The Hak, UMU, a problem with anger and all my friends are superheroes!!!

The last few weeks have seen me uninspired to write, If only it had stopped at a simple lack of inspiration to write …. I had somehow spiralled into this zone of mere existence, innate imperfection and twists of silence. It was a quietness of being and of spirit physically transpired into a ‘near-fortnight’ of no writing.
Gosh! I reviled feeling so tired and I outrageously detested falling ill. It was awful. Oh I forget that this is not another one of my conversations to me. I apologise, I’ll now explain…

Failing to recognise that the ‘painful tiredness’ I had so strongly experienced was my body’s manner of advising me it was aimed for a crash. I pushed myself harder than ever. As usual, I had my head stuck in my own little world and ignored the tumultuous warnings. We therefore did have pizza and wine the next day with James, Andy and E and I fell asleep at about 22:00 while everyone was still there! (horror!)... Another clue, maybe!
Fast forward to Thursday; bag bought, a decision not to Salsa, Zumba cancelled and no desire to see a museum, gallery, have dinner, write or meet anyone for drinks. I lie! I did meet Akua for dinner to discuss the ‘Re-launch Rihane’ campaign… but my point is! Imagine my shock when I couldn’t move on Thursday morning… I was ill, horrendously ill, in bed for four very long days… arrgghhh! The tears came more out of frustration, the aggravation that my racing brain hadn’t recognised my body was not working and was still caught in a flamboyant song and dance, I wanted needed to do something other than lie down but Alas! I couldn’t.

Monday morning; my girl Tee was in town! Woohoo! Now let me tell you a bit about Tee… Ambitious, fascinating, hyper and an aspiring powerbroker, 28 , her own business and a constant inspiration to me, she’s all tough but with a very keen softness (particularly when it comes to her man). She’s fantastic, in a nutshell and an SATC girl! Bliss! The much required 'Woman'...

We met up in Sheldon Square right outside the glass building where I ‘lived’… sorry I mean worked! and did what the quintessential ‘city’ worker in London does, took a black cab to Selfridges, we had dinner  reservations at Hakkasan but first! I was a crazy woman on a mission, the ‘silly’ person in Gucci had surreptitiously ( it was a conspiracy, it was :)) left a 'bloody' security tag on my £700 hand bag, just right there by the inner zip. Luckily I had noticed it as I was leaving home that morning, cursed slightly and then spent another ten minutes legging it back to my flat to retrieve the receipt. Now! The only reason I went back for the receipt was so I could show it in case I tripped off the security alarms as I walked into Selfridges… and before you ask! Yes! I did expect Gucci to remember me and my ‘meagre’ purchase until I got to the store of course and ‘the Italian’ looked me over; nose upturned like I was an inexperienced ‘petty thief’, so I lied to him; I advised I didn’t have my receipt and asked him to get a manager and then I, ‘the African Woman’ temporarily cast off class and decorum and went ape-shit on him (Gosh! My anger issues are my one biggest growing concern; I’m an angry bitch, Eureka!) and Mrs Obama would have been disappointed... but!!!!!

Fast forward again! I finally brought out my receipt, threw it at him, got the tag removed and then Tee bought a couple of ‘very hot’ shift dresses (she’s also an annoying size 8 and stunning) and I a really cool ‘military coat’ (this season, I’m obsessed with all things military... Again! :)).

Dinner with my ladies; Tee and O was extraordinary, the food at the ‘Hak’ gorgeous as usual, and the half-hour wait for the cab annoying. I am a bit of princess and the idea of waiting around, half an hour after dinner was just too much, especially after the very cute ‘coat-check guy’ had charmingly slid me into my coat (as they do). Apparently O had asked earlier, ‘should I call my regular cabbie?’ and I had absentmindedly agreed to her calling a cab from North London… *sigh*! So Wait (the verb) we did! Of course I moaned (oogling hot coat check guy at the same time, what! I have developed my multitasking), the whole time…

