Whew! *Wipes Brows* (Weekend Recap)

I was scared to log into my blog today because I had been gone for so long. As you may or may not know, I am seriously involved in a non profit organization, The Seun Akinsanya Project (as the Director of Media and Public Relations), and this past Saturday, the organization was officially launched here in Maryland, USA. It went off without a hitch. Well, except for the inclement weather, which I am now thankful for.

Snow decided to come months early this year, and naturally, it chose our day, October 29th 2011. What better way and what better day to make its debut? On Saturday, there was rain, wind, extreme cold (35 degress Fahrenheit), ice, and snow. I did not have the balls to ask God the question I did not want to know the answer to, “Can it get any worse?” I was sure it could. Tornado. Hurricane. Mudslide. Earthquake. Name it.  And I did not want to find out.  So I did not ask God if it could get worse, but I did ask Him to reduce the pressure He was applying on whatever buttons He was pressing up there. And eventually, He did reduce the pressure. We got some sunlight — on Sunday — way after we had frozen our asses off at the event. Thanks, God! *INSERT SARCASTIC SIGH OF RELIEF*

Still, to God be all the glory. Turns out that the weather worked in our favor after all. Had everyone we sold a ticket to shown up, we wouldn’t have had a seat. Not a seat was empty in the hall. Every seat in the hall had what I assumed to be warm butt cheeks sitting comfortably on it. Food and drinks were in surplus, just the way we wanted. People ate and drank enough and had some to take home. To God be the glory. I’m especially grateful that in spite of the weather, people still came. Like Deola who drove an hour from Bladensburg, and like the girl whose name I don’t remember now who drove all the way from New Jersey. Thank you.

We also had Adaku Ochia – whom I discovered by the way – perform for us. She was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!! The girl’s voice is too much. Wouldn’t mind her singing me to bed every night. She can’t be my alarm in the morning because I certainly will not want to wake up. She drove all the way from Rockville to come sing for us. She’s one to watch out for. I see super stardom  in her future. I don’t think she even knows how great her voice is. It’s golden. The girl is blessed. Thank you, Adaku. Our business is not over. You know that.

And Fox, our MC – another person I chose, tehehe – he was crazy! I didn’t care that I was sitting in front. I was laughing my head off. If you ever need an MC that will make your guests laugh, go for Fox any time. And the DJ, K Long, he was great, too and very accommodating. It was only on Saturday morning that I called him (as early as 7AM) to tell him about Adol’s audio clip. When it was ready to be played, DJ K Long was right there. And how can I forget my precious Funmie and Uju? They were there live and direct. Funmie made the puff puff that we couldn’t have enough of, and Uju drove all the way from Silver Spring in the snow. You girls are the best. I love una die. I can’t possibly ask for better friends. Ibukun also won the bid for Project 3 with $600. You go, girl!

I have to give kudos to the most gorgeous decorator ever, Mrs. Oma Taupyen. She decorated, sponsored, and donated. It doesn’t get better than that. Mrs. Oridedi did not fail us in her food. It was yummy as usual, and people wanted more. Our ushers were on point, dressed like a million dollars and working like we paid them a million dollars. Special shout out to Nomso Ememe and Uche Njoku. These ladies came in as guests and ended up working. And no, they did not get a refund of their ticket money. Tehehe. Thank you, ladies 🙂

I gave my first public speech ever. It was only about ten minutes long, maybe less, but it was awesome. It was not like doing the show on the radio where no one sees me and where I don’t see my listeners’ facial expressions, like the times they may be thinking, “What the hell is she talking about now?”  Thankfully, the people laughed, and if the sounds of laughter that echoed in the room and the general reaction and interaction I got from people is anything to go by, then I pat myself on the back for a job well done. Needless to say, it felt so natural being up there. I thought my heart will do jumping jacks, or that I will get nervous and begin to speak really fast and/or stammer, or that I will fall off my five inch heels. But alas, my God remained faithful. Walahi, I prayed for strength and courage that day, and He did not fail me. Oh, and I felt like a star too — seeing as my hair dresser had to come in to curl up my hair. It was not a joking matter at all.

Since then, I have been fantasizing about giving more speeches. Who is having an event in the DMV area? Hire me. I wanna come speak, darn it. I really, really thank God for His mercies on Saturday. I’m still in recovery mode, so I may not be seen as much on Twitter and the like, but I’m very much around. I thank God for Seun Akinsanya and the giving heart God gave him. I’ve never seen or met anyone who is so excited about giving back. May God take you to places you’ve never dreamed of reaching, Seun. And the rest of the team, everyone was great! As in, I could not have asked for a better team, especially Yetunde Aina of Design Paradigm (she designed my logo). Love you, babes. I miss you already.

So many people donated their time, money, efforts, and much more. Even people we did not know showed up and blessed us in more ways than I can remember. It was just all around beautiful. I don’t know how else to say it. The day, October 29th, was also Seun Akinsanya’s birthday. I decided to surprise him by having one of his favorite artists, Adol record something for him. Adol, thank you so much. You’re tooooo much! So Seun was standing on the podium when the audio started playing and the wide smile on his face made me know it was all worth it. I was going to involve more of his favorite artists and celebrities, but time was not in my favor. Perhaps, next time, they’ll show up in person. Do I hear an Amen? You can listen to the audio below. By the way, if you don’t know who Adol is, then you’re on a loooooong thing!

Happy Birthday to Seun Akinsanya by Adol by verastic

Now that this is over, there are some Verastic things also in the works. I’ll brief you on my next post. You’ll be pleasantly surprised — I hope.