Hello friends!

So it’s been awhile sine I’ve done a proper update and I kind of feel bad. There’s been a lot going on, and I haven’t really been able to blog about it. Things have just been so crazy! But I’m hoping to get back into a routine soon so that I can get back to sharing yummy recipes with you all 🙂 I miss cooking and baking so much!

Speaking of baking, I recently enrolled in a baking program at college and can’t wait to start! It’s more of an academic program, instead of a Wilton type class, and is taught on more of a professional level. I even need to buy a uniform! I’m not sure how the chef’s hat is going to look with my hijab, but let’s see… Lol.

I’ve enrolled in my classes already and they sound like fun. It’ll be interesting going back to school after a year of being out, even though it’s more of a practical, hands-on program. I love academics, but I also love baking, so let’s see how I fare!

I’ve been wanting to improve my baking skills for ages and this is why I choose this program. I really do want to take my baking to the next level, and sometimes you can do it yourself but sometimes it’s good to have someone to guide you.

I tend to stick to the same type of desserts and usually avoid anything with yeast so I’m so excited to finally be taken out of my comfort zone and expand my knowledge and experience.

Speaking of growing, it’s my birthday tomorrow and I’m officially going to be in my mid to late twenties. -_- Ugh!

I still remember the excitement I felt of turning twenties and the feeling that my twenties were going to last forever. But they’re not! I’m officially 4 years closer to 30. I know age is just a number, etc. but I still feel old. There’s so much I still haven’t accomplished and the years just keep passing me by!

It’s one thing to feel like a teenager when you’re 21 or 22, but it’s another to feel like a teenager when you’re 26. >_> But I do! I still feel like a kid sometimes. And then I’ll suddenly realise that I’ve got responsibilities and have left my parents’ care and home. Then I’ll realise that being an adult is not as fun as I imagined it would be when I was a kid!

But alhamdulilah for everything. In this past year I’ve accomplished so much that I need to be grateful for everything.

As some of you know, I run another blog and it’s been getting some media coverage lately in the past few months. First I was contacted by a writer for the Today.com website who wanted to interview me for some modest styling tips in the summer. It was such an honour! You can check out the article here.

Around the same time, I was contacted by a journalist in India, who writes from MINT, a journal which is part of the Hindustan Times, the second largest English newspaper in India, for a feature on hijabi fashion. This piece was more around the world of hijabi fashion bloggers and had a more serious tone. The writer featured me in the article, and also interviewed me separately about mainstreaming the other.

Lastly, I was recently asked to write a few fun list type posts for Metro UK, a site very similar to Buzfeed in its list-based approach. I’ve written 2 posts for them so far, one on Eid and the other on the struggles of hijabis.

It’s been quite a busy month!

It’s been so busy that I neglected blogging. This blog has been suffering for some time, but that blog also began to suffer, especially as major changes in my personal life took its toll on my desire to blog.

Despite all of these things, lately I’ve been feeling a bit uninspired about the other blog. I’ve gone more than a week without posting and sometimes feel like I should give up. But then I get emails. Not the emails asking to interview me or whatever, but emails from regular girls asking me for advice. Some of these emails are quite serious as these girls share their mistakes, their hopes, their desires, and their fears with a virtual stranger. It makes my shoulders droop a bit with the responsibility of it all, but then I remember to be grateful to Allah for giving me this opportunity to help people. I’m not perfect and nor do I always know what to say to these girls. But I try my very best to guide them and help them.

When I get their replies, as well as comments on posts about having faith or being grateful from people telling me they needed that reminder or thanking me for writing that particular post, I feel like what I’m doing might actually be helpful to people. I might not be a doctor saving lives or an engineer building bridges or a celebrity being famous, but I’m doing what I can. And what greater joy can there be in doing what you love and helping people along the way?

It’s quite a lovely thought to realise on the eve of your birthday 🙂

Alhamdulilah.

Whew! This has turned into a long, heavy post. Sorry! There’s just been so much to catch up on though. Hopefully I won’t go as long without posting 🙂

Hope you enjoy your weekend, wherever you are and whatever you do!

As always, thanks for reading,

Ikhlas