On 12th November 2013, after I came back from work my dad invited me to the launch of  "Zandra Rhodes : A Lifelong Love Affair with Textiles" at the National Textile Museum. He told me to invite one of my friends so I straightaway thought of my soul sister Ruzana Ibrahim who would appreciate these kind of things. It was so random but she agreed even though I invited her less than an hour before the event.

I was in awe with everything displayed in the exhibition. Everything was so beautiful. I wish I could have some of the fabrics and dresses being exhibited, they were so unique and artistic.  If you want to know more about Zandra Rhodes you can read here : About Zandra Rhodes. 

 I took photos with some of my favourite pieces and the fully beaded blue geometrical patterned dress  reminds me of what I wore for Anugerah Bintang Popular earlier this year (My ABPH experience).

It was Ruzana's birthday eve and it was so funny I really wanted to rush back before midnight to post my first Insatavideo on Instagram to sing a birthday song for her only to have someone else beat me to it! Haha. Anyways, I was happy that I spent the eve of her birthday with her. Because I remember exactly one year ago from that day, 12.11.12, my loves Ruzana Ibrahim and Fahima Salleh was at the hospital on my 12th day in the hospital and the day of the passing of my late grandmother Arwah Tah. I remember it so vividly because all my family members had to attend her burial and i really wanted to be there with everyone at the burial, but I was at the hospital. I wrote about it in Expect the Unexpected II. 

Knowing Zandra Rhodes only from a quick search on the internet, I decided to wear something colourful to match the mood of the launch. So I decided to wear a colourful abstract print peplum skirt (I've worn in Raya on Fire ), pink heels, blue scarf and a basic black top just to tone the whole look down. 

When I was thinking of taking pictures with zandra after the show, the humble Zandra actually asked someone to take pictures of the both of us first! It must be my pink shoes that attracted her since pink is her favourite coloour! Hehe. Jokes aside, she was really sweet and friendly. It was good to get to meet her in person. Its also heartening to know that a talented British can appreciate fabrics and textiles, and coming all the way to Malaysia to promote her love for these fabrics. I really hope I would have an opportunity to see more of her exhibitions in the future.

Outfit details :

Top : Olivia Black top from ARNADIA by @gayacollective 

Skirt : Carina Skirt from Fashion Valet

Bag : Mom's Weaved Clutch

Arm Candy : Gift from my mother and late grandmother, Opah
Shawl : Sookascarf available at ILoveTudung.com

On 19th November 2013, I attended the Islamic Fashion Festival held at JW Marriott with my GAYA team Hasanah Hilmi and Yasmin Bahrudin. This year the tagline was Discover the Beauty of Modesty presenting KL London Paris New York. It was a short and sweet event during brunch and I met some friends and fashion lovers at the event.

We arrived early. One of the first few faces I met there was Shea Rasol. I love how down-to-earth, unpretentious and humble this girl is. We just couldn't stop talking to each other during the entire event! Of course we just had to take our look shots outdoors together before the show started. We sat together through the whole event and I was happy that we managed to catch up on a lot of stuffs. Shea also generously shared photography and blogging tips since she's been actively blogging for the past few years. The tips really mean a lot to me, coming from a true blogging pro! I remember the first time I met her was during Day 3 KLFW RTW IFF 2013 after being only online friends for quite a while. Sometimes, we are lucky to get to meet people that we can just click instantly. I'm so blessed to meet a sweet soul like her and it is always nice to bump into her.

I planned to post some of the more interesting photos I took of the fashion show but my photos of the show didn't turn out as good because our seats were quite far from the stage. They served brunch and I loved the satay and the popiah served. The deco was beautiful and I felt like I was at a western wedding event because of the way they arranged the seating.

I also met up with some of my Usrah Fitrah friends, Yatt Hamzah, Shakila Adnan, Kak Noryn Aziz, Fazi and hubby Adam Corrie. ;)

Anyways, I wore a leopard print blouse paired with a white tutu skirt and the timeless clutch I've blogged about in Injecting Tradition. The monochrome looks well with just a little red at the bottom part of my heels :)

If you want to know WHY TUTUS? read my post : Work the Tutu : Dancing on the Streets. ;)

I leave you all with what was shared on the first page of the booklet that guests received that day, a very famous hadith where it was reported that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) once said:

Outfit details :

Top : Gatsby Blouse from Seqoci

Skirt : White Swan from ARNADIA by @gayacollective 

available at www.gayaworld.com

Bag : ADILA LONG Warisan Clutch Bag from Seqoci

Earrings : Mother's vintage earrings

Arm Candy : Gift from my mother and late grandmother, Opah
Shawl : Sookascarf available at ILoveTudung.com

Heels : Noir Pony Hair Pumps in Black by Kiss & Tell FV

Photographer : Yasmin Bahrudin

Lala-lala lala-lala Elmo Man.. :D This song always rings in my head and I always randomly hum or sing this song nowadays. This was the first time that I went to a baby's birthday party this year and it was Yusuf's birthday party themed Sesame Street on 7th September 2013.  Yes, a very much delayed post, yet again. :)

On the day I started labour when I was about to give birth to my daughter Jibrael, baby Yusuf Ali, his mother Farhana Hamzah and Justine Shahirah came and see me. They cheered me up and made me laugh so hard when I was lying on the hospital bed. You see, Yusuf is an extremely cheerful baby and I've never seen a baby more happier and always laughing like he was, when he was about 3-4 months old. They visited me on 13th January 2013 and I started having strong contractions when they were visiting me, just before Shereen came too. The memories of all this makes me smile because I can still remember how happy I was when Yusuf tried to speak while looking at my belly and I could sense that he had a connection with my daughter Jibrael. I was so happy that I even recorded parts of this beautiful moment on my phone. I remember Jibrael moved around a lot as Yusuf was laughing and talking to her at that time. It was the last day carried Jibrael, 13.1.13 and it was an amazingly beautiful day.

