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Oh hey there! Hope you are having a wonderful day! I am FINALLY getting around to writing this blog post about the DIY Sponge Wall Powder Room Makeover t that took it from builder grade to fancy in just an evening! Now, I love the look of some gorgeous wallpaper in a bathroom but I don’t love the price tag attached to wallpapers and also the work that goes into installing them especially in a small crammed space like a powder room!

February 3, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Quick and Easy Weeknight Chilli Chicken

Before I give you the recipe for this Easy Chilli Chicken, I need to tell you a funny story about chilli. When I first moved to Canada, I did not know “Chilli” was a stew with ground beef and spices. I thought it meant spices! So i happily went into Wendy’s and ordered Chilli Fries and was shocked when they gave me meat covered fries when I had wanted SPICY FRIES. I was quote disappointed let’s say. Since then, I love a good chilli recipe… but this post is not that. I’m getting to why I am telling you about Chilli.

Anyone else have old magazine cutouts with recipes you are ONE day going to try? I have quite the treasure trove of those and recently my mother-in-law gave me her treasure as well! So now I have some delicious looking recipes that need to be made. One of these recipes is a Chicken Chilli recipe with beans, boneless chicken, and veggies. It looks delicious and according to my mother-in-law it is quite a popular one with her kids when they were in their teens. I asked her to show me how she cooks it because the instructions on the cut-out seemed too simple.

When she showed me her way… it was basically a version of a Pakistani Style Chilli Chicken which is a take on asian cuisine. When I tried the recipe, I fell in love with it so I thought I would share it with you.

How do you cook chilli chicken?

This recipe is very simple. First we will cook chicken in crushed ginger and garlic with some chilli flakes. Next, we add in spices, some tomato paste, and two sauces. Last, we add in chopped vegetables. And done!

What makes this chilli chicken quick and easy?

Well.. I cooked it live on Instagram last night and people were shocked at how quickly it came together. I pride myself in cooking flavourful meals like Easy 20 minute Butter Chicken in less time because that means I have more time for the other things in life.

What vegetables can I put in the chilli chicken?

One of the great things about this recipe is that since it’s originally a Chilli recipe, you can add ANY vegetable. In the version I photographed, we have mushrooms, carrots, onions. In the version I cooked last night, I had peppers, mushrooms, and onions. You can add whatever you like except for maybe eggplant since that flavour profile may not go with the dish! I am thinking I will try a roasted sweet potato version next time .

Quick and Easy Weeknight Chilli Chicken

Recipe by Areeba – Mint Candy DesignsCourse: MainCuisine: FusionDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

4 boneless chicken breasts cut into small cubes
1 tablespoon crushed ginger
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 cup strained tomatoes/passata/tomato paste
1 cup water
1 tablespoon tobasco sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon red chilli flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon brown or white sugar
vegetables of choice like chopped carrots, onions, peppers, mushrooms
2-3 tablespoon oil

Directions

In a wok or heavy bottomed pot, heat oil.
Add in ginger and garlic until fragrant.
Add in boneless chicken and fry on medium heat for 1-2 minutes.
Add in red chilli flakes to the chicken and cook the chicken further for 3-4 minutes.
Next, add in the rest of the spices and sauces (tobasco and soy sauce) and a tablespoon of water to deglaze the pan. Mix for 1-2 minutes.
Add in pasatta/strained tomatoes and brown sugar and let the sauce cook on low for 5 minutes
Taste seasoning and salt and adjust as needed. Add additional water if you would like a saucier gravy.
Add the vegetables at the very end and cook on low heat with the vegetables in for 3-4 minutes to incorporate flavours.
Garnish with cilantro or greens of spring onions and serve with rice!

How easy is the recipe!? It goes really well with a side of rice especially fluffy basmati rice! Let me know if you try this and make sure to tag me on Instagram @mintcandydesigns if you try this recipe!

PIN THIS RECIPE FOR LATER

pinterest pin for top down shot of easy chilli chicken

February 1, 2021 · 1 Comment

Low Waste Valentine’s Day Decor with a Salt Dough Heart Garland

I am all about Valentine’s Decor but have been working more towards low waste decor in this regard. I have started to incorporate a bit more as Liyana grows older and loves all things pink! However, I don’t love the waste that comes with decorating seasonally with extra garbage. This is an aspect I am trying to work on for myself and reducing the waste or “new” stuff I purchase when decorating for any season – Ramadan, Eid, etc. Last year, I was part of a Low Waste Eid Gift blog series and I wanted to incorporate some of the same principles here.

So this past weekend we got to some good old salt dough ornament fun and created a cute garland for our mantel and also her room. The salt dough recipe is identical to the one I have here – the only thing we did differently was to add some red food colour to give the dough a pink hue! Such an easy and literally FREE decor idea which is also great for the environment since you can make them with what you have at home and easily compost the ornaments after!

How is this Valentine’s Day Decor Low Waste?

Well, for one – I had all the ingredients in our pantry and even reused the pearl strand from a DIY a few years ago. I think it turned out pretty cute, and Liyana had a blast making these! Below is the full recipe for your convenience! Thats very low waste in my opinion!

How do you make this low waste Valentine’s garland?

Simple – simply make the ornaments as per recipe below and then string through twine or even a pearl string for an elegant look!

I tied each ornament onto the pearl string because the hole i created wasn’t’ wide enough for the pearls to go through. You can also hang them individually on your mantle, window or even attach them to a wreath! My friend Christina at The DIY Mommy made a beautiful version like these with air dry clay and used it as little napkin rings. She’s a talented one to follow!

Low Waste Valentine’s Day Decor with a Salt Dough Heart Garland

Recipe by AreebaCourse: Uncategorized

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Calories

300

kcal

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 cup warm water + red food colour mixed in
heart shaped cookie cutters
metal straw or something to make holes with

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Mix salt and flour in a bowl and then slowly add in warm water + food colour while mixing using the dough attachment on your stand mixer. If doing by hand, prepare for some sticky hands. Use extra water, slowly adding more mixing/kneading, and then adding more as needed.
Once the dough comes together, the salt should be well incorporated.
Roll onto a lightly floured surface and cut into hearts or any shape of choice.
Use your straw to punch a hole near the top of the shape for the string.
Place shapes on a baking sheet and bake for 45-60 minutes at 300 F
Let them cool down completely and then string together for a garland!

How cute right?! Make sure to tag me on Instagram @mintcandydesigns if you make this!

PIN THIS POST FOR LATER

January 31, 2021 · Leave a Comment

One Bowl Rose and Almond Persian Love Cake for Valentine’s Day

This post is brought to you by Bobs Red Mill. All comments and opinions are my own

Persian Love Cake is a popular recipe first created by Yasmin Khan and has similar elements as an almond cake including spices like cardamom, ground almonds, and fragrant rose water. Apparently, it gets its name because the grinding of the spices and nuts is effortful and signified love. What more perfect recipe than this for Valentine’s day, am I right?

Easy One Bowl Rose and Almond Persian Love Cake

January 30, 2021 · 1 Comment

Pakistani Sindhi Style Fish Curry

In Sindh, Pakistan there are a few famous kinds of fish. The first is of course “palla” or Hilsa fish and the second is “Kurudi” for which I cannot find an English name. The former is found in the Indus River and slowly approaching extinction due to over farming. Both fish are cooked traditionally in a gravy/curry and served with rice or chapati/naan.

Here is the thing about Pakistani Sindhi Style Fish Curry – It is time consuming with multiple steps. Before you close this recipe and exit, let me tell you that I would cook it over and over again, because it is SO WORTH IT.

fish curry served with naan and lime wedges

January 26, 2021 · 1 Comment

Chalk paint – pros and cons of using it and why I swear by it!

It is absolutely no secret that I love painting, and painting old furniture has become somewhat of a hobby. I almost exclusively use chalk paint to paint furniture and have painted over 20 pieces at this point with different brands. I thought it was time that I put down what I love and also don’t like about chalk paint – because let’s be real: It is NOT for everyone, and some people just hate it.

Let’s discuss the pro’s and con’s in the context of the things that matter when you are painting and some questions that I have been asked frequently:

Chalk paint - pros and cons - Mint Candy Designs

January 20, 2021 · 1 Comment

Midcentury Modern Upcycled Nightstands with Homemade Chalk Paint

Remember how I painted and upcycled these nightstands in my bedroom a few years ago with chalk paint? Well, today I am doing the same thing but with a slight twist. It shouldn’t surprise you when I say that I have this unhealthy obsession with thrifting items and upcycling them and giving them new life especially with paint. I mean, I have painted nightstands, antique school desks, thrifted frames… even vases to make into a lamp – so I can safely say that yes I am obsessed.

Here is a little bit of a backstory. My dad found these nightstands to upcycle at Salvation Army for $25 each! They are in amazing condition and have this beautiful detailing and brass pulls that are just screaming mid-century modern to me.

January 19, 2021 · 4 Comments

Easy Pakistani Chicken Curry with Potatoes

Traditional Pakistani Chicken Curry with Potatoes or aloo murghi is one of my absolute favorites, but also has a step that I despise: the browning of onions and “bhoon” of masalas (If you are looking for a great hack for this, my friend Sarah from Flour and Spice Blog has you covered!). This step is quite honestly incredibly laborious (ahem chopping onions and standing at the stove to brown them to perfection), so when my mother-in-law showed me this easy pakistani chicken curry with potatoes that omitted this painful step – I am all for it! I even skip this step in Biryani because lets just call it what it is – I am lazy in the kitchen and have zero shame!

January 12, 2021 · 2 Comments

Creamy No-Bake Tiramisu

Let’s just say that no amount of this creamy no-bake tiramisu is enough for our family! While tiramisu is a little bit technical to make, this one is fairly easy and straight forward and honestly is worth the extra steps. If there is any recipe that I am willing to spend the extra 10 minutes for, it is this creamy no-bake tiramisu! If you have been around here a while, you know that I love a good no-bake dessert like no-bake dulce de leche cheesecake jars – so this dessert is just perfect for the cozy winter!

creamy no-bake tiramisu - mint candy designs

January 7, 2021 · 4 Comments

Matar Pulao/Peas Pilaf and Fluffy Rice Hack

I have been making rice, especially this easy mattar pulao with fluffy rice since I was a teenager. The key to this is an easy rice hack that guarantees fluffy rice no matter what you are cooking! When I shared this on Instagram, you guys were just as excited for me as I was for you to discover this easy rice recipe and hack!

What is Matar Pulao or Peas Pilaf?

This is a simple rice dish made with basmati rice (I use this brand – do not use any other kind of rice except basmati!), frozen peas, cumin seeds, salt, oil, and water. The thing that I love about this recipe, in addition to how quickly and mindlessly it comes together, is that my daughter actually eats it and gets some veggies in! That is a huge win in my mind!

What is the trick to fluffy rice?

Okay here is the deal! The trick to making ANY recipe with rice fluffy (peas or without) is the INDEX finger trick. I am sure I am not the only one using this trick as I learned from my Insta fam! Once your rice and ingredients are in, you pour in the water. As you are pouring the water into the pot, carefully put your index finger on the top of the rice being careful not to burn your finger. As you pour the water (warm), stop pouring the water when the water level reaches the first digit/line on your index finger! This trick works for ANY amount of rice in ANY pot/pan. It works when the rice has meat, veggies, or any other additions as well. The only down side is that the starch from the rice is not drained off like we do when we boil rice.

