So a few weeks ago I got nominated for the ‘Liebster Award’, which I hadn’t heard of before, but essentially recognizes 11 blogs that you enjoy reading and visiting. Arlette from Living Life Bright nominated me for it, so thank you, Arlette!

So basically you have to list 11 facts about yourself and answer the 11 questions that were asked of you. You can also tag 11 other bloggers who have 200 followers or less to answer 11 new question, but I don’t follow that many blogs with 200 followers or less, so I invite anyone and everyone to answer the same questions I did!

So let’s get started.

11 facts about me

1. I started writing my first manuscript when I was 10 and finished when I was 15. It was about a maid that falls in love with a prince, so basically a Cinderella retelling. I was convinced it was going to make me millions. It didn’t.
2. I’m a total girly girl, if you can’t already tell by this blog. I love the colour pink, sprinkles, sparkles, and everything in between.
3. I started wearing hijab when I was 15. I can’t imagine my life without it now.
4. I’m very short, barely 5’1. And I hate it when people point it out to me, like I’d never noticed before.
5. My favourite person in the whole wide world, hands down, is my cousin’s baby, my almost 7 month-old nephew. Love him to bits!
6. I could eat ice cream for breakfast.
7. I used to want to have red hair so badly when I was a kid.
8. I watch a lot of Asian (mostly Korean) dramas, and actually got into them accidentally after reading a Harry Potter fanfic a few years ago, which was based off an insanely popular Japanese drama. I’ve been hooked since!
9. I used to want to be an astronaut for a large chunk of my life, until I realised that math and science were kind of mandatory. That’s when I dropped it like a hot potato.
10. I love making lists. And crossing things off with big check-marks.
11. When I was a kid, I used to walk around talking only a British accent. I was convinced my mother had me on the wrong side of the ocean and that I should have actually been born British. Lol.

11 Questions from Arlette

1. Favourite piece of clothing in your closet?
Probably nothing right now, because I hate pretty much all my clothes. But one thing I do love is this coat my aunt bought for me from a vintage store downtown Toronto, and it’s very French and very chic. 🙂

2. What one  thing would you take with you to a deserted island?
My worn and weathered copy of Pride and Prejudice. I could read it again and again and never get bored.

3. Your biggest inspiration?
The Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be Upon Him.

4. What is your morning ritual?
Nothing really. Just brushing my teeth and washing my face. Oh, and moisturizing; I hate dry skin!

5. The book you’re most looking forward to read this year?
It had been The Madman’s Daughter, which I had been looking forward to since last year, but now it’s probably Strands of Bronze and Gold, which is a Blubeard retelling. Either that, or Sarah Dessen’s new novel The Moon and More.

6. What was the reason you started this blog?
I originally started this blog in Summer 2011, as part of one of my publishing class’s final projects. I fell in love with writing and sharing my thoughts on books, and now recipes, and don’t ever want to stop! 🙂

7. Biggest passion?
Writing. And reading.

8. What is the most random/weirdest thing you’ve done in your life?
When I was about 15, I wrote a letter to the producers of Harry Potter, to let me be audition and be cast as the only brown coloured girl in the Harry Potter series, Parvati Patil. Never mind that I wasn’t British. Never mind that I had no acting experience. Never mind that I wore hijab. I was going to be THE BEST Parvati Patil they had ever seen! But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. I still never got a letter back. Lol.

9. What is your guilty pleasure?
Probably reading to much, especially when I have other things to do and deadlines to meet. But technically, it’s not my fault, it’s the book’s fault for being so good…right?

10. Your feel good song?
Anything by Taylor Swift.

11.  The one thing you really want to achieve in your life?
Get my books published and make my living as an author.

And that’s it! To anyone reading this, feel free to participate. Share 11 random facts about yourself and answer the same questions I did, and then comment below, if you like. 🙂

Thanks for reading,

Ikhlas