Éventail I recently released on Instagram that I am selling ankara print skirts in 2 designs; this one and a flare design like the one here. They come in 4 different prints and I’m really excited to share this with you! You can learn more about it here and email me for more details. There’re limited in stock so hurryyy! I will be giving you guys ideas on how to style them so I hope you find it useful. I kept things really chic and minimalist with black but you can always play of the recessive colors on the skirt (green, black and brown). Another way I would have worn it would be with a red or orange (crop)sweater or top to add more contrast and a pop of color, of course. Just have fun with it. On to other things, you need to see this video. I already passed out twice (and counting) from laughter. I just can’t get enough of it. I hope it brightens up your week like it did mine. Sometimes all you need is just some stomach-aching, rainy-eyed laughter, you know? Have a swell week, my loves and stay tuned for the rest! Outfit details Ankara skirt: available for sale Kimono: similar here Shoes: Guess Sunglasses: Kensie Bracelet: Fulfill Jewelry Always, Miss LAJA
Hi-Low Welcome, welcome back. You made it. I have a really good feeling about 2015 and it makes me nervous thinking about it but 2014 was a year of discovery and really deciding what direction I wanted Miss LAJA to go in. Yes, she’s still evolving but I believe that now, there’s a lot more focus. This 2015 I really want to push myself, step A LOT more out of my comfort zone, say yes more and take more risks. I don’t know what the future holds but whatever happens I want blogging to always remain enjoyable. That’s one of the reasons I started in the first place; I got to use a different part of my brain, like an outlet. My own space to create what I want, whenever and however I want and share it with you. Again, thank you for the support in 2014 🙂 I’m not the biggest fan of “New Year Resolutions” but I do believe in setting goals and working towards them whether you’re going into a new year or not. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t have things you’d like to start/drop this 2015 but the whole “New Year, new me” confuses me a lot. Where did the “old” you go? How about “New year, improved me”? After all, you do get a new chapter not a completely new book. Anywhoo, I really want to take my eyebrow grooming a lot more seriously. For real. I am blessed with lovely, full brows so I don’t need to fill/draw them in (thank God) but I do tend to neglect them a little to often, haha. This year, I will TRY my best to have “on-fleek” brows as often as possible. Just clean them up a bit and maintain them, you know, haha. It might seem funny but that’s one of my personal goals. What are some of your goals for 2015? It doesn’t matter how silly you think it sounds. As long as it’s important to you, do share! If you follow me on my Instagram (@miss_laja), you’ll know I started 2015 in Dubai! This is my first time spending the New Year outside Nigeria and it feels exhilarating. I’ve been loving Dubai so far and don’t worry, expect a couple of posts and a whole lot of pictures on Miss LAJA but till then, you can join me on my adventures on Instagram/Facebook. As for the outfit, I wore it on the 1st (duh) and it’s just giving me life. I’ve had this skirt for the longest but it had me confused and I didn’t want to wear it anyhow. I’m glad I waited and I’m loving the contrasting high-low top/high-low skirt combo. Woop woop! What did you wear on the 1st? This is a new chapter for Miss LAJA (she’ll be turning two soon! Eeek! :O) and I’m more than excited to see where life/God takes us. When I say us, I mean you, me and Miss LAJA (who is still technically me) cause this is one crazy, fun roller coaster of a journey I want you to be a part of. Woop woop! I pray the start of this year meets you well. No matter where you are in your life, count yourself blessed. You made it. Welcome to 2015 Always, Miss LAJA
This Season Merry Christmas, everyone! How did you spend yours? I went to church early in the morning and got back to do some serious cooking and and of course, we entertained some visitors. Quite a lot of work and I passed out with exhaustion at the end of the day but all in all, it was fulfilling.I am grateful for this season and the fact that I’m able to celebrate this Christmas with my whole family intact in good health and sound mind. For those of you that don’t know, I celebrated the holidays in my village so I got to see my grand mums and some of my extended relatives! Woop woop!! Hope your Christmas was filled with as much warmth as mine was!