Matar Pulao/Peas Pilaf and Fluffy Rice Hack

Recipe by AreebaCourse: MainCuisine: Pakistani, Desi, South AsianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Total time

minutes

Ingredients

1 cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups basmati rice
3 cups water or use the index finger trick!

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F
In a heavy bottomed oven safe pot, heat oil on medium heat
Once oil is warm, add salt and cumin seeds and let it sizzle for a few seconds
Add in peas, rice, and water and put the lid on
Turn the heat on high and let the water evaporate. Check often to make sure the rice does not stick to the pan
Once water is dried, place the pot in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.
Once done, take out of the oven and fluff the rice with a slotted spoon/spatula.
Enjoy with a side of yogurt, curry, etc!

Thats it!! This matar pulao rice dish is super easy and tastes incredible with a side of Butter Chicken or Baingan Raita, or Aloo Kachri and some salad for an easy vegetarian dinner! It tastes amazing due to the fluffy rice and

Let me know in the comments if you try this easy matar pulao/peas pilaf!

PIN THIS RECIPE FOR LATER

January 3, 2021 · 8 Comments

Easy DIY Abstract Art with a Thrifted Frame

If you have been around here – you know that I love an easy DIY! Recently, I found this thrifted frame in the basement, that I decided to convert into an easy DIY modern abstract art piece perfect for the new year!

December 30, 2020 · 1 Comment

Sindhi Style Aloo Kachri

Full disclosure – I am NOT sindhi. My husband is and this Sindhi Style Aloo Kachri recipe is from his mother’s village in Sindh, Pakistan.

November 12, 2020 · 2 Comments

A Weekend away at Hockley Valley Resort

Life· Travel

Honestly, these past few weeks have felt like so very heavy with all that has been going on in the world, in my personal live and at work. I was so so glad when this weekend came around, and I was able to get away for a day or so with Shafi.

We were graciously invited by Hockley Valley Resort in Orangeville, Ontario to come and visit them. We have been to Hockley Valley Resort in the past for skiing and it is a wonderful place. So when this opportunity came up, we were both very excited!

Hockley Valley Resort is a local golf, ski, and spa resort located in Orangeville, ON. The luxury 104-room resort boasts an award-winning spa, an 18-hole championship golf course, 16 ski and snowboarding runs, indoor and outdoor pools and several restaurants and bars!

On our first day, we checked in, and got comfortable in our room that overlooked the stunning golf course.

We went to check out a provincial park that is close by, Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, and did a 5k hike.

That surely worked up an appetite, and we had dinner at one of the restaurants, Cabin. One of the incredible things about Hockley Valley Resort, and cabin is that they truly embody the concept of farm-to-table. Almost all of the fruits and vegetables are grown on the resort it self and used not only at Cabin, but all of the restaurants at Hockley Valley Resort. We sampled several delectable appetizers including the warm olives and fig and squash bruschetta. For dinner, I ordered a Vegetarian Plate and Shafi ordered a Cast Iron Pan Seared Pike. I will tell you that the food was beyond incredible, and even better than what I remembered it to be on my first visit. We had the creme brulee for dessert, and it was delicious!

The next day, we woke up and had a la carte breakfast at Restaurant 85 in the resort. Yours truly loves a good sweet breakfast, while shafi is more of a savoury breakfast guy. The menu had more than ample options to cater to anyones needs!

We followed this breakfast up with a walk around the Hockley Valley Resort grounds. I have to say the resort is so well maintained, and during these challenging times due to COVID-19, the staff and administration have really made it their priority to keep guests safe. There are hand sanitizer stations installed for convenience and masks are mandatory. I must say that both Shafi and I felt very safe during our visit there.

After our little walk, our next stop for the day was the Hockley Valley Resort Spa. I cannot begin to describe how much I had been looking forward to this! We were treated to a Hockley Signature Body Scrub, which was an hour long. I will tell you that my skin was never felt softer and I was so relaxed after!

After the spa visit, we drove down the street to Adamo Estate Winery where we had a delicious lunch OUTSIDE because the weather was incredible!!

Overall, I absolutely LOVED visiting Hockley Valley Resort and it was such a fun restorative overnight stay. You can check them out here and I would highly recommend them for the upcoming ski season and winter dining!

Until next time!

Areeba

November 6, 2020 · 10 Comments

Easy 20 minute Butter Chicken

So you may have figured out by now that I love classic Pakistani food. I can cook biryani and nihari like a pro. But let’s be real: I make those once in a while cuz mama ain’t got time for a complicated recipe.

This easy creamy butter chicken recipe is one of my go to recipes for easy weeknight meals, because in reality 20 minutes is all I have most of the time to cook dinner.

November 1, 2020 · 2 Comments

A fun weekend away with Kia Canada

Mom Life

Hello friends I hope you’re having a beautiful day. I’ve had the chance to test-drive the 2021 Kia Sportage over the last few weeks, and I am so excited to tell you about it! As many of you know we have recently bought a smaller car which I’m having a hard time adjusting to. This is particularly because I love doing DIY projects and often, they require a large trunk in your car. I have test driven the 2021 Kia Sportage and it has been a dream! It has also been incredibly convenient to use the car to help with my current DIY project aka the playroom makeover.

A car parked on the side of the road

Description automatically generated

I am testing out the Kia Sportage for the last two weeks and it has been incredible I absolutely love the all-wheel drive and the fuel-efficient engine which makes driving long distances easy and convenient. Also, the sleek and sporty design makes it stand out from the other cars on the road!

Not only that I also love the size of the vehicle but also the trunk which is great for hauling DIY supplies, run errands or even when I go sleepover at my parents. Overall, I found the drive to be smooth and comfortable both for myself and my family. One of my favourite features about the car are the leather seats and as the days are getting chillier, I’m loving having heated seats when I get into the car first thing in the morning.

My next favourite feature is this iPhone charging station where you don’t need a cable to plug your phone in you simply place the phone in the charging dock and it charges your phone. Even better is the reminder that comes up on your dash if you forget your phone in the car and try to leave. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have forgotten my phone in the car and frantically searched my purse and belongings. The Kia Sportage has these little features that are so useful for busy moms like me who are trying to juggle all the things and remembering where they kept their phone is the last thing on their to-do list.

The Kia Sportage also comes with multiple transmission modes including an automatic transmission and a manual transmission or sportmatic transmission. While I don’t drive manual, I can see this being a really useful feature for someone who wants to and needs that in a car. All that being said my absolute favorite feature has overall been the comfort quality of drive and the safety that I felt while driving the car particularly on a long trip this past week to a cottage. I think the true test of a car is to take it on a trip and the Kia Sportage lived up to its expectations and delivered even more than I expected.

Overall if you are in the market for a new car particularly in SUV, I would highly recommend the Kia I’ve tried it out now for two weeks and I think it meets all of the criteria that a busy working mom like myself has. It has smooth comfortable all-wheel drive offering safety in all weather conditions, a great sized trunk, ample leg room for the family, fuel efficient transmission and the overall comfort that I’m looking for in a vehicle for my family and myself. It is honestly the perfect vehicle for a family with young kids and if I may say so, ups my mom-car game! Check out all the details and purchasing options on Kia Canada

This post was sponsored by Kia Canada – all comments and opinions are my own

October 15, 2020 · 18 Comments

Easy Weeknight Shrimp Tacos with High Liner Oven Crunch Shrimp

This post is sponsored by High Liner Foods – All opinions and recipes are my own.

Who doesn’t love a quick 20-minute meal? I certainly do because on most days, I am going between one client meeting, school pick-up, dishwashing, and the million other tasks that are on my to-do list. Anytime I can cut my time in the kitchen short and spend only 20 minutes making dinner is a huge win for me. One of my best life hacks for doing this over the years has been preparing easy dinners with store bought items that are both nutritious and tasty, and dressing them up to be a more filling meal. I love using High Liner foods products in our weekly menu and have done so for years. If you have been around on here and also Instagram, you will have seen we usually eat High Liner fish once a week usually with a side of easy veggies. We genuinely love all their products, and today I am so excited to share a 20-minute meal idea with you featuring High Liner Oven Crunch Shrimp Buffalo Style.

October 13, 2020 · 2 Comments

Fall Sweet Potato and Carrot Curry Soup

Home Decor· One Room Challenge - Fall 2020

What is more perfect on a cool crisp fall evening than the perfect fall sweet potato and carrot curry soup? Nothing, I think. To me, fall is all about the cozy vibes. I mean nothing is better than cozy sweater (and you all know how much I love those), fireplace going, and a delicious bowl of soup that is both comforting but also nutritious at the same time.

fall sweet potato and carrot curry soup - mint candy designs

October 7, 2020 · 3 Comments

One Room Challenge Fall 2020 – Playroom Makeover

It’s that time of the year again! This is our third One Room Challenge and I am so very excited about it! In the spring earlier this year, we transformed our hallway, and before that we transformed a spare bedroom into an office.

What is the One Room Challenge? ( as per their website)

“The One Room Challenge™, currently in its eighteenth season, is a widely anticipated biannual event every April and October. Each round, twenty design influencers are selected to take the challenge, as Featured Designers, and transform a space. Every Wednesday, the designers document their process while sharing their sources and professional advice over six weekly posts.
In addition to following along, everyone with a blog or Instagram account, is welcome to join the fun as a Guest Participant by linking their own room transformations up during the six weeks. Each Thursday, the internet and social media are flooded with interior design inspiration, ideas, and encouragement.
To date, more than 4,400 rooms have been transformed through the One Room Challenge™. The event, and many of the spaces, have been recognized and featured. “
https://www.oneroomchallenge.com/details

Guess what we are transforming this time?! Prepare for some ROOM musical chairs!

One Room Challenge Fall 2020 - Playroom Makeover

Well, its a funny story. Remember the office we transformed last year? Well… since COVID-19, the office ahas moved to the old guest room, and the old office became the new guest room, and now the new guest room is being converted into a playroom.

Following yet?

In summary – our needs have changed alot since COVID-19, and we desperately need a playroom for our needs with liyana at home a lot. She is back in school now, but I am anticipating that schools will shut again at some point. And, I will need a space for her to play in that is not my dining room. So, in preparation for that, we are converting the spare bedroom into a playroom. This spare bedroom has now been the office, a guest bedroom.. and now it will see its third life as a playroom!

Here are my plans for the One Room Challenge Playroom!

I am so excited to share the full process with you guys and I hope you will follow along!

Hugs!

Areeba

October 4, 2020 · 1 Comment

DIY Scrabble Tile Coasters with Krazy Glue

Please note this post is sponsored by Krazy Glue. All opinions and comments are my own.

I am not a board game person. I have a bunch lying around, scrabble being one of them, and we rarely ever play it. Today, I am showing you to up-cycle Scrabble Tiles into easy coasters with some Krazy Glue in under half an hour. These easy coasters make for a wonderful holiday gift that you can create in a budget! I am going to be making some of these easy DIY Scrabble Tile Coasters as Teacher’s gifts for Liyana.

Easy DIY Scrabble Tile Coasters with Krazy Glue - Mint Candy Designs

October 1, 2020 · 4 Comments

Whimsical Fall Porch Decor

DIY· Seasonal Home Tours

Welcome to this awesome Fall Porch Hop organized by my sweet friend Rachel of Shades of Blue Interiors.

