Music | Back to Happy- 1.2 - Nostalgic Music

Hello everyone!

Gosh i'm on a roll with blogging these past few days, it has served as a great stress reliever as i'm currently writing finals. I'm really liking the "back to happy" series because now i'm making a conscious effort to find things that make me happy. One of them is music in particular music that gives that nostalgic feel. Today I randomly started listening to Whitney Houston and realized how much I have missed her. Its so sad the way things have turned out with her, but her music lives on. My mum made me love her and I'm thankful for that :)
Here are my favorite Whitney songs



This is my favorite I think!! Absolutely love this song. Singing this with my mum is one of my favorite childhood memories. I think i'm going to have to watch the Bodyguard over the break!




I really love this song! I had forgotten about this song for a while and then about a year and a half ago My darling friend Simisola reminded me of it. I miss singing this song with her. I miss you Simi! I love Whitney 'cos her songs are so heartfelt that even if you don't feel like that at that moment you can still relate.



I don't know how anyone can hear this song and not want to dance! love love love this song. This is one of those that my mum and I loved too. I was an only child for bout 7 years so my mum and I had a lot of bonding time singing happy love songs to one another! Good times!




Another soundtrack that i absolutely loved! I have to watch this movie again too this break. This my one week break that I want to do everything in! Lol! But really this song really defines the relationship I have with my close friends always there! I think we have to have a sleep over waiting to exhale style.




In comparison to the rest of the above this is a more recent song but there is something so powerful about this song. I love it.



And last but not definitely not the least. the all time classic :)


Hope you enjoyed these! and maybe they made you slightly nostalgic...
What are your favorite Whitney songs? did I miss your favorite?

Back to Happy- 1.1

Hey!

So in keeping up with the back to happy theme, I want to continue to push myself creatively. A great way to do this for me has been to look at someone else's creation. The video i'm about to share moved me in ways that I haven't been moved in a while. It was inspiring yet sad and beautiful, I want to meet the composer/producer - Adaeze Elechi and just sit and have tea with her and talk cos there is so much in this video. She presents the topic of race and how it affects our psychology in such a beautiful manner. She is so eloquent and I could really relate with this on many levels. I'm still waiting to find her contact information (If you know her pls help me out). Here is the short (5min) film. Pls watch it will be worth it.


Suspended Animation: An Essay Film from Ada Elechi on Vimeo.

What did you think of it?

Back to Happy- 1.0

Hi there!

I've been thinking, and worrying and thinking and it's getting a bit much so i'm going to write. I feel like I'm not as happy as I used to be, like I used to be happy 99% of the time but now its more like 85% which is still good but considering the person that I am its a little low.

I spend most of my time alone, because to be honest I have always liked my own company, a book, a good movie, a glass of wine- any combination of these is a perfect evening for me. But lately I'v been feeling lonely a good portion of the time, it started last year, by September I was so terribly homesick that the only thing holding me together was counting down daily. I went home in December and it was the best month out of the whole year. I reached an all time low in January and I slowly got myself out of it. Fast forward to today and all I can think of is my mother coming for my graduation.

I don't know what has shifted in the space of one year  but I know I want my happy back. I'm trying to remember all the things I used to enjoy doing, reading, crafting, cooking, thrifting, taking photos, going to museums, exploring new cities, dancing, art, taking care of my body, developing my brand Natural Saturdays and a new one- this blog- I want to do these things more, and find the happiness that used to resonate from inside of me without any help.

So i'v decided not to travel over spring break, I'm going to do Bikram Yoga for 7 days (hot yoga), Leave the house everyday (please let the weather be nice) Work on Natural Saturdays, and read!! This is the first step... of many, and I shall be writing about them. maybe it will be the "Back to happy" series
Wish me luck :)

any suggestions?

Tea Party! :OOTD

Hi Everyone,

So it was my friend Maribel's Birthday and we decided to take her out to tea, she loves tea and we found the cutest little tea shop to take her to.

Aren't the tea pots the cutest?

Birthday Girl!!!

A sample of the menu offerings! Great Variety of teas!

Me and the birthday girl

They had lovely yellow roses on the table and I love the vintage sugar tin

Javier and Maribel got the Apricot tea, can you see the little 5min timer next to it?

