Wednesday 16 January 2013

Family Wedding (SEPT 7, 2012)

Moi (i did someting different with my aso-oke on my dress)

I had a great break people!! It had been a long time i had taken a break off work for family related purposes. My uncle (real uncle o, not Yoruba version of uncle..lol) was getting married. Let me start by describing my mother's family to you can have a clue of just how large it is. My Grandad married about 6 wives that i know and has about 20 kids alive, some have passed. So technically i have 20 Uncles and Aunties and 17 of them are married with kids so imagine the number of cousins i have, its hard to keep up even.*whew especially with the ones abroad (about 5 of them) and the ones outside Abuja and Lagos. That's on my Grandad's side. My Grandma on the other hand had also married someone before marrying my Grandad and has 2 kids alive with him thats 2 more aunties and so in total i have 2 Grandads and 6 Grandmas and 22 uncles and aunties.
The wedding was held at Akure, i got to see my numerous uncles and aunts as indicated above. We stayed at my aunt's place instead of Ado-Ekiti, where my mum is originally from and where my Grandad's mansion is located, since it was closer to the wedding venue and my mum said the mansion will probably be filled with her siblings and the wedding guests. The wedding was great!! Loads of culture, the proposal letter asking for the bride’s hand in marriage was read, the groom (my uncle) prostrated for her parents, and many other things like that. Oh and my aunts and uncles kept asking me when it would be my turn and praying for me that i would find a good suitor. I had alotta fun bonding with my cousins and all that and it was well spent family time, it had been a while since my whole family had been in one place at a time, thanks to school and work. You can check out my Pinterest page for more wedding typa pics http://pinterest.com/jemimahnaa/weddings/

The Groom and Friends prostrating for the bride's parents for her hand in marriage


Spraying the Bride money as she dances forward

The Alagaiduro (Chairperson of the event) praising the bride as she dances forward in response 

The Grooms Family praying for the Bride (Her family prays for her too)

She searches for who the cap fits,finds her husband and places it on his head9

My outfit made outta ma mum's old wrapper, i love it and she does too :D
They made me carry the engagement/proposal package to the parents (not funny in my super high heels)
My iyan elewe (pounded yam in plantain leaves) and efo-riro (vegetable soup) with fish 

White wedding (This couple like dance sha)
Flash! Spot my nails and Ear Jewelry
My brothers and I

Me and one of my lil cuzns azonto-ing to the music playing

Some cousins & I<<<<<<<<<-------->>>>>>>Blue Shoes (Not Planned)
Rest Time
Wedding No. 2 @Ido
The next wedding was a traditional wedding we went for before returning to Abuja, was that of my step-cousin, my mum’s step-sister’s daughter. Her wedding was not fun at all, it was a proper ‘Deeper Life’ traditional wedding. Their attire was extremely drab, an unceremonial beige colored material. She didn’t use any jewelry or even rub powder on her face (hian). I am not against their religion and all but I don’t get why you cannot look good and stand out from the crowd on the occasion of your wedding. They could have as well been guests at the wedding and not the ones getting married, if a separate seat had not been assigned to her and her parents. I fervently prayed for the ceremony to end as the glares I was getting were like that of hot knife through butter. I had no clue it was a ‘deeper life’ wedding, so my outfit was that befitting a wedding or rather the kinda weddings I’m used to where everyone is beautifully dressed. I wore an english bodycon white and black gown with turquoise heels, jewelry and make up and I felt complete as I styled my big curly hairdo (Won ma take! I thought to myself in Jenifa’s voice), little did I know that I was overdressed for this particular occasion. Not just me thankfully, my whole family actually…lol, though I stood out the most ‘cos I was wearing an English attire. As I sat in their midst, with my siblings beside me, praying this day would be over ASAP, my brother whispered in my ear that my uncle was calling me. If I could enter the ground I swear I would have, I had to walk right in front of all these people with their eyes on me to meet him, thankfully I didn’t trip or fall *whew (they woulda had a good laugh if I did I’m sure). I bent my knees as low as possible to greet him ‘cos that ground was rough and untarred and I wasn’t ready to stain my beautiful knees. He asked after my wellbeing in Yoruba and said it’s been a very long time since he had seen or heard from me, and that I was a big girl now o so hopefully it was my turn next. He said I should keep in touch and told me I could return to my seat. I could not believe my ears!! O.O This man had made me pass through these people I was trying to hide from just to tell me THAT!! He seriously couldn’t wait for the ceremony to be over.  I thanked him, secretly rolled my eyes and made my way back to my seat. The whole thing dragged for a long time, or maybe I thought so because it was soooooo boring. Once it ended, I took some pics with the couple, greeted the necessary people and swiftly collected the car keys from my dad and sat in the car *whew warraday! My folks who had gotten a good nap (*rme) during the ceremony greeted everyone, ate and wasted as much time as possible. Meanwhile my siblings had come to join me in the car to wait for them. They finally finished and we took some family pics with me having a small argument with the dull photographer who made us practically stare at the sun while using slow motion to take the pics *mschew.I was even more upset ‘cos we were going back to Akure and my parents still wanted to stop by in Ado to greet some friends.

