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Polka Purple

Hey, fab people! Polka dots are in right now, and anyway you wear them you're spot on. I wore my purple/white polka dot shirt to the pharmacists' society AGM today and I've got to say I felt real fab (if my mirror and the compliments are anything to go by :-P ). I love this shirt, and not just the polka dots but it's got a kinda rough texture that adds to its beauty.

Here's how I wore my polka dots. It's just a peek really, that I took when the AGM got a little boring. (Yes, fashion never fails to kill boredom!) As usual, rest of the polka dot outfit later.

Reader's Haven

Hey fab people! Good news: Aristoc has finally caught up with the world's classy bookshop trend. You know, that comfy zone where a reader can go in, take a seat and browse away. You may walk in, take a book of  your choice off the shelf, take a seat and lose yourself in the wonderful world of bookland. Now, there's a reader's bliss - if like myself you love bookshops, and books make up part of your retail therapy; right up there with shoes, bags and chocolate, then you know what I'm talking about. This new look Aristoc has got itself has really been a long time coming here in Ug, seeing as bookshops the nature of Aristoc elsewhere in the world have had the make-the-reader-comfy style for ages now. It's part of what draws the clientele and we love it.

Aristoc's Garden City branch, when it came around some years back, was a very welcome addition to the Kampala road branch which was (still is) a bit more crowded and did not offer much to a book-store lover who goes in there to explore and find that perfect book. That didn't stop us going there (and shouldn't stop you either) their collection is vast and like they boast, they are Uganda's leading book-store.

Well, now they've expanded the branch at Garden City even more and you'll find comfy sofa's set up for readers, and benches that are extensions to the shelves where you can seat and leaf through that book before you take it home, or quickly browse through another good one that you may not be taking home for one reason or another- cost, interesting-but-not-one-you'd-really-like-to-take-home, et cetera. I snapped a few pics for you, you'll please forgive the blurry-ness; I took them with my phone as I didn't want to look too obvious pulling out my camera (which I carry everywhere by the way) and all.


Afro-chic

Hey fab people! Here's my Afro-chic tee outfit as promised. I dressed up the denims with high-heels, a fab pair I bought from Charles & Keith. I felt the big brown belt added some contrast and brought out the outfit better. I also decided to have a clean look - no make up but for lipstick, and no jewellery either - kinda modelesque (or so I felt :-) )





Fab Fun Afro Friday


Hi there! My Friday's been fab, better be having a fab one yourself. Life should be fab and fun, life should be one big Friday!

Today I was feeling very afrocentric, so I took out my afro 'super sound' tee. I love this top a mighty bunch, the afro lady, and the silver words on it: 'Super Sound: follow my rhythm' Chic, right? I think so too. And well, so did my boyfriend :)

Here's a pic of the tee, I'll be posting the rest of the outfit later. I think my not-done-up hair matched the theme, too. Keep fab, have a fun Friday.




Au revoir! Much Love,
         Katerina.

Hair Story I

My Indian Voyages earlier this year came with joys and pains.The greatest of these pains being the loss of my beloved tresses. I'm still weeping for my beloved hair to this day. Here's how it all happened. I prepared for my journey well (not well enough, in retrospect, seeing as I lost the hair) by taking my African hair products. Relaxer, hair pomade, et cetera. Little did I know that I would not find a single salon capable of handling African hair. It was the biggest disaster of my several months trip, this damage to my hair.

If you know anything about 'relaxing/retouching' as regards Afro-hair then you know that it's a thing one shouldn't do to her hair by herself. Result = Your hair comes out half-done = Massive Breakage. Why? Because you can not clearly see what you're doing as you retouch, even if you use four mirrors. The hair that suffers most is the hair at the back of the head. I regret the decision to retouch my own hair with all my heart. I knew my hair would break some, I did not know how much. Now I have to wait months before my hair will grow back, and every time I see old pictures of myself with my old hair length I feel genuine pangs of pain. Sigh.

Loving Your Skin 101


Do you know your skin type? To love yourself you gotta love your skin. And you can’t do that if you don’t know what skin type you’ve got. Here’s the 411.

1. Dry Skin
Results from too little production of sebum, the skin’s natural oil. As a result dry skin develops fine lines and wrinkles faster, because there isn’t enough oil production and moisture to keep the skin supple and vibrant.
  • Skin usually feels tight
  • May be flakey
  • Pores almost unnoticeable
  • Not oily, if you wipe your skin with tissue it comes off with very little or no oil.

