The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

No one is perfect. Except you are the Holy Trinity that is...which of course you aren't.

I came to realize that years ago.

The thing is, you may find yourself comparing your flaws with someone else's graces but the funny fact is someone else puts your 'flaws' on a pedestal. It's the ironic truth of life.

What inspired this post was a comment I got recently. Not verbally but on Instagram. It was a comment an old time friend of mine made on a picture I posted of my elder sister, @nnennaya and I when we took some days off work to attend my big cousin's wedding. (In other news, CONGRATS CUZ!!!)

Let's just say I got quite a number of likes on this one. Probably the most likes I've ever gotten on IG. Heeeey! I'm popular!! *smirk*

                            

To be honest, this really got to me in several ways. Mixed reactions really. But the one that stuck was the fact that people do 'see' what you do. They 'listen' to the words you say. And most of all, people actually look up to you. Not necessarily as a role model but more like a standard in someway.

You might not notice or you might feel like you're in your own bubble and no one even realizes when you pass by. In other words, you probably think you are invisible (Trust me, I did. I still do sometimes). But then, think again.

This friend of mine and I attended secondary school together from way back in Junior Secondary School 2 (JSS 2), my sister being in Senior Secondary School 3 (SSS 3) at the time. 

My sis was pretty much 'Miss Goody-Two-Shoes' and some of that rubbed off on me by default, even though I wasn't an epitome of that title.
I guess it goes to say that my parents did quite the good job at whooping our butts whenever we strayed (not like that made us the best of kids but still...)

We all make mistakes...mistakes we never thought we could ever fall victims to like NEVER EVER. My pile of errors are definitely not experiences I will like to relive, even though I have found myself back where I started not once, not twice...but then when you fall, don't stay down.

Bottom line? No one is not worthy enough to be a standard to the next person beside you or even oceans away from where you are. We all have our good, bad and ugly sides. We all can't help but exhibit them sometimes. But one thing we can help ourselves do is to fight the bad and subdue the ugly with the good.

Like the Holy Bible says;

'Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good'- Romans 12 verse 21

Live And Let Live

It's time.
It's been time since the tick tock of time...but I have been stalling, giving myself excuses time and time again as to why it's not yet...time.

It's time I took care of me for me, not for anyone else...particularly not for any man.
It's time I took a day, a week, a month, even a year maybe, to just breathe in...and out.
It's time I damned the so-called 'consequences' and lived just for the joy of life itself.
It's way more than time I stopped looking back at what I once 'had', cause to be honest, I never did have it...or them in the first place.
It's about time I gave myself a second chance...make that a third, could be a fourth, to be happy again. To be me again. To enjoy my own company...again.
It's past time I gave my heart to the only One that knows what love truly means.


It's time. And this time I'm turning over the hourglass...
By this time tomorrow, it will be time.

#TMC 

#MyHeartInABox 💝

Music & Lyrics: Vol 5

I was introduced to my first Frank Ocean track, Blasted from the Lonny Breaux Pt. 1 mixtape by my 'bigger' bro (as usual) a couple of years ago after which it was on replay for quite a number of days at a stretch on my playlist.

Plus it got me loving up on the in depth meanings of the lyrics on a few of his other singles. Always viewed him as somewhat of a poet since then.

Blasted still happens to be my best Frank hit. Like the saying goes, 'You never really forget your first love.'

 [Verse 1]

She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen on a skateboard

And I'm just a guy with a couple of open ears for her
She told me every story behind all of her tattoos
She's thinking maybe the next one, 
Should have something to do with you, 
To do with me

[Verse 2]
She said you should get a rubix cube over your heart
But you say I've already figured it out
Already figured out the love
She want me to get a spaceship tatted inside of my lip  
Cause that's what she feel like she on when we
On each other
Loving on each other 
Kissing on each other

[Pre-Hook]
Okay well you gotta do mine in color
Cause all of your exes are in black and white

[Bridge]
Paper to pen, Needle to skin
I'm in the chair, and she's over there
Taking these pictures and blowing me kisses
When I ask her to hold my hand, 
She told me to take that ink like man
Told me take that ink like a man
She told me that

[Hook]
You wanna get blasted, yeah
Cause you know this love is gonna last
And now we getting blasted
Cause I couldn't let you do it by yourself 
My feelings go deeper than the ink, 
It goes deeper, deep in to your soul

You know it...

