Pimp my Cam

 Look who got a makeover?! 

FAFA 2012 was the shiznit.

.

This was my second fashion event to ever attend and I must add, the best too.

Friendships

Mary & Marion

I’ve read (and come to see for myself) that most of us naturally inclined to speak and be heard rather than the reverse. It’s natural, human even, but it’s something that I try to be aware of every time I’m around someone and especially someone new.

Am I sharing too much with this person/friend/acquaintance? Does she/he really give a damn about my issues? Moreso, do I care about the stories that they choose to share with me?

This past Friday, one of my oldest and dearest friends, Marion, had her surprise hens night and I'm officially on a mission to attend at least one bachelorette party every month. Feel free to pass on the numbers of brides-to-be. It was my first ever hens night and between you and me, I think I was taking down notes faster than she was ;)

But this post is not even really about the hens night or the juicy secrets that were let loose that night. It’s not even about the fact that there’s a lot more you can do with a bowl of warm water than you probably realise - and I mean a lot.

This post is about a girl called Mary.

Like I said, I’ve read (and come to realise for myself) that most of us are naturally inclined to speak and be heard rather than the reverse. So when I arrived early for Marion’s bachelorette party and found Mary there, I spoke. But, and this is important, Mary listened and observed and seemed to genuinely care. I don’t know how I can explain how special and different and caring I thought she was and it’s not like I don’t have people in my life who I can speak to. It’s just that her response was truly heart-warming. It humbled me to see someone who I barely know want the best for me and my hope is to do the same for someone this week. 

Anyway, I just wanted to talk about Mary and all her awesomeness for a second. No doubt Marion chose wisely when she picked her as her maid of honour.

To Marion,

I wish you countless joyful moments and blessings in your marriage.

To Mary,

You touched a heart. May yours be filled with a thousand happy moments in return.

To You,

Get out there and make someone’s day already. 

First there was a girl. Then there was a bench.

 I'm baaaaccckk!!!

I feel like I haven't blogged for weeks although in reality it's only been 3 days, 21 hours and 13 minutes. But who's counting?

Blankets and Wine - STYLE RECAP!

 This post is brought to you proudly by my late discovery of what some of you know as The Obvious. 

My very first Video!!

I'm so excited to have been able to put together my very first video! There was lipstick on my teeth, several interruptions and noisy production assistants but what's a first video without all the little hiccups?

I filmed it from my room and got the fairy lights idea from one of my favourite YouTube gurus (Dulce Candy) and thought it was quite fitting seeing as Christmas is just round the corner! 

Hope you had a lovely Monday people
:)

October was the bomb dot com

If October were a human, I would wrap my arms around her and squeeze. 

Tight.

Hearts, Flowers and a lovely French Restaurant

As dead as a __________ .

Star Jump, Family, Jacaranda, Resigning, Blog & Bob

Friends,

I feel like talking today.

Swahili Fashion Week - Designers PART THREE

Some more designers' pieces from Swahili Fashion Week! 

As usual, I'd love to know which one's your favourite :)

Swahili Fashion Week - Designers PART TWO

Two blog posts in a span of 5 hours. 

I'm breaking records over here.

Swahili Fashion Week: Designers PART ONE

50,000 hits, Business Cards & Swahili Fashion Week Outfit

The reception I've been getting lately regarding my blog has been so overwhelming.

This is going to be a long one people

The Creased Life and Big Square

Hey I met Clark Kent!! Only it wasn't really Clark Kent.

 On Saturday my mum and I had the pleasure of attending a lovely event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. It was held by the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation and was in honour of 31 women who had just finished an intensive five day workshop on Internet marketing. It was lovely seeing these women, some of whom were as old as 60, proudly showcase the websites they'd successfully designed during this short period of time. There's something so empowering about being in a room full of smart, confident and eloquent women who want to see their business through to the next level. It's never easy taking on a challenge as daunting as putting together a website, especially when you've got no prior experience to it, so I was truly in awe of their hard work. I wish all the participants of the workshop the best in their endeavours! 

Want to know what's in my bag?

A couple weeks ago Neema from The Bantu Girl tagged me in a What's in My Bag post. 

I panicked.

Why? Well:

1) Neema's bag seemed like it was put together by a very organised and neat person. You should check out her what's in my bag post here.. You'll see what I mean.

2) I am neither organised nor neat. My bag is often full of receipts, wrappers, doubles ( I'll explain this later), cables and other random crap.. Half the time I'm not sure my hand knows what it's doing as it shoves more and more random stuff into my bag. It's cray. 

So after two weeks of procrastinating, I cleaned out my bag, finally stopped panicking and put together this post. 

Neema seems like such a lovely girl by the way! Make sure you check out her amazing blog.

The Bag:

I'm currently using this beautiful teal bag that I got from The Mall in Westlands for KES1,500 (less than $20). Let's have 1,500 cheers for good deals and great bags people!

Not only is it beautiful but it's also sturdy and the finishes are great. I think the teal and brown colours work gorgeously together and I also love that it's got gold hardware as I tend to wear a lot of gold-toned accessories. 

