Day 22: Missed Events

There are some days when things just don't go right or wrong. I don't know how else to explain this. Things are mundane, life is simple but there's a certain melancholy to it. Yesterday was one of them. Work was alright. I went back home and made rolls, cutlets and a pudding, none of which was very exciting for some reason. 

Then right after Iftar I fell asleep. I blame the staying up till 2 AM playing cards business, but oh it's so much fun. I woke up when mom calls and tells me that someone's there to see me and I am annoyed at the fact that my sleep is ruined, more annoyed that I missed the event Wuff was holding. It was the guys, and they were playing cards and so I joined in. We stayed up till 2 AM again. One of these days, we have got to sleep a bit early. 

Day 21: Out of town and card games

Yesterday was the funniest! A couple of colleagues again headed out of town for Iftar and the island was beautiful. We had a great time taking pictures and seeing the place, later having amazing food (I am so buying Peach tea, it tastes so good!), then cycling around town and hanging at the beach. 

The trip back home was the best. The sky was pitch black and there were a gazillion stars, all reminders of the past looking down on us and I just couldn't not look at the beauty beyond. Honestly, I am surprised at how less often I stargaze and more importantly, how later into my life I was introduced to stargazing. Thanks to Galhi and his love for the stars, I have a new-found love for them too. Don't you just love friends who introduce you to great things like stargazing and knowledge instead of terrible things like drugs and unemployment? 

Hello pretty sunset! Unfortunately, I missed the massive family Iftar and I came home to a lot of Facebook statuses where I was "blacklisted" hahaha. My family is the weirdest and most fun. 

Later, the guys came over and we played cards till 2AM because it was just so exciting. haha. All in one, a great day of great memories and new adventures. 

Day 20: Pizza and Abaya Show

Life is indeed strange eh. I had a great time today being me and even though I almost blacked out because I didn't eat much last night I seemed fine. Everything seems to work great. 

It started raining heavily after Iftar (I made Pizza which was great and mom made Riha Folhi which is a household favourite) and for some weird reasons we got flooded (well, we live on on the ground floor, so figures eh) and then I was trying so hard to find a cab to go to Abaya show. Finally, I caught a ride with a cousin-in-law. 

The show was so so fun. I was part of the Hijab team with Shumsie's Bridal Hijabs and it was my first time putting on the Hijab for anyone else but me and especially for a public show, but I think I did fine. The Abayas were so pretty despite being so heavy. I'm not yet ready to don one, till I get some more kilos on me so I can even manage to walk in one, haha. The models were the best. They were so much fun and such great company and they all looked gorgeous thanks to make up by Riz from Leykokaa Looks who I swear does the best make-up. I would know since she did my make-up for two of the shoots previously. 

The show itself was just nice. The crowd was big and most of them were pleasant and nice. It was really nice seeing the models going through the runway and showing the beautiful designs and once they are done, it was running back to the room, and repeating the putting on Abayas and Hijabs. There were three collections and by the time it was all done, we were so tired and the place was filled with random pinheads and safety pins. haha. 

Definitely one of the best nights so far. Were you guys there last night?

Day 19: That kind of witches

Yesterday was a big step for me. I finally gave into something I have been keeping off forever. I am not yet sure if it's a good move or not. Only time will tell. 

It was also again, a lazy day. I made some sandwiches with lots of cheese because I love cheese and honestly, who doesn't? My dad! Yes, neither dad nor my mother likes cheese. Sometimes I even wonder how genetics work. -.- 

Later at night, I was supposed to go help Shums with the Abaya show to be held tonight but I got stuck home because I could not get a ride. Seriously. My luck is the worst. 

Anyhow, all you fabulous ladies should attend the Abaya Show tonight. It's going to be interesting. I cannot wait to see it for myself. 

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I hope you have a good day. 

Day 18: Meh

Just a quick update because I'm on this blogging roll to consecutively update my blog for 30 days. 

