December 31, 2014

Berry Dakara Blog in 2014

Hey DDs!

*Who remembers what DD stands for? The first person to remember and comment will get a gift from me, REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU LIVE!*

Anyways, as 2015 rolls around the corner, I thought it would be nice to have a little reflection on the past year.

December 30, 2014

Top Google Searches of 2014

Yoooooooooooo!

Y'all should know by now that my very best friend in the whole world is GOOGLE!!! Google gives me all the celebrity gist I'm looking for, shows me places I want to go to, random information I randomly look up, and so much more. So it only makes sense for me to be very interested in what the Top Google searches of the year have been, right? Luckily they compiled different lists by global and country rankings, and you can find them all here.

GLOBAL RANKINGS


NIGERIA RANKINGS


The US Rankings are sooooooooooooo many, that I couldn't choose which to put here, so check them out over here.

You can also check out the UK Rankings here.

December 24, 2014

Christmas Giveaway Winner

Oops!

I forgot to announce the winner of the Christmas Giveaway yesterday - my apologies.



But before I get to it, I have to apologize to all my non-Lagos readers. Several of you weren't thrilled that I had yet another Lagos-only giveaway, and I was admonished for that. Ndo, pele, na tuba, ma binu, mi dispiace, je suis désolé, lo siento! In 2015, I promise to giveaway nationally and maybe even internationally (hopefully shipping isn't a bia bia!!!)

Anyways, onto the winner. There were 5 valid entries...

  1. Christy I.
  2. Fisayo F.
  3. Idy U.
  4. Thelma E.
  5. Folaranmi O.

 and the Random Generator gave me the number...



So massive congratulations to Ms. Thelma!!! I hope the shoes fit and Merry Christmas :)

December 21, 2014

Season's Greetings...

I need to put a disclaimer before I start this post...

*DISCLAIMER* This post is not meant to offend anyone who is non-Christian. If you ARE offended, let's just agree to disagree, and then go eat some seafood salad, followed by rosemary chicken with herb roasted potatoes, and finish it off with Rubis (chocolate) wine and a slice of almond vanilla cake topped with melted chocolate ice cream, crushed peanuts, and coconut candy.

The other day at work, I was walking along the hallway, saw a coworker. I was about to say hi when he greeted out, "COMPLIMENTS!!!" I literally screeched to a halt and had a very confused look on my face. I asked, "Compliments? As in, how? I don't understand."

He replied, "Compliments of the Season." And then it dawned on me that he was wishing me holiday cheer (lol, silly me). But the thing about it was, I was genuinely confused by his greeting. Coming from the States, where everyone tries to be politically correct, the non-religious, non-cultural greeting around this period is, "Happy Holidays." So I guess the Nigerian counterpart would be "Compliments [of the season]" right?

Well, after that exchange with my coworker, we went on to talk about holiday greetings in December. In the States, you have people celebrating Hanukkah, you have some others celebrating Kwanzaa, and then you have those celebrating Christmas (Christians focusing on the birth of Jesus Christ, and others focusing on Santa Claus). 

In the past, I've always said 'Merry Christmas' without really attaching any meaning to it. The truth of the matter is that it's become so commercialized, that more and more Christians are even forgetting that we celebrate Christmas because of Jesus Christ. This year though, I'm choosing to say it more intentionally. Fine, not everyone is a Christian. But if you're allowed to practice your religious beliefs freely, then why shouldn't I too? So with that, I say to you and yours...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

December 20, 2014

December 18, 2014

CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY

I've been meaning to do a giveaway, and since I'm back now, this one is perfect timing, as we're just a week away from Christmas!!!



Blogging Tips: Blog Etiquette

Hi everyone!

I hope you're having a beautiful day so far, and if not, I hope it gets better for you :)

I've wanted to write about this for a while, but kept procrastinating for one reason or another. Sometimes I'd ask myself who gave me the right or confidence to think that I had any advice to give. At other times, I figured that as a new-ish blogger, and not enough years, experience, blog views, I was certainly not an expert and definitely in no position to dole out blogging tips. Yes, I admit I have insecurities about my blog - in fact, I may share it in another post. But the bottom line was that, I didn't think I had anything to offer.

However, that isn't true. The fact that I've gotten more than one email asking for advice, and others reaching out to me, means that the blog has impacted at least one person in a positive manner. And with that, I think it's good enough for me to share some tips.

December 17, 2014

Berry Lovely Links

I hope you're having a good week so far :) As always, I've rounded up some pretty interesting links to share with you.


December 15, 2014

Twas a Berry Full Weekend!

Yo yo,

Guess who's back!

I've actually been back for almost a week. I'm not sure I'm flying Air France ever again - I was just so uncomfortable. And then I got into Lagos in the middle of election primaries and fake fuel scarcity. Well, thank God for journey mercies, and Cakes is sooooo happy I'm back and has threatened that he's never letting me travel again :p

This weekend was a very busy one. I had 4 events to attend (I know this is not the advice I gave in my How to NOT Spend ALL your money this Christmas post), but I had a lot of fun :)

December 13, 2014

How to NOT Spend all your Money this Christmas

Hey everyone,

Christmas is almost here, and if you have eyes and/or ears, you've noticed all the retailers, businesses, and promoters around trying to lure and seduce you into buying one or twenty things. SALES SALES SALES, they call out. DISCOUNTS, they cry out. YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME-EVENT, they scream. If you're anything like me, you're very highly tempted and have drummed up a long list of things you want to scoop up. But guess what happens if you buy everything you want [without having a busload of money to back it up] - you get broke! So I thought I should come to your rescue and help you save some money this holiday season.

