OF SURPRISES AND SKIRTS

Howdy Y'all! I sure am having a mighty good day so I thought I'd share with you just why that is. (All said in a thick Southern accent...LOL)







This fine FedEx man comes in to my office with this huge box and I'm wondering where in the hell it came from. He says to me, "I know you know who this came from." I say, "I have no idea!" Then a couple of my colleagues come into my office and we proceed to open the box and I discover 2 DOZEN gorgeous fresh pink, yellow, orange and red roses!!!! It even came with a vase and instructions on how to cut the flowers and care for them....cos believe me, I wouldn't have known what to do with them cos I've never really gotten a bunch of flowers before! I've gotten the odd red rose here or there but never anything like this. I arranged them myself and everything! Not bad for a first try...professional florists, eat your heart out! LOL. Now, as for who they came from....I'm afraid I'll have to keep that to myself....LOL. But to that person....THANK YOU VERY MUCH. You made my week! Grand gestures are not always necessary but hell, sometimes they're just the thing!

Moving on.....here are pictures that I promised of the P&R skirt that Low gifted me with for my birthday. I haven't worn the other one yet but when I do, I will post pics.







And finally, on September 20th, in the year of our Lord 19.., the world was undoubtedly blessed by the birth of a baby girl. She would come to be a beautiful, inspirational, talented woman who is contributing to the betterment of Nigeria and the World. I am proud to call her a friend and confidante.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY ICY!!!! Love You so much girl, and thank you for the opportunity you're giving me - I appreciate it. Your call the other day was also a very nice surprise!

“Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us.” - Boris Pasternak

UNA PEOPLE - COME SUPPORT NAIJA MUSIC AND INDEPENDENCE

NIGERIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY CONCERT 2006- A TIWAWORKS PRODUCTION

Hey Y'all, I hope the week is going well for you. This post is a call to all the Naija folks in ATL and beyond to come out to support Tiwaworks, ElDee, Naira,and Keno.....four young Nigerians doing it big in the Entertainment industry in Atlanta and beyond as well as celebrate Nigerian Independence on Saturday September 30th.

It'll be an opportunity to have fun, mix and mingle with fine Naija men and women and check out performances by these great artists. BellaNaija and Icy are two bloggers who constantly feature Naija music on their pages and this event will be a fantastic opportunity to hear these very different artists put on live shows. In fact, it's ElDee's Official Album Release Party so you'll get to see him perform tracks off the new album released Sept 9, called Return of the King and possibly some old favorites.

It's also a Tiwaworks Production, so you'll be getting a classy event, star DJ's, great music, and a great atmosphere - and you never know who might show up! For those of you not familiar with Tiwaworks, please check out the website, and find out why he was nominated in 2 categories and beat out DejaVu and We3Ent as the winner of the "who is who in Atlanta" Award at the 2006 Nigerian Entertainment Awards. Tiwaworks is another great Naija talent who has gotten a firm grip on and captured the ENTIRE Entertainment scene in ATL. While he puts on events for the masses, it is obviously important to him to do something special for the people closest to his heart...the Naija people. So come out and support someone representing for Nigeria in an upscale, classy way. Check out pictures of his events here, especially the very first "THE UNION" party at the 4th of July Atlanta Reunion. It was crazy!!!!!

Not to be trite either, it'll also be a chance to reflect on where Nigeria has been and is going as we watch the talent that Nigeria has produced and will continue to produce. Let's not forget why we're having the party in the first place, so for more on celebrating talent and Nigerian Independence, check this out.

For more information, please contact Tiwaworks Staff at 770 361 7764. For a VIP Table, email vip@tiwaworks.com.

So friends, tell your friends, and have them tell their friends where the party is gonna be on September 30th, 2006. We shall usher in Independence Day 2006 and LOOK ONWARD AND UPWARD together for Nigeria. We will see you there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE

ELDEE, NAIRA AND KENO'S AUTOGRAPHED CDs FOR SALE AT THE EVENT. ALL 3 OF THESE HOT CDS FOR ONLY $20*A ONE TIME SPECIAL PACKAGE DEAL. THEY CAN ONLY BE PURCHASED AT MOYA: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2006

* $10 for individual cds.

"Independence is self-government of a nation, country, or state by its residents and population, generally exercising sovereignty." - from Wikipedia

THE YOUNG SHALL GROW

Hey All! After my last post which was kind of a depressing song, how about a diferent beat?

