I am No Longer...

For ages,I wanted to blog about being 33, which of course, never happened in the month I turned 33. Till right now I guess. I wanted to reflect about how life has been as I turn 33 this year, which has passed by a good 6 months ago. 

I am happy to be at this age to be frank.

No, I am NOT old. Age is just 2 numbers right? Although the number keeps increasing every 12 months and we grew may a tad wiser. 

Do I feel old? Hmmm. But there are some changes that I noticed about myself.

When I was a kid, I thought being in the 30s was considered old. Now that I am in my 30s, I feel that there is still a whole bunch of things for me which I have yet to achieve, try, explore, manage and more. But there are certain areas which I believe that I have changed over the years.

 And yes, at time these days, I do feel that there are areas which I feel fall into the 'I Am Too Old For...' category. Or that I am no longer at that age where I fuss over some matters.

I was talking to a friend about how our age is catching up on us and there are some things which we no longer enjoy doing. Or perhaps we do not seem to be in our prime anymore. It may be due to us being in our 30s, or maybe due to us spending so much energy on it in our earlier years that we now get tired of doing it. So what am I too old for, or no longer at THAT age for? 

I am no longer bother to convince others about where to eat or places to try out when I am out with others. Of course, due to my hectic schedule, I do would love to try some new eateries that was promoted by Facebook or recommended by friends. But I do have to take into considerations that not all may agree. It no longer matters to me where we eat. No need for fancy shamancy restaurants or dining places. I am fine with a glass of teh tarik at the coffee shop. Or if we keep going to the same places over and over again. Or even if we just hang out at someone's place and chill over junk food. It does not matter as long as I am in the company of the people who matters to me, spending quality time, catching up. 

I am too no longer at that age to argue with others about my stand on a number of matters. Except maybe matters which I strongly believe in. But generally, everyone has their point of view. I respect theirs. I may not agree with it but it does not matter. I lose nothing if I choose to agree or disagree. Neither do they. 

I am no longer at the age to handhold or teach a future partner certain expectations. There are some things which I believe ought to be known by him, for himself. Hey, we are not getting any younger. If he does not have it, do something about it. he is not a kid, and I am not the one who will be the head of the family, he is.

These days, whenever I encounter difficult, negative or 'whatever' kind of people, I find it easier to simply keep quiet and ignore them. They are probably frustrated with their own lives to not be having positive thoughts. I do not wish to add fuel to the fire that is burning in them. At times, I do try to calm them down with some positive encouragements, but if they refuse to change that fixed mindset to growth and convert into the positive notion, I no longer have the luxury of time to sit around and wait for that change to happen.

There is only so much one can do, to be everything that we would like to become, the possibly best version of ourselves. We aim for that, we strive to be among the best that we can. There are many other things that matter to me these days. Being blessed with wonderful parents, siblinghood, beautiful friendship, being healthy and being blessed in many more countless ways. I am thankful for all that. And if someone comes along who does not fit into that puzzle of happiness, we all do what we usually do, walk away. I was never in the first place, obligated to stick that person into my life. I am not a tree, I can move away.  

C for Chiffon

When D mentioned in her post that there will be a new premium basic dUCk that will be launched, my gut feelings told me it would definitely be the chiffon material. Guess what, I was right! Chiffon material scarves are a must have in many hijabis scarf collection. How can one not love chiffon? 

Even though I already have more than enough chiffon scarves in my collection, I could not help myself but to be curious and check out the dUCk scarf chiffon pieces. I wanted to know first-hand how it felt like and how it will look like on me. Is it like every other chiffon scarves in my collection? Should I give the next release of colours a pass? 

From my personal point of view, I liked the fact that this time, the length was 173cm in length. I usually prefer my scarves to be 2 meters long. This piece as a chiffon material made styling of the scarf real easy for my petite frame. Do not get me wrong, whether the scarves are long or short, I always believe in making it work to my advantage under any circumstances. This piece covers the necessary parts and the neutral colour (cornsilk) ensures that anyone can match it easily with most of our clothes. The best part is, the chiffon material is soft, slightly stretchable and flowy. At the same time, it is able to remain in its place without me having to constantly check the mirror to see if I look alright. 

I think this material is now my current favourite in my dUCk collection. I foresee myself getting more colours from this range in the future. Wait for it!

For now, it is time for me to prepare my clothes for this weekend's duck for the weekend fun. The theme is the KL duck and I hope I can do a decent #ootd at my favourite backdrop. 

naimefied look:

scarf: dUCk chiffon

top: Aere Nyla

dUCk For The Weekend Debut

So many dUCk scarves. Which to choose? What to wear? 

Do any of you dUCk scarf lovers have this same problem as I do? 