Scarlet Hmm, you guys don’t understand how struggle-some the internet here has been since I arrived. Yupp, I am back home in 9ja and while I’m happy to be back, the wi-fi has been flogging somebody low key. Ugghh. On the very, very bright side I came back to this dress I didn’t pick up the last time I was home and coincidentally, I had a Christmas event at my baby sissy’s school where red was part of the dress code. It all worked out really well and I ended up wearing it. On to my favorite part of this ensemble is definitely the jewelry set. Wahhhhhhhh!!! Wahhh, it’s soooo beautiful. It’s 13 layers of pure beauty and yesss, it’s by Fulfill Jewelry, hehe! It’s good to be back home but this heat has been FRYING me. I’m not complaining that much though. So, a funny story, I went to the market with my mum and I wore a pair of shorts that were apparently too short for Nigerian standards. Ahnahn, I was too hot and they were neither tight nor bum shorts but they were “short”. It was hilarious cause people were shouting “Hehhhhhhhhh” at me in the most Nigerian accent you can ever imagine because of my dressing. You would think it was planned but it wasn’t. It took me a while to figure out that they were referring to me haha. With immediate effect, I zipped up my jacket o! Ain’t nobody got time for that kind of attention especially during the holidays when the market is like a beehive. But it was a funny experience all together, haha! One more AWESOMMEE news, Miss LAJA got featured in the Young Entrepreneurs section of ThisDay Newspaper (Nigeria)! Ughh, I don’t even know what to say but I thought I was dreaming! I don’t know why but I feel awkward reading things about myself so I had my mum read it to me. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow I wasn’t ready. Cheers to many more! I hope you all are prepping well for the holidays! Countdown to Christmas! Always, Miss LAJA
AfroBiker Chic Yup, your very own African, biker babe. I would have said “Okada babe” since that’s the unofficial term for motorcycles in Nigeria but chaie, it’ll just kill the vibe but whichever one resonates with you… To each his own. Hahaha, now I can’t stop laughing at the thought! I love how this outfit mixes different trends; leather, ankara and of course a pop of color! You surely recognize this skirt’s fraternal twin from here, right? The faux-leather jacket adds a lot edge and if it’s not already obvious, I can’t stop wearing red. It has now been officially added to my list of favorite colors along with orange, purple and royal blue. Of course, I had to style my braids to complement the outfit. Woop woop! Last but not least, I have finally found the ultimate ankle boots that I can (and have been) wearing EVERYDAY! Yesss! As I write this post, I’ll be going in for my final exam of the semester in an hour! Then FREEDOM! Wish me success and I hope you all have a great weekend! Always, Miss LAJA
Bold Shoulders This outfit (actually the ankara jacket) has me feeling like Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga combined because of the bold shoulders and the gloves. Accurate, maybe or nah? I love how it goes perfectly with my Fulfill Jewelry earrings and necklace. Woop woop! Plus, I can’t seem to get enough of matte, red lips this winter and just red in general. It’s becoming my go to color. It just adds life to everything… Like fire. Remember when I said it’s alright to go all out with colors for fall and winter? Well, today was one of those days. Always, Miss LAJA
Amongst The Fallen Wow, it’s December already? Wow. I can remember clearly talking to my mum about some concerns I had for my site like balancing it with school, etc, etc but here we are. Here we are, with only two weeks of school left. I’m grateful for this semester because I’ve learnt a lot of new things both in and out of school but then I’m in haste for the arrival of Christmas break. Onto my ensemble, I wore this skirt here but I didn’t think I did it justice so I decided to revisit it again. A friend lent me the hat (because I’m not a hat person)and though it seems misplaced given this time of the year, I love the feel it gives to the whole outfit. It adds a more sophisticated touch. Plus, it kept my ears warm… Kind of. Now, a mini reflection. One of my concerns this semester was how occupied and busy I would be. It’s not necessarily the fact that I always had one thing to do since that’s normal with college life but that I kept flying through tasks just to get more things done. I wasn’t consciously present in the moment. It got to the point that when people asked me how my day was, I was itching my scalp to remember because I just couldn’t give a candid answer. Times when I was meant to be “relaxing”, I couldn’t really get into it because I was too busy thinking about what I had to do after my so-called leisure time. I don’t know when I picked up the habit but I knew I didn’t like it so I started making a conscious effort to take a step back and withdraw from myself and the craziness of day-to-day activities. To learn to stop feeling like a horrible person when I wasn’t “getting work done”. To just take out time to do nothing and just chill… and not freak out about it. I can’t say I’m perfect at it now but it’s getting better. Now that finals are coming up, I feel the need to talk about this as a reminder to myself and others out there who feel the same way that it’s not the end of the world. One hour of chilling won’t kill you… Okay maybe not one hour. More like thirty minutes… or even ten minutes. You will survive. Always, Miss LAJA
