WHAT WE WORE in Pakistan: Exploring Islamabad

Anya wears: Tunic by Outfitters Junior, Knit Tights from Target, Cardigan by Osh Kosh, Coat and Boots from Old Navy

I wear: Kurta from Ethnic, Churidar Tights by Nisha from Nishat Linen, Coat by DKNY (which I wore pretty much all of my trip :p), Crossbody Bag by Steven Madden via Amazon, Shoes by Stylo

Location: Lok Virsa in Islamabad

For more in this series go here.

Thanks for reading. Lots of love.

WHAT WE WORE: Spring is in the air

Good morning sweet people. So I have to tell you this, I find it hardest to press ‘Publish’ on these posts. This is far from a fashion or style blog and I guess its still hard for me to fathom that me of all people is doing this series. I would’ve never in a billion years, when I started blogging, thought I’d ever do this. Hehe. But that’s the point of all of this, to push my limits and step a little out of my comfort zone. Also its hard to pose for these pictures, so please ignore our (mainly mine) awkwardness in these photos sometimes ;)

Anya wears: Dress from Target (a birthday gift from a sweet aunty), T-Shirt from Target, Tights from Joe Fresh at JC Penney, Boots from Old Navy

I wear: Top custom made by tailor in Pakistan, Pants from Gap (seen before here and here), Booties by Crown Vintage from DSW, Sunglasses from Gap

Go here to see more in this series.

Thanks for stopping by and lots of love.

WHAT WE WORE in Pakistan: Weekend in Lahore

I wear: Kurta from Khaadi (gift from a friend), Coat from DKNY (also worn here), Tights from Target, Shoes from Stylo

Anya wears: Top from Outfitters Junior, Coat (also worn here) and Boots (also worn here and here) from Old Navy, Skinny jeans from Osh Kosh, Toy from Liberty Market¹


Location: Gulberg, Lahore
Picture Credits Waliya Najib

To see more in this series, go here.

Thanks for stopping by. Lots of love.

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FYI

¹ Read about shopping in Liberty Market via CNN here.

WHAT WE WORE in Pakistan: Shopping in Islamabad

Anya wears: Jacket and Sweater (also worn here) from Old Navy, Skinny jeans from Osh Kosh, Sneakers and Hair Bow from Target. Hair made by her Nadu khala.

I wears: Shirt from Nisha by Nishat Linen ( a gift from my mom-in-law:)), Coat: DKNY (from many years ago), Tights from Target, Bag by Steve Madden via Amazon, Shoes: from my sister’s closet :)


Location: Centaurus Mall
Picture Credits: Waliya Najib Photography

To see the rest of posts in this series, go here.

Thanks for stopping by.

What we wore. Another fall evening.

Anya wears: Coat from Old Navy (also worn here), Skirt from RUUM (also worn here), Tights from Target, Shoes by Old Soles via My Habit

I wear: Sweater from H&M, Pants from Gap (also worn here), Boots from Target, Scarf from one of the shops in Islamabad, Pakistan, bought many years ago.

 

All pictures taken by the husband:)

An outfit post and some gorgeous weather.

Hi lovelies, it is absolutely beautiful outside these days. I’m a spring person mostly as it signifies bluer skies specially this side of the world but there is something about this fall that I am particularly enjoying. We wake up to foggy mornings with the slightest hint of sun rays streaming through and as the day goes by they turn into these bright sunshine filled evenings of the prettiest type. And not forgetting the beautiful shades of yellows, orange and gold everywhere. Sigh.

For once I am actually excited about all things cozy and signifying winters. Coats and sweaters and boots and scarves and sipping hot tea as it snows outside. Beautiful. I cant wait!

Anya wears: Sweater from Old Navy, Jeans from Osh Kosh, Shoes from Old Soles via MyHabit.

I wear: Shirt (also worn here and here) and Cardigan from Gap, Jeans from Old Navy, Boots by Bear Paw from TJMaxx 

How is fall like in your corner of the world? Are you excited about anything in particular as the days get colder?