2. Oily Skin
Oily skin is (obviously!) caused by excessive production of sebum. All this oil ends up blocking the pores, resulting in frequent breakouts.
  • Visibly shiny
  • If you wipe your face with tissue it comes off oily
  • Pores are usually visible (or large)
  • Frequent breakouts

My Neighbour's Poodle

It looks so weird. No, not the poodle, the neighbours and their poodle. Complete with leash, all that the picture needed to make it complete were a jumper and little pink dog shoes borrowed from Paris Hilton's poodle. Yesterday but one I saw them walking it, it's little feet were muddy from the downpour earlier in the day. Then again, later in the day they walked it some more. It is obvious from the way my neighbours were walking that felt they were onto something novel.

I'm sure you can understand my taking out a second to be surprised at my neighbours and their poodle; without looking it, of course. I'm quite good at looking un-impressed and un-moved. I could agree with them that it's all a little novel but I wasn't about to tell them. Of course we've all seen it on TV and all. Still, Ugandans walking poodles in Uganda is as rare a sight as a North Korean giving a South Korean a big, warm, brotherly hug.




This is the second poodle I've seen here in K'la, and the other one was roaming around lost. I felt rather sorry for it, which is strange because I'm not a dog person. And I'm not a cat person either, I just happen not to be a fan of furry things. I can stand puppies, I even find them adorable. But then they have to go and grow up and become full-grown dogs, which brings us back to square one. No furry things.

Locked Out

Two days ago, on a work trip, I forgot the key to my bedroom hundreds of kilometres and too long a bus ride away. I was able to retrieve it today (thank God!), but it's been a nightmare. Friends had all sorts of advice, from pragmatic to downright hilarious: hit the couch; find the difference between the rock and the hard place, the results are the same; to the idea that I must have enjoyed sharing someone's bed in my predicament. Ha ha, I wish! Were that to be the case I would have had absolutely no complaints.




Well, here's how to survive being a prisoner in your own house (which is what I was), without ending up in a psyche ward for a day or two.

Fresh Fashion - Fab And Fun!

Hi there! For those that don't know, it's fashion week craze all over the world. Well, almost. We've got nothing much going on here, but despair not. You've got the next best thing: Fab, Fun, Life brings you all you need to know from the runways. I got you, beauties.

Fab Fun Life brings all you fashion lovers and trend-setters out there fresh fashion, straight from the runways at the on-going New York Fashion Week (Spring 2012). We are letting you know what will be in vogue during March, April, May (the spring) and perhaps even for the summer.

Bright colours are in, so are florals. Leather, as always, is timeless. Time to take your mini dresses and leather jackets out, ladies. If you love an athletic look, you're spot on, this is your season! If you love an ultra-feminine look, well, this is your season too. I've put together a few looks from the runway for you, don't be left out, there's no excuse!

First, Jason Wu. We love his collection for it's wearability and ultra-femininity. So many times runway trends come out with not-so-everyday-wear pieces that are elegant and ingenious but we won't be walking anywhere in them. Not this time. Oh, we also love Jason Wu because Michelle Obama loves his designs. He designed the First Lady's inauguration dress.

PS: You may need to zoom in to see how really beautiful each of these pieces is.

Jason Wu. New York Fashion Week Spring 2012. Pictures courtesy of STYLE.COM/

I love every peace of Jason Wu's collection, I like the assymetrical hems on the canary-yellow dress and the pink flowy skirt. I so see myself in that pink skirt!There's the sporty windy-breaker cum parka in the bottom picture, it adds fun to the look. And the ruffled white blouse and black pants that Joan Smalls wore.What's not to love! The cocktail dresses (I've only shown one here - right hand corner) are very chic too.

Next we bring you Alexander Wang. His collection is the most sporty I've seen yet. We see play with motorcross jackets, sheer and mesh jerseys, cargo florals and leather mini dresses. And lots of pointy shoes.

Alexander Wang. New York Fashion Week Spring 2012. Pictures courtesy of STYLE.COM/

Remember those army cargo pants you loved all through high school? Well, they've found a replacement in hot, cute floral cargos. FFL loves the jersey blouses, and the mini dresses too. Try out the leather mini dress. dress Liya Kebede's got on. Maybe you had one sitting in your closet since the 90's, time to bring it out!

The trends coming out are sporty (athletic), leather, sheer (transluscents), floral prints, flowing skirts, assymetrical hemlines, strappy heels, and a some pointy shoes here and there. Pinks, yellows, and blues seem very much in.

Now you know what to go shopping for, go hit the malls before the Dec/Jan price-hikes fowl all the sweet deals. Get looking fab!

PS: Did I mention the scarlet-red lip is very much in too? Well, it is! Add colour to your look, add a splash of red on those pretty lips. Mind this isn't for the faint-hearted. PPS: Choose the right shade for your complexion.