I believe it's made out of pleather which may or may not be a good thing depending on whether you know your pleather. 

I don't. 

Contents: 

Now you know how I mentioned that my bag usually contains doubles? I don't exactly know when it happened or why but I find myself putting more than one version of a particular item in my bag. Like these sunglasses. And the lip balms. And pens. Wipes. Tissues. Hand sanitizers. Notebooks.. Perhaps it's the thought of running out or losing one and knowing that I'm covered because I have the other that gives me comfort. 

Top Sunglasses - Aldo

Bottom Sunglasses - Random Street Vendor

Wallet - Nine West

Eraser. 

I wish I could give you a good reason as to why I have an eraser in my bag but I've got nothing for ya. I just happened to be in a stationery shop (I love stationery by the way) and picked up a few pens and an eraser which now lives in my bag. Who knows, there might come a day where this eraser saves the world. Or something like that. 

Body Shop Lip Balm in Passion

Smith's Lip Balm in Strawberry

Earphones

Hair brush. 

I've had this for years now and I absolutely love it. Got it from Lipstick at Sarit. 

Fifty Shades of Grey 

{I always have a book in my bag. I'm pretty much done with this one and I'm contemplating getting the sequel.} 

A notebook. 

Tissues

Wet wipes

Beauty Factory Ginkgo Biloba Hand and Nail Cream 

Oh So Heavenly Hand Sanitiser

Bath and Body Works Hand Sanitiser

Clarins Perfume 

Make Up Bag

Tampons/Pads Bag

Phone

Notebook

License

Card Holder

I was talking to a friend and needed her to write something down for me so I quickly reached into my bag, pulled out an old reciept which I hurriedly un-crumpled and passed it to her. She didn't hesitate to point out that Savanis was just round the corner and that they sold nice notebooks. I bought that thing quick fast. 

Purple, Black and Pink pens.

~ The End ~

If you only had to pick three items to have in your handbag, what would they be?? 

I could eat this kinda food for dayyyys

*Disclaimer: I am not a food expert and neither am I claiming to be. I can't even say I'm a food lover per se. I do have taste buds though and this is right here is their take on Friday night's dinner. 

Restaurant: Abyssinia 

Cuisine: Ethiopian 

Service: Decent

Setting: The table cloths could have done with a good wash

Food: AMAZING. 

I would definitely go back and eat my life away. We had injera  (this is the flat bread-like thing), tibs, zigni, and a few other sauces. mmmm... 

Edit to Add: 

Price: It cost roughly KES 3,100 (about $40) for both the meals and drinks which was enough for 5 adults.

Location: Westlands

And for the outfit:

 Sweater - Mr. Price; Top - Meltz; Jeans - Toi Market; Shoes - Bata; Kikoy worn as scarf - can't remember as I've had it for ages

I should embrace kikoys a whole lot more.

Merry Monday Mates!!

Give It Your All

{Tangerine for a Tongue, anyone?} 

Hope you don't mind but today I want to share something a little personal with you. 

A few months ago I bought The Power and soon after The Magic, both books by Rhonda Byrne. I was in a place in life where I was "ok" but needed to be much more than just "ok". I needed to be happy, joyful even, and feel fulfilled. So I went for the self-help book route and wound up with a stack of feel-good literature. I'm not sure if you know what The Power and The Magic are about but Rhonda basically talks about gratitude and love being two of the key philosophies one can live by in life. A lot of times her books are summed up as being about positivity and attracting good things to your life - both of which are true - and I believe this is because of The Secret which was her first book and which became a huge phenomenon. But  in my humble opinion, I feel like the thread that holds together her message lies in the heart of two words: thank you. 

It's hard for me to summarise what I've learnt from reading her books but I'll try. Rhonda talks of gratitude being one the greatest and yet simplest ways to change your life.. and I believe her. I'm a walking testament of how gratitude can open doors, re-kindle relationships, uplift your spirit and change your life for the better. You see, we often assume that unless we get a raise, pass our exams, survive a bad accident etc, then there's nothing really to be grateful about. But there's 1,000,001 reasons to be grateful! Can you scratch that itch on your face? Can you smell the food that you're about to eat? Do you have access to this food easily? Do you have clean water to drink/brush your teeth with? Do you have 10 little toes? 10 fingers? Do you have a voice? Can you, at this moment, lift yourself off that seat/couch/bed and jump? Were you able to laugh at a joke you heard on radio? Did you get to the bakery in time to find they still had your favourite pastry? It's about saying thank you from the bottom of your heart and meaning it. It's about realising that you have so much to be grateful for and thanking God, Allah, Brahma, your mummy, the guy you buy your newspapers from, your boss, radio presenter, the baker... See where I'm going with this? 

Sometimes it gets really hard to keep this attitude going and God knows I struggle most Monday mornings but at the end of it all, I choose to be happy. I choose to realise the many things I'm blessed with and I choose to be grateful for them. I choose to focus on the positive even when the skies get rough. I'm giving it my all. 

