"Tick says the clock, tick, tick! What you have to do, do quick!" This is what's currently resounding in my head as I type this post because I was supposed to do this like a week ago. Oh well, I'm here now. Forgive me though. How have you been? Let's face it, the year is gone already. I'm no longer surprised at how fast October zoomed off...time is on a jet plane after all.

In my last post here I mentioned something about my outfit causing a quarrel at home. So I'm here to tell you what really happened and to also know your take on the issue.  



If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that I just recently started my fashion/style segment. For my shoots, I usually meet up with my friend who takes me pictures at a location that's approximately 20 minutes away from home. Now, on this day, I wore a pair of dungarees and was ready to set out. My mum was home at the time and as usual, she had something to say about my outfit. In her words, "Is this thing not too short?" My response, "No, it's not". And a "hmmmm" followed. I knew trouble was lurking around closely but I chose to ignore because I knew what I had on was decent enough.



When I got back home, the showdown began. My mum was furious that I actually went out wearing what I wore and that I should be weary about what 'people' would say. Then my dad chipped in and said that there was nothing absolutely wrong with my outfit and it was quite a debate that evening that left me in tears.

Now, I'm not one to show skin(cleavage, a little bit of boobs/side boobs) and to me, that's decent enough. I have nothing against shorts as I have quite a few of them coz I feel there's no harm in showing a bit of my legs. It took me years to build my self confidence as regards my legs and now, I'm at this level where I'm very comfortable showing them off.

What really is the benchmark for decency? Does it mean that I'm an irresponsible person for showing a bit of legs or is this just a major stereotype among quite a huge number of African parents playing out here?  Or is this one of those things you have to endure while staying with your parents in your mid twenties? Because, really, I felt like a teenager who was being scolded for having bad grades in school on that particular day.

I have my reservations but let me save them for another day. Please let me know what you think in the comments section. I'm looking forward to your opinions on this.

See you in November.
xo, Evita.

Hey lovelies! How's your weekend going? I got to watch one EPL game today and it was fun. I used to be a huge football fan but I lost interest somewhere along the line. I still enjoy the game but I'm not so keen on knowing what's really going on with my club (Manchester United) and the rest. Oh well...

I've always loved dungarees because of the ease of styling and the comfort it gives. So I immediately jumped at this corduroy pair when I saw it mainly because of the front pockets!







I initially wanted to wear a white off shoulder top in it but decided to go for a graphic tee instead. Dungarees can be paired with almost anything...depends on your preference. I chose to go with my black sneakers with a touch of gold to compliment the buttons and zip on my dungarees. I could have probably used red sneakers for a pop of colour but I wanted a more monochromatic look.

So tell me, how would you style a pair of dungarees? Do you like how I styled mine? I always look forward to your feedback.

PS; The length of my dungarees caused a major quarrel at home and I'll talk about that in my next post.

I'll be back soon. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
xo, Evita.

Hey guys! How's your week going and how was your weekend? Did you get to hangout with friends, attend a wedding or spend time with family? Speaking of weddings, I haven't attended any this year. Weird? I'm not much of a wedding person except it's that of a family member or a really close friend. Well, I have one coming up next month and I'm super excited because I'm one of the bridesmaids. I'm not weird after all.lol.

My dad loves to experiment in the kitchen. He comes up with sometimes, awkward food combinations and when he's in the zone, we just leave the kitchen for him to work his magic. One Sunday, on his way back from an evening stroll he brought home cocoyams.



 Myself and my mum gave each other this "he has come again" type of look and giggled. Normally, we eat yam, potatoes and plantain but cocoyam? Unless it's supposed to be used as a thickener for soup, then it wasn't needed. So, my dad told me to peel some of it and boil just like you'd boil yam and I did. Then he said we were going to eat it with palm oil and I said, 'huh? cocoyam and palm oil? when it's not yam.' And he responded, 'try it first'. I indeed tried it and it tasted really nice. It had this unique taste that you'd never notice when it's used as a thickener.

Now, my mind had already been tuned to the fact that cocoyams are nowhere on the same level as yams because my immediate environment made me feel so.The next time you visit an open air market, check out where cocoyams are placed and compare with that of yams. It'll become clear to you that indeed, there's some discrimination going on. Even in some African cultures, cocoyams are looked down upon because they are seen as inferior crops and were mostly planted by women. While yams are the big boys because they require more work to cultivate and harvest. If you've read "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe then you would understand better.

Unknowingly to some of us, cocoyam is more nutritious than yam as it's packed with more nutrients, fiber and vitamins. It's also good for weight loss as opposed to yam. In fact, it's a healthier and cheaper alternative to yam. So, this got me thinking, do we take more pride in eating certain foods because of how they've been presented to us over time?
Have you had a similar experience like mine with some other food?
And what crop do you also think is being discriminated against?

It's always a pleasure reading your feedback. Please do well to leave me your comments.

I'll be back soon.
xo, Evita.

Hi guys!! How's your week going and hope you're in good health? This post was supposed to go up last week but I don't even know what happened. Anyhow, I'm here now so let's go right into it.

