there she goes

If, let say you have an option between the following two, which one do you choose and why

A pair of tieks - obviously a very indulging pair of flats which i've been drooling for quite some time huhu can't find it in any shops, you have to buy it online http://tieks.com

design - oh yes.
functionality - can't say as i don't own one, never tested before.
price wise - pricey :(

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Happy first day of fall! A much welcomed change after this L.A. heatwave :) #Tieks #FirstDayOfFall

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Tula best 👍 tq aunty @theshyshy Model: #wisesufi Photo by: @theanum

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You are your own product.

I've read it somewhere, but it didn't really struck me until I heard on radio this morning. The fact that Sarimah the deejay completed her degree, got her martial arts thingy which I think on instructor level, she's also a pilates instructor certified etc etc made me realized that there's so much more in the world that you can learn, invest, be good at and make a living, who knows.

I am an IT person. People may say that I could do other part time IT stuffs such as website, coding, hard core programming but for me IT is my main source of income aka 9-6 job at the moment. Coming back home I have three kids to attend, and after dinner either I cook or buy from kedai, all energy left is for putting Sufi to sleep. Laptop is left untouched beside me. No more codes or even games which I could bear to stare at, not even lay my fingers on.

What else apart from IT skills? I guess I have baking. Baking is my other passion, but to be honest I can't stand baking 24-7 too. I learn baking from books (when you buy there some investments), youtube and by experiments since young. I went to classes as well but couldn't afford to go many, so I'm a bit picky about which ones is more suitable to attend. Some skills you need learn from a master, some you can train and build over time. Alhamdulillah so far baking is part of my financial aids and one of my future investments.

However, I have started to obsess with exercises and work-outs such as yoga, zumba and cardio classes quite recently. i still swim whenever i can. I've started yoga in 2011 and was pretty amazed at my own capability. I really liked zumba when I first went to the class until I thought I should be a zumba instructor in order to do zumba like everyday hahaha but where do i begin to get certified? whenever i see new shoplots area, i thought, what if i invested in a studio? not only that you lead a healthy lifestyle but probably you'll have more time to roam free :)

the other skill that i've always dreamed long time ago is learning foreign language. not only learning but i want to be fluent and able to converse like speaking english. back then when taking japanese during uni days, i did well and really enjoyed the whole experience. for me, learning new languages is way easier than computer languages hahahaha many years ago, i used to self-taught myself basic french and italians which i demonstrated in front of o.h and left him in awe. such a joy and victorious! when taking classes, it's a commitment but a good opportunity to meet people and build network.

as i am listing down the mentioned above, funds and time won't allow me to achieve all at once. but i guess i can do one by one, by setting up a short-term goal. at least until end of the year, i should be able do this or at a certain level of something. more realistic and manageable put less pressure on myself hence they're doable. the most important thing is to never give up and never think that it's too late for everything. there's always a start for something to begin.

pray hard and work smart, insyaAllah. later play hard :)

sebagai peminat sukan agak tegar, so far 2014 ni banyak membuat aku senyum melebar. mana taknya, see the following list:

• tennis - always top in my list. rafa nadal won his 9th french open, NINE titles ye. dengan itu dia still the no.1 player in atp rankings, cuma gap in points takdela banyak mana. vamos rafa!
• golf - ok, aku tengok golf sekali-sekala, kalau nak borak golf sikit-sikit tu bolehlah but not the technical terms and stuffs ok. cerita sweet tu, bubba watson won his second Masters after the first one in 2012. kenapa aku suka dia despite his attitude yang tak berapa disukai tu? senang, he's a lefty :)
• basketball - the only spurs i support, which is san antonio spurs. menang nba final semalam weh :)
• football - juventus is a serie a champion for the straight 3rd times. the more important one, sekarang kan tengah world cup. dengan winning streaks yang aku sokong so far, adakah italia akan muncul juara? hahaahhaha apa punya superstitious laaa ni. anyhow, forza italia!!

i love pancake so much that i used to show off my cooking and photography experiment a few years ago about pancake. probably since i was overseas, i got affected with the breakfast they serve although uk is not the pancake heaven, if not mistaken :) once we got back, why bother with pancakes when you can get the best of malaysian here. hello nasi lemak, selamat pagi roti canai. oh pewitt soto, slurppp slurpp teh ais

anyway, once in a while i still wanted to have out of breakfast ordinary. not so long ago i've tasted one of the best serves of french toast at plan b. i even ordered it during lunch time once just because i couldn't find something appealing on the menu (that's only me i guess). i got frustrated when i knew they serve it until 6pm daily.

but what's up with french toast all of a sudden. aaqilah used to request for sticky bun french toast after watching it on tv. since i love french toast hence why not as it's quite easy to make. during my first attempt i only served with icing sugar.

getting better at becoming french toast master is the goal for now hehehehe

that caramelised banana, i made them myself. there's maple syrup and vanilla ice cream, next time i'll make sure we gonna have whip cream instead of ice cream. kids only attracted to ice cream, aiseh..