Thanks so much for the show of love and support. I appreciate it! I've only been in the blog world for a short time and I feel like a part of the Naija blog family. It's a wonderful thing I tell you and so, I got thinking. And when I think, my imagination tends to begin to run away with me a little bit. Before I let you in on my insane thought process, let me first say this - I've gotten obsessed with reading different people's blogs everyday. Like many of you, there are some I must hit without fail. And God forbid if that one person doesn't post, I feel like my day is not complete. Many of us have posted lists of blogs we read, and here are some of mine. This is by no means an exhaustive list o.

LOS HOMBRES

Objectively Emotional Olawunmi
Diligent Delot
Affable Ababoy
Diverting DonChiChi
Obviously Passionate Obi
Advocate Ariztos
Wistful Wale
Nimble Naijabloke
Mentor Miguel

LAS CHICAS

Mi Hermanita Sola Minx
Back Up Bent
Truly Taurean
On track Onada
Boldly Biodun
Luscious Low
Incomparable Icy
Blessed Buki
Passionate Princesa
Bella Bella
Darling Diamond
Brilliant Belle


Please forgive my attempt at alliteration guys!!!! So back to my thinking ways. Like I said earlier, I let my imagination run away with me for a time and found myself thinking that the way we support each other, have great discussions about every topic under the sun, share ideas, and LISTEN to each other in the blogworld, combined with the very obvious talent that we all have in something or the other....WE ARE THE ONES THAT CAN MAKE NIGERIA BETTER. So much for me losing my optimism, huh? I imagined we all met and came up with this great master plan to stealthily attack the problems (and problem people) in Nigeria, not through the most obvious and corrupt political avenues but in ways that they wouldn't even see us coming. I imagined us chipping away at the problems and solving them....**using fashion(Icy, Low and Bella), photography(Wale and TaureanMinx), mentoring/speaking(Miguel, Buki, Delot and Onada), humor(Naijabloke and DonChiChi), writing(most, if not all, of us), journalism(Ms Minx, Wale), music(Ababoy,Obi), justice(Olawunmi), education(Diamond, Belle, Zaiprincesa and myself)....sneaking up on those people who think politics is the only way a country can be positively changed and pulling the rug right out from under them. Naive maybe, but just a thought. To pull this thought back to the title of this post, I just think it's so great that we're all still quite young (YES, YOU ARE!) but we are growing and recognize that there are things bigger than ourselves that we need to fight for and represent. That is evident in all the blogs I mentioned above and in the way we respond to each others daily musings. Like I said though, just a thought but WHAT IF.....?

No problem is insurmountable. With a little courage, teamwork and determination a person can overcome anything. - Anonymous

**Abeg make una no vex if you think sey I put you for the wrong category o. I just dey think o. LOL.
**I hope I didn't leave anyone off the list either. Let me know if I did

Thank you, Wale....:)

So someone, namely Wale, has requested a new post and so I will write one today but please forgive me if it comes out all disjointed and convoluted. I've wanted to write all week but didn't really know what to say because I'm going through a whole bunch of stuff right now and am not sure how to articulate my feelings.

You know how last Saturday was my birthday and it was supposed to be this big thing? Then I cancelled the big thing and it was supposed to be a low-key thing? Well after I wrote that post, I found out that our home in Naija had been robbed. THE DAY BEFORE MY BDAY, 4 gunmen forced their into our home and held up my parents and little brother and walked out with money, jewelry, laptops, phones, and basically anything else that seemed remotely valuable. Thankfully they did not hurt anyone badly....the worst they did was hit my 16 year old brother in the mouth to make sure the 6ft 3 inch boy wouldn't get any ideas about acting up. Also thankfully, my sister Ms. Minx, was not home otherwise it may have been a lot worse.

Needless to say, my low-key birthday celebration went out the window. I did not want to do anything but stay in bed all day. I received a lot of birthday phonecalls which turned into sympathetic phonecalls, with friends and family, even my parents, encouraging me to at least get up out of bed to do SOMETHING to acknowledge that I had lived another year and was healthy and so on. So, I did. I went to dinner with a close friend and just talked and hung out. But even then, and up till now, as much as I know in my head that my parents are okay, and those things that were stolen were just material, and I should thank God for their lives (which I have done), I cannot help but be worried, and concerned. I have talked to my family everyday and they have assured me that things are getting back to normal and I should stop worrying. But I can't. The smile is gone from my eyes.