My folk's Secondary school (Christ School Ado-Ekiti)

We finally started the trip back, we greeted their friends and some family and were on our way back to Akure around 8pm when other motorists told us to turn back ‘cos they were robbing @d front.
 My heart practically leapt into my mouth and trust my dad na, he did some James Bond U-turn and sped off in the other direction. The man gats fear na, as na him whole family he carry for motor. Long story short, we ended up spending the night in Ado.  I was thoroughly upset because that meant we would be on the road throughout the next day since we were supposed to go to Abuja. The next day came and when we got to Akure, my folks decided we were no longer going to Abuja and would spend an extra day in Abuja. They had forgotten the leave I took from work was exhausted and I had to resume at work the next day. I eventually had to take a public transport to Abuja when we got to Akure and I think that is the most stressful trip of my life so far!! The driver was super rough and he ended up spoiling something in the car just as we got into Abuja, which we spent almost 3hours fixing before getting back on the road to reach our destination. Thank God we got there safely.
My cutest dimpled find on the trip(Demi-Pie pie)
 I got home around 1am and boy was i glad to b home.I took a shower and hit the bed! What a trip!! All in all though I had a nice time. Toodles!XooX

Sunday 13 January 2013

Melissa's Proposal (OCT 18, 2012)

Soo one of my really close friends got a ring put on it last month!!!Whoop!! Whoop!! Lol ...Y'all know I got too much energy and I’m a drama queen...*shining teeth.
Ok but seriously, all my people are getting hooked o!! Is it that it’s that time or we r are getting old though or we are in that phase where it’s time for those in our age bracket to get hooked? I think it’s most likely the Latter, but what do I know? Loll
First it was my cousin Funsho, then Mel, then my close friend’s younger sis Lily and so on… Funsho had put up a studio pic of her and her bf earlier that week and trust me to quiz her if he was ‘the one’ and all that and before u know it, the question was popped and a ring was put on it. Lily’s was tres tres romantic!! My kinda dream proposal, beachside things and all, lemme not divert from the topic though which is Mel’s proposal. Here’s the link to the details of Lily’s proposal for anyone dats interested http://chipsonmarble.wordpress.com/

PicMix
That said I have sooooo soooo many weddings to attend it’s got me dizzy, I got like 3 in December and 2 in January already. Mel’s own is scheduled for March and it’s the first wedding I plan to distribute souvenirs to the friends & guests. I’m super duper excited! lol. Antonia and I are already working on unique/useful souvenirs I can get at an affordable price. I’m helping Mel with the wedding plans in my lil capacity, ‘cos planning ahead is definitely the best way to save money and not end up a Bridezilla and overstressed. We have made a list of things she has to get/pick in order of priority, such as her color, Aso-ebi (family’s attire/friend’s attire), catering, the hall, guest list etc. and I gave her the link to my Pinterest board (which has loads of other wedding links pinned there) and YouTube wedding vlogs, Wedding planning sites, Wedding gown sites, Facebook Wedding pages such as Wedding Digest Nigeria, etc. I also lent her a book on Christian marriage one of my friend’s had given me and she’s undergoing counselling with her bf fiancé at church (we afterall need wisdom from the wise and those who have gained experience on the road we wanna travel, in order to chart our own course and have a smooth ride even though we youths may think we know it all and can have happier lives than our parents, I think we should be big enough to admit that we can learn a lot from them ‘cos at some point too, they also felt they knew it all). How come I have all these links u may ask, make una free me o!! and yes I’m a BellaNaija wedding page addict too  but I have no delusions of grandeur though, I just check them out to see how I can incorporate some of the ideas into my own wedding and work with my budget when the time comes. Y’all know by now how much I love weddings esp. traditional weddings and I like to keep something like an online diary of things I like for future purpose and for friends too :D . You can check out my wedding Pinterest board http://pinterest.com/jemimahnaa/weddings/ for ideas for ur occasion or just for entertainment purposes, it’s up to u. I believe the main thing is to have a vivid picture of the desired outcome for the wedding, which will make planning pretty easy and straight-forward. I wish her all the best and can’t wait for the date to be here and I send her off to her hubby’s house. *sob sob, ok ignore me!! lol, these are happy sobs.  *btw my birthday is around the corner December 23 to be precise, I have absolutely no clue what I’m gonna do or if I’m gonna do anything sef. I got mixed feelings about it ‘cos I’m getting older and all that, then again I’m thankful to God for keeping me alive to celebrate another birthday/Christmas. Ok now back to Mel’s proposal before I veer off topic again.

