Currently: April 2015

I feel like after months of being too busy to read or watch much, my life's finally getting back to some kind of normalcy where I can enjoy things like writing poetry, binge watching TV series and actually finding time to read. So I have been taking advantage of that. 

Being Erica S2 | Last week was exam week and usually on exam weeks I crave to watch something so I started watching the first season of this and three days later I finished it and now I'm on the second. Talk about procrastinating hahaha. I really like the premise of the show and how the therapy works. However it's kind of hard to related to Erica. Let's just say I've mixed feelings but it's a fun show to watch. 

Witches of East End S1 | Call me crazy but I love me some witch shows. In fact, all aspects of magic sounds fascinating and I've always been interested in witchcraft and books and shows about it so obviously I am hooked. Maybe it's the whole strong female cast, the only downside is the effects are kind of shaky and very Bollywood-like. 

Battleship | I don't know why Rihanna is in this and I'm not even a huge fan of action movies, but there's something about this. I started watching it last week but haven't found time to finish it. Yes, I'm the kind of person who leaves movies half watched. 

A Grown Up Kind of Pretty - Joshilyn Jackson | This books is about three generations of women who make the same mistakes of trusting the wrong people and when a bunch of bones are uncovered under their willow tree, their lives are turned upside down. Lots of harsh language but so far I'm liking the story and I'm halfway done with the book. 

Two Boys Kissing - David Levithan | I finished this book just a week ago and really liked it. Levithan's writing style is fascinating and he manages to make the most absurd things spectacular. I liked how it had so many stories entwined together around a world-record. A light read about a subject that is not so light. 

Title - Meghan Trainor | Since 1989 by T Swift, this is the first album this year that I've actually listened to most songs and liked them. They are extremely catchy and perfect for just bobbing your head to. My personal favourite is Title and Dear Future Husband. Also her music videos are very funky and colourful. 

What's keeping you entertained?

#coolstuff

These days, there isn't a lot of cool stuff happening, or I am far too occupied with the right now to notice anything. Anyways, here are some things that caught my eye over the last few weeks.

1. Dumb Ways to Die: Game of Thrones Edition

I am not exactly a huge fan of GoT but I did read one half of the first book and watched about two seasons and probably wish to continue. This video that combines the Dumb Ways to Die song (so cute and a great PSA) with some deaths in GoT is just spot on fantastic. I could only name about 6 deaths but yeah.

2. Word Play

I was feeling very anxious yesterday so I thought of starting a Facebook thread game where you write a word that starts with the last few letters of the previous word and it actually went far than I thought. A very nice girl even messaged me saying she wanted to take part but couldn't since we were not Facebook friends then. One little game can unite people, eh.

3. E-mail in Real Life

Have you ever talked to people the way you would talk to them in an e-mail? This video spoke to me on a spiritual level because at work all communications happen over mail and I could relate to every single thing.

4. Dove: Choose beautiful

Leave it to the people at Dove to make their ads evoke emotion out of you. They have done it again. There is a lot of backlash this time on how Dove is exploiting a good cause to sell a couple more products but you have to admit, it does make you think.

5. More Love Letters Requests

If you are looking for some love to send, or get into penning a letter to a stranger, there is no better place to start than More Love Letters. This month as well, they have some very amazing people who need your love so grab a pen and write! 

What cool things have you been seeing? 

Monday Playlist: April Favourites

I haven't done a Monday playlist in the longest time. Usually I like Mondays but today feels so uneasy, maybe because I've gone through somewhat of a sad exam. These are some tones I've been loving recently. 

Honey I'm Good by Andy Grammar

I can't tell you how much I love this song, it makes me want to start dancing and bobbing my head. The video using real life couples is just super adorable and makes you really appreciate the people you have. 

The Hanging Tree from Mockingjay

Is there anything Jen Law can't do? This is actually one of the best things about Mockingjay, this song. Eerie, but very beautiful. 

Try by Colbie Caillat

This song is life. It's all about self love and I just want to shove this song up everyone's playlists because everyone needs to hear this song, no feel this song. Believe me, it's worth it.

I Will Never Love You More by Soko

I first heard this song in a Kate Spade video and KS is my spirit brand, totally amazing. It was so dreamy and adorable I had to get it. It makes no sense but all the sense at the same time. Check out the video and tell me you don't feel it, just tell me.

Budapest by George Ezra

What is with me and hipster songs these days? I tend to be dragged towards ones that are more laid back and eerie than pop songs and I can't be any happier. Songs like this are great to just chill around, to be background music to while you work, sip tea or get your heart broken. 

