Road Trip Diary | Akure

It started with one conversation.

I crossed something off my 25 before 25 list! I'm so excited. A big thing too, as you might already have guessed from the title, I went on a road trip within Nigeria and it was amazing. I can't begin to describe- actually that's what I'm going to do in this post.

It started with a conversation.
A maybe.
Lets do something!
We should go somewhere...
Where though?
Somewhere close?
I heard of..
Hmm I'll ask around..

I have many such conversations with my friends, dreaming out loud... But most times they don't come to fruition. This time things seemed to be aligned for us. Maybe it was just the combination of people. Without a destination, we picked a date and somehow things fell into place.

At 8 am on a Wednesday morning we met at the car park, bags packed and brimming over with anticipation. We settled into the back seat of the bus and even bought an extra ticket much to the dismay of Lois who was trying to make sure we stayed within budget (Thank God for her and her firm ways, we ended the trip within our budget). We got comfy and after being harassed by some evangelists - some for God others for strange herbal concoctions- we were on our way.

The trip took us only about 4 hours and we had lofty plans of hitting our first attraction, Idanre Hills, that day. Unfortunately by the time we looked for a decent hotel, had lunch and settled in (AKA napped) it was late in the evening and we decided to explore our environment instead.

A short walk from our hotel took us to the university (FUTA) where we thought we could grab dinner and maybe get some tips for what to do in Akure. When we got to the university, it was pitch black and though there were students walking around nobody could recommend a place to eat or chill within the campus. Very strange.

We ended up getting a suggestion from a taxi driver who led us to a suya place and that was dinner that night. Back to our hotel room right after and we crashed

The next day was epic!
Hint: Water.
Stay tuned

Love Always,
Sabirah

25 before 25

Hello lovelies,



I was thinking, you know as I do sometimes (lol) this year I'm going to be 25! I've never been one to agonize over getting older. I see it as a blessing and I find myself becoming more and more me... if that makes sense. It's truly amazing. I'm really excited and thankful.



There are many things I want to do before I turn 25, most of them playful and just for fun but also some self development and things to make me a better person in general. I have 7 months to do them all!! Of course I'll update you all as I cross things off, wish me luck!

1. Visit Ghana




2. Start planning a real wedding. Not the one in my head hahaha




3. Master photoshop




4. Go on vacation with my partner




5. Learn how to sew




6. Start writing my book




7. Learn a new stroke in swimming - Butterfly or breaststroke




8. Go on a road trip within Nigeria




9. Make (some more) Art




10. Take a photography class




11. Get published in an online magazine




12. Feature in a short.




13. Get personal business cards




14. Participate in a photo shoot - in front and behind the camera




15. Visit Dubai




16. Redesign my blog




17. Create a personal website




18. Start mentoring again




19. Plan a (themed)party




20. Pay for someone's exams




21. Volunteer to teach again




22. Go on a family vacation




23. Take an online class




24. Improve my ICT skills




25. Continue to live an authentic life!

Whew! What a list. Im excited. Have you done a list like this before? Leave me a link!

Are you currently doing anything on this list or plan to?  Tell me!

Love always,

Sabirah.

Home made Hummus

Happy new year every one! I'm so thankful to be here, healthy happy and alive. 2014 will be awesome!

I'm sure tons of people are looking to be healthier and a big part of that is diversifying our meals so we don't get bored and return to junk food. In my next post I'll talk about how to incorporate hummus into your healthy eating and snacking but for now a simple recipe :)



Hummus is a delicious spread/dip made using chickpeas. There are lots of ways to make it many of which include soaking the peas for long hours. This recipe keeps it very simple using just 3 ingredients.

1 can of chickpeas
2 small cloves of garlic
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Open the can of chickpeas and drain the liquid out leaving a bit for blending (adds to flavor as opposed to using water). Pour the chick peas into your blender with the garlic cloves and blend on high in short intervals. Add the olive oil a little at a time between blending and generously salt the mixture. At this point you can add your favorite spices. I put in some "yaji" ( a Hausa pepper blend with garlic and ginger). The consistency of the hummus should be thick and slightly grainy (do not completely purée the mixture).

And that's it! Serve with Lebanese flat bread (more serving options soon)

Let me know if you try it out.

Love always,
Sabirah.

DIY Galaxy Nails.

Seasons greetings!

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and getting fat. I'm still waiting for a real party invite, why are my friends so uncool? I did have a good day yesterday with my partner and his family and that was fun. But my Christmas hasn't been as lively as I'd hoped. I hope that changes soon.

Alright lets get into it. I have a festive nail DIY today, it's so simple to do and fun. All you need to do is be able to paint your own nails.

Here's the galaxy, our inspiration.

To get started you need a couple of things
Clean filed nails
A small piece of foam.
Base coat; I used Seche Clear
Base Color; I used a Dark blue polish, black will also work
Pink polish
Silver Polish
and some Glitter nail polish.

