IN (instagram) PICTURES – November

Hey you guys. Apparently I hardly took any photos from my big camera in November so here is the IG version of last month. Enjoy :)

November brought our first time mailing in our votes//And wrapping up my client sessions for the year

Rainy afternoons at the library//Cozying up with our piles of books afterwards

Chilly-but-so-beautiful sunny mornings at Anya’s school//And my cups of tea in bliss while Anya’s at school

Loved getting up before sunrise to my morning chai and some Quran reading early morning. Made for a perfect start to the day.

Random home moments: Weekend chai for two//dreaming up some plans as she joins along//doctor in the house all the time//toddler art is the most adorable.

Yummies for the tummy: Meeting up with friends over pizza//Cupcake Date with my little girl//Favorite new broccolli salad recipe//Quick weekend dinners.

Out and about with my girl

Sick days with first the little one and then the husband.

Love the in-between moments (as few and far-between they might be sometimes!)when you actually feel the joy of spending your days with a little toddler.

Skype with her bestie//Art from the same little bff hanging up on her wall.

Lots of shopping and running around getting ready for an upcoming trip. PS: Anya chose the neon socks for me :)

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Thanks for stopping by. Lots of love.

More in this series here.

Family Yearbook using Blurb

Hey you guys! Those that follow me on Instagram might remember my excitement on receiving our first family yearbook in the mail a couple months ago. I knew I wanted to display all the photos we take and have been figuring out the best option for us for a while now. After considering the traditional photo albums (I have a few of those already and because I grew up loving our family albums, it is very nostalgic for me), and Project Life (another interesting way to record your daily life), I was finally convinced on using Blurb and making a photo yearbook after seeing a few posts like this one. And I am so happy with the results!

I used the Lightroom Plugin for Blurb which was awesome and so easy to work in, even though the template designs available are a little limited. It is so simple to use and even shows you the estimated price as you’re making the book.

Here is a peek into our yearbook for the previous year.

I couldn’t figure out how to write captions in the Lightroom plug-in at that point, which I have figured out now, but I think I love the look of the freehand writing. I used a fine tip Sharpie permanent marker to write directly on the pages, dates and memories or anything I wanted to remember for the future (Thanks to Elise for the idea).

I went along with the 8 by 10 portrait size because I thought it would be a perfect size for smaller hands to pick up and go through whenever they feel like it. And also because I want the collection of yearbooks to have a shelf in our bookshelves and the size is easy to fit amongst books.

I had a hard time going through all our photos and selecting the ones I wanted to use. I like the idea of making a folder within your main folder to collect best images from your photos every time you download photos, so its easier to make your book at the end of the year. And I made sure to include cellphone photos even though sometimes the quality of photos was far from great. They have a way of showing our daily life much more sometimes and I’m glad I included those.

Just having the book in my hands inspired me to start working on one of the previous year and our trips to Pakistan. Cant wait to have a shelf full of these yearbooks.

Hope you’ll excuse my super creative way(!) to hide Anya’s face where there was need. Haha.

Thanks for reading and lots of love.

IN PICTURES: May/June

I know its almost mid July already but here’s a picture story from the last two months. Hopefully I’ll be more prompt next time;) Enjoy!

Enjoying these longer evenings and watching the first stars as they start appearing every night.


These girls bonding over pretend play, toddler talk and anything sweet. Driving through the rain singing at the top of our voices and stopping on the way for ice cream and pictures.


Healthy dinner experiments and trying to practice some food photography.


Lots of flowers in vases as the weather changes, wildflowers collected from fields and brought back from walks along.


Babysat these sweet girls and loved the giggles and chatter of three girls running around and having fun.



Been doing a lot of photography related work recently. Love how sweet my clients are.

A day trip on mother day weekend and enjoying dusk on the way back. More here.
June began with some grilling. Grilled tandoori Salmon by the husband makes for some yummy and healthy dinners.
A last minute fathers day activity/craft with Anya, inspired by some I saw on Pinterest.
Long days mean reading in the sunshine as daddy gets home. (Above) Reading one of my own childhood books that I brought back from Pakistan, to her baba when he gets home from work. (Bottom) A sweet little read my friend brought for Anya.
A university friend was visiting the area, and absolutely enjoyed having our families meet up.

Celebrating on Skype with my Mom and sister.
Thanks for reading and stopping by!