Fevicol Se from Dabangg 2

Okay, I know this song is a bit raunchy and extremely objectifying and sexist. In fact, I am kind of ashamed to like this but my liking for Bebo and the fact that any dance-y Hindi song will make me love it is making me biased. I actually listen to this at least once a week and oh god, it's sad. 

Little Red Wagon by Miranda Lambert

Oh bam gurl, Miranda is amazing. This song is all kinds of country fierceness and Miranda makes you want to say yeah fight me without having to say it, hahaha. 

What songs are you currently listening to?

Who's Your Rosie?

Last month, I read this book called The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion which was a light-hearted fun read that really made me think that whatever you plan, life likes to throw the exact opposite of it. 

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It follows Don Tillman, a professor who suffers from Aspergers, who makes a questionnaire to find a wife in the most scientific way possible. Being a teacher of Business Research Methods this semester, I found the research and questionnaire design process both informative and hilarious. Then he meets Rosie and his life takes an interesting turn and he realizes so many things about himself. What fascinated me most is that even though this story of bubbly fun girl (sort of a MPDG) makes boring guy's life fun and makes him love life again is a tale as old as time, this book gives a new twist to it. Don didn't change himself but he rediscovered himself and through all of it he still stayed true to his values and himself but as a mind of science he of course changed his views when they were proven to be false. If only more of us followed this in real life, we'd have lesser arguments. 

The character growth in the book is absolutely amazing, you can feel Don changing, how his thought process keeps increasing and getting better as the book progresses. The writing style is very fun and easy to read while keeping you entertained. I loved the light humour and the supporting characters. You almost feel like you know these people in real life. Also it's hopefully being made into a movie! Ahh, I am extremely excited. 

Do check out the book trailer below. Book trailers are often underappreciated.

Rating: 4/5

This all brings me to one question. Who's your Rosie? Is there a person who's always there to remind you to live your life to the fullest? Someone who makes you want to be a better person and makes you realize when you've been very terrible? This might be a friend, a sister, a father, a spouse, a teacher, anyone. You could be a Rosie to someone. You could be that person who helps someone else to always be their best self and to be there when they beak down. One day, maybe you'll find your Rosie or realize you've been your own Rosie. 

What are you currently reading?

Have Courage and Be Kind

Last weekend, two of my friends Shamma and Niu went to watch Cinderella the live action movie. We even dressed up in blue and Shamma made us very adorable hijab pins with a little shoe charm.

Growing up, I used to love Cinderella and of course the original Disney movie is still among my favourites so obviously I was excited to watch it.

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The movie was exactly what you'd expect and more. I loved that they stuck to the book so closely, only changing a little bit. The authenticity was charming, especially because most modern remakes will change the story so much. Everything about it was lovely. The scenery, the actors, the story line, the quotes, the clothes, ahh. The clothes were fantastic and I'm still haunted by how gorgeous Cinderella's wedding dress was. Especially the stepmother's clothing was just spectacular. In fact, I think Cate Blanchett stole the show. She was incredible, of course. She literally gave me goosebumps with some lines and she played the part so well. Lily was wonderful as Cinderella. She made us realize why we love Cinderella and shows that we have a bit of Ella in all of us. Helena Bonham Carter, how do I even begin to describe how she makes all her roles better just by her presence? She was quirky and definitely the embodied the fairy godmother we all wish we had growing up.

Overall, you know what you're getting into (I mean, it's a tale we've heard so many times eh, how could here even be spoilers?) so the only reason you go watch it to see some magic, to be entertained, to get yourself lost in nostalgia and childhood cheer and hi movie delivers it so well. It makes you remember all the good times and make you feel like the princess you loved reading about. This movie is for everyone, whether you are a little girl just finding yourself a new princess (who says old classics are boring for current generation?) to adore or for us twenty somethings who grep up with these characters and its a coming of age scene, or for the older generation who has seen so much of the hardships, they deserve a nice little break. They deserve a bit of magic.

Rating: 5/5

I'll leave you with the most wonderful quote from the movie: Have courage and be kind because where there's kindness, there's goodness and where there's goodness, there's magic.

7th Blogiversary!

