Mummy and Me: Dashiki

I've got another set of Mummy and Me photos to share with you today! I had a different shoot to share, but I can't find the memory card that has those photos... so sad. However, we can make do with this new set of "And co" photos! For this photo shoot, Cocoa and I wore African dashikis! Are there non-African dashikis, come to think of it? Where do dashikis really come from? See here if you're interested.

When You Gain Weight

Ugh! Who else is tired of losing weight, then gaining it, then losing and gaining it again?! If not you, I certainly am. It's been almost two years since I gave birth to Cocoa, and even though I was not "trying" to snap-back quickly, I lost a good amount of weight. I got as far as 10 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight at a point, and I won't lie, I felt pretty proud of myself. I even stocked my closet with clothes to fit my smaller size. All was honky dory until the later part of last year...

Mummy and Me: Dornubari's Apparel

Before I got pregnant with Cocoa, I knew I wanted to have two children - a boy and a girl. I didn't think it out loud, but I think I hoped that my first child would be a girl. I didn't have any particular reasons though. Maybe because I'm the first child? Anyway, some of the things I looked forward to when I knew I would have a daughter included being Mummy-Daughter best friends, playing with makeup (which she does already), and also dressing alike in matching Mummy and Me outfits! Now, my husband does not like to dress in matching outfits, but I can do what I want with my daughter in that regard, and I got another chance with Dornubari's Apparel (see our Christmas photos for the first time we had a Mummy and Me shoot)!

Three Ways to Style an Ankara Peplum Belt

Happy Monday!

Do you guys remember when peplum belts were all the rage?! Wait, was that peplum belts or just the peplum silhouette in general? I can't remember. Either way, lots of women were very happy to wear peplum anything because it was trendy at the time, and also helped to conceal or hide not-so-flat tummies. I remember loving the trend too, but never thought about getting a peplum belt. I know that ankara peplum belts have been on the scene for a while, but it was not until this year that I started trying them out, and today I want to share three ways I styled my ankara peplum belt.

When Life Gives You Lemons, Wear Your Iro and Buba

Everyone knows the saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." That's all well and good, and I understand that the premise behind it is to make the best out of bad situations. A lot of times, it can be easy to wallow in the negatives of life, so it makes sense to try and shoot for optimism and positivity. Sometimes though, life gives you lemons back to back to back to back and I don't care how much you like lemonade, you can get tired of it.

Winter Blues

Hey there! Long time no style post. It's not like I'm good at style posts anyways - I was told that I'm not fashionable, after all. I dress well, but I'm not stylish - I definitely do not follow trends, I don't dress very well for my body type/shape, etc. My personal style is kinda weird and all over the place. I like a lot of monochrome outfits, while also liking my Nigerian attire. I almost wish I could wear more heels, and I certainly wish I looked more pulled together in an easy, classy, chic, and effortless manner. Alas, I'm not! But guess what? I will still put up Style posts because it's my blog and President Obama said, Yes I can! LOL

Long time no style post!

I have not done a style post in a VERY LONG time, for a multitude of reasons. First, I don't have anyone to readily take my photos - my brother, who's photographed me a few times (like here and here) is pretty busy and I get tired of running after him. Secondly, I have not bought my camera remote control and I feel like I would do a poor job of taking my own photos (even though, I did so here and here). Thirdly, I just have not felt very inspired to show my style... I know I don't have great style, and sometimes I feel a little silly thinking of doing style posts.

DIY Ankara Kimono Vest

Hiya!

I didn't mean to be gone this long since my last post. Thanks for all the love you sent my way! I'm getting my groove back and the desire to create is stirring within me. That desire led me to my sewing machine a couple of weeks ago. First of all, my title is misleading. I got some fabric from my dad's friend after I had Cocoa. In his culture/tribe, they gift a woman some George fabric when she has a baby. I'm not one to tie it as a wrapper, so I started trying to figure out how to best use the material in a way that I would wear it multiple ways.

The fabric looked similar to plaid to me, and the first thing that occurred to me to make was a sleeveless kimono/vest. I think I might make a skirt or pants when I get the next urge. Anyways, check out the photos below. I hope you like them :)

Throwback - Maternity Shoot Photos

That's how in my dense fog of the last half of 2017, I managed to NOT post any of my maternity shoot photos! I could have sworn I did, but while looking through my blog a few days ago, I was astonished to see that I never did. I know the song says "it's too late to apologize" but apologize I shall, and you have already forgiven me, so woot woot!