Truth: I did not set up my fall porch this year, let alone a whimsical fall porch I just have not found the time yet, and with the COVID-19 cases sky rocketing again in Ontario, we are only resorting to curb-side pick up for all things. That means, pumpkins are not happening for us, and if I am being honest, which means there is no whimsical fall porch decor. This makes me a bit sad! I did set up a fall themed tablescape though and made a fall wreath!

September 28, 2020 · 2 Comments

How to Choose Outfits for Fall Family Photos

Fashion· Life

You know what my favourite thing about fall is? Yup, you guessed it: Fall outfits! And you know how much I love dressing up for fall.

Fall family photos. You know what my least favourYup, you heard me right. I absolutely love having our family photos taken by some talented photographer friends with the beautiful fall foliage. Two of my favourite photographyers are Photos by Ruh and Qurrat A’yun Studios. Both of them have taken incredible photos for my family before, and I could not recommend them more.

Over the years, I have learned a thing or two about coordinating outfits for these fall family photos. I wanted to share my top 3 tips to putting together coordinated family outfits that are guaranteed to give you beautiful photos no matter who you stand next to!

September 25, 2020 · 2 Comments

5 Easy Fall Outfit “Recipes”

Fashion· Life

Oh heyyy! I do this thing every year, where I share fall outfits. It has become a long standing tradition and you guys ask for this content.. so I decided to brave the september heat, and come up with these easy Fall Outfit Recipes and share them here.

By no means do yo have to buy it all! A lot of these items are what I owned, and I added 3-4 new pieces to show you how to mix and match in the same closet to create completely new looks.

Look #1. Summer to Fall Transition Outfit “Recipe”

Yup… it is a hot one out, and I will NOT be wearing a sweater. But it will get cooler in the evening, and this midi summer dress + my favourite denim jacket combo is what I am actually wearing today! This exact dress is not available, but I have linked a similar version. Also, the stack of bracelets I am wearing is a TOTAL steal on amazon. SO GOOD!

SHOP THIS LOOK

Look # 2: Love me a Good Cardigan Look

Now, hear me out. If you need anything in your fall wardrobe as a staple. It has to be a Cardigan, good dark denim, and a black t shirt or tank (i can style them like a boss many different ways). These can all work together, or you can throw on the cardigan on the dress and swap around for multiple different looks. I also think this leopard print flats are a fun addition to a fall wardrobe, and they work so many different ways! I have linked similar items below, because these are all old – and even more reason to get them because i can tell ya they last a while and are versatile!

SHOP THIS LOOK

Look #3: Cozy Sweater + Denim Look

This sweater is SO GORGEOUS – This is a new buy, and a bit more on the expensive side for the store. But, I think I am keeping this! It is cute and cozy, and perfect to layer with dark denim and booties. I could even throw on a felt hat like cute bloggers do and be all fancy. You know what I mean?

Sizing: I am wearing medium in both sweater and denim jacket, which allows for a cozier oversized look.

SHOP THIS LOOK

Look #4: Leopard Print Sweater + Denim Look

I have refrained from animal prints.. because let’s be real: I am chicken. I have never ventured there, and the leopard print flats have been my first ever animal print buy. So.. when I saw this sweater I was like MEHHH. But then I saw Erin show it in her stories, and I was sold (or influenced!). I also paired it with the BEST mom-pooch-sucking denim there is available. I am not even kidding! I have three pairs of this exact jean because it sucks it all in AND makes your butt look great hah! I also paired it with this green utility jacket that I will show you to style three ways on Monday!

Sizing: I sized up one size to get a cozier, looser look in the sweater so I could tuck it in. It also comes in a cardigan version, plus sized version, AND a tunic version. Did I mention there is a matching toddler girl version too!

Look #5: Casual Home/Errand Look

Here, I am channelling all my plaid dreams. I took the same tank/cami from Look #1, and paired it with this new oversized flannel (I sized up to a medium) for an easy comfortable look perfect for sunday morning errands. You can easily throw on the green utility jacket or denim on top for a more cohesive look, and also swap out the denim for leggings for more comfort.

SHOP THIS LOOK

There you have it friends! Let me know what you think!!

September 22, 2020 · 3 Comments

Glass and Brass Fall Tablescape

Its the first day of fall y’all!! woohoooo! And I am here to share a gorgeous glass and brass fall tablescape with y’all that only cost me a grand $20!!!

You know I love fall! In fact, it is probably one of my favourite seasons to decorate for, because I love adding cozy vibes to my home. I shared our entryway and the main floor in previous posts, so definitely check them out if you haven’t yet!

Okay, so today we are going to be creating a glass and brass fall tablescape. I am using the same jewel tones that I have used through my house. I love how they look with the blue I have going, and I will say that I look a good contrast with blue. In the past years, I have done a blue and copper tablescape. I used some of the same elements this year, and only purchased new floral stems from the Dollar Store for this glass and brass fall tablescape.

I think this is a key thing I want to highlight.

Seasonal decor like fall tablescapes do NOT need to break the bank. You can use thrifted finds!

You will see, how I use thrifted finds, dinner ware I already own and have featured in many a tablescapes, and dollar store floral stems to create a bespoke look.

Here is the full glass and brass fall tablescape!

I used old book pages to create a runner, and then layered with glass bottles and brass candlesticks that I have collected while thrifting!

I think it all creates a beautiful layered look, that looks expensive, but really cost me $20 for the new floral stems!

I obviously also had to light the candles to get the full effect!

These beautiful frames are from my talented friend Sehar Shehzad, and I wanted to include them in. my tablescape. She hand wrote these for me, and I think they are perfect!

Tell me what did you think?

If you liked this post, make sure you pin it for later!

September 15, 2020 · 16 Comments

Brilliant Colors of Fall Home Tour 2020

DIY· Seasonal Home Tours

Hi friends! Welcome to today’s blog post which is a Brilliant Colors of Fall Home Tour. Make sure to check out everyone who is participating!

which is in partnership with some talented bloggers! If you are coming here from The Aspiring Home, welcome! I hope you will stick around and check out my fall decor.

Let’s get started shall we!

I love decorating with non traditional fall colours. In the past I have done a blue and copper theme which turned out to be beautiful. This year I went with jewel tones and blush for my home, and tried to incorporate them where I could.

Let’s start in the entryway for this fall tour

I have this classic entryway nook where we have our bench, a crate to house all the STUFF, and a cute gallery wall where I change up stuff. Here, with a quick DIY wreath and a thrifted frame, I added some fall touches. You can find the full blog post with all the details here

Brilliant Colors of Fall Home Tour - Mint Candy Designs

I also love creating little vignettes in spaces to add the cozy factor, and here I did that by adding a throw, a book, a mug and some boots.

Lets move into the main hallway of our main floor

Next, we have the entryway with this gorgeous statement wall. This wall is the crown jewel of our home, and I wanted to keep things pretty neutral here. All I did here was make this fall arrangement in this thrifted brass vase, and that added a beautiful non-traditional fall feel with some faux pumpkins.

This floral arrangement is my favourite fall DIY and I love how it turned out!

Next, I added very similar fall touches to the living room with the new mantle that I am sharing styled for the first time here!! You can catch all the progress for the fireplace mantle here and check out my IG stories for all the details on how I MADE that lamp from a thrifted vase!

Brilliant Colors of Fall Home Tour - Mint Candy Designs2

There you have it! That is mostly all that I have decorated for fall i.e. all our main spaces just so can get a little bit of fall going!

Now, head on over to my friend Mansa’s blog at This is Simplicity and check out what she is sharing for the Brilliant Colors of Fall Home Tour!

If you liked this post, make sure you pin this image and check out the rest of the talented ladies who are participating in this week long tour series!

Sharing with me today…

Tuesday

The Happy Housie // The Aspiring Home // Mint Candy Designs

This Is Simplicite // She Gave It A Go // Vintage Society Co.

And sharing the rest of the week…

September 14, 2020 · 2 Comments

DIY Copycat Pottery Table Lamp

Home Decor· Seasonal Home Tours

You guys! Would you believe me if I told you that I actually I made a Copycat Pottery Table Lamp with an ugly brown vase with an even more hideous glaze?!?

These pottery lamps retail from $400- even a $1000! I am not even kidding.. Here is an inspiration pictures for your reference. McGee and Co has a similar version that retails for $400 USD.

Now, imagine if I told you that you did not need to spend hundreds of dollars to have these gorgeous lamps! Lets be real, I was never going to spend hundreds of dollars on a lamp. And you know how much I love converting thrifted finds into unique pieces and use them even for seasonal home decor.

I am going to transform this ugly $7.99 Vase from Value Village into something similar and create a Copycat Pottery Table Lamp!

There are a few steps to creating this look.

First, we have to give the ugly thrifted vase look like pottery.

For this step, we will need Black Spray paint, Brown Spray Paint, some Drydex spackle, and some wet dirt (optional)

We are going to start off with spray painting the vase brown.

Next we will wait till its semi-dry, and add a thin layer of Drydex Spackle.

Let that dry a bit, and add black spray paint. Rub with dirt while the spray paint is wet.

Repeat until satisfied with the look you want.

Now we are going to take the Copycat Pottery Vase into a Table Lamp.

Now, this part was 100% Inspired by Danielle at The Nest on Powell. She purchased a pottery vase from Home Depot and converted it into a lamp. I saw that a while ago, and had that filed in the back of my mind for when I saw a vase I could convert into a lamp.

For this part you will need: A bottle Lamp Kit, Small terracotta dish that covers the mouth of your vase (this will form the base of your bulb, masonry drill bit, lamp shade + harp.

First, we drilled a hole in the terracotta plate and the base of the vase.

Next we threaded the electrical cord through, and then attached the bottle lamp kit and the harp to the lamp base, and attached the shade.

And done! Isn’t that one heck of a before and after?!

All the supplies including the vase cost me roughly $60! Isn’t that a DIY!

If you liked this post, I would love for you to pin this image to your Pinterest boards!

September 11, 2020 · 3 Comments

Jewel Toned Fall Entryway Decor

When you think fall decor, I bet you think of orange pumpkin and lots of fall leaves. Well, I am here to tell you that it can be more neutral and beautiful than that.

Well, fall decor does not need to be all bright orange!

This year, I am using beautiful deep jewel tones through out my home to bring about fall decor. In the past, I have used blue and copper to create a tablescape and that has also been untraditional. This year, I am using mustards, burgundy, and blush to create fall vibes around my home. This was inspired by my sister’s wedding last fall, where she used these same shades along with gold. Her wedding was beautiful, and I wanted to recreate that this year in my home.

This year I am using jewel toned decor to add fall vibes to our home

here is the entryway in its beautiful jewel tones. Almost everything is old, except for the mustard throw and pillow. The wreath is a super easy DIY that I shared on IG stories. The large sign (verily with every hardship comes ease) is a DIY. The other two (Home sweet home, and pumpkin) signs are from 2 Crafty 4 my Skirt. The framed tile is a gift from a friend. And the framed floral print was thrifted!

