#MelaninTakesParis: My #summer2017 in the city of light 💦🥖☀️💋💸

This will be my second time in Paris and I can happily tell you that this beautiful city hasn't lost its charm. This time however, my stay in Paris will be a bit long-term (#creativenomadlife) so I have spent more time unpacking and signing paper work than sight seeing.
Nevertheless I'm grateful; it is Paris after all. Here are a few photos I took at the usual tourist attractions. Expect a few more posts on the blog detailing my summer break.

I regularly update my Instagram (including my Instagram stories) with snapshots of my trips so follow me on Instagram @tfortope to get dibs on where I'm going next!

Thank you for reading.

Love,

Tope.

All the wahala that comes with shopping online: the Konga and Mr Price Saga

If you're a bargain hunter like I am and you rarely buy things full price (unless you’re absolutely in love with the item), I’m pretty sure you love online shopping. Shopping online allows me to compare prices and procrastinate before hitting that “pay" button (just to make sure I’ll still want the item tomorrow 😂). 

The trill of receiving a package is also another reason I love online shopping: It’s like getting a gift from "bae” aka ME 💁🏾.

Asos has been my favourite shopping site for several years. I decided to take a break from international sites because of the recent rise in custom & shipping fees which can sometimes be up to or more than the value of the order. 

A few months ago, I opted to shop locally as I wanted to get a midi dress and costume rings. This turned out to be a “wahala” (trouble) shopping experience. The two sites I tried were Konga.com and Mr Price. I have friends that have worked in e-commerce and a major problem they have is ensuring that there isn't up to date information regarding availability of stock. This was the problem I faced.

After finding the costume rings I wanted, I tried to make a card payment and was told that my payment was denied. However, the money was deducted from my account 🙄. I opted for payment on delivery but the item never came. 

I then had to go to GTBank to request a reversal. The payment was never reversed, instead my Jumia wallet (an online wallet which you can top-up and pay for Jumia items from) was credited with the money which I won't be spending anytime soon because Jumia na stress. 

It’s safe to say that I’ll be taking a break from Jumia for a while.

Meanwhile, I bought two outfits from Mr Price and paid the delivery charge hoping to get my TWO items. Only one item was delivered. When I reached out to the customer service email, the reply was that it wasn’t available. Why didn’t you notify me before delivery though sis? 

E jebi, e ba ti charge mi fun nkan ti mi o gba!(Yoruba language sarcasm) 😒

I love the fit of the midi-dress from Mr Price, I think next time I’ll stick to shopping in their physical stores.

Honestly local e-commerce needs to be better in order for me to shop for local fashion online again. Have you shopped online in your country? What was your experience?

Thank you for reading.

Love,

Tope.

Things I Found On The Internet: Vol. 002

What to Do When Your Friends Start Moving Away

 Hello! *Waves slowly like the socially awkward child that I am*. 

When it comes to friendships, I sometimes form an emotional dependence on my friends. Because of this, I can be quite sad when any of my already FEW friends has to move to another city or another country (why do the real ones have to be so far away?!!!! 😭). This article I found in relevant magazine addresses how to respond to an inevitable part of our 21st century lives. One particular part of the article stuck with me: 

"My mentor in college had a saying that has stuck with me: “Community will never come find you. You must go find it.” Whenever our friends move away, we must not sit back and wait idly for others to take their place. Instead, we must continually seek out and cultivate new relationships within our churches, communities and neighborhoods, trusting that over time (not overnight) new friendships will form.”

Nuff said, click here.

That time the internet tried to body shame Karrueche Tran

Source: Madame Noire

Karrueche is a model and TV actress on a TV show titled Claws. 

But that isn’t why we’re here today. 

A few days ago, Karrueche posted a bathroom selfie on the set of her tv show. She was dressed in a bikini as her show's character "Virginia". Apparently her body type didn’t fit into the usual voluptuous body that some online users were used to seeing. They then resorted to making unsavoury comments about her and her body type.
I’m not going to discuss her motive for posting that picture or the morality of her post because she has the right to do what she likes on her social media page, I personally will not follow any page whose content I dislike. I’m also not going to post a link to the image because she decided to bring the picture down.

What was interesting to me (and anyone that had common sense) was that people online had a problem with her body type! These are probably the same people that will criticize women for surgically modifying their body parts, so I’m confused 🤷🏾‍♀️.

We have all seen these dumb body shaming memes that make fun of women for not having breast or buttocks in the proportions that are commercially acceptable, just because they dare to love themselves. Our perception of what "decency/modesty" in dressing is, should not distract us from the truth that body shaming is wrong. My observation: No matter what you do, people will still talk. So "do you”!

Nihun Lohun by Monsur Awotunde

Ever since I transitioned to being a creative entrepreneur (emphasis on entrepreneur meaning work, work, budget, free work, more work), time ain’t my friend. You know all those things you thought you’d get to do when you start working for yourself? Yeah no, still no time. 

