That's whats up

Why, hello there! Fancy seeing you reading this dead place. With no posts... *sigh* I can explain. it all started a few years ago when one kind man like that asked me to marry him. Odd. considering how absolutely unmarryable everyone had been telling me I was. Turns out not everyone thinks I'm a weirdo. Or rather, there is one lovely soul out there that finds my weirdness so amusing that he wants to spend the rest of his life next to it. Very Odd. In fact, contrary to preconceived notions of being turned into a child-popping slave and being locked up in some dodgy cave, I'm being treated like an absolute duchess! Extremely Odd! I think I married an alien...

One thing is for sure though, I can't complain. Life has been a blast! And for that, i say a huge resounding ALHAMDULILLAH!

I am loving my life as a couch potato. Spending time watching my 2 favourite channels TLC and E! :) :) There is so much going on in my life and i have tonnes to blog about! 

(1) The Amarya Diaries

Getting married in Naija is NOT easy. Planning a Hausa wedding makes it that much harder! Take it from someone who has recently been through what i term "The great Hassle of 2012." Yes, I know Hausa weddings are fun, but newsflash! They are not as fun when you're the bride!

Yan Matan Amarya at Kamu

Luckily you've got me, Ummi, and I'm going to pass on the wisdom and heartache I experienced to make your special day easy and hassle free. You'll thank me later. Brace yourself for some fun, hard truths and most of all, how to make the celebration of your love even more special!

(2) Food Blogging

Want a cupcake?

I'm a wife now. So I cook very often, sometimes even twice daily! *GASP* and I'm having fun with it.  I also eat out a lot and I have a large archive and tonnes of photos to share and some of my recipes too. Brace yourself for Gastronomy 101, Ummi-style!

(3) Pharmacy Orientation

Since I'm a foreign trained pharmacist, I have to go through an orientation program before I can get my license to practice as a pharmacist in Nigeria. It's going to happen in Ibadan on August 20th. Should be an interesting experience since I've never been there before... wish me luck!

So thats it folks. Ummi is alive and well and enjoying this phase of life. So excited for all the blog topics and photos!

Lots of Love!

Ummi.

Henna for Hair

So I'm one of those people that have been blessed with hair that has a LOT of volume. As in, a LOT LOT LOT of volume! Now I don't use hair extensions or weaves, so for a considerable amount of time, my hair is freeeeeeee. Right now I relax 2-3 times a year, which means it is fluffy most of the time. So when i have that small window when my hair is all silky and sleek, i turn up the shakara factor and make the most of it.

I have tried different hair dyes in the past, my favourites are Schwarzkopf in Violet Vision and lots of L'Oreal! Especially Couleur Experte. I still haven't tried the new Sublime mousse, but i have to say the idea of foam hair dye is awesome! Why didn't I think of it and patent it and cash in all that money!!!

Anyways, I had dyed my hair in January and in July I wanted to try something I've never done before... Henna! People always talk about how good it is for hair and I figured, why not? Here's what I used....

I used just plain henna, nothing fancy. got it for $1 at Kakulas. We usually add tea when we henna our hands so i figured, why now use it for hair-na? I mean green tea is supposedly good for hair isn't it? Here's what I did...

1. I emptied henna contents into a bowl
2. Added 2 teaspoons of green tea LEAVES to the powder.(btw, this is a fail! tell ya later)
3. Add hot boiling water in small dashes.
4. Mix Mix Mixy Mix!
5. I Kept adding water and mixing till I got a smooth gooey green paste. 
6. Parted my hair into my usual DIY parts. (3 sections in the front and 4 at the back)
7. Made smaller 1cm rows and slathered the paste generously from root to tips. 
8. After each section i massaged the henna into the roots like you would with a relaxer
9. This is the part where you wear a shower cap. Seeing as i didn't have one, I wrapped my hair in glad wrap and tied a plastic bag on my head. Hehe! It was deeply satisfying, the plastic bag thing! Strange nostalgia for women in Naija that leave the hair salon with bags on their heads cos NEPA took light when they were in the hair dryer. :) 
10. Left it on for 3 hours then washed it out. (I know, too long, but I was busy okay! 1 hour would have sufficed.

Before Henna.

My hair before definitely had traces of colour... Ghosts of Hair dyes past, if you ask me. Hehe. My hair before dye was dark brown, that reflected violet in bright light and it had highlights in it.

After Henna

OMG!the colour! I love the new colour! It's a rich, burnt, deep red. It LOOKED amazing! especially when wet. And because of the human error in application, the colour isn't very even which is GREAT cos that means you get high and low lights with no bleach and no ammonia. Yay!!

Pros.

• Colour: If you love your deep reds and browns, you'll love this effect...
• Economical: IT only cost me a dollar! $1!
• DIY friendly: You don't need to worry about some chemical burning you or giving you contact dermatitis.

Cons.

• Drying Effect: my hair felt starved of H2O. It was so thirsty I had to use a deep conditioning treatment immediately afterward. It's been 1 month since i used henna but whenever i wash my hair, i can still feel the dryness. You'll need to invest in heavy duty moisturisers to keep your hair healthy. I use a spray on Shwarzkopf moisturiser and seal it with carrot oil. Works wonders.
• Messy Bizness: It is sooo messy! OMG. Washing it off was probably the grossest state I have seen my bathroom in. Splat splat splat of gooey green stuff. The tea tree leaves made things worse. IT made the paste granular and chunks of leaves didn't disintegrate in the hot water like i had hoped.

Will I do it again?

Errrrr, yeah, why not! I have to find a solution to the dryness thing tho....

All in all, a good way to spend a Friday night!

Lotsa love!

Ummi :)

Not another blog!

So I'm sitting at the corner booth of a nice, dimly lit Indian restaurant, licking my fingers in between morsels of Naan bread and Jaalfreezi when my friend pointed it out...

She: I can't believe you're getting married soon.

Me: Yeah, I know, right? It's crazy!

She: But it's like, really soon...

Me: Yeah! End of next year....

She: No end of this year!

Me: No it's the end of next year!

She: Fatima, it's the end of THIS year!

Me: What're you talking about? I'm getting married at the end of 2011!

She: Yes! End of this year!

Me: NO! It's the end of... Hang on, what year are we in?

She: It's in a few months woman!

Me: Ten or ELEVEN? Answer me now!

Of course by that time i was hyperventilating. I always knew it was SOON but i guess I had no idea how soon!

Understandably I am freaking out. I don't even know where to begin, I feel like pulling my hair out.... grrrr. So I decided if i wanted to have a nice wedding, I better got off my bum and start planning it now. Or else, I'd be stuck with a generic wedding! Generic, I tell you! *shudders*

Nothing about me is generic.

It's just one stone throw away from cheesy. *shudder + cringe*

Posted with Blogsy