Nutella

Children's Day went by with a blink of an eye. 

A lot of things happened on that very day. I felt like Santa Claus giving out gifts to my cute lil ones as well as overseeing the photo booth to ensure everything ran smoothly as much as possible.

I had fun on that day but I did not get to meet one particular group of kids.

Some time went by and my initial plan to hand them something disappeared when I learned that Nutella was promoting these personalised labels. It could be for yourself or as gifts to your loved ones.

I first saw this idea from a school mate of mine. She messaged me the details and made a mental note to free up some time for this. Nutella went around to different locations in Singapore for about five weeks. I was lucky as that week when I found out about it, Nutella was setting up a booth at NTUC Finest at Bedok Mall.

So I battled the traffic, waited patiently for a parking lot, grabbed a trolley, waited in the queue to make payment with many curious faces looking at me and wondering. Some came to me and asked why I was purchasing so many nutella jars.

I replied with a smile, 'It's a gift for my students.'

I then made my way to the Nutella booth to type in all their names and they informed me the personalised labels will be mailed to my apartment within 2-3 working days.

I think I was the excited one waiting for the labels to reach, transporting these jars to work and keeping it a secret from them. I could not even put a preview of what is in store for them as it was their exams around the corner.

While waiting for their last paper to end, I made my own Nutella tower.

Finally today, they got their jars and the look on their faces were priceless. 

I think not only they were excited, even the others got excited too!

Every Morning

Have you ever had one of those moments where you woke up and thought,

what happened last night?

what did I do?

how did I fell asleep?

These days, I woke up, reached for my towel, headed to the bathroom and stared into space. This is the part where I supposed I will reflect on the night before.

When did I switch the TV off?

What was the last show that I watched before I switched the TV off? (Although I do not remember switching it off in the first place.)

Did the TV switched itself off?

Was I chatting on whatsapp with my gfs?

What did we talked about?

What day is today?

These are the kind of things that are blogged up in my mind pretty much every morning before the water hits my face and ahhhh...reality sets in, it's a new day, time to get to work.

But first... 

what to wear?

hahahhahahahhahah

Online Shopping Detox (Part 2)

Another Sunday morning just arrived. It is not even 8am and I am here having tonnes of ideas I wanna blog about. But first, I gotta look back at the challenge I set for myself, which is, no online shopping for a week. How did I do?

Here's what I did the following days after Day 2.

Day 3

I figured it would be good to start fasting again. I did promised myself to pay back the fast early this time round. I was, as always, swamped with work, so the day went and the next thing I know, it's 5ish. Packed up and headed home. I had to settle quite a bit of work that night to clear. I did not even checked out any online shopping portal to satisfy a tiny bit of my cravings. 

Day 4

Thursday is a good day to fast, right? Continued with the fast another day. For this day, my body was adjusting to the fasting ritual. Plus, I only had a few hours of sleep. I was tired and feeling a little weak. Had to endure the day with whatever strength I had in me. 

Served me right for sleeping late.

Day 5

It's Friday!!!!

Made plans with my 2 long-time-no-see-bffs, Ayu and Ratna. We had so many catching ups to do. I think they were happy to meet up with me. Plus, it was Ayu's belated birthday dinner. So much laughter and happiness, with our little hero, Ehan, who kept entertaining us all the way. 

Day 6

Family outing!!!

Took my parents out to Fullerton for an event. 

I might try to find time to blog about this later.

Day 7

It is Sunday. It is today. Which means today, is belly dance class day. 

Guess what, I think I might be able to survive today. 

Time to get ready the veil, the belly scarf and more. 

Helloooooo Sunday....

Day 0, 1 and 2

The challenge that I set for myself is coming along just fine. Although I do sometimes feel like a druggie, shivering from not browsing through the online webbies for fear that I (may) lose the challenge I set for myself. Geez, cold turkey can be unexpectedly harder than I expected, hahahaha.

So, since this challenge was set on Sunday, Day 0, that day went by with a breeze.

Well, how can I not feel happy, I had zumba!

 

Getting ready for zumba or belly dance classes is always fun. 

It is even more fun when I got that great childhood buddy-cum-neighbour-cum-pretty much doing everything together bestie to drag each other along while we are at it.