Jewel Tones Fall Entryway Decor - Mint Candy Designs

The entryway was literally our FIRST DIY in our new home. We Installed this shiplap on a budget using plywood. You can check out that makeover here. Because this space is the first space that you see when you enter, I love decorating this little nook for the season. I love changing up little things on the gallery wall, and adding a throw and a pillow to create an inviting look. The jewel toned fall decor this year really elevates the decor by adding another level of coziness.

I love creating little vignettes for fall because they give a more lived in look to decor. Here I used the same jewel tones to capture the coziness of fall and add some seasonal charm to my entryway.

Here is a close up of the little gallery wall that is truly one of my favourites. The wreath is super easy to make, and is simply dollar store flowers and leaves on an empty wreath I purchased from Michaels.

If you like this post, I would love for you to pin this post on Pinterest!

August 12, 2020 · Leave a Comment

How to Choose Prints for your Home

Choosing prints to decorate your home can sometimes be an intimidating task. There are always so many options when it comes to choosing prints for my home, and I am always overwhelmed with the right sizes of prints, kinds of prints, frame colours… and lets not even talk about placement!

August 11, 2020 · 8 Comments

5 Ways to Update a Builder Bathroom

You know builder grade bathrooms? Super drab and boring. Our’s was particularly blah… and full of stuff. So we decided to update it with 5 easy ways, that require no structural work. Here are 5 ways to update a builder bathroom to a modern spa-esque feel!

Tip 1: Install a Wall Treatment in the Bathroom

Now, when we started this project, I wanted wall treatment all around. In particular I wanted beadboard to wrap all around the bathroom. But, something about it wasn’t working for me. So, I went back to the basics for me: i.e. create an accent wall! I decided to scrap the beadboard, and install a vertical shiplap wall. I did this is partnership with Metrie Trim. This particular shiplap is the Metrie MDF Shiplap – Complete(R) in 5 1/2″ x 8′ (white). This shiplap product comes painted, so in fact you don’t even need to paint it! It is incredibly easy to install and went up like a dream. Metrie products are available at your local Lowes or Rona and have incredible quality and are made to last. Installing this shiplap is surely one of the easiest ways I have in this guide to update a builder bathroom.

Instal shiplap to update a builder bathroom - Mint Candy Designs.

Tip 2: Go Bold with Colour to Make an Impact in the Bathroom

I next painted the shiplap wall in this beautiful colour by Sherwin-Williams For the shiplap wall we went with Smokey Blue (SW 7604) in a Satin finish which is a beautiful blue with smokey gray undertones. It even reads a bit of green depending on the light, and is the perfect colour for this vertical shiplap. For the rest of the bathroom, I chose a neutral bright white (Alabaster -SW 7008). For both paint colours, we chose the Sherwin-Williams Emerald Interior Paint which is the finest paint by Sherwin-Williams, and has paint and primer in one! Emerald Interior Paint paint provides excellent coverage, and believe me I used only 1/4 of my gallon to paint this whole wall… and it’s washable with great resistance to staining and spotting! Makes it perfect for the bathroom, or any room of the house in my opinion. This paint colour is a great way to update a builder bathroom.

Tip 3: Don’t be afraid to mix metal finishes in a bathroom

Next we changed out the lights and mirrors. Here, we went with these stunning aged brass double vanity lights paired with these rustic barn-door mirrors by Universal Lighting based in Toronto. These vanity lights were really easy to install, and did not take us very long! The mirrors were a little tricky, but we got them up! Here, I mixed brass and black. At first, I was scared to do so, but my bff Fariha told me to go for it! In fact, she picked these mirrors for me! Universal Lighting is a lighting store that carries designer lights and fixtures in Toronto. Their selection is incredible, and they carry a lot of gorgeous fixtures. Changing out mirrors and fixtures is an overall great way to update a builder bathroom.

I also went with darker rubbed black knob pull for the cabinets, and rubbed brass scroll edge hooks by D Lawless Hardware. Both of these perfectly complimented the brass and black combination I have going in the bathroom.

Tip 4: Add a rug to the bathroom

Yes.. a rug in a bathroom! I know it is an unconventional way to update a builder grade bathroom. But, I always find that rugs make a bold statement in any room and why shy away from using them in a bathroom?! At first, I wanted a runner. However, I went with a slightly larger size, and I absolutely love how it turned out! This rug is the Terracotta rug from the Loren Collection by Loloi Rugs. It is a flat pile rug, with a woven back which means that it wont get “wet” the way some of you are probably thinking a rug would in a bathroom. I mean, we are grown ups… we can handle a rug?!

Tip 5: Don’t forget the details!

It is all in the details right?! I added some details with a cute house shaped shelf, some trinkets, a bath tray… and my most favourite detail of all: this beautiful poster by the Poster Company! You can see it in the mirrors!

So there you have it: 5 easy ways to upgrade a builder bathroom, and make it your own without changing anything structural!

Hope you enjoyed this little bathroom makeover as much as I did. I would love if you could pin the image below!

**please note that all products used in this bathroom makeover (shiplap, paint, lights, mirrors, hardware, rug, poster) were gifted to me by brands. However all opinions are my own!

August 7, 2020 · Leave a Comment

3 Tips to Style a Console Table

I am excited to be sharing these tips on how to style a console table with you today! I recently purchased this Console Table from Structube and have been playing around with it. This entryway got a major transformation recently, with this custom trim accent wall by Broken Skull Designs. Since then, I have been looking for the perfect pieces to style this console table. I recently went to Home Sense Canada after 7-8 months and found everything I needed in one go! That in itself is a miracle! So today, I wanted to share three tips that I have learned from experience while styling a console table. Here are my top three tips!

Tip 1: Add a Focal Point

For us, the focal point here is certainly the wall. I will be adding a painting here in the next few weeks, but I thin the trim work and the mountain peak design is simply beautiful and adds the focal point needed here.

Tip 2: Add Height to Your Console Table and Create Visual Interest

I always start styling console table by adding height. Here I have added height with a tall brass lamp, with beautiful curves and some angles. I wanted to break up the angle on the trim work, and went with this lamp which was a Home Sense find!

I also like to add varying heights. A known design rule is to add height in high, medium, low while styling a console table or any area. For me those, are lamp (high), vase (medium), plant (low). These three elements draw in the eye, and because they are groupings of three, we automatically like this more. Which takes me to my most important tip…

Tip 3: Always Style in Odd Groupings e.g 1,3,5

I always always style anything, especially a console table in odd numbers. Everything here is a group of 3. For e.g. The lamp, books/plant, and beads are a group of 3. To offset this group of three, I placed a lone vase with greenery on the opposite end (also an odd number), to create a sense of asymmetry.

There you have it! My top 3 tips on how to style your console table!

Make sure to Pin this image if you want to come back to it!

August 5, 2020 · 1 Comment

Spiced Almond Milk or Sindhi Thaadal

Spiced almond milk that is sweetened with sugar (or sweetener of choice) is the perfect cold summer drink served on ice, and would make an incredible addition to your favourite latte in the fall. The meld of spice and sweet flavours, elevates this almond milk to the next level and has this beautiful taste that I cannot explain to you. You simply have to try this spiced almond milk, and tell me what you think!

It is absolutely no secret, that I am obsessed with almonds. I put them on cake, I add them to my home made protein powder, and I even made homemade almond butter with them! So, when my in-law’s who are Sindhi introduced me to this spiced almond milk recipe or Thaadal as it is called in Sindhi, I knew I had to share it!

July 23, 2020 · 12 Comments

Pakistani Slow Cooked Nihari

Growing up, my mom slow cooked Nihari every single Sunday without fail. Pakistani slow cooked nihari has been a staple in our house, and this was partly because my younger brother is the biggest Nihari fan, after Shafi. We would sit on the floor with a traditional “dastarkhwan” and slop in our fresh tandoor naan, and take big bites of Nihari while sweating away pints in the Karachi heat. Summer or winter, Nihari has always been a staple in our house.

When I got married, Shafi was not a Nihari fan. In fact, his family never cooked Nihari. My mother-in-law very matter-of-factly states anytime Nihari comes up, that her daughter-in-law i.e. me makes the best Nihari. This is a huge compliment coming from her, as she is quite the master in the kitchen.

Pakistani Slow Cooked Nihari - Mint Candy Designs

July 22, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Amazing Summer Basil Pasta Salad

Did you plant basil this summer feeling like an expert gardener?!? Today, I am sharing an amazing summer basil pasta salad that I whipped up to use basil that I dared to plant. The basil is officially out of control now, and I harvest 4 cups of basil literally every 3 days… no joke! And I am stumped on how to use all this basil.

What can I make with all this basil?!?

I polled my Instagram audience, and the most popular recommendations to use basil were:

Basil pesto – here is a super easy recipe I have tried!
Pizza/pasta with basil – great recipe for a classic margherita pizza with basil
Basil rice – a great vegan thai fried basil recipe here!
Thai food with basil – this lemon basil chicken looks killer!
Basil infused water/basil detox water – find a full recipe here

I love all these amazing basil ideas, and put on my thinking cap on what to do with all this basil!

Here is an easy solution: raid your pantry and find things you love which for me is pasta, olives and tomatoes. These ingredients come together to make an amazing summer basil pasta salad which everyone will be reaching for!

I love a good summer salad, so I decided to create a summer salad with tons of basil and other summer flavours like tomatoes ???? – but here, I used sun-dried tomatoes, because I find they pair better in taste with basil and don’t make you salad runny.

Another thing I love about this salad is that it can be solely made from pantry staples likes canned olives, sun-dried tomatoes, pasta so I can easily throw this salad together on a weeknight where I have nothing left in the fridge and only basil staring at me in the garden. You can also omit the cheese or substitute the feta cheese for fresh mozzarella for a delicious twist as well.

So there you have it! I even made a little video for you to see the full process. I think this pasta salad would pair really well with a more decadent dessert, like these dulce de leche dessert jars which are perfect to take along for a picnic too.

Summer Basil Pasta Salad by mintcandydesigns on Jumprope.

Summer Basil Pasta Salad - Mint Candy Designs

July 18, 2020 · 2 Comments

Custom Trim Accent Wall Entryway

OOOO MY GOSH!!!

You guys. This entryway… IS INSANE!

Custom trim accent wall entryway - Mint Candy Designs

This beautiful mountain themed accent wall was created by the talented Greg of Broken Skull Designs . He really is an artist! He created this master piece in FIVE hours including painting time, and it turned out even more beautiful than I had imagined!

Broken Skull Designs is a local company that creates custom accent walls ALL OVER ONTARIO! you can contact Greg @brokenskulldesigns for a custom quote! And if you are interested in having one of his custom accent walls in your home, make sure you book a slot fast!

Apart from the beauty, I have to hand it to Greg for professionalism. Pre-COVID, he had come over to take a look at the wall, and we brainstormed some ideas. Then COVID hit, and everything came to a half. He stayed in touch throughout COVID and has been so wonderful to work with. He showed up right on time, came prepared with all his materials, and this wall is truly perfect in all the cuts, paint, filling of holes – you know all the work! The overall quality of work is truly incredible, neat, and overall the craftsmanship is really well done.

Greg has also been kind enough to offer YOU a code for $150 off any custom wall if you use code MINTCANDY150. This code will NEVER expire because he is that generous!

Hope you enjoyed this transformation as much as I did!