Yesterday was boring. I read a bit of Casual Vacancy and a lot of Game of Thrones. 

We played cards at night and found out our friend sucked at cards. 

Day 17: DYMag July

I'm so happy to bring to you the latest issue of DYMag. All those hours of transcribing interviews, losing them and asking them to be re-done again, and actually doing them finally paid off. A major thanks to my team, Wuff and Rues, you guys are the best!

Don't forget to check out the whole magazine by clicking this link. CLICK HERE! :D

I didn't really do much yesterday. Work was very less productive, I watched a lot of episodes of Once Upon a Time and played cards with the guys. Usual Ramadan routine. 

Day 16: Once Upon a Time

Seriously, my days are becoming lazier by the day. Hisherm pointed out that my last three blog posts started with "yesterday" so I was very careful not to do it this time, haha. 

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Yesterday was weird. I was very productive at office, and then I went home and got very lazy so sent almost the entire day watching Once Upon a Time. I started watching it a couple month back, got bored so stopped. I do love fairy tales, but I am not particularly fond of change. The story line is great and all, but I just don't want to see major changes to it. Like, how is the evil witch the queen and why does she have a spot in every fairy-tale and Rumpelstiltskin. -.- 

At night, Moony came and gave me a comic book which I have yet to start. The guys and I played some new game that has no name and I read a bit of Game of Thrones before I slept. It was super comfortable, super lazy. How was your day?

Day 15: Jelly Trifle and DYMag

Yesterday was another lazy day. I'm very much productive at work and home, but that's about it. I hardly go out because I am too lazy to, and I spend almost all the time watching series or reading a book or both. (yes, I do that and it's not really helpful)

Mom asked me what to make and I suddenly remembered how much I love Jelly trifles, why do I have to be such a dessert person? haha. So, we spent the next couple hours making it and also made a pizza with way too many mushrooms because they are my favourite. 

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Also, Wuffle sent me July issue of DYMag, the first draft and it looks amazing! I can't wait to show you guys the actual final one. I absolutely love our team! The issue is so far my favourite because it has a lot of fashion stuff and you all know how much I love style and fashion. Here's a little sneak peek of the cover. Guess who's the cover girl? ;)

I also watched 1600 Penn and was sad that it ended. -.- Why must this always happen to me? I was reading Game of Thrones when I fell asleep. I still have 460 or so pages to go. 

Day 14: Out of town and 1600 Penn

Yesterday, a colleague invited us to her island for Iftar, so a couple of people from work went. The ride was really nice. You all know how much I love the sea (not enough to learn swimming or go swimming, but you get the idea) and saltiness so I was enjoying the breeze and the sky! 

I took a book with me because there's just something magical about reading a fine piece of literature while zooming through the vast oceans with the salty breeze touching your face. I was reading The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks which is so far, great! I love Sparks' novels. They have this whole romance setting, albeit being a melancholy one.

The Iftar itself was great! There were so much food. After Iftar, we headed back home and no the way, I was listening to country songs and it was just perfect. Especially when it started playing Knee Deep and the lyrics matched everything. If there was a perfect moment in recent times, it was this. 

At home, mom had brought pizza so I ate some and then I watched a couple of 1600 Penn episodes. I loved the show and it got cancelled, like all my favourite shows. -.- Xander is so adorable, and Emily is my favourite. 

Day 13: Chocolate balls!

Yesterday started great, but ended kinda weirdly. Mom had made chocolate cake but since I much prefer chocolate balls, I made them! Me being me, I added too much chocolate syrups so they lost the shape and they look super wobbly but they were tasty! 

I also made some new food which tasted horrible, seriously! It had leftover tuna filling, flour and lots of cheese and I baked it but it turned real bad. -.- Oh well. 

I watched a couple more episodes of New Girl and that was it. It was a rather lazy day. Later, the guys and I played cards and I won. That's twice in a row! :D

Day 12: Hot dogs and New Girl

Say hello to my new theme. I'm very much into vintage these days. 

