Review: Before I Fall

by Ikhlas // 26 January, 2012 // 1 Comment

In Before I Fall, eighteen year old Samantha Kingston leads a perfect life. Sam has everything: a great boyfriend, a group of close girlfriends, and whatever she wants in life. She cruises through her days of senior year without a care in the world.

Sam thinks the world revolves around her and she isn’t shy to let people know. Her and her friends are the Mean Girls of their school, taunting and belittling others who they think are beneath them.

But everything changes one day when Sam gets into a car accident and wakes up in the morning…on the same day she died. With seven days, Sam is given seven chance to rectify her mistakes as she tries to figure out the events surrounding her death, and maybe even save the life of a girl who commits suicide. Continue reading →

In My Mailbox (2)

by Ikhlas // 25 January, 2012 // 2 Comments

In my mailbox today, I received the loveliest present! And no, it is not a book. Lol. But its close!

Last week, my close friend Chelsey messaged me asking me for a bookmark, since she had misplaced the one I had made for her in the summer. She told me she would make one for me too in exchange, and today I received my bookmark, with a lovely handwritten letter from her. 🙂

I really miss the days when people used to send letters to each other (not that I was alive to be able to miss it lol), but it seems awfully romantic and old-timey so I was thrilled to receive an actual letter in the mail, and not just letters from the bank..

The bookmark is all gorgeous, with thick, floral-printed paper, and with the word Spirit and my initials on it.

Here’s what the front looks like:

The back has a similar old-timey, parchment type pattern on the paper, with a quote from one of my favourite books, The Hunger Games.

The quote reads: “I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.” Aww, I love this quote!

I can’t wait to use it, thanks so much, Chelse! 🙂

In other book news, I did get the book Before I Fall from the library this week, which I managed to read all in one day. Look out for the review to that, which should be up tomorrow hopefully.

Thanks for reading.

‘Till next time,

Ikhlas

An imperfect perfectionist

by Ikhlas // 24 January, 2012 // No Comments

So you know how in job interviews they ask you about your weakness, and they don’t actually want a real weakness, like lateness or inability to pay attention to detail, but something pretending to be a weakness? In interviews, I’ve always told people my weakness is that I’m a perfectionist, but I have to tell you, its a real weakness, a really foible of mine, and not one prancing to be a fake weakness.

I just spent the better part of an hour making a card for a friend, and now that I’m done, I don’t like it. I mean, its not completely hideous, but its just not up the standard that I normally expect of myself. See the problem? Some people might find it acceptable, and find a way to make it work. But me, I’m feeling an itch something in my hands which tells me that I need to do it over again, as I stare the frayed pieces of card stock, the uneven lines, the bits of glue showing.

Its past eight in the evening now and my room is strewn with ribbons, paper, scissors, tiny bits of paper from cutting, and scraps of lace (which is what my room tends to look like after every card or bookmark I make). Despite the fact that I have other things to do (and not to mention a room to clean up), I know I won’t be able to sleep tonight until I scrap this card and pump out a brand new, better one. Sigh.

What is your weakness?

Have a lovely night!

Ikhlas

DIY: Jewellery Display

by Ikhlas // 23 January, 2012 // 1 Comment

Hello friends!

So today I’ve decided to do post about something different, a little do it yourself project I undertook with my aunt about a month or so back.

I have a lot of dangly necklaces, which don’t fit on the usual necklace displays, since they’re way too long. Similarly, I don’t like storing them in bins in drawers, since they tend to get tangled up.

So this is where the jewellery display comes in handy!

I also had a lot of chandelier earrings sitting around in boxes and bins (from my pre-hijabi days) that I hope to wear one day when I invite my friends over (somehow I always forget -_-), but my aunt thought that it would be great to just display them, regardless of if I wear them or not. I hung mine in my closet, so that’s the method I’ll be describing to you guys.

Here’s a closer look:

By the time we were done, not only was I able to store my long, dangly necklaces and earrings, but also my hijab accessories (the clips on the sides of the display), as well as my fabric headbands (shown on the bottom of the first picture.

So how did I make this? Well, let me tell you. Continue reading →

So you say you want to be a writer, eh?

by Ikhlas // 20 January, 2012 // 2 Comments

As you may or may not know, I’m writing a book these days. I’ve written two manuscripts before, one that will probably never see the light of day (beyond this blog), and the other that I really want to have published one day.

But I’ve started working on a third, hoping that third time’s the charm. I don’t want to harp about my previous struggles too much, since I’ve already blogged about them here. But my previous insecurities have obviously come rushing back since I’ve started writing again.

Despite having two unpublished manuscripts on my belt (and on my hard drive), this time feels different. This time feels harder. Continue reading →

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