I hate that people were able to just walk into our home and take money that my parents work SO hard for. Things that were bought and paid for with blood, sweat and tears, they just took. I hate that these people held my family at gunpoint and scared and threatened them IN OUR OWN HOME. I hate that they touched my mother because they took her wedding rings and other jewelry from her body. I hate that they touched my baby brother and hit his beautiful 16 year old face. I hate that they pushed and shoved my frail father, who could do little to protect his family because he had a gun pointed at his face. I hate that these people have no sense of right and wrong and think it is ok to just take things that do not belong to them while looking boldly in the faces of their victims. I hate that Nigeria is a country in which help is not readily available to the people that need it. I hate that my father had to go out of the house after such an ordeal, get into his car and go to the police station to call the police, who even now will not help them even try to look for these thieves until they get some money. I hate that this happened at all. Yes, they are alive and well. Yes, it could have been a lot worse. Yet and still, why did it have to happen to us? Why does it have to happen to anyone?

Never will I say that the actions of these armed robbers are ok. But the fact that these men felt no fear in openly showing their faces while robbing us speaks to a larger problem. Nigeria lacks a system that works to help her people. You can't just pick up the phone and dial our equivalent of 911. You can't go to the local police station and pick out faces from a database of offenders. You can't expect a reasonable amount of help from the Police without greasing their palms. You can't expect that your belongings will be returned to you. You can't expect to file an insurance claim and get any money back to possibly recoup your belongings. Tax-Paying, Law-Abiding citizens have NO PROTECTION in their own homes and for their own belongings.

When I meet people here in the States who refuse to go back to Nigeria even when they're slaving away here, I question why. Nigeria is home and home is where the heart is, right? It is when things like this happen that I understand why and start to lose hope in home. As good as life can be in Nigeria for those who have, the have-nots are forced to resort to hustling, stealing and killing to make ends meet and threaten the lives of those who have. So, in the end who wins?

I'm sorry this is such a long post but I had to get it out because I am concerned. And what makes it even worse for me is that my usual optimistic outlook is being slowly snuffed out....and I don't want that. With all of my being, I do not want that.

To everyone who sent me a birthday wish, I thank you. And Wale, you didn't know it, but I needed to write this - so thank you for the encouragement. Till next time y'all....be blessed. And as you pray please pray for Nigeria because by doing so, you are praying for us all.

To pray is to pay attention to something or someone other than oneself. Whenever a man so concentrates his attention -- on a landscape, a poem, a geometrical problem, an idol, or the True God -- that he completely forgets his own ego and desires, he is praying. - W.H. Auden

YETTY TAGGED ME....HERE IT IS

A is for Ambitious...cos I am. I'm also Analytical, Astute and Ambidextrous.

B is for Blessed....my year has been a wonderfully blessed one. I'm also Blooming, Beautiful(especially on the inside) and I can be a Baby sometimes too.

C is for Classy...I try to always do everything with a lil bit of class. I'm also Cuddly, and a good Cook.

D is for Determined...to make it. I have to! I'm also Dependable, always Dignified and usually the Designated Driver cos I don't really drink.

E is for Emotional...yes, I am. I'm also Elegant, Educated and Entrepreneurial.

F is for Forgiving...not forgetting though. I'm also Friendly, Faithful and it took me a while to get there but I'm now a lil bit of a Fashionista.

G is for God-fearing. I also like to think I'm a Good person, and I like to act Grown too.

H is for Huggable...I love to get and give hugs. I'm also always Hopeful, mostly Happy and I can be a Hottie...LOL.

I is for Intelligent...I've earned it. I'm also Idealistic, Intense and Independent (in a good way).

J is for Jovial...most of the time. I also have Journalistic tendencies.

K is for Kind...I work hard to be. I'm also very Kissable...just ask him! LOL.

L is for Loving...I love to love people....friends, family, significant other. I'm also very Loyal, Likeable and a bit of a Liberal.

M is for Multi-lingual...I speak English(duh), Yoruba, Spanish, German and have working knowledge of a few others. I'm also Mature, a Momma's girl, and Model-Tall.

N is for Nigerian...and proud of it! I also strive to be Non-Judgemental, and I can be a little Naive sometimes.

O is for Optimistic...I can't hope otherwise. I'm also an Observer of people and my environment.

P is for Pleasant...especially when I meet new people. I'm a quiet Party-girl, and can be a little bit of a Princess sometimes.

Q is for Quiet...especially when I'm in new surroundings or around new people. I'm also a Questant...I want answers.

R is for Romantic....with every ounce of my being. I'm also Respectful and very Reliable.