The Foodie Diary- Free 'Food'IE Lunch :)

Last week Tuesday, 20th September - Thursday, 22nd September and yesterday, Wednesday, 28th September gave my belly AND purse a pat *grins*
I was simply blessed by 'oh-so-wonderful' humans in my life with free lunch! Life is beautiful isn't it?

Now tell me, who doesn't like free food?

Of course I took a few shots of my meals (as usual) for y'all to share in my foodie experience...cause there is love in sharing people!!

Feel free to follow the Instagram handle links for your orders. Gidi Gourmet's weekly menu is superb by the way. Well worth your cash too (although I did get mine for free...twice. *big grin*)

Tuesday, 20th September- 

Gidi TexMex Salad with Parmesan Chips @gidigourmet

The diced plantains in this salad were simply amazing. Definitely a first for me.

Wednesday, 21st September- 

Oriental Sweet and Spicy Gizzard with Sesame Noodles @gidigourmet

Thursday, 22nd September-

Chicken and Chips Salad (of some sort) @weareroadchef

This was from a colleague-turned-friend's mum. She just popped into the office and made my afternoon with this surprise order!

Bless her heart :)

Wednesday, 28th September-

Ham and Cheese Panini Sandwich with Iced Hazelnut Chocolate Latte @mycafeneo

Super Yum!! *licks lips*

Don't you wish you had friends as sweet as mine? *burp*

OMGel!

FYI, I am going to be in touch with my feminine side just a wee bit today.

If anyone had told me 5 years before now that I will actually 'invest' in nail polish some day? Like really? NAIL POLISH? Come on mahn!

But then, here I was a couple of days ago ogling past a series of them and adding six (make that 'seven'- inclusive of the top coat) shades to my cart. But in my defense, this was not just any kind of polish. This was gel nail polish...sans the light!
I know I might be the last to know about it's existence but still, permit me to have a moment of giddiness.

If you think picking just the 'right' Miracle Gel by Sally Hansen is a cup of tea, think again. Cause they all seemed so RIGHT! *lovestruck*

Plus I can't help it that my fingernails and skin happen to blend well with just about any color.                   

                                 Just a liiiitle bit conceited about them. Just a lil'... #FingerFetish

The Beauty Geek who posted lots of swatches (Swatch. I had no idea what that word meant in relation to cosmetics either until five days ago. Apparently, a 'mani-pedi' dictionary exists) didn't help matters. Every shade made me 'oooh' and 'aaah'. Had to even call my 'colleague-turned-friend' over from her work desk to help me out of my dilemma. Yep. That serious.

And then, I FINALLY settled on these beauties:

                                       

                                       

                                       

                                       

                                       

Feels like donkey years since I had on black nail polish. This was definitely getting into my cart. 

My last choice (which took me like forever to make this particular decision) was a shade of green- S-teal The Show. It was a battle between that and Grey Matters.

Couldn't find a swatch of it though but it is pretty much the same shade as the first time I tried out gel nail polish and I loved it. That though needed the UV light thingy...and I paid quite the amount for my manicure that day.

     

I have still got my eyes on a whole lot more, but these two have captured my heart;

The Birthday Suit 

                                  

and Motley Hue.  

                                  

*sigh* So gorgeous.

The Foodie Diary - 29th August 2016

You know that feeling when you're so hungry your head goes into spiral-spinning-mode? I was close to that on this very day. My world was falling apart...like literally. Well, not exactly.

Anyway, thanks to my adopted little sister who always happens to just know how to spoil me with edibles (Ironic, I know. That's supposed to be my duty) that saved me from my misery and came through...as always.
We ('we' meaning she, our adopted elder sister and myself) have since been patronizing Majik Juice by ordering their smoothies of recent, although we all made very bad choices the last time we did. Never again will we pick those three options off the menu. Lesson learnt.

