To Keep or give away...my self-designed dress

Hi friends, feels good to be back on the blogosphere. Been away for important personal reasons which I will definitely share later. Not sure of how frequently I would blog but I would if my schedule permits me as blogging is one of my favorite pastimes. I have missed all my blogmates. Wish I could mention names but I am kinda in a rush...sure you know yourselves; you are on my blog list. (...Smiling as I reminisce.)
...Mind jogging back to the main subject...

Take a look at this picture!

What do you think of the dress?

I actually designed it myself and instructed my tailor to be creative with the neckline and sleeves as my brain blanked out when I wanted to sketch those parts. I actually gave her an idea of what I wanted it to look like but she didn’t get it at all, not even a mile close. Thus, each time I pick up the dress, I look at the ruffles and smile; but as I raised my eyes up and see the neckline and sleeves, the smile dwindles into a slight scowl, tempting me to give out the dress. I have been feeling this way since the first time I tried the dress on. Some people do adore it; but when I compare it with what I initially pictured, giving it away comes to mind. My brother even suggested I sell it on OLX (funny...Seyi Law would love it though.)

On Saturday while combing my wardrobe for what to wear to church on Sunday, I stumbled upon my pink dress again and decided to wear it one more time before giving it away; hence, the pictures for remembrance sake.

 I don't know if you guys noticed the long chain?

 
 

I got it from Avon with a pair of matching earrings. It's a chandelier necklace which was worn by Fergie in the brochure. I placed my order and got it after a few weeks, though it came late. My colleague introduced me into the Avon clique and I am 'loving' their collections. It is my latest jewel; totally crazy about it. 

Staring at the pictures all over again, I could successfully pull off a cute rock chic look with a fitted black jacket and my pair of black Clarks leather boots.

Comments via BBM


Vicky the voice-Wow ur write up is great I think u are more of a good writer than a designer •pls send more...

Happy Birthday Nigeria! Happy Independence Nigerians!!

Happy Birthday Day Nigeria! I love u, love u, love u even with your numerous issues: ASUU on strike, boko haram, PHCN palava, unemployment, PDP, chop-alone-leaders, corruption-the father of all (but bros Jona said corruption is a perception...smh). 

Issues neva finish but I gast stop to say "Happy Independence and happy happy new month to all my fine peeps!! Love y'all!"

Please don't forget to like my Facebook page by clicking the Facebook like button on the left side bar or click to follow me on twitter @frediliamomodu One love!

Plan but do not worry!

Worry! Worry! Worry! A trait becoming of humans these days due to the rat race for power, money, wealth, status, class, fame, or for anything we consider important to fit into the present world's notion of 'successful'. We worry at different and every stage of our lives. 

When leaving primary school, we worry about the choice of secondary school. 

When leaving secondary school, we worry about the choice of university and the course to study. 

When leaving the university, worry about where we would be posted to for NYSC. 

When leaving the orientation camp, we worry about our place of primary assignment. 

After youth service, we worry about when we would get a job, the type of job, the salary and other related issues. 

After getting a job, we worry about promotion, better salary or benefits, or a better job.

After getting a better job, we worry about marriage especially the female folk. 

After marriage it's children, the sex of the child, their education...and the list is endless. 

We worry about almost, if not everything.

No incident is too small to take a cue from: I normally take food to work, breakfast and lunch because I am not a fan of buying food outside all the time especially when I can prepare mine. One evening on my way home from work, I got thinking, ''what food will I take to the office tomorrow?'' I started thinking of what we had in the house and what I could prepare with them. "I will cook rice...oh, no stew!" "Is there still vegetable?...daddy ate the last one last night." "There is yam...maybe I should buy eggs. Is there tomato sef?" "There is noodles yipee!...yuck I don't want noodles!"
"There is even Irish potatoes...nah, I don't have time to peel those things."
After racking my tired brain that was still trying to process how long I would spend in the traffic jam, I cautioned myself to stop thinking and take whatever I see when I get home. I got home and was preparing my dinner and my dad’s when my mum returned from work. She welcomed me with a gift bag from her friend whose daughter celebrated her birthday.  It contained a plastic pack of jollof rice with chicken and lacasera...and  guess what? My mum gave me her gift bag with everything in it, making it double!
Lucky me right? If I could see the future, I would not have bothered my brain by worrying and I guess God must have been shaking His head as I weighed all my food options.
(This incident actually inspired this blog post, it happened when I was still living life on the fast lane)

God has said it, do not worry about tomorrow, let tomorrow worry about itself. For today has enough worries of its own.  
By worrying you will not change a thing which God also confirmed. Instead, turn your worry into faith and trust. Have faith in God, trust Him that everything will be fine and it will be.