So from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU: Dad, Mum, Jeff, Amani, Mondy, Aisha, Cecilia, Makena, Mary, HollyMay, Mez, Miss D, Blanche-Rue, Harlem Green, Sharleena, Rhiannon, Destiny, Angie, ABOP, Joyce, Anita, Neema, Ahlam, Paula, Joanzy, Kaloki, Hellen, Aneicy, Mwende, Marion, Rhoda, Tony, Gathoni, Thabiso, Babra, Lasophia, Katherine, Grant, Lucija, Remy, Alicia, Clara, T, Amanda, Laura, Nik, Marella, Krystin, Carmen, Linda, V., Anca, Alejandro, Joanna, ATW, Jelisaveta, The Girl at First Avenue, Kylee, Katarzyna, Heidi, Liz, Patience, Chi-Chi, Maphi, Psychelin, Fabrizia, Mrs. B., Christy, Aida, Adele, Funmilayo, Jasmine, Leney, Brandon, Amber, Buse, Jessica, Leslie, Lucie, Bri, Antashe, Alda, Sarah, Jillian, Christine, Juli, Adelinne, Chic Etoile, Melina, Lameoderocks, Nty n J, Ahn, Monica, Lacquer Factor, Mrs. G., Auste, Ashesela, Catherine, Sophie, Romi, Taylor, Faith, Jennifer, Ylenia, Sabo, Lilz, Iona-Carmen, Missy, His Little Lady, Silvia, Babybluez, Feenkus, Joyce Posas, Paolira, Will, Michelle, Bri, Katherine, Style and Beautie, Tegan, Silhouette, Keshi, Yolandaas, Alice, Sophie, Allison, Aida, Jackie, WaNganga, Neema, Brasilian_Babe, Maria,  Ekas, ElusiveBabe, Barbylicious, Wacherah, Buse, Plurielle, Caroline, Lolita, Fiona, Rochelle, Irene, Abby, Joanne, @Wairauka, @SonnieRox, @StephKammy, @WangShe, @MikeNjoro, @RasKimzy, @Edcigovi, @Nguhi M, @IceIce baby, @rare_herbs, @tesskeshi, Aurea, David, Imelda, Ian, Janet, Beverly, Ndindi, Gatere, Ed, Jacinta, Adeleide, Sheila, Maxi, Julianne, Rosalia, Stephanie, Steven, Kobi, Njeri, James, Lyzz, Kimani, Ng'endo, Bella, Miring'u, Alice, Njoki, Nyokabi, Lisa, Rosem-marie, June-Claire, Naweed, Dianna, Shar Lynn, Adah, Caroline, Marion Sidi, Jolie, Lucy, Kimberly, Namboka, Marjorie, Renee, Susan, Jandy, Kui, Mfalme, Faith, Ivy, Alaka, Kiki, Kate, Muriithi, Affa, Abba, Mercy, Pru, Mwireyia and all those who prefer to remain anonymous.

Thank you so much for your kind words, support, comments, suggestions, emails, likes, re-tweets, shares and time!! I appreciate it very much.

Now for the casual outfit:

White Vest - Meltz; Chambray - Forever New; Skirt - Market in Mombasa; Shoes - Bata; Crossbody bag - Kariokor Market; Watch - dad's old watch; Cuff - Gift; Maasai Necklace - Olorgesaile; Studs - Mr. Price.

Happy Hump Day friends!

Give it your all

:)

Nina in all her Cuteness

Meet Nina, the kid who I am absolutely and unapologetically obsessed with.

My brother put it best when he asked “How is it that she’s stayed cute for this long?” I myself don’t know the answer to this but I think it has to do with the fact that under all that cuteness lies a diva that would give Kimora Lee a run for her money. You’d think that after countless visits, diaper changes, sleepovers etc that she’d finally love and accept me but nooo... Not this cutie. She makes climbing Mt. Everest look like a walk in the park.

Now, because of her cute but stubborn self, I tend to get a little nervous whenever I’m around her. Wanna know how we get from this to THIS? 

Here’s the step by step breakdown.

Step 1: When you spot her across the field from you, yell with all you’ve got: “NINA RUN INTO MY ARMS SO I CAN PROTECT YOU FROM *ISEMBELE!!!”

Step 2: Stay strong. Just because she looks right at you then turns and walks the other away doesn’t mean you should give up. Remember, Mt. Everest.

Step 3: Think quick. Promise to let her play with your camera! That should do it.. In moments like this, there’s no room for logical negotiations.

Step 4: Once you’ve finally coaxed her into taking a picture with you, unleash the eager beaver inside you and try to make her laugh so that you can get that Kodak moment. I would suggest pretending to bite at her chubby, oh so delicious cheeks.

Step 5: Watch, in horror, as your plan goes haywire. Apparently the whole pretend cheek-biting thing doesn’t quite kick it with her.

Step 6: Kodak Moment.

 Stay tuned for more episodes of “How to Get Nina to love you”

Nina, I love you more than your diva self will ever know!!

*Isembele - a mystical creature that I’ll have tell you more about later. 

p.s.: I won tickets to watch Total Recall at the IMAX cinemas this weekend!!! 

Thank you Easy FM! 

Y'all are the bombdiggity.