Christmas 2012

So this years Christmas was a good one so here's some pics of my Christmas.....how did you spend yours?

lovely dinner made by all the Bwoga women in the house....

ackee and saltfish

Saltfish and lentils stew with hot peppers.

Macaroni and cheese

Pastries

Merry Christmas to all x 

Merry Christmas Family x

Dear Friends,

I just want to take this time to wish you a  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Christmas time is one for happiness and cheer so this Christmas spend it with the ones you love celebrating the birth of Christ.

Have a wonderful Christmas

Lots of Love DayDay x

Whats's your retail therapy?

Okay retail therapy is a good way to release stress and to cheer yourself up. So what do you buy when u get a well needed shopping day? Well let me just share with you what I buy......and it's a little strange but hey who cares. I love to buy things clothes etc but if I am down I will get socks as their always a perfect fit and their cheap meaning I can but many. I love shoes and clothes but if im down and they do not fit or make me look fat that will make me feel worse....so I go for SOCKS the perfect fit. 

True story one day my friends and I went out to lunch on our break (college times)  to Tesco and after 10 minutes there i left with 6 pairs of socks and little to no lunch.

Whats your retail therapy?

Hessien Secret Santa 2012

So this year with my flatmates we did a Secret Santa gift exchange and here are a few pics of my gifts.My flatmate Rachel, I was her secret santa which I already knew just couldn't figure out what she would get me....hmmm. I got a lemon as in the first week of uni i had over 12 lemons (i had the flu), gloves as I love cleaning and a picture frame with my beautiful flatmates and friends in it.

Thank you Rach huni x

fancy gloves for cleaning..........

Christmas Dinner #1

Okay so this is my first of two Christmas dinners this year which is a first in years and my first with my new university family :) So the night before Nay and I decorated the table which unlike when I do it at home was a Christmas table decor filled with individuality (everyone used their own plates, cups and cutlery).

my plate

So food wise for this dinner would prove to be interesting as I would be cooking most of my meal (as I'm a vegetarian and my flatmate are not) on my own.
On the menu was: rice, macaroni, stew(saltfish and lentils with hot chilli's), potatoes and veg.

Preparation
So preparation was easier than i expected as I had never cooked saltfish from scratch and I thought I was going to mess it up. Luckily for me I didn't and it came out lovely. 

These are my chilli's and red pepper chopped into small dices.









During the prep of pealing the potatoes I cut my hand.....it had to be me....only me.

Ready to cook! 

macaroni ready.......

saltfish stew ready to be consumed.,..by me!

My hot chilli saltfish and lentils stew is ready!

chicken........cooked by Chef Mais.

 

 

Christmas feast is prepared!

Ready to EAT!

Here above are pics of my final dinner made by me (veg meal) and Chef Mais.
Enjoy and have a Merry Christmas x 

Adventurous in the Kitchen.....

Okay so since I began university in September I have had to cook for myself and it has been interesting. The one thing I love about cooking is learning new things through trial and error. I have perfected simple things as in how I like my pasta since September. So I never would have attempted saltfish just because my mummy makes it how I like it and I did not want to ruin it. I tried it earlier in September when I first got to university as my mummy left me some to use. To be honest it did not come out perfect and I did to attempt it again. Well I was feeling brave so I went and got some spices and just thought what could go wrong....I have watched my momma a few times, this should be fine. And luckily for me it all turned out great...i think I may cook this for Christmas dinner. Yes me I said I'm gonna cook something for Christmas dinner....shocking I know as all i usually do is decorations and eat.  Being away from home has made me grow in every way and especially as a homemaker.

Date: December 1st 2012
Dish: Rice, Veg Burger & Lentils with saltfish 
Seasoned: Black pepper, Mixed Spices, Hot Chilli Powder, Red & Green Chills (x4 small)

the beginning

all spices added including tomato chilli pasta sauce....

all mixed together.......

Hot chilli powder added to to enhance flavor....

finished product :)

BJ Lips???

Okay now this one i going to have to explain. So I was chillin in my flatmates room having a chat (three of us) and I was looking her her mirror, which is one of those vanity ones with a magnifying side and lights. Anyways I was looking at my self in the mirror and from a certain angle my lips didn't look big and luscious....today they looked small. So I say out loud "my lips look so small", not remembering I'm the only black woman in my flat (everyone else is white/one Filipino) so obviously I would have the biggest lips. So my flatmate says to be I have BJ lips (blowjob). So at first I'm insulted and then she says, she wished she had BJ lips. Okay so is having BJ lips a good thing? Yes I know all men would then say yes it is but for women is it?
Do women really believe that fuller lips are better? It makes you more beautiful?  Are fuller lips considered BJ lips?