He didn’t say you should not work hard or plan; He said "don’t worry!" 

So plan with confidence believing that all will be fine. Do not try to accomplish a month's task in one week. Be realistic! Put in your best and leave the rest to God. 
In Proverbs, it is written "look straight ahead with honest confidence; don't hang your head in shame. Plan carefully what you do, and whatever you do will turn out right." With the aforementioned and looking at the story of Joseph in the Bible...you have absolutely no modicum of reason to worry about anything. You don't want to have high blood pressure because you are worrying unnecessarily, do you?

My quotes to learn from

When God says you will, you will. Fredilia Momodu    

...so why worry? A friend told me that there was a day she was so worried about her future that she was close to tears. She was to take JAMB exam for the second time and was feeling downcast. She has a passion for the art of makeup and bead making and wanted to go professional. I introduced her to a good friend who is a makeup artist and does bead-making and gele-tying. She was willing to train her at a very affordable price but her father refused, claiming she had to gain admission first. She said different thoughts were running through her mind, mostly negative. Then she decided to log on to Facebook to ease off. She said the first thing she saw was that quote, "When God says you will, you will. Fredilia Momodu" and it felt like God just patted her on her back. She said she was consoled immediately and chased away the negative thoughts with God's words. 

Right now, she has written the JAMB exam, she passed and is about to write the post UME. She has started learning the art of makeup and bead-making and I can bet my green and brown block-heeled peep-toes that worrying didn't have a role to play.

Click for more inspirational quotes...

So, enjoy each moment of your journey to success. When you fall, learn and rise up again. Commit your whole life to God. Learn to let go of the wheel and let God take the driver's seat. Do whatever you have to do (not bad things) to be who you want to be; but most importantly, do not worry...

Comments via Twitter
Rotimi Akinbiyi ‏@TimiFrost

@frediliamomodu It's very hard not to get even a lil bit worried these days. The key is to just put everything in God's hands. Nice post.

Ugochukwu lordkings ‏@lordkings90 6m

@frediliamomodu where in d world have I been? I just read this piece and I am so blessed thanks Freddy. @frediliamomodu u knw some1 once described worry as paying in advance for something that might neva happen.

Please don't forget to like my Facebook page by clicking the Facebook like button on the left side bar or click to follow me on twitter @frediliamomodu One love!

Inspirational quotes by Fredilia Momodu Happy new month!!!

Happy new month people!!! We made it to June!!! Hurray!!! Glory to God!!! 

All protocols duly observed...I noticed through my live traffic feed that a reader from the US checked out one of my past posts this morning What a great way to start a new month! Or what do you think?  This make me re-read the post and I got inspired all over again. You should check out the link too and get inspired. News and entertainment gists may go stale but inspiration doesn't. It is one of the reasons why I adore personal bloggers who take out time to creatively express themselves so we can become part of their lives. I must confess, it isn't easy but the passion and the love for it suffices plus your support. (I love you my readers!!!)

Part of the post 'What a great way to start a new month! Or what do you think?'  

Recently I told myself that I would make it a habit to read my bible every day. I made this resolution because I have been finding it difficult to commune with God like I used to when I was much younger. This is as a result of my busy schedule which I explained in one of my posts How to live life on the fast lane. 

It has actually been bothering me because I am nothing without God. He is the owner of my life, my strength, my protector, my provider, my everything and a strong relationship with Him is the best thing that can happen to any man. I had to put God as part of my plans as I am part of His. I made it a point of duty to study my bible every morning and I also subscribed to daily readings from ‘UCB Word for Today’. 

This morning when I woke up, I prayed and picked up my Bible. I opened to Psalm 5 and read the words. The last verse was ‘You bless those who obey you, Lord; your love protects them like a shield.’ I was overwhelmed and calmed by those words; they struck me. I asked God, “How can I obey you? I want you to always bless me and I want your love to always protect me like a shield” I closed my eyes and meditated on those precious words.

Then I resolved not to consciously do anything that my conscience tags as sin; to be the best I can be in all situations; to glorify God with all He has blessed me with; to thank Him in all situations; to always communicate with Him through prayers; to put Him first in my life; and to never lose faith in Him.

I felt really good afterwards and went on to read the ‘UCB Word for Today’. click the link to continue reading...

