December 31, 2015

Berry Dakara in 2015

Last year I did a blog recap. Lots of other bloggers are currently posting how their blogs did in 2015. I want to do that as well, but not just yet. I had goals for the Berry Dakara Blog this year, and I will still write an update. However, what I really want to share now in this post is ME, not just the blog. 



I've decided to make it a little fun, in the way of numbers. So here are my 2015 numbers in no particular order.

December 30, 2015

Berry Dakara Instagram 2015 Best Nine

Yo yo,

I wasn't sure if I would do a 2015 Blog recap, like I did for 2014 - but I guess I should right?

Anyways, a couple of days ago, I started noticing the following hashtag on Instagram - #2015BestNine. So today I decided to check mine out and I thought it'd be nice to share with you :D

December 29, 2015

Favorite Ways to Relax

As the year draws to a close, I'm thinking about the things I want to do more of in 2016. One of them is true relaxation. I don't get enough sleep as it is, I spend too much time on social media, and I'm beginning to feel like I've forgotten how to relax. I think that it IS important to give yourself a break and do one or two things that you enjoy to help you feel refreshed. So here are a few of my favorite ways to relax.

December 28, 2015

Berry Beautiful Weekend

Hey everyone,

How was Christmas for ya? Who had fun? Did you get or give any exciting presents? Let me know in the comments. This was supposed to be a great weekend for me - the looooong holiday, Christmas, and then our anniversary (thanks for the well wishes by the way). Unfortunately, I started feeling funny on Thursday evening and by Christmas morning, I was officially sick. It's Sunday night now and I'm still pretty low. Cakes wanted to take me out to lunch today but I felt so weak and tired, that I simply said we should buy small chops at church and go home. We can always celebrate another day, aye?

Anyway, the other weekend I had a few events I wanted to hit in one day.

December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas

Hello darlings!
We wish you and yours a Berry Merry Christmas. May you be filled with Joy as we remember the precious Gift that is our Lord Jesus Christ.



December 22, 2015

Blog Business Cards from Printivo!

Have I ever told you guys that sometimes making decisions is one of the hardest things for me? I'm talking easy decisions like whether to get a pedicure or wash my hair at the salon. Or whether to drink tea or coffee on some mornings. Well, when it came time to order business cards on account of blogdom, it took forever and ever to decide! I started the process some time in August - yeah, 4 months ago! Actually, between August and early November, I completely forgot that I emailed Printivo in the first place.

When I remembered and contacted them on Twitter, they responded promptly. I decided to go with the option of them designing my card - which cost N2500, if I remember correctly. You can design it yourself and upload it for printing. I just chose the other option because I think I lack design skills :-|

I sent them a few photos and my information and these were some of the designs they came up with.


I decided to go with a square card because I think it's different from the norm, and it kinda fits my personal style. Some of my family/friends were concerned that it might not fit in a conventional business card case. They have a point, but I think a square card would make the average person do a double-take, since it's different. That being said, if you're in a serious business or profession, please go with the usual rectangular shape. 


I kinda decided on this photo above eventually because of the color splash effect. Again, it's quirky and different, right? My family/friends liked it too but they all had one issue - "Berry why aren't you smiling?" They said the card made me look somewhat intimidating, instead of approachable. I personally like the photo cos it shows my natural hair, my quirky side, and that I'm African. But I agreed that it should be a smiling photo.

And then the photo from my family photo shoot (and The Blogger, The Baker, and The Red Tree) happened and all was well with the earth. There was a bright smile, and somewhat naturalish hair!
I sent the photo off to Printivo, they made the design which I uploaded, paid for and hoped I would get them within 2 business days instead of the 3 they quoted (I saw for another blogger, they delivered in 24 hours). I wanted to have them handy for the Blogger Brunch event. Unfortunately their delivery guy... well, long story short, I got them after 4 business days with a weekend in between.

I'm quite happy with the cards. I'm not 100% ecstatic because it was only after I got them that I noticed the circle on the back of the card was not centered. I'm not sure how everyone of us missed that. Ah well. There's always next time aye?

I gave out a few of them this weekend at the Beauty in Lagos Beauty Party on Sunday. It felt good, I must say. I even put it on Snapchat - are you following me yet?


December 21, 2015

Berry Blogger Brunch Weekend

So here are the photos I promised from the Blogger Brunch event I went to. It was hosted by Dee Mako, who's a Style blogger. Honestly, when I met her I was shocked. On her blog she's very quirky with her style, and I fully expected to see that when I met her that day. But she was very simple - didn't even wear makeup! Maybe I'm the one that does too much these days. Chick was just like, "Enh, I'll rub powder and that's it." Oh well.

