Happy Mew Year!

Photo credit: Holly Golabek

Hello there beautiful people! Well if you didn't know, January 2nd is Happy Mew Year for Cats day!

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SpongeBob in Lagos

SpongeBob and Nickelodeon specialist Seun Oratokhai

Now when I heard the yellow sponge was in Nigeria I was very upset. I had been looking forward to meeting SpongeBob since 2011. I even told Dora yes Dora The Explorer; we had a lovely chat when she was in Lagos. Thanks to Nickelodeon Africa, I've met Dora, Boots and Diego. 

I'm very upset that SpongeBob Squarepants waited till I left Lagos to go on tour to the West African city. The Nickelodeon character and the Nick Africa team paid surprise visits to Beat FM, Classic FM, Cool FM and Rhythm FM on 25 October 2013 and got to hang out with the cool OAPs. 

SpongeBob is such a star! He even made an appearance at the Eco Star Awards while he was in town. He also had a special meet and greet session with some of his fans at the Viacom Office in Ikoyi, Lagos where he danced and took photos with kids and parents present.

Now I understand why Ntokozo told me to stay in Lagos a little longer. *sniff sniff

Check out pictures from his media tour below:

The "Big Man" Osahon and Lil miss Seme

SponeBob and fans

Doesn't Seun look stunning! Love you mama! 

SpongBob at the Beat FM with Toolz, Jimmy and Koch

SpongeBob at Cool FM with Mercy, Mannie and Shine

I told you he was such a star! He even had a body guard!

SpongeBob and Bukky at Classic FM

 “Well, it’s no secret that the best thing about a secret is secretly telling someone your secret, thereby adding another secret to their secret collection of secrets, secretly.” - SpongeBob

Well my secret is I'll be going to Orlando to see my girl Dora and pay SpongeBob a surprise visit next summer! Sssshhhhhh don't tell anyone.

Happy November folks!

Princess Irede

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5 Things I recently did

Hey guys, the last month has been really eventful for me.  I'll give you a quick catch up of what this Ré has been up to.

1. I resigned from my job.

I miss my desk, I miss my Base fam . . 

Before you scream out loud, keep reading and you'll know why. Enough people have told me I must be crazy for doing this. Well my Base fam were very supportive. Gosh I miss that Base life. (I'm still a Base writer though :-), I couldn't leave completely).

2. I moved to a new city.

The Steel City

It was time for a new adventure . . .  Sometimes you've just got to make that move. I moved to a city in South Yorkshire, England. Loving it so far. Only thing I've got qualms with is the weather. I'm a summer girl; I love the sun.

3. I went back to school.

Looks like a church doesn't it? It's a lecture theatre. 

I'm currently working on getting a master's in Broadcast Journalism. Whoop whoop!

4. I finally found true love.

Brandon and I.  *Insert Beyonce lyrics here { . . . I'll be your baby, now promise not to let you go, love you like crazy}

Love my new MacBook Pro more than a fat kid loves cake!

5. I got a house plant.

Her name is Clara. She's a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Her spines are not as prickly as I thought they would be. She sure brightens up my place.

I'll be honest with you guys, I was afraid of leaving my job, I was afraid of moving to a new city and leaving my family . . . but  I'm happy I took this decision. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr.

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

My name is Princess Irede Abumere, I am a Mongo ma Ndemi native and my journey continues. xx

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The Memory Of You

Wasn't going to write this but hey, it wouldn't hurt right?

We haven't spoken in exactly a year,

Cause you're not here,

And I've got so much to share. 

Life has left us with our emotions bare,

But we don't care because of LOVE.

Because of LOVE 

The memories of you were made even stronger,

Friendship bonds were made tighter,

And our dreams soared higher.

The memory of you has taught me a few things:

The memory of you has taught me to smile,

I remember wanting to run into bed and hide after a hard day at work, but you would never let me,

That's when you remember you'd need to talk to me about something random and make me laugh.  

The memory of you has taught me to express myself,

I remember you constantly remember you telling me to say how I feel and not be afraid to say things as they are.

The memory of you has taught me talk,

I miss your random messages telling me to come outside so we could catch up on work gist, and chat about life, our dreams and future plans.  

The memory of you has taught me to believe in myself,

The memory of you has taught me to chase my dreams,

I wish you were here so I could tell you in person that I finally took that BIG step and my dreams are about to come true. 

The memory of you has taught me to observe and take life easy.

I've missed watching the joggers run past us and watching you pretend not to notice that the girls slow down every time they run past to stare at you. Oh, by the way, your brother told me you were working out. I knew it!

The memory of you has taught me to eat popcorn and not care.

Almost every time I'd catch you with popcorn I'd say I didn't want some because of it getting stuck in my teeth. Even after saying this I'd shamefully eat your whole bag of popcorn. 

The memory of you taught me so much;

To love and to care because that's what you did.

You maybe gone, but the memory of you continues to live in our hearts.

