Vacation Time!

I love taking time out to spend with myself, this is something I've been doing for a couple of years and i love it. I get to reflect, learn some more about myself and be quiet cause sometimes, you just gotta be quiet.

Anyways, I had the opportunity of spending some alone time for a week....in Dubai!!!! It was awesome and a well needed vacation. I was there for a week but I wish I could have stayed longer. Dubai is such a gorgeous city I can't wait to go with my girls.

I really enjoyed being a tourist and exploring the city completely on my own. Like my friend; Ms. Pearl did during our U.K vacay earlier this year, I took some notes.

1. I noticed not a lot of women worked... (their hubby's must be rich)

2. Shoes? Who wears those? Everyone wore sandals or slippers. Being the shoe addict that I am, best believe I noticed that.

3. They really take the ''for ladies and children only'' seriously. On the buses and trains, there are sections for just ladies and children. I witnessed a man (tourist, of course) standing in 'our' section, some lady called him out so fast I was embarrassed for him. I wonder how the youths socialize. Hmmm

4. Unlike Lagos, Nigeria or Atlanta, Ga..Cobb County to be exact, where were the policemen? Non-existent!!! I saw some security guards but they ain't real police (JK!!!) Then again, Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world so maybe that's why?!

5. If you think the ladies in SATC2 that were wearing the fabulous clothes underneath their hijab were just for the movie, you're so wrong! These Arabs are too fly!!! From their raybans to Louis Vuitton purses to Louboutins, these women definitely had it going on.

Before I knew it my one week was over and I was on the plane home. If you need a place to visit, you definitely want to discover Dubai.


Here are some pictures from my trip.

This is the Burj Khalifa. The tallest building in the world. I got to get up to the 124th floor which is the highest they will let tourists.

Welcome To My World

As I rummage through the heap of my clothes on the bed in the dark and the heat, I silently curse the day I decided that moving back to Lagos was a good idea. This doesn't make any sense. There is no reason as to why I'm sweating buckets literally seconds after getting outta the shower. *sigh* It's only 6:15a.m....I shouldn't start the day complaining.

I recently moved to Lagos after living out of the country for a few years. 70 days to be precise. I've been out of my comfort zone for 70days. When the option of moving back to Lagos was brought to me, I was very excited cause I was fed up of being homesick and broke and moving back home to me meant: No skipping of meals..unless I wanted to and a constant inflow of money from the parents. (So naive) I refused to think about the lack of electricity, water, security, good roads, laws, peace of mind...I can go on...

I was told I moved back at the wrong time (This is from a 'lagosian' apparently, there are particular seasons to move back home) I moved back when everyone was home for the holidays so all we were concerned about was partying, going out, weddings, beach days and all the fun stuff you do while you're on vacation. The only difference was, I wasn't on vacation..my mind was.

So January comes around which means the holiday is over for everyone. Out-of-towner's start to head back to their countries and lagosians start to head back to work. Where does that leave me? Home alone with no light and no life. How did this happen?

Fast forward to a couple of weeks later to Corporate Nigeria CharlieCran! *Yay* So now I have a job working in a bank.(I have tonsss of stories about that too) Treasury Dept $$$$ and that's pretty much the only thing I currently love about being here...BUT..I'm willing and prepared to have an open mind and try to make the best of my hopefully limited time here... I've had some good times and some bad times but I'm hoping and praying it gets better.

~CharlieCran~

I'm Back!!

Hey Bloggers,

Wow...I've been gone a while!!! So much has happened in the past couple of months. I moved back home... home being Nigeria. I moved in December and it's been a real adventure since. So...I decided to share my new life with you. Hopefully I can keep this up!!!

Success!!!

Hey Bloggers,

Hope all is well! It's been a pretty hectic week and I haven't had time to breathe...until now so I thought I should let you know how the drive went and do I have a story!!!

So here comes Sunday A.K.A D-Day. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the man power we needed for it to work out like planned so we had to change plans. So Plan B is to find a shelter and hope that they let us hand out the donations. Okay so seems like we have a plan. I set out to Wal-Mart cause I had received money to buy more blankets and pillows which I get done in record time (And for Wal-Mart, that's accomplishment I'm proud of). After stopping to get 'cheaper' gas I head to (Shay) our photographer's house to pick her up. We unload the car so we can take pictures and then we reload the car. At this time, I'm excited that we're about to be on our way so we jump into the car, seat belts...Check! Camera... Check! And I proceed to start my car.

ZIP!

