MW's Winter Wonderland OOTD

Whirlers,

Hope you`re all staying safe if you`re faced with snow! Its slightly embarrassing living in Southern England, where a slightest bit of snow we all go into standstill! Anybody else get frustrated with that??

Evidently the camera had to come out with the beautiful scenes around the area!

This is what I wore to face the cold. 

I`m not sure why I have my hands on my snood in EVERY photo, I apologise. I must of thought it looked cute haha.

I`m loving my Next overcoat - its so warm, fits like a glove and just perfecto! I love Next because they  are one of the few high street stores that offer petite range and wide fit shoes - which I need both, being 5ft and size 4 wide feet - I`m always buying items from there for my everyday wardrobe. So, when I found this gorgeous camel overcoat - I was TOTALLY ecstatic and put this in my 'shopping basket' ridiculously quickly!

Its perfect because I can wear it casually with my biker boots and I can wear it to work, where I wear smart attire - like I said, perfecto!

T-Shirt - H&M

Trousers - Dorothy Perkins

Overcoat - Next

Boots - New Look

Gloves - John Rocha

Scarf - eBay

Snood - H&M

What are you wearing to stay warm this winter?

xo

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MW's Eid Love

Eid Mubarak, guys! May Allah accept your fasts and duas. Remeber the Ummah which is in pain and distress in Burma, Palestine, Syria and anywhere else in the world. Make dua for those who have passed away and may Allah grant relief to those in need. May Allah grant you barakah in this world and in the Akirah. 

Love,

MW 

xo

MW Goodies: Lucy Arts Eid Cards

Salam Whirlers!

Eid is nearly upon us, so what does that mean?? Yes, new outfits, lots of yummy desserts, Eid cards, gifts, decorations and family time. To get into the spirit, I approached Lucy Arts and ordered a few Eid cards to send to my beloveds. 

Lucy Arts is an Arabic Calligraphy business by Lucy K from London. She creates, as well as greeting cards, in my opinion, the most magnificent canvases. She is a talented young lady, who besides studying is slowly developing her business, masha`Allah.

I have yet to purchase a canvas for myself, so until then I am satisfying myself with her beautiful Eid cards, which I just had to share with you:
(click on photos to enlarge)

I adore packagings. The extra effort shows the extra mile they will go for their customer, which is exactly what Lucy did.

The Eid cards. She has plenty of different designs, but I absolutely adored the corner paisley designs.

Along with the cards, you can also order matching envelopes.

Lucy Arts business cards

I ordered these cards on a Thursday afternoon, and received them on a Saturday morning. This is amazing as I DO love a fast and efficient service! So, that was definitely a perk for me. 

Another perk for me was the price, 5 cards with envelopes came to £12.50! Can you believe it was so cheap? In total, I WILL pay £14.39 (inc. p&p). (I haven`t paid yet, but I will, Lucy!!)

The inside is left blank for you to write you own message, which is great, but it can be a small issue when you have ordered dark cards, where your normal black/blue ink won`t be visible. This means, I have to purchase a gold pen to write my Eid message in. Or, I could sew in a thin piece of white paper, add a verse from the Qur`an and write my message in normal ink. This just means, a little more work on my side, which is not a big deal, but I live in the middle of nowhere, so resources are limited. I hope there is a gold pen somewhere on the high street! But, besides this small issue, I am absolutely in love with these Eid cards!! I will order again in the future and I will have my gold pen ready!

Another issue I have just discovered, again a small issue, which can easily be resolved by Lucy. The beautiful paisley design in the top right corner would be covered by the stamp. *sadface* Why would you want to cover that?! I`m really sad that I might have to cover it, or just put the stamp next to it, but I don`t really want the Post Office people to put their horrible black stamp all over it :(
So, Lucy, if you`re reading this, maybe have the paisley designs on opposite corners? This might not be an issue for other people, but I`m seriously OCD and I`d need everything to be perfect! And, again why would you want to hide your talent on the envelope?!

If you like these Eid cards, then you will love her other projects, which you can check out on her Facebook page.

So, check it out, contact her, and be amazed by her talent, masha`Allah.

xo

MW's Birthday and Life Lesson

Whirlers!!

