7 + The One

I love weddings. I really do. But after being Maid of honor at my friend's
wedding in 2012, I said I was done being in bridal trains. Alas, I have
been in two others this year. Oh, I love being a part of the big day of
friends and then a few strangers( How people can ask someone they barely
know to be in their bridal train is beyond me). Oh well. Me wey gree nko? I
just find it hard to turn people down. I have to learn.
So my title says...you know what it says. I have worn six bride's maid
dresses. Reminds me(not) of the movie, 21 dresses. If I add my flower girl
dress, that's seven. However, I want to wear one more dress and not one more bridal dress. I want to wear the one dress. My wedding dress.
So here's a reminder to Mr "very near future husband". Hey Mister, haf you heard? It's been fun wearing the seven
dresses but I do not want to wear bride's maid dresses any more. I want to wear the one now. I guess what I'm saying is, hurry up and make the dresses 7+ the One!


PS: I'd make an exception for you Gesiere, only if you hurry and have your wedding before mine. :D

Hair Again!

Hey guys! If you read my last post then you know how I was ranting about not knowing any Naturals in Port-Harcourt. I also said that I could not find products for my natural hair. Well, I still have not found any Naturals. However, I have been able to locate some products for my hair. Yay! Yes o. So, on my birthday, which was last friday, I walked into a supermarket, straight to the groceries section and then asked a sales person I saw if they had coconut oil. She pointed up and right in front of me were bottles and bottles of coconut oil. I literally jumped in glee. I was so happy. Finally! I quickly grabbed two bottles.

I also got a bottle of Extra-virgin olive oil, hair conditioner and shampoo, or so I thought. It turns out I grabbed the wrong bottle because the next day I discovered what I thought was shampoo was some kinda leave-in conditioner, which was a good thing because I wanted a leave-in but I didn't know I already had one. And my dear Dudu Osun would come in handy as a shampoo :).

However, there's a catch to all this. It turns out I do not trust the quality of the coconut oil I bought. I have read that one way to know a good one is by the smell. It should smell like coconut. The last one I used smelt delicious ,just like coconut. A friend gave me some of hers. Well, mine was odourless. I also read that Extra virgin coconut oil was the best quality but mine just said 'pure coconut oil'. That mine is odourless could only mean one thing;it's been overly refined. Which makes it of a lesser quality than the extra virgin type. In my excitement, I had grabbed two bottles, now I'm not so pleased about them. I guess I'd be more ......careful to look for things like that next time?

In another news, I got my kinky twists in, myself! Sinceeee, the hair don dey old sef. Visit www.scarletxianne.wordpress.com for picture(s). Lera.....

Would the Port-Harcourt Naturals Please, Stand Up?

Na wa o! I have been on my natural hair journey for a few years. In 2010, I got geri curls. In 2011, after switching to normal relaxer, I decided I wanted my natural hair back. So, I started to transition. That led me to December 2012, where I cut off the relaxed part of my hair. I just tire for transitioning hair bo :).

Although, natural hair comes with a few challenges, I love my hair. Now, I can't imagine it any other way than natural. Ignorant stylists ask me why. I tell them I love natural hair. They just can not understand it. Right now, I've got yarn braids on. However, after what I faced getting them done, it'll be a while before I visit the salon for anything again! Nigerian stylists are clueless with natural hair. Chai! When I take off my yarn braids, I'd have my kinky twists done, myself! Which brings me to my heading. Are there any Port-Harcourt naturals, other than me at all? It'll be nice to know. We could have a meet-up, talk about ways to help ourselves. Being a natural in PH is not a joke. I've been scouring the streets of PH looking for natural hair products. No way! Coconut oil, mba! Knowing fully well that having a product delivered from Abuja or Lagos will cost more than the product itself, how do get my products?

So please, if you are or know a natural in PH, holla. If you also know where or how I could get natural products from PH or outside, cheaply biko, I'd be happy to hear from you.

In the mean time, I'm enjoying my God-given, naturally beautiful hair :).

Is Age Really Just A Number?

There seems to be an endless debate on age difference between couples. Does it really not matter that a 23 year old woman marries a 50 year old man, or vice-versa?

I think it depends on the individuals involved. The motive and reason for the union. If you are a woman who does not have any qualms with marrying a younger man, and one proposes to you, by all means go ahead. If you are a 23 year old woman and you want to marry a 60 year old man, for the right reasons, fine.