MELISSA’ PROPOSAL
This is the account of the proposal according to Mel (after much prodding 4rm my humble self), Charles and with my spicy writing skills of course! Lol. Enjoy…

Love wantintin
It happened on a cold Thursday evening, October 18, 2012, 9:18pm @Cafe Bunna in the Silverbird Galleria, Abuja to be precise. Charles had closed from work earlier than usual and went to Mel’s place to pick her, he was waiting for her downstairs when it began to drizzle, luckily Mel dint do too much making up & girly stuff and hopped into the car just in time. Melissa was dressed very casually as she felt it was one of their normal evening outings, she wore a red top and greyish pants and packed her braided hair loosely to the side while playing with them with her manicured red nails (thank God dey were manicured! haha). Charles on the other hand, as the mastermind of the whole surprise proposal was appropriately dressed for the occasion, clad in a black suit and pants with a white shirt beneath it. Melissa ordered the ‘caramel marvel latte’ while Charles ordered the ‘very vanilla latte’. They were talking about practically everything!! From politics, current affairs to business & entertainment (they too like gist). They started reminiscing on old times, where they met, how they got talking, the journey so far and all that mushy stuff. He excused himself to go to the gents and Mel noticed he spoke to one of the waiters on his way back, she thought he had asked for their bill since they were done with their croissants and coffee. He bumped into a friend who was about leaving the café and they spoke for a bit before he returned to the table, they continued their conversation and then he asked Mel when she was sure he was ‘The One’, she smiled and asked him if she was sure. They had a good laugh ‘bout the response as Mel likes to joke ‘bout such sometimes. Mel asked him how he knew she was ‘The One’ and he told her their 1st official date had confirmed it, he said ‘official date’ ‘cos they had been buddies for years, and he had been her confidant and adviser. He had always teased her that she’ll end up with him and she had always liked his personality as he is a very strong and chivalrous guy. She would always tell him to dream on (hmm…if only she knew his dreams would come true), fortunately, our words are more powerful than we think. He went on about how she completes his Life, how she makes him a very happy man and that he would not want to lose all that. Melissa was just smiling (like an otondo of course ‘cos her head don swell so tey e wan burst...lol...ok seriously lets continue) ‘cos he always tells her such sweet things and how much she means to him. The waiter brought what Mel thought was d bill which was neatly n beautifully wrapped, she was too engrossed in their gist to ask when the café changed their bill wrap and then Charles told the waiter to take their pix under the guise that they hadn't taken a picture together in ages. The waiter took the pics and they carried on with their gist. ------->>>>Mel noticed that he had suddenly become nervous and somewhat unsettled, her heart started racing and she didn’t even know why she was feeling that way. She was checking the pics the waiter had taken them when Charles said 'Baby can I ask you something?' She was still looking at the pics the waiter took (this Mel sef too like pishure! she no even code, trust me na, I for don code as a sharp girl. abeg just ignore me and my proudness…lol) and dint even look @ him, she just told him to shoot the question and the next minute all she could remember was a sentence with ....... marry me? (we gats confirm this question from Charles o! what if he was asking if Mel knows whether I will marry him and Mel thought he was asking her to marry him and in the whole confusion he had to just give her the ring and carry on the charade so she won’t be hurt. yeah right!! Me and this my active imagination ehn. oya continue reading o) that was when my friend’s brain clicked o, hallelujah!! and she dropped the phone to look @ him with those her big ‘I can see into ur soul’ brown eyes. He was already on one knee with the ring in his hand (as a sharp guy). She kept thinking OMG! OMG!! OMG!!! and couldn’t find her words (this is what Michael Jackson was talking about in that ‘Speechless’ song o) she was speechless, tongue tied but of course one part of her brain still functioned well enough for her to give him her hand and he slipped the ring on it (He liked it and he put a ring on it! That’s what Beyoncé and I are talking about :D) and dint want 2 stand up (this Charles sef ehn! baba nla drama king!). She helped him up and hugged him tightly for only God knows how long (time can so like to stand still in such moments!!). She dint even know where her lips went, whether na neck abi na lips, and that was when she remembered she had not even answered the question (yepaa!! no wonder the guy no wan stand up), she shouted YES! YES!! YES!!! Always & Forever! (Awwwwww).