I`m getting old :( 

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago, and I don`t make a big deal out of it, but my Mama Bear is TOTALLY into her baking, and she wanted an excuse to bake a cake. So, myself and the family just cut the cake on my birthday. Nothing fancy. Just me and cake. Mmm. Nom, nom, nom. Hehe.

So, obviously, I have to share a few snaps from the day: 

The amazeball cake Mama Bear made for me.
And, I was also playing around with a 50mm Canon lense here.
I clearly need to practise more lol.

Here I am with the cake Mama Bear made. I tried to get my scarf to match the
ribbon/decorations on the cake lollll.

And, also, I was ADAMANT for only a SINGLE candle! I truly am getting old. Wah.

Anyway, birthdays are always a test for me, simply because, when I was younger until I was 21, I used to make such a big deal about it. I would have birthday lists written up. I would send wish list emails to the nearest and dearest. If, I didn`t get lots of love and affection I would cry (LOL! So embarrassing looking back now!).

However, since embracing Islam and learning more about our beautiful religion, I stopped showing an interest in my birthday, and for the last few years, I`ve treated it as a normal day, in fact, not enjoying the attention it brings towards me.

This attitude taught me something:

'Don`t have expectations in life. Simply replace it with appreciation and you`ll see how blessed you are. Alhamdulilah.'

And, its true, once I eliminated the birthday lists, wanting it to be all about me and the parties, I was able to step outside the box, and observe that the people dearest to me, actually DO care about me. 

I was able to appreciate the moments, the people, the efforts and the love that are in my life. 

I was able to see how truly blessed I am.

So, Whirlers, lets lose the expectations we have in life, and start to appreciate the things Allah has bestowed upon us. 

Alhamdulilah.

xo

MW's Snapshot Saturday

Whirlers!! :)

Hope everyone is well!

1. My Dad bought me a prayer mat with a compass and an Islamic book, even though its directed at men, it gives me an insight into the men's duties as a Muslim.

2. Little brother had his driving theory test this week, at 8am!! And, I went and grabbed a gingerbread latte in Costa. Mmm.

(He passed, in case anyone was wondering lol)

3. A sunrise shot from my bedroom window. Amazing. Masha`Allah.

4. Revision again!!

But, this week has been pretty blessed where I received really good news, so Alhamdulilah. Truly, truly, truly made me realise that sabr, dua and hardwork really do pay off. Alhamdulilah.

How has your week been?

xo

MW's Thinking Period: Struggling

I spoke to close friend of mine today, and we came across the topic of 'Allah (swt) giving up on us'. She felt this can happen and I felt I had to reassure her as I personally don`t believe this. I explained to her why I always feel Allah (swt) is ALWAYS, ALWAYS with us.

I explained that every struggle we are faced with, we`re facing it for a reason, the fact we are struggling, is a sign that Allah (swt) is guiding us. This is why our Nabi (sws) said:
"When Allah desires good for someone, He tries him with hardships." (Al-Bukhari)

This is a typography I made last year on my old blog:

I really think its a statement that everyone should remember, not to be disheartened completely by the outcome, to overcome it, keep faith in Allah (swt) and carry on with life. Everything happens for a reason and has been perfectly calculated, we may not know it now, but one day we`ll realise why we were faced with that hardship.
I made this typography because I was going through a bad time, and I needed a reason as to why I was put in that situation, I studied into it and that was what I learnt from it - everything is perfectly calculated.

I also asked her: 'Would you rather be in a situation, struggling and thinking of Allah (swt) and praying to Allah (swt) than being happy, in a good place and forgetting Allah (swt)? She obviously answered correctly and said the former.

SOLUTION:
Praying is the answer to majority of our problems, if we want to talk to Allah (swt) - pray. If we want a message from Allah (swt) - read the Quran. The answer is there. Even taking a moment to pray, tears flowing, heart open, can do a lot of good for a persons mentality.

Often in these situations, its probably best to take a step back and reassess your life -
- Are you praying five times a day? If not, try to. Obviously, nowadays with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, praying can be overlooked, but if we have 10 minutes to go onto facebook and see what everyone is upto, then we must surely have the same amount of time to do our Fard namaz five times a day?
- Are you surrounding yourself with good people, with pure intentions? Someone that will guide you when you`re falling down? Usually, we go for people we click with, but sometimes these people aren`t good for us in the long run. Its advised to surround ourselves with Muslimah`s who have the same intentions, support you, wouldn`t pressure you to do things, etc. Join an Islamic Society, go to the local masjid - there are always sisters there.
- Are you reading the Quran? Instead of logging onto facebook, why not do wudhu and read the Quran.