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Ahh, It's been 7 years. SEVEN. I cannot even fathom the idea that I've been sharing parts of my little life with you internet friends. WHOA. You've seen me be a giddy teenager, care about too many things, worry about exams and boys and all those things, become who I am today. You've been there and often the knowledge that there are people out there who are cheering on me makes it worthwhile. I see this blog as a little part of me and yes I know in recent years I've shared less than I used to, but I still think of you guys as family, the bestest of people. 

The last 7 years have been truly wonderful. I've made wonderful friends through this blog. I've met the sweetest and most loving people and I've been able to inspire several people to start blogging all of which are great accomplishments in my book. 

So, thank you. Thank you for staying with me and I hope to continue this blog and that you will continue to grow with me. I hope you have a wonderful day. Today I got some very wonderful news and I'm extremely happy as well as celebrating with cake and friends later.  

March in a Nutshell

Whoa, the last month was extremely exciting but also nerve-wrecking in so many ways. I had so many lovely adventures, tried lots of wonderful new things as well as my routine things. How do I even sum the last month, I'll try in the best way I can with some highlights.

Shamma, Niu and I had a picnic in the park followed by a photo-shoot and a video a couple weeks ago. Read about it here. 

I am so blessed to have some very amazing people around me, I mean look at how adorable this card is. Dhum made it and it's not just any card, it's a very late Hogwarts acceptance letter. 

The biggest highlight of March was me taking part in Twitsal. It's an annual futsal match held between users of twitter in Maldives. This is my first time actually playing on the field and I managed to do okay despite only being able to make it to two practices hahaha.

Also, how adobrale is this finger foods set-up? Hoodh and I has afternonn tea at Belle Amie after being recmmended by several people and I am impressed. The staff were so friendly and the food was delciious, the service was impeccable. Would definitely reocmmed the palce. 

Another highlight of March is that I went to a training for WDC's to an island in my atoll and gave two lectures, one of leadership and one on project management. While we were there, we got invited to judge a food fair, I mean it was just freaking amazing. There were 7 teams, more than 210 dishes and we has to eat through a lot of them and give marks and being a teacher is hard but being a food fair judge is much harder, ehehe. I enjoyed it quite a lot. 

While we were there, we had several beach days. Ahh, I needed it so much, almost made me forget about the worries. The blue skies and blue seas are a good cure and I was in the sea for long, no care in the world. Take me back! 

We also had a day trip to Amilla Fushi, thanks to Iyya's cousin DJ Angie who BTW is absolutely darling and so very talented. We had a very nice day mostly in the sea + eating great food and having a wonderful time. 

March has been so very wonderful to me and I hope that April brings even more adventure my way. Thanking Allah everyday for the blessings bestowed upon me. How was your March? I hope life gave you some new things to enjoy.

Flowers in our hijab

Hi guys. I hope y'all are having a wonderful March so far. I've been occupied with the usual shenanigans and tasks but two weeks ago by gorgeous and talented friend Shums from Style Notes invited Niu and I to go to an evening tea. She said she was making flower crowns for us and I've always wanted one. So the three of us dressed up and hopped on a ferry to Hulhumale' on a fine Saturday evening and had a wonderful little evening with macarons, yummy sandwiches and cupcakes!

Ofcourse, since we dressed up, we had to to take pictures. I loved what both Niu and Shamma wore and we had such a fun time taking pictures and making jokes.

How adorable is the flower crown? ahhhhh! 

This seems to be my go to pose. Hold hijab, cos it might fly off #hijabiproblems

top from Lava, skirt made by Mum, flower crown made by Shamma from Rings and Things

How gorgeous is Niu! The colours on her flower crown match her lovely dress perfectly. 

Also check out the amazing video Shamma made. She is indeed talented! Also it showcases her amazing outfit which is so colourful and lovely. You can also check out her blog post regarding this. 

Would definitely love to have more dressed up days even if it means a lot of stares all around. When you're having fun, you hardly notice it. I hope you guys have a great weekend. Write soon. 

All pictures courtesy of Shamma

First anniversary of being 22

Happy birthday to me! It's a mixture of sadness and happiness. Sadness in growing older day by day, having the times pass too quickly for me to grasp, too busy for actual life. Happiness because with every passing year it makes me stronger, wiser (I hope!) and one step closer to achieving my dreams, whether big of small. 