What happens when we are done with class?

Force Erwin to snap that ootd shot for me. What are friends for right?

Day 1 went by before I knew it. Work was fun, then I had to rush off somewhere for a briefing to learn some interesting stuff. 

I did consider rushing off to yoga class in Bugis, but I forgot to pack my stuff and the yoga mat was not in the car. No mat, no yoga, no go.

Before I realised, it is already Day 2 today!

Not bad, I think I can survive this. What I did today was, I brought my mom to Karva. Karva is this hair salon for ladies only located at East Village. 

Can you see how happy my mama is? She got this Princess Diana hairstyle she loved oh so much. I never knew there was such a hairstyle, but the hair stylist knew about it and gave my mom what she wanted. See that glow of happiness on her face? She is one very happy lady.

I on the other hand, got myself a super short haircut which suddenly makes me feel extra light, like I can float and dance easily. 

Day 2 verdict: Survived!

Day 3 to 7:  Good luck to me!

Online Shopping Detox

Good morning Sunday!

A little too early to blog on a Sunday morning but I love it today, and hopefully, the many more upcoming Sunday mornings. I woke up this morning doing a bit of thinking. And since I have a bit of time before heading off to the morning zumba, why not just jot my thoughts down for a bit?

A few weeks ago, I posted a challenge to myself.

I challenged myself to not do any online shopping from a particular website for 2 weeks.

Why did I do that? Well, coz I have sooo many new and unused clothes which needs my undivided attention for a change. You see, I do not have the privilege of entering work at 9am. Usually by 7am, I gotta make sure I am decently dressed for work, transfer the contents from one bag to another. Most times, I just picked the bag I used the day before so that I do not worry about forgetting anything from the other bag. Then off to the kitchen for a quick drink, bite and some vitamins for the day.

By 7.20am, I gotta make sure I am out of the door and off to work.

I know most of my colleagues are already at work by the time I reach my work place. 

So what happened during that 2 weeks challenge?

I realised I got back into my comfort zone clothes of wearing the usual clothes. I picked the simple ones or the one of top of the folded pile, or better still, the ones that do not even need ironing! I know many can relate to this. It saves time, I know.

This is not good, ok.

Well I did have a lot of work. I was also bringing home work to complete, sleeping late and hardly any time to look through my wardrobe. Rightttt, blame it on work, hahahahha.

So here's my personal challenge which I really do hope works.

No ONLINE shopping for a week.

Yes, online. I can go to a boutique and get something which based on experience, hardly happens these days except when I was looking for my workout shoes which requires me to try them on before making the purchase.

For this week, I gotta be like....

Although I do worry that I might be like....

Or end up being like...

hahahahahahah

So this week, let's focus on other areas besides that online shopping.

If this fails, I am probably gonna need to be in shopaholic anonymous association talk to heal myself.

Ok, maybe I can blog daily this week to track my own progress.

Good luck, Naime!

Wide Pants Wedding

Erwin's cousin got married today at this beautiful location along Changi Coast Walk.

I decided to ditch my usual choice for wedding events and opted for pants instead of a long dress or a long skirt. Let's go with wide pants today. Why not wide pants for a wedding? 

It's decent, modest and it can pass off as stylish as well.

I always liked this wedding venue. Food was great, the ambience was cool. 

The fan was blowing directly at me. I was in a state of zen.

I love the beaded details of the side pockets. 

The designers certainly put in that extra thought to it.

What was most important for me, my mom approved my look for today. 

naimefied look

headband: Tangs

scarf: Kaffah

top: Malaque x FV

pants: Samantha Sherina by Thian

shoes: Studio

bag: Celine

What happens in the car

I was viewing youtube videos last night when I came across this video of Justin Bieber and James Corden carpooling to Jame's work place. Interesting how such events in a car can become a hit on youtube or talk shows. Upon watching this, the thing that crosses my mind, 

THIS IS WHAT ERWIN AND I DO!!!!!!

Ok maybe not the exchanging of clothes and the doing the rubik's cube part. 

But everything else is spot on! Or so I think, hahahahhah.

Of course this don't happen on Sunday mornings. 

It usually happens at our night outs chilling or movie or whatever we can possibly do at night.