December 11, 2014

Berry and the Babbling Brook

Since it's Fall/Autumn right now, the temperature's quite nippy, but I love it. I've been getting updates that the weather's stupidly hot in Nigeria - how far now?!?!?!?! Anyways, since it's pretty chill out here, it's nice being dressed in layers and boots. Spring is my all-time favorite season (minus allergies), but I really really like fall fashion. I got into it myself, and decided to take advantage of the surroundings. There's a lovely babbling brook behind our neighbor's house, with whom we share a lawn, so my mum generously agreed to go down with me and take my pictures for me :D - isn't she LOVERLY?!?!?!

Enjoy, and if you're in Nigeria, ndo/pele enh.


Berrydakara.com is LIVE!!!

Hey guys,

As you know, this year I've tried to improve on the blog - new design, [hopefully] improved content, and more. I've taken it a step further, and I'm proud to announce that I purchased a domain name, and now you can simply type in 'berrydakara.com' to access my blog.



I am still looking for ways to improve, and hopefully there will be bigger and better changes in the coming year.

Thanks so much for your support, kind words, constructive criticism over time.

Hugs and kisses from moi!


December 10, 2014

Berry Lovely Links

I hope you're having a good week so far :) As always, I've rounded up some pretty interesting links to share with you.




December 8, 2014

Berry Peachy Weekend

Hey people,

Yup, I'm still at home in Atlanta - hence, the PEACHY (Georgia's official state fruit is the Peach). This weekend was quite busy. I feel like I should be doing a lot of sleeping during this trip, but my body clock is bonkers!!! I'm sleeping waaaaaaaay late and waking up very early for no blawdy reason. I just don't get it. Oh well. I had a full weekend and right now I'm exhausted out of my mind. But so I don't get scolded for not posting, here's my weekend post ON TIME!!!



December 5, 2014

O Christmas Tree - Atlantic Station

During my last weekend post, I mentioned that on Thanksgiving weekend, my family and I went to Atlantic Station, a fun place in Atlanta with restaurants, shops, a movie theater, among other seasonal attractions. Because it's the holiday season, there's an ice skating rink and a huge Christmas tree, which of course I had to take pictures in front of :D

christmas tree at atlantic station, atlanta


December 4, 2014

Berry and Cakes in Bed

FUN FACT: About 10 years ago, I couldn't fathom sharing a bed with anyone - not even a husband. Yeah yeah yeah, I was being naive and very selfish. Sue me.

I declared, and very proudly and loudly too, that I would make sure that I had a separate bedroom whenever I got married. I was so sure that having to share a bed forever would be the most uncomfortable thing. Why?

AsoEbi Junkie GIVEAWAY Winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Asoebi Junkie Giveaway!

To be fair, everyone needed to share the event flyer on either Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and then leave a comment on the blog. To that end, we could count only 4 valid entries - I know a lot of non-Lagosians weren't too please (pele, ndo, sawry).



Without further ado, the winner of the 4 yards of lace fabric is...


Congrats to Amama :) Kindly get in touch with The Asoebi Junkie, so that you can meet up with her and collect your prize at the fair.

To everyone else, don't forget to attend the very first Asoebi Junkie Textile Fair THIS SATURDAY!


Erm, Cakes... maybe I want some fabric for Christmas and/or our anniversary :D You know where to go this weekend :)

December 3, 2014

Berry Lovely Links

Oops, I forgot to post Berry's Lovely Links last week.  Sawry about that. As always, these are random links I come across and I think are interesting to share, so enjoy :)



December 2, 2014

It's Beginning to look A Lot Like Christmas!

Hi guys,

I'm in quite a happy mood right now, because my other favorite time of the year (besides my birthday) is Christmas time!!! Read my It's December post from last year. Yup, I really enjoy this time of year :)

I love listening to Christmas music (Carol of the Bells is one of my favorite carol, and then 12 Drunken Days of Christmas), seeing Christmas decorations (the tree and putting up pretty ornaments is something I look forward to), watching Christmas-themed movies (my favorite is Love Actually) and so on.



Specific things I'm loving this Christmas though, are:

December 1, 2014

Berry Thankful Weekend

Hi guys!

Before I start, don't forget to enter the AsoEbi Junkie Giveaway I'm having on the blog o!!! If you don't want it, you can enter and win it for me.

Okay, I wasn't going to put up a post until I got back to Lagos, but I've been admonished twice in a row (you know who you are). Sooooo, I'm currently away with my family in my other home (Atlanta). I'm having the most marvelous time with my siblings, mum, church family and most especially the cutest nephew of all time!!! I've been here for over a week and I'm wondering how to teleport Cakes over here, so we don't have to deal with Lagos traffic and Nigeria wahala.

Anyways, the highlights of the past week/weekend were Thanksgiving and a family outing yesterday to Atlantic Station (one of my favorite places in Atlanta - I wish I lived there actually). I'll put up pictures from the outing another time :)
A video posted by Berry Dakara (@berrydakara) on