Au revoir! Much Love,
         Katerina.

A Good Laugh

Your mama is so fat all her relationships are long distance. Your mama is so fat the Boeing Jumbo Jet was made specially for her. Your mama is so fat the cops fined her for walking up a road that said 'No trucks'.

Haha... seriously, I had a good laugh with those your-mama jokes. Those african-american pips really know how to have a good laugh. Okay, I'm sure you did not guess but the last two of those jokes are original compositions by yours truly. Yepp, that's me. And yes I laughed at my jokes too, don't you laugh at yours? No? You should have a doctor check your brain, you just might find you've been missing out on a fun life. Or at the very least you may find out why people keep laughing at you when you speak - maybe they are actually intending to laugh with you. Thank me later, just don't blame when crow's feet start showing around your eyes as proof of the extreme enjoyment you're getting out of life - what with all the laughing you'll be doing once you learn how to laugh at all that's fun.



I wouldn't advise you to take laughing at your own jokes as far as Pablo, though. You know, the muganda guy (apparently) with the Ankole accent that won Uganda's Last Comic Standing. Is that the name of the show, I don't quite remember. Thing is, he was crowned the country's top comedian but the country's reaction to this wasn't a unanimous one, of course. At the time so many people didn't find him funny at all, myself included. Part of this, for me, must have accrued from the fact that my room mates at Uni subjected me to a radio breakfast show every morning that had Pablo as one of the crew. It was a christian radio so I feel compelled at this point to emphasise that I love Jesus Christ: I love Jesus Christ. It was Pablo's trying-so-hard-to-be-funny that I had a major issue with. And the fact that the room mates (whom I love too, by the way) hence made me miss out on my more fun radio shows and have Pablo as a substitute, as we couldn't play two radios at the same time. But trust me, I gave that a shot for a while.

Fab News!

The not-so-fab news first. Today my creative mojo seems to be running rather low. Still I really wanna bring you all something; keep the cogs of those pretty and handsome brains working. Plus Lady FFL here doesn't wanna get into a lazy rut.

Now the fab news: we'll be getting some videos up soon (Yay!) on a number of issues that mean something to us all. My first choices are health, beauty and fashion. Fab, Fun, Life is a healthy spot, and promotes healthy lifestyles. And I'm sure all you friends of FFL are a healthy bunch. So videos we shall have, and healthy, beautiful and fashionable we shall be.

We'll learn lots of new stuff and enjoy doing it. I don't about you but I can't wait! At FFL we love sharing, so go on and share with us, we appreciate the love. If there's an issue on which anyone would love to have me share some information please feel free to let me know, I'll be pleased to get in touch. At FFL the more the merrier.

Au revoir! Much Love,
         Katerina.

Sharing Is Caring?

You hear the craziest advice on radio some days. A woman on one of those vernacular radio stations dished out some incredible (literally) advice today. Her advice was directed to the ladies. She said today men can be easily expected to 'marry' even five wives if the number of women out there is to reduce. Good gracious! I couldn't wait to hear her logic, her rationale for this wisdom - there was none. She went on to say that if a lady finds herself  'loved' by a man she should just accept him without a fuss because - here it comes- not many are capable of that 'love'. So it does not matter if he's got a wife already, or even wives, long as he professes his love the the both of you are good to go. Well I never! Honestly with the ease with which men proclaim love when they are simply after the cookie, I couldn't believe this woman. And yet she seemed a regular guest on the station (I heard the programme during a taxi ride).

Tuesdays - You Gotta Love 'Em

Wednesdays were my favourite day of the week (after Friday), then along came Tuesday. For those of you that haven't yet discovered the charm of Tuesdays, especially if you live/work in Kampala, then you don't know what your missing! But despair not, for that's about to change: you'll now know what you're missing. You may even get out there and do something about it. Ofcourse you will!

1) Free Pizza
Now, who wouldn't want some free juicy, cheese-dripping pizza in all its colourful mouth-watering glory! I know I would. Well maybe some of you knew about this already. Tuesday has been pizza buy one-get one free at Nandos for some time now. Hold it, hold it, I know what you're thinking: the pizza at Nandos on that day is not as good, they are in such a hurry and that it sometimes comes out too crusty, etc, etc, and the lines are too long, and several other reasons not to go get your free pizza, but hold your horses: Tasty's.