Last month, I started my bookclub and our first read was 'The Icarus Girl' by Helen Oyeyemi which was published in 2006. I chose this book because I stumbled across some reviews of Helen's work and I was quite impressed. 'The Icarus Girl' happens to be her first book and she was 19 years old at the time it was published.



This book is about an 8 year old girl named Jessamy (Jess), born to an English father and a Nigerian mother. She struggles with issues of isolation, race and a very wild imagination which makes her somber, withdrawn and often results in tantrums.

For the first time, Jessamy visits Nigeria with her parents to see her mother's relatives which turned out to be a life changing experience for her. Here, she meets a girl her age named Titiola, whom she nicknamed TillyTilly. They become fast friends and TillyTilly embraces Jess which made her feel less weird and very comfortable with her. It happens that TillyTilly is either a ghost or an imaginary friend of Jess who has come to life because she's only seen and heard by Jess alone.

On returning to England, TillyTilly appears at Jess's doorstep on the day she resumed school and their friendship was continued. Now, who is TillyTilly exactly? Based on her supernatural abilities like being able to open locked doors without keys and sitting in the midst of people without being seen, I concluded that she's indeed a ghost and not just a mere fragment of Jess's imagination. Later on, it was shown that Jess was a twin who had lost her twin sister during birth. This sheds more light on the appearances and being of TillyTilly whom I dubbed to be Jess's dead twin, given the fact that in her mother's native Yoruba culture, twins have a certain powerful bond.

The first 6 chapters of this book held me spellbound but along the line, it all became flat right up to the end. TillyTilly's struggle to wreck havoc in Jess's life became quite boring as she kept tormenting Jess to a rather rushed and abrupt end.

I was expecting to see more of a comparison of both English and Nigerian cultures between Jess's parents as they dealt with her emotional and psychological problems but this was poorly represented throughout the book. The author tried to capture the mythology of twins in Yoruba culture but it got mixed up till the very end.

A member of my bookclub said she found the book entirely boring and would never again pick it up.lol. I would say the same except that the story started really well but lost its whole essence somewhere in the middle. Would I read it again? I think not. But I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it except that you might find the end a bit disappointing.

Although, I must say Helen is a good writer. For the fact that this is her debut novel, her writing style is impressive and I would want to read other books written by her.


So, our book for October is, 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky and by God's grace, I'll share my thoughts on it by the first week of November. Feel free to join the club. New members are very much welcome.

If you've read 'The Icarus Girl', please share your thoughts with me in the comment's section, It's always a pleasure reading your feedback. And also, if you have any book recommendation(s), let me know as well.

Do enjoy the rest of your week.
xo, Evita.

Hi guys! A happy new month to you! And happy Independence Day to all my fellow Nigerians in the house. Wow! October already. God is too good. So what's been happening with you? Hope you had a super productive week. I was down with a little fever during the week but nothing really major. I'm very well now.



I know a lot of us as Nigerians are not particularly happy as we mark yet another year as a nation. I have my grievances as well but then, it's my country. No matter where I find myself in this planet earth, I still remain a Nigerian. It's innate, nobody can take that away from me.

As much as our leaders are doing a very good job at doing the wrong things so well. I refuse to let these things weigh me down. Yes, we are in a recession and things have become so difficult for majority of the population. Some have even committed suicide in the process because they couldn't handle the hardship and frustration. It's sad.


It definitely hurts when someone promises to give you the world and transform your life for the better and only for them along the way begin telling you stories of how they won't be able to do as much as they promised, Stories that touch (like we say here in Nigeria) It's no news that our leaders do not care for us. That's the painful truth. We all know they assume(d) office not to serve but for personal gains and selfish interests.Sadly, this is not what our founding fathers had in mind when they agitated for our independence 56 years ago. And I'm quite positive that the likes of Herbert Macaulay. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo and Sir Tafawa Belewa have frowns on their faces wherever they are. It's like helplessly watching your child go astray. As much as we have a lot to be angry and sad about, today, I choose to see the good and positive side of my country.



Can we just take a moment to appreciate Nigerian food, especially Nigerian jollof?! Look, when I think about egusi soup and eba or pounded yam, it helps to brighten up a seemingly bad day. Or is it my ever faithful banga soup and starch? What about ijebu garri and groundnut, moiomoi, akara, amala and ewedu, afang soup, ofe nsala...the list is endless! In the food department we are overly blessed. Let me not even go into our human and natural resources. We know where we stand.



We are a strong and happy people, One thing the whole world knows about us is that we are able to smile and laugh out so loud in the most awkward and unbelievably difficult situations. It's amazing how we cope. Talk about resilience. No matter how angry and upset we are with our leaders, remember that we are also an integral part of Nigeria. Let's keep our head up and forge ahead. I choose not to give up on my country. It will get better. I remain hopeful, I remain green and that's something that would never change, We remain green. I am a proud Nigerian. Are you? Happy Independence Day my people! God bless us.

Have yourselves a fun filled weekend.
xo, Evita.