 Honestly in my opinion some women were not meant to have full lips the structure of their faces were not made that way. A lot of black people (cultural) have strong facial features (think of africans) which can handle the big lips, where as white people do not have such strong features so when they get "fuller lips" it dosent look natural and sometimes looks really wrong. Sometimes we gotta be happy with what God gave us and not try and change our appearance.

Google Search - Celebs with lip implants

Hair shrinking by the second...Arrrgh

Okay so I combed my hair out, well actually did a twist out and put a headband on to look presentable. So i sat down to do my hair and after 30mins I went to the bathroom and when I looked in the mirror it had lost its puffiness and looked shorter. Never noticed it before so while I sit it is just shrinking....now that is flipping frustrating.

Get outta ma AFRO!!!

I'm only joking :)
I don't mind people who don't understand my hair for now touching my hair but soon I don't think so cause it becomes weird.  Ever since I took my hair out and have been wearing my Afro out around where I live (flats) everyone seems to want to touch it. I guess they have never touched a black person's hair before but still. But if I'm honest they always ask if they can touch it, wait for my answer before approaching me which i appreciate. Now if you brave to come touch my hair without permission then I won't ask permission before I "lay hands" on you give you a clap! Please believe there are some "brave" people out there!!!

I found this picture once when I was considering my BIG CHOP and it made me laugh so I thought I would share it!

Do I look pretty with MY natural hair?

Okay so since cutting off all my hair and feeling free to let people see my hair, sometimes I wonder if I am equally as beautiful with my wigs/weave or with my natural hair. Yes I know as Ms.India Arie  proudly states in her song with Akon "I am not my hair" sometimes I still wonder. Ever since cutting off all my hair despite the challenge the change was and adapting I have loved it! Looking down at the picture below I do not doubt that I am beautiful in my natural state as I an a narcissistic  individual and am not ashamed of that. But as this is new to me (the reveal as I have not gone as far as the corner shop without my wig) I wonder what people will think. I wonder what especially what men will think? Yes I know shallow....but I am a single woman and these things matter. I know having hair gives me confidence....BIG hair gives me confidence. So if the fast forward 5 years from now and my hair had grown  and was a big bush like Afro I could handle that. So far the people who have seen my hair have all been white people who don't really understand black hair and are simply fascinated by it.....wanting to touch....wanting to understand. I'm sure I'm not the only woman to do her big chop and wonder what people might think. I wonder this espically when people have said "oh you look better with the other hair". I look better with someone else hair on my head, how is that suppose to make me feel about my hair? I know they mean no harm but in a way it still stings a little, especially when your trying to embrace the natural you and everyone else is content in keeping you fake.

You see I remember when my hair was permed and it was in a short cut (as i have always had short hair) and I was seeing this guy and he implied that he liked my hair when it was in weave and longer. Now I did not then change my hair for him....screw him but I wondered if he was implying I looked less beautiful without "long silky hair". Surprising years later when I was dating my ex-boyfriend he met me when I had kinky hair extensions and was dressed up coming from church. A few weeks later when we met up my hair was permed in a shoulder length weave and was wearing sweat pants. He thought I looked prettier than he remembered (as we met in the dark). The first time he saw my natural hair was a few months of us being together when I took the weave out and truth be told I was nervous and curious as to how he would react to my hair. Luck for me he loved it...said I looked good and strangely he wanted to take a pic of me (as he had no pics of me). That was then and a different guy.......what will the next one think.  Something I have noticed is that when my hair is in weave a different type of men are approaching me than when my hair is in hair extensions that look like natural hair "kinky extensions", WHY IS THAT???

CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN THAT TO ME???

So what will the next man think? Should I care? Probably not but most young men are shallow, materialistic and what a certain "type" from head to toe.

So do I look pretty with MY natural hair? Or does it just give me a different look?

Uni Life....Hard Times.

 

#UNIVERSITY...LIFE

Tiny Treasure in Primark

So I went into town (High Wycombe, Chilten Center) to post something yesterday and I decided to wonder around  Primark as I had sometime and  I found a tiny treasure in there. I am a lover of music and when I saw this I just had to get it and the discounted price was jaw dropping, I was catching flies...LOL (as my mother would say). It was £1....no lie. I wasn't gonna get it as I thought it might not fit my wrist as my wrists are not tiny but they fit perfectly.
 So if your a music lover or know someone who is this could make a cute little present , so head down to Primark and grab a bargain!!!

