High Waist sorta Day

This here is the story of how these came to be my favourite jeans. 

High-waisted jeans - second hand market; Top - Meltz; Cardigan - Mr. Price; Flats - Mr. Price; Necklace - gift

A couple weeks ago I decided to take my health a little more seriously by introducing some form of exercise. I've always assumed that since I've always been pretty small and never had a problem with my weight that I don't need to work out but you and I both know that's not how it works. Working out should be about maintaining a healthy regime and not just losing weight. So I put on my running shoes and took a 20minute walk - let's not fool ourselves here people, I wasn't going to go sprinting for my first time out in the exercise jungle. I kept it up a few times and probably went out for a total of 4 walks, each one longer and quicker than the last. And then that's when it happened, within 10 days my jeans weren't fitting around my hips and bum. And so just like that I stopped walking but decided to keep going with my pilates. The only pair of jeans that stayed true to their fit were the ones above thus earning the coveted title of 'best jeans ever' as rated by my thighs and bum. Hands down.

Aren't a good pair of jeans the best thing ever???

Sometimes when I close my eyes I can't see

There's nothing more liberating than slipping out of your ever so tight, high-waisted jeans and slipping into a bati which I believe is similar to, if not the same as, the direh. I first came across a bati at my friend's house as her mum was wearing one and I couldn't get over the pretty prints. I'm not sure if it's a traditional Somali or Arabian dress so I won't exactly comment on that, but I do know that it's a helluva lot more comfortable than these bandage dresses and tighter than tight jeans that designers are churning out. That being said, the first few times I wore this dress I almost choked myself to death and this I kid you not. Whoever designed them gave a small allowance for the neck area and I can't tell you many times I'd sit down only to have my air circulation abruptly cut off by the front part of the dress. But fear not, I have come to master the art of avoiding 'death by bati'.

I'm not sure if this is true for all batis but the ones I usually get come in a boxy shape and are ever so long therefore making it free-size. You can get them in all sorts of colours and prints too which is a plus. I'll rarely leave the house in a bati as it doesn't do much for my figure but whenever I do, I'll slip on a belt and throw on some jewellery to make it look a little more decent.

What do you put on when you want to get comfy around the house? Do you ever leave the house in it or is it a no-way-ho-zay sorta situation?

Make Room for Me

 Blazer - second hand market; Top - Meltz; Jeans - Edgars; Belt - second hand market; Necklace - Mr. Price; Fuchsia flats (not shown) - Mr. Price. 

Make room for me to lead and follow you beyond this rage of poetry.  ~ Maya Angelou

The best part of my day was probably the moment captured above - the sun was out and there was good reason to believe that it would stay out. That didn't last too long though.

Even though yesterday was a public holiday I still can't wait for the weekend. I've been able to get my hands on a whole lot of movies/series and I'm ready to indulge in some major couch potato-ing. Is anyone else as excited to watch the Avengers as I am?! I believe it comes out in a couple days! Expectations are higher than a kite.

I haven't yet been able to comfortably wear bright shades of lipstick but that doesn't stop me from buying them. Perhaps if I found the perfect bright lip colour.. Any recommendations?

When all you can do is take pictures

Road trip. Family. Sunday. Silly pictures. Self portraits. Clouds. Ice cream. Fun, and lots of it too.
That's about it in a nutshell.

Anyone out there who wears glasses and often has to make that awkward decision between seeing clearly or getting some shade from the sun? 

I love how they'll stop licking away and patiently wait for me to take a picture of their melting ice cream cones. Sweethearts.

Half Moon - B&W

Next on the plate for my nail art roll was the half moon. So far, this is my favourite especially since it's also one of the easiest I've tried. Good thing about this is that the materials you need are easy to find and you don't have to use any specific nail polish colours for it to work. Just two contrasting ones are good enough and the end result will be striking, which is what we're aiming for. I've also seen some bloggers use only one colour leaving the part around the cuticle bare and it still looked pretty good. So really, whatever tickles your fancy. And in case you're wondering, I've had these nails for about 3 days hence the chipping and scratches!

I got these little stickers from Nakumatt and they couldn't have cost more than Shs100. I think they're about 200 of them, maybe more, so you're assured to be able to try as many half moon looks as you could possibly wish for. If you're interested:

Step 1: Put a base coat

Step 2: Paint your nails with your desired base colour - this is the one that will appear in the shape of the half moon. I went for white and put two coats as the first one came off really streaky. 

Step 3: After waiting for your nails to dry, place these little stickers over the cuticle area to create the half moon shape. Make sure you press the sides down tight enough so the second colour doesn't seep through.

