Hi all and happy Wednesday!

I apologize for the lack of posts these past several weeks. It really was not intentional, but God-willing things happen in life that we have no control over and they remind us to take a seat back and just be grateful for the situation we are in.  Instead of questioning why we are going through trials and tribulations, I feel that in my life I have always learned that there is always a blessing in every situation regardless of how tough it may be.

I was tagged by a sweet friend, Shifa on Instagram, to do the 20 facts about me tag, and while I am a bit late in posting this I thought it would still be fun to share.  If you go through all 20 facts you will learn why I was on a hiatus from blogging.

20 Facts About Me & Things I’m Grateful For

1. I am the third of four kids, and that in itself is a blessing. As the third child, I learned to be more independent and stand out in my own ways. Allah is the best of planners.

2. I was born in Pakistan, and came to the USA at the age of 6. My parents, especially my mom, wanted us to grow up in the land of opportunities.

3. My parents did not come with a lot but always worked hard to provide us with all we needed to live comfortably. My mom used to babysit in the beginning for a few years, and my dad worked at an aviation company. They used to give us weekly allowance, a few $ from each, to spend on anything we wanted. My dad actually had a bank aka envelope in his briefcase for each of us where he would write down what we asked him to save for us, what we asked to take out to buy something, and bonus was we never lost money. It was a great learning tool in many ways because it taught my siblings and me basic financial skills/lessons.

4. I began kindergarten in the US without knowing a word of English. Now unfortunately, I speak English > Urdu but would like to make it more equal.

5. My mom passed away from breast cancer when I was a teen. It made my siblings and I grow up nature > nurture, made us self-sufficient, stronger, and taught us to persevere through any trial and tribulations.

6. I enjoy making desserts > other foods, as it was one the things my mom taught me, my first dessert with her was caramel pudding. I don’t enjoy eating other people’s caramel pudding—it just doesn’t taste as good as my momma’s.  My mom’s cooking > Others

7. I have a bachelor degree in communications with a major in advertising and a minor in religious studies. To some respect, I feel I am still using my degree through my blogging, and religious studies helped me to appreciate all the religions of the world and see what binds us.

8. I worked at an advertising/marketing firm for a few years professionally. I learned a lot about working in the “real-world.”

9. I am quite creative, artistic and meticulously detail-oriented when I want to be. I have dabbled in drawing and painting, photography (even learned how to develop my own photographs), I completely planned my own wedding (helped my siblings with theirs), and have been a stylist to my family members.

10. I met my husband through mutual friends, we did not like each other at first nor did we care to talk to each other, however as we started talking we instantly felt like we knew each other.  Lesson: give everyone a chance because you never know who you will meet.

11. My husband is my soul mate and I have never met someone more kind-hearted, harder working, and more genuine than him. Alhamdulillah My husband > Your husband … hehe… May we all be blessed with wonderful spouses, ameen.

12. I love Chicago more than I ever expected to love it. I loved it from the moment I stepped off the plane and began my newlywed life with my husband. It will always have a special place in my heart even if I move.

13. Through blogging I have met some really fun people, designers such as Rebecca Minkoff and Manolo Blahnik, and have gotten to explore the city more by attending fashion events.  Blogging has helped me to step out of my comfort zone.

14. I am currently in graduate school, with my husband being my biggest cheerleader – he pushes me when I’m being lazy about school, and supports me in all things that I love to do.

15. I do visit Florida often, but I go to visit family not to be a beach bum or check out tourist spots since I lived in Miami for 20+ years. Miami is a beautiful city with truly one of the best beaches I’ve seen.

16. I now find romantic movies quite cheesy and almost unbearable to watch. My reality > Fantasy …Alhmdulillah

17. I highly enjoy home décor and change up seasonally few things around the apartment. I dislike cookie cutter home décor. I feel a home should exude your personality, and have personal touches not a “model home” that any family will fit.

18. At the end of Ramadan/July, I fractured my arm by falling while on the way to school. I’m still recovering from the injury, and thus was on a hiatus from blogging. Through this injury I have become quite ambidextrous.

19. I have TY beanie babies and several other stuff animals that I’ve been collecting since I was younger, including those I’ve gotten from the husband and plan to keep them to decorate my future kid’s rooms with (inshahAllah).

20. I am currently very much enjoying this blessed chapter of my life with my husband and grateful for it every day. Alhamdulillah.

Bonus fact | I have always appreciated 4 quarters > 100 pennies when it comes to friendship, and last month a true friend whom I met in the fourth grade found me through this blog! We hadn’t spoken for maybe five+ years and recently when we caught up it was like we never lost touch. Lesson: True friends are hard to find so treasure them and hold them tight.

Alhamdulillah, because there is always something to be thankful/grateful for.

Thank you to all my reader’s, family and friends who have wished me well, and requested I start blogging again because they were missing my posts. Especially, the husband, who never misses any of my posts.

Umair’s Sweetheart,
Ayesha