Yesterday was very tiring. I didn't eat much for Haaru the other night because I was angry at having to wake up. Some nights, I love it, and some nights I'm just all meh about it. Mother made amazing havaadhuee bis and so I made hot dogs because why not. They turned alright and there was a lot of meat filling leftover so I also made crepes. 

The house is filled with all kinds of desserts these days and I had a toothache last night because I ate so many. -.- I was showing Myra how to use chopsticks and I might have stuffed myself too much. 

I also started re-watching New Girl. I watched a couple of episodes last year and somehow forgot about it but then I saw it yesterday and I ended up watching almost half a season. Jess is so funny and cute and I love her quirky-ness. Also, CC has the most flawless skin ever! It's really funny. You'll fall in love with the characters so easily because they are so lovable. 

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This is my favourite quote from New Girl. That is totally something I would say!

Day 11: Mother Appreciation and Grimm

Mom was not feeling too well yesterday so I did half her work and man, I was so tired by the time I finished I thought I was going to faint. It made me think so much about how we take our parents for granted so many times. Sure we love them, and we pray for them, and we say we'd do anything for them and we give them gifts on their birthdays and on mother's/father's days, but is that really enough?

Just a half day's work and I'm super tired and I didn't even make the food (got them from Juways, because I had absolutely no time!) and mother, she does this everyday without any complaints. It was definitely a lesson learnt in gratitude. 

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Also, I now feel very strongly about people who abandon their family when they get old. You are supposed to care for them, be there for them and love them but do you. Sometimes I even wonder would I? Right now I tell myself I would, but what will happen? What will happen to our generation? Is our generation going to build old age homes and kick our parents out? I certainly hope not. 

On a much lighter topic, I finished watching S2 of Grimm last night. I absolutely love Grimm. It's two of my favourite things combined, fairytale and fantasy and police procedure. I can't wait for the next season to see what's gonna happen to Nick. Also Rosalee is one of my favourite characters. Also Juliette has the best wardrobe, so hijab friendly! My favourite wesen has to be the Gluhenvolk, because they are so beautiful! 

Day 10: 60 Second Film Festival

I love Thursdays because they are so productive. Or at least I am. I turn into this workaholic on Thursdays. That's what happens when your work requires you to update things 24/7. Thanks to scheduler, my job becomes super easy. 

I was supposed to give the intro speech at DYM's 60 SFF last night and I kind of got weird about it. I don't know what's wrong with me. I just went all weird and omitted half the things I had wrote down. I am surprised. Maybe I need to work at Radio again. 

The event was nice. The movies were exemplary, very powerful, very mind boggling. 

I made some sort of a food yesterday, I don't know what it's called. I'm kind of bummed right now for a lot of reasons, so I'll just stop. Life is short, make sure you spend yours the way you want. 

Day 9: Burgers and 10 Tournament

After being up till 3 AM the other nigh making DYM popcorn cups for tonight's event, I was so bummed having to wake up early to go to work, but well it was not that bad. I told mom the other day that I wanted to make mini burgers, so when I came home, she had all the ingredients ready.

She was also nice enough fry the meat slices for me. A lot of lettuce, some cheddar cheese and a tomato slice in between, they looked great, but unfortunately I could not take any pictures. 

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It looked a lot like that one, so that should be fine. Nattu came by with Rimmy and we made some more popcorn cups and then Nattu and I went shoe shopping. She got really cute neon detailed star print ballet flats and I got the red wedges that I had my eye on.

Later at night, the guys came over and we decided to have a 10 Tournament this Ramadan. The guys versus us girls, Thoopi and I. We won with 3 points last night, most of which was luck, haha. Let's see how this goes. 

Day 8: DYM-time!

I spent most of yesterday working on DYMag. We are working day and night to bring the July issue to you within this week! There's still a gazillion things to do, including editing pictures, writing desciptions and ogling over shoes! 

