAYS say that no one seems to catch on. 

Person: You lived in California? I know someone in San Francisco.

Me: Yeah, but northern california is like an entirely different state. (I lived in southern california)

Person: I see

Me:  (in my head) They didn't need to know that....

Anyway, I think the lady who I might have scared off  would make a good "lets do lunch" friend. At this point, Bisola apologized for the late (soon-to-arrive) comers. I understood the CPT factor but the way it looked, the late start was going to eat into my other plans. Then the internal fretting began. What would I have for my blog? I wondered. I Went To a Speed Dating Event and No-One Showed Up? 

Do you see why I need to be a writer? Reality is not enough….lol

Just then more people came and Bisola read out the house rules. The women sat on the numbered tables and the guys went around after 4 minutes of conversation. It was fun and brief. When one of the male attendees asked for more time, Bisola joked that it was better to leave things brief to avoid spoiling their chances as illustrated with a past female attendee who asked for more time with a guy she was talking to only to learn enough in the extra minute she got to scratch him off her yes list. With this example 'ole boy reverted his request. 

I thought the speed dating itself was light-hearted and fun, definitely not desperate. We rounded things up and got into a discussion about male and female relationships, headed by a question from Bisola about whether the two statements below were true or false.

Physical Attraction is an important factor when looking for a mate to settle with. True or False?

All men must cheat. True or False?

During the discussions and the new conversations that emerged from them, we were served club sandwiches, fries and a drink. I thought it was an honest conversation session between the sexes and I would have loved to stay longer but I wanted to make it in time to the other events so I said goodbye to Bisola (who was so sweet to make sure they packed up my leftover sandwiches) but when I got to the car, I found out the battery was dead. To cut a long story short, an enterprising guard helped us out with a temporary battery and jump cable for the (rented) cost of N1,000. Now you'd think that out of the goodness of his heart he wouldn't charge people for something he doesn't own (this crossed my mind when I asked if it was for sale) but he was only willing to knock off N300. I gave him N700 and decided to head straight home. 

For anyone considering speed dating in Lagos, my advice is to get in touch with the coordinator(s) to learn more about them and if you're satisfied with what they have to offer, try it out! If you're interested in future speed dating events, here's a link to the one I attended: www.speeddatingbybisola.com

*I sometimes wonder if I am doing all this for my blog or vice versa. 

Speeding Miss Daisy & Family

When I was 6 (and a half), my mother went into labor. Days later, she came back with a baby. I don't recall ever feeling jealous but when people told me I was no longer the baby of the family, I corrected them by saying that I was the baby girl and my younger brother was the baby boy.  Last saturday, I spent the most part of the day hanging out with my baby younger brother. 

Allan & I

This weekend, I decided to try out go-carting at the GET Arena, a venue popular for hosting Le Petite Marche´ among other events.

DISCLAIMER: This is my personal opinion of the facility, I have no affiliation or hidden agenda for the GET Arena.

Introducing: GET Arena

When we got to the GET Arena we were directed to the side of the building where helmets for the races are stored. We were also prompted to sign a contract accepting full responsibility for any damages caused to the property and/or ourselves. It was a sobering moment.

Once we took responsibility for our lives, we were handed hair nets to protect us from germs in the helmet before being sent off to the track for good ole high speed-but-remember-your-life-is-in-your-hands-and-we-are-not-responsible-for-any-negligence fun.

I've heard that go-carting is a good way to master your driving skills. Given the amount of years I have spent away from the wheels (since 2003, I was a learner), I was happy to sharpen those skills by pressing the gas at the very start of the race. This lead me straight into the divider.

Somewhere at the back of my mind I remembered the contract we signed (you are responsible!) and I freaked out. The brakes became my new best friend. We can argue that this is the reason why my younger brother beat me by one lap. With the words of the contract looming at the back of my mind, I was not concerned about defending the female gender and our ability to do more than the world expects of us (i.e. out speed our younger brothers on the track) I recalled to mind my other virtues, instead. I am a kind person. I believe in equality. Winning is a state of the mind, I reminded myself. Eventually, I let loose and befriended the gas. I convinced myself that as long as I was driving responsibly, I was going to be fine.    

My car stopped right before the last lap and when the person in charge tried to restart it, I was happy to hop out of the car. No damage done and just one lap short of what I paid for? I wasn't asking for trouble.

Off the tracks and straight to the lounge. I was hungry and curious about their menu.

I placed an order for the classic burger and a frozen margarita. Allan had eaten before we got there so he just had a drink. 

 Frozen Margarita

At first, I was convinced that they ran out of alcohol and used cough syrup instead but after stirring the cocktail with my straw I picked up on brandy/whisky. In retrospect, it was probably the Triple sec (yes, I googled the ingredients for Margaritas. Now I know! :P ) 

Before and after the cough syrup assessment. I promise my fingers look daintier in person.

The food was promising enough to warrant a second visit. I thought the pricing and portioning were reasonable. I plan to try out other dishes on the menu.

The day was still young when we were done so we stopped by whitespace (<- I love their concept!) to check out a promotion I noticed during the week. We ended up walking into the Modern Day School of the Arts pre-workshop session and found out we were too early for the aforementioned promotion. We didn't stay for too long but I liked the vibe at whitespace and I intend to check it out again :)

I think I'd be better at snorkeling.