Pic in the car of her ring (I can’t imagine how she was feeling on the ride home, me I go just dey smile like mumu if na me)
CHARLES SIDE OF THE STORY
That's exactly how it happened (oko iyawo,trust him to concur with his woman)....I was so clouded that I didn't notice people were actually watching the drama and taking pictures 'cause i was so preoccupied with what her response to my proposal will be. *smile* I woke up when some dude behind her was clapping. I actually wore the jacket just to conceal the box of the ring.....I was surprised she didn't ask why I was wearing the jacket because it wasn't a formal outing and even if it was, I was just leaving the office and I'd usually leave my jacket in the car anytime we are out. The waiter actually brought the ring in earlier than I wanted 'cos I wasn't done with the talking...he placed it on the table and I noticed her gaze went straight to the plate covered with a bowl. I tried distracting her from it by maintaining eye contact but she kept going back to it. So I mumbled "oh is this a new way of bringing bills"? (so he planted that thought in her head...hmmm.nice save) and I guess it helped a little in distracting her. Summarily I opened the cover and she stared at the flower like box. I remembered playing with the flower (box) to ease the tension a little before taking the giant step. *smile*.... Awwwww

What could be better than this Mel is engaged to her best friend and he had planned the proposal he felt she'd love as a lady. When he dropped her off at home and they got talking that night was when he told her he had been carrying the ring around for about a week waiting to accomplish that memorable proposal!  It was the perfect moment and he seized it. According to Melissa “I am happy! I love him and he adores me! May God help us! :D Amen!’

INFORMING THE GALFRIENDS
She of course promptly sent us (eju, chide & I) pics of the occasion. I was having ice cream and pancakes (yes I have a sweet tooth, leave me o!) with 2 of my friends @d time and let out an excited scream before proceeding to tell them why I screamed and then promptly changed my DP to the pics she had sent and my PM to read ‘Congrats Mel’ on my Blackberry (don’t you just love technology? I sure do :D). We had ice cream and waffles with Mel that weekend @Dunes to get the full jist of the proposal and gawk @her ring. 
Mel's already flaunting her ring..lol..smh
We were all so excited for her, though me I wasn’t surprised, to be honest I had seen it coming. They had been friends for a long while and he had been her run to confidant whenever she had issues with her bfs exes then. When they got closer and she started calling his name ever so often during our jists, I told her they’d end up together, she just laughed it off, rat...lol. I don’t mean to brag but these things are usually obvious to everyone else except the person involved (maybe not everyone) but they are obvious to me regarding my friends. It was obvious he really cares about her and makes her happy. Oh and by the way this is not even her ‘the main, the main ring’ o, the bobo just couldn’t wait for that one to come from overseas (obodoyinbo in Igbo accent) before making her his woman (*shining teeth, I like the sound of that ‘his woman’). I am glad they ended up together, I wish them all the best in life and I can’t wait to see my friend with her hot shape in her wedding gown exchanging vows @d altar! I mean this is the day and event we (the friends) have talked about for centuries! (Ok, maybe not centuries, but u catch ma drift) I hope I don’t cry though ‘cos I can get emotional over these kinda things. Till then, God keep us…
Toodles!XooX
Congrats my darl. This is my souvenir pic by the way  :D

Thursday 3 January 2013

Hello 2013!

Welcome to 2013!!We Made it!