Happy New Year 2013 Giveaway Hop

Happy New Year! It is now 2013 for most people who are reading this. Timewise, I live somewhere close to the back of the world, so we have a few more hours to go. Still I'd like to wish everyone a happy, prosperous and productive 2013. I published a book in 2009 and in 2011, so the new year calls my name for a new book. I look forward to meeting that promise :)

In the meantime, you can enter my giveaway for my first two books, A Heart to Mend and A Love Rekindled. Two winners will get their choice of either book. Enter via the rafflecopter form below. Goodluck!

Alero Roberts on Marriage - Marry your Friend

Being a doctor, wife, mother, teacher, relationship expert and columnist with Genevieve magazine, Dr Alero proves that love, understanding, patience and wisdom are the basics for maintaining a good marriage.

Definition of Marriage: For me, marriage is exactly what the Manufacturer planned it to be: there’s the man and then the wife, who is designed to be a ‘help-mate’ for the man she marries. Think of the head and neck relationship; he’s the head and she’s the neck, separate yet inseparable, distinctly different and yet inextricably intertwined. He’s the leader but she gives him permission to lead and shows him where to lead.

How they Met: I met my husband Dr Seyi Roberts in ward A2 at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) on the morning of Monday, 8th of November, 1982. It was a consultant’s ward round and it was my first day of Neurology posting. He was a senior registrar just returned from his year’s training in Harvard. It was sparks all the way! I thought he was an over-rated, arrogant, bumptious creep and he thought I was a little miss ‘know-it-all’, too big for my boots!

Movie Review - The Hobbit (An Unexpected Journey)

Far over
The misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep
And caverns old...

Atala - Thus begin the lyrics to the Song of the Misty Mountain, a song which recurs throughout "The Hobbit", the subject movie of this review. And I have to say that if I had to choose a song to fit the movie, I couldn't have chosen better than this. It's a deep, soulful and haunting tune which evokes scenes of epic adventure full of perils and drama.

And there are certainly perils and drama aplenty in this film, as Bilbo Baggins, the eponymous hobbit, Gandalf the wizard and a company of dwarves go on an adventure to reclaim the dwarves' lost kingdom.

I was somewhat apprehensive about going to watch this; a few months ago, I had watched a Lord of the Rings trilogy of films in a marathon session, and I came away with a headache.

A Blogger Wedding - Chizy Marries Playboy

Chizy is the blogger behind Chizy's Spyware, and on the 22nd of December 2012 at the Chapel Of Christ The Light, Alausa Ikeja, Lagos, she got married to musician and rapper, Playboy. According to her blog, "The ceremony was a combination of a historic church, a swanky reception and the most important element of all – a couple in love!"

I wish them more love and every blessing that comes with marriage. Some pictures from the wedding below.

Unrequited Love - Let's call it The Friend Zone

When I come across instances of unrequited love, I feel a small pinch in my emotions, or a mighty big pinch depending on who's telling the story. That's because even though true love has healed my heart I have felt that pinch in a personal way, mostly during my adolescent years of secret crushes.

You see a guy you like, you get to know them and they like you too. You begin to want to think yourself in love with them, but wait for it, they love someone already. You're like, shoot me now. Yeah, I know that's a bit dramatic, right?

Blame Les Miserables, the movie musical that came out Christmas day with Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway among others. There are several strands of stories in the movie, but this is not a review (which is coming soon btw), so I'm only going to talk about one of them - a love triangle with some characters.

A Blogger Proposal - Verastic Gets her Man

So next to Bellanaija, when she was still a blog, the next blogger I knew was Vera. Her veratic blog was shared on a Nigerian community message board, and her articles too. I liked her voice and followed her blog when she mentioned she was also an aspiring writer. When I started blogging, she was also among the first to follow and encourage me. Since then, I've got to know her, speak to her on the phone and hope to meet her one day.

Now, if you've read a few of her older blogs, you'll know Vera is a romantic. If she's not talking about relationships and how she wants everyone to get it right, she's writing about meeting the man of her dreams. So I am very happy for her that she has met the awesome guy who - as is obvious from her writings, and speaking to her too - makes her heart sing.

Igwe, as she calls him, has put a ring on it and Vera decided to share some of the pictures on her blog for us friends and blogggers to see. I wish them more joy and blessings in their union. Enjoy pictures and video below...

Season's Greetings with our Christmas Card

Thank you all so much for this year. We're wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year in advance. Be safe and have fun.

Betty Irabor on Marriage - It takes Two

Being the Editor-in-chief of one of the largest selling magazines in Nigeria isn’t Betty’s greatest achievement; nabbing one of the best men in the world, giving him children and keeping her family together is.

On her Wedding Day: My wedding day was the happiest day of my life! All my sisters and friends were around to assist me in planning; it was a lot of fun. Thinking about it now, I remember feeling a bit of the wedding jitters, mostly because I was told one of Soni’s ex girls was planning to ‘storm’ the wedding; she ended up not showing up and it turned out to be the very perfect day.

Funnily enough, my wedding dress gave me a headache because the blouse just did not sit right. It had a funny shape and people kept adjusting it for me but I kept telling them it was the style. It cost me less than N30,000 which included shoes, bag and other extras. I no longer have it, but Sonia my daughter, would not have appreciated it if I passed it to her anyway.

Date Night Movie Review - Lincoln

Atala - I'm a fan of historical movies - I feel they are a great way to spark one's interest in the events of another time while being entertained at the same time (although if you're really interested in history, you probably will want to do your own research to roughen up the smoothed-out Hollywood storylines). With this said, I was very keen on going to watch Lincoln, even though I understood that the film wasn't a full blown biography, but would just cover the first few months of 1865.

I glad to say that I came away learning about an interesting sliver of history that I hadn't been aware of before. In a nutshell, even though Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Act prohibiting slavery two years earlier, he still needed to get an amendment to the constitution ratified by the House of Congress so that slavery's illegality would be made permanent.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here

Let it Snow

Our Christmas tree went up yesterday after it was obvious the world was not going to end and we would all live to see December 25...just joking. Anyway, those following me on instagram would have seen the tree. However, we had gone for the symbolic lighting of the tree in a neighboring city weeks ago, which was when Christmas started around these parts. Shopping went into high gear and decorations and lights went up around the city center.

I chose for us to forego the lighting ceremony in our city and go for the neighboring one cos theirs had more adventure. While the highlight remained the lighting of the tree, following it was something called a Luminary Walk along a River Bank. I was sold.

I put on my parka and boots and prepared for a tramp through the dark woods. What it turned out to be was an almost magical walk along a trail lined with hundreds of luminaries - little paper lanterns placed in a row on the pathway. There were carolers, drum tattoo, and amazing decorations and light displays.