Throwback

Do you have a song that takes you back to a certain time, a certain moment? This song does for me...

Every time I hear it, I smile. It just has that feel good element talk less of the amount of times I used to practise the dance moves in my living room to show off to my friends the next day. Dancehall was really blowing up at that time - Kevin Lyttle, Sean Paul, Wayne Wonder... they all churned out the hits! If I wasn't so in love with my culture, I'm sure I would have pretended to be Caribbean!!!

Pics iLove

*All photographs taken by Derek Blanks

I mentioned in a previous post how much I love Brandy, (you can check it out here ) so I won't speak about it anymore. I think these pictures are beautiful and there are 2 dresses I would love in my wardrobe. *sighs*

Colour Me Red

I dyed my hair with Sta-Sof-Fro, clearly says 'auburn' on the box. I followed the instructions and even left the dye on for a bit longer than suggested just to ensure that the colour really showed through. *smh* - such a shame that after I washed my hair, it was STILL black.

No worries... If at first you don't succeed, try again! Only as it's hair dye I decided I wouldn't try after this if my attempt failed. I bought Creme of Nature in Bronze Copper and the colour came through quite well. I'm glad it isn't bright aka Rihanna or Pink but its nice and subtle, more my style.

Yeap, you guessed - I failed to take pics. Right now, I have braids in a la Solange Knowles so once they're out, I will definitely post some pics of the new colour.

Murder Inc Baybay...

I remember when Ashanti released 'Foolish'... Her buzz was like no other. Reminiscent of Beyonce's buzz now. I'm not even exaggerating... She released banger after banger - Foolish, Rain on Me, Happy, Southside, Whats Luv, Always on Time, Down for You... There are so many hits! I even purchased her latest album, I don't feel it was promoted well but Ashanti still has her powerhouse vocals.

The picture above was shot by a celebrity photographer Robert Ector. I think she has another project in the works and if so, I'm excited for her. As much as I love Beyonce's 'King' status, I would appreciate new material from the princess of r'n'b.

Come on.... Join In!

I have constantly been asked to join Tumblr and politely declined. I love the Tumblr blogs I visit every day but I just felt like for me, I wouldn't be able to produce an original blog, and I'd re-blog everything.

After much persuasion... I am now on Tumblr. I haven't updated much but I will soon. I won't trade my blogspot for it though. Love a bit of blogger I do lol!

Visit me NOW

I Mean... Damnnnnnn!!!

I've already posted this pic in a previous post but after seeing additional images of 'THE BODY' (that is what I will call her from now on)... I decided to post on her again.

I mean.... Damnnnnnnn!!! Is this for real? Her body is so muscular and based on the front view you really don't expect her to have such a big behind. There is no question that her bottom isn't real!

I salute you Ms Williams.

Pics iLove

Concentrate more on the model - Zainab Balogun. Absolute beauty!!!



I call her my big sis, no introduction necessary



Diggy Simmons - cooler than his big bro if I'm honest

Her set at Glastonbury blew me away! Love Ms Monae's music

This cannot be real... WOWWWWWWW!!!

For all the ladies that complain about stretchmarks... Everyone gets it. Even this model.
Deal with it and continue to be fabulous!!!

Jay Z and Kanye - (reminds me of Crenshaw and Bobbi)

Love this woman and her man and their guy friend lool

Smell Me...

I'll be honest with you -  I hardly use perfumes/eau de parfum/whatever you want to call it! My favourite scent so far - Victoria's Secret Pure Seduction Body Mist. It smells sweet but not overpowering. LOVE! The other scents I have smell good too, I alternate between them just so I don't smell the same all the time.

Sometimes, I don't even use the Body Mists as the Moisturising Body Creams leave subtle hints on my skin and lasts the majority of the day. They have started selling Victoria Secrets Scents in beauty supply stores. Imagine my surprise when I went to Paks to buy human hair and I saw the Body Mists. I purchased a lot when I went to New York early this year so I didn't need to stock up or anything - but it is nice knowing that when I do run out I don't need to travel 3471 miles (I googled that info, don't quote me) to New York or anywhere else in the States.

Skincare Regimen

My skincare regimen - I keep it very simple. I used to have the clearest skin EVER - up until college! :o( I don't know what happened once I got to college but my skin broke out like no other, and just didn't stop! When you don't have clear skin it affects your confidence and I used to deal with that by avoiding eye contact, not really wanting to hang out etc... I used to wear makeup to try and cover it up a bit (now I've realised the brand I was using actually made my skin worse).Total nightmare. Also doesn't help that everyone in my family has that smooth, soft, clear as ever, desirable skin. I tried everything... EVERYTHING! From ProActiv to Clinique, Clearasil, Clean and Clear, Neutrogena, Zineryt, topical creams prescribed by my doctor and even tablets. Yes I have tried it all!