Yepp, Tasty's. Tasty's does free pizza too. Tuesday is pizza buy one-get one free here too.They've got a branch at Shoprite mall Lugogo, and another in Ntinda opposite DTB. And their pizza is actually good. You get to wait half an hour, though, but atleast I was told this at ordering so I could decide what I wanted to do: do something with my half hour as I wait for my pizza or forego the pizza. Ofcourse I found somethig to fill my 30 minutes, you know me. Pity they don't do deliveries. I wish Ugandans would take more to this part of business, deliveries. We would all be happier. And maybe a little lazier, but a lot happier, we do jog afterall - right? Tasty's Ntinda is open from 8:00 a.m to Midnight. More time to get your free pizza, more reason to love your Tuesday.

2) Half Price tickets at Cineplex
I just recently learnt of this but I'm sure it's been going for some time. You've got to agree it's a sweet deal. And another fun reason to love your Tuesdays. If the rain wasn't on another of it's sprees right now I'd probably be there as I type this. I love my movies, you know, and I'm itching to complete Hanna. As you may have heard here I was rudely interrupted before I could enjoy it to the end. Well, half-price tickets for any movie you've been itching to watch, a bag of pop-corn and why wouldn't you love your Tuesday?



3)Theme nights
Those of you that love the night life could help me here. I'm sure Tuesdays are theme nights somewhere in a certain funky up-town night club that you love. Does Afrigo band have a do at Little flowers? Or is it a Qwela do some where?  Is it fun factory comedy night? Am sure there's something, so let us know folks, share, anything to love our Tuesdays better.

4) The Big One!
And this is the biggest of them all. The mother of reasons for you to love Tuesday. Wait for it: It's the day after Monday. Monday that dreary day that has everyone moving about with dull spirits and pining for the weekend, dosing at their desk and drinking gallons of coffee. Who wants Monday? Tuesday is the real start of the week. You're alert, you're certain Monday is over and you'll make it through another week. Perhaps you're even more sober than you were on Monday. Tuesday is also the day before Wednesday, and we all know what that signifies. Wednesday is the day that brings the weekend. The day before Thursday comes to bring you Friday, day 1 of the weekend. For when Wednesday comes you know it's the middle of the week, and the weekend is nigh. Tuesday brings you Wednesday, Tuesday brings you hope. Now, truly, why wouldn't you love Tuesday?

Yeah, that No. 4 there sounded a little crazy, right? LOL. So now that you know why I love Tuesday, what's your fav day of the week? Care to share? Maybe you could even win me over to your day of the week!

Au revoir! Much Love,
         Katerina.

White Flag of Truce

I love poetry, and every now and then I'm seized by some Shakespearean winds (I wish!) and I'll grab my pen and make a creation or two. Here's something I shared with some facebook friends some months back. I wrote it with the Kampala Walk To Work demonstrations in mind but for some reason my sister thought it had something to do with her, and a friend said it made her reflect on herself. I thought that interesting. That's the beauty of art I guess, everyone relates to it their way. Feel free to share your thoughts on this one.

White Flag Of Truce

Will you wave the white flag of truce,
Will you bow your head in shame,
Will you hold your head in your hands,
Will you break down and cry?

Will you eat humble pie,
Will you eat your own words,
Will you take them back?

Will you punch the air in victory,
Will your eyes blaze with glory,
Will you gloat and hound,
Will you stand your ground?

Will you tuck your tail and hide,
Will you turn around and run,
Will you wave the white flag of truce?

Au revoir! Much Love,
         Katerina.

Erin And The Five British Soldiers

I watched a movie a while back - an action comedy, The Other Guys - that really had me laughing at this one scene. Well, you know how some scenes in some of these comedies don't get you laughing as hard as the director may have hoped, but this one here was very amusing. I bring you one of my fav scenes in the movie.

Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz are meeting in an Irish pub to discuss their cop case. Turns out it's some sort of singing night in the pub that Allen loves to be a part of.

He goes on to sing this song with several Irishmen. Here are the lyrics and you can watch it here yourself http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Dz5JC9dTKskg

I gave my love to Erin
She promised to be true
I went to war to come back
And find 5 british soldiers
Had their way with her
It was consensual

And all their fathers were hanged
And the children all got pink eye
While their Harry Potter books got burnt

Now how about that! You should see the commitment and enjoyment with which Allan sings this song. Terry just can't believe people actually go to bars to sing such 'depressing' war songs about consensual war crimes of a certain nature, and actually enjoy it! Let me know if you watched the scene, or the movie, and enjoyed it too.

Au revoir! Much Love,
         Katerina.

All Dressed Up And No Where To Go

Last Friday had me all dressed up, with no where to go. Yet again. A couple of friends will be leaving soon to go abroad for their Masters and I'm in the process of saying my goodbyes. So I made an appointment with one of them for 3 pm, then set about doing my work. Only to have the sky start darkening in worrying degrees. Rain. Again! I managed to get ready and leave the house before it could start, but I hadn't got very far when it had me scurrying back to the safety of my house.