Thank you so much for reading and stopping by.

The photos with both of us in them taken by my sweet friend Nabila.

The last of the warm days in an outfit post.

Happy Monday morning you guys. Hope your weekend was lovely. We have been getting the first of the winter storms and the winds and the rains on the weekend reminded us that it is time to get ready for the cold weather. These pictures here seem like months ago already, even though they are just from a couple weeks ago. Sigh. Time to brace up for the cold weather. Here is a little outfit share for today.

Anya wears: Top from Zara, Lace Skirt from RUUM, Ballet pumps from Target, Hair Bow from Target.

Mama wears: Top from H&M, Pants from Gap, Pumps from Target

I had my eye on these pants for a while until I saw them on a sale too good to resist and had to buy them. Have to say I’m loving the printed pants trend and hope it stays for a bit. Also Anya’s top and skirt were both purchased online and turned out to be great buys. It is my new favorite way to shop, specially over shopping with a toddler in tow (How do others manage, seriously!). I subscribe to emails from stores I like to shop at and make use of any free shipping promotions.

Hope you have a lovely day and thanks for stopping by.

Keeping it real.

I know I usually like to talk on the blog about happy and inspiring things, but as much as I wish our lives were always like that, I know that is not really possible. Those days are inevitable for a mommy, when it all gets too overwhelming and you’re just plain tired and have no stamina whatsoever for anything and specially for toddler tantrums. This past week was like that. Between trying to manage the home and food and laundry, and making time for my family across the world, trying to keep Anya involved and happy, trying to catch up on editing and blogging with a toddler going mama, mama, mama non-stop, I was just beyond overwhelmed by the end of more days than I’d like to admit. Things seemed out of control and in trying to get everything to be perfect, nothing was even close to that. I could barely keep my head up by the end of the day, and had no stamina for Anya’s longer by the day bedtimes. Patience is not one of my best traits and in my frustrated and overwhelmed mode, I am more prone to losing my temper and yelling at Anya over our daily struggles. And that leads to guilt and even more frustration. Not a good cycle to get stuck in.

The thing is I am partly to blame. I want to organize my days better. I want to learn to let go of some things. I want to sleep better. I want to enjoy the moment more and live in the present. I guess it is all a balancing act, some days we may seem like we have it all under control, but then days like these remind us that we don’t in fact. It is good to reevaluate and realize what is working for you and what is not. Hopefully that is the first step to some welcome changes. To all the moms reading this (including all the moms in my life, specially my own mom), whether you’re a stay-at-home mom, a work-from-home mom or a working mom. You are awesome, and my respect for you grows as my baby grows.

Anya wears: Dress from Target (A gift from a sweet friend of mine), Tights from Carters, Sneakers from Target, Hair Bow from Claire's

Mama wears: T Shirt from Urban Outfitters (also worn here), Dress from Old Navy, Scarf from Charlotte Russe, Pumps from Target.

Thanks for reading.

WHAT WE WORE Plaids and stripes and an outfit post with a view.

Hello lovely people, I’m back. Sorry about that unannounced break, I just got caught up with a few things going on and blogging got pushed out of the scene. Some days it does get a bit hard trying to do this blogging thing regularly, even though I feel so passionate about continuing with it. But anyways, sharing an outfit post today from a few weeks ago when we went camping. The view from up here was breathless and sometimes it just hits me more than others what a beautiful part of the world we live in. This was one of those moments.





Location: Mt Constitution in Orcas Island, WA

Anya wears Dress from Osh Kosh (Here's another time that she wore this dress), Leggings by Circo from Target, Boots from Old Navy, Hair Bow from Target, Yellow cardigan from Old Navy.

Mama wears Shirt from Target, Jeans from Gap, Sneakers by Keds from Nordstrom Rack.



The pictures with both of us in them, taken by my good friend, Nabila.

Hope you enjoy this little peek and will be back on Friday with a post on some favorite coffee table books.