I had this issue of not wearing my ever-growing duck scarves collection simply because they were too precious to be worn. I could probably create my own museum of dUCk scarves in my room. The online battle I had to go through,  feeling a little defeated and then getting my amazing personal shopper to ensure I get them all. By the time I get my hands on them, I felt like it was so sayang to be worn at any time. I wanted to keep them and make their debut on special occasions such as someone's wedding, a special day for myself or some wonderful event. After all, they were not cheap to begin with. Hey, I am talking about those limited edition ones. Even their premium basics are not cheap. Some of their premium basics are also sold out even even before I knew about the restock.

And then I look at my collection which I store in my wardrobe. Seriously, some are still untouched, with their ribbons still intact. I looked around as I walked by places and see these beautiful ladies donning on these amazing pieces of duck scarves. I do admit, conversations just start up easily when we queue up to pay at the cashier or at some events. 

We simply smile and go, 'Hey, I see you are wearing a DUCK!' 

Or if I did not manage to get a certain colour from the limited edition collection, one cannot help but to go, 'Lucky you, you got the Blurred Lines!' whenever I bumped into someone wearing it. Or 'It was sold out by the time I checked out', as part of our conversations. I am sure many duckies could relate to this moments. And just like that, we get to know another duckie and the world seems to be a much more peaceful and happier place already. 

I think if Duck created their own game app, catching some rare duck scarves along the way, submitting selfies of the duck scarves in other to earn a badge or something, I think it will be interesting to unite us dUCk scarf lovers. Duckies would gather at a certain spot and ta-daa, dearly beloved, we are all gathered together.

In the mean time, how can one duck scarf lover possibly unite with others? And also get that duck scarves out of their boxes. I have a group of friends who share the same interest and love for dUCk scarves. Whenever possible,  we help each other out in getting these duck scarves. So I rolled this idea of dUCk for the weekend to them. Here's the condition to unite us:

• One duck theme will be chosen (it could be a colour or any Limited Edition pieces)
• It will be worn on that particular weekend, either Friday, Saturday or Sunday (maybe in the future D could chose a day for all duckies to unite?)
• Anyone can choose to be part of this fun and sit out anytime. 
• One can also choose to be creative. Do a flatlay or others if you are too shy.
• Post and share our love for duck scarves with other duckies

So the dUCk for the weekend starts off with the theme of The Songket Duck. Check out how creative my friends got as we unite even though we are not physically next to one another.

Gosh, I love these lovely girls so much. Look at how sporting they all are. Such a beautiful friendship indeed. I love how beautiful everyone looked. 

So the tribe has spoken, let's continue the #duckfortheweekend fun for next weekend as well. 

Next's weekend's theme is THE KL DUCK!

Let's have fun duckies!

The Scoreboard

What was I thinking when I mentioned that will prepare my clothes for work the night before?

I felt restless these few evenings. I decided to grab my fitness gear and head out for Zumba classes. I love this new place Erwin introduced me to. They conduct classes every weekday nights and even aqua fitness every Saturday mornings. All I have to do is check their schedule and my mood for the day. Then it will be me moving that body, sweating it out, pumping those non-existence muscles and later diving my aching body into my bed. Well I did land myself into dreamland easily. 

Did I manage to prepare my clothes for work the night before as I initially planned? 

My reply: Obviously not. 

Did I manage to get up earlier than usual to do all the necessary stuff (that was supposed to be done the night before at my own pace) and enjoy a 'no rush' mornings the next day as I had planned?

My reply: And miss those extra moments of sleep? Oh, I just cannot!

I ended up running around the house as usual, grabbing clothes which did not need to be ironed off the rack. Or dashed to the ironing board while eyeing the clock. Snatched whatever scarf I saw that matched the outfit and matching flats.

So how did the scoreboard looked?

Caleb: Countless Win

Me: 0

Conclusion is, my bed will always win. Do not make me choose between my bed or my sleep time to anything else, everything else (well mostly I guess) will lose.

And now, I am enjoying my Saturday morning with a round of flatlay in, you guess it, in bed. By the way, I name my bed Caleb as we have a great time understanding each other. To a wonderful Saturday ahead.

Monday

How does one get ready for work everyday?

How do LADIES get ready for work every morning? I always wonder about that. Some men I know wear uniform to work, hence, they just need to iron their clothes and wear them. But those like us girls who are privileged enough to dress up for work, is an entirely different story altogether.

I mean there is the wardrobe to think about, you know, the tops, the bottom, et cetera. Then you have the hair or in my case, the scarf area. How about the choice of bags for the day, the shoes department and many more. Wait, I have am not even anywhere close to those who need to prepare breakfast for their husband and kids. What about those who need to send their kids to their caretakers? Gosh, my species are definitely created to be Super Women. 

I have to be at work everyday by 7am. Oh boy, what I can tell you, waking up is the hardest part of any morning. I am definitely not a morning person. Being up at 5.30am every morning is torturous!  

First I have to convince my body to move, limb by limb. Then the next stage, making sure I reach the bathroom and not dive back into my bed. Then when I am in the bathroom, I would be starring at the walls and ask myself, "Is it Friday yet?"