The other night some of my closest friends threw me a surprise party. It was seriously so good because I haven't had a surprise party for so long and also because these were the people I was most comfortable with, the ones who accepted me as a whole, flaws and all. So thank you guys for organizing the most non-Harry Potter Harry Potter themed unbirthday party with the slutcake and the snow spray and the one balloon and the weird creepy birthday song and the two truths and a lie and the Tay playlist. She is right. The best people in life are really free and I cannot be any happier you bunch stuck with me. Thanks to Houdini, Jinaanath, Dhummaari, Singa, Pun-guy, Imshana, Niu, Hudha and Lilal. It was one of the best unbirthday parties ever. :') 

how cute is this birthday art my friend Soco made? I can even forgive him for the spelling error. 

I'm having a rather low key day today mostly because I'm sick to my stomach and can barely talk. All I want right now is nothing for myself (except feeling a bit better maybe) but my wishes for the world. The thing with growing old is it makes you think more about other people. The stranger I saw at an airport escalator looking sad, almost as if he has just been given heart crushing news. I think about him sometimes before I go to sleep and think of how he's doing and wish for him to be happy. The whole world is so cynical, so full of darkness. There's sunshine yes, but the thing with darkness is that it's contagious, it can make even the sunniest of people feel down. I want there to be more sunshine, more happiness so we can balance it and not let darkness take away our dreams and hopes, or our humanity. My wish is for people to be kind to one another, to accept others as who they are. To spread more kindness and positivity, not insults and rumours. Perhaps this will never happen, but if I can be more kind, I could inspire other people to be kind. If even one more person becomes a force of sunshine, that would be more that what I can hope for. 

So, here's to all of you! Thank you for staying with me throughout the years, you the silent readers, you the person who gives me feedback, you the commenters, all of you. I remember being a giddy teenager staring this blog and being so excited and perhaps I've lost that giddyness or the zeal, but I still like to think I'm that girl who gets excited for new books, crushes on a pretty guy, dances to Disney songs, skips the actual show and watches the ads, compliment people way too much and trust people too hard. Maybe one day I'll learn, maybe I'm on the road to there but for now I'll enjoy this journey. Thank you for being a part of my small life. Here's sending you lots of love and prayers. <3 div="" nbsp="">

I'll go home after work, eat some cake and roll into a ball and try to forget the world for a while. 

January Giveaway

One of my new year resolutions is to host a giveaway on the blog each month, giving things to you guys that I love and hope you will too. 

Starting this off is one of my favourite things this year, this pretty journal. It's an organizer that has everything including the Hijri date and I religiously use this everyday for work and is the most useful thing so I decided to buy one just for you! 

Also included in the giveaway is this cute letter set (I bought two, one for you and one for me!) and already used up my one to write a letter to a friend. Love how totally cute it is, it has six papers and three matching envelopes. I also added this red paperclip bookmark I made so you can use it in your red journal. 

and here's my orange one that I love and use every single day. 

How to enter? 

You can enter via two ways. 

1. Leave a comment on this blog post. 

2. Enter via my facebook page. 

For two entries, do both! :D 

Giveaway ends on 30 January. Winner will be announced on 31st. 

2014 in Movies

I didn't watch that many movies last year. For the most part I've ever forgotten what I have watched. I didn't even watch a lot of things that came out in 2014 because I was way too occupied with things. From the couple things I did watch, here are some highlights.

Best Animated: The Lego Movie

Loved this to bits, especially the song. The action is fast paced and I'm a huge Lego fan so I was hooked from the beginning. Frozen and The Lorax are also really good. 

Best Movies Based on a Book: Silver Linings Playbook

Jen Law is just amazing at what she does and she keeps continuously blowing my mind off with her fantastic talent. This book however was terrible as it actually spoiled a lot of books for me, which sucked. 

Best Geeky Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy

I'm really not much of a geek, but this movie was awesome. I especially loved Groot. 

Best Hindi Movie: Khoobsurat

Niu & I went to see this on Schwack and I had already been waiting for it because Sonam is one of my favourite Bollywood gals and she was so cheeky in it, I enjoyed it so much. Also Fawaz. *sigh*

Best Indie Movie: Frances Ha

I liked Frances. It was sweet, nice, real, very mellow but I enjoyed how completely realistic and non-happening it was. Maybe I could relate with Frances. 

Best Action: Avengers

Okay, so it's a geeky movie, but I liked Captain America a lot. It was pretty cool, and that is coming from someone who's not a huge fan of action. 

Best Teen Movie: The Art of Getting By

This is my category. Teen movies are my thang and Emma Roberts is the cutest. She's so funny and weird and annoying at the same time in this and there's Charlie from the Chocolate Factory all grown up, this movie makes you really appreciate things. I also liked Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Best Movie: Veronica Mars Movie

I'm very biased here because I love Veronica and Logan and was waiting patiently for this to come out, and I watched the heck out of it. Sigh. It was perfect. Everything and more you could ask from LoVe.