Flapper Happy Thanksgiving, my loves! What are you thankful for? I’m thankful for life and the fact that I am whole physically, emotionally and psychologically; I am happy, I can walk, I can see to say the least. I’m thankful for food on the table and a roof over my head. I’m thankful for each and every person in my family, mami and papi, the realest MVPs and my big-headed siblings; we are whole and not broken up or separated. I’m thankful for my friends and how much they’ve supported and pushed me to be a better person and also for their presence during good and bad times. I’m thankful for the fact I attend a cracker-lacking, drizzer-lizzing (yes it’s a good thing, haha) university, and I’m thankful for growth. I’m thankful for my site, Miss LAJA and each and everyone of you that keeps visiting and reading and leaving sweeeeet comments! You guys don’t know how HAPPY and motivated it makes me. I just want to not do homework and keep producing content but sadly homework will not do itself. Sadly. I am also thankful for Miss LAJA and blogging because I have learnt SOOO much about myself (and the Internet) this past year and it has impacted me so much that I’ve decided to follow a different path than what I initially intended. It’s scary and sometimes I get worked up because I don’t know what’s happening or what the future holds but I am trusting God that he is in control. I know I’m speaking in riddles but at the right time, I will spill the beansss but check this out if you want an idea. God has been really faithful and I always thank him for the all the unrelenting mercies he’s shown my family and I. This outfit makes me look so tall and my legs look so long I could actually cry. You know, I am one of those people who thinks they’re taller than they really are. In my dictionary, 5’6 is tall why? Because when I wear 4 inch heels, I’m 5’10 and when I wear 5 inch heels, I’m 5’11. So yes, I am tall… Just leave me to dream okay?! *closes eyes and runs away* So thank you, heels and wide-legged trousers. I am thankful for thee. PS, I hope you all went for Black Friday shopping (I’ve gone for 3 consecutive years). Chaie, all those deals they were just sharing and sharing, Diariz God o! Lord, I thank you for self-control. I can’t wait to play around with the new items I got so stay tuned! Woop woop! Violet Jewelry Set by Fulfill Jewelry Always, Miss LAJA
LAJA Unseen #2 If you don’t know what’s happening, read this. For those of you who do, enjoy! Check out my Instagram (@miss_laja) for the name of the pose above. Hahaha! The “okay, I guess you have a point” pose The “this food has too much pepper, I never h’esspered it” OR the ” but who sent you?!” pose The “Michael Jackson taught me. Owww!” pose The “shakey shakey” pose The “it’s by force CHEESE” pose The “Uhunn but I know you’re lying” pose The “hold up, I’m answering calls on my blue tooth earpiece” OR “I really can’t deal with this anymore” pose The “Chai, I shouldn’t have gone bald now I want to cry but I must rock the look by force” pose The “where is the food I ran all this way for?” OR the “my food just spilled. Is life fair?” pose The “I’m too fly to talk to you” pose The “I guess I like you too, buddy” pose The “plucking flowers from a flower-less tree” pose Always, Miss LAJA
On Rainy Days Them cold, rainy days though. I’m really glad I FINALLY got rain boots. After 3 years of active “procrastination” and lying to myself that I didn’t need them, I finally gave in. Seriously, the kind of suffering my other shoes went through wasn’t even funny. I won’t say I love the way they feel but hey, they’re serving their purpose and they still manage to look quite pleasing to the eyes. I’ve really been loving combining royal blue with red lately. I believe you can wear any color during fall/winter as long as it’s weather appropriate. Generally, we tend to gravitate towards darker colors which is very fine and as much as I love color, I find myself doing the same. If you feel the urge to throw in some (or a lot of) color, don’t hold back. If you’re wondering what the twisted wrap looking thing is, well I made it that way. It’s a kimono that I wrapped and twisted because I felt it added more texture to the ensemble. Woop woop! back to braidsss! Chai, you don’t know how much I missed these babies. Ughh, they were long overdue. Welcome back booboos, mummy has missed you! There’ll be details on this style because they look like kinky braids but they are basic box braids. I’ll save the hair talk for another post! Always, Miss LAJA