Tuesday! I now successfully felt like four trucks instead of the initial eight had run me over. I needed to shop… I did say I’m unlucky in love and obsessed with labels, actually obsessed with love too. So after the hilarious work lunch at the Waterway (it was Bryce’s birthday) with some really cool, really nice ;) visual designers, (they were extremely kind to talk about SATC, sex, Gucci and London Fashion week amidst new technologies for my benefit of course, I was in absolute ‘dumb chic mode’- tits and no intellect! Hey I was ill! ), a missed team meeting (my work sins were piling! Damn!), I added a CK scarf, head warmer, an LBD and CK grey shift dress to my wardrobe (considerable damage to the debit card, ouch! But beautiful clothes), skipped dinner (appetite was still crap plus I’d had ‘rubbery char grilled squid’ and 2 coronas for lunch that now felt like molten POP in my stomach,) and watched SATC (the one where they’re in LA – sex in another city) till I fell sleep at 19:30, dreamt of the ‘humming bird’ cupcakes I’d ordered for Thursday, slept through till morning and was still late to work even though I was working from home (don’t ask!).

Wednesday started with me dealing with 'safeguard login issues', the ‘dish washer repair’ man (I got angry again because he wouldn’t guarantee me a weekend appointment! Damn anger issues!) And then barrels of laughs and silliness as amazing company made dinner at UMU a calming change. Tee had arranged for us to do the 'evening -sup' with her hugely funny publisher, astute business man and ‘certified foodie’ friend. UMU was fantastic as O and I got acquainted with Tee’s friend (it definitely made up for not getting a table at Nobu). To me he was Big Dee! BD had a love and knowledge of food and business that was extremely gratifying, not to speak of a wisdom that dug depths… The Wagyu beef, varieties of sushi, exaggerated bursts of artistic spreads and the drinks (Gosh my drink must have been spelt ‘hamakito whayiyaka’ it sure tasted like it threw a punch, I've probably just cursed some more) O’s was much verbally easier on the palette, ‘a Haketo or a Hajito’ (basically it was a mojito with sake, fantastic!) but BD’s, ‘matter of fact’ way of speaking and ‘larger than life’ attitude stole the evening. A little after midnight, I sank into a deep, deep sleep…

I woke up  this morning to Tee, already awake and doing business, Gosh! Her energy… It’s unreal!
Tonight TD, my number 1 mentor is finally in town, yaay!! And its dinner at the ‘Mango Tree’ or ‘Thai Thai’, with a couple of his friends and i'm bringing Tee of course!, Yup! That’s TD for you, all angles covered (interestingly enough he introduced me to the 'Hak'). I head to Pall Mall, the institute of Directors to meet with them at 6… *note to self*, ensure Tee has directions…

I’m writing again, yaay! (Forgive the rustiness please) It must have been Rashelle’s e mail, the smell of London again eagerly reminding me of my one true love, the artistic candour in which the food at UMU was displayed or Andrew Kaufman’s; ‘all my friends are superheros’ or maybe all of the above or maybe just the fact that I’m still expecting 18 fabulous cupcakes; Bryce’s belated birthday pressie or maybe just that I am getting better… as I lay my proverbial pen to rest, I can’t help but think life is fantastic, I love London again and the world is perfect sans my anger issues… Damn! I sent my ex an angry text last night again! (ok! Maybe a few… tee hee… Gosh! I am angry…). 'Now! Where are the damn Humming Bird Cakes, 11-17:00??? Aaaarrgghhh! Ottolenghi is nearer!'…

Guest Blogger, my lady, miss Kiki next... I am extremely excited , she's fantastic ...

SATC keeps me focused...

I winced in pain from being so tired this morning; I cried (actual tears). Gosh! I felt my body aggressively plead for me to stay in. Ignoring (I’m a contractor!); I unwillingly embarked upon what eventually turned out to be an hour’s and a half 'prep of perfection' for work; London didn't need to know I was tired. Yesterday was so bad! I actually fell asleep at my desk! Good God!...


I gently reflected on the past week. My thoughts grazing steadily on the hazy, week-long attempt at settling into my new apartment, a huge make up purchase (hey blame Lancôme… its fab stuff!), a trip to one of my ladies; (the hairdresser), the cup-cake order, I'd placed with Vickii (anyone who can boast of better cakes than hummingbird and can produce 'a mojito-flavoured cupcake' is a winner with me- hmm! will let you know, I'm expecting they'll be fantastic), the beautiful dinner with him and lame stabs at Rodney Yee’s power yoga, (give me some credit for sweating) at the start of the week.