My baby won't start! I try again...Nothing! And again...Still nothing. "Okay. Don't panic B..Don't panic" I tell myself and because I'm smart (and my parents told me to) I have jumper cables in my trunk. Perfect! So I'm just gonna get it jumped and we'll be out soon. Just a minor setback..
So we unload the pillows again..*sigh* Hook it up...ZIP! Nothing. Maybe we hooked it up wont..Try again..Zip! Nothing! This is ridiculous because I've never had a problem with my battery. (Took it to the mechanic days later..it wasn't the battery)

I refuse to be bothered by this, so we unload the stuff for the 3rd time and load it up into her truck. Now off to pick my friends Lucy and Vanessa. Interesting way to start the night.

We head out to the first Shelter and of course we got lost. Unfortunately for us, we miss the curfew so we have to leave. Off to another shelter! We find another one; Atlanta Union Mission and across the street are some people sleeping outside. Jackpot. This is exactly what we wanted.

To cut the long story short, the event was a success. We ended up heading to another shelter and dropping off some stuff there as well. Everyone was so grateful and that made us happy.

We ended up at Waffle House and had a wonderful night!

*sigh* Of course you know I had to edit this a little right? :)

~CharlieCran~

Vacation Time!

Hey Bloggers,

How’s the weekend going? Very excited about tomorrow but I’m taking a break from thinking about it so I don’t give myself an anxiety attack! Lol.

So I went to Orlando this summer to spend some time with my sister who was working there for a couple months. It was tons of fun. I had a very hectic 8weeks prior to that and I needed that week off. Just thought I'd share some pictures...


This is me being a tourist! I love waterfalls... I wish I could have one in my house. My sister was so against me being a tourist, apparently I was embarrassing her! Lol.

My sister the travel guide!

My sister the clown! This was at Disney's Animal Kingdom and for some strange reason it was unbelievably hot! My sis told me it was the hottest park but I didn't believe her, then we got to the park and I was dripping with sweat. This is a fan with water...I have no clue how that worked but it was awesome! I thought it was a funny sight and she stood there for a couple of minutes! Silly! Lol.

I'm really big on scenery and I thought this was really cute. I wish I had a camera with better quality *Working on it* but this is the best my pink 7.2megapixel camera could take!

My sister is gonna hate me for doing this! I was really excited about going to the park and of course she was not so much! Can you tell from her face that she didn't want to take the picture? Lol. Love her!

OKay, last one before I bore you all. Trying to find our way through the streets of Morocco!

Anyways, we went to a couple of countries but there are way too many pictures for me to upload.
Can't wait for another vacation. Till then, I'm on my grind!!!

~CharlieCran~

New Look

Hey Bloggers,

Its Friday!!! It's amazing how time is flying past. I remember my birthday like it was yesterday and all of a sudden it's November! Scary!

If you didn't notice, my blog has a new look! I'm so excited about it. It took me looking through 85 pages of templates, asking friends for me to decide on one! I like this 'cause its simple and a little colorful which I think defines me. Found someone to work on my website and she's amazing! I tweeted about this (Follow me @CharlieCran) she's awesome, she listens and she's creative. Its so refreshing to see things are getting done. She's also helping me with my business cards...Can't wait to see those!

2 days away from the Blanket/Pillow Drive and I'm getting really anxious! I hope all goes well..being the person I am, I've already starting getting antsy but I'm gonna let go and let God and pray that all goes well!

Till then,

~CharlieCran~

Blankets and Pillows Drive

Hey Bloggers,

Still waiting on the pictures from my event so I can share them with you but in the main time, I have something else I'm working on. Its a "Blankets and Pillows" Drive.

Atlanta has been known to experience frigid times during the winter and this year is no exception. While sitting in my car on one of these nights, I complained about the malfunctioning of my vehicle's heater, I then noticed a lady sleeping at the bus stop and wondered what she may be going through. I could visualize her discomfort as she slept in an upright position against a wall.

During Homeless Awareness Week at my school, Kennesaw State University, I participated in sleeping outside for an evening. Due to the freezing temperatures, I gave in during the night and went back to the comforts on my own bed. I could not even make it through the night as a homeless person. I was, and still am, so used to always having a roof over my head, warmth of a duvet and socks! But unfortunately, many people are not afforded this same reassurance.I could go on and on but my point is, even if we cannot eliminate homelessness in America, we can make their situation a little better.I am having a "Blankets and Pillows" Drive and would love for all of you kind-hearted friends to participate. All you have to do is donate either a pillow or a blanket, or both, if you so desire.(Feel free to throw in a pair of socks) It is not much but I am confident that the little things we do for others will be greatly appreciated.

Feel free to inform your friends.

For donations please call Bekky Sowemimo at 678 431 4169 (c) or email at bekkeso@gmail.com


Acts 20:35 (NIV)
"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "

So yea.. Thats what I'm working on right now. Hopefully our team will take pictures and I can post them for you all to see.

Stay warm!
~CharlieCran~

*If you're Out there - John Legend*