CaramelD
Just in case you all don't know what I'm talking about, two of our very own got married quite recently and Blogsville has been full of puns like:
Siriusly Freaky
Freakishly Sirius ( my favourite).

Freaksho married ~Sirius~ and it was beautiful.

Now every good story needs to start at the beginning but ermm quite frankly they might kill me. So I will skip a few details (but shah check on me in a week's time to make sure I'm still breathing). So Sirius came into my life when I was 14(ish) and I was later blessed to be able to have her as my landlady while I served in NYSC. That was when she met her future hubby (ohhhh hehehehe).

Now let's get this straight, the girl is one of the most beautiful people you could ever meet both inside and out, so of course there were some young gentlemen hanging around but my money has always been on Freaksho and see I backed the winner :) When the time was right and he proposed and she said yes, there was plenty of screaming and clapping (and that was just me) and so I settled down for some serious wedding planning.

That's when the emails and IM's started.


S: Caramel, I don't want a bridal train or anything like that.
C: Yup that's cool, nice and simple.

S: Caramel, I think we might be getting married in the middle of the week.
C: Huh?

S: Caramel I want a small wedding, 100 people max.
C: Are you crazy? In Lagos? Never!

But here is the topic that actually raised my BP and it wasn't even from the bride....

F: I'm not wearing a tie and I'm not wearing any flowers in my button hole. (Something something about it not being manly, I can't recall because at this point I was feeling faint)
C: Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? What do you mean no tie? You're the groom!!!!


Now, anyone that reads this blog regularly knows that in the past two years I have been in a wedding/bridesmaid explosion and I have suffered for it. You can get a bit fed up with the pomp and circumstance of it all but come on! I had to protest!

Yet these two were serious and this is why they suit! Sirius is so laid back she is nearly horizontal. She doesn't let things agitate her normally and she definitely avoids drama. Freaksho is such a geek, he is weird to the point of cool. These two do not do convention. In fact as I'm typing this I wonder why I was actually surprised.

So they planned and they stuck to their guns which is no easy feat when your parentals are on your case and EVERYONE has an opinion. I flew home to see two people I care about get hitched, as long as it wasn't on a rope bridge over a snake pit I was ready for the ride.

And it was beautiful.

Apart from the beginning where Freaksho looked stressed because we were only 9 minutes late (Dude, most brides average being an hour late), there wasn't a frowning face the whole day. Everyone knew someone, no one was lost in a crowd, and all eyes were on the couple who spent the whole day grinning.

I didn't miss the high table, I didn't miss the hall decorations, band, DJ, MC and over inflated ego boosting that happens at Naija weddings. Instead we had a room full of people overlooking a peaceful view of Lagos, with kick ass food, who were free to walk around and chat and kiss the bride and shake the groom's hand.

They actually pulled it off! In Lagos!

Freaksho did wear the red rose flower buttonhole though, thank God ;)

A note about meeting fellow Bloggers.

They never look like what you think they will.
Incoherent is a sparkling fizzing ball of energy with big brown Bambi eyes and eloquent hands.
Muse looks like what I think Igbo warriors of old would like back in the day. All brawn and such. I thought men who write such great poetry would be tortured souls that exist on air and coffee!
Rita does not look like her picture! I'm sorry Rita it is true. Take the picture down. You are getting younger not older (who did you bribe up there for such good fortune with your face??)
Finally I think I scared Laide (XSN) because I swooped on her like a crazed fan and forgot she hadn't actually met me before. Sorry Laide!


To Freaksho and ~Sirius~, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I know great things are going to come from your union. I feel it and I know it and I can't wait to see it.

Love always x

____________________________________________________

Update y'all!

I have been granted permission to clear up small confusion that came via my inbox ; carameldelightinc@yahoo.co.uk (holla!!).

Freaksho and ~Sirius~ didn't meet on Blogger. Oya lemme gist you small.
While she was waiting for her call up letter for NYSC, Sirius was working at a very sexy magazine and Freaksho was at an advertising firm (oh full of fine dangerous men LMAO). See eh when I leave for work to go to my asset management office and Sirius leaves to go to her magazine, what we are wearing is completely different. I would mostly be conservative and classy. Sirius would be classy and sizzling hot!!!!! She put the 'P' in pencil skirt!