I got in about 18:30 after a brief stop at Tesco’s’, rearranged my bathroom closets, hung up laundry and tidied the flat. The rationale being I had a cleaner coming in on Sunday morning and needed to ensure things were a certain way so that she’ll keep them that way (My devious plan was to also create more time for her to finish the ironing within the stipulated 3 hrs:)). Friends over on Saturday also meant it had to look reasonably clean; pizza, beer, great conversation and wine feels like the only sane way to claw back from this crazily, insane week and I love entertaining.

My reflections had actually begun their 'somewhat immense botherings' yesterday; being so physically tired meant I felt crap mentally. I couldn’t even piece together the minutest of details, my focus was shot!  Neck gagged like a ‘processing bottleneck’! that was all okay! at least manageable until my confidence levels began to drop. God NO! Now that couldn’t happen, I clearly needed to get back in focus and reallign with the inner me. I was totally misallinged; deharmonised, internal ying-yang virtually gone.

The much needed ‘me-time’ began with an intense hour long regeneration to my face, deep pore cleansing, ‘black heads’ being annihilated, invigorating treatments and microdermabrasion (Body Shop vitamin C polisher highly recommended!). Gosh! I love Lancôme! (Body shop is great but it doesn't come close)... at the end of it my skin felt clean. Dinner! We had a no carbs after 20:00 rule; so a couple of frankfurters, some left over steak and SATC 1 (the movie), I settled in comfortably on the living room sofa, duvet wrapped around tightly!.

It was the umpteenth time I was seeing it but it always made me cry. I cried when Carrie and Big decided to get married, I cried when Big left Carrie at the library, I cried when Carrie did the Vogue Bridal shoot, I cried when Louise came into Carrie’s life, I cried when Big proposed, I cried when he took her out of City hall and her friends were waiting, I cried at pretty much every scene; Gosh! When Charlotte found out she was pregnant, when Miranda and Steve fell out and when they got back, when Samantha broke up with Smith because she wanted to focus on the relationship with herself… and then I laughed so hard when Charlotte ‘shit’ herself and then when Samantha got fat from her new night time hobby. It was fantastic all round- again!

It did make me wonder about me; (I did say I was self-involved:)) had I come to London for the 2 Ls’ too? I had already developed a strong love for Labels… hmmm! Love… we’ll see about that one!
I wanted my own girlfriends, you know the group that looks fab constantly,  that goes to London Fashion Week every year, looks out for each other, has amazing dinners and lunches, gives each other great celebratory toasts and never kisses and tells… does it really exist?

Tonight however, I’m going to be watching SATC again, this time the series, for as long as my weary eyes can cope, really excited about Saturday and next week;

Monday sees me to Selfridges with George and Angeliki; yaay! for my LV gallieria GM in Damier Azur and some well deserved cuts from the food hall (hey! the meats are hung for 28 days) from the food hall; lush!!!. Tuesday; Zumba, Wednesday; I meet with Akua as we discuss Ivanaa collaborating with the Rhian Benson expose, Thursday, I have got to meet with my darling cousin, Fedmund!, might be able to do some business with him… Friday! Another SATC ‘me –time’… It does keep me focused! :)... Oh and 'Sky' (finally!) and my paintings come in the morning... Fab!!!!!!... Oh and ofcourse, I've got to start reading 'The Carrie Diaries'... Still Physically tired but mentally I'm rejuvenated... well now I have 'a journey' class to head to... have a fantastic w/end people!

A

xxx

*Musco I'm still watching you! he he!

No one gives a monkey's...

Gosh! I’ve missed this place…

As a contractor I really don’t understand strikes. My work life is heavily defined; I miss one day of work and I lose hundreds of pounds, it’s that simple. The London underground’s declared 24hr strike meant that I was going to work from home today; it also meant I could meet with the electrician (dishwasher was tripping sockets up all weekend) and I could catch one of my revered movies while working. Aaah! It also meant I needed the Internet; thankfully my blackberry doubles up as a modem, phenomenal, joke’s on you SKY! Ha!
I wish I hadn’t spent half of yesterday running around trying to find a ‘dongle’ or a laptop with a 3G data card in it or trying to convince SKY to sort me out today to no avail, my appointment was Saturday and it was staying Saturday!… Pssshhh!