Sources

Paint colour – Benjamin Moore Newbury Port Blue
Console + Baskets – Structube
Lamp – Ikea
Glass Demi John – Home Sense Canada

Note: This makeover was sponsored by Broken Skull Designs – However, all opinions and comments are my own.

July 14, 2020 · 3 Comments

My Clinical Psychology Journey – Part IV

Career

Hellooo friends! It has been a while since I published my last post about this topic – to be exact, it was almost a year ago now that I finished residency and wrote the last post!

July 13, 2020 · 2 Comments

Pandemic Lessons and Mindfulness

Mom Life

Happyyy Monday friends!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather outside!

This past weekend, I was reflecting on what this Pandemic has taught us.

For me it is this: STOP waiting to LIVE TOMORROW. I’ve always been an incredibly anxious person. What this means is that, I am always worrying about next week, next month, next year.. the next thing, that I often miss out on the stuff in front of me. This is incredibly ironic, because when I work with clients who have anxiety… all the work we do is about bracketing these anxieties and coming back to the present and focusing on what we can control

So my lesson is to be more present, more mindful, more aware of the decisions we make NOW, HERE, in this moment. And for us that started with getting a car after our last car died, that we WANTED, not needed. For the first time in both our lives, Shafi and I chose something because we actually wanted it, versus for practical reasons (eg will all the family fit, what about guests, what about a future baby etc). We both said… screw that. And we went for it. And honestly, I’m so happy. Shafi is happy. Pegging our decision now on the future is something I’m deciding isn’t worth the worry and planning. And to be honest: it’s freeing!

I know, being present and mindful is definitely not easy, and I have been finding there are some free apps that are incredibly helpful and useful in cultivating this mindset.

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a state of nonjudgmental awareness of what’s happening in the present moment, including the awareness of one’s own thoughts, feelings, and senses.

Why practice Mindfulness?

When we practice Mindfulness, we first become more aware of the content of our thoughts, and what kinds of thinking patterns we engage in. For most of us, there are certain patterns of ways of thinking we use to make sense of the world. With being more present, and aware of these, we can learn to develop a non-judgemental stance towards these and become more accepting of them. I find this worksheet by Therapist Aid very helpful and you can download it for free from their site.

How can I practice Mindfulness?

The worksheet linked again here, has some great places to start. I find apps on my phone to be incredibly helpful. Some of them are Headspace, Calm, and 3-Minute Mindfulness are all great places to start.

The Canadian organization Anxiety Canada, also has a free app called Mind Shift which is a great resource.

Why is Mindfulness Important?

Some notable benefits of Mindfulness, backed by research and evidence are improvements in :

mood and overall emotional regulation
ability to concentrate and focus
symptoms of depression and/or anxiety
reductions in over-thinking or rumination

Please note that these are some improvements, and all may not be applicable to each situation or individual. This post is also a psychoeducational tool, and does not serve to replace therapy or counselling services provided by a licensed provider.

I hope this was helpful for you, and let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

July 11, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Make it yourself at home: Instant Pot Yogurt in a Jar

Hellooo! okay.. so let me tell you. I love my instant pot since I have gotten it and recently I discovered I could make yogurt IN a jar in the Instant pot. This has been a total game changer. I know I am not the first person to invent yogurt making at home.

creamy, tangy, delicious yogurt in the instant pot.

July 10, 2020 · 3 Comments

Master Bath Makeover

One Room Challenge - Spring 2020

Hellooo friends!!

I have been yapping about a Master Bath Makeover for weeks now, and I have been spending sooo much time on Pinterest, pinning all the inspo (come check that out here). So I thought I’d finally put together a mood board for y’all with all the different elements and colours that I am planning to use in the Master Bath.

Master bah makeover mood board - Mint Candy Designs

June 25, 2020 · 2 Comments

Favourite Ontario Farms to Visit in the Summer

Life· Travel

Hi guys!!

It is no surprise to you that I am obsessed with visiting farms in the summer in ON. We only get 4-5 months of warm weather, and while we have it we love to make the most of it! Over the years, I have gone to several beautiful farms in ON, both in the GTA and outside. Since I get so many questions, I decided to put together a list of my absolute favourite farms. Make sure to check their availability, ticket prices, and especially rules/regulations related to COVID-19.

June 24, 2020 · 4 Comments

Spring ORC – Board and Batten Hallway Makeover Reveal

Today I’m sharing our Board and Batten Hallway Makeover! I knew this was going to be a big challenge for me, and if I’m being honest, there were moments when I thought I wouldn’t finish it. But, I did it! I finished this hallway in 9 days… which also means that I failed to post every week along with my blogging friends, but regardless, this is a win!

May 20, 2020 · 2 Comments

A Quarant-EID Dessert – Dulce de Leche dessert jars

Ramadan and Eid· Recipes

Eid for our family is filled with quintissential desserts like Kheer, Sheer Khorma, Seviyan.. and so much more. I have shared how I am not as seasoned as my mom or the women of the generation before us to try to make such fancy desserts. So, I stick to simple easy desserts that come with an impact! A layered dessert is what I think of when I think of low-time-investment but HIGH impact desserts. You can whip them up the night before, freeing up time on the day of Eid, and impress ANYONE if you decide to put them in cute cups or jars!

May 19, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Dairy Free Kheer/Rice Pudding – a twist on the classic!

Ramadan and Eid· Recipes

Growing up, Eid morning would be characterized with the following: get up, shower, get ready, and then FEAST. This feast always had the following desserts: Sheer Khorma (sweetened milk + vermicelli noodles) and Kheer. I was never a fan of kheer growing up unless it came in the little clay pots because in that case I can devour it. I remember my mom making kheer for Eid by meticulously soaking rice, boiling milk, measuring the cardamom and sugar and cooking this concoction for several hours to get the perfect consistency.

I am not that patient or that virtuous. So I use Shan’s Kheer Mix. It has made my life easy, and i am all about ease and convenience. Give me all the short cuts!

I follow the recipe on the back of the box to the T, but swap out the milk for almond milk and cook for twice the amount of time to get creaminess! I also add 1/4-1/2 cup of shredded coconut for some added texture.

Voila! A dairy-free Kheer which I can whip up in 5 minutes (minus the time it cooks.. which is pretty hands-off!).

May 13, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Stay at Home Eid Tablescape

DIY· Freebies· Ramadan and Eid

This year Eid will look a lot different for everyone. We are all going to be staying at home, and celebrating within our own family units. The quarantine has really thrown most of us for a loop, because usually Eid is an elaborate festivity, with multiple parties (read:feast) starting after Eid prayers and for some continuing until dinner time! That is certainly not the case this year in our household, and we plan on having a simple brunch with family and calling it a day.

May 1, 2020 · 9 Comments

Kitchen Upgrade on a Budget!

DIY· Home Decor

The only thing you can really count on when you start a new project, is that it’s not going to go according to plan. But that’s ok, because sometimes it turns out even better than you had imagined!

As many of you know I had planned to participate in the Spring One Room Challenge for a kitchen/living room upgrade. However, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, things are COMPLETELY different. I’m not able to go out and purchase the supplies I needed for the projects that I had in mind, and the timing just didn’t feel right. That said, I needed to do something to pass the time and improve our space. I focused on using things I had purchased previously, along with two generous partnerships: D Lawless Hardware and D Marie Interiors. They provided me with hardware for kitchen cabinets and peel-and-stick tile for my kitchen island, and I am so grateful!

This post is sponsored however, all opinions and comments are my own.

April 27, 2020 · 1 Comment

Crispy Pakistani Pakoray – My all-time favourite snack

Ramadan and Eid· Recipes

I think it goes a lot to say that over 50 of you asked me to share this recipe. So… here I am testing and measuring a recipe I have made my approximation for over 16 years.

April 15, 2020 · 1 Comment

Free Ramadan Printables for Your Home and Kids!

Freebies· Home Decor· Ramadan and Eid

Hi friends!! We are 2 weeks away from Ramadan, and I have started to decorate, to get in the spirit. I find that doing small acts that bring me joy, like decorating, can change how I feel and approach each day in this long quarantine. In my last Ramadan post, I shared Liyana’s Room Transformation for Ramadan. Thank you so much for the immense love and support!

My Ramadan plans have definitely changed as we’ve had to adapt to the evolving COVID-19 situation. One of the things I had planned to do beforehand, was to put out a free printable for you to download. I got in touch with my friend Sehar Shehzad, who does beautiful calligraphy (and has just launched her own online shop), and we started to brainstorm on FREE Ramadan Printables that we could create and source for you

This free printable reads “Remember me and I will remember you” (Quran 2:152), and was hand written by Sehar Shehzad and is available for you to download for FREE!

The timing of this is kind of perfect, because I realized quickly after sharing my last post, that a lot of the things I had mentioned in terms of decor, are not available anymore and while I have collected them over the years, it may not be financially possible for others to purchase them right away. So, this FREE PRINTABLE can be easily printed at home with a regular black and white printer on any paper of your choice.

I also have several friends who have amazing free Ramadan printables and resources to help make your home beautiful!

First, my friend Hana at Hana’s Happy Homeis offering a FREE printable Happy Muslim’s Ramadan Village to anyone who subscribes to her blog. She is going to be sending the free printable out this weekend, so make sure you subscribe HERE

Next, I have two free printables from my friend , Nida over at NimiStyle who has a FREE Ramadan Tracing Printable for your kids to practice their numbers, and a countdown to Ramadan! You can download that HERE

Nida is super talented, and also has a FREE printable banner that you can colour in with your kids, and you can download that HERE

Next, I know we are all about keeping our kids busy during this time while we are fasting! My friend, Freshtah has launched some incredible FREE resources including worksheets, books and montessori based activities that you can print out at home or Staples (while doing a curb pick up of-course!) and get your lesson plans ready for Ramadan! You can click here to get the full package sent straight to your inbox! I’m excited to use this resource for our lessons during Ramadan.

I know a lot of you loved my Ramadan Countdown Calendar but this one is difficult to source right now so, I wanted to share my friend Bea at DrCardaMom who made this beautiful DIY Ramadan Countdown Calendar. You can get the full instructions to make this beautiful DIY HERE.

Lastly, if you are looking for FREE inserts for the calendar, here is what I used in our Ramadan Countdown Calendar. We have the FREE PRINTABLE Ramadan good deeds by Hira at Zair Zabr Play. I downloaded them three years ago and reuse them every year!

There you have it, friends! A FREE printable from Sehar and I to you… and lots of other free resources to help you decorate for Ramadan!

If you enjoyed this post, please pin this on Pinterest for later if you can!

PIN THIS POST FOR LATER

April 6, 2020 · 5 Comments

Your Favourite Coffee Shop Recipes – At Home!

Right now we are all baking our feelings and mourning the loss of coffee shop visits. I mean, I certainly am. My idea of a relaxing self-care routine is definitely heading to my local coffee shop or Starbucks, and ordering an english breakfast tea (or a latte if I am feeling fancy) and getting a treat for myself. Now, that this is no longer a possibility with COVID-19, lets make those treats at home and indulge in some self care.

April 3, 2020 · 3 Comments

Quarantine Spring Home Tour

Survival of a Suburban Mom | The Collected House |It’s Anna Blog

Looking for some inspiration to help you decorate your home for Spring during Quarantine? Here’s how a tour of my home decorated for Spring, as well as links to how my fellow blogging friends decorated their homes as well – enjoy!

