Lydia's Weekly Lifestyle blog is for today's African girl, so no subject is taboo. My purpose is to share things which may interest today's African girl.

This week's contributors: Lydia, Pépé Pepinière, this week's subjects: 2024 African Fashion Trends to Look Out For, Dreams in the bedroom, The Zen Garden, Finances.

2024 African Fashion Trends to Look Out For African fashion is on the rise, and 2024 promises to be a year of innovation, empowerment, and cultural expression. From bold patterns and colors to eco-friendly fabrics and contemporary fusion, here are some of the hottest trends that will dominate the African fashion scene in 2024.

Micro-Fringe. Fringe is not a new trend, but it is getting a makeover in 2024. Micro-fringe, which consists of ultra-fine strands of fabric or thread, is adding a touch of sophistication and movement to hemlines, sleeves, and necklines. Micro-fringe can be seen in collections by Gucci, Burberry, and Akris, among others. This trend is perfect for adding some flair and texture to your outfits, whether you opt for a subtle trim or a dramatic fringe. Business Sensual. Sheer fabrics are taking over the business casual wardrobe in 2024. Designers are experimenting with gauzy materials that reveal just enough skin to create a sensual and confident look. Sheer blouses, skirts, and dresses can be paired with opaque pieces or layered for a more modest effect. Some of the brands that are embracing this trend are Sportmax, Givenchy, and Issey Miyake. This trend is ideal for those who want to spice up their workwear and show off their personality.

Dreams in the bedroom. Having sex in the bedroom (or wherever you choose to do it) is not only a matter of physically touching each other to full satisfaction (though 1/3 of us girls never get there anyway), there is also that thing called “between the ears”. What is between the ears, in your mind? First of all, it should be good feelings, you are happy to be with the guy. Rather than not being happy, that will not really work. And anything you fancy. I'll give a simple one. Let's assume you are deeply and secretly in love with a top football player, and Hubby doesn’t look and behave like him by far. You could nevertheless close your eyes when he is busy with you, and imagine it is actually Mr. Foot who is in the bedroom. You could even shout “goal”, or “penalty” at the right moment. Laughing? Hubby will be wondering. But here comes the trick, and is a difficult one. Talk with Hubby. If you have a healthy relationship with him you should be able to admit that you are deeply in love (? really, or is it just a harmless fancy) with a Mr Foot, and ask Hubby to one time play that role. After all, does he not look at pictures of girls who are better endowed than you? And now let him play that role, he could even put on socks and sneakers and shout “I'm gonna score, high in the net”, and you'll both have a lot of fun and you, with your eyes closed, have yours. This sounds simple? Many oh many are the couples who will never get a fully satisfying show in bed because they keep things locked up between the ears. You and your Mr Foot, he with his Nana something. But these are just the simple fantasies, things can get much more complicated. Maybe the most famous phantasy, and, again, one of the simplest ones, is bondage. One partner binds the other one on the bed and does what he/she likes without caring about the other one, and the other one just has to suffer it and is not able to react. As said, these are simple forms of phantasies, but if never played out they can become an impeding bother, making things worse than they already are. To be continued.

The Zen Garden at Labone, Accra does live music some weekdays as well, like on the Tuesday evening I was there. Their grilled chicken is juicy and worth coming for and the service is attentive. But the band was poor and the band leader obviously never tunes into Atlantis Radio at 87.9, “more music, less talk”. The problem with live music is that bars and restaurants hardly want to pay for bands, or can't afford it, so often such places end up with cheap live bands who really should stay in the rehearsal rooms for now. But all in all, it's a pleasant place to hang out, one can mainly sit outside and enjoy the stars (and sometimes the band), or inside, with A/C.

Finances. As money is notoriously short and as most of us are permanently suffering from a severe form of brokeritus one would expect that we all know what there is to know about money. Not so, mostly. Let me touch on a few things. First of all there is inflation, which means prices are going up. The reasons are many, but I don’t want to go that deep. The long and the short of it is that after some time you pay more for the same item, and in Ghana this has been a continuous process as long as I am aware of money. . So let's assume you have a 100 GHC surplus and can afford to hold on to it. That 100 GHC would today have bought you about 7.5 liters of petrol (1,75 gallons). So you stick the 100 GHC under your mattress, but a year later you need it, let's say to buy petrol, but now it only buys you about 6 liters of petrol, so you have in fact lost 1.5 liters. You would have done better at the beginning by buying the 7.5 liters and storing it, it would still have been there (unless you live in a crowded environment, where things disappear, but the IMF economists have not worked that one out yet). Ok, not under the mattress, but into a savings account which gives me 12%. Per month? Per year? Per 3 months in the case of Treasury Bills? Surprisingly many of us don’t know, we think we have done the right thing, we are saving. First of all, that percentage is per annum, per year. So at the end of the year, your 100 GHC would get 12% on top, 12 GHC, so you now have 112 GHC. And can buy more petrol. If you would leave the money in the bank for only 6 months, half a year, you would only get half the 12 GHC on top. But the problem is that in the meantime, the price of petrol has gone up about 25%, So the 7.5 liters of petrol you want to buy now costs 125 GHC, and you only have 112 GHC. So you can only buy 6.7 liters. Inflation has chopped your money, despite you saving in the bank. Average inflation in Ghana is 25 to 30 % per year, meaning after one year everything is 25-30 % more costly, 100 GHC goods now costs 125 GHC one year from now, even 130 GHC. Sounds familiar? What to do? Read the next blog. Or shall I double your money?

Lydia...

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