Being a content director is not easy, I'll tell you. I have to constantly bug people to get stuff done on time and usually takes all the energy I have to always give them more time and say a thank you at the end. But when the magazine is out, all of its worth it and then the cycle continues. 

By the time I came home, mom had already made pudding (which is a favourite of Myra) and Rihaakuru Folhi so there was nothing really left for me to do I helped her cut the watermelon and made juice. 

At night, the DYMers met to discuss our very exciting upcoming project this Thursday called the 60 Second Film Festival. It's going to be super exciting and yours truly is giving the intro speech! we made three dozen pop corn cups and you bet it's going to be epic! Make sure you do visit. 

Day 7: Pizza tartlets and 10

So yesterday I was at work going through my Pinterest recipe board for some inspiration and saw something I've been meaning to do forever, pizza tartlets. They looked amazing and I decided if any day is the day to do this, then it be today and I went home and ran to buy some cheese and flour. There were lots of running around because I forgot to take cash and had to reach there before the store closed -.- 

So finally, after I had all the ingredients, mom made the stuffing because she thought I'd take forever (which I do, but I believe in doing things right no matter how long it takes, haha) so I was free to do all the prepping. I do not own a muffin tray (I've been meaning to buy one forever) and so I made them in ti cupcake plates and I thought it was going to be a major fail so I also made a normal pizza so we would have something to eat, haha. 

But man, they were such a success! They tasted amazing and looked great too. I made two dozen of them and I have no leftovers which rarely happens. I also invited a couple friends and with Thoopi's friends we played a round of Pictionary, a game called Dhogu and 10. It was definitely such a fun day and night!

Day 6: Breadbananutella!!!!!

Everyone who was ever invited to my house for a Tharaavees knows that I make weird food, haha. It's kind of an obsession. I love bread and making stuff from it, and I love Pinterest and their recipes look so good to not try. 

So, a couple Ramadans ago, I started making this thing from Pinterest. It was so delicious and so easy to make. Toast + Nutella + Bananas! I love all three of them and together they are amazing. My friends usually make fun of me for making them, but they still eat it, haha. 

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A friend of mine named it Breadbananutella and it's kind of an inside joke. I love it and yesterday I made another batch (and forgot to take the picture so attached from Pinterest) and it was gone in a heartbeat after Iftar. Mick calls it Banananana Foufanna after a fictitious food from Bubble Guppies, one of her favourite series. 

Day 5: Sea House and Star Parivaar Awards

Un (fortunately) I've got no food pictures for today. Sometimes I'm glad I do not own a smart phone, otherwise I am afraid I might become that over-sharer on Instagram that you'll love to hate. -.-

Anyhow, yesterday was a bit weird. I watched a couple episodes of Castle (I'm on the last two episodes now) and then it was time to go to Sea House with the DYM people. Wuff made me walk all the way to Replic Square because he was taking pictures. -.- such good friends I have! 

It was Wuff, Potz, Reus, Iyya and Adey at our table and we had to wait a long time after prayer to get in the queue and get the food but it was so worth it! The food was amazing. Especially the beef and the cauliflower thing. We also found a wuff-a-like, in his red shorts, haha. I had to run home early but that was definitely the best Iftaar I've had this Ramadan. 

I was supposed to go to the Election Fever theatre event since DYM was doing the marketing but I got way too lazy and didn't want to walk all the way there so I ended up watching Star Parivaar Awards on TV. I haven't watched it in so long! The last time was when I was a tiny nibblet living in the weird land known as Naifaru. :| The dances were fun and I had non idea who and who got the awards since I do not watch TV at all now.

PS It's so weird that I have not found a single picture of our meal on anyone's Instagram. For people who do love to instagram everything, this is bizarre. 

Day 4: Gulab Jamun and game nights

Gulab Jamun is my favourite sweet ever and possibly also my favourite food. Yes, for someone who visits the dentist so often, I have a sweet tooth. Whenever someone in my family or neighbors makes Gulab Jamuns, they would always send me some. 

