Once Bitten...

For those who really know me, you know I am one hell of a dog lover. I could literally see a random person walking one and I will approach him or her not for a conversation, but simply to pet the furry adorable thing. And I am not talking about just the teeny furry canines, even the huge ones as well.

I probably love them so much cause I have never had quite the ferocious encounter...until yesterday.

Yep. I got bit by one. The shock is yet to wear out.

Okay. So here I was on my way to work feeling happy-go-lucky after such a good long weekend, (Monday was the Democracy Day public holiday) all dressed up with my pearls and fresh haircut when I saw my neighbor taking his dog for a walk.

Like I said, my instinct is always to give a dog a pat on the head of which I more often that not get a positive reception - an excited bark, a wag of the tail or several licks.
Sadly, my instincts failed me this time.

As I asked my usual question to all dog-walkers/owners I meet, 'Is he/she friendly?', and gently stretched my hand towards it, my mind told me he was receptive...but then my eyes saw and my hand felt otherwise. Doubt I can ever forget the look on its face...
Weird fact is that after the incident I giggled and answered the question myself, 'Apparently not.'

Good enough there were no passengers around to snicker at the horror written on my face as I struggled to lose its grip on my hand. Who would've thought a puncture wound could hurt this bad...and bleed so much.
The first thing that went through my head as I washed the blood off was 'Rabies...oh God, No!'

Sure thing, I went straight to the doctor's to get a vaccine shot after work...and now my arm feels like metal. Never knew anti-tetanus injections have that side effect.

It's been from one pain to the other for the past two weeks- my left ear got blocked and developed some pretty annoying aches for no apparent reason (going for a flush tomorrow), I had to get two teeth filled a couple of days ago and now this.

So yeah, that's the story of my life as we see it.
I soooo need a vacation right now *sigh*

Isoken

I must say, Nollywood has been pulling her weight for some time now. Pretty impressive.

Who would have thought once upon a time that I will yearn to spend my earnings on a Nigerian movie showing at the cinemas? I wouldn't have either. 

But then, here we are. One of the many other reasons why our start-up, Sodas and Popcorn will be even more worth it.

My sis tagged me a couple of weeks ago on a teaser posted on Instagram for the upcoming Nollywood movie called, Isoken (which I had been keeping my ears on the ground for prior to the tag) and says we should go see it together when it's released.

First off, my sister never watches Nigerian movies. I mean like never, ever. So this truly meant something. 

I hadn't really done much of a 'research' on the movie until that day. So I did eventually and I loved the simplicity and quality of the photo shoot for the posters.

But here is a little more info on the movie.

It was directed by Jadesola Osiberu, known for her notable works such as Gidi Up and The Juice both which air on the online television platform, Ndani TV.

The plot is pretty basic to be honest. It's a romcom about a young woman who seems to be having the time of her life, but then, her folks are worried she may die well, (you guessed right) single. As usual *rolls eyes*

But then there is more to it as it's also a 'story of self-discovery that explores cultural expectations, racial stereotypes and the bonds that unite families, in touching, dramatic and sometimes funny ways' as quoted from Pulse.

And then there's the cast - this was probably what really caught my attention. Well, not in its entirety. Funke Akindele to be precise, my 'ross' modeh *big grin*

Lol. One scene I'm looking out for:

Guess we will have to wait and see if it was worth the wait.

In other news (switching back to Hollywood), Jack Sparrow is baaaack! 

Y'all know how much I love me some Johnny!

The Foodie Diary - 30th April 2017

Been a while since I posted anything relating to this segment of the blog. And in my opinion, that is unacceptable. I feel it tarnishes my image as a renowned foodie. That's just...wrong.

This is my attempt at making thing's right. (Yes, I've got my straight face on)

There is an annual Lagos food festival hosted by Guaranty Trust Bank (otherwise known as GTBank) themed The GTBank Food And Drink fair. I couldn't attend last year because it held at about the same period of another food fest- EatDrinkFestival by EatDrinkLagos which I was more inclined to go for anyway.

But then it seemed like GTBank stepped up with the vendor list this year (last year's list didn't catch my fancy) of which a friend of mine was enlisted as well. My 'friends-turned-sisters' were interested as it was a public holiday weekend plus there was no other event around the said date so we decided to give it a go.
And a good decision that was.

My friends and I made quite the desperate attempt at winning free food tickets to access any vendor stand. Let's just say some other foodie beat us to it. *rolls eyes*

Lol. I was so pumped weeks before the festival that I actually made a list of all the vendors whose stands I will make a stop at.

I am a weird being. Y'all should be used to me by now.

The 'yep' comment means I was able to strike those off the list. 

A few stands I couldn't find cause the place was packed with hungry humans like myself it was kind of hard to get through at some point.

Others probably didn't have what I wanted (like the Hot Cross Buns I was so giddy about as you can see from the dance emoticon on my 'To-Eat' list. I kept singing the nursery rhyme in my head anytime I thought of it) or some I had eaten off their menu before and I decided to aim towards new 'taste-test' adventures.

First off cause of the intensely hot weather that day, we got a Rainbow Slush (or something of the sort) from BubbleTii and it was all colors of yummy and refreshing.