S is for Substantive...I am real. I am also very Spiritual, Shy, Supportive, Sexy, a Singer and a Shoeholic...don't mess with my shoes...LOL.

T is for Tall...I'm 5ft 9.5 inches. I'm also Trustworthy, and can be a little bit of a Trend follower.

U is for Undramatic....I don't like the drama, and I don't do the drama. I am also Unduplicated...one of a kind, baby.

V is for Virgo....to a T. I'm also a Voracious reader, and can be Vivacious if I'm in the right place.

W is for Worrier...I'm working on it though. I'm also a Writer (just for me), and can be very Wise.

X is for X-Chromosome....obviously!!!!

Y is for Yummy...so I have been told...LOL. My nickname is Yoyo (thanks Mom) and I'm Young.

Z is for Zaftig...look it up!

And that's it.......I tag MsMinx!

IT'S GONNA BE A LONG ONE

Hey Y'all. I hope you've had a fabulous week! I haven't posted in a while so it's gonna be a long one. In fact, I might do two posts today just cos I have a lot to talk about.

I've had hard week but I'm glad to say that it's almost over, and I have made it through! And to top it off, my birthday is tomorrow. I cancelled my big celebration and have decided to be low-key instead....maybe next year I'll do a big one. I am definitely grateful that another year has come and gone and I'm healthy, and life is good, and really God has been good to me....so much that I wonder what I've done to deserve it. This year has been one of numerous miracles and goodness in my life and I tell Him all the time that I don't deserve it but I'm so glad and thankful that He thinks I do!!!!

WEEKEND UPDATE.........
I spent a fabulous Labor Day weekend with Low and Yuwa and met so many cool people....I was truly overwhelmed by the goodness and welcoming nature of all the people I met. I finally met someone I'd been wanting to meet for a long time as well and it was good to get that out of the way, so to speak. What is life without new experiences, and self-discovery? Nothing I tell you! And so I'm glad I lived this past weekend. Check out the pics below.



ROCKING PERIDOT AND RUBY
Speaking of Low, many of you know she is one half of the up and coming fashion line called Peridot and Ruby. She blessed me with one of the signature P&R skirts for my birthday and my wonderfully fabulous sister, MsMinx also commissioned a one of a kind skirt by P&R for me as another birthday gift. Everyone was coveting my skirts, especially the one of a kind one....so Low, please, let it remain one of a kind, ok? LOL. Needless to say, I'll be rocking them this weekend. Pics of them to come later.


MS NIGERIA IN AMERICA PAGEANT UPDATE
Re my earlier post From Pudgy to Pageants, I promised to put up pics of my girl Chi-Chi when I got them. Well, I'll do you one better. How about you head to the official website and check out all the girls. Chi-Chi represented Adamawa State. Let me know what you think of Chi-Chi, as well as all the girls, especially the winner.

MUSIC I'M LOVING
I just have to say that I'm loving Ms. B's album, B-Day. Why are folks dissing my girl? Y'all better stop now ok? LOL. My fave tracks are Irreplaceable, Freakum Dress, Upgrade you and Get Me Bodied. Here's a lil sampler of some of the songs.



I am also loving Lupe Fiasco and his new track, I Gotcha. Cute looking short boy too. LOL. I hear he's Nigerian. Any truth?



John Legend is BACK!!!! Adaure featured Save Room earlier this week. I just want to also say that I love the track and can't wait for his new album to drop.



Alright y'all. My next post will be in response to Yetty's tag. I hope you guys have a wonderfully blessed weekend. Try something new this weekend and come by and tell me about it. Or if you learn something new about yourself, I wanna know too. Peace Y'all.

"Life is our teacher. Life communicates with us all the time and it is a lesson to see how life continuously has led me to the people I need to meet, to the situations I need to experience, and to the places I need to be. There has never been any real reason to worry since all small individual rivers are already on their way to the ocean, to the Whole. It is not about swimming, it is about relaxing and to float with the river in a basic trust that life already leads towards the sea of consciousness, towards the Whole". Swami Dhyan Giten

I'M SPECIAL...AMONG OTHER THINGS

It's September!!!!! September is significant to me because it is the month in which I was born. And in addition, I was born on 09/09/1981. Let me break it down for you guys, just in case you missed it. I was born on the 9th day, of the 9th month, in '81 which is the product of 9x9, and if you add 8 to 1, you get 9. So just in case you didn't know, I am SPECIAL!!!!! LOL. And to top it off, this year is the big 2-5! I wasn't planning on doing anything, but then my good friend Brandi decided that that was unacceptable so she's sent out an Evite to all our friends across the country to see if people are willing to come to ATL to have lunch and then hit the club that night. The reason I wasn't planning on doing anything that weekend was cos all my friends are all over the place and I didn't want to bother anyone with anything but it looks like folks don't mind...the RSVP list is growing....so guess what? I'm SPECIAL!!!!!!