If you are coming here from Jordan at A Blue Nest’s blog post, I would like to say Hello and Welcome! Jordan and I have been friends for several years and I just love her style!

Now that we are all quarantined in our homes it feels like every room is an active disaster! Honestly, it is simply not even possible for me to take nice photos of my living room and kitchen, because they are NEVER CLEAN for more than 5 minutes!! Ha-ha! All of us (my in-laws, husband, myself, and Liyana) spend the majority of our time in the kitchen and living room and it’s an ongoing disaster.

But in true quarantine style, I took on a huge project last week and decided for this Spring Home Tour, I wanted to switch the guest room and the office!

Here is the guest room before:

Mint Candy Designs - Modern Boho Farmhouse Guest Room — Modern Boho Farmhouse Guest ROom

And here is the home office, You probably remember it from back in November when I did my One Room Challenge

During the quarantine, I’ve been working 100% of the time from home, and the office was proving to be too dark to work in. I know you’re thinking that it appears quite bright in the photos below, but that is ALL editing my friends, in real life its quite dark.

one room challenge - mint candy designs — One Room Challenge – Office Makeover

So my husband and I did a quick switcharoo of both rooms, and I managed to style the

NEW OFFICE

for spring!

I also managed to style my entryway for spring… but let’s be real, this is as far as my spring decor got.

I’ve shared more details of my thrifty spring entryway in another post , and I am pretty dang proud of it! I love how all the elements blend in: the brass, wood tines, books, and the cute DIY Scroll Sign.

Okay, so that is my little Quarantine Spring Home Tour! Now, head on over to my friend Survival of a Suburban Mom’s blog post and check out her Quarantine Spring Home Tour!

Also make sure to check out all the talented ladies who are in this blog hop!

Pennies for a Fortune | Oh so Lovely | A Blue Nest | Mint Candy Designs

Room Sources
Lighting: Discontinued, but this is a close second
Rug: Joaquin Rug by Loloi Rugs in Charcoal/Grey
Accent Wall Corner
Wallpaper – Milton and King Heritage Tiles Wallpaper
Alex Drawer Unit
Gerton Table Top
Office Chair
Desk Lamp: Ikea Ranarp Lamp
Shelf Decor:
Letter Board
Letter Board Words
Faux Succulent
Ceramic Vase
Faux Peonies
Faux Plant in Basket
Basket Planter
Photo on Acyrlic
Gold Bowl
Desk Accessories:
Kate Spade Tape Dispenser
Kate Spade Stapler
Kate Spade Pencil Holder
Desk Calendar
Pink Plate
White Candle Holder
Faux Succulent
Reading Nook Corner
Book Shelf
Velvet Armchair
Cream and Navy Pillow Case
Pom Pom Baskets
Faux Monstera Plant
Brass Floor Lamp
Wall Decor: Graduate School Degrees 😉

PIN THIS POST FOR LATER

March 29, 2020 · 1 Comment

Cinnamon Honey Almond Butter with Pink Salt

I love almond butter.. what I don’t love is spending $10 or more on a jar of almond butter that tastes like cardboard. Almond butter has recently been my go to evening snack, paired with either apple slices or even on banana topped with some homemade protein powder for a kick ass breakfast. However, I don’t always like dishing out the mula for this expensive item.

February 24, 2020 · 13 Comments

Easy and Spicy Biryani

So the first thing I learned to cook WAS rice – I mean I am all about rice and rice hacks!. The second thing I learned was Biryani, at the age of 14. Since then, in the last 16 years, I have cooked biryani well over a 100 times and have come up with my own versions to make it both easy and spicy.. because that is how I like my biryani. There was a time where every week, I would make biryani because it is by far my most favourite thing to eat. I can safely eat Biryani, especially a good spicy biryani for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In fact, growing up, when we would be invited to weddings in Karachi, I would look forward to the “shaadi” biryani more than anything else! Shameless biryani lover.

February 21, 2020 · 6 Comments

We got a cat and here is what we have learned!

Freebies· Life

January 30 2020 – We welcomed our very FIRST pet into our home! After 9 years of marriage and a toddler, I finally convinced my husband that we needed a cat in our lives. Growing up in Pakistan, we always had a pet. They ranged from the feral cat who we adopted and fed everyday to chicks we bought at Sunday Bazaar.

February 5, 2020 · 21 Comments

DIY Valentine’s Day Gift with Old Crayons for your Toddler’s Classroom

Heyyy friends!

Valentine’s Day is only NINE Days away… and I have zero plans! Today I am sharing DIY Valentine’s Day Gifts for your toddler and their classmates made out of old crayons. I love using things I already own and giving them new life – I basically have a love affair with painting and upcycling things like nightstands, old furniture, and even pantry staples. I love me a good DIY, and that’s always been the case.

February 3, 2020 · 5 Comments

My DIY Journey – How I got started in the DIY world.

Hi friends!

Happy monday!! Last week, a few DIY bloggers including got together and did a wonderful collaboration on how we started our DIY Journeys. The bloggers included myself, Rachel (Shades of Blue Interiors), Fariha (Pennies for a Fortune), Monica (House of Esperenza), and Faiza (Simply Create Joy). You can check all these fabulous blogger friends of mine out, and watch our stories on Instagram as well!

January 31, 2020 · 22 Comments

First Licensing Exam – DONE!

Career· Life· Mom Life

You guys!! This week I passed my very first licensing exam of three exams that I need to pass to become autonomous as a Clinical Psychologist. I am SO overjoyed. This exam literally sucked everything from me emotionally, not to mention the ~150 hours I spent studying for the exam.

The exam is called the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology, and basically any clinical psychologist in North America has to write this exam. There is no “grade” that you makes you a better psychologist per se, but there is a cut off score which is 500.

Why am i telling you about the cut off score?

DEEP BREATH. DEEP BREATH. DEEP BREATH.

This has taken me so much courage and my heart is racing as I type these words out.

I failed the exam by ONE question on December 4, 2019.

Yes.. thats right. I wrote the exam the second time and passed. But the first time… I failed.

DEEP BREATH. DEEP BREATH. DEEP BREATH.

Why am i telling you this now? I passed anyway so why share this with you? I asked myself that question SO many times this week. I have sat on this for weeks now, and not shared this with more than 5 people who are in my inner circle, because… its scary to share our failures with anyone let alone thousands of people.

So here is why I am sharing this with you.

I often get messages/comments in my inbox related to how I am doing it all, how I am a super woman by managing work, school, motherhood, being a wife, being a _____ [insert your role of choice], and while most of the time I politely say ” you are too kind” – this time, i actually, tangibly FAILED to balance it all. I had NOT been able to manage it all as many of you think I do.

And you know what?

That is OKAY – because I am only as human as you or the next person.

And just like you, sometimes (well most of the time), life doesn’t go as planned and keeping all the ball’s in the air is simply NOT POSSIBLE. This failure is exactly that. I wasn’t able to handle it all, and that only makes me MORE HUMAN. This failure almost 2 months ago, made me re-consider exactly what and why I was doing what I was doing. It made me doubt every ounce of my being, my career, my professional capacity, and so much more.

And over and over again, as I talked to my closest friends they reassured me of the same thing: You are NOT less because of ONE failure.

I am sharing this with you today because I want to stress and emphasize the following: IT IS OKAY TO FAIL. It is okay to not succeed at everything and drop a ball. It is impossible and out of this world to be able to “handle it all”. I’ve said this before and I will say it again – BALANCE is a big fat lie. There is no such thing. Case and point. You have to choose to expend your energies into things consciously, and then maybe there is harmony in your world for that given moment… but to have it at all at exactly that moment is a fallacy. In my humble experience – it doesn’t exist and I am not interested in pursuing that.

I am not interested in looking perfect. My life, my instagram feed, this blog, my relationships, my career – it is all far from PERFECT. And perfect doesn’t appeal to me because… ITS NOT REAL.

So heres the take home message. I passed the second time around by a massive margin from the cut off. Regardless, I am no less of a professional/psychologist/mental health professional than someone who passed the first time. I may even argue that I know more because I spent so many more hours studying LOL just kidding. But really, I share this to remind you that failure is a part of life, and how we view that failure and regroup after is what we control.

January 9, 2020 · 15 Comments

Instagram Break for the soul and goodbye to 2019 and the last decade!

I moved across the country and single-mommed it!

Happy new year friends! I know I am only 10 days late.. but oh well. I have been busy with getting started at my new job, and also just settling into a new routine with back to school for liyana, leaving for work, cooking etc etc. You know how it goes.

I wanted to write a post for all you lovely people who are part of my little blog family. As you know, I am taking a bit of a break from social media particularly Instagram, but I didn’t want to let the new year slip by without some reflection. 2018 and 2017 were amazing years for me and 2019 was also one for the books. But this time, we are also saying sayonara to a whole decade. I mean, I’ve lived through seeing a decade end before, but somehow this one feels different and unique in its own way. It feels monumental for so many different reasons – professional, personal, emotional.

I got married in this decade.
I travelled 15 countries in this decade.

I bought my first house with my husband.

I became a mom.
I started AND finished a freakin’ PhD.

I made some of the most amazing, real, whole-hearted friends in graduate school, residency, and surprisingly on Instagram. I found my people, and the friendship in which I had tied my worth down as a “friend” was renewed, because I came to believe that it’s alright to say “no, I will not be treated this way”.

This decade has been such an immense time of personal growth, confidence, and also struggles for my family and I. We have struggled through not only marital difficulties, but also financial difficulties (being in school for 7/9 years of marriage isn’t easy), health care difficulties (my MiL was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Alhamdullillah is cancer free now), and so much more.

Usually, we share only the highlights or wins in reflecting on our past year, and now decade. Rosy retrospection, as some call it.

Alhamdullillah I’ve had a wonderful year and decade, but it surely didn’t come easily as it may seem, but also if I only looked at how “great” it was, I would lose the essence of reflection – GROWTH.

This coming year and decade , I want to continue to grow. I have some lofty goals for 2020 until 2030, and some of those include my professional goals, goals for my family and household. I appreciate YOU sticking around here, cheering me on and providing me with moral support that I’ve needed!

But more importantly, my word of the year for 2020, is SURRENDER. I know it may seem like an odd choice… but I want to share more with you about why I chose this word for 2020, than any other. Watch our for that blog post next week in your inbox.

For now, Cheers to a new year, and a new chapter of our lives!

SHOP THE POST

December 3, 2019 · 1 Comment

5 Minute Makeup Tutorial!

Beauty

Hi guys!! Did you enjoy the awkwardness that was my first EVER IGTV video!?!? I decided randomly to show you my daily 5 minute makeup routine, and thought I would put all the links in this blog post for your future reference!

SO here you go! If you want to watch the awkward video again… you can find it under my IGTV videos on Instagram!

November 19, 2019 · 1 Comment

How to Host a Sweat Free Party!

Career· Events

A few weeks ago, I convocated from a PhD program in Clinical Psychology. I have been working hard on this degree since 2012, and I felt celebrations were in order! I am not one to throw myself a party – but hot dang, I deserve a wedding-esque party this time because getting a PhD is a much more longer process than having even a baby!