I have had my eyes on Toasties for the longest time and I knew I would not forgive myself if I did not get one of those. The Shaki Toastie was amazeballs!

Got to know about iBot last year through a friend of mine who happens to know the owner. I was trying to figure out where I could order some small bites for my colleagues in the office on my birthday. I wanted something far from the usual 'small chops' and this was a gunner.
I bought an individual pack from his stand at the food fair which had crispy chicken, kebab, a mini burger, a club sandwich, a jumbo-sized shrimp and a spring roll.

I took pictures but they were posted on my InstaSnap. Error on my part for not saving it before it was gone in 24 hours.

Next was a bottle of Tropical Dream made of Mango, Orange and Ginger from Lagos Cold Pressed Juice Co.

This gave me so much life guys! You can never go wrong with Mango juice in my books.

My final stop was Brittany's Place, another vendor I have been stalking as well. Been craving crepes since I first (and last) had them last year from iHop in Dallas, Texas while I was on vacation.
This was the last stand cause I had actually lost hope of finding it. But then, grace abound! Hallelujah!
I got the marble crepe with chocolate syrup, strawberry and whipped cream. Yummy yummy in my tummy! *licks lips*
Out of curiosity, I asked the co-owner who happens to be a male, why the name 'Brittany' if it is not run by just a woman? Apparently, Brittany is the home for crepes in France.
Nice touch.

I did mention my friend had a stand. He came up with a unique idea of cooking akara aka acaraje (in Portuguese) in an unusual way- waffles and pancakes! (I know right?)

He sold these with pepper sauce alongside some pap at the fair.
I had mine the next day for breakie with a bowl of pap filled with lots of powdered milk. *grin*
Check out his page here- Acaraje Naija .

Soooo I am looking forward to the next food fair which will most likely be the EatDrinkFestival (yaaaaay!)
Till then, I shall eat my way through to happiness...as always :)

Progress...I Guess

I'm pretty sure most of you (for those who bother to read this boring blog anyway. Y'all are the real MVPs!) are wondering how far I've gone with my Bucket List for the year.

I believe I owe you guys an update, don't I?
I won't necessarily count it as much cause I have been quite laid back with achieving most of my plans and it really feels like time is flying by (like it's May already. How did that even happen?)
Scratch that. Time IS flying by...

But all in all, forward movement is progress in someway, no matter how slow the pace.
Alrighty then...here it is.

So far, I have further ticked out:
-The Lindsey Retreat tagged 'The Revival Tour'. This held on the 4th and 5th of February.
- Kickstarting my duties with Sodas 'N' Popcorn which started off with our first major event under the Social Media Week (SMW) in Lagos for the year.
- Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) Certification. I should get the validity of this pretty soon...

 The Lindsey Retreat was amazing. Coupled with the fact that I met with my long time girlfriend at the event who just got back from the UK, sat beside one of Lagos' talented celebrity fashion designers, Matopeda Abiola, CEO of Frock It Rock It (You can check out her work on her Instagram page here: @topefnr) and my major Nigerian celebrity man crush, Lynxxx (How can one male specie be tall, fit, handsome, talented and a sucker for Christ all at the same time! Uhn!) was one of the panel speakers. Plus I experienced Nathaniel Bassey perform live for the first time (One word. Powerful) and then the icing on the cake, I finally saw the Lindseys (Co-Ministers of The Gathering Oasis Church in Atlanta, USA) and I got to listen to Heather preach!!! Wish they came with the little ones too, Logan and Taylor, the REAL celebrities of the Lindsey household *side eye* Lol. 

They remind me so much of my nephew and niece...so adorable.

Took a picture with the couple and got my book, Fighting Together, (which they co-wrote) autographed by Cornelius too! *big grin*

P.S: I am not yet married of course. But I'm certain the message in his autograph speaks to my nearest future *wink*

(You can also follow both Cornelius @thisiscornelius and Heather @heatherllove on Instagram)

This was my first time at the Social Media Week event. And how awesome is it that my first attendance had my team have one of the slots for the week with a panel of influential personalities in Nigerian media?

It may seem like such a small deal to some but it gave us so much confidence in what we are aiming to achieve in the industry.

One thing I was so concerned about was the turnout. But I was swept away by how many people showed up. Not like there was a stampede, but I honestly felt only a handful of people would be interested. A long time friend of mine (I seem to have quite a lot of  those, I know) who has quite the busy schedule (and whom I least expected) and OF COURSE my sister (our number one cheerleader) also came through. The support was overwhelming.

My partner and I finally made us some business cards. Makes me feel so 'Sheryl Sanderg' 

Fun Fact: She was born in August too. Yaay! Twinning!! *hehe*

                                               

I just sat for my NIM Management Professional Exam (MPE) last week which was from Tuesday, 2nd May to Saturday, 6th May. I had a total of six courses. 

That one paper that was giving me the heebie jeebies was actually not so bad after all. 

(Financial Management...urgh!)

So while I studied, I decided that I will buy myself a bucket of Blue Bunny Chocolate Chip ice cream when I get certified. Call that motivation.

Results should be announced in about two months. Fingers crossed!

P.S: Learning how to play the guitar, travelling for fun and attending a dance class are in the pipeline...*rubs palms together*