Anticipate! HWMH Is Coming!

As my birthday draws near, I find myself reflecting on life — the laughs, the love and the memories. 

#HWMH Is Coming Soon

I am a memory keeper. 

I have always been a memory keeper. I record real stories through pictures and words and I LOVE it! I love it so much that it has become a part of my job.

We all love to reminisce. That’s part of life. And as long as we keep moving forward, we realize how important it is to look back with laughter and happiness at the great blessings in our lives.

STYLE: The First Tip For Couples Matching Outfits Together

Happy Style-Sunday! What's popping? I have got a headache. It's either as a result of my headwrap or my new weaves being too tight. Phew. Anyways, I will be fine.

Let's talk about matching outfits. Do you think couples that dress together stay together?

Matching Outfits With Your Spouse

I can't say whether it is more of a natural phenomenon than a conscious effort to start dressing in a matching and harmonious fashion when you get married.

However, what I can say is you may intuitively or subconsciously want to match your spouses style so that you can mirror them better and sync with them; Adding to the fact that couples that stylishly match outfit look very cute together. Thanks to its focus on complementary and cohesive aesthetics. After all, how do we expect to look well-dressed if our outfits are clashing?

8 Unusual Tips For The Perfect Honeymoon

The Monday following our Wedding, my husband and I left Lagos, Nigeria (the bubbly city where we live) to celebrate our wedded bliss. It was the trip of a lifetime — the first long, exotic trip we'd ever taken alone together.

With great pleasure I am going to give you insider tips for planning a great honeymoon vacation without going in debt.

Perfect Honeymoon Tips

You just got married! Now what? Go on your most-deserved post wedding vacation. The honeymoon will allow you some much needed time to rest, recoup and process what just happened.

Don’t conform to what you think a honeymoon should be – take time to really consider what makes you happy and what you really want to see or do while away. Just because somebody else’s honeymoon was perfect for them, doesn’t mean it will be perfect for you. Go gently.

These are my top seven tips to guide you on discovering what's perfect for you:

#1

Be Specific About What You Want

Talk with your beloved about what your vision is for the honeymoon, and ask your beloved to share theirs. What are your top three priorities? Spa, gym and sports? Or cultural sights and traditional cuisine? Or tour sites and travel rides? Beaches and waterfalls? Two of you should make a list —and highlight the similarities. Your top choices should be reflected in the destination you choose.

Even though I had a memorable wedding ceremony, I wanted a more memorable honeymoon. M-E-M-O-R-A-B-L-E was our keyword, so we went all out for that.

STYLE: A Mismatch Ankara Challenge

Long time no style post. Since the last one, I've not had a good reason to show off an outfit. Partly because I have been wearing the same set of clothes; as my style goal for the year was "Wear What You Already Have". Thanks to a colleague who challenged me by saying, "Amaka, you claim you like Ankara. Can you wear Ankara from head to toe?"

Mix and Match Challenge

And to think that I was struggling to make this outfit look great makes it very rewarding and joyous. What trips me most is that none of the Ankara fabric is the same. The earrings, skirt, shoes and bags have different prints. I simply played around with green and orange platelets. What I think I normally wouldn’t do.

So here is the trick: If you’re wearing different printed pieces, keep some form of continuity going on by choosing prints in the same sort of colour scheme. Making sure they complement each other will help your outfit look more put together. I discovered that a head to toe printed look can have the potential to be quite busy and overwhelming. So you have to break up a head to toe printed look with something basic like a plain white top, a plain black top, or any plain top or a plan belt.

Dear Diary, I'm One Month Married!

Life has changed. Significantly changed. I wanted to settle into newlywed life and find a balance between enjoying every minute with Kachi and working a 9-5 before heading back to the blog. But happily for you, he loves when I write and is my biggest encourager. So here I am writing how I feel about being married for a month.

One Month In

Have you ever stopped to think just how much can happen in one week, one month. . . one year?

Sometimes it still doesn’t feel real. I’m a wife. I have a husband. Just how?

By this time last year, I was as single as a slice of bread, still living in my parent's house, copywriting full-time and keeping fairly busy. Now just a year later, I have been married for one month, marveling at all the many (and wonderful) changes that took place in just one year. A courtship, an engagement, a wedding, and now. . . I’m a happy wife. Wow.