Step 1: Apply your base coat and base color

Step 2: Apply a very light coat of silver polish on a small patch of your foam and lightly press onto all your nails. Do not reapply on the foam, the idea is for it to be kinda spotty and uneven

Step 3: Repeat step 2 but with pink polish.

Step 4: Finish with a coat or two of your glitter polish.

And we are done! I was surprised by how easy it was. Don't mind all the steps, they go really fast especially as you don't have to be super careful since you aren't painting.

Hope you like and try this out, also if you'd like to see more DIY posts please let me know.

Merry Christmas!

Love always,
Sabirah

Christmas Cheer

Christmas is here! And I'm so excited. I think this is my first real Christmas. For many reasons.
1. I get to spend it with family and friends
2. I finally understand Christmas and the reason for the season
3. I actually have some money and time to do some gifting.





Between last week and now I made some handmade cards for some special people. I worked hard on them and even though they aren't perfect I hope my intentions are clear. Just spreading some love. I'll also be doing some DIY presents which I will be sharing later. Any opportunity to get my hands dirty.



I've also been receiving some presents which is exciting. The above one I got today, the box was so pretty I almost didn't want to open it. I got a really awesome early present from my partner which came as a huge surprise, I'm still grinning since then. The partner and I got a joint present today from a good friend of ours, and it was totally unexpected. Warmed my heart. He's one of our few "true" mutual friends.

While presents are fun, I know that's not what Christmas is all about...
But it's a way to show love and an opportunity for me to create and I'm milking it all the way.

What are your Christmas plans?

Ps when (what day) should presents be given?

Stay safe during this holiday period and remember to show love in anyway you can.

Love always,
Sabirah.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone( I'm just trying this blogging via phone thing, hopefully it will make me more consistent )

Christmas cheer

Christmas is here! And I'm so excited. I think this is my first real Christmas. For many reasons.
1. I get to spend it with family and friends
2. I finally understand Christmas and the reason for the season
3. I actually have some money and time to do some gifting.


Between last week and now I made some handmade cards for some special people. I worked hard on them and even though they aren't perfect I hope my intentions are clear. Just spreading some love. Also doing some DIY presents which I will be sharing later.



I've also been receiving some presents which is exciting. The above one I got today, the box was so pretty I almost didn't want to open it. I got a really awesome early present from my partner which came as a huge surprise, I'm still grinning since then. While presents are fun, I know that's not what Christmas is all about...
But it's a way to show love and an opportunity for me to create and I'm milking it all the way.

What are your Christmas plans?

Ps when (what day) should presents be given?

Stay safe during this holiday period and remember to show love in anyway you can.

Love always,
Sabirah.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone( I'm just trying this blogging via phone thing, hopefully it will make me more consistent )

Tough

Three weeks ago it was our anniversary and the Thursday night before, I had a conversation with my friend Simi - big shout out to her by the way, she's really special. It went thus:

Me: It's our(my partner and I) anniversary tomorrow, 2years.
Simi: Oh wow,  it's been two years already? How has it been?
Me: Tough
Simi: Oh, errr is that good?
Me: Yes, very good, in a weird way

Tough is probably not the most romantic way to describe a relationship but I was just being honest. It was one of those moments where I really considered the question and thought about it before I answered. My answer surprised even me, but as I've thought more about it, I'm sticking to it. Tough.

Before
Some background is necessary here. In the past I've always been the "good" person (well except for that one time where I really fucked up). So yeah, I've always been the good girlfriend, playing my role, being supportive or whatever was needed. As a result I was always being apologized to, always doing the forgiving. And I should add that for those relationships, this worked.

Temperament
I can be a pacifist. I detest confrontations and conflict and I'll shy away from it as long as I can. Of course this isn't always a good thing. Can lead to passive-aggressiveness, bottling up issues that need to be discussed and giving one a false sense of righteousness. So while this had previously been OK in my past relationship, it was a disaster for this one

Fighting Fair.
I never learnt how to fight fair, because I was so used to avoiding confrontations, when they did roll around, I shut everything out. Picture this:

Him: Sabirah, you really shouldn't have done that, it made me feel... and.... and.... I would prefer... in the future.
Me: OK, Sorry.
The end.

To me "Sorry" was the balm that fixed all, it made all the fighting stop (not really). Sorry allowed me to close up the topic and move on (or brood). I would feel I had done my part and expect all the negative energy to float away... and when they didn't I would pout. Bring on Fight round two...

It just seemed like we were always fighting. A few times I found myself wondering, "...maybe we just aren't meant for each other, is it really supposed to be this difficult?" I would cry and still not open up which I can imagine left my partner frustrated. One vicious cycle.

Now
We have gotten out of that crazy loop, and boy am I glad? Somehow we stuck it through and realised we both had work to do. Sometimes someone that loves you will uncover some ugly parts of you and you have to be OK with that. It's painful, grueling but in the end you come out a better version of you. Iron sharpens iron?

I leave you with this excerpt of a quote from Elizabeth Gilbert

"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life..."

P.s. An old post on soulmates
p.p.s Sorry I've been away so long... you know life? Hope all is well

Happy Holidays!
Love, Sab.