Personally, I believe that if God through His Word or His Spirit does not frown at it, there is nothing wrong with it. The Bible even records cases where age difference between couple was quite much. There's the case of Ruth and Boaz. See Ruth 3:10. There was also David in 1 Kings 1:1-4, where a young damsel was brought to minister to him in his old age.  
It is true that there was no clear case of a man marrying an older woman, it does not mean it did not happen. Even if it did not happen in Bible days, it was not and is still not a sin.

So, I comes down to personal preference, motive and reason. Is age just a number? I have said my piece, over to you.

I Too Know!

I have cold sores. Cold sores are originally caused by the Herpes simplex virus. They are blisters that break out at the corner of your mouth or nose. Once you have an attack, be sure that they'd keep coming back. Subsequently, they could be brought on by fever,stress etc. I don't know exactly what brought it on this time but I did wake up on saturday with a high body temperature.

This once when I had it, I went to the Pharmacy to get an ointment for it. I'd read that anti-viral ointment helps. Apparently, they did not have it. They kept pointing me to their anti-fungal creams. So, I started to explain that what I needed was an anti-viral cream because I had cold sores which were caused by the Herpes Simplex virus....Their eyes went wide when I called 'herpes'. At the time, I did not know why, then they said anti-fungal was all they had. So I left.

It was not until I went back to our Medical book at home that I found out why. The Herpes simplex virus is also responsible for Genital Herpes. So, they probably thought I had it! As embarrassed as I felt(hello? My reputation....the husband and wife that ran the pharmacy were practically neighbours), I also shook my head at the fact that they knew so little about cold sores?

Anyways, that's what you get for doing 'over sabi' :). Coincidentally, I read a few days ago that Shea butter helps clear it. I applied Shea butter immediately I noticed the blisters forming. So far, it has not spread.

 So, I guess it works.

Later......  

Beautiful Brides and Bridezillas

Hey guys, hope you missed me cos I missed you guys like crazy!  Wanted to post since but I just did not have time. I just had one of the most stressful and amazing weeks of my life! Phew! My friend's wedding finally happened. She's officially a Mrs. I am almost as thrilled as she is. I just love weddings. They are usually beautiful but my friend's own was awesome. Seriously! I saw a side to my friend that I knew existed but just had not seen. She really came out. She unleashed. She surprised almost everyone, but not me. I always knew she had it in her.
About a month or so before the wedding, I said to her "you better go and learn all the dance steps o" . I told her if she didn't, I would steal her show cos I was already learning my moves. And my girl did not disappoint me. She danced! As in! I could not keep up with her at all. See my friend doing azonto now.
Then time for photographs, come and see posing. She was even suggesting poses to the photographer, " we have not done 'looking into our eyes', let's do 'looking into our eyes'." That's what she said as she and her hubby proceeded to take a photograph looking into each other's eyes.
Then there was the Bridezilla thing. Of all the weddings I've been part of, she is the first Bridezilla I've seen. She was snapping at almost everybody and everything. Phew! As the bride's maid, I hear wheen! At a time, I was even scared of going close to her as we all got ready at her family house. Everybody around knew my name. Strangers were calling my name because of her. As I post this sef, small fear still dey my body :). I decided to give her some space. Let her go for honeymoon and come back first. By that time, maybe the bridezilla that took over my friend's body would have let it go. I definitely hope that person snapping at me and ordering me around is not here to stay.
Did I mention that she was also the most excited bride I have ever seen? And the most beautiful too. I'm not being biased o. She was breathtaking. Don't worry, if I'm able to psych her, you would see a few pictures here.
On the whole, the weekend of her traditional and church wedding was very exciting. Plus I got to see old classmates and schoolmates. And one of my Exes too, hmm and I did not even feel bad or angry at him. Wow! It was such a nice feeling, to finally let go of the hurt. Sweet release, it was. Thank God.
Alright, one wedding gone, few more to go. Who knows? I may be next :D

PS: After what I saw as Chief bride's maid at this wedding, Hope, you have plenty bribing to do o. Lol. Just kidding. You know I'd do anything for my girls :*

Simbi is back!

Hello people. How has your day been? Mine's been fine. So, I came across this post on Bella Naija where Yvonne “Vixen” Ekwere of Silverbird’s E-Weekly threaded her hair for a photo shoot and got quite a number of compliments. Everyone thought it was nice and wished that ladies would bring it back. Well, I have! 
My friends think I'm crazy for doing it but, I recently started to thread my hair and I love it. I no longer care for weaves. This may because I'm transitioning. This past weekend, I had to wear weaves for a friend's wedding and seriously, I can't wait to lose it. 
So, I've decided to treat you guys to pictures of me with my threaded hair. Enjoy :).

At the birthday party of the lady on the left

At work

I just made the hair here