So I don't know what she did to Freaksho when she walked into his office to collect artwork for his company's ad in her magazine but I can hazard a guess! LMAO!!!!!!! For real though the guy had to work hard. Sirius doesn't send.

Case in point. Their first 'date'. I think that Freaksho had asked for a double date movie thing so that there would be no pressure. So far so good right? Well my girl brought me and another friend and we arrived about 50 minutes late. We missed the original movie and got stuck with Rush Hour 8 or something and Freaksho hated the movie choice (he still won't forgive me for picking it). So instead of a cosy foursome, it was five people watching a 'bad' movie, then Sirius makes sure that she wasn't even near him and spent the whole movie texting on her phone! Chai!

Well he hung in there............ isn't life grand?
CaramelD
Thank God for journey mercies oh! I came back on Saturday and I had been on 6 different flights so I really have to thank God because that is 12 different times of taking off and landing which is when your plane is under the most stress and more likely to blow up (yes I thought about that every time!!)

OK let me tell you all the fab stuff about my trip. First was hugs and kisses. From family and friends. My brother and little cousins are growing so fast, my friends are so glamorous and handsome and my cousins and aunts/uncles are shiny and glowing. I loved seeing each and everyone of them. And for the first time in my adult life all I heard was "you are looking so good Caramel, keep it up". Jehovah! That was a really big deal for me!

Second fab stuff. My new house!!! It was the first time I got to see it 90% completed. All my life in my home town we had been in my Grandfather's palace. Where your business is every one's concern and you walk around in the same compound as hooligans who are trying to kill your Father and there is nothing you could do about it because it was their home too. But now ehen, Caramel has her own room with en suite so I can walk around in my knickers and jump on my bed and it was all good. The house is freaking huge though, cleaning it lost me 3 kg in one week!

Third fab stuff. My sweetheart's wedding which is the main reason I flew home in the first place. I was soooooooo happy seeing the couple together, it was ridiculous. Exclusive gist is coming! I will write a post about that later because it was quite revolutionary for a Nigerian wedding.

Last fab stuff. Ube! Yes oh, you heard me! African pear and corn! I ate ube like it was going out of fashion. My tongue was perpetually green. If you analyse my blood it will be just ube, corn and coconut :)

Not so fab stuff (NSFS)

NSFS one. I was haunted by ghosts of lovers past. I had one who I have previously called Party Boy, explain to me that why he vanished for four months while I was doing my NYSC was because he felt we were getting too serious and he didn't want to hurt me so he decided in his infinite wisdom, to vanish off the face of the earth, cause me untold worry and increase my BP so as to cool down our romance and keep us just at friends level. Have you ever heard such BS?! The ear bashing I gave him is too long for this post. He apologised and said he didn't want to be an ex boyfriend who I would think of as an asshole but I had to reply that that was what he ended up being anyway. Anyway old gist. I have no beef for the guy, and there is still mad chemistry between us BUT my life is too short. I did tell him to review how he treats women though cos his policies have serious K leg!!

Also Baked Beans sister told me that he really likes me, crazy about me, and always talks to her about me and goes into a bad mood when we used to argue etc etc. Pekele pekele! Tales by moonlight! Are we talking about the Ice Prince of Anambra State? The one guy who was still calling me a friend with his last breath. She said it was all smoke and mirrors. True as that maybe it still doesn't change anything. Gave me food for thought though. These men in my life and their stories. Saying one thing and meaning another. I wish I had a guy who would look me in the face and talk straight for once with no games or egos.

NSFS two. I didn't get time to be anyone other than Caramel the sister, daughter and niece. I had worked my butt off at home especially with looking after my 98 yr old Grandma who needs help with personal care and feeding etc (OMG where was BSNC for advice???) that I had been looking forward to letting my hair down in Lagos. Unfortunately through bizarre bad luck I missed my flight and didn't make it back to Lagos till Monday. Missed my sweetheart's bridal shower over the weekend! I was also meant to meet some friends but that never happened either and I had been looking forward to that so much. There must be a reason I don't know yet. Maybe if I had gone out on Saturday I would have ended up being some Sultan's 18th wife in Saudi Arabia.......who knows? LMAO!!!

So questions to help me answer.....

