A Cold Dreary TGIF

Hi Guys!

Its another friday and it feels like the week would never end. It was not one of my best weeks, i must confess. My health and mood has been all over the place and i have just not been my best.

Anyway i did tell you i went for an owambe last weekend. A colleague got married and it was nice to see my colleagues outside the office in full party regalia and looking beautiful. It was an ibo wedding and the traditional attire was colorful and was a new experience for me. Here are the pix...

Its a rainy friday and the weather is a bit cool( weather for two thinz). Unfortunately am the kind of person that orgaanises what i will wear for the week. Friday was maxi dress day and even the rain could not change my mind, so i threw on a sweater to make it look warm...

I do not look very cherry..

Have a nice weekend ahead

Live Love Laugh

Happy Brother Lil Bro AKA Bobo Lulu

Hey Peeps!

Its a Monday,woohoo!( Not!), LOL. I guess am just in a good mood today because its my one and only brother's birthday,Olaoluwa Sherifdeen Rasaq. My Blog post is dedicated to him today.

Where do i start from? I and my brother have a very unique relationship filled with genuine love and affection and healthy dose of hate which is normal in any sibling relationship. He is one of the few men that can REALLY get under my skin and make me want to commit murder but at the same time i am very protective of him and cannot help but treat him like a baby, which he hates. Our fights are EPIC and we are both very good at insults and sarcasm but we are quick to make up. I cannot keep malice with him for too long, his my kid brother.

His also very protective in his own way because his the first to call if i do not get home on time and quick to do a double take and introduce himself when he sees me with a new guy( it helps that his on the tall side so guys can be a bit more respectful towards me). My brother is a man of very few words with the weirdest sense of humor that only i and my sister seem to understand, with a very large vocabulary that even stumps ME sometimes. His love for soccer is beyond compare( UP REAL MADRID!) and can be quite annoying but to each his own. His also a deep thinker and a very good house keeper when he wants to be, his always arranging my shoes and can out-sweep me any day.

So Olaoluwa this is wishing you a very happy birthday. You are in your final year now and i hope when you graduate,life will treat you good. A good job, a good wife( when the time comes and yes you will marry, whether you like it or not), plenty money, good health and long life.  I do not have too many pictures of you but here goes...

Happy birthday Little brother( You hate the title but i will rub it in)


Live Love and Laugh Lulu pops!

TGIF

Hey ladies and gents!

Not much has happened this week and i have been keeping it on the down low.  Last weekend was owambe party and i must confess not as enjoyable as i would have liked because i attended an outdoor wedding and the sun was not very happy. Extreme heat and make up do not go well together.

Hopefully this weekend will be much better. A colleague of mine will be getting married this weekend and i hope to attend and  a better time. I will change my hairstyle this weekend because for the past three weeks i have been on medium length hair. I have not been able to summon the courage to get a pixie cut but soon and very soon i will.

This is blowing you all a kiss

Have a fab weekend ahead....No pet peeve or observations for today.

Live love and LAUGH!

When Superstition leads to Ignorance...

Hey People!

Its Friday and its a welcome relief. The day started with some interesting events and i just had to come here and share with you.

A new restaurant or rather canteen opened up not too far from my office. In a bid to attract new customers, they decided to start a ' Free Taste' exercise. Hot akara( bean cake) was being prepared on the spot and given to passerby's that were interested. Yours truly decided to give them a try and branched to get my free akara which would go down well with tea,coffee or better yet Garri(Cassava flour). Anyway when i got to my office, i did not hesitate to inform anyone that crossed my path that awoof was available. Who does not like free breakfast?  Some people quickly strolled down the road and some turned up their noses and said we were all eating ' Saraa' that would make us go back for more always. shoo! What is wrong in going back if the food is good? I just shook my head because Nigerians are really a superstitious lot and it also made me a bit annoyed because some people especially some of  our Ignorant christian brothers and sisters ( emphasis on ignorant) believe that the practice of 'Saraa' is demonic and whosoever eats or partakes in it will come under spiritual attack and stand the risk of losing their God given destiny which will be transferred to the organizer of the ' Saraa' REALLY? Its that same ignorance that does not allow some people enjoy Sallah meat( they do not know what they are missing). Anyway, i decided to forgive them their ignorance and decided to use my blog post today to shed some light on what ' Saraa' means: 




One essential tradition in Islam is 'Sadaqa' or freewill offerings. Sadaqa or Sadaqa al-tatawu( alms of spontaneity) is a voluntary charity that can consist of anything the believer wishes to give; money,food or clothes. The Arabic term ' Sadaqa' is one of a few words to which Islam gives a very broad meaning. It is used interchangeably with 'Zakah'. However 'Sadaqa' is more general than 'Zakah' which is the third pillar of Islam.Zakah denotes only that,part of charitable donations,which a Muslim must pay as a duty. If he refrains from paying it, he will be punished for that. 

During the slave trade the word ' Sadaqa' was changed a bit in the faulty memory of Muslim descendants and was called different things by Muslims from different African countries. The Fulani of Guinea,Senegal,Nigeria,Niger and Mali use the word Sadaqa but the Wolof of Senegal call the charity ' Sarakh'. The Mandiga of Senegal and the Bambara of Mali use the term ' Sarakha and the Yoruba of Nigeria ' Saraa'.

