Don't Give Up!

Where would you be in life right now if you hadn't quit or given up on one thing or another? If you had believed in yourself and had the confidence to see things through? If you fought past obstacles instead of deciding they were too hard?

Managing Expectations

Good Monday Morning!

It's going to be a short one today, but the topic of managing one's expectations has been on my mind for a little while. If you read my birthday post this year, then you know that I didn't really have any expectations whatsoever, and ended up being pleasantly surprised. The calls and messages from well-wishers, and hanging with my family over several days made me feel really loved and appreciated. I did have one very tiny expectation that was dashed, and kinda reinforced my belief that it's better to have low or no expectations in a bid to avoid getting disappointed.

I posted for 31 Days straight on Instagram

Hi everyone,

Welcome to September! It seems like the year just started and it's already ending. I'm not sure if I've accomplished a quarter of the things I wanted to do this year. But there are 4 months in the year left - a little over 120 days, so I really should do what I can to make them count.

Old Love and New Love

Today I did something that I haven't done in a long time. When you go through a particularly tough time, like I've mentioned a few times, you can begin to lose yourself. When you laugh, the laughter is mostly hollow. When you smile, it doesn't quite reach your eyes. You subconsciously carry a weight on you that makes you slouch. You slowly stop doing the things you used to enjoy. You forget or lose the will to do the things you used to love. I stopped writing. I stopped twirling. I didn't want to play with makeup anymore. I can't even remember the last time I listened to Flavour! *hang on, I'm about to play my favorite song of his - Destiny*

Why I Have Not Been Blogging

Who remembers the days when I used to churn out at least 4 or 5 posts every week on this blog? I remember the years when my total number of blog posts throughout the year topped 200 (see my recaps in 2014 and 2015)! I don't know if I'll say that was the peak of my blogging, but it really seemed like the sky was the limit at the time. I think that living in Nigeria kinda fostered my creativity, as there were a lot of events to go to (that helped me learn how to churn out multiple posts from one outing). I was definitely in my comfort zone blogging-wise, and then I moved back to Atlanta.

Smiles and my baby girl make the world a sweeter place.

A post shared by Berry Dakara (@berrydakara) on Jul 9, 2018 at 8:28pm PDT

Berry Lovely Links

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!

You guys were right! I really felt like I could easily get back on the blogging train and keep up with posting, but mehn! I am exhausted more than half the time. Baby Cocoa, my honey babyest boo, has not only turned me into a cow and lollipop, but she's sucking my energy too!!! I literally didn't even touch my laptop for how many days. But blogging and you guys have been on my mind. I feel kinda bad, like I'm neglecting this space, but I thank you for letting me have time with my munchkin. Follow me on Instagram and Snapchat - @BerryDakara - cos I usually post photos and short videos with her.

Anyways, enjoy the links!

Berry Lovely Links

Hey there!

It's another lovely weekend! I hope you had a great week and have interesting plans for the weekend. I have a few things to do, but been so tired and sleepy ALL WEEK LONG!!! Pregnancy is NOT easy at all! But thank God we've made it this far :D

Berry Lovely Links

Hey hey,

I'm sorry I didn't put up my lovely links last week - I was completely out of it and exhausted. But there was no way I was going to miss this week's edition!

Weird Pregnancy Advice I've Gotten

I'm finding that pregnancy is much like marriage. Before you get married, you have bunches of people on your case asking "When will you get married?" And when you do get married, you get all kinds of advice like, "Never go to bed angry... make time for dates... never ever go out to eat." I legit heard that last one at a bridal shower, and the girl was dead serious, because in her upbringing, going out to eat meant the husband would start to crave outside food *yes, blank stare, I did.* Anyways, with pregnancy, it's the same thing - been getting all kinds of advice like, "Drink lots of water... don't wear heels... definitely stop having sex until after the baby comes." I literally laughed out loud at the last one, but erm... if a doctor tells you not to after examining you, please o. It's no longer a laughing matter. But today I want to share the top 3 weirdest advice I've gotten since people found out I was pregnant.

Berry Lovely Links

First weekend in May! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

This week has been pretty good, hasn't it? Everyone, myself and Cakes included, was pleasantly surprised at the engagement news of Banky W and Adesua. If you're not Nigerian, Banky is a musician/actor and Adesua is an actress, and they both starred in the Nigerian box-office shattering, Wedding Party (which is available on Netflix now, I heard). Congratulations to the happy couple!