1. Why are women spending N150 000 on fake hair?
2. Why is there a new roundabout on the Lekki express way?
3. Why did FIFA give Nigeria a football ban?
4. How does my Aunty get her puff puff so light and airy?
5. Why does my cooking taste better in Nigeria?
6. What good luck was on my side to make me get my foodstuff past customs in Heathrow? LMAO!!!!
CaramelD

I will be on my way to Naija. Guess what my airport reading of choice is.... Yup! It came in the post this morning. I told Myne that I most have it before I travel. I'm trying to respect myself and not start it yet but it is so hard!
I'm waiting for the day when I travel home without the normal mixture of joy and worry. Joy because you will see loved ones, worry about packing.
So ridiculous. The pressure I put myself under, do I have all my make up and toiletries? Enough shoes? 'Gifts' to give people? In fact that one is null and void. I am so broke it isn't even up for discussion. That won't stop people looking at your hand waiting for the present to magically appear LMAO!
Lord, they day I will fly home without stress. The day I will fly home without half my baggage allowance being hijacked by my Mother..... :)
The good thing about Blogger is that you can say stuff you can't say normally so here goes....THE NEXT PERSON THAT SAYS DON'T COME BACK WITHOUT A HUSBAND IS GOING TO GET SLAPPED!
Aaaaaaaah better.
I tell you, I can't wait for the sunshine! Real African sunshine that will roast you like boli! We have been deprived here oh, to the point that one of my students called me a Latino. Chai!
I also can't wait to see my family and friends and give them a big hug! Phone calls only go so far jo! I must also go to the beach and the movies so that people can clap when the movie ends hahahaha!
PS My blog is going to be three next month, any ideas on how I can mark the occassion?

CaramelD
1. I love books! Love them die! If I don not have a book in my handbag, I get very very cranky. Agatha Christie is my favourite of all time, but I love so many genres. If I start discussing it now, the post won't finish. From when I was a little girl, books were my daily companion for an only child. From your room you could be transported to any continent, any era, any adventure. Bliss!







2. Jaffa Cakes (for those that don't know) are miniature sponge bases with orange and dark chocolate on top. It is a dieting person's dream because it is the most nonlethal of treats and covers your chocolate craving as well. Warning: even though it is 1g of fat per cake that doesn't mean you should finish the packet!




3. I'm a Catholic and I am so very lucky to have my office on the doorstep of our main cathedral, Westminster Cathedral. It is so beautiful and an oasis of peace in the middle of crazy London. When things get too much I like to pop in for mass or to just sit and gather myself.






4. Handbags, shoes, earrings, rings, hair clips, necklaces! Name it and be sure that Caramel loves it. Let me tell you, the clothes are just the beginning. I am not dressed until I have added something else, somewhere! Some times I just like adding a flower to my hair just to perk me up! I do wander a bit too much into the Accessorize store near my office but I have started respecting myself as money no dey!



5. Zumba! The best thing that has happened to my weight loss program. For one hour straight, you dance like a mad person and watch the calories fall off. You may think that you are dancing any old way but each swivel, twist and shake is targeting a specific part of your body. If you hate exercise but love dancing and music, then give it a go. I promise you WILL NOT be disappointed.





6. Fake hair is not just a convenience for me, it is also a form of self expression and art. I have natural hair and it needs safeguarding so trust me, no one will be seeing it any time soon.





7. Period and costume dramas have some kind of hold over me. I enjoy reading classic literature to be sure, but when someone takes their time and adapts it to the screen, then I'm hooked. I get very annoyed when producers don't stick to the spirit of the story and just do whatever they want with a couple of people in bonnets and cravats! But the BBC are legends! They use only the very best and it shows in their work. For example, in Pride & Prejudice, the actresses were not allowed to use mascara as it had not been invented then!




8. I never liked online shopping but now as I don't have much time outside work, it has become my saviour. Click, click, compare prices and then pay. End of story.