So I started to plan a party, and quickly realized that I needed to figure out how to make this a SWEAT FREE business for me. My ideal party would be all taken care of for me in a world where money is infinite and there are no financial restrictions. But the reality is that I have a limited amount of $$, and only close family to help with anything I wanted. Keeping this in mind, I set out on an outsourcing mission and put together this party with the help of some awesome local businesses, who you can also contact to help with you party planning needs!

VENUE + FOOD

The first step in hosting an awesome party is to figure out your guest list and search for a venue accordingly. Our guest list had about 45 adults and 10-12 children of varying ages. This meant that we needed enough seating for 50-60 folks, along with some “flex space” for the kids to not feel trapped.

I had two options at this point:
1. Book a community facility available either through Brampton or Mississauga or
2. Book a large enough restaurant to accommodate everyone

We decided to go with Option 2 because we found the perfect restaurant that needed minimal decor and zero clean-up + catering (as it is a restaurant). In terms of cost, it actually ended up costing us the same amount of money a rental hall + food would have been!

The perfect restaurant was BALENA RESTAURANT. It is a newly opened afghani restaurant with stunning modern interiors with vintage touches, feature walls, and gorgeous natural lighting. When i went to visit the restaurant the first time, It felt like an extension of my own home with the tones of blues and natural wood tones, and vintage touches. More importantly, the food was impeccable and the owners were willing to accommodate us for a 3 hour time slot on a WEEKEND.

DONE and DONE. If you are ever in search of a venue to host a party, do check out Balena Restaurant in Misssissauga! It will exceed all your expectations in terms of food, ambience, and service.

PARTY THEME + DECOR

Since this was a more sophisticated “grown-up” party, I chose to have a colour scheme as the “theme” more than a theme per se. I went for a colour scheme that complimented the stunning decor of the restaurant – the colours were mustard, blush, and burgundy with touches of green. This is the perfect fall palette and goes well with the royal blue and natural wood tones of the restaurant.

I chose a template on Canva to create a digital invite and sent it to the guests. I also used the invite as a template for any other digital prints/typography I created, or in working with other vendors etc. I created games for guests to play and used the invite as the background in powerpoint to type over and create game templates.

Since I was going for a more wedding-esque party, I wanted a backdrop and dessert table. But here is the tricky party. I told you about the limited man power I have. Given this, I needed help with the actual backdrop of the dessert table. I reached out to Scrumpty’s which is a locally run business by a husband-wife duo. Their portfolio on Instagram is stunning, and they have been following me on Instagram for years I later realized.

They came an hour before the party started and set up the whole backdrop with custom flowers to match my colour scheme, and provided me with these stunning acrylic tables and dessert stands! They even made the custom acrylic lettering on the back of the hoop – which was such a thoughtful touch in the decor. I was in total awe of how stunning the backdrop looked and their professionalism and quality of work. I would highly recommend hiring Scrumpty’s for your next party!

DESSERTS

Next were the desserts! I opted to do some DIY’ing for this part with the help of my talented sister! We ordered a strawberry shortcake for the main dessert table from our local Longo’s but asked them to make it “naked” i.e without much of the icing and strawberries they put on their cake regularly! I ordered two of these cakes from them for $24.99 each! And then, I put my sister to work. She purchased grocery store flowers in the the colour palette of the party, and transformed the cakes and cupcakes into works of art!

I also wanted to have custom cookies, and since my PhD was in neuropsychology I knew I wanted to incorporate the brain into these cookies somehow. For these I reached out to Karen, an old friend of mine on Instagram, who runs a bakery called Stoney Brook Bakery. I sent Karen the party invite and asked her to incorporate the colours into the cookies along with a brain. Thats all I said to her, and she created these master pieces! She hand painted watercolour flowers onto short bread cookies, and then hand piped each brain onto a cookie. THAT IS TALENT YOU GUYS! And the cookies tasted incredible!! They were moist shortbread cookies that were so yummy with my cup of tea the next day 😉

OTHER DECOR

Because I’m super extra, and like wanted a full wedding I also made individual centre pieces for the tables (reused flowers I had received earlier that week for my graduation and upcycled starbucks frappucino bottle vases I made 5 years ago), had a card station (reused a card box from my sisters wedding!), a photo booth, a dissertation signing station where guests actually signed my dissertation, a photo booth and some other fun details like activity-bags for the kids.

Dissertation signing station
Photobooth for fun photos!
Busy Bags for Kids
Centre Pieces
Table Setting

OUTFIT, MAKEUP AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Okay… you get the point that I wanted to go all out for this party. A fancy outfit, hair/makeup, and photographer were obviously going to happen too.

My outfit was gifted to me by a friend who also runs the boutique Pehrwaas. Do check them out on Instagram for all your Pakistani Outfit needs and they also take orders and ship to Canada/overseas!

The talented Gina of Touch n Glow Studio arrived at my house bright and early at 9 am to do my makeup! I wanted a neutral glow-y look, since the event was during the day. She did such an incredible job!! My mom even commented saying she liked my makeup more than the makeup on any of my previous makeup looks including my OWN WEDDING. If you are in the market for a hair and makeup artist, definitely check out Gina at Touch n Glow Studio on her website and Instagram.

All event photos were taken by Aqsa of Sparks Studios by Aqsa. She is a pleasure to work with, and took amazing photos and delivered them within 2 weeks of the event! The editing and the quality of photos was amazing, and I am definitely hiring her for every family event we have from here on!

Overall, the party was so much fun! We had games, opportunities to take photos in the photo booth, and my dad even gave a super emotional speech! Below are some more photos, but thats about it on my end for party details! I hope you found this post useful in helping you plan your next big event and feel free to leave a comment with any questions that you may have!

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November 6, 2019 · 9 Comments

One Room Challenge Week 6 – Office Makeover Reveal

This Office Makeover is DONE! WOOHOOOOOO! We made it to reveal week! You guys… its been a LONG time coming.

If you have been following along for a while, thanks!! If you are new around here – WELCOME! I also wanted to thank the folks over at the One Room Challenge for organizing this awesome virtual event and building such a fun community! I’ve appreciated all the support and encouragement through this Office Makeover. Also, a huge thank you to Better Homes and Garden for being such a wonderful media sponsor. Make sure you stop by the ORC Blog to check out all the incredible room transformations!

My vision for this office makeover started when I began pinning vertical shiplap walls to my Pinterest board. I had my heart set on beautiful shiplap walls but then as I stared at the empty room, I realized that a shiplap wall wouldn’t necessarily work on the wall that I had in mind.

So, I decided to take a leap of faith and paint it a BOLD colour instead. I went into Benjamin Moore and saw “Beau Green” in a catalogue. I saw this EXACT picture, and I was sold. I knew THIS was it! I wanted these exact wood tones, the florals, the touches of black and white. Inspiration had struck. Design is a strange process, right? You never know when and where inspiration can strike.

I shared how this room has a strange lay out in the post for Week One. You can check out the entire 5 week Office Makeover and transformation HERE. It has two distinct sections:

1. The accent wall “corner” in Beau Green, where the desk and shelves are located,

2. The reading nook.

I am so excited to share it all with you! Here my Office Makeover in all its glory with a before and after!

Let’s start at the Beau Green wall, which I call the “accent corner,” where I placed the desk and shelves!

One of my favourite aspects of designing a new space is putting the final touches.

Small thoughtful and meaningful vignettes are really the key to tying together the whole vision of any room. Here, my accent colours are natural woods, neutrals, blush, and navy. I tried to tie that into all of the vignettes to create a more cohesive look.

Now, let’s move to the other side of the room, or the opposite diagonal, where there are only white walls!

Here, I used a bookshelf that was already in the room, along with a new gorgeous velvet chair and some faux greenery to create a cozy reading nook! But really, I needed an excuse to show off my graduate degrees!

There you have it, my Office Makeover! My first and only one room challenge room transformation was pretty successful! Now I am going to head over to the ORC Blog to check out the other incredible rooms that hundreds of guest and design bloggers have transformed! If you’re looking for inspiration, you’ll find lot’s over there!

Room Sources
Lighting: Distressed White Wood Chandelier
Rug: Joaquin Rug by Loloi Rugs in Charcoal/Grey

Accent Wall Corner

Alex Drawer Unit
Gerton Table Top
Office Chair
DIY Shelf Brackets
Desk Lamp: Ikea Ranarp Lamp

Shelf Decor:
Letter Board
Letter Board Words
Faux Succulent
Ceramic Vase
Faux Peonies
Faux Plant in Basket
Basket Planter
Photo on Acyrlic
Gold Bowl

Desk Accessories:
Kate Spade Tape Dispenser
Kate Spade Stapler
Kate Spade Pencil Holder
Desk Calendar
Mixed Media Painting by Fariha | Pennies for a Fortune
Pink Plate
White Candle Holder
Faux Succulent

Reading Nook Corner
Book Shelf
Velvet Armchair
Blush Knit Throw
Cream and Navy Pillow Case
Pom Pom Baskets
Faux Monstera Plant
Brass Floor Lamp
Wall Decor: Graduate School Degrees 😉

October 30, 2019 · Leave a Comment

One Room Challenge | Week 5

Hellooooo from Pakistan!! Hope you all are doing well! I have been here about a week now, and its been so much fun!

If you are new around here, welcome! Make sure you check out the past few weeks progress on the office by clicking below! I am also sharing the mood board again for you <3

ONE ROOM CHALLENGE WEEK 1-4

Last week, y’all want along with me to Ikea while we chose a lamp while I was there! There were 4 options, and I really liked the Ranarp Work Lamp in brass and black

But… once i brought it home, I didn’t love the cords.

So… I had run out of time at that point, because I was flying out to Pakistan the next day and the lamp does need to function, so I can’t just cut the cord. I decided to leave it as is. Not everything can be exactly perfect… and part of the process is to accept what can be and what cant be. So here we are, with the Ranarp Work Lamp and its cords.

So.. what were this weeks goals?

This weeks goal consisted of styling the shelves we built last week! One of my favourite things about room makeovers is the styling process. I love picking out accent colours, and arranging decor. That stuff is SO much fun!

For the styling process, I literally shopped my house! I purchased a few new pieces from Ikea, but that was about it. If you remember, I had been gifted a ton of office stuff by a good friend last year including the fabric and brass pins for the bulletin boards I made. So, I used all of that decor, existing pieces I owned, and 2-3 new pieces from Ikea! Ive tried to link everything under each photo if I can find it.

***Sources***
Shelf Brackets
Letter Board
Letter Board Words
Faux Succulent
Ceramic Vase
Faux Peonies
“Happiness” Candle

I love using old and new items, especially ones that have a story – This hand mosaiced truck is from Pakistan, along with the checkers game that this vignette sits on. The truck is actually my husbands, but I stole it from him. Shhhhh… don’t tell him!

***Sources***
Faux Plant
Basket Planter
Photo on Acyrlic

***Sources***
Kate Spade Tape Dispenser
Kate Spade Stapler
Kate Spade Pencil Holder
Desk Calendar

I also received this gorgeous mixed media painting by Fariha at Pennies for a Fortune who custom made this for my office! She is offering YOU 15% with code PFA15 – You can check out her Esty Shop here!

***Source***
Mixed Media Painting by Fariha | Pennies for a Fortune

***Sources***
Ikea Ranarp Lamp
Pink Plate
White Candle Holder
Faux Succulent

Also… this week, I got my gorgeous rug from Loloi Rugs delivered!! I showed it to you all on stories, and man am I obsessed or what!!! This design is called the Jaoquin Ivory/Charcoal. Here is me, admiring my degrees and deciding what to do with them, in the corner that I have yet to finish this week!