I remember Yusuf and Farhana came and visit me and my husband during my confinement period and Yusuf again cheered me up with his infectious cute unstoppable laughter. Geram!

Back to the birthday party, to be honest I was a little overwhelmed. Just felt that there were so many people and everything I saw made me go to a sudden blur. But, in the end I'm glad I went to the party for Yusuf. The surrounding of the place was beautiful as you can see from my look shots. I met a lot of people I haven't seen in ages. My primary schoolmates and classmates in S K Bukit Damansara Ruzanna Wahab (Janna), Hirmawati (Ema Halid), Kim Amyleen, Justine Shahirah, Amylea. I had a long good catch up with Justine that day. There was also my standard 1 classmate Ezzan Zalilah Zulfadzli in Convent Bukit Nanas, mother to Rayyan. I missed his second birthday celebration this year which I intended to go because I was in Redang for a much needed getaway. I also met supermom Khairina Khairil Anuar who's my university and matrculation classmate too with one of her many children. And of course, my girls Fahima Salleh and Hasanah Hilmi were there with me the whole time too.

I don't need to talk about Yusuf's cuteness because you can see it for yourself! He's such a big handsome 1 year old boy now. So tall too that I forgot he only just turned 1 year old! Uncle Khubayb and Aunty Breen loves you Yusuf Ali. Always be good to mommy okay. You are blessed to have a beautiful strong superwoman as your mother.

Anyways, I wore a gold glittery top bought in London last year, my mom's pants but really, the most eye-catching piece was the amazing Sandra cardigan from ZAZA. I haven't worn pants in a long while but for a casual outing it feels good to wear loose pants like this. For those of you who have been following me all these years, you must have known that I'm into 'borrowing' my mom's clothes and mixing it up with my own stuffs. One day, hopefully I'll be able to do the same to Jibrael's younger siblings too.

Outfit details :

Outerwear : SANDRA CARDI from Zaza Apparels by @RajaNoora. 

Just check out their stuffs by searching the hashtag #zazareadytowear on IG. 

Pants : Mother's baggy pants  

  Gold Bangle: Gift from my mother and my late grandmother, Opah
Shawl : Diana Amir x Emel by Melinda Looi

Photographer : @kneok the husband

You can never go wrong with black and white as your working ensemble. It's safe, it's professional and it's not exactly a hard decision. I know I wrote previously that lawyers are themselves guilty of limiting themselves to black and white, but I can understand why it's such an easy choice to make (Read : Lawyers Wear Colours Too). That said, there are ways to go about it without resorting to the predictable white top / black skirt combo. 

So this is what I wore last Wednesday, a black and white zig-zagged top, with a flowy black pleated skirt topped off with a splash of yellow. I decided against wearing black shoes and instead opted for white heels. I don't usually wear a lot of accessories but on that day I felt like wearing more than usual. 

I'm loving the envelope clutch as it is made from batik print fabric. I can always appreciate the effort people put in to inject and revive traditional art and pieces into this modern world that we live in, where things move so fast that we tend to leave a lot of valuable things which we fail to appreciate behind. I've mentioned my love for traditional fabric or materials in a previous post of mine here: Hijabista Magazine Iftar.

I wrote about my love for salmon in A Slice of Salmon among the other food posts I've posted before this. So let me share something I found on Wednesday. Probably the best Spaghetti Carbonara (with Smoked Salmon and mushrooms) in town, has to be at The Social, Publika. Delicious! Cooked to perfection, in my opinion. Everything was just perfect. I've got to learn how to make this at home!

Outfit details :

 

Bag : ADILA LONG Warisan Clutch Bag from Seqoci

Shoes: MIDI Shoes Tess Heels in White from Fashion Valet

Skirt: Kylie Surisara skirt from Fashion Valet

Top: ThePoplook

  Gold Bangle: Gift from my mother and my late grandmother, Opah
Shawl : Sookascarf available at ILoveTudung.com

Photographer : @kneok the husband

Why did I choose this long sleeved knee-length dress? To be honest, because of its salmon orange colour. Just a huge, big slice of it. Oh, yes. 

For those who don't already know, I am CCCRRAZZY over everything salmon. Whether it is raw, smoked, grilled, fried or together with creamy pasta, my close friends will usually know that if there's salmon in the menu, I'll straightaway go for salmon over pretty much anything else.

It's not just tasty, it also healthy and has a lot of nutrients too. I remember when I was in the hospital carrying my daughter, my mother would bring salmon cooked from home because I was craving for it. Oh, yes. It was one of my cravings when I was pregnant. I think I ate all of my favourite foods when I was pregnant (and my husband's too), so at least our daughter managed to taste all of our favourite foods while I was carrying her.  Except my husband's obsession with fish and chips and mushy peas.

Through everything and anything, allow yourself to smile. :)

Outfit details :

Top : LILY Chiffon Kneelength Dress from Surisara

  Belt: Kim Gold plated from ARNADIA by @gayacollective 

available at www.gayaworld.com

Bag : Handmade Zipper Bag from London gifted by the husband

  Gold Bangle: Gift from my late grandmother, Opah
Shawl : Paripari Shawls available at ILoveTudung.com

Photographer : @kneok the husband