Wrapping up April

ound these in a local high street store... added a bit of humour to my day while I shake off the blues — Found these in a local high street store… added a bit of humour to my day!

I can’t believe just how quickly April has flown by. I haven’t even had a chance to get over my post-travel blues. That’s right. Despite being well prepared to give myself a soft landing when I returned to London after my travels from Brazil and Ghana, I’ve landed flat on my a***. Perhaps I should have prepared myself with some padding! ———->>>>>

In less than month I’ve put on half a stone from comfort eating! The healthy life-style I adapted in Brazil has since gone down the drain. Even getting a new pair of trainers didn’t motivate me to get back into my usual routine of working out at the gym!

And I can’t even blame the British weather for ‘dampening’ my spirits! The sun has made its debut appearance since the start of spring. I’ve joked many times that I brought the sun with me from my travels (though the joke was lost on me). No, it’s not ever going to be quite as hot as being in Brazil or Ghana, but for London standards it hasn’t been bad.

Despite being blue, I’m quite the expert at putting on a brave face and bright smile when needed. I was hoping my new short hair cut would keep me chirpy but that failed many times. I’m just not used to having hair this short. But thankfully I took to headwraps for bad hair days… And almost everyday has been a bad hair day with the mood I’m in! Nether-the-less, despite the temptation, I’m staying away from hair extensions! so if I want long hair- I’ll just have to grow it (naturally)!

steps towards shaking off the blues... hang out with Nat! — steps towards shaking off the blues… hang out with Nat!

My girl Natalie has been so supportive and encouraging to help me shake off my blues. She knows exactly what I’m going through as she’s still ‘home-sick’ for LA (her future home. That’s another post). So a couple of times we’ve met up and cheered each other up. Starbucks is most probably our common haven! That’s were Nat introduced me to ‘Keek’- the video network app. We we spontaneously hired ‘Barclay’s bikes’ for the day earlier this month, riding around London filming our adventures 30 seconds at a time on keek … Fun for 5 minutes but the novelty has since worn off.

The fun girlie slumber party I tried organising the other night went down hill since I was too miserable to prepare for it. But Nat, the angel she is, arrived at mine with a bunch of flowers and goodies (including Starbucks reusable cups) to cheered me up. And we got brainstorming about our careers and how we can work together and use our talents to earn extra money… So we’re now the British Cupcake Girls! We’ll be baking homemade cupcakes and hosting at parties and events (lets see how long that will last)!

Food has played a huge part of my month. As I mentioned I’ve gained quite a bit of weight, so despite being ‘depressed’, lets just say my body hasn’t been deprived of any feeding! But junk food aside, I’ve had the opportunity to eat at some popular restaurants in London this month. One of my favorite places for salsa dancing is Floridita in Soho.

I also really enjoyed my meal at Momo’s in Mayfair last weekend. Considering I didn’t have much luck with Moroccan cuisine while in Marrakech, this meal more than made up for it!

A catch up with one of my favourite photographers Daniele Tamagni on sunday brought a smile to my face. I managed to fish out a CD with pictures from our first shoot together… Going as far back as 2007! As always despite being an acclaimed photographer Dan still remains so humble! We walked in central London towards The Photographers Gallery, and I picked his brain to satisfy my curiosity about how success has changed his life. His response was open (but it was off record!) so I will meet up with him again soon for an ‘official’ interview and get all the nitty-gritty on working with a diva such as Solange Knowles! Don’t miss Daniele’s exhibition ‘global STLE battles‘ showcasing at the ArtEco Gallery in London on the 24th May- 22nd June.

All smile with my send off crew including Chris. Just hours before I caught my flight back to London.

And finally, I’ve got to mention how excited I am for my friend Chris Attoh! Despite the thousands of miles between us, we’ve had many late nights together… No naughty thoughts now! Chris entrusted me to proof-read his lastest screenplay scripts. What an honour! And I’d like to hope my direct and honest feedback contributed to the final outcome.

Chris, who also happens to be voted Ghana’s most handsome man, is a super talented and humble actor/producer/screenwriter and now my mentor! Yes, I’ve appointed him as my mentor after he suggested I should try getting into radio. So I took his advice and recently gained a place on a radio course at an adult college. I’ll have him as a guest speaker when I get my first show!!

spontaneous interview in Accra with Emmilio of Westcoast Ent

And to wrap up, a phone call from Emmilio of Westcoast Ent to personally invite me and my friends to the Launch of his new club night really couldn’t have come at a better time! Exactly what I need to shake off my blues- dancing to some ‘azonto’ beats (gosh I miss Accra)! Unfortunately the launch due this saturday 4rd May, has been moved to the 1st of June, however a party is still on for tomorrow! I’ve been following Westcoastuk on Instagram and I love the inspirational words being put out everyday… A strong factor in starting my day with a smile on my face.