Sometimes when I get back from work, I stand outside for a bit waiting to see if your yellow face would emerge from the black gate.

Continue to rest in peace my friend, Aboyowa 'Abs' Harriman.

Love,

Princess Irede

P.S. I know I said I wouldn't forget but I almost forgot your birthday again this year, (*covers face in shame) but your mum reminded me. :-)

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The Maju Retro Cruise Party

I'm always busy or I'm always working. I'm always doing something though. . . If it's any consolation (for me) I'll be off on a new adventure pretty soon.

In the meantime the TROS (That Re Of Sunshine) team have been prepping for the MAJU collection debut. Whoop whoop!

The Retro Cruise Party

Female fashion brand Maju and multi-brand concept store L’Espace invite you to the Maju “Retro Cruise” party on Sunday 4 August, 2013 from 12 noon at L’Espace 19A Olosa Street, Victoria Island Lagos. 

Maju will be debuting her new collection: The Retro Cruise collection at Lagos' main fashion destination. The event is an opportunity for stylists, people who love fashion, and potential buyers to view the new collection.

With the Retro Cruise collection, Maju caters to the various fashion tastes of women. The creative team was inspired by the Summer season, sunshine and the beach. They have brought to play bright lovely colours in this collection. Summer is fun and the best way to rock this summer is with beautiful glamorous pieces by Maju. All pieces will also be available for purchase on site.

Bags from the Retro Cruise Collection

Maju is a female fashion label found in 2008 by Motunrayo Umaru. Maju’s creations are always upbeat with today’s fashion and some of her designs also carry a vintage look. Maju’s creations include accessories, purses, bags and clothes.

L’Espace is a multi-brand concept store located in Victoria Island, Lagos. Created by the CEO duo, Isoken Ogiemwonyi and Wonuola Okoye in December 2011. L’Espace is an expansion of their wildly successful ‘Le Petit Marche’ - a monthly fashion and lifestyle market founded 3 years earlier. The store has been named one of Lagos's main fashion destinations and has received notable recognition for its contribution to the Nigerian retail industry.

See you there. For more info, email: thatreofsunshine@gmail.com

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Dramatic Morning In Lagos

This morning I cried. No, it wasn't funny.

I was on my way to work in Ikoyi when a frustrated man deliberately hit my car. As a result of the traffic coming from the new Lekki bridge in the mornings and afternoons, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has now placed dividers at all the u-turns coming from Osborne road to Gerrad road to Alexander road up to the round about. So now to get to Park View in the mornings, I have to go all the way to the round about at Alexandra road.

I was on my usual route when this insane driver decided to over take me at the round about and rammed into my poor Vanilla (that's what I call my car). Before he hit me, I saw him speeding up from the side, I slowed down yet this crazy driver went bang into my car. I was so stunned by the force I stopped. The mad man came down, but I didn't. I looked into his car and saw three other dodgy looking men.

As he approached my car, he yelled "You hit my car".

"I beg your pardon". At this point I was looking for the police/Lastma. I spotted an RSS truck on the other side of the road. And immediately drove there leaving the man standing by his car.

The scene

 For the first time in the weeks I've been driving by the round about, LASTMA and the Police were no where to to be found. As I was still looking out for them, this guy pulls up in front of my car and reverses into my poor poor Vanilla. At this point I absolutely lost it and surprised myself with all the foul launguage coming from my mouth.

My baby :-(

Thankfully one of the guys from work (God Bless Chris) came to my rescue and asked me to leave the scene and he would handle it. At which point the guy stopped insulting me; so because he saw men, his tone changed and he couldn't remember to accuse me of allegedly hitting him. *sigh.

Now you are wondering why I was crying:
1. I don't know this man from anywhere so why would he delibrately hit my car?
2. If I was the one who hit him, I would have apologised immediately so why couldn't he do the same?
3. My poor poor V. I have had my baby for almost 7 years and cause I love her, I am really careful with her and I have not had to do any major body work on her.

Ladies, I'll advise you to be careful. This scenario where someone has deliberately hit my car has happened to me before. That day in Ajah I thought I was dreaming like today as well. There are mean people out there. I didn't come out of my car because I had been warned about groups of men in cars who have been going around Lagos bumping into cars of young women only to rob and kidnap them. Guys you be careful too.

If anyone can bring me ice cream at work today, that would cheer me up.

Thanks.

Re.

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Technology crack

Three weeks ago the base of my laptop broke. I have this thing where instead of of closing my laptop gently, I slam it shut. One night I slammed it shut as usual and the next morning as I tired to open it, the whole thing started cracking and coming apart before my eyes. I was weak.


For three week's now, my laptop remains at Reddington awaiting a new base. *sigh.

It's not the same working on my iPhone or Samsung Galaxy tab. I just want my laptop back. *sniff sniff. I always thought the one gadget I wouldn't be able to live without would be my iPhone. But it turns out I can't be without my laptop.

                   My Crackberry 

What's the one gadget you can't live without?

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