Fast forward to now. I came across a blog Bad Hair Day and she wrote about a regimen she had found on acne.org. I'd actually come across the regimen before but I didn't follow the procedure properly - the result of this was a swollen irritated face, a day spent in A&E and a week spent in the house on antihistamines. Very bad reaction!

Due to my previous encounter with benzoyl peroxide (Panoxyl Aquagel), I swore off the regimen. This time around I read about it in much more detail and decided to try it again. How about it actually works!!! I'll come back and speak on the actual regimen in another post but all I do is use the Visibly Clear Scrub, wash my face with Dudu Osun or Dettol soap (I alternate between them), Tea Tree facial wash apply the Panoxyl Gel and then I have to moisturise with Simple Replenishing Moisturiser. It sounds like a lot of steps compared to those of you who just splash water on your face but I much rather prefer this than taking tablets and all the other stuff I was doing... This is less work for me!

I don't use a toner, a harsh scrub or any other steps that are advertised on tv or in magazines. After an in depth conversation with my friend Wura about it, I realised all those products were doing much more harm than good. I am happier now that my skin is better, my best friend even complemented me (she's actually done it more than once) which has made me a little more confident. I can maintain eye contact for 30 seconds now without feeling uncomfortable, before you know it I'll be winning staring competitions!

When You're Bored... Take Pics

I really was trying to hold the flower :s

The Attitude of a Winner

I've written about being late to church and debating whether to go or not before. Well, today I was late but there was no debate, I knew I was going. I missed praise and worship but evidently I was supposed to hear the message.

My Pastor spoke about how your attitude can affect your situation, (negative or positive) the way you think about something can determine the outcome. He rounded the message up with this clip about Nick Vujicic and when I say I couldn't hold back my tears. Urgh... I was really trying not to cry. The clip made me realise I take so many things for granted, even though I thank God every day for my life seeing this clip really emphasised how much I should be thankful for.

Be grateful to God in all situations.

Bridesmaids

The adverts make this film seem so funny, when in all honesty, it has its moments. I thought it would be the female version of 'Hangover' but it does not live up to that. There are funny moments and the main character Annie (Kristen Wiig) really plays on the stresses of being appointed maid of honour. This film would be great to watch at home, snuggled up on your sofa with a pizza or ice cream.

Vapianos

I've heard great things about this restaurant but have never had the chance to eat there myself... until yesterday! I arranged to meet up with an old colleague and after thinking about what type of food to eat, where to eat etc - she excitedly said 'oh Vapianos is around the corner, lets go there'... I didn't decline. Lol

Now, for people that have been there before you may disagree with my review but this is my honest opinion on my first time eating there.

It was Friday, around 7.45pm (I'm just setting the scene for you), it seemed busy but if a restaurant isn't busy, I already assume its rubbish so I wasn't deterred by the lively atmosphere. We walked in and were handed these cards, (they look a bit like oyster cards but with Vapiano's motif on them and you need them in this restaurant, they are vital). It was so packed, we couldn't find seats downstairs so we ventured upstairs and spent another 5 minutes looking aimlessly for somewhere to sit.

Two lovely gentleman made space on their table for us, one saying 'sharing is caring' (aww bless him) and we sat down. You know how girls are, we talk a lot... We were so busy catching up, we completely forgot about ordering food so by this time its about 8.10. We head downstairs to order the food and my friend explains how it all works to me, being a newbie and all. In my head, I'm like 'wow this is great... Innovative, clean, buzzing, mix of cultures'... Love it!

I was singing this restaurants' praises too soon because we ended up queueing for over an hour -_- ... YES... OVER AN HOUR! I don't care how hungry you are, or how much you love a certain type of food, waiting an hour for food that you're paying for is too long. We even split up into different queues hoping that we would get served quicker... FAIL!!! I hadn't intended to eat dinner as I had eaten already (I was just going to get some dessert) but all that waiting tired me out... I was hungry!

We finally got served and I was set on a pasta dish that had chicken, ginger, some type of sauce - it sounded adventurous but I was sure it would taste nice. Please ask me why, when it came to ordering, I changed my mind - say it with me... FAIL!!! Urgh, I chose a different pasta dish with chicken and sun dried tomatoes - It tasted like a dish I could have made at home! The dish didn't come with a particular sauce so I doused it in some type of oil that was on our table loooool...

I didn't even finish it because I was full after a few bites. I think its because I guzzled down my drink, I ordered a coke. In fact, I purchased two bottles of coke smh!I don't drink fizzy drinks but I felt it was much needed after that long wait.

Vapianos seems like the kind of restaurant you can go to with a partner, a group of friends/family, colleagues - it really has a electric vibe. However, I must emphasise that you choose a time of day/night that may not be so busy if you really want to eat within 10-15 minutes of arriving. I would like to go again because I never like to rule restaurants out based on my first experience (only if I get food poisoning) so I've decided that I'll go on a weekday maybe a Tuesday/Wednesday to really see if this 'Vapianos' is worth all those good reviews I heard prior to going there.