Happy Berrycracy Day!

Hiya!

Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeee! Thank the Lord with me for another year, and better decisions and wisdom ahead for moi!

And because I love my Nigerian readers, I dashed you a holiday :D

Eat cake, drink somn sweet and bubbly and dance like nobody's watching!

Berry Lovely Links

Yo yo yo,

I feel like it's been forever since I posted Lovely Links here. And truthfully, throughout the day, if I see an interesting link I keep it open or email it to myself, saving them for later. As of right now, I might have close to 15 links!!! Well, enjoy these ones :)

GIVEAWAY: Happy Children's Day - Curl Centric Kids Coloring Book

Hiya,

First of all, I know 1 or 2 people are still owed their items - I should sort everything out when I get back.

Secondly, HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY!!! Don't you wish today was a holiday for adults too? Well, thank God for the holiday on Friday, which just happens to be my birthday :D

Thirdly, in celebration of Children's Day, Ms. Akirashanti Byrd of Curl Centric, has graciously and generously agreed to giveaway one copy of her new coloring book for kids.

Now, it's not your average coloring book. This one has over 30 images of children who sport different hair textures, including natural hair styles that range from twists to locs and more. The basic point of this is to show images that are relate-able to our young children who have natural hair.

A spokesperson for Curl Centric explained, "Those with naturally curly hair in the media tend to straighten it, leaving little girls without role models. The coloring book is designed to fill that void and offset the lack of representation. This is just the beginning however, and showing girls it's possibly to have a curly haired princess or action hero will open them up to a world of possibilities for their own hair, many of which can be found on our website. The book is available now, and we advise all parents of curly haired children to order a copy."

So, if you're interested in buying one for the natural haired kids around you, click here to order. It's just $5.39. We are giving away a free copy though - simply leave a comment below with your name and email address, and a winner will be randomly picked tomorrow.

Berry Joyful Wedding Weekend

Hello dahlings!

My vacay is slowly winding to an end - Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Am I ready to leave my precious niece and nephew and come back to Lagos?! Nope, I just might cry on the plane :(

But before that, I can't remember if I mentioned that one of the main reasons I traveled was to come for my cousin's wedding in Boston. My siblings and I drove from Atlanta last week, and drove back the day after the wedding. Apart from making my crochet wig, I got to hang out with old friends (I lived in Boston for 7 years and got my first degree there), and we all had a blast at the wedding - of course there are photos of me dancing. Congratulations to the happy couple - I'm glad I got to witness the celebration :)

  

DIY: Crochet Wig A La Berry!

Hey guys,

For some reason, I'm not getting enough rest yet while I'm out here in the US. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know why - my siblings and I drove from Atlanta to Boston to attend our cousin's wedding. That drive is about 16 hours if you don't stop at all. But we had to stop to buy fuel (Chai, Nigeria, smh), get food, and sleep (on our way TO Boston - we didn't sleep on our way back to Atlanta). Anyways, you can imagine that with all the driving and wedding activities, I haven't gotten that much sleep.

But, I'll give a better update tomorrow or Thursday. For now, I want to show you what I made: A CROCHET WIG!!!

Happy 90th Birthday to My Grandpa

Happy birthday to my grandpa, who turns 90 today!!!

He is truly amazing. He's so young at heart, still very active and working (don't call him on some days at certain times because he has meetings); he still travels the world (as an honorable Rotarian); he even got an honorary doctorate last year; and he's such a great example of how to live life. I thank God for his long life and many more years!

Please say a prayer of thanksgiving with me and my family.

My Notes from the REDEFINING FINANCE Event: Part 2

See Part 1 here.

After Arese spoke, the next part of the program was a panel discussion anchored by Wana Udobang, and featuring Uzo (Investment Banker turned Foodpreneur), Elaine (Investment Banker turned Makeup Professional) and Aurora Moneyi (Brand Manager working a 9-5). This mix of women was aimed to get perspectives of women who work for others, as well as those who transitioned from corporate work to owning their businesses. Because it was more of a discussion, I didn't really take notes, but there were key things that each woman mentioned, and that's what I'll share.

Berry Welcome Weekend

Hey guys,

I'm posting this from Atlanta. I came in over the weekend. I'm sure you've noticed that posts on the blog have been kinda slow. I've been very busy at work, always tired when I get home and been generally overwhelmed. It happens every now and then to most people.

Thankfully I already had this trip planned,  and hopefully I'll get the rest I need and have my battery recharged.

In the meantime, if you follow me on Instagram, you have already seen the photo. If not, I became an aunt again - my sister had the bestest, cutest, loveliest baby girl last week! Join me to thank God for all he's done in our family.

So now you're updated. If I can, I'll push out some draft posts from my archives. If not, I'll be back in a jiffy.

Toodles, poodles and oodles of noodles!

Me, my nephew and my niece.

Berry Lovely Links

Hello everyone,

Hope you're having a good week so far. Mine's just crazy, busy, hectic!!! I need a proper break - maybe I should switch lives with the lady from the first link today.

BATTLE OF THE HAIRLISTAS

Hey hey,

In a few weeks, Dabs of Naija Hair Can Grow, and Savvy & Chic Beauty Hair Hub is putting another edition of Salon Day Out (click here for more information). It happens on Sunday, June 7th at Oriental Hotel from 11am until about 5pm maybe. A brief rundown of the day's program is below.