I got the Organic masala Chai Tea. It was so fragrant and spicy absolutely delicious.

 We also got some food, I had the cheese platter to the right, Maribel got the garden salad and Javier got the turkey Sandwich! the Cheese platter was amazing!!

What I wore: Romper- Urban outfitters, Belt - Target, Purse -F21 and wedges Banana Republic. It was a surprisingly warm day and I was so excited to show some leg! lol. I love those wedges, I'v had them for three years now and they still look great!!

I love this picture of Javi!

And this picture of us :)

It was a lovely Day and I had such a great time!! Happy birthday again Maribel! Love you tons! Definitely going to TeaList again

Opinion: Challenging your own beauty standards

Hey everyone,

One of those topics that just keeps coming up nowadays is beauty standards. The negative effects of unattainable beauty standard on the self-esteem, psychological and physical health are undeniable and many efforts to change these standards have not been successful. Even in non-western countries such as Nigeria, beauty standards are changing but not for the better. I could list all the one million reasons why this is a problem, but that is not the topic today.

 I believe change begins with the individual, I'm pretty comfortable with the person I am but I have my own insecurities too, while most days I'm satisfied with the way my body looks, other days I don't feel so good. It is important that while we are trying to make changes to the status quo, we start from within.

Its hard to stay unaffected by the various images around us and unless you live in a blank white room and never come out, you will be affected one way or the other. I don't watch TV but I go out, at the grocery store check out line I see the glossy magazines etc, its hard to escape all these reminders that we are "sub par".

I remember when I first cut of all my hair when I went natural, even though I had been thinking about it for a long time, when I finally cut my hair I was excited but I didn't feel beautiful. The first few days I wore a wig, and then when I left the wig go, I wore lots of make-up. When I look at the pictures now it's funny. For some people though thats everyday reality.


So here is how I started to work on challenging notions of beauty bearing down on me

1) Knowledge : I began to read about the history of different beauty practices, about the evolution of body images, models and whatever I could lay my hands on to understand the processes behind them.

2) Discussion: I began to discuss with friends, family and myself. Challenging all of us on the things we find attractive and why and what could be problematic.

3) Affirmations: I have some things about myself posted in different places in my apartment, telling me i'm beautiful and smart and worthy, it may seem silly, but on those down days they really help.

4) Inspiration: In addition to the above, I needed something more, a place where I could go to see people who looked like me, beautiful images of women with darker skin tones and natural hair, with different body types, who were fashionable, smart and more. So I created a tumblr sabirah.tumblr.com  as a place to store all of this. It is working very well.

All of this may seem like a lot of work, but i'm heavily invested in it, it is a women's issue and women's issues are everybody's issues! If you didn't know already my life's purpose is to empower young women, starting with myself. As a young feminist, I continue to gain knowledge, encourage discussion and fight the good fight!

Any thoughts?

Till next time,
Sabirah.

Weekend in the City: San Francisco

San Francisco is absolutely my favorite city in the world! I get to go there often since I live only an hour and a half away and there is always something new to discover.
A couple of weekends ago a friend was visiting from out of town and I decided to go the touristy route and show her the sights.

 Fooling around before we left : Seyi, Myself, Yinka( the out of towner)

 We got to meet these amazing dalmatians!! They were absolutely gorgeous and friendly!

 We took a tour boat which was a lot of fun, i actually learned a lot of fun history. Seyi and Yinka are waving to the pedestrians on the bridge. lol

 We got to see it really close up and it was rather breath-taking, so much that I forgot to take pictures

 The ever famous Alcatraz. It was very spooky going near this Famous prison, but it was interesting to learn that in the 70's American Indians occupied the place in protest of their rights.

We got to be kids for a bit and went on a carousel ride in Fisherman's Wharf! Best tourist area! and if you like seafood you will love it.

Later that evening we went over to Ghirardelli square, the famous chocolate garden. We got to see the chocolate making process and it was simply amazing, unfortunately my camera's battery died so no photos :( speaking of photos, why does blogger make my picture quality so bad? ugh! can anyone offer suggestions on fixing this?
 If you ever decide to visit San Francisco, hit me up and I can recommend some fun things to do... cos there is soooo much.

Have you been to San Francisco? If yes Did you like it? If no do you want to go?

Till next time.
Sabirah...