Day 06 A taste of spring/autumn
I will always love you, and make sure that you'll be in safe keep babe hahaha



Day 07 Where I'd rather be
Apparently I've had the birthday dinner at the same place as last year, and probably in the coming years since the choice is mine.


Day 08 Hobby
Apart from dslr and instax camera which is the latest member to my photography clan, personally I think iPhone camera takes quite stunning photos :)


Day 09 Dark
It's actually the liquid electric repeller.


Day 10 My fave part of the day
Auwww seeing sufi smiles the very first thing in the morning wakes you up instantly. Stronger than coffee :)
 

never thought that baking macarons can be very technical.

last year i went to a macarons class and was so overwhelming once i tasted the scrumptious and pretty looking macarons after the class finished. up until that time, the only macarons that i usually bought was from whisk empire as i rarely buy online. even aaqilah and natalia love macarons from whisk. i once bought from a kiosk in klcc and sadly, they're quite disappointing. i've tried once from a kiosk in metrojaya mid valley, and they're also not really satisfying although looked promising. so i thought, why it's such a big hit?

since i'm not a patissier and have not much experience with macarons, my opinions are solely based on my personal taste and what i think is good. to me, a perfect macarons should have this crispiness on a thin layer of skin but won't easily break when you have a bite. the softness inside the shell holds the sandwiched macarons but it's not soggy. surprisingly, a chocolate lover like myself prefers salted caramel filling macarons over chocolate ganache, but i think chocolate praline filling is one of the best i've ever tasted.

my first attempt with macarons was like a week or two after the class. based on my performance in the class, i was confident that it could work. nah, i was wrong and demotivated just after 1/3 of the process. my meringue wasn't consistent as it should have been, and as i suspected, most of them were flat and took so long to cook. i guessed i was clueless at how long it takes time to cook perfectly and the experiment was quite a disaster. but what i've started must be completed not matter what was the end result, hence sandwiched the shells with ganache fillings, and put them neatly in container. my spirit was lifted a bit as my sister told me it tasted quite good contrary to the looks.

so i had another go last 2 weeks. i prepared the raspberry jam filling the night before and went quite smooth. i thought ok, this is a good indication. the process went smoother, the meringue was quite a success with the extra help from sister, the part-time baker. even when i piped the macarons, they all looked good and i was quite confident that finally i've started to conquer my fear over previous attempt.

Day01 Something purple
Day02 In my hand
Day03 Shapes

Day04 Good together

Day05 Not mine

when i was asked what do i want for this year's birthday, i was sincerely clueless. how can i ask him for a present when i still owe him one for last year's. and then i've got the ultimate loafer for anniversary and accidentally lost one of the pair in a such freaking way within a month. i also couldn't make up my mind on what i want. ok, i want bottega veneta's nappa and i don't want to splurge myself to an impulsive buying which will make me regret after that. even i've had burberry's lace clutch in my hands, twice in jpo, i'm very proud of myself for having the ability to put a stop at this craziness. bravo hasniza, bravo!!

but actually, what more could i ask when i have o.h, aaqilah, natalia and now sufi in my life. it's a blessing when my parents and in laws are still around, in good healths and my siblings are all doing quite well. john and paul, you were totally right that money can't buy me love.

 we have a new addition to the family, baby sufi asfi kaleela.

 

aaq: maa, boleh saya nak change my name?
maa: (quite surprised) eh, kenapa nak tukar? awak kan suka nama tu?
aaq: saya nak tukar to something else. my classmates semua panggil aa-aa-qilah. (this must be her spelling with the double AA)
maa: oooooo.. maa and ayah gave u aaqilah sebab spellingnya unik. ada nama Aqilah, or Akilah but yours is unique one..

and she was in silence, probably digesting the reason that i gave her.

dearest aaqilah,
you might always be on top of the name list and kids might make fun of your name, but we wanted you to know that it's not an instant to come up with your name. we took time because we care, and we'll always love how AAQILAH spelt ;)

I wasn't really on a particular colour but I just loved the fabric and it happened to be purple for my husband's reception.
After nearly 9 years and 3 daughters 

april has arrived, yeah!!

for those who doesn't know me well, i've always got something special for april. i used to buy a lot of magazines in april during my younger years. don't be surprise if there's a spending splurge in april, but i guess i've slowed it down as years go buy.

so, this year's april i guess i'm up for a challenge - photo a day challenge by fat mum slim. i've seen some of friends got themselves signed up, and it looks fun to me. so get ready for april's photo bombardments. a photo a day based on a daily theme sounds easy but human nature, we tend to get bored after a while. i'll pray to stick until the last day of the month, and will post a compilation, let's do it!!

my mother sent my siblings and i to our quranic reading class near our house when we were young. very near that we only walked to the class and once in a while we ran in order to arrive at earliest.

i still remembered that there was a weekly fardhu ain class, where we had tazkirah sessions and solat berjemaah after that. in one of the classes i was introduced to yusuf islam or previously known as cat steven. my ustazah told us about his journey story embracing islam, and we learnt to sing his song. all i could recall was the first few lines something like these..