HAIR PRANK...LOL

Okay so for the past week I have changed my wig twice to see if my male flatmate would know the difference between the two or if i was even wearing a wig. Result: He did not notice any difference, he thought it was a weave and I curled  and cut it (when it went from straight to short and curly, i changed the wig).  Honestly how many white guys would have known the difference?

Funny enough I thought he would be shocked but he was more inquisitive and slightly confused. So he walks into my room, sits on my bed and asks how long it took me to get my hair out like that (bless his heart). So i explain that I have been wearing a wig and he slowly still is wonder if my hair naturally puffs out or i did something to it. Eventually he gets it and i can understand how people may find black hair complicated to understand. So he touched my hair and was amazed at the softness, another two flatmates was like its soft like a cloud. So now my "new family" understand my hair, how it works and  the extras (wigs & weaves).

Funny enough when i haven't seen my hair in a few days/week it always seems like it has grown loads....i know hair grows but I'm always amazed. I guess when my hair was growing I was younger so I these things did not really mean anything to me. But when you have chopped of all your hair and are starting from scratch any form of growth is amazing.

side view

top view

back view

me all natural .....no make up....no wig :)

Natural Hair REVEALED to FLATMATES!!!

So I went away for the weekend, back home to see my family and when i was there i took out my hair extensions and just had my natural hair. Everyone who know me well knows that I since my big chop I have yet to be comfortable enough with my hair  to go out into public "natural". So once ready to head back to university I put on my wig (one of them) and headed back.

straight lace wig...

side view of wig.

So the response to my hair was a good one, not that it matted what they thought it was just nice to know as I am not confident with my natural hair. Most were shocked as it made me look so different just like when they saw me with the hair above....they were a little shocked as they had only seen my hair one way. I think that's why i like wigs because i have the ability to change my appearance, the way people see me and that is some what powerful. Funniest moments had to be a guy in my class who asked my flatmate (were on the same course) where I was, and she said I was in the lecture. He then says where and when she points me out he does a double take and says oh okay as he did not recognize me at all. I don't think I look that different.....do I? Honestly I did feel nervous when i walked into my lecture and people stared at me and i was so self conscious where as I wasn't before. Yes I know i look different but you don't have to stare at me....just saying.
         
             Second one had to be my flatmate (who is a guy) who thought my hair was the same hair as before just taken out of plaits.....seriously? Okay he's so funny but honestly he is a young whit guy who doesn't have many black friends (or people living in his area), or lived with a black woman, so I do not expect him to know anything or much about the ins and outs of black women and their hair.
Currently wearing a wig and I have two more (curly ones) so imma change them daily and see if he knows the difference :) LOL....I know I'm so bad but hes response is just so funny. I can just imagine his face when he sees my natural hair.......:)

hair out before I put the wig on....

Tattoos???

trebel clef music note on left ankle

 

butterfly with the word "Free"

I am a lover of music and have a passion for it.















This tattoo is a butterfly with the word "Free" underneath symbolizing that i am free from all pain and anything else I feel. The symbol in the word will give me strength in a tough and trying time.

Changing around my uni room :)

Are you even allowed to do that? Oh well who cares I already did it!
So at home I am usually changing around my room every couple of months and so I decided as the bed and other things were not bolted down I was going to shake things up a little. So below is how the room was when I arrived, minus all my lovely accessories.

original room

Now once I had changed around the room I noticed that It gave the room more floor space and was easier to move around in. After changing it I definitely sure I will leave it like this as I personally prefer it this way, look wise and for space. I like that if I want to practice some salsa moves there is enough space as before I would have hurt myself due to the lack of space. Added bonus is that now all my shoes fit in one straight line and I'm not accidentally stepping on them :) yay :)
Before it was very hard for me to watch my TV when I wanted to and funny enough since being here I don't use the tv so much but I like the option of it being here so I can watch it when I want to. Now with my head near the wall I can sit back, relax and watch movies when I want to in COMFORT.

re-arranged room

So were trolley theives....LOL

So I just had to post this as one of my first (1st/one of many) since coming to university. So whenever I go to the supermarket I never take the trolley with me but this was a first for me. We went shopping and had too many bags and did have money (did not want to waste money) to get a taxi and plus it was raining so we took the trolley back to our flat (7mins away).  And then two days later mmy flatmates went to the supermaket (twice) after that and came home with trolleys. They were taking up too much space so we stacked them.
They were taken back a few days later in order to get the pounds back, that was the main reason we keep them to get the money back.