December 18, 2015

Berry Lovely Links

Bonjour!!!

How's your week been? I hope you've had a nice one. Christmas is exactly a week away and I still haven't put up my tree!!! At this rate, I might put it up on Christmas Eve.

I hope you're checking the Events page - there are so many events within the next week or two. I've actually had to update it every single day this week!

December 17, 2015

Berry Good Marriage/Relationship Advice

Hello friends,

As you all know, I consider myself to be very wise and like dishing out advice to those in need and those who don't care. I've told you why using pet names is bad for you, why you shouldn't have "our song," etc. Today I'm here to tell you why you shouldn't reprimand your significant other for spending money and shopping. 

December 16, 2015

Berry Blogger Brunch Weekend - coming soon

Okay okay. I do have a weekend post. Here's why it's coming late

  1. I got back from Atlanta last week Monday and didn't get home till 11:30pm. I think I slept around 1 or 2am.
  2. I was back at work on Tuesday. Not too early though but morning still. I had 2 full days of training, which can be draining.
  3. I had the most embarrassing illness (still recovering) and the pain in my finger kept me up till 3am on Friday morning.
  4. Saturday morning, I woke up to pack and headed out to the Bloggers Brunch, and afterwards headed to the airport - flew to Port Harcourt that evening
  5. We had my grandmum's surprise birthday party on Sunday and it was a huge success.

    I ended up going to bed at 12:30am.
  6. And by 5am, I was up, got ready, went to the airport, hopped on my flight back to Lagos and went straight to work.
Basically, I've been on the move since I got back. In fact, since before I left Atlanta, because we were quite busy there. This week, from Wednesday until Sunday, I have back-to-back events, so I'm not seeing proper rest for myself until Christmas/Anniversary weekend.

That's why I didn't put up my weekend post this week.

Can I post it next week? If you agree, I'll add some photos and my Snapchat roll from my grandma's birthday :D

December 15, 2015

BERRY VLOG - The Whisper Challenge with my Brother

Soooooo, I had all these grand plans of doing a lot of vlogs while away on vacation. However, I was so busy and didn't plan my days well, so I ended up doing just one and a half.

In this video, my handsome brother agreed to do the Whisper challenge with me. Cakes was too tired :p

Making the video was fun and I laughed so much that my cheeks hurt!

Hope you enjoy it.



P.S. I don't know that I'm going into vlogging really, but it seems fun every now and then.

December 11, 2015

Easy Taxi Nigeria Takes a Stand On Violence Against Women

Ever heard of or used Easy Taxi? Easy Taxi is a mobile app that connects passengers to nearby registered and professional drivers with just one click, enabling an urban commuting experience that is faster, safer, and more convenient. They recently won the BEST TAXI APP award at the Nigeria Tech Awards, and also launched the Easy Taxi Safety for Women campaign aimed at creating safe commutes and standing against violence towards women worldwide.
2015 marks the 24th anniversary of the international campaign “16 Days of Activism International Day to End Violence Against Women.” This year, market leader in the taxi hailing app space, Easy Taxi Nigeria, joins over 5,000 organizations in 180 countries by publicly declaring its commitment to raise awareness about violence against women (VAW), and launching their campaign #ETSafetyforWomen intended to share gather insights around safety and security from female commuters.

The campaign was born out of a real need to address the global pandemic of violence women are subject to on a daily basis, including while commuting. Most notably, the campaign acknowledges that VAW is not just a “women’s problem;”the effects are felt throughout society, in fact, studies demonstrate that gender-based violence even slows down the pace of development and progress in our country.

The ETWomen Campaign

Needless to say, taking preemptive steps to end violence are not only necessary, but vital for all Nigerians - and Easy Taxi recognizes the solution will involve all of us. As part of their effort to address the issue, Easy Taxi’s campaign will have a multi-pronged approach, including:

Step 1: Stakeholder Engagement

The Managing Director of Easy Taxi, Adaora Asala stated that they are already speaking to a variety of stakeholders to discuss the issue of women’s safety in both Abuja and Lagos, where they operate: from security companies as potential partners on strengthening due diligence and performing more robust background checks on drivers, to women’s rights activists on driver workshops geared towards sensitization.

