Hey guys! First things first, happy new year!  Truth be told, these past 2 months have been hectic with school and exams but I finally have some time to breathe again! I'm so happy I can get back to blogging :).

I'm currently on winter break in Dakar and it has been amazing! Being back home makes me so happy: I'm surrounded by family, friends, good food/drinks and amazing vibes. Safe to say that I don't want to leave at all haha. Dakar is such a vibrant city and is booming with creativity, so naturally I was inspired and was keen on shooting for the blog here. Fortunately, I met David, a photographer, through some mutual friends and he was willing to work with me.





I've shot in Senegal before but I wanted a different type of scenery for this particular look. Shooting on an island has been on my bucket list for the longest and luckily, there's one right behind my house!  A few days before the shoot, David and I messaged each other to get a sense of what we both wanted. I had written down some concepts and ideas to make everything run smoothly and I'm so happy with the way these pictures turned out.



(how could you not want to take selfies near the ocean?)

We went to the island around 2pm and shot for about 3 hours. You would think it was easy but it actually wasn't. Never underestimate the power of the beach, dust and sand. We first had some trouble because the sand was getting on my clothing and such but as always, we remained positive and got through it haha.






Because I knew we would be on an island and changing would be difficult, I kept my outfit very simple and frivolous. I wore this off-shoulder wrap top with a pair of ripped skinny jeans and accessorized with nothing but some gold hoops and a bracelet. I really wanted the outfit to match the island's vibe: carefree, breezy and tropical.





We did run into a complication at one point, one of the straps of my top broke but like I say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. 





And I really mean that. I always try to make the best out of my situations, no matter how hard they may be. Indeed, 2017 was a year of ups and downs but I think I got through it pretty well because I always remained positive and looked at the brighter side of things. 









With all of that being said, I'm excited to grow even more this year, and focus on myself and my goals.





Thank you for reading, I wish you all a blessed year!

With love,

Penda

Connect with me:

Instagram: @pendasarr
Snapchat: @pendouchi

Outfit details:

Top: Nastygal

Jeans: Zara

Gold hoops: Aldo

Bracelet: Hermes

Get the look!

Top:

http://www.nastygal.com/gb/gotta-love-you-and-sleeve-you-wrap-top/AGG94189.html

Jeans:

https://www.zara.com/us/en/the-vintage-high-waist-jeans-in-rose-blue-p06840243.html?v1=4641521&v2=732037

Gold hoops:

https://www.aldoshoes.com/us/en_US/Lovima-Metallic/p/44490267-82

Bracelet:

http://usa.hermes.com/jewelry/enamel-jewelry/h-bracelets/blue/configurable-product-300005fp-44844.html?color_hermes=BLANC/BLEU%20CANARD&nuance=1&back_product_position=s-1-p-9