But this time, I opted for a salad wrap and went with Rockets and Potatoes. And thus, my life was never the same again...in a good way, trust me.

Just look at that package, Cuuute!

Rockets and Potatoes Salad Wrap

Arugula (Rocket) / Grilled Chicken / Roasted Irish Potatoes / Bell peppers / Croutons / Carrots / Cranberries 

Cranberries in salad? Shweet! And don't get me started on the potatoes! It was all shades of yummy and FRESH. Emphasis on that.
Every bite felt like the first time.*sigh* Legit the best salad wrap I have had so far.

I just might order the salad today.

Guess my journey to fitness might not be so hard after all. Yep. That chapter kicks off pretty soon.
Stay tuned *wink*

The Foodie Diary- 5th August 2016 (Post-Birthday Dinner)

I am not one to rave on about my birthday. Nah.
I do however take my time (a lot of it at that) in deciding what special way I should celebrate every new year...which of course has to involve food. You Only Live Once yeah? One year at a time...

So I, or rather 'we' went with La Veranda, an Italian restaurant at The Blowfish Hotel.
I had my eyes set on a particular dish thanks to Folly of Eat.Drink.Lagos. But then, when I got my plate set before me, it was a totally different choice.
I felt they had shuffled their menu a bit until I went back to confirm Folly's order and realized I got the numbers wrong. *sad tear*

Folly's Order: No. 37

My Order: No. 47 

(Bloody numbers. Proof I am terrible at Math...)

Nevertheless, I did enjoy it though. For the first time in a long time (and I mean a looong time) I actually couldn't finish my food! The cheese was so much in abundance I had no space left in my usual bottomless pit. Take note that I hadn't had any meal the whole day...
Miracles do happen.

My friends had Spaghetti Bolognese, some Tagliatelle styled pasta that I have no idea of what the name was (only thing is it looked more like the meal I was expecting), a pizza and a salad (I knowwww! Who orders salad when you're getting a meal for free?? FitFamers *smh*)
The idea was for five of us to order something different so we all could have a taste of each meal. In other words, 'Scratch my back and I scratch yours.'

For drinks, my friends had Chapman and I had a pineapple juice. It wasn't fresh juice though and I was quite impressed with the waiter actually giving me that information without my asking. We need more of such genuine service in Nigeria.

Thanks to my adopted baby sister, Esosa for this shot. Babe stood on the couch to get this view.

Let's just say she took it 'P'.

And to cap up the evening, I made a friend at the restaurant. Boy is he is all things 'Italiano'! *lovestruck*
Still waiting on his phone call though *rolls eyes* I should get my love potion ready while I'm at it...

Oh yeah. I just turned 25...in case you were wondering :)

For The Love Of Feem

Alrighty, so I wouldn't know if you all recall, but I did make some subtle hype a few posts back about an upcoming movie blog/website run by a couple of guy friends and myself (being the only female specie on board btw. Yes, I do take pride in that. Petty, I know)

Sodas 'N' Popcorn Hub. First started off as Sodas and Popcorn which was a simple movie 'conversational' review blog. But now we are going all in on the Nigerian movie industry, others being secondary.

Call it the IMDb of Nollywood.

We intend to go all out- re-brand, re-structure, re-ginger...well, you get the idea.

Enough talk. Just a few amateur sneak peeks as to what to expect. 

When we do go live, expect a whole lot more. 

Twitter: Sodas_Popcorn

Facebook: SodasAndPopcorn

Movie Buffs, this one's for you. #ForTheLoveOfFeem 

Mondo Bizarro

Mondo Bizarro- simply being extremely strange or weird. Well, it's actually an Italian phrase which means 'Weird World'.

So this is my current fave playlist and has been on replay for 2 days...most of them tracks (especially EDM mixes) that most people around me have no idea of their existence.
In other words, songs deemed a tad bit weird...

I'm sooo loving Can't Let Go- Leroy Styles ft. Neil Ormandy right now. Uhn!

