Outfit || My Birthday Gist

Hey, hey y’all!

I promised I’d bring you guys my birthday gist and this is me keeping my promise, like the good girl that I am :D. So get ready for a long, long story. Promise you’ll stay with me;)😘

Oh, and I also decided to bribe you guys pair the gist with an outfit post which I’d previously shot because, silly me, I don’t have any actual pictures of my birthday. I do have a fairly good excuse though, which you’ll learn soon enough. And I regret my actions enough to never let it happen again. *scolding myself*

So, recall how I was worried about not knowing how to spend my birthday? Well it turned out that my worries were misplaced ’cause I had one of the most rewarding birthday experiences ever! You’ll soon see why!

It literally started from the previous night when my fam started by sending me sweet, heart warming, love-filled messages. One of my sisters even said I was the best sister in the World! Lemme noh lie, I sobbed a little. It felt so good to be reminded of how loved I was and how lucky I was to have such a lovely family. 

Already giddy with so much gratitude and excitement, I tried to get some sleep but the gods of sleep must have gone out to have a snack or something because 20 minutes of tossing and turning later, sleep still did not show. That was how I ended up reading a novel into my birthday oh! Yup, wierd bibliophile behaviour, I know. Long story short, sleep didn’t come till I finished the book. Honezzly! *in Falz voice* (Lemme just confess here that I’d previously read the book halfway. So sadly, I can’t take credit for finishing an entire novel overnight)

Maybe it was the book I was reading (which had a thing to do with kids) or the thoughtful suggestion by a friend but what I do know is that before I fell asleep, I came to the decision that I was going to spend my birthday doing volunteer work at an orphanage. I was tired of wanting my birthdays to be all about me! So I figured I’d spend this one in service to other people.
So, come morning and some Google search of orphanages in Lagos later, I decided on Heritage Homes in Anthony, Lagos. I left home, all dressed for menial work only to be told on getting there that I couldn’t begin volunteer work immediately without having previously filled a volunteer form signed by a referee.
I felt deflated. But determined to make the day count for something, I kept trying to negotiatiate with one of the officers in charge and he was nice enough to let me play with the kids instead, for as long as I wanted. 

Truth be told, I was initially nervous, not knowing how to act around so many kids. But it didn’t take long before I calmed down and got a hang of it. The kids were tooooo sweet. They let me tickle them (they literally took turns to get the tickles. Lol), told me their names and asked for mine, told me stories, played with my hair and we drove to London (in our sofa airplane/bus. Technology like you’ve never seen it before. Hehehehe). We did other fun things which I can’t remember now, and I eventually left when they went to take their afternoon naps. 

Boy, are kids such a handful!!! And adorably so! I’m just wondering what it’d be like to have my own kid . And I really wish I could have documented the experience in pictures but alas I went alone, plus pictures were not allowed in the Home. So there goes the excuse I mentioned earlier.

I also met some cool new friends at the orphanage. They were kids from Loyola College, Abuja doing their service internship. It was interesting to learn that Loyola College sends their 5th year (SS2) students to intern at orphanages, old peoples homes and other such establishments for a few weeks. Brilliant idea, don’t you think? Thumbs up, Loyola!
Small gist here: one of the girls from Loyola girls actually thought I was also an intern like them and for someone who was dreading growing older, it felt really good that someone thought I looked young enough to pass for a secondary school student. Perhaps, I’m actually growing younger. I think I just might have the potion for agelessness. Subscribe to my blog to get it for free! 😀

Anyway, so by evening, my friend, armed with ice cream from Coldstone (still judging you BTW for putting rum in my icecream), came to take me out to see Tarzan. I don’t know if it was the movie that was that good, or if it was the birthday euphoria I was basking in that made everything look so good. All I remember is that I had a darn good time. Although, I’m pretty sure my friend and I were that annoyingly loud couple who wouldn’t stop talking all through the movie.  If you were at our cinema hall that night, we’re sorry. *puppy face* 
Anyone seen Tarzan? What did you think of it? That Tarzan dude though, such a hunk! In fact in the entire movie, there was no shortage of hunks. Is that really how African men looked in those days? Please does anybody know how to apply to go back in time to the good old, hunk-filled days? Thank you in advance! 😀 #okbye. Oh, and Samuel L. Jackson is forever bae.
So, technically the denim dress in this post, without the inner monochrome dress and with different shoes, was what I wore to the movies.
And finally, yesterday, to cap it all up, I received a lovely package from Dammytoms Accessories (you’ll remember them from my last Budget Finds post) flanked by the sweetest note ever. I’m forever grateful for the friends that this blog has afforded me the opportunity to make. 

PS: This should not be taken to mean I have stopped expecting gifts oh! 

PS 2: If you haven’t tried the milk popcorn at Genesis Cinemas, please don’t let the fear of trying new things keep you from such deliciousness!! Try it and thank me later! 😉

Phew! So, did I have a Fab birthday or what? 

What do you think of my outfit ? And how did you spend your last birthday? I wanna know! Please leave me a comment below and let’s connect ;). 

And here’s saying a heartfelt “thank you” to all you lovely people who made my birthday awesome by sending me messages, gifts and good wishes. And to the adorable kids at Heritage homes who let me spend my special day with them. And to you for reading this my long, long gist. 

Love and love,

Moji

Photography by Chuks Ademu (@chuxontop on Instagram)