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 :)