Maternity Style - Baby Shower Dress

A baby shower is one of the highlights of being pregnant. Everyone comes together to celebrate your upcoming bundle of joy, and gives you lots of presents and advice on parenthood. Baby showers can be done in a bunch of different ways - just women, or coed along with the men. Some have baby shower themes - all you need to do is check out Bella Naija for some really creative and pretty baby showers they have featured. A big part of this event is figuring out what to wear to your baby shower.

Maternity Style - Ankara Off-Shoulder Dress

Yay, I have more Yummy Mummy photos today! Actually, does the yummy mummy tag apply to me since I haven't actually given birth yet? Anyways, I'm quite excited to share these photos for a couple of reasons. First of all, Cakes has been away in Nigeria for a few months - which meant that I had nobody to take my photos for me. So these photos were taken by MYSELF! I don't know how people like Sarah Audu do it! But I think I got some decent shots - what do you think?

Maternity Style - Casual Dress and Denim

FYI - I took these photos a while ago, and the day I edited them, I was in total shock!!! I hadn't realized my tummy was actually that big!!! And this is still with a few months to go o. It dawned on me how deceptive and deceitful the Samsung S7 Edge is! This whole time, when I take pictures and selfies, the lens would just make me look like one slim yummy mummy. Well, my camera lens gave a quick slap in the face sha.

Maternity Style - Blues

This year I've been trying to make sure my finances are in order - saving a lot (for emergencies), and spending only where necessary (mostly). One of the pieces of advice I got was not to spend too much on maternity clothes, as I'll wear them for only a short amount of time - a few months. I did get some maternity pants that I started wearing from my first trimester - I think those were a good investment. But for the majority of this pregnancy, I've been wearing my same old clothes. A lot of them are stretchy and have been able to carry me so far.

Maternity Style - All Black and Leather

WELCOME TO MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! Birthday loading in 4 weeks!!!

One of my favorite blogs I follow is Moss Onyi's blog. If I don't go there for anything else, I can tell you that her and her husband's photography always captivates me. They frequently share photo posts that are just black and white. And I promised myself I would do a B/W photo post too, so here we are! And a maternity style shoot too. I've been sitting on these photos for months now, but I absolutely love them! Baby Cocoa obviously likes them too cos as I type this (currently April, because I schedule my posts ahead of time these days) I can feel plenty kicks :p

Yellow Iro and Buba

If you missed my announcement on Saturday, kindly STOP, go back to that post, then come back here :)

Berry at a Table of 20

Hey there!

It's the start of another work week, and while there might be challenges, I pray we all overcome them and have beautiful and positive weeks! A few months ago, while browsing through blogs via Bloglovin (follow me please!), I came across an event on Titi's blog. You might remember Titi from this post. I got in touch with the hostess and determined to attend at some point, and that point was 2 weekends ago. Today I'm going to share a little bit about my time at Erica's Table of 20.

Visiting Washington DC Part 2

Our trip to Washington DC over the past weekend was really fun, but very short. We were literally in DC for just 30 hours, so you can imagine how little sleep we got on both Friday and Saturday nights. It was all in good fun though, and we're very happy for our friend and his lovely new wife.

Blowing kisses to the happy couple!!!! #meettheakukwes #weddingguest @stillwaters_

A video posted by Berry Dakara (@berrydakara) on Sep 24, 2016 at 4:21pm PDT

Iro and Denim

It's been a while since I've done a style post. They aren't something I plan ahead a lot of times - they are usually spur of the moment, and won't usually be written in advance here. This pas weekend, while trying to organize my bedroom a little bit, I found my Iro and Buba (remember the first time I wore it here). I decided I would wear it to church on Sunday, and felt very much like an asoebi bella. I have to admit, wearing easy, breezy traditional outfits (like here) should have been one of the things I miss about being in Nigeria.

Relaxed Summer Florals

We're smack dab in the middle of summer with sweltering heat. I've generally disliked summers because I'd rather be cold than hot. My favorite season is either Spring with the fresh scent of rain and blooming flowers, or Fall when the leaves start to turn beautiful oranges, reds and browns. If I like anything about Summer it's the bright and clear blue skies. Oh, and the fact that wearing bright colors and florals fit the season.

Style Swap with Nemi

Hello there Double D's!

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty darn good with lots of laughs - including going out for appetizers and desserts with my sister and cousin, and finding out that I forgot my handbag at the restaurant AFTER WE GOT HOME!!! I'm the only person that such things happen to, but thank God, they kept my bag and I rushed back over to get it :)

This is a video I promised a long time ago, but never got around to editing.