#STUDENTLIFE #UNILIVING

Flatmates secretly trying to KILL me!

Yes the are!!! So where I live at university is very cold in the building so m flatmate decided to turn all the hobs on to gas mark 6 (highest) to warm up the room. What my flatmate failed to do was remove everything from the stove before doing this. So essentially in the end there was a  pan with a spatchula in it cover with a pot lid on the hob, and after sometime when we enter the kitchen and were talking we smelt something strange and began to feel very hot. Looking over at the stove the pan was smoking................result below..........see their trying to kill me, slowly but surely.  So now I have banned my flatmate from playing with the stove or heating up the room as the results are not funny.

Burnt pan and plastic spatchula.......

Crushed molded pumpkin left for over a week.....

Just when I thought it was over I found a bag of molded and decomposed pumpkin behind the bin. This had been there since a few days after Halloween. So now I'm being killed by smell, the worst kind. Sorry the pic isn't a good one but I was not opening that bag (never).








Okay so funniest story has to be my flatmate who had a little accident with candles (the nice way to put it). So I'm in my room watching Dirty Dancing 2  and the movie comes to an end I hear loud movement in the room next to mine. A few seconds later my flatmate comes bursting into my room rambling, "DayDay I almost set my room on fire" and then leave in a panic. Honestly I thought she was mad and over reacting but thought i would check it out anyways. Going into her room  below is what I saw, but candles were still burning.

Well all of that said I'm sure I'm trying to kill them slowly with all my cleaning products (bleach etc) as I clean about twice a week sometimes.
Sorry :)

#UNILIFE

Scandal Review

So I am a huge fan of the hit show "Scandal" created by Shonda Rhimes. She is also the creator of Greys Anatomy and Private Practice.

 Here above is Shonda in the middle, Kerry Washington the star of the show on the right and Shonda's inspiration for the character Judy Smith.

My favorite character is Olivia Pope and I think they picked the perfect actress to play her, none other that Kerry Washington. I like the fact that Olivia is this powerful, successful, fearless, confident black woman. This empowers black women and will give some something to aspire to, which is a great thing.  For instance Olivia plays a woman who worked in the white house and was the presidents right hand woman (person).
In reality American political scientist and diplomat, Condoleezza Rice served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of  President George Bush. Rice was the first female African-American secretary of state, as well as the second African American (after Colin Powell), and the second woman (after Medeline Albright).....Now isn't that success as a black woman something to aspire to?

The storyline has Olivia Pope and the President (Fitz) having an affair which they end in the second season (S02EO4).

Now I'm a person who doesn't believe in adultery but the concept that the President could be having an affair is not that hard to believe. Having said that I would not like to think the current president would have had one (which I doubt he has), but many things in life fail to shock me. Anyways although I do not believe in adultery I do love Olivia and Fitz together. Having said that I like the president and the first lady Millie together when she's not being a bitch and he's not being a vicious towards her. In those rare moments they are beautiful together but in their relationship Millie and Fitz have probably had to sacrifice a lot more than most couples due to his career and politics.

I also like Hawk the troubled (former assasin...i think) who works for Olivia. I love the mystery behind his character and the dark thing about him. Part of me wanted him and Olivia to hook up as they seem like the would work....hmmm interesting I know. 
The character Quinn Perkins is one I had to warm to as she was annoying me at first but since she came out from jail and stood up for herself  to Abby who's been getting on ma damn nerves, I am liking her more.

The only thing that is slightly annoying me is where the story of "Olivia and Fitz" is going. So I am a Grey's Anatomy fan, which is another of Shonda Rhimes shows which I still watch today and have seen every single episode. But although I am a fan I hated the storyline of Meredith Grey and Derick Shepherd as times. It was like Shonda did not want the characters to be happy and longed out their relationship though Addision, Fin (the vet), George (disaster) and Rose.

I just hope that is Scandal has a run as long as Grey's has done that they are not longing out Olivia and Fitz's relationship. I hope she allows both characters to be happy with each other or without each other.What I have also found is that Shonda has characters such as Addison Forbes Montgomery-Shepherd, introduced at the end of Season 1 (i think). When introduced she is a strong woman who as the seasons progress becomes this weak woman. Why? We loved Addison....the strong...confident Addie!!! Again I hope that Olivia the strong, self sufficient, confident, powerful woman does not fade into a distant memory. #

Anyways to all those who have not seen SCANDAL you need to watch it....and you will not be disappointed.