There are many things we can do to overcome our struggles and by praying and showing our humility to Allah (swt) we will always be able to overcome these struggles.

So, my dear friend, please don`t think Allah (swt) ever gives up on us. Allah (swt) is always with us, however low you may feel, everything happens for a reason and be happy you`re thinking of Allah (swt) instead of moving away from Allah (swt) and thinking Allah (swt) has given up on us - are YOU doing enough to overcome those struggles?

And, always remember, if you ever feel down, I`m always a phone call away to listen and share my thought. I love you, pumpkin <3

MW's Typographies

These are a few typographies I had done in the past on my old blog. I love doing them.

What do you think?

xo

MW's What To Wear In A Muslim Country

I received a message asking me what would be ideal to wear in Egypt in December, I thought initially I`d reply to her message, however I was instead inspired by the message to do a post on what Non-Muslims could potentially wear when they go to Muslim countries.

In Muslim countries, you will notice women are covered head to toe, possibly only their eyes visible. This is because in Islam, women are to dress modestly. Now, before I frighten every non-muslim away, this doesn`t mean you HAVE to dress like this. Not at all. However, DO think modest, loose clothing, nothing too revealing and you`ll get the jist of what kind of attire is suitable in these countries.

I would recommend long flowy skirts and dresses, which do not hug your figure, loose tunic tops over slim jeans, thin scarves (to keep the chest covered), big hats, big sunglasses and sandals.

Not only will this type of attire keep you modest in these countries, but it will also keep you cool in the heat (which is also very important).

I have included some ideas of outfits that you can get a general idea of what you could wear, as I feel pictures speak more volume than words:

A simple maxi dress with an oversized cocoon cardigan will keep you covered but also keeping it loose enough to keep you cool. Simple accessories to keep the outfit looking nice. And, of course the big oversized sunglasses because it`ll be too hot to wear make up so shove them on (lol)! And, the trilby hat to keep your face cool. I forgot to add a scarf, so any light flowy scarf would look nice with this outfit.

As you can see, I`ve kept the sandals and accessories the same, you don`t want to take SO many stuff with you and then not even use them all. This outfit, is balancing a loose blouse with a pair of slim jeans to keep your proportions in balance and a pashmina to throw over your shoulders to keep you modest yet looking elegant at the same time. This outfit would also be ideal in the evening for a meal in a restaurant teamed with a pair of nude heels instead of the sandals.

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE MAXI SKIRTS. In ANY colour/design, you`ll be able to work it! This will keep you modest and covered, yet the skirt should be flowy enough to keep you cool. Did I mention I LOVE maxi skirts?

This outfit is so cute. I love it! Tunic tops are fab for hot countries as you are modest, staying cool, yet looking absolutely GORGEOUS! You could also make this more casual with flats and jump on a camel hehe!

Also, you want to travel light to these countries because I`m pretty sure you`ll come across Bazaars and want to buy their pretty jewellery/scarves etc, so you want to keep some space for your new goodies in your suitcase.

But, you could even rock it out like Kim Kardashian, who is in Dubai at the moment and is embracing her Middle Eastern roots and rocking the abaya. Watch how she makes it the new 'it' item. ;)

[Photo: huffingtonpost.com]

I hope this helps anyone that is travelling to a Muslim country and wanted a general idea of what would be ideal to wear there. Also, I`m not saying you HAVE to cover up, you can easily team the maxi skirt with a tank top, etc. Its entirely up to you. But, you can wear current trends in a modest and elegant way in these Muslim countries. *thumbs up*

And, on a final note, the temperature will be cooler in the winter months, but it will still be hot, so do pack your sun block and take the scarves to cover your mouth from dust, etc.

Thanks for reading and I`ll leave you with a Coco Chanel quote to bear in mind when choosing your outfits to take on holiday:

'Adornment, what a science! Beauty, what a weapon! Modesty, what elegance!'

xo

P.S. easytoimagine.tumblr.com is who inspired my post. Check her blog out.