Yesterday, I had a work Iftar, so didn't make anything. My cousin sent me some Gulab Juamuns and I was only able to taste them after midnight. I spent a long time of the day watching Castle and after Iftar, I texted a couple of my friends for a game night. I used to host Pictionary nights on weekends but somewhere along the line, that tradition sort of died down. A few of them were able to come, but we had such good fun. We started with Pictionary, then ended up playing Snatch and later cards. The night went on till an hour over midnight and was so so much fun. 

My favourite part was when Galhi drew evolution. Apparently, we evolved from cows, hahahaha.

Day 3: Oreo cupcakes and My Girl

I'll tell you the story of Oreo cupcakes. My neighbor T is a totally cool girl and she has the most amazing ideas. The other day she said that we should make Oreo cupcakes and that's just what we did. 

After a long day at office, I went home and she already made the cake batter ready and got the Oreos. Since I own the baking stuff, I prepared it and we put in an Oreo at the bottom of each cupcake liner and baked it. Then after they were bakes we tried with different options for frosting. We used chocolate and peanut butter comb, vanilla frosting and topped it off with chocolate sprinkles and cashew nuts.

They were amazing. Seriously. A bit too sweet for my taste. I only had one cupcake (my dentists is going to give me an earful the next time I visit him) and the rest is still waiting at my place looking for someone to eat them. Honestly, it's a shame that people at my place do not eat sweet stuff. Desserts get leftover for days and then we normally end up throwing them away. Such a shame that my friends don't visit me now. -.- (hint: visit me guys!)

I also started watching this Korean series called My Girl which I think is a bit less dramatic than most Korean stuff. I kinda love the story. 

So, how's Ramadan so far guys?

Day 2: Chocolate cake and Castle

Ah, yesterday was first day at work this Ramadan and it was tiring. I was trying so hard not to fall asleep or blackout or both (if that's even possible). Am I the only one who absolutely loathes mornings in Ramadan?

Anyhow after work it was working my way through the vehicle-clad roads to reach home as soon as I possibly can. Mom bakes these amazing dark chocolate cakes that has fond memories attached to it. Me being me, I cannot eat cake - long story between me and my dentist which reminds me, I have to go to him again. You would think that being a regular at the dental clinic would make it easy but oh no, it still scares me and I've been procrastinating going there which isn't really helping. 

So, my job was to frost it and put on sprinkles and I decided to go overboard as usual. -.- We also made sandwiches but that's a tale for tomorrow. 

After Iftaar (I did eat a tiny bit of the chocolate cake and oh my god it was super delicious and I wanted to eat it all, but my conscience stopped me -.-) it was rather boring. I watched a few episodes of Castle S5 (I LOVE LOVE LOVE that show and this season's just so amazing) and slept. 

Day 1: Pancakes and Roswell

Happy Ramadan everyone. 

There are a lot of things I love about it, mainly how everything's a tradition. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a major traditions person. I love the whole family at Iftaar, I love eating the same thing every night for Haaru and I love the sound of Muhammadhu Rasoolullah right after Iftaar. 

Yesterday was the first day of Ramadan. The day before, it was filled with food and I had pizza at office and after that met up with some girlfriends and had the worst Iced lemon tea of my life (ugh, makes me cringe even thinking about it!) and then I went home and slept without eating. I knew I would regret it but sometimes I just do random things like that. -.- Mom calls me for Haaru at around 4 and I wake up and stuff my face basically and then I realize that OH MY GOD, I'M PROBABLY GOING TO BLACKOUT TODAY. 

Which I did. Just for a minute though. I woke up rather late because it's a holiday (yay for holidays!) and I spent a whole lot of the day watching Roswell, doing laundry and making pancakes. Mom makes the most amazing pancakes and I get them everyday so I was kind of getting tired of them, but I bought a maple syrup bottle the other day and since then I've been craving pancakes every day. After Iftaar, it was back to more chores and Roswell. I finished watching it and I was rather happy that M&M ended together. :) I'm such a sucker for happy endings. 