Step 2: Driver Engagement

Easy Taxi’s top priority is engaging its drivers to raise awareness on the issue, and equipping them as main partners in ensuring the safety of female passengers. According to Asala, “Drivers are trained adequately to remind them that there is a group of people at greater risk and it is our responsibility to make them feel more secure.”

For example, as part of monthly driver meetings, Easy Taxi trains drivers to drop off the female passengers, and wait for her to safely enter inside the gate before driving off.  Training also includes ;sensitivity training, and emotional intelligence where drivers are encouraged to handle any passenger dispute with care and empathy.

Step 3: Customer Engagement

Customers are not left out of the knowledge exchange. As part of the campaign, Easy Taxi is also encouraging customers to empathize with drivers, to see them as business people who have a job, as a service provider just like any other 9-5 worker. Again, the message is that we all have a part in ensuring everyone’s safety, especially women.

A World Of Possibilities

Ms. Asala stated “It is needless imagining a world of possibilities when ‘career women’ are scared of moving in taxis at night, and many others with decent means of livelihood have been denigrated for choosing to be pillars of support for their husbands and families”.

Asala also answered all too familiar question, Why is Easy Taxi getting involved with safety and violence against women? “At the end of the day, activities like this from not just Easy Taxi, but different organizations, will serve as a rallying point for other stakeholders to raise awareness and make efforts to influence behavioural change to end gender violence.”

The solution will not be easy, and it will take collaborative effort to win the war against violence against women. But Easy Taxi hopes that by joining forces with the Nigerian community, taking small steps together, and holding each other accountable, we can all create a future where women are safe - not just when using taxis, but in our society overall.

About Us-

Berry Lovely Links

Hiya,

I know that I've been really bad with updating my Lovely Links posts weekly. They are supposed to be up every Friday and I just haven't been keeping up - my apologies. I hope to do better in 2016.

Here's a fresh set of links though :)

December 10, 2015

6 Lessons I Learned from Planning the Meet and Greet Event

The TBC Connect event was about a month ago, and during the process I learned a few things that I want to share with you. Cassie did something similar after her Catwalk classes in September.

December 8, 2015

The Blogger, The Baker, and The Red Tree

I wondered how to title this post. I had a few options like

Berry, Cakes and A Red Tree

or

Actually, that was the only other option I had :p


December 7, 2015

Berry Atlanta Weekend

Hey hey hey!

Who's excited for Christmas?!?!? I'm looking forward to it but December seems like it's going to be really busy, and honestly, I'd really like to get some time to rest. While here in Atlanta, resting hasn't been possible - we've been out and about, and Cakes even had orders!

Anyways, my sister, brother, his friends, Cakes and I had a fun weekend that consisted of visiting a few places in Atlanta. Where we live isn't in Atlanta proper, so getting to go to the city made me feel like a tourist. Have you ever noticed that when you live in a city, you don't take advantage of what it has to offer tourism-wise? There are so many places in Atlanta that I've never been to and I lived here for 7 years! I think it's a good point to make a habit of discovering the city you live in. Have a staycation sometimes :)

December 4, 2015

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers

It's been ages since I did one of these. Atilola and someone else (I can't remember who, please remind me) tagged me in it, and so here are the answers to the questions Atilola asked (because she asked me first)

1. What is your biggest pet peeve?
I have a whole list. But let's go with people who always write in "text" format. E.g. HBD, LLNP, whr r u gng 2nyt. UGGH!!!! Didn't you go to school!?!?!?!

2. Team Whatsapp or Team BBM?
Whatsapp. Not too many people send broadcasts :)

3. Eat healthy, and watch what goes into your body? OR Life is too short, enjoy all the food while you can? Which of these two describes you best?
The second one! As picky as I am, I love the foods that I DO like.

4. Make a confession about anything.
I confess that I have a weakness for cocktails, small chops, ice cream and soft plantain.

5. Do you think ladies with natural hair take the “team natural” thing too far?
Some of them do, yes.

6. Can you marry a man exactly like your father?
I'm already married :D Is Cakes exactly like my father? Exactly being the operative word... No.

7. What is your opinion about premarital sex?
I think that it's hard to stay away from and very easily regrettable. God has reasons why we shouldn't do it.

