Public Displays of Affection - Only for the Married and Engaged?

 Joke Silva and husband, Olu Jacobs

Just last week we were talking about American style romance being the new standard of dating, and Ginger raised an interesting point.

If anything, the reticence displayed by a good number of African men towards showing affection in public (compared to the privacy of the bedroom- not even living room)is the African stylee. So 'thumbs up' to those who are willing to be Western and even say 'you are burriful' to their girl in public.

I am of the opinion that for most young Nigerians dating in cities around the world tend towards the western or hollywood depiction of romance. However, Ginger is right that majority are still more conservative than is typical in say, London or New York. This I think reflects the traditional culture of most Nigerian communities, where marriages are arranged between families, as well as the colonial and religious history that wanted women to be chaste virgins.

I get to spend the rest of forever with my best friend - Kelly Westover

My guest for today is Kelly from Life is a balancing act, a lifestyle blog all about living, loving and designing your life. Kelly describes it as "Where I generally babble about my quirky thoughts, perspective on mama-hood, my spastic designers eye, some tasty treats and my adorable son, Quinn.". I found Kelly's blog on one of those blog hops, and really liked her bubbly personality and the pictures. Oh, the pictures!

Enjoy her marriage avowals and some baby cuteness overload below :)

Black Love - Kiru Taye's His Treasure (Historical Romance)

My guest author today is Kiru Taye. Kiru is a founding member of the Romance Writers of West Africa and her Trilogy, Men of Valor, is published bu Breathless Press. Kiru Taye writes steamy contemporary, historical and paranormal romance. Her debut historical romance novella His Treasure is a Love Romances Cafe Best Book of 2011 award-winner and an All Romance eBooks bestseller in Historical Ancient romance category. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, hanging out with family or travelling. She lives in the UK with her husband and two young children. You can reach her via her blog,Facebook,Twitter, and Goodreads.

Some Songs Lovening Up my Valentine - Enjoy

There are four videos from Musiq Soulchild, Olumide, Estelle, and Tyrese but my favorite is this one with the chorus below. Today is my third wedding anniversary and the answer remains YES.

When 2 or 3 years from now
you start having some doubts
about if this love will last
The answer is yes...

Musiq Soulchild - Yes

Happy Valentine's Day and Giveaway Winners

This was the e-card sent to me by Lady Ngo and I really loved it. She mentioned Atala too, so I shared it with him. I hope you all have a lovely and loving day. Happy Valentine's Day all.

The Winners of the With Love Giveaway are;

A Love Rekindled - Pendo and Miki
A Heart to Mend - Sally and Savannah
Always and Forever, Love - Okeoghene

He was very Persistent - Charles Nelson Carter and June Eileen Davis

This story was sent in by Sally Stackhouse in response to the With Love Valentine Giveaway. I asked people to talk about the longest marriage they know about and Sally shared the marriage story of her parents though she wasn't eligible for the book, Always and Forever, Love - Success Stories of Marriage 20+years Strong by Otis G. Sanders (BTW, you can still enter for this giveaway - open to US residents). She later sent in the photos so I could share it with everybody.

My Bouari Weight Loss Experience Day 18 - Spa and Lunch out

Just a short update here. I'm still sticking to the plan, cutting back on the calories, but bulking up on the proteins, fruits and vegetables. It is still working, my current weight as shown above is 142.6lbs. I think it could've been better, but my cycle is wreaking havoc with me now, and I feel as bloated and constipated as a hippo (sorry hippo!)

Anyways, this past weekend marked the beginning of our anniversary thingies, and so I took Atala out for a spa treatment. Zouzou's Musings suggested that idea in reply to my What are you getting your love for Valentine post (thanks dearie). I made it a surprise, told him we were going for a walk and brunch. He laughed when we got to the spa place and so I knew I got it right. We definitely both enjoyed the amazingly relaxing full body massage. The venue was a lake front, and while we didn't have the awesome view during the massage, it was part of the foot soak and paraffin hand treatment. Wonderful, I tell you.

The New Standard for Dating - American Style Romance

Anytime I watch romantic Nollywood movies, I am always irritated; the couples act western for reasons I don’t understand. In such movies, when the lover boy – usually played by Ramsey Noah or Desmond Elliot (for the past fifty years!) – talks to his lady, his accent and intonation automatically becomes American. Likewise, the ladies try to “westernize” their behaviours, replying with their own yankee accents, twisting and playing with their hair, and laughing at EVERY joke the guy makes with a kind of “babyish” , “shyish” , cute , but yet hysterical laughter. 

Whitney Houston is Dead - Where do broken hearts go?

I was out most of today running errands and had not time to check my social media on my BB. Back home, I opened up my laptop, and what were all my Facebook friends talking about? RIP, Whitney Houston. What?! Yes, it is true. She passed away this evening at her hotel. She was just 48.

Nonplussed does not describe how I feel now. I didn't burst into tears like I did when Micheal Jackson died, but I'm close. I know she had her problems, but she has always been one of my favorites, and I was looking forward to the day I would go see her sing in concert. Hmm...another huge talent is gone. I hope she is now able to find the peace that eluded her here on earth.

With Love, Valentine's Day Blog Hop Giveaway

It's time for the love giveaway! The Valentine's Day Blog Hop is hosted by the Blog Hop Spot, with several other authors and bloggers taking part and lots of prizes to be won - see the full list of participants in the blog hop. To enter this contest, you have to be a follower of my blog either by Google Friend Connect, Facebook or Twitter. What's up for grabs?