Berry Lovely Links

Thank God April is almost over!!! And my favorite month in the whole year is upon us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a darling weekend everyone :D

What's In a Name?

I'm the kind of person that always wonders about people's names and the reasons behind those names. I'm also the person who notices names of companies or brands and tries to figure out why their brand names were chosen. For instance, driving around Nigeria, I would notice a store called Mex Solutions and deduce (correctly or not) that the owner of the business was named Emeka, and he provides solutions of some sort. Or I look at people's email addresses and wonder how they chose them. I have a former friend who gave herself a nickname along the lines of Psycho or Crazy. I eventually had to cut her off because she was in fact a little on the psycho side, and our friendship was more toxic towards to me.

Before Cakes and I met, he already knew how many children he wanted and had a name for his first child. When he told me the name, I was just like "NOPE. NOT HAPPENING TO MY CHILD. AIN'T NO WAY!" And let me tell you, I stood my ground, so much so that he even started wavering at a point and we decided to come up with different names for our future children. Fast forward to a few weeks before I even found out I was pregnant, and God spoke to me - long story short, He told me the name Cakes originally wanted came from HIM! I'll share the details eventually, but when I say God works in mysterious ways, I don't mean just because our friends hooked up and got married through us. God really works in the background and the revelation is all the more powerful!

When my siblings and I chatted with my grandfather, he told us how he came up with each of our names - according to the circumstances and situation at the time, he named all his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I really can't wait to hear his chosen name for #BabyCocoa

Have you guys asked your parents why they named you whatever your name is? And if you have children, what inspired the names you gave them?

P.S. I have 4 names on my birth certificate, plus one extra that my mum nicknamed me as a baby. If I'm in a place with my immediate family, grandparents, and friends, it's possible to hear 4 different names for just me! Well, my inlaws gave me a name, so if they're there, it could be 5 different names. And that doesn't include my Itsekiri name, Misan, which I LOVE!!!!!

Berry Lovely Links

Hiya!!!

As I type this now, I'm looking out my bedroom window and just thanking God for such a beautiful view. It always makes me feel refreshed and calm and I'm appreciative of the beauty that God made in flowers, trees, the beautiful blue sky. I hope you're able to sit still once in a while and recognize the beauty around you.

Let's get into the links!

Berry Lovely Links

Happy Easter everyone!

I hope you've all had a good week. I know y'all in Nigeria have a looooooooong weekend this weekend - another thing I miss about Nigeria. Well, hopefully you have some time to check out the interesting round up of links I found this week.

Berry Lovely Links

Yo yo!

How's your week been?! Mine has certainly been interesting, but in God I trust! Anyways, I hope you enjoy the links I've scooped up this week. Have a beautiful weekend!

Berry Lovely Links

Whoa! Quarter 1 of the year is already over! Where did the time go to? I for one, am happy it's going by cos I'm looking forward to the summer! I've rounded up some pretty good links this week - the first 3 are all about finances BTW. I hope you enjoy the links and learn something new.

Berry Lovely Links

It's the end of another week and boy am I happy for this weekend. I finally have a whole weekend off work! Tomorrow I'm heading to brunch with my girls... hoff kerse I shall share photos at a later date. What do you have planned?

Berry Lovely Links

Hi there!

I hope you've had a pretty week so far. Thank you for all your kind wishes towards Cakes for his birthday on Wednesday. He appreciates all the love! I'll share photos from his birthday dinner either next week or the week after. Now that the weekend is here, make sure to check out some of the links below when you have some downtime.

God Works in Mysterious Ways

In 2010, I was in my late twenties, working an okay job in Atlanta and wondering whether I should move back to Nigeria. You see, I left Nigeria at 15 years old and I didn't know what it was like to experience Nigeria as an adult. Lots of young Nigerians like me had moved back and seemed to be having these great, awesome lives. I really wanted to find out what opportunities there were out there for me, so after praying for a bit, I made the decision to move back right after my sister's wedding and my birthday in 2011.

Berry Lovely Links

Hey there!

I'm back with my weekly Lovely Links. I'm feeling fresh and rejuvenated again, and ready to start blogging consistently again. Thanks for your patience and sticking by moi. Without further ado, here are my links below!