A' is for Allah, nothing but Allah
Ba' is the beginning of bismillah
...

when aaqilah was around a year or something, i was suddenly heard that song playing in my mind. i thought since i was in uk, it'd be easier to get the cd. so i was searching for that particular cd on amazon uk, and finally bought one based on the reviews that i've read about it. why i just didn't google the lyric back then.. duh.. ironically the imported cd was all the way from malaysia.

i didn't find the same song in the cd, but my kids really enjoy most of the songs until now. even they have their favourite playlist and make me play them over and over again. from aaqilah, to natalia and will be passing to sufi one day..

recommended =)

there'll be one more episode before the 1 hour finale on 31 March.

How I Met Your Mother is bidding adieu after the 9 year journey. hence, most of my 9 years has been spent with the himym gang on a weekly basis and 9 years is quite a long duration. from my mid twenties until now (not yet mid thirties), we live, eat and sleep with the show. wah, dasatlah haha

in my case himym came out at the right time when i wasn't really attached to any show except bleach, honey and clover, yakitate japan, just naming a few anime series that i got stuck onto during that time. by that time means i was a housewife back then. we were young parents with a baby girl and still adapting to family life adjustments. o.h was a full-time student, and boy, life was simple and quite easy.

as time passes us by, the show itself has it's own ups and downs. sometimes it's not accelerating at good pace, there's time when i just watched it because it's himym. personally for me, himym has been a very good companion and watching it every tuesday is always a joy.

"And that's how it goes kids. The friends, neighbours, drinking buddies, partners in crimes you love so much when you were young, as the years go by, you just lose touch.
You will be shocked kids, when you discover how easy it is in life to part ways with people forever. That's why when you find someone you wanna keep around, you do something about it."

Although it might be a bit late, introducing to you guys these 2 special instagram accounts, @cupsters   and the latter @projekshawl.

@cupsters
Our humble online baking business which I've founded many many years ago with the chocolate cake as the beginning. It's not really huge but manageable and we're proud of our homemade products ;) Highly recommended - Red Velvet cake/cupcake with creamy cheese cream frosting and always my favourite, Devils Food cupcake with chocolate ganache.

Feel free to follow @cupsters and to like our page too Cupsters.Monsters



@projekshawl
Due to my petite built, I've always had problems finding my perfect shawl. If the width is ok, I've had issues with the length and vice versa. Sometimes I've had issues with the materials's opaqueness and material itself. When I see others wearing cute shawls, I always wonder where did they get theirs and one day I thought why not do it myself ones. So that's how it began, a small side project by yours truly. But who knows where this step might lead me to, amen.. Psss, just let me know if you like any of these..

Anyway, there're still many rooms for improvements and a lot for me to learn. It's exciting, challenging and yet could be rewarding. So please, your supports are very much appreciated..

Follow @projekshawl and like the page projekshawl

saya tengah bercuti maternity, sekarang nearly 2 bulan, 1 month to go.

ops, sebenarnya permohonan untuk extend lagi 3 bulan cuti dah approved. in total aku akan cuti 6 bulan, i'll be back to office in july insyaAllah. of course unpaid the extra 3 months tu.

dari tahun lepas lagi aku dah poyo-poyo inform erik yang aku nak extend cuti cuma tak sure berapa bulan. camni, my colleague started this trend of extending maternity leave to the maximum of 6 months in the office and followed by others. aku ni orang ke-3 bercuti lama sakan. bukannya apa, aku kesian nak hantar sufi ke babysitter as young as 3 months, by 6 months she should be ready by then. lagipun disebabkan aku went tru c-sec ari tu, aku rasa eloklah berehat lama sikit.

once cuti aku dapat lampu hijau, tiba-tiba aku pulak yang jadi panik. how am i going to pay my bills? adakah decision aku ni tak berapa wise? money issue, financial woes.

akan tetapi, aku yakinkan dalam hati, rezeki itu rahsia Allah. kenapa aku nak risaukan perkara yang dah ditentukan. aku berusaha from my end, dan pray for the very best.. ameen..