I missed two art events I really wanted to attend this year, “Fabrics and Dyes” by studio of Mode and “Redemption” by Adeola Olagunju. I’ve decided to make time to attend at least one exhibition before the year runs out; such events give me inspiration, which sometimes helps my work. Rele gallery is currently showing an exhibition of paintings by Monsur Awotunde titled “Nihin Lohun”. I hope to catch it during the week before the exhibition end on 27th August. Find out more information about the event here.

I regularly come across interesting content online which I want to share with friends, or on the blog however I've always found it difficult to place because I never quite know what title to give such a post, how it'll be structured or where on the blog such a post would be placed. This series is a solution to that (plus I personally need something to refer to when I'm gisting with someone about "this cool recipe I found" or "a photo series I think you should check). I hope this gives a brief description of what to expect and if you have anything interesting you think should be shared on this series (an instagram post, a weblink etc), please leave in the comments below.

Thank you for reading.

Love,

Tope.

Paris Photo Story

I visited Paris in summer 2014 with my mom after my MA programme in Bournemouth, Dorset. I had always  wanted to travel to Paris and used the summer holiday as well as my mum's visit as an opportunity to go on the trip with her. 

Working on your dissertation while on holiday isn't the most ideal situation. We had a whole itinerary of events planned (I had a bucket load of planned museum visits; mom had a shopping list for both of us) however school work made us modify our plans. We still visited prominent sites and went shopping, we also discovered new adventures that we probably would have missed had we stuck to our initial plan: Food and community. 

We stayed in Arty Paris, a budget hotel/hostel in a beautiful neighbourhood. Opposite the hostel was a Mexican restaurant which we frequented in the evenings after our daily outings. I had been introduced to Mexican food in school through a restaurant called Mambo, safe to say most of my Friday night food deliveries were either papa johns or Mambo. So when I found out that there was a Mexican restaurant just opposite us, I was happy. My mum also enjoyed the food so we made the place our evening spot.

A few minutes walk away, was a park called George Brassens (we discovered this place a day before we left). It was quite close to a restaurant called Cent Kilos where we ate regularly and great for relaxing/people watching. There was also a bakery/gelato place down the road that had an assortment of baked goods so we stocked up before heading out. The baker didn't speak english though so most of our orders involved me pointing at things and saying "Je voudrais acheter" a lot.

Getting around Paris wasn't too difficult after the first day. We were given a map at the hostel reception with directions to the train station. By the time we got lost a few times on the first day (with mom speaking Yoruba about why I brought her to a non-English speaking country to get lost!), we found our way and became quite knowledgeable with the routes, and buying tickets at the station (which was another drama because the everything was in French: not the French we learnt in secondary school/Allianz Francais oh). We eventually alternated between taxis and trains.

Everyone we met was quite kind and helpful, from the hostel staff to restaurant owners. I also tried practicing my french whenever we went out and even though I probably sounded horrible, they'd simply smile and patiently correct me. I now understand why people travel to learn languages in the actual places where they are being spoken; my beginner's French was better within a week.

Our Paris Pass was also very useful in getting us access to a lot of places. We were unable to use it extensively but its a great purchase for anyone going to Paris. 

My mom and I enjoyed the city immensely and were glad we had the opportunity to visit. 

I learnt a few things about travel (and ultimately life) on this trip:

• God has a way of making things work even when things seem to go wrong.
• Its easy to see things in a negative light, if you do not have a habit of being thankful.
• Appreciate your moments, embrace them and don't compare them to the moments of others. Your life is not an Instagram feed. 
• Be patient and accommodating when travelling with others especially older people. If you're open to their interests, you might discover and enjoy something new (even if you don't enjoy the activity, at least you know someone else is? LOL).

You know how sometimes people tell you about places and when you go there, it doesn't meet your expectations? Not Paris. Paris was better than we imagined and well worth the visit. I hope to go there again, relive some experiences and have some new adventures.

Thank God for life.

Reflections: ELSEWHERE in Art Twenty One

 As I begin  the new year, I've been reflecting on past moments that really stood out for me as I navigated the cultural space in the city. One of such moments was my first visit to Art 21 last year to view "Elsewhere".

Art 21 is an art space located at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. They are known within the Lagos art circuit for promoting mostly African and African born artists in their exhibitions. In August, I went to view their exhibition titled "Elsewhere" which was a group exhibition featuring 7 artists/art duos. The artists are:

• Joseph Eze (Nigeria)
•  Namsa Leuba (Switzerland)
• Vincent Michea (France)
• Abraham Oghobase (Nigeria)
• Demola Ogunajo (Nigeria)
• Paa Joe and  Jacob Tetteh-Ashong (Ghana)
• Yarisal and Kublitz (Switzerland/Denmark)

 

 

  

 

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Abraham Oghobase's works (bummer because I really enjoyed viewing his works). However, a few weeks later I attended a photography exhibition at the Goethe Institut, Lagos which he did a great job of curating. You can view some of his works here.