31 day reset- Day 17

Today's task. 100 things that make me happy!!Whoop. fun fun fun. That was the whole purpose of this blog so here we go. In no particular order.

1. Family
2. Close Friends
3. Yoga
4. Exercising
5. Eating great food
6. Cooking great food for myself and others
7. The partner
8. Posting on this blog
9. travelling 
10. Exploring new things
11. Pretty stationery - Cards and note cards especially blank ones
12. crafting - Making things with my hands- Soap, headbands, earrings, cards
13. DMCs - Deep Meaningful conversations
14. Candles
15. Flowers that don't make me sneeze
16. Neo Soul music
17. Afrobeat
18. Karaoke
19. Hosting brunches
20. Playing Taboo
21. Playing "concentration"
22. Sweet cocktails
23. Dressing up
24. Natural hair
25. Afros!!
26. Watching movies based on old english novels- Pride and prejudice, Jane Eyre etc
27. Spending the day at the beach
28. Day trips
29. Photography
30. Going to museums
31. My Leather journal
32. Spending time with loved ones
33. Salads
34. Home
35. Giving gifts
36. Receiving gifts
37. Taking long baths
38. washing my hair
39. Drinking tea
40. Dancing
41. volunteering
42. Smell of pastry
43. Books- real books made with paper
44. The smell of old books
45. Music from Baba himself, Anikulapo!
46. My daddy's singing
47. My mom's laugh
48. My brother's jokes
49. Jewellery
50. Thrift stores
51. Pretty bras that fit
52. sexy undergarments
53. Lipstick
54. Farmer's markets
55. flea markets
56. Gummy worms
57. Good wine
58. Sunshine
59. Rain
60. Thunder
61. Live music
62. Cafes 
63. Road trips
64. Singing in the car
65. Massages
66. Doing my nails myself
67. Sun dresses
68. kisses
69. Chocolate
70. hugs
71. butterfly kisses
72. vanilla flavored and scented things
73. Strawberries
74. Mangoes
75. Agbalumo
76. Balsamic vinegar
77. Being in Love
78. Sunday mornings
79. Pancakes and Perfect scrambled eggs
80. Strong women
81. Pretty food
82. Reading
83. Fashion
84. Italy, Italian culture.
85. intimate Wedding decor, planning, attire.
86. Men's Fashion and stylish men
87. The color green
88. Pictures
89. The color coral
90. Interior Decor
91. Love quotes from old books and movies... and poetry
92. Soft serve ice-cream
93. Boy shorts
94. Lifting weights
95. Smiling
96. Saying "Thank you"
97. Jazz music
98. Fluffy comfy beds
99. Long train rides.
100. Leather satchels and briefcases
101. Classic shoes
102. My quiet time
103. 101. Luxurious bath items- soap, bath bombs, lotions
104. Bookstores
105. Tiramisu
106. Chocolate cake
107. The smell of coffee
108. Independent and foreign films
109. Book readings
110. Being on time
111. Warm nights on roof tops
112. Lights, sparkly lights, pretty light at night.
113. washing my hands
114. Glasses
115. Male feminists
116. Sade Adu
117. Nneka
118. Dialogue
119. Sunday brunch
120. Numbers divisible by 3.

I am an alaseju (doing the most) I couldn't stop at 100... and I could still go on, but yeah see what I did with that last one? ;)

I enjoyed this task! So much fun, even if you aren't doing the 31 day reset(which you should totally do) you can do this task! just for fun, if you do let me know/see!

Love,

Sabirah

Buon' weekend!

Book Review | Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman - Ogo Akubue-Ogbata

So I've been wanting to do Book reviews here since forever but I've let a lot of things stop me, mainly fear but since this is a lifestyle blog and a big part of my life is reading, I'm throwing caution to the wind and doing it anyways. Thank you Ritzy for the encouragement ;)
First up; Ogo Akubue-Ogbata's debut novel, Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman.

I decided to buy this book on Amazon after reading an excerpt on Bellanaija. I started reading this book on a road trip from Davis to Los Angeles. The drive was about 7 hours long with me alternating between sleeping and reading. I finished the book before the ride was over.

My friend who was driving would ask me every once in a while if I was OK as she saw me crying over the novel. It was that good.

The novel is follows Nkiru, the heroine's struggles and later triumphs through her life. It is particularly interesting as it seamlessly blends the political climate of the time with the story of a young woman quest for survival and finding herself. It is set in Nigeria, and later takes us to Sierra Leone, Uganda and Britain, I love historical references and stories of the 60's in Nigeria so this was particularly interesting for me. The colonial era and early post-colonial eras have been romanticised so much in my head. 

Nkiru is a privileged young girl who loses her parents young and is sent off to live with relatives after. She and her sister are separated and what happens thereafter is a series of life changing experiences, she manages to survive not completely unscathed but a better and stronger woman.

There are so many themes in this Novel but the strongest for me were Forgiveness, Love and Triumph. I really enjoyed this because in a lot of African literature the suffering usually overshadows a lot. The novel taught me a lot about Forgiveness and freedom through love and the journey towards finding oneself. There was a good dose of romance in here too that made me smile.

Maybe it was where I was at that point in my life- in 3days I was about to travel to Italy on my own for 6weeks, a journey towards learning myself as well- but this novel really moved me. I enjoyed it immensely so much so that I gifted it to the next person I came into contact with in Italy.

It wasn't only a Great read, it is a book I will buy again and keep on my shelf for years to come.

So how was my first review?

Have you read the book? how was it for you?

If not are you interested?


Love, 
Sabirah.