Twenty somethings.

I've been lately very interested in things like personality tests and dilemmas of being a twenty something. The other day, I was at a MINDtalks session (I shall blog more on this later. It's a wonderful idea!) and I was inspired to watch the tedtalks. Honestly, I have never really watched the tedtalks. I mean I watched when bloggers I follow got featured like Gala Darling, and that's about it. But the other day, I was just feeling very inspired so I watched a couple of videos I kept to watch later and one of them was Meg's talk about how 30 is not the new 20.

Being a follower of Carly's blog, I often see her blogging about the millennials and being an INTJ (I'm an INTJ too! :D) so I checked it out and it was brilliant! SO BRILLIANT! She talks the truth. She talks about how now is the age to take some of the biggest decisions of our lives like going forth with the crazy big dream, start on career and finding a man to marry. Twenty somethings everywhere should really watch it.

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Me, I am a twenty something and I sometimes go by life everyday and even though I have big dreams and things, I hardly really consider just doing them. Well, at least I've penned it down. haha. This video is inspiration to do things.

So, twenty somethings, what are you waiting for? Go fetch that dream, leave that abusive relationship, find a new man, start that business! Do it right now, because if you keep pushing it for later, you will be in thirties and realize "what did I do in my twenties?"

YLP Update

YLP is absolutely amazing. It was one of the turning points of my life. I was a different person after the three weeks I spent at YLP and I've made friends for life there, got opportunities to go places and meet people, and be a better self than I was before. 

I would recommend this to everyone out there, Every young person needs to go through these three weeks, learn about civic education, about the constitution, the parliament, individual responsibility, leadership and table manners. 

If that does not convince you, let me actually talking convince you perhaps. 

So this year, make sure you participate in YLP!

Roswell

I started watching Roswell this week and so far I've gone through most of season 1. I'm basically hooked. My main interest isn't the story line, but Micheal and Maria. Seriously, I think they are most adorable. 

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This happened to me before too, with Veronica Mars. I only watched it for Veronica and Logan and basically did not watch any scene where they were't there so I missed a whole lot of what was going on and decided to stop watching it. I hope this doesn't happen with Roswell. 

The series is kind of alright, nothing too exciting. Isabel and Alex are pretty cool too. I just kind of dislike the main two characters, Liz and Max. :|

So these days, I am working in the day, and at night curling up watching this. I haven't even read a book. *sigh* Exciting things are lined up for the weekend. I am rather excited. 

July Favourites

Ah, hello July. It's been a long time since I did a post of this kind. I lost all love for material goods. (not really! haha) but now I'm back. 

1. Love Always necklace by Splatterpaintstudios - I love Th Perks of being a Wallflower, especially Charlie. Sometimes I wonder if I could be a wallflower. Anyhow, this is a very beautiful necklace and I mostly sign my letters with "love always".

2. Sorting Hat Necklace from SweetSillyChic - No wishlist can ever be complete without a Harry Potter related item. I'm a Slytherin (but a Ravenclaw at heart, I think) and the sorting hat is just amazing. 

3. Rich or Poor Necklace from Me&Zena - Kind of pretty. Yes, I know a lot of them are necklaces. I'm a necklace and ring girl. 

4. Earphones Necklace from Fredflare - OK, So I have a thing for necklaces, mostly kitsch necklaces. This one's very pretty. 

5. Panem Poster from UrbanDinosaur - Hello, huge Hunger Games fan here and I love this one. I'm not an art person, but I think I should be. 

6. Butterfly Kisses Lantern from Pretty Little Things - I love everything on this site. They are so adorable. 

7. Russell + Hazel Cardholder from Lifeguard Press - This one's very pink and very pretty. AHHH. 

What's on your wishlist this month?