***Source***
Jaoquin Ivory/Charcoal Rug by Loloi Rugs

Okay so this is all I can share for now, without giving away the room! Come back next week for the BIG REVEAL!!!! I am so excited to show you the whole space completed!

See you all next week for the big reveal!! Until then, dont forget to check out all the amazing room transformations happening at the ORC Blog

Hugs,

Areeba

October 23, 2019 · Leave a Comment

One Room Challenge – Week 4

Hi guys!! week four!! eeeep! If you are new here, WELCOME! You can find the last few weeks posts down below. The mood board is also shared again for your reference! Also make sure you head out all the other awesome bloggers participating in the One Room Challenge by checking out their BLOG.

ONE ROOM CHALLENGE

After barely any progress last week in WEEK THREE, I am here making great strides. In the last three weeks, I managed to paint the room, buy furniture and semi-assemble it. After some hiccups with the Ikea Alex Drawer unit (got a wrong piece, and had to make another trip to ikea). Now, this week I finished assembling the desk, and got the chair delivered! The office chair is gorgeous and Ive linked it below for you if you are interested!

I also did not one but TWO DIY’s for the office.

First, I made pine shelves inspired by Angela at Angela Rose Home. She shared these super easy shelves in her instagram stories and has them in her bedroom. They looked too easy to make, to be true.. but really they are incredibly easy! I shared the whole process on my Instagram Stories saved HERE.

I also installed the shelves and the second DIY i.e Ikea trivets turned to bulletin boards ( watch the whole process HERE) and now I have to style them!

I am loving how it looks so far… but theres still a long way to go in terms of styling the shelves, and I am not fully convinced I love that lamp. The other side of the room, with the bookshelf is pretty blank and needs some love too! I had initially bought this cane chair from Ikea that I shared in my mood board… but it feels so… BLAH. So, I think I am going to go return that and look for something else.

I am also not convinced I love the lamp… but I am all out of $$ for the office, and im not sure if I can find something else in time to replace this lamp that I had already. Hmm…. I have to think about this a bit more. I will definitely be polling y’all in my Instagram Stories with some more desk lamp options, so make sure you stop by there.

So here we are in WEEK FOUR.

The tasks for this week include:

Style shelves!
Move and style bookshelf.
Find a chair for the other corner, and order that!
Order rug
Finalize lamp selection.

Am i being too ambitious? maybe a tad… but its time to hustle to get this room finished!!

See you all next week here, and on Instagram until then!

Hugs,

Areeba

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October 17, 2019 · Leave a Comment

One Room Challenge – Week 3

Week THREE!

The halfway point.

This is where I say,

OH CRAP. So far, only the room is painted, and HALF the Ikea furniture is assembled.

Here is the mood board for your reference!!

If you missed Week ONE and Week TWO posts, do check them out. I had pretty reasonable goals for Week TWO, but life got in the way. First a busy thanksgiving long weekend with lots of family fun. Second, I basically convocated from my PhD program YESTERDAY… and am hosting a graduation party THIS weekend. So somewhere in between all that, I was supposed to finish assembling the Ikea furniture that I did purchase.

For those of you that are part of my insta-fam, you know I did meet one of the goals and visit Ikea and got 2 alex drawers + desk top. However, when I started to assemble the Alex drawer, one of the pieces was wrong. That has delayed me. I did manage to make it back to the ikea to swap out the piece for the correct piece, but the drawer is still not finished.

So this week, I have basically no update photos, but rather some more lofty goals to share for Week THREE:

finish assembling furniture and put it into place!!
Make wall shelves for above the desk!

Eeeeep! Wish me luck, and hopefully I have more photos to report back with next week. This week, not much to report back on, except that I had a super fun week 😀

See you next week with more updates!

Areeba

October 15, 2019 · 2 Comments

The Endy Mattress – My 100 Night Review

Wow! 100-nights already? Time flies when you are having fun or in this case a GOOD sleep, eh? If you hadn’t guessed it already, I, absolutely, am keeping my Endy Mattress.

A what mattress?

Endy Mattress (noun): A Canadian-made, accessibly-priced mattress that promises top-notch quality while shipping for FREE in a box that can be later used as a cardboard fort for your toddler.

So, it’s a mattress you may say, that I am raving about. Yes! Precisely! And I am raving about it because:

It was delivered to my doorstep in THREE days from the time when I placed my order. That is FAST compared to other furniture stores/brands.
It has NO motion-transfer. So when your toddler climbs into your bed at 2 a.m., and decides she wants to snuggle with you.. you can slide her a bit over without her realizing or your partner waking up!
It is probably the ONLY mattress I have slept on, where my sleep is uninterrupted (if no toddler) for a constant 8 hours. I will fall asleep, and then wake up feeling refreshed (NO JOKE!), and it has been the best feeling. I had forgotten what that felt like thanks to motherhood and a terrible mattress before this.

These three things together have made me an avid Endy fan! Even better than all these? They have an amazing 100-night return policy. If you don’t love it, you can simply return it. They will come and pick it up for free and give you your money back – no questions asked.

However, some things to keep in mind if you are mattress shopping:

If you like a firmer mattress, Endy is a little bit on the softer side.
It does need a box spring underneath it – my bed could accommodate that!
You can’t flip over the mattress, only rotate it.

I don’t think any of these are deal-breakers for folks, because they are all pretty minor compared to all the benefits from the mattress!

So if you are a tired mama like me, and yearning good sleep – I highly recommend looking into an Endy Mattress! If you do, you can get $50 off of any size of Endy mattress with code AREEBA50 .

Do you have any questions about the mattress? Leave them in the comments and I would be happy to answer!

Hugs!

Areeba

October 9, 2019 · 6 Comments

One Room Challenge – Week 2

Hellooo friends! Welcome to week 2 of the One Room Challenge (ORC)! If you missed the first post, no worries! You can check it out HERE.

I hope you have had an amazing week, and I am here to report that I accomplished my goal for the first week – installing the light fixture and painting the room! I shared the whole process on Instagram Stories.

So just to recap: The light fixture I chose is one from decor steals. Now you may ask, why did I chose it?

Well… it was convenient and cost effective because it was sitting in my basement for over a year! I purchased it last summer in the hopes of installing it in our kitchen. However, it doesn’t have as much light as I would like for the kitchen area, so it ended up in the basement. While I was preparing for the ORC, one day I wandered into the basement and saw this light fixture just hangin’ out looking all lonely. That was the day its fate was decided!

The second task for this week was to paint the room. Now, we already chose a colour – Benjamin Moor Beau Green as per popular vote in my stories after I sampled 4 colours! You guys LOVED Beau Green and almost unanimously voted for this. I painted the first wall, and then I felt it was too “incomplete”.

What does that even mean, Areeba? Its a wall – how can it be incomplete. Now, if you remember from Week One, I mentioned that the room has NO complete walls and theres either a door or a window in each of the 4 walls. So the wall that I wanted to be my feature wall, has a closet door in it making it not as big of a statement wall as I wanted.

So, in the spur of the moment, I decided to paint the adjacent wall the same colour. You know, just ‘cuz. And now we have an accent corner! I painted the other two walls Sherwin Williams Alabaster as that is the white that is used throughout my house.

All of this took me over 3-4 days… except that I shared it all on my Instagram Stories in fast forward mode in 5 minutes!! A bunch of you messaged me saying “Don’t you get tired?!?” or ” I got tired watching your stories” LOL… Yes I was very tired. SO tired that I couldn’t lift my head up because I had strained my neck while taping the ceiling to avoid the dark paint to get on there. Very Very tired… But here we are: A room that is painted a glorious colour and lit up and ready for week 2!

So this week my goals are:

Make a trip to Ikea, and purchase the following:

Alex Drawers
Butcher block desktop
Industriell Chair
Monsterra Plant
Look at other fun decor that they have and get some staging items.

I also have to order the office chair for the desk and that is from wayfair! I am so excited for this chair… I’ve been eyeing it since I have seen it, and eee just cant wait!

Here is the mood board again for your reference! I am excited to take y’all along to Ikea for my adventures, so keep following along on Instagram Stories!

See you all next week!

Hugs,

Areeba

October 3, 2019 · 1 Comment

One Room Challenge -Week 1

One fine September day, while browsing Instagram, I decided on a whim to sign up for the Fall 2019 One Room Challenge (ORC).

Two weeks ago, I had no plan even for what room I was signing up for. We have a spare room in our house, that is a semi-guest room and semi-office with an old ikea desk and bookshelf which are basically dumping grounds for all bills, odds/ends, etc etc. You know, those surfaces or a room in our case, where you dump things and never look back. Until you need them another day, and cant find them. Yup, this room was THAT room in our house. It looks extra terrible here because… I want to get the full effect for the before and after shot 😀

So, here I am.. bringing you a very nervous me having never participated in the ORC. I have redesigned only ONE room before in our house, and that was super simple. But this time, we are talking about a FULL revamp. I am making this dumping-ground-from-hell room into a modern boho office space! I am starting a new job in January, where I am lucky enough to work from home half the time – so I will need a dedicated space at home to work. Plus, I can always use a second room for all my instagram stuff you know 😉

So here is the task list for the room, which I am breaking down by week for two reasons:

Self-motivation – if I write it down, I am more likely to do it.
Accountability – If i share it publicly, I am more likely to feel accountable for that week.

Here is the twist. I am travelling in week 5 and 6 of the ORC. Which means, I am not going to be at home for the reveal week… which means, I have basically FOUR weeks to get this room done.

So here is the breakdown for FIVE weeks, because one week is already completed as of today. Confused yet? Don’t be 😀 Just come back every Thursday to this space to get your weekly fix 😉

WEEK 1: Install light fixture, and repaint room.
WEEK 2: Ikea Trip; assemble furniture
WEEK 3: Build floating shelves + install
WEEK 4: Style everything!
WEEK 5: Reveal!

Yup. All that, in 5 weeks.

Can I do it?

Maybe…

Maybe not?

Lets find out!

The room has a lot of windows and doors, with no wall being a full wall. My original inspiration for this room came from these photos I pinned almost a year ago to my Pinterest Board, while I daydreamed while on residency.

See a pattern? Hint: There are two 😉

I love dark accent walls.
I am drawn to the more modern farm house look, with modern dark tones contrasted with neutral farmhouse elements.

This has driven my basic principles as I have been sourcing items for this room.
Create accent walls – because they make everything amazing
Use neutrals to balance out the accent wall, and bring in antique farmhouse elements to give the space more character and old world charm that I love.

Now the room is a bit tricky. There are THREE doors in the room (closet, bathroom, entrance), and two semi-functional windows (semi functional – because they don’t provide a lot of natural light).

This makes it harder to do an “accent wall” per se. So, I have decided to split it diagonally, for one main focal point and then a little reading nook diagonally across. The desk focal area will have an accent “wall” or more like two walls and the other section is where the book case and reading nook will be. Below is my design/inspiration board!

It seems like a lot, but I can actually see it in my head… and it looks pretty sweet! So stay tuned, because this week – we are painting the room Beau Green based on my insta family’s popular vote last week! We are also installing the light fixture! So, check back on Instagram