8. What supernatural power do you wish you had?
Superman's powers. All of them. He's just well-rounded.

9. Tell us something you wish you hadn’t done in the past
I wish I hadn't studied Biology for my first degree.

10. Books or Movies?
Both! 

My 10 questions are as follows:

  1. Do you think there are grey areas in life, or is everything black or white?
  2. What's your favorite ice cream flavor?
  3. Who would you pick to play you in a movie about your life?
  4. Would you rather read a book, listen to music or watch TV?
  5. Where is your dream destination?
  6. How many friends do you have on Facebook? Friends not fans.
  7. What TV station do you watch the most?
  8. Who do you think would win in a fight between Batman and Superman?
  9. When was the last time you laughed really hard and what made you laugh that hard?
  10. Are you loyal to any car brands? If yes, which one(s)? If no, why would you just buy any random car?!?!?!?

My nominees are... Love Ifeyinwa, The Chameleon Blogger, Wura's Secret Hair, Titi's Passion, and David Adeleke.

December 2, 2015

RANDOM ALERT: Matching Underwear

Hello Boys n Girls!

I've been thinking about this for a while - I know, I know... why am I spending more than a second wondering about matching underwear? Well, because I'm me and that's what I do.

So matching underwear... you know how you see Victoria's Secret and Fredericks of Hollywood and all those ads? All the chicks are ALWAYS wearing matching bras and panties - and sometimes garters and all kinds of frilly things. They all look very nice and attractive and all of that, but my question is...

December 1, 2015

GIVEAWAY and ASOEBIJUNKIE TEXTILE FAIR is here again!

The Asoebi-Junkie Textile Fair is here again and this year it's even more packed with free activities, and of course beautiful fabric to purchase!


Come shop fabrics, shoes, beads and all kinds of fashion accessories as well ready-to-wear pieces from designers at discounted rates. Tick off items from your Christmas Shopping List as there will be great bargains on every item at the fair.

THERE'S MORE! Get treated to FREE sessions on Fabrics, Makeup, and Gele-tying.
1. Patrick Ayanski Fabric Consultant Talk.
Our Main sponsor, The Patrick Ayanski brand will be having a one hour talk with everyone interested in fabric business. They will be talking about recruiting individuals as fabric consultants of their brand and teaching you everything you need to know to run a successful fabric business
TIME: 12PM TO 1PM
2. FREE GELE TYING SESSION BY OMOGE ADUNMARADAN
Talented makeup artist and gele tying expert whose brand is known as Omoge Adumaradan will be live at the fair to teach us how to tie gorgeous gele styles effortlessly and slay at your next event.
TIME: 1.00 PM TO 1.30 PM
3. FREE PARTY MAKE UP SESSION
Professional make up artist known as Adorned by Joy will also be live at the fair to teach us how to apply flawless party makeup with ease, so we can always  do our make up by ourselves and look gorgeous to that Christmas party.
TIME: 1.3O PM TO 2 PM
We will also be having other brand show case afterwards and most important is our raffle draw for purchase of 10,000 Naira and above.
You see why you can’t afford to miss this fair and please do me a favour -  invite your friends, family members,neighbors, colleagues and everyone you know that will be in Lagos next weekend to come take advantage of this great event.
ITS GOING TO BE EPIC!!!
GIVEAWAY VIA BERRY DAKARA BLOG
There's also a giveaway again ! This time, 5 yards of beautiful tulle lace is available to be won. I wish I was around to win it myself :(


GIVEAWAY RULES
1. FOLLOW AND SHARE in one or more from below
A. Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheAsoEbiJunkie) and SHARE the Textile fair photo OR
B. Follow @theasoebijunkie on Instagram and REPOST the textilefair photo with the hashtag #theasoebijunkietextilefair and
C. Follow @theasoebijunkie on Twitter and RETWEET the textile fair photo with the hashtag #theasoebijunkietextilefair

2. After doing one or more of the above, post a comment here stating which option you did, and your name so that we can verify.

Giveaway closes on the 5th of December and the winner MUST pick up the fabric on the 6th of December at the fair (or send a representative).

ASOEBI JUNKIE CONTACT DETAILS
Phone:     07033040834
BB pin:     7EFEDB78
Instagram: theasoebijunkie
Twitter:      theasoebijunkie

BERRY BEAUTY - GRWM for TBC Connect

As you know, the TBC Connect event was a few weeks ago. I blogged about it here, and if you check around Blogsville, you'll see a few other posts on different blogs about the event.

Anyways, I got there pretty early for the event - about 4.5 hours early actually. Cakes had cakes to deliver and wasn't sure when he'd get back to the venue, so we decided I should head to Ethnic Heritage Centre early. Since I had so much time on my hands, I decided to take photos of every step of my makeup process. That's what GRWM means - Get Ready With Me. So there you have it, I'm sharing photos of my makeup process. Forgive me, but I don't have a very nice shot of the end product *hides face*