Thanks so much for reading and checking back.

WHAT WE WORE Monday Blues and an outfit share.

Anya has been under the weather. What started as fever turned into a cough that has been making her throw up quite a few times. As a result, things have been a little low, and nights are a bit hard, trying to make her feel better. However, during the day, she is our same old naughty little one. Running around with mischief in her eyes and making us laugh and go a tad bit crazy. So yeah, that was a bit of an update. Also that having a sick kid reminds you of the huge blessing of good health. I think of all the babies in the world that have health issues, that have scary illnesses and my heart breaks. To have a child that is healthy and happy, is the biggest blessing in the world, mA¹. Help us Allah in never ever forgetting that and keep our little ones safe in Your care. Ameen.
  


These pictures are from a few weeks ago. Anya’s hair was super long and all over the place and right after these pictures, she finally got a haircut :)







Anya wears: Tank and Skirt from Old Navy, Denim cropped leggings from Carters, Silver Sandals from her dadi² from Minnie Minors, Flower from Target (Anya styled the skirt herself and moved the clip from her hair to her skirt, lol)

Mama wears: Pleated skirt and graphic t-shirt from Urban Outfitters, Sandals from H&M. 

Hope your weekend was amazing.

Thanks for reading and for stopping by!

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FYI
1 mA stands for MashAllah. and means God willing. It is commonly used by Muslims whenever they are appreciating something to show that all good is from Allah.
² Dadi is paternal grandmother in Urdu. Bilal’s sweet mother is Anya’s dadi:)

What we wore and some thoughts on this series.

Happy Monday morning sweet people. I’m back with another outfit post but today I also wanted to share why I even do this series here.

Even though I love clothes and dressing up, I don’t like to throw our money on it too much. Yes, I’m pretty cheap like that ;) So I am learning to look at our closets differently, I am learning to mix and match to come up with new outfits with what we already own. So in this series, you probably will see the same pieces over and over again, worn differently. Being a creatively expressive person, I am trying to bring it into how I dress myself and Anya. I am trying to say that its okay if you don’t want to spend too much money on fashion, you can still be stylish. And it is also okay if you are conservative like me, and don’t believe in baring too much skin or wearing revealing clothes, you can still be stylish. I truly believe that we feel more confident in our abilities and our strengths when we dress the part.



So I do this series to inspire you and myself. That we all are beautiful and we all can feel beautiful if we take a little time for ourselves, if we experiment with the pieces in our wardrobes and find out what feels most like ourselves. For those many stylish moms (and non-moms for that matter) out there, thank you so much for inspiring us. Find out your style, gorgeous women and follow along as we experiment with ours.



Anya wears: Top from Gymboree, Denim skirt and Shoes (from the boys section) from Old Navy, Leggings from Carters.

Mama wears: Top and TShirt from Target, Printed skinny jeans from Old Navy. Shoes by Steve Madden from Ross.

Much love, and thanks so much for stopping by.

WHAT WE WORE when it is sandals weather finally.

Happy Monday morning to all of you sweet people. So I desperately need to shop for Anya as she is pretty out of clothes these days. Her shoe situation is pretty bad, let me tell you. But this little sandal purchase for her on Amazon last month, turned out to be a big success. I love the look of the traditional style Saltwater sandals that I was seeing everywhere, but they seemed a little tight for these chubby feet when we tried them on. These ones, the sweetheart style as they call them work perfectly. Here she is wearing them with her chambray dress from last year that we will wear one way or another till her head absolutely wont fit through it! Yes I love it that much! Hehe :)





Anya wears: Chambray dress from Target from last year, Tights from Baby Gap, Saltwater Sandals.

Mama wears: Top from Target, Jeans from Forever 21, Shoes from REPORT found at TJ Maxx, Pearl ear studs that my dad brought from a trip to China many many years ago.

How is it going with you guys? It has been a while. If only I could get all the posts in my head written and published. Sigh.

Thanks for stopping by!