 
The title of this blog post says Inspirational quotes by Fredilia Momodu don't start  wondering, "where are the quotes? Is she sure she chose the right topic?" Here are the quotes:

*God reveals himself to us everyday in different ways, it takes a discerning spirit to see it. Fredilia Momodu   

*Plan, pray, work hard, believe but do not worry.  Fredilia Momodu 

*When God says you will, you will. Fredilia Momodu    

*Your success is not solely dependent on how hard you work, it also dependent on how God chooses to bless you. Either way, you still have to work. Fredilia Momodu 

*Worrying is just a pure waste of time. It does nothing but make you desperate, afraid and miserable. Fredilia Momodu

*Only God can give you that satisfaction you desire because our human wants are limitless. Fredilia Momodu 

*Do not give into the pressures of our fast paced world that you don’t pause to see how beautiful the world is.  Fredilia Momodu

*Let us not get caught up trying to get results that we lose the essence of our being.  Fredilia Momodu  

*Do not be desperate to get all you ask from God. Wait patiently trusting in Him while you do your part to make it a reality. Fredilia Momodu 

*With God's timing, you can never go wrong. Fredilia Momodu   

*Your life doesn't have to be perfect (and most times it isn't) but it must be yours. Fredilia Momodu   

Feel free to use any but do not leave out my name, else...  

Comments via Twitter
Folivi O. Henry ‏@foleevee

@frediliamomodu really nice. Love it a lot, thanks for sharing such a beautiful thing with me. God Bless!

Rotimi Akinbiyi ‏@TimiFrost (He tweeted two quotes.)

God reveals himself to us everyday in different ways, it takes a discerning spirit to see it. - @frediliamomodu     (It was Retweeted by TATIA BRADLEY @TATIA ‏@asktatia)

 Your life doesn't have to be perfect (and most times it isn't) but it must be yours - @frediliamomodu
 

Ugochukwu lordkings ‏@lordkings90

@frediliamomodu and lovely quotes too! Yeah @ all times your life must be YOUR's to live and lead,whether perfect or not! 

@frediliamomodu thanks freddy! A very lovely piece and a very wow way to start a new month! I'm sure putting it to work.

Please don't forget to like my Facebook page by clicking the Facebook like button on the left side bar or click to follow me on twitter @frediliamomodu One love!
 

Like a poem...

Hello my lovely readers, how was your week? Mine was really busy, I had to work extra hours and I am working this Saturday. I really didn't have the time to compose any blog post but I wrote this yesterday and I want to share it. It came out like a poem, so I titled it "Like a poem" No much editing, just a few punctuations here and there,  it is basically straight from my heart. Now guys tell me, what do you think of it?

A friend commended that I could relate matters of the heart to weather conditions and advised that I try poetry (though I am not so keen on it for now). 
Anyway, I would really love to read your comments...

I suddenly felt the irresistible urge to see him.
All dressed up and excited,
I took all I needed and raced to the door.
Standing in front of my house,
holding the door knob...
my left hand was the only part of my body still in the building;
every part of me wanted to see him.
Staring at the fast changing weather,
it seemed like it wanted to rain.
Contemplating going out to hang out with him...
Ouch! I didn't even notify him...silly me!
His number was not reachable, might be the weather.
I knew he would be at home but I wanted to be sure,
changes happen...
The rain! OMG! I may get stuck!
Or he may not be at home!
He may be very busy!
How do I reach him? I need to see him.
His number is still not reachable;
pings not delivering...shoot!
I stared back into the house,
emptiness was all I could see.
I needed him.
His smile, his voice, his laugh, his sense of humour, his craziness...
I needed all of him.
It started to rain very heavily,
thunder roaring and lightening flashing.
The pouring rain could not wash away my sadness.
My face already wet,
not by the rain, but by my tears, like rain pouring from my eyes.
My heart filled with sadness;
I knew I wasn't supposed to see him.
It was for the best and my head knew that.
But I was thinking with my heart...
I didn't have the strength to fight the feelings any longer,
so I just stood there,
partially drenched by the rain
still holding the door knob...

Please don't forget to like my Facebook page by clicking the Facebook like button on the left side bar or follow me on twitter @frediliamomodu One love!

Never let your mood have a negative impact on your fashion statement

Every right-minded person loves to look good. At least you want to be seen as someone

who has a good dress sense. The way you dress says a lot about you (we all know that) and everyone has a fashion statement. Whether you follow fashion trends or not, you have an appearance which speaks before you speak. That which your appearance reveals about you before you utter a word is your fashion statement.