11AM: Shopping at the different vendors' stands

12PM: Hair Journey Series - this is a panel discussion from different hair bloggers (natural, texlaxed, relaxed, etc), and they will be open to questions from the audience. Atilola who owns/runs African Naturalistas recently got certified as a Trichologist, and I'm really proud of her and to be part of the AN Team.

2PM: The Hair Pros Showcase - this is a presentation from different hair stylists showing how to do a variety of hairstyles, from updos to colors/cuts to instant faux locs! (Somebody beg Dabs to use me for the instant faux locs demonstration!!!!!)

4PM: Battle of the Hairlistas (which is the main point of this post). This should be fun and will feature a competition of 2 Teams of not more than 5 people each. They will be given different tasks to complete using Design Essentials products (tasks like styling, routine maintenance, etc). The winning team will win over N100,000 worth of products, and a cash prize as well! The teams are open to people with different hair textures and types, so if you like/enjoy hair care, sign up by emailing Daboju@yahoo.com with the subject line: I WANT TO BATTLE, before May 20th.

Don't forget, if you need more information visit Dab's blog. BTW, I'm thinking about sponsoring 2 tickets to the event (tickets are N500 vouchers which you can use to buy products at the Savvy Chic stand/salon). What say you?

Berry Late Weekend

Hola amigos!!!!

Welcome back to delayed regularly scheduled programming. It's regularly-scheduled because it's a weekend update. But it's delayed because it was from the weekend before this past one :D Unless you want photos of me being a complete bum from this weekend? Exactly, let's all pretend I'm an ALWAYS fun and active person, shall we?

So the upper weekend, I had a full weekend, no joke. So much so, that it really tired me out and I didn't have any energy to blog at all. You've already seen some snippets from that weekend - the Lekki Market post, and also the Hear Word Naija review post. But that wasn't all I did.

On May Day, after I left Lekki Market, Cakes and I headed off to the beach to celebrate his mum's birthday. Unfortunately I didn't have any photos taken of me - I was just having a bad hair, bad skin, bad bloated tummy, bad no-photos-must-be-taken-of-me day, so just enjoy the photos of the yummy cake :D

Berry and LiL at Lekki/Jakande Market

Hiya!!!!!!!

I'm trying to make up for my long, unexplained absence, so here's a nice colorful post for ya. It should have been part of my weekend update post, but since there wasn't one, I'm giving the Lekki abi is it Jakande Market outing it's own time to shine. The first time I heard about this place was on Review Naija - I was quite shocked that somewhere like this was very close to my 'hood, so I made a mental note to check it out one day. Then early last week, while browsing Instagram, Olamide (Living in Lekki Blog) posted a photo saying that she had gone there. I commented on her photo asking "Who wants to take me?" and luckily she was planning to go back on May Day. Of course I jumped on that opportunity! Speaking of opportunities, who's going to the Lagos Carnival tomorrow and wouldn't mind me tagging along?

REVIEW: Hear Word Naija

Hey guys and gals!

I'm so sorry for the silence. It's been a week of well, let's not get into it. I'm back now and while I had a busy weekend, I feel that the first thing I must do is tell you about a marvelous stage production, called "Hear Word! Naija Women Talk True." I won a free ticket on Instagram from the lovely, talented Kate Henshaw, who also stars in the production and I went to see it on Saturday, May 2nd.

Can I just tell you that this is one of the most wonderful performances I've watched on stage?!?!?!? That's including in Hamrika and Nigeria. Gawsh, it spoke to me! If you're in Lagos, nothing should stop you from watching this!!! In fact, my birthday is coming up in a few weeks - as my birthday present, please go and watch it on my behalf since I can't watch it again (actually, I might go and see it again this Friday). I laughed, I hollered, I clapped, I shouted, I cried - the gamut of emotions that struck me through this play was astounding!

A little background - have you heard of the Vagina Monologues? It's a production made up of a variety of monologues that touch on different topics from rape to love to sex to domestic violence and more. Hear Word brings this home to Nigeria. Is it the little girl whose uncle touches her inappropriately? Is it the widow who is forced to sit by her husband's grave due to outdated traditions? Is it the virgin college student who's raped by her first boyfriend? Or the older woman who discovers that her now dead husband had children with multiple women outside the home? Ah, let's not forget how us women are quick to call other females ASHEWO for every little thing. And my favorite - the Christian woman who comes (pun intended) to the realization that God created the orgasm!!!

I can't shout. This production, directed by Ifeoma Fafunwa, and starring great actresses, is a MUST-SEE!!! I wish they could take it all over Nigeria. I'll share some photos and clips gotten from their website. If these don't convince you, then I don't know what will. AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING! GREAT JOB to the cast, crew, director, sponsors, and everyone else who contributed to this powerful offering.

Girl Child Clip: This asks why female children are not as celebrated as males.


Family Meeting Clip: Your husband beats you and after you report him, they ask you "But what did you do?"

Dodo: This one made me cry. "Uncle" taking advantage of a young girl.

ALL PHOTOS AND VIDEO are from the Hear Word Naija website. 

SHOW INFO
Venue: MUSON CENTRE, Onikan, Lagos. It's opposite City Mall.
Dates/Times: Fridays - May 8th, 15th, and 22nd at 7PM. Saturdays - May 16th and 23rd at 2PM and 7PM.
Buy tickets via AfriTickets, Ariiya Tickets, Jumia (they have a 10% discount on the tickets, but available for one more week, so buy now) and I think at Terra Kulture.

Tickets are N5,000 (Regular) and N10,000 (VIP)

CONTACT INFO
Website
Facebook