There was a time when I had no patience for rain and how it just ruins all plans, making one a prisoner wherever they happen to be when the skies open. Well, two incidents - one after the other - changed that. We went without any rain for about a month. Now in this part of the country, that's unheard of. The heat was unbearable, and the dust everywhere quite something else! It lay in cakes on everything from roof tops to furniture, and had everyone sneezing. That was January, but even during the dry season rain is always expected now and then. It makes a number of Kampala's roads and streets un-usable but atleast the dust settles, and the heat gives everyone a much needed break. To say nothing for its much needed use in plant growth, et cetera. Plus I had grown quite tired of the amount of dusting I had to do in my house everyday, let alone having to scrub the balcony over and over!

Incident number 2 happened far away from home. I left for India and it happened to be summer when I got there. Now you haven't experienced heat, perspiration and discomfort until you've experienced an Indian summer! To say that it was hot is like saying the Arctic circle has a mildly cool climate. I was pretty sure the sun built its house, and had all its daughters in India. I did not see the rain for very close to four months in the state I visited, till 3rd June when the skies let loose and it rained cats, dogs, monkeys, and all other small mammals that could possibly rain. I was on my way to church because it happened to be Martyr's day and I wondered if that had anything to do with it. I had been assured I wouldn't see any rain the entire summer and I simply couldn't believe it. I dared not. I was thinking what? Not a drop? In a whole quarter of a year? How do they survive here! And I looked forward to the day it would rain with more than all my heart.

You're probably thinking she must be mad, it's just rain! Well, you would be forgiven for thinking so. But hold that thought until you've experienced an Indian summer, and have to spend the day time of your weekend hibernating away somewhere indoors, waiting till the sun can go down. When the first drops fell, It was such a thrilling feeling. Yes, thrilling. Yeah, me too, I never thought rain could make me feel that way. I even took some pictures and a video, just to capture those very first drops. In my defense at this slightly crazed reaction allow me to say I was very, very homesick.

Looking back though, I now remember how we all looked forward to the rain that very dry January that was Incident 1. Every now and then a friend on facebook would report something like 'It's about to rain over here. Yay!' Only to have the same friend later report 'Oh, well it didn't rain afterall' or have someone else comment on the post to say 'Where's that rain you were talking about, I'm in the same place and ther isn't a drop of rain'. Happened to me once, too. Everyone was in the mood for a down-pour, and the joy when it finally came!

So, believe me when I say I have a new respect for rain and all it's incoveniences. So when I'm all dressed up, and just stepped out of the door to be on my merry way, only to have a sudden down-pour send me running back to the shelter of my house like it did on Friday, I do so with calm and not a single unkind word to the rain. I take shelter and wait for it to finish it's work here and be on it's merry way to bless some other folks then set out on my own merry way. I respect it. I can actually say I love it. Enough not to complain anymore that I only wished it rained only late in the night to avoid upsetting anyone's plans.

I only worry when it comes round when I'm wearing a sensitive pair of shoes that will need extra looking after (and hence cash) after the rain, and when it finds me without any warming gear. I also feel for the landslide victims everytime it rains in torrents. I just wish they would allow to be resettled elsewhere away from the mountains for the sake of their own lives! Well, other than all that I'm friends with the rain. Even when it has me all dolled up with nowhere to go. Someone should really get that set of wheels real soon!

Au revoir! Much Love,
         Katerina.

When The Entertainment Is Not All That.

Ever sat infront of a screen and dedicated an hour or so to a TV programme that was interesting enough to have you wrap yourself up in all your warming gear and snug up in the couch only to have the programme be cut short? And not just interrupted with a commercial but brought to a sudden screeching end? If it's ever happened to you then you can understand my frustration when the screening of Hanna ( the new Hollywood movie) on one TV station suddenly came to an end right in the middle of a very engaging scene!



Humble Pie - Who Should Go First

So (s)he pisses you off. Majorly. You raise hell and send him/her off with a warning never to call you again, text you, or come over to your place ever again. But you're certain (s)he'll do one or all of the above, because 1) it was not your fault in the first place, and 2) anyone in their right mind with any regard for the wronged party (and any of the love they profess) would do everything in their power to make it all right. So you wait.
Which begs the question, when it comes to eating humble pie who should go first? The rule of thumb would be that whichever party wronged the other goes first. Now and then, though, you'll find a few exceptions to this perfectly reasonable rule. Take a look at these.
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