9. It isn't just the drinking of tea, there is also something very soothing about going through the rituals of making tea as well. Many a problem has been hashed out over a cup of some kind of tea in my adult years. My friend got me hooked in university and now I can't get enough of the stuff. Growing up, I would make tea for my parents and take it up stairs and we would talk about what we had planned for the weekend or holidays. Definitely a tea drinking family :)




10. At university I remember going to a yoga class, just see what all the fuss was about. An hour later I was hurting and panting and realising this was some serious stuff mehn!!!! Yoga has helped my tummy go down, has built my upper body strength, and has kept me supple and limber. I'm very appreciative of that as working in an office five days a week can wreck your posture. I do Hatha Yoga and that has parts that will make your heart race so it is like cardio. One of the moves is reverse triangle which think is what those peeps are doing up there. See how you will start sweating eh! Chai! Meanwhile there will be a 60 year old woman next to you not batting an eyelid and looking like she is 35!

Thanks Lucidlilith for tagging me :) Anyone that wants to do, have a go, it's fun! Makes you remember good stuff.



















CaramelD
I have another post, a meme Lucidlilith tagged me on ages ago but the more I wrote that one, the more I just had to write about the dream I had last night.

I have dreams all the time, mostly random rubbish that I don't remember. I have the odd freaky premonition dreams about loved ones and they are always negative and turn out to be true. Last night's one was different. I dreamt about a man. I don't remember his face but I believe it's someone I have never met before because surely I would have recognised him.

So from what I can remember I'm at a work function and we are all dressed up but I'm still working (happens a lot). The difference is I'm in an evening gown but I still have my notepad and big camera. So mystery man is shadowing me like you do when you are on work experience or something. He knows my manager (called her by name) but I know he is not a colleague.

The whole evening looks like a fashion show gala put together by our students but instead of normal teenagers from my college the 'students' are my old girls from my FGGC school! Random!! Anyways the whole evening, mystery man is helping me work but we snipe at each other all the time and he is winding me up and getting better interviews and quotes than I am, so I should be annoyed but I'm enjoying his company.

What I do recall clearly is that even when we stop working, he still sits with me and won't let anyone draw him away and he kissed me twice . Short, quick and by surprise. I can't remember how the dream ends, but why I'm even writing this down is the feeling I had when I woke up.

Such contentment and happiness.

Now it could have been my new double bed with new springy mattress, or the ibruprofen I took because I hurt myself in the gym last night, but I doubt it. The feeling of pure undiluted happiness I had in the first two minutes of waking up, I am sad to say I have not felt in 'real' life for a very long time. The dream itself wasn't all that if we are relying purely on content (two short kisses? pah! I've had better fantasy dreams that could make your computer screen crack) so was it this human being thatI have never met before?

If we are going all spiritual and that is 'The One', well he was defintely not my type. Looked nothing like anyone I have gone gaga for in the past. I wish I could remember his face! The more I think about it the more a veil drops over the whole thing. Puzzling, huh?
CaramelD

Praise be to the Lord!!!!!

After six months and ten days of homelessness, we finally moved in to our new house over the weekend. My body hurts but my heart is happy. Obviously our new home looks like a war zone but we have a clear path to the bathroom, kitchen and our beds and for now that is all that matters :)

May God bless you guys for your empathy and concern. For your viewing pleasure I present to you my little cousin in his thanksgiving video for our new house. PS sorry about the wobbly video I was dancing as well while filming.

CaramelD

Superted is a children's tv superhero of my youth. He was an abandoned toy bear who was given magic powers through cosmic dust or something.... can't remember. His sidekick was an alien called Spotty. A yellow man covered with spots.

I CURRENTLY LOOK LIKE SPOTTY.

For real. No honestly. The worst of the allergic reaction has passed and the antibiotics obviously worked but now my beautiful skin is hidden under a sprinkling of odd shaped circles. I hope it will fade but the question is when. I also believe that this is the mother of all mood killers. This is God trying to save my morality because there is no way I'm having any fun sessions with my Cuddle Buddy (copyright pending Caramel Delight 2010) with my skin looking like this, abeg!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend (for those that it reached shah).

PS Shame shame shame on Transport for London for working on no less that 9 tube lines this weekend!! How are we going to get around?

PPS Watch this space for some very good news coming soon [shhhhhhhhh].

PPPS Oh I lost a stone/6.5kg/14lbs. Two more stone to go! Go team. I shall not sprint like the hare, I shall walk slowly like the tortoise :)
CaramelD
How is that possible? At some point in the day my stomach can't be empty four times, surely! Anyway that is how the Doc told me to take the antibiotics she prescribed for the awful allergic reaction I got to who knows what during my friend's wedding weekend.