I dunno, it just feels good being odd. Simply different from the basic expectations of my environment. And I kinda like that I get that 'look' quite a lot like, 'WTH is she listening to?

 I know right???!! LOL

The Foodie Diary- 25th April - 6th May, 2016

Seems like forever...I know.
Apologies. Been in a phase of some sort. Not writer's block. Just...a phase. No other way to put it really. But then...moving on...

You see the dates on the title? Cause I did eat 'big' EVERY single day from the very moment I landed in Dallas, Texas. By the first week I had visited about 8 fast food joints! My sister kept count. And I made sure I ALMOST knocked everything off my Foodie List. (Still don't get HOW I couldn't get Dunkin' Donuts crossed out. Boy, it still hurts...like deep.)

Yes. I meant business. (Plus I might have a hint of OCD...hence the list. No. I'm not crazy. Just weird.)

Of course! I had to make the most of my trip. Now that Trump might fit snugly into the Oval office of  the White House, who knows when next I will be able to go to obodo oyibo? (which in this case is Amrika-like my crazy friends like to call it).
These are trying times my dear friends. Make choices for the future of your well-being. This includes your belly.

Alrighty then. That being said, I won't say much more. Would just post the pictures. Let your imagination work its way through...

Note: I was too full to remember the names of all the meals. Hence, no food label tags.

Forgive me.

    

              A bold and dashing adventure is in your future' #MyVeryFirstFortuneCookie *grin*

命运的中国自助餐
Translation? 'Chinese buffet of destiny'. Who won't speak Chinese after this glorious experience? (I'm not so certain I got it right though. Blame Google *side eye*)
#Lin'sAsianBuffet

This was hands down the best burger I had. Plus I love the story behind Dan T. Cathy's beliefs. Made me want to order more chicken nuggets. Just saying... #Chick-Fil-A

 

My love for the International House of Pancakes knows no bounds. Once wasn't enough... #IHOP

My first drive-thru 'experience'...if I may call it that.
I can cross oceans for another cup of the yummy ice creamy sundae. Don't recall the name but the taste would forever be in my heart. *happy tear* #McDonald's

       

Had this for dinner, as a mid-night snack and for pre-breakfast. *burp*

#PizzaHut

Had no idea this fast food joint existed! Thanks to the cuz, I was introduced.

Longest hot dog yet #Sonic

      

THE best breakfast!! 'Nuff said. #Denny's

       

A chili dog from Burger King. No cliché here. #BurgerKing

       
The ham tasted a tad bit homemade. Jus the right texture in the right places... #Steak-One

       

Tex-Mex at the cinemas! The Mud Slide was absolutely everything. Urgh!

#JungleBook3D #StudioMovieGrill

Half and Half. The best of both worlds #SubWay

The dip was made in Sea Heaven. I'm sure of it #Joe'sCrabShack

One can never go wrong with waffles...and eggs...and grits...and a hot cup of choco.

The Southern feel was simply overwhelming.

#WaffleHouse

       

THIS was another fast food I had never heard of. And boy, am I glad I found out!

Plus it was a breakfast treat. I owe my friend for this one. xxx

#TheEgg&I

The Quesalupa? Not really. La Quesarito por otro lado? Si por favor!!

#TacoBell

Bowling rookie. Plus I had a rookie score to go with it. *sad face*

But with a glass of margarita in hand, I'm always good.

#PinStack

  

I had a real life Magnum for the first time and my head started spinning. I never felt more alive!

#SneakersIceCreamBar #BlueRibbonClassics #BreyersGelato #Magnum

A night in with the girls could never have been complete without edibles...of course.

#WalMart

Always 'tasted' the bitter feel of beers by just looking at them, even though I never had a bottle before.

But then, I was christened with no other than a #Budweiser

Not half as bad as I thought...

And with so much pain I bring thee to the end of my Foodie Vacay Experience tagged #TheFoodieMission

Oh trust me...I sure will do it again...and again...and again...

P.S: I did not add a single ounce to my body mass. Not prior to that. Not after. I give up. *straightface*