What is your fashion statement? Or let me rephrase, what impression does your appearance give? Stylish, cool, rich, simple, flashy, mature, tomboyish, rock, scruffy, youthful, edgy,  old-fashioned, sexy, clean, boring, corporate? Name it!

You might be someone who loves flashy colours and wants to be seen as fun and cheerful. A splash of orange here, a touch of red there, a hint of yellow, a little pink (not all at once though) but you know, some bright colours that would enliven your look. Some are known for their picture-perfect makeup. The pink, red, or purple lip colour; the non-glittering eye shadow; the artistically carved eyebrows; the perfect blush, the flawlessly applied foundation and other cosmetics all accentuating their face. For some, their hairstyles could make them pass for celebs. Whether natural, fixed, or braided, whatever style...after applying their hair products and doing the necessary finishing touches, they look so awemazing that they are worth Celeb-Rating. 

What about guys who are skilled at sweeping ladies off their feet with their well-cut and shaped hair, sideburns or sometimes beard. They look so sharp that you just blush when they say hi. For some, it is their shoes, always neat and always looking new (like they clean them every 20mins. I know a guy who carries an extra hanky in his pocket for cleaning his shoes). While for some their well-groomed feet is a beauty to behold (I know another guy whose feet make me trip). 

As we all know, looking good requires effort and costs money (no matter how little). From the 'effort requiring' standpoint, there are some days when you just don't feel like going the extra mile to look good. Not like you look bad and trashy but you are not just your usual dressed up self. It's like 'what the heck sef, I no fit!' 'Who cares? Abeg I am tired, I am OK like this'. It could be one of those lazy Saturdays when you just have to dash across the street to buy something and you have your hair net on, no make up/just-waking up-face...in the case of a guy, you have don't brush your hair (some coco waves), you know, that rugged look you guys have when you haven't touched up. Is anyone feeling me here? I am sure you guys understand what I mean. 

Imagine you have been following the rules or the right procedures while you watch your counterparts break them without fear and remorse and go scot-free. However, the day decide to bend the rule just a little or bypass a procedure because you feel you have eaten a teeny-weeny piece of liver...Bam! (In my American accent, slamming my right fist against my left palm) You are caught! 'Ouch!' You say. 'Painful and pathetic!' I say. You would feel like screaming the f word with all the energy you could ever muster. The aforementioned can be likened to the day you go out without 'wearing your fashion sense' and you come across someone you never expected to meet, especially someone who you wish would see you in your best. It could be your rival from back in the day, a friend you wanna impress, your ex, an old schoolmate, a crush, a toaster, or someone whose help you need, etc.

Let me share my experience.
It was a Monday, not my favourite my day of the week, and I was experiencing the I-am-not-in-the-mood feeling which affected my dress sense. I wore the grey shirt I had told myself a couple of times I wouldn't wear again and a black pants, no makeup not even lip gloss. I didn't make my hair that weekend, I just did it up in a ponytail. I was looking kinda tired but I didn't give a damn. I just wanted the day to be over as soon as possible. Unfortunately for me, that was the day, a friend of mine from secondary school decided to show up at my place of work. She was looking all made up and hot and after the usual ahhh! Oh my Gawd! I can't believe this! and so on...She said, "you haven't changed!" What! I did a quick flash back to the boarding house days when I was wearing a low cut, no make-up, and when I was over-skinny...What! How dear she? That was 11yrs ago and I haven't changed!  My guilty conscious tormented me, "you shouldn't have worn this shirt, it's dull, you should have worn the pink jacket, it is the makeup-less face, you should have used a lip colour at least....you shouldn't have this, you should have that..." Finally I spoke out, "don't mine me dear, I was a little down this morning so I decided to dress down." Then I did a quick change of topic, "so what brought you here?"


Or what about the day I went to get recharge card from my next door neighbour. It was a lazy Saturday, I wore my 'mary amaka' gown which I wear strictly indoors when I need air space between my body and my clothes, a hair net on my pretty hair (I fixed a long wavy light brown weave-on that complimented my complexion), and I wore a bathroom slippers. I was like it just my neighbour here, who will see me in this area? So I went out hoping to buy the recharge card and run back into the house. Unfortunately, my nieghbour didn't have any, so I had to walk a little bit further, close to the main road. Thank God no one was passing by. I got my credit and smiled.