Meh: Jab Thak Hai Jaan

I guess I'm just not into Shahrukh anymore. Not that I ever liked him, but he seems to be plaing himself in all his movies recently. 

Other Notable Movies:

Always Kabhi Kabhi. Another cutesy teen movie, in Hindi. uh be still my heart.

We're The Millers. The ending when they all sing I'll be there for you is the best part.

The Vow. I love movies where there's happy endings. This one was a roller coaster but it was worth cos the ending was just perfect.

The Bling Ring. Emma Watson just cannot be any more perfect. Sigh.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Diwaani. The songs are amazing, and I actually liked the storyline. 

What have been your favourite movies last year?

2014 in Books

Last year has been a pretty okay year books wise for me, mostly because I had a kindle and I got to read a lot of books that I had planned to read. I also promised myself I would not finish a book I disliked at 10% which I'm still kind of not completely okay with because I have FOMO. 

I had planned to read 52 books (one per week) but was only able to read 34 books (65%) which is still a lot better than 2013. So, let me very quickly do a little recap of some notable books. Most books I read were recommended to me by people, or won/nominated in Goodreads Awards. 

Best Book: Where'd You Go Bernadette

I can't rave enough about this book. It's hilarious, sad, and very fascinating all at the same time. It's composed entireley of letters and pieces of note and the funny part is how it's narrated and you can't help but fall head over heels in love with the characters and feel like you are a part of finding Bernadette. 

Most Emotional Book: The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

I haven't read any Holocaust setting books and this was definitely a great start because it showed a very clear picture of it all and I wasn't at all ready (not that anyone could ever be ready to read the horrendous details of it all) and kept crying and I researched and read up a lot on it and it really opened my eyes to all the hate, and all the courage stories and I was overwhelmed by it all. I also did read The Book Thief last year and it was definitely very emotional as well but more exhilarating and kind of nicer than The Storyteller. Picoult's writing really gets to you. I would recommend this book to everyone. 

Most Boring Book: The Interestings. 

The irony of this never baffles me, haha. It was a borefest throughout and I don't even know why I was reading. It was too real-life, too depressing, too ugly in some ways. Coming to a very close second is The Burgess Boys but I did like the Somali culture angle in it. Third is Loss of Innocence but I did like that the book shed a lot of light into the Vietnam War and the ending was really inspiring.

The Book That Made Me Laugh The Most: Attachments. 

This book is hilarious and sweet and I read it in a day because it just was that good. Rainbow Rowell is one of my current favourite authors and Fangirl by her was also very nice and Eleanor and Park. I plan to read all of her books within next year.

The Most Inspiring Book: Thirteen Reasons Why. 

It was kind of depressing at first and it hits you hard but at the end, I was a different person. I like books that can make you think different and want to become a better person, and this was one of those books.

Best Children's Book: The School For Good and Evil. 

This book was seriously better than expected. The fairytale setting is wonderful and it has some MAJOR twists and sometimes you can hate characters but overall, I think it was rather nice and children and adults alike can enjoy it. 

Best Love Story: Someday, Someday, Maybe. 

It was nicely paced, I liked it. Also The Longest Ride. Sparks writes some of the best love stories. 

Best Fantasy: The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

Gaiman is amazing. I can't talk enough about how extremely clever he is and his writing drags you in, head first. I read two of his books and both were so fascinating and witty and really interesting.

Most Interesting Book: The Shining Girls. 

This book is a bit hard to keep track of because it will warrant your complete attention but it is fascinating. It's just brilliant and will keep you rigorously turning the pages and being in awe at the same time. I loved it but also was kind of distraught by it.

A Book That Gave Me Hope: The Good Luck of Right Now. 

I loved how sincere and genuine this book was and I really liked it. It made me so hopeful about people. 

Meh: Beautiful Day. 

Extremely annoying characters, and the writing style is kind of weird. The Marriage Trap. Nothing exciting, just a Mills & Boon type romantic book with a millionaire in it. A Discovery of Witches. So annoying it made me roll my eyes as I read it. 

So overall, I had a pretty decent year reading some very good and some not so good books. This year too, my Goodreads challenge is to read 52 books. Follow me on Goodreads and let me know what books you loved in 2014 and if you have any recommendations for me.