This kinda reminds me of the movie White Chics!

NHF Babes

Sunday mornings are a little different now. 

It's not waking up, pray, then back to bed. 

It's more like wake up, roll over, Yay! It's finally Sunday!

Hahhahahaha.

Ever since I started on the Sunday morning fitness, my energy level seems a little higher than usual. Not only do I look forward to Sundays, I seem to have more energy at work as well to overcome the daily workflow. 

I am glad Erwin suggested I try out Nawal Haddat Fitness class. I would like to be my usual deluded self and self-declare that my friends and I are NHF Babes! Seriously love the energy and the good vibe from her class. 

It is one week of zumba class and another week of belly dance class. Let me put it straight to you, Nawal Haddat rocks! She's fun and she gets you pumped real good, making it worth your trip down to Tampines. 

Here's a shot of us with our zumba-slash-bellydance coach, Nawal Haddat herself!

What is more fun, is looking for clothes to ensure they are ideal when I am on my way to class. That is more fun than I initially thought. You know those the tops, bottoms, outerwear, et cetera. 

Sooo exciting!!!!

If you ladies are looking for all-ladies fitness classes, do check out Nawal Haddat Fitness on FB or instagram. She is very prompt on replies and really friendly. Her classes are affordable too which will not burn a hole in your pocket. 

If you are thinking that it is midway through the cycle, just put that thought aside, pick up your phone and whatsapp or message or call her at 9139 5357. Don't worry about being afraid that you might be lost during the class, you will get into the flow before you know it. We gotta start somewhere. 

Up this coming weekend: zumba class

naimefied look

scarf: Sufyaa

top: Nike

pants: Nike

cardigan: Capital T

hip scarf: Nawal Haddat

Zumba Belly

The lack of updates in my blog certainly signifies how busy I have been with my life. I know, I say that quite a bit. But I am glad for the time spent. Be it with work, a bit of quality time with my parents and friends. Perhaps some time for my TV. The TV has become a bigger source of entertainment these days. That is, assuming I did not fall asleep watching it.

Here's a lil something which I have been wanting to update for the longest time. Remember how I have this to-do list that I have been wanting to do, but due to fasting month, Eid, visiting and work, I have not been able to achieve that goal yet? 

Well, I finally did it!

Here's what happened. 

Erwin has this thing with her Friday nights zumba class somewhere. I have always been intimidated with the idea of zumba coz well, everyone told me it is high intensity. I wanted to give her zumba class a try, but she warned me the class has male participants in it, which, well, kinda hindered me from taking that step forward. Then she told me about this Nawal Haddat Fitness class. It was meant to be a class for ladies only and it is hijab friendly. 

Took me a while coz I was not sure if I was gonna be able to follow the classes thru if I were to do this alone. I got in touch with Nawal herself. She is this super friendly lady which just warms your heart. 

A lil back and forth deciding about the classes, dates, days, etc. 

Long story short. I decided to try out yoga first.

Yes, I did it. I was super proud of myself for surviving that class.

Needless to say, I went to work with an entire body ache. I believe I worked on the muscles I never knew existed. But hey, I learned I could do the tree, the cobra and a few more poses which I have always been envious of.

So the following week, I tried out zumba with Erwin, under the direction of Nawal Haddat herself!

Before I attended this class, I spent some time watching zumba videos on youtube to psych myself up and be mentally prepared of the high intensity level zumba will bring me to. Erwin has been going to zumba classes, she was the queen. I on the other hand, was not prepared to look like a clown.

It was fun, but I also realised I needed new shoes!!!

It has been sooo freaking long since I worked my body out! 

So whoever thinks they can never do zumba, never say never!

Nawal alternates her class every week. First week is zumba, the following week is belly dancing class. We had our third class last weekend, so we will be working on our belly dance moves this coming week. Imagine belly chains, veils and more. You get the picture.  

After posting these pix on instagram, Fiza and Muli joined the classes too.

Not only do the 3 of us work together, we are now working out together even on weekends. Hopefully, to a much healthier lifestyle ahead of us. 

Btw, I have not given up on yoga yet. Though the timing clashed, I am gonna head back to yoga, the beginners' class of course. Maybe a mid-week yoga would be a treat. Wish me luck on that.