February 27, 2019

WCW - February - The Ufuoma

Woot woot, it's WCW - February edition! As you know, this was a series I started two years ago, but stopped for various reasons. I restarted in January of this year (see Amama Ekwere's post here) and this month, I am featuring a woman whose Instagram feed will have you wondering what you're doing with your life. I can't remember how I first came across Ufuoma - it might have been on another blog - but I remember the first time I really paid attention. She had traveled to Cuba with a friend and her photos were being liked and retweeted all over Twitter. First of all, I have a desire to visit Cuba one day. Secondly, I fell in love with her photos - they were bright, colorful, vibrant, and I appreciated that Ufuoma and her friend wore their ankara clothes in glorious splendor! 

I have followed her online since then, and I am inspired by her love of God, travel, and people. Without further ado, let's hear a little bit about Ufuoma.



February 25, 2019

The Balancing Act of Life

Hello, and Happy Monday to ya!

How was your weekend? I hope you enjoyed it. Can I be really honest with you guys? I almost didn't have a post for you today. For the past 2 months, most of my posts have been ready in advance, and scheduled to drop at 12am Atlanta time on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I had a surge or burst of creativity and content at the end of last year through the beginning of this year, and I had two months worth of content to post. And to be honest, I have more content planned for March, but the actual writing of the posts seem to have gotten away from me. Why? Because of Life's Balancing Act.

February 22, 2019

Berry Lovely Links

Thank God It's Friday!

Does anyone else feel like February has pretty much flown by? And my goodness, there's so much going on - Jussie Smollet's case, Nigerian elections, R Kelly's been indicted, Khloe's sister's best friend hooked up with her partner, etc. I just want to turn off all news, go to a beach retreat somewhere and sleep, eat, listen to the water for the next 3 months! How are YOU doing?



February 20, 2019

8 Ways to Reduce Costs and Expenses to Stay Within Budget

MONEY MONEY MONEY!!! A lot of us worry about money - whether we have enough, are saving enough, are spending enough (or too much), etc. If you have noticed, there has been a huge spike in topics of Personal Finance across the internet. Topics from Budgeting to Investing to Saving to Debt Repayment, and more are getting big draws. I've shared some of my Money experiences with you myself, and someone who answered the 2019 Berry Dakara Blog Survey said they'd like to read more blog posts about money. Because I care about you guys and take your suggestions for blog posts, (like with the Things I Learned about Pregnancy), here are small ways that you can cut costs and reduce expenses to help you make and stay within your budget. Well, these are the ways I have reduced my costs personally.


February 18, 2019

What is Perfectionism?


I don't like to admit it, but I'm somewhat of a perfectionist. Or maybe an imperfect perfectionist. I am that person who will not start on a project because I'm trying to iron out all the tiny details first, waiting for everything to be perfect before I even start. I am that person who would rather wait until I have everything in place before I take a step forward.

February 15, 2019

Berry Lovely Links

Happy Belated Valentine's Day.

Who got what? Who gave what? The most important question to me is who ate what? I'm taking Little Miss Cocoa out for a Mummy-Baby date tomorrow, because I hardly ever spoil myself and I really want to go out for a meal - and because she'll eat free, even though she eats like an adult, LOL! Well, I hope you enjoyed yesterday for what it was. Let's check out some links, shall we?


February 13, 2019

What I Learned About Pregnancy

It's been two years since my pregnant days, but when I asked on Instagram what posts people would like to see, someone asked me to share some of the things I learned about pregnancy. I aim to please, and so, here are my top 10 things I found out during pregnancy. There are a lot more things about pregnancy, but I wanted to share based on MY experience.


February 11, 2019

7 Reasons to Go on a Cruise

Hey there,

My name is Berry Dakara, and I am a cruise lover!!!! Well, to be honest, I've only gone on 2 cruises in my life. The first time was in September 2013 on a 5-day getaway to the Caribbean. My parents, sister, nephew and I hopped aboard a Carnival cruise ship. I blogged about it way back when over here. It was such an awesome vacation, that ever since then, I've wanted to go cruising. I was supposed to go on another cruise in February 2017, but my husband and I had to cancel our trip, as we had recently discovered we were expecting Baby Cocoa. It was not advisable for pregnant women to travel to the Caribbean at the time, because of the Zika virus. If you've been reading my blog, then you know my family recently embarked on a 7-night cruise on the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas cruise ship. As a matter of fact, at least one or two family members goes on a cruise every year. We're a cruisin family and I thought it'd great to let you know why you should go on a cruise too!

February 8, 2019

Berry Lovely Links

Thank God for another Friday!

I need some time to just regroup and get myself in order. On the phone with Cakes yesterday, I told him that I wish I had two days where I have nothing to do... so I can do EVERYTHING. LOL! Does that make sense to you? I feel like I have a lot on the back-burner, and I'm struggling to catch up and work on them :(

I also told another friend of mine that if I had the money, I would hire a cleaner, driver, social media manager, photographer/videographer, video editor, hair stylist (for Little Miss Cocoa), laundry person, masseuse (for me of course), cook, and more! To think that these are the many hats I wear, and I haven't even scratched the surface!!

Anyway, let's get on with the links for your weekend read aye? LOL, someone who filled out my blog survey said my Lovely Links are like mini magazines.


February 6, 2019

5 Lessons Learned from Ending or Losing a Friendship

This is a hard post for me to write. In the past two years, I have lost three friends that I thought would be lifetime friendships. I won't go into the details about each of them, so that I don't rehash hurt feelings (on their sides, or mine), but I do want to talk about the experience of losing friends. I imagine it's weird to lose that many friends in a short amount of time, but it is what it is.

February 4, 2019

Life Lately: January 2019

Hi there!

Thanks to everyone who's filled out my 2019 Blog Survey so far. The feedback is so useful to me, and I appreciate constructive criticism to help me do and be better. Like I said, I want my content this year to really sit well with you and keep you entertained, inspired, engaged, and even thoughtful. I promised I'd share a monthly Life Lately post on the first Monday of every month, and here's my recap of January. Enjoy!



February 1, 2019

Berry Lovely Links

Thank God It's Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And welcome to February! Wow, it's a whole new month. Weren't we just saying Happy New Year like 2 days ago? Sometimes it feels like the days are dragging soooooo slowly, and then at other times, it's like "Wait, how did one month just fly by?" Anyway, here's to good things in February! I hope you enjoy this week's links. And don't forget, you can always share interesting articles with me and they just might end up in a Lovely Links post in the future.