I really want to blog about the move (I LOVE my apartment btw), Gosh! Lushh! Or about how I smiled smugly all the way to work yesterday until I got to the front of my work building and realised I’d left my ‘laptop’ at home (oh Vodafone IT saved me the shame) , or the myriad of pressure, anxiety and constant worry I’ve been wrapped in over the last few days. I’m definitely not moving anytime soon! this was hard work…
Anyways back to ‘working from home’ ; the movie I decided to watch was Chris Gardener’s ‘pursuit of happyness’, I’d seen it once last year and I’m elated but Gardner's thought pattern through the journey was what got me.
Someone said to me yesterday; ‘you should be careful what you put on your blog’… I can’t even begin to tell you how sick it made me… No! Not this time, not again! I do not care. All my life I’ve been plagued by someone or the other’s idea of normalcy. This is not a diatribe, although I did consider doing a really strong harangue..., what was the point in feeding it?

I really don’t know about anyone else but at 30, I’ve finally begun to understand and accept myself for whom and what I am. I’m Ade , quirky, cute as hell Ade, eccentric, I like to talk, I am shy sometimes, I’m intrigued by sex, Manolos, Louis Vuitton and jimmy choo, I like to make friends (I love gay men, they're fantastic), I love to love and give and build and encourage, I love the finer things of life, I love God like crazy!, I am sometimes emotionally erratic, I hate one night stands!, I’m straight talking, I will tell you how I feel, I work very hard, I’ve paid my dues, I forget birthdays but I’m a great friend, I'm an engineer, I’ve had some amazing experiences and I’ve been through my ugly, I’m soppy most times but don’t appear it at the first meet, I never listen, I argue, I’m self involved sometimes and selfless at others, I’m pretentious… but I’m me and I love being me… I have no apologies… won't life be sad if I was you or we were all the same person?

I think my friends have finally realised that M.H being obsessed with white chicks is not my idea of conversation (please don’t ask) neither is MJ's glutothaione use or Rihana's bleaching habit... who's it killing? are they bleaching your skin or theirs? Gosh! . I’m too busy trying to manage my own life, I simply haven’t got the time to discuss how or who ‘shot the sheriff’ or ‘slew the cat’, or who wrote what on FB or twitter or blogger (besides these applications were created to contain the narcissistic nature of man so let people do what they want and trust me I know, I work in User Experience, we talk twitter, fb and whatever other narcissistic applications exist pretty much all day!). I only refrain from keeping people with more than 2,000 friends on my FB because they tend to dominate my feed :( … I already have a filter problem and I loathe people adding my pretty girlfriends on FB when they have no clue who they are, damn sexual predators!…

I love writing and I’m good at it, the last thing I want to do is to begin to see this as stressful. (I write for me and will definitely go insane if I don’t get my thoughts out) Gosh! I live alone…
So for all my silent readers; if you somewhat have a preconceived idea of what a Nigerian woman should be or even worse you thought you knew me; we clearly have an issue, so my advise is don’t read my blog!. I’m a PS3 playing 291/2 year old lady, who very desperately wants Carrie Bradshaw’s life and my own BIG… therefore you, will read about fab events and my adventures… that is my idea of life, liberty and my personal pursuit of happiness. At this age I want to have enabling conversations, not hear 'someone is talking about me', I don't care really. The only gossip I'm interested in is gossip about a guy I like and btw its my responsibility to find out about him (he might be an axe murderer or an absolute dick head)... If less than a third of my life is enough to make some silly person talk smack, then I do not care... I'm not taking responsibility for it... I love writing, why do we feel the need to 'dirty' everything!!!

I guess it did evolve into a diatribe, sorry:(… this was somehow supposed to tie in with the declaration of Independence and Jefferson’s statement on the pursuit of happiness, but I think I'm too angry!… I didn’t quite make that happen, right? *sigh*. I guess the thing to note is the ability I possess to wave my hands in the air as crazily as I want stops at your freedom to not get slapped!...

Had a fantastic evening with him last night, dinner and really cool conversation… Ade might just be swooning! Oh and some amazing white wine… can’t think what it was called now!
*he makes me weak at the knees and spoils me like crazy… hmmm!... next week... shopping with G and A at Selfridges and then Zumba... can't wait... I spent 45 mins underground today, bloody met line... sorry I'll be less uncouth tomorrow... or next week!