Step 4: Apply the top colour of your choice. I went with black and only used one coat.

Step 5: After waiting a couple minutes, gently remove the little sticker and voila, your done! You can also put a top coat for extra shine if desired.

This nail art, as like any other, is bound to get messy so fear not if it's not as perfect as you expected. I can assure you, people will still be impressed by your work!

{ Phone pic taken soon after application}

It's Labour today which means it's a public holiday! I'm spending my day in bed doing a little blogging, watching Revenge (how cool is this show?) and eating like there's no tomorrow. Happy Labour day to all my Kenyan readers and a beautiful Tuesday to all!

p.s.: So excited because I've just realised that this is my 100th post! 100 and counting.

The Elephant Orphanage

I spent my Saturday morning playing with baby elephants and I can assure you, it was as fun as it sounds!! Went to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage which is about 10mins away from Bomas of Kenya. I'd originally intended to go with the whole family to see the elephants but surprise surprise, everyone but my trusty sister was busy. You can always count on Amani!

All I knew before going to this place is that the elephants are only brought out between 11am and 12noon. Obviously punctuality was key and so I decided that I'd leave the house by at least 10:15. But of course that didn't happen and we only left at 10:35, got caught in traffic, lost our way for at least 10mins and stopped to take pictures of some random baboons that we run into. We only ended up getting there at 11:35!

How cute is the elephant above trying to give itself a foot bath? 

I'd been told that there wasn't an entry fee so all I had in my wallet was Shs1,000. But guess what people, there was an entry fee. Shs500 per person which makes a total of Shs1,000 for Amani and I. Luck cannot even begin to describe this situation.

The elephants were ADORABLE! All there was between us and the little guys {that really aren't so little} was a rope that was tethered to poles to form a small square. The elephants usually stay in the forest and are brought out to interact with the visitors for that one hour every day. 

All the elephants shown here are actually orphans. Their stories are beyond sad as most of them involve ruthless poachers (boy have I come to hate those bastards) that killed their parents and sometimes even tried to hurt these babies. It's really heartbreaking to think of what they've had to go through. 

You can read more about The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust from their website. They really do a good job taking care of these orphans and making sure that they are rehabilitated to the best of their ability. In fact, if you want, you can foster an elephant! Read more about it here.

That's my hand on little Elly! Yup, I named him.

I kept having to push Amani to get closer to the elephants as she was pretty scared. They really aren't dangerous but one of their caretakers did warn that they sometimes kick if they feel threatened. That didn't help my case one bit cos after hearing that Amani kept a one meter distance from the elephants at all times.

Someone needs some anti-wrinkle cream, don't you think? Possibly a truck-load. Or 10. 

That's meeee touching Elly! I figure if I name them all Elly there's a lower chance of me forgetting who's who. I really wish I could keep one, they truly are amazing creatures and I may be making this up but they seem to have such sweet and pure hearts. Like all they wanna do is splash water on each other and play in the mud! Cute beings.

This is the other Elly who decided to play with the guys who were across from me. He just went down and started rolling and there wasn't even any mud! Cut little Elly just fooling around.

After that assigned one hour, the caretakers started walking back into the forest and the baby elephants diligently followed. You can't see it but there are about 3 men walking ahead of this herd. It was amazing cos they didn't even have to round the elephants up, they just started walking and the elephants all followed.

Like I said, if you want to foster an elephant you can do so here!!

This is Maxwell, a rhino. On our way out we passed by him and I couldn't help but wonder why he was in this cage and not out in the wild. Turns out he's blind and so the orphanage took him in to protect him from wild animals and possible poachers. I felt so sorry for him cos all he did was lie there. I can't even begin to imagine how vulnerable he must have been out in the wild if he couldn't even see. At least he's receiving good care at the shelter. You can read more about Maxwell and his story here.

Hope you liked the pictures! They can only say so much however so make sure you go there yourself if you haven't already. I promise you, it's worth your time! I can't wait to go back again. This time, I'll be there at 11am sharp. Who knows, maybe I'll even get to feed the baby elephants their milk in their giant milk bottles..

Black, White and Heart All Over

Decided to take part once again in Nany's Klozet Challenge and this time the challenge was to wear Black and White. I aim to take part in each and every challenge she puts up from now on!

Top - had it for years, Skirt - Mr. Price, Tights - Woolworths; Boots - Lu Yi Lin, Earrings - jewellery cart at Westgate mall

Hope you have a great start to your week!