NOT SEXY !!!!!!!

She also gave me a cream to rub over all the spots but (as flexible as I am) I can't reach the ones on my back! So to all of you who just quarrelled with your significant other and nearly bashed them with the frying pan/remote control, at least you have someone to rub ointment on your back if you so needed.

OK moment of feeling sorry for myself is now over ;) Please pray for all the people who are directly or indirectly affected by this Icelandic volcanic ash cloud. See frustration everywhere, such a shame.

PS Now I thought living with ex-hottie wouldn't be an issue but it does have weird moments. He is hardly in during the week, but last weekend, I think it was Saturday really affected me jo. Me self, I have issues LOL!! I am grateful that I have somewhere to crash (so comfortably too, God will bless them Amen!) but I think talking to him about his wedding freaked me a little.


Ohhhhh I want to scratch so badly! Don't scratch!!!
CaramelD
Praise the Lord!!! Alleluia!!!

My friend's (read sister) wedding went off without a hitch. I have had this wedding on the brain for the past four months (plus homelessness), so it is nice to have one thing taken off my subconscious. All the emails, phonecalls, shopping trips, consultations and praying all came to fruition. We spent the weekend in Suffolk which is on the British coastline at a holiday home called the Old Neptune which was a converted inn. It had 12 bedrooms and two sitting rooms, dining rooms and kitchens. Check out the pics.....





One of my favourite rooms

The courtyard




My room.....


We sexied up the dining room with material and fake ivy from a hobbycraft store. Tres Martha Stewart.





The main sitting room with a giant working fireplace, I resisted the urge to roast a goat.






The biggest room, it had a sitting room and jacuzzi and sauna attached. Obviously for the newlyweds!





Now with regards to the title of the post. As an African couple, you can imagine that their decision to take only 24 people on a weekend getaway as their wedding did not go down well with a lot of people. Even though they are having a giant reception in their house when they get back from their honeymoon, people are still pissed off. Now aunties and uncles I get. What baffles me is some of the brides friends as well. She called everyone explained that they have bought a house as well and this is their dream wedding but still stories are reaching my ears of serious bitching.
It is because we are African!
I know so many white people who travel out all the time for their wedding and enjoy themselves without any drama. The crux of the whole thing was that it was such a good idea, everyone pitched in and had a good time especially not being in London. I want this white people life jo! By hook or by crook I'm going to start travelling out and not just to Naija!!
PS Of course, of course my period came on Friday! Na wa! My cycle is some kind of evil ninja! My lovely bridesmaid dress was now tight! Mschhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwww x 10.
PPS yes this now makes it my 7th bridesmaid gig. I am definitely going to write about that soon.
NEWSFLASH !!!!
I will be enjoying my second time of being a co-host on Verastically Speakin' this Saturday with Juicee Gal and Ray. If you can please tune in through the power of the Internet and give us a shout out. Our topic is "These are a few of my favourite hairs" (I'm giggling already). We will be talking about the female form and hair. The hair on your head both real and fake, the hair on your body and all the things we do to ourselves all in the name of keeping them at bay. Men should definitely tune in because half of this self torture is your fault ;)














CaramelD
I like living in one place and having things all nice and homely. I could tell you where my passport was in my desk drawer and that my sports bra hung on the back of my wardrobe door, I could even switch off my bed side light without looking at it. So still being homeless after 5 months is something of a personal nightmare.

After three unlucky strikes we are now on house 4 and if you see treachery eh! Chai! Don't trust estate agents (I'm sorry if that is you or your loved one's profession, but damn!). Our purchase of house 4 goes slowly and awkwardly along with no end in sight till maybe the end of April due to nit picking and stalling tactics. We have to leave my friend's house over the Easter weekend and that is also bringing up unforeseen problems. It's like you solve one problem and another one pops up.

Well as I'm typing this I'm eating toast and watching Scrubs and thinking about a cup of tea (I don't care if it is 1am.) Let's boil the kettle. As Sirius would say, "I can't shout." If the Children of Israel could wonder around for 40 years, I'm sure I can handle six months.


PS I'm crashing at ex-hottie's flat and I'm not even thinking about how weird that might be..... a lot sure can change in two years!