Ok, enough of blowing my own horn. That's not a typical Virgo characteristic....or is it, Yetty? LOL. Speaking of Virgo characteristics, according to this website, the traits of a Virgo are:
Analyst, Purist, Plays safe, Worrier, Has mood swings, Perfectionist, Easily learns mastery, Demands respect, Fair judgement, Pessimistic, Frequently depressed, Destructive at times
Virgo Likes are: Pursuit of 'trueness', Standards, Proper methodology, Practicality, Neat & tidy, Friendliness .Virgo Dislikes are: Chaos, Noise, Assymetry, Change, Risk, Nagging

Now, I don't read my horoscope everyday but there is something to be said for how accurate these things can be sometimes. I agree with most of what it says and to be honest some of those traits, like the mood swings, worrier, and pessimistic are traits that I have had to consciously work on being better about. And I do dislike nagging others and others nagging me and I am majorly afraid of taking risks which is something else I'm working on. I always in pursuit of the truth and want to know and understand why things happen. I don't necessarily agree with the frequently depressed, or destructive at times, nor do I dislike change....I embrace it but maybe other Virgos have issues with that. As far as relationships go, according to the same website, Virgo would most likely get along well with Capricorn (Born December 22 - January 19) and Aquarius (Born January 20 - February 18)and Virgo would most likely meet opposition with Saggitarius (Born November 22 - December 21) and Scorpio (Born October 23 - November 21. Interestingly enough, I haven't dated any men whose birthdays fall within any of these signs so I can't speak for it's accuracy. Some interesting Virgos include my girl Beyonce, Micheal Jackson (SCARY!!!), Mother Teresa and Queen Elizabeth the 1st. I found a list of other famous Virgos here and it's interesting to see that many of them are creative types, politicians and humanitarians....careers that potentially have the power to change the world by encouraging all forms of discourse and action. Something to ponder. Moving on......

So I've been meaning to put my own 101 list up in the vein of Onada's but I haven't gotten round to it. If I had, one of the things on my list was to get my legs and bikini waxed. I've always wanted to, but I'm a scaredy cat and most people who know me, know that I would never voluntarily put myself through any pain whatsoever. So I did the bikini thing a few weeks ago and........it wasn't bad! It looked great, and it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. So, I starting thinking I was sophisticated and decided to move on to the next step of getting my legs waxed yesterday. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!!!!!!!!! Never again in my life will I do that ish. It stung like nothing else, and I think stinging is a lot worse than hurting.....when something hurts, it's just a kind of pain that's there. When it stings, it's a sharp, pulling, itching, smarting, shock of pain. Men, it was terrible. And the fact that it's a larger surface area, and there's a lot of bone there made it even worse. In fact, I think I may have lost a patch of skin somewhere. To further worsen the situation, I had to point to places my waxer missed...I mean, that's not my job is it? Shoot, I don't have 20/20 vision and I could see patches of hair that she'd missed from miles away. Which meant that she had to go over those spots.....men, can you say PAIN! Needless to say if I ever change my mind (which is highly unlikely) about getting waxed again, then I won't be going there! I won't put the place on blast but if anyone who lives in ATL would like to know where, holla at me. I definitely understand why Steve Carrell went around with a half waxed back in 40 year old Virgin. If it wasn't for the sake of vanity, me myself would be walking around with half waxed legs...LOL. I don't know who sent me. Anyone with any fun waxing stories, do share.

I am going to MD this weekend. I am soooooooooooo excited. I get to see Low and Yuwa and meet other new people and see the city and just have fun. It is going to be crazy! While I'm looking forward to painting the town red, what I am MOST looking forward to is the gisting and the relaying of stories. Low is the most fun storyteller, and when you get around her, you get the funny disease too! She's INFECTIOUS. LOL.

Finally,Yetty tagged me so I'll get to it after the weekend. Hope you all have a fun long weekend. Be safe, have a good time and recharge those batteries. Don't do anything you'll regret. Here's a fun quote about holidays.

"The only thing bad about a holiday is it is followed by a non-holiday." - Anonymous