As I walked home (thanking God in my mind for not wasting my time touching up), a male voice calling my name plastered my face with a puzzled look. Who the hell was that shouting my name when I didn't want to be seen? I looked behind me and saw a tall, fair, handsome young man smiling as he ran towards to me. It was one of my JAMB lesson toasters. Meeehhnnn I wasn't pleased to see him, not looking like that. I formed the best phoney I could because that was my only weapon at that point. Annoyingly, he was all baffed up. We tried to catch up as fast as we could from JAMB days to that moment (then I was serving). He actually came to visit his friend in my area and recognised me from across the road. 

Those are just two out of the many experiences I have had. After the last experience (the Monday's experience), I vowed that no matter how I felt, unless I was ill, I would never allow my mood have a negative impact on your fashion statement. My fashion sense will always be intact. My looks are sophisticated, rich, rock or sometimes tomboyish. I love lip colours, sometimes nude lip gloss, blush, eye shadows with no glitters, eye liners, and blue or black mascara. I love jewels too! Anyway, no matter my mood, I must maintain my fashion statement. I can see some heads nodding in agreement. Same applies to you reading this because you never know...

Please do not forget to like my Facebook page by clicking the Facebook like button on your top left thanks or follow me on twitter @frediliamomodu I need FB likers and Twitter followers! One love!
 

The best way to get rid of old stuff or stuff you don't need

The end-product

Last week Saturday, I did some de-cluttering (my major targets were my bookcases) and I discovered a lot of old stuff I no longer needed that just occupied my space (typical definition of matter...they had weight too!). Some of the items discovered were photocopies of university course materials, a JAMB brochure, really old textbooks and notebooks, my old modems, even hairpieces. As I packed them into a big sac for disposal, a better idea struck me. Yard sales!!! Yea, I watch a lot of movies, don't blame me. However the stuff I could sell were not many, so a yard sale wasn't the greatest of ideas. Instead, I brought together all the old stuff I could sell and decided to reach out to friends in my neighborhood that could be interested in buying. Out of all my clutter, I had a wig, a weave-on, and five novels for resale; not enough for a yard sale. 

The hairpieces from my clutter consisted of extensions I had used and planned to re-use and some were pieces left from previous ones I had used. I was to fix my hair that day and wanted to buy a new weave-on; but looking at the hairpieces in front of me, I decided to use out of them to make my hair. I had no idea of what hair style I wanted to do. I just packed all the hairpieces into my bag, together with the hairpiece and the wig I wanted to sell and ran off to the salon. When I got there and my coiffeuse asked me what style I wanted to fix, I just smiled and emptied my bag on her shelf. She looked at me in amazement and with a sweet smile on her face and joined me as I separated the hair pieces putting similar ones together. I took photos of them.
 








I told her I wasn't planning on buying any weave-on and at that spot, I decided on something short due to the hot weather. After much deliberation, we chose this one!

I used this one

As she weaved my hair, I told her about the wig and hairpiece I wanted to sell. She first of all said she didn't have money but I told her they were at giveaway prices. My mum gave me the wig but I hated it on me. I had had it for over 3years so it was more of rubbish to me. I sold it for N500 and the hair piece for N300. I bought the hair piece when I used to buy hairpieces in bulk. I had used the same type before but it just wasn't right. It was too light; any little breeze sent it flying all over my head and strands just kept falling out.

The wig and the weave-on I sold to my hairdresser

After she agreed to buy them, I read Glamour magazine plus dozed off as she made my hair and in the end, I got a simple nice short hair as shown in the pix above captioned the end-product. N1500 was her fixing fee so I paid N700.

When I got home I rang one of my neighbors and asked her if she was interested in buying my old novels. Good for me, she was. I took the novels to her house and showed them to her. She took two-Inca Gold and Hawk's Pledges. I sold them for N50 each and gave the N100 to my sister because she owned one of the novels I sold. Actually she was about to throw it away as trash.

The novels for sale

I made N900 from stuff I did not value and need. Some would go like pscheew N900 but  depending on what you got, it could be more. Plus it is fun too, exercising your marketing skills! Do you have stuff that you rarely use just taking up space in your apartment-closet, wardrobe, cupboard, etc? Do you have old reusable stuff you do not need? Check around your house, your bedroom, the living room, your kitchen, you will definitely find something! De-clutter your space! Separate the trash from the potential cash! Dispose the trash, and resell the reusable! Why not give them at a price and get something from them? You could do a yard sales like it is done in some countries or you could just reach out to those who would need them just like I did. Whichever method you choose, you have nothing to lose, something to gain.

The final trash-I got me some more space

Please do not forget to like my Facebook page by clicking the Facebook like button on your top left thanks or follow me on twitter @frediliamomodu I need FB likers and Twitter followers! One love!