So this week, and this week only, I am going to prepare my clothes the night before in order to be able to enjoy that extra few minutes of no rush moment the next morning. 

Good luck? 

I know I will definitely need all the luck considering I am such a bum who loves any extra time I can get with my bed. 

dUCk X Bowerhaus

Remember that time when I said I will buy lesser clothes, but NOT limited edition dUCk scarves? How can I not? I just cannot. Well, I believe I have been fulfilling that part of my personal goals quite well. *flips scarf* Pretty soon, I think I might need a chest of drawers specially to store these growing number of dUCks in my wardrobe. 

During the launch of the limited edition dUCkXbowerhaus collection some time ago, I lost the online 'battle'. A friend of mine, Linda, managed to grab 2 out of 3 of these pieces for me, the jade and the pink dUCks! I really wanted the grey piece but hey, 2 out of 3 is better than none at all. Plus, I was busy at work to head on over to the store. Hugs to you Linda for your gracious help.

I am having loads of fun with these mix-and-match series. I have been doing them more often these days, digging up those clothes and seeing how to make them work. What's more, this collection came with a hanging dUCk charm and a bracelet in each set. I hung the charm on my Pandora bracelet instead and have it with me almost everywhere I go.

Dear D, your ideas always melt my heart. 

In the mean time, I have to arrange and make time for my long-time-no-see besties, Ayu and Ratna. Miss them loads.

Mix-And-Match

Part of my Capturing 2016 Project was to ensure that my clothes are fully utilised and STOP getting more new clothes. You know how we girls are, 'I do not have enough clothes!' Or how we would be browsing through our closet daily before heading to work or a meet up with friends, and say, 'I have nothing to wear!' 

It is hard I tell you. Seriously. Us girls. 

I am trying to mix and match what I already have and make it a point to wear them as much as possible before my wardrobe outgrows them. I would usually spring clean my wardrobe every six months and try my best to remove clothes which are hardly worn or never been worn before. If I have never wore them, I am never going to get around to wearing them at all. These clothes are usually passed to my niece who is about the same size as me. Thank god we share the same cute, fun sized body frame. 

I always have a thing for culottes. They are meant to be three-quarter pants for the tall people. However, standing at around 1. 58 meter or a perhaps 5 feet 1 inch, culottes would equate to long pants for people of my height. I love them! Pair them up with some pretty pair of high heels and I believe it'll look great for work or any non-formal and casual occasions with family and friends.

With these idea in mind, I hope to be able to create more mix and match posts in the future. Sometimes I do wish my clothes simply grow in my closet, but such is not the case. To a wonderful remainder of 2016, whatever is left of it anyway.

naimefied look:

scarf: Kaffah

top: Ralph Lauren

bottom: Haflins (culottes)

shoes: Studio

A Break

I stand corrected, it should be; a longggggg break. That is what I truly need.

I do enjoy reading other blogger's stories, experience, et cetera. Sometimes, I do wish I have the luxury of time to blog more often. Or make that extra effort to blog like they do despite their busy life. Unfortunately, I do not seem to be able to blog at all these days.  Hence, I decided to take a break for a bit and spend some real down time with my loved ones who are always surrounding me. Despite the hectic schedule I had to deal with, I am blessed with a bunch of wonderful family and friends who were concerned of my well-being. 

When my blog went off the radar for a while, some friends emailed me to ask if everything was going well. Some called and whatsapp-ed asking if something was not alright. Truth is, I was feeling down and negative for a while back there. I was not my usual happy self. I do not feel like talking about it at all. It was not something I would want to share with the world nor was it something meant to be remembered. We all had our down moments, I too was blessed with it for a while back there. That was when I decided to disconnect from a number of things for a while. I needed that space and I got what I asked for. That space to be left alone for a while and get my focus back together.

It was a good break. A break I needed to drown myself with matters that I have always focused on; what I love and the people who truly cared. 

I spent time catching up on my much needed sleep. Found some comedy which I never knew existed. I look through the interior design magazines to refresh my ideas on how cozy my room should be as well as areas I could work on. I love my room, it is my sanctuary. I enjoyed my time with my cousin and niece. They got me to download snapchat and we crazily created funny nonsense. My parents and my friends got hooked on it and we could not stop laughing at ourselves. Oh and I also got back to indulged in some of the country's yummiest home baked desserts (like the one featured above).

Honestly, I was having a ball of a time. I reconnected with people who had always stood by my side through thick and thin since forever. I witnessed the wonderful blessings I was bestowed with, Masya Allah. I could not have asked for things to be better than it already is. Surely, if we constantly open our eyes wide enough to see, we will always be able to see the beauty in everything as well as the blessing in every situation, no matter how bad it may seem. 

And now, it is time to move forward and leave the negativity behind.

To another new chapter.

Bismillah.