Even though my Faith Islam, frowns on the traditional beliefs of Witchcraft or voodoo, it is accepted that evil spirits do exist and we should pray always that we do not come under their influence. Islam teaches that nothing can happen without the knowledge of Allah and his permission and he sustains everyone. Islam encourages Muslims to ignore them and it is considered a spiritual offense to believe that somebody can change your destiny,cause you to become sick without using poisoning or harm to you without physical effort. We are to concentrate on the purpose for which we are created; total submission to Allah and Total service to him which gives you a peaceful life free of fear. 

I hope that sheds some light on the issue and clears a bit of misunderstanding. So next time a neighbor offers you some food, please accept and enjoy it( pray on it of you must) and if a restaurant is carrying out a ' marketing exercise' giving away free food, recognize it for what it is and not go into 'paranoid mode'.


Thats it folks! Have a blessed weekend ahead.

Live Love and Laugh...


Sources  

• African Muslims in Bondage: Realities,Memories and Legacies ( www.wn.edu/sites/middle passage) Sylvaine A. Diouf.
• www.vanguard.com/2012/08/between-sadaqah-and-zakah

African Mothers..You got to love them

Hi Guys

How was the weekend? Mine was pretty uneventful because i decided to stay indoors throughout. I only stepped out to get a manicure and buy food stuffs at the market because i was a feeling a bit domesticated and i basically was not in the mood to go out so much. My staying at home also meant that i spent a lot of time with my mother who did not have any owambe parties to attend or rather was not feeling up to it just like i was.

Staying at home with no electricity in this weather while you are a bit low on cash can be hell. I was cranky, broke and plain irritable. Mixing this scenario while staying at home with your unapologetic  Yoruba mother is a recipe for disaster.



I love my mother, i really do. She is one of the strongest most hardworking women i know and she inspires me everyday. BUT! She can get on my last nerve! Let me regale you with the different things that happened over the weekend that tried my patience and made me count to hundred and bite my tongue( woe betide you to be disrespectful to my mum, you will be charged as an accessory to your own murder):

She woke me up abruptly at 7am on Saturday and gave me a headache. According to my mum, it being a Saturday did not mean that i could sleep in and if i was married and had kids would i not wake up to do my house chores and go to the market.

After i cleaned and did some laundry,my mum expected me to ask what we would have for breakfast. As far i was concerned if you are hungry, you better speak up. I made the big mistake of stating my 21st century opinion which led to another lecture. If i was running my own home would i wait for my husband to say he was hungry before i prepared breakfast?

Then the grand finale! A friend called me for a party on Saturday evening which would last all night. Apart from the fact that i was NOT really in the mood to party, i also wisely knew that giving my mum one hour notice for an all night party would lead to disapproval. My friend came over and tried to ask permission on my behalf because i was not up to the whole drama. My mum said it was fine  that i could go for the party. After all i was old enough to just inform her that i was going to sleep outside the house on a saturday without prior notice. Does that sound like approval to you? REALLY!

Anyway looking back at the weekend, its a little amusing and i cannot help but chuckle a bit. You have to love our African Mothers. Anyway its Monday and its back to the grind. Do have a wonderful week ahead lovers and remember to...

Live Love and Laugh

Easter Fun Fare!!!

Hey People!

How was the long Easter weekend? Did you have fun,relax and spend time with family and friends? I cannot wait for another holiday and i have marked down all the public holidays on my calendar( the plight of every working class individual). By Monday evening, the blues had already set in but i managed to cheer myself up with the fact that it IS a four day working week and i had a blast over the weekend. Enjoy......

I went for a boat cruise over the weekend with my girl pals, Tracy and Ronke. It was an absolute blast even though it took forever to get to the private beach by Ferry.  Unfortunately we did not know that we would have to buy drinks and barbecue because we got free tickets. I was sooo hungry but Ronke came to the rescue through a friend and he got us free drinks( advantages of being a girl). Girls in Bikinis and short shorts were everywhere and i just felt inadequate but i guess i did not look that bad because i got hit on by two guys and a girl! ( it was quite flattering actually but am very straight). I was also shocked that quite a number of girls smoke cigarettes  in public now...

Easter Monday was Lagos Carnival Day with another set of Girl pals, Tola and Chige. It was hot and rowdy and we could not get into the main arena at TBS but we did feast our eyes on the Gorgeous costumes and made sure we took pictures, especially with this cute carnival boy. He looked better for real.

After sweltering in the hot sun we decided to treat ourselves to some ice cream at ' Cactus' on the island. The prices were astronomical but the ambiance was on point and the Air conditioner felt Heavenly.

I always manage to have a good time even when am flat broke or a bit low on cash. I also have wonderful friends who understand and wont suggest outings that will break the bank. I cannot wait till we are all  financially stable and plan trips together to exotic locations. I absolutely love my girl friends even with our drama and petty cat fights...

Let me know how you spent your Easter Holidays and please share my blog post. Love You Guys and remember...

Live Love Laugh...Always