Can You Choose What To Forget?

For a very long time, remembering whatever we choose has been almost effortlessly done so well. However, forgetting whatever we choose seems almost impossible.

This year, I am making a decision have made a decision to INTENTIONALLY forget what should be forgotten.

Choose To Forget

Every day. In each moment. Life is constantly giving us opportunities to make choices as to what we remember. Each day holds many different moments; some painful, joyful, confusing, happy, peaceful, angry and loving. It is up to us as to which ones we remember.

Our memories can't hold all these moments, so the ones we choose to remember are important, for we will learn and grow from them. It is a little like selecting the best picture from a stack of proofs.

Easy but not very simple.

Or, is it just me? Do you tend to also have clearer memories of the moments you really really want to forget?

Life After "Honeymoon"

We have just had the most beautiful honeymoon vacation ever. As we walked into the living room, reality hit me. I cried. And cried some more. This is a house. Not a home yet. How do I make it a home? When will I start feeling at home here? Suddenly, I started to miss my mum, my dad and my two brothers.

I cried. . .

After Honeymoon

Maybe post-wedding blues are totally normal. Maybe this feeling is expected. After all the excitement of the wedding and honeymoon, it’s natural to feel a dip in mood.

I couldn't explain my flowing tears that night. I was just. . . down. Series of thoughts ran through my mind;

how can I stay excited in this marriage?

how can I continue to have adventures with my husband?

how can I be a great wife?

how do I start building a home?

how.  . .???

just how???

November To Remember (2018)

I kept a daily record of moods and events which I found memorable in November 2017. So I thought to myself, why not do it again? It's been a thrilling experience!

November 2018

I am a big fan of keeping diaries. Journaling daily is the most creative and powerful keystone habit you can acquire. When done correctly, you will show up better in every area of your life. Every area!

When you start writing, new horizons of thought open in the palace of your mind. =You’ll even need to put your pen down and take a few breaths. You’ll be captivated not only by the amazing things in your life, but by the awe and wonders of life in general.

My heart is so filled with thanksgiving for November 2018.

DIARY: What It Feels Like To Be Engaged

I know what it felt like to hear about my closest friends getting engaged, it is a great feeling! However, emotionally, there is no dress rehearsals for that feeling when it's your turn. Mehn. 

The Feeling Of Being Engaged

In few minutes, I'll be swearing an oath before the court of law to stick with this man for the rest of my life. All focus on us now, this is it, together, forever, starting right this second. Oh my gosh. It's happening for realllll.

I'm engaged. As in, I'm about to be married. I mean, I'm getting marrieeeeed.

Hmmm. . .

I am here. Not flying, not falling. I'm in somewhat an awkward suspension, a dangling in space. I'm somewhere between "understanding marriage" and "no longer waiting for a ring."

What Are The 7 Wonders Of Life According To You?

Hi, hi! It's been a minute. Working a 9-5 job as well as planning a wedding (in fact three weddings. A court wedding, a traditional wedding and a church wedding. Phew!) have been taking the biggest chunk of every twenty-four hours I get. Happy I can squeeze out time to write a post here. May we never lose our wonder in the passage of time. Amen.

The Seven Wonders Of Life

You have heard a lot about the seven wonders of the world, and may have even visited few or all of them. But have you ever given a thought about the 7 Wonders Of Your Personal Life?

I mean, have you?

Life in itself is a wonder. Life is full of wonder. But sometimes we get carried away by the busyness of our life and miss out on the things that make life wonderful for what it is. I've continued asking people the same basic question. How do you stay fully present, fully-engaged, fully-alive? I've also asked my private diary like a beggar asking for scraps of wisdom , "how do I not lose myself in all of these?" And the answer is astounding:

"never lose your childlike sense of wonder." (Thanks to Bethel Music. Yo!)

So, what is wonder? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, wonder is a feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar. Oh, I love this definition. Wonder gives depth to our passion. Wonder reignites our faith. Wonder asks us to live with eyes wide open to God. Wonder invites us out of the shallows and into hallows of the divine.

The wonders about life are relative. Because we all look at the world around us differently, so what strike wondrous to you is unique to you.

I'll share a few wonders about my life (perhaps I should say as at today, they could change, right?) while you share yours in the comment box: