Birthday Wishlist

It's the big 25 in a couple of weeks! Aug 3rd, I'm excited! But what's a birthday without presents - well still a birthday- but presents are fun!

Because I'm so nice and caring, I've gone ahead and created a wishlist so all my lovers and friends don't need to bother their heads with "hmm what should I get Sabirah?"

I've even balanced it out from high end items to small gifts... I'm so thoughtful!

1. A 13inch Macbook pro, retina display. No explanation needed. Design Life. End
2. 50mm f/ 1.4 Canon lens
3. Prescription Sunglasses- Rayban clubmasters are it!
4. Fulani Earrings 
5. Blog life course on A beautiful mess
6. Cake cake cake! When in doubt, always chocolate, or caramel, or tiramisu, or (real red velvet) or everything! I'm partial to cake from The sweet spot - see instagram @thesweetspotng
7. An all expense vacation somewhere- because I'm worth it. lol
8. Hair stuff- Mainly conditioners, Leave-ins, hair masks and all sort of yummy treats
9. Art stuff- Watercolor, brushes, ink, paper, calligraphy materials let me unleash my creativity

And that's it!

I tried to include pictures with everything but blogger keeps messing up the quality- migration soon?

Hope you're all fabulous

ps I'm doing the 100happydays tag on instagram. check it out @sabirah0

Love always,

Sabirah.

'Being Me' Blog Tag!

This came at the right time!
The lovely Ekene from TheKinkandI tagged me in her post so I'm going to jump right in.
p.s. check out her blog, she blogs about natural hair and it a lovely and detailed blog. I truly admire her consistency.

Are you named after someone?

Nope. 

When was the last time you cried?

I actually can't remember which is a really good thing. I used to cry a lot. A lot. I guess I'm happier. Content. Yeah Content.:(

Do you have any children?

No I do not.

If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself?

Yes! I'm fun :D

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

Backstreet boys, Nutella, Fried stew (that's all I can think of right now but the list is much longer I know):)

Do you like handwriting?

I LOVE handwriting!

What’s your favourite cereal?

Honey nut cheerios, crunchy nut

What’s the first thing you notice about people?

How they talk about things they love, hands.

What’s the colour of your eyes?

Black

Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings all the time!

Favourite TV show?

The good wife, Grey's anatomy.

Winter or summer?

Summer Summer Summer Time! :)

Hugs or kisses?

Hugs! Oh well and Kisses... a particular kiss. floating.

Special talent?

I don't know... I'm good with my hands, I can make stuff. Creative.

Where were you born?

New York Citaaaay (Though I feel no ties or connection to that place, I left my heart in San Francisco but I'm a Lagos girl through and through.)

Hobbies?

Read. Eat. Cook. Make Stuff. Blog. Design. Explore. Live. Thrive (are these hobbies? lol)

Do you have any pets?

No, but I want a cat.

Favourite movie?

500 days of summer, An Education, Devil wears Prada and many others...

What colour is your car?

Blue. Sky Blue. :) Its new (Barely a week, so exciting)

What do you want to do when you grow up?

Teach. Love. Travel. Love some more:)

This was fun! So, I am tagging…

Taynement - Taynement.blogspot.com

Originial Mgbeke (post more often!)

Kovie Parker - futurenewyoker.wordpress.com/

Halima - HalimaBepo.com

And if you're reading this and you have a blog, you're tagged!!

Thanks again Ekene for the Tag!

Love always, Sabirah

Thursday Tidbits

Hello, been a while, But Thank God it's Thursday.
Lets get into it

1. I always wonder if there's ever a time life gives you a breather, like can things stop happening for a minute so you can regroup? or nah?
2. Office gossip; how does one stay out of it? ugh
3. Hearing from God, tell me how you were sure...
4. I'm soooo tired of "Fitfam" *eyeroll* (what it has become) I need to explain this, but later.
5. I miss this space so much, but I need a new computer (currently on work computer) so till then.
6. I would really like a vacation this year
7. This is beginning to sound dreary. I'm not sad, just tired
8. About to go for a swim, hopefully that energizes me.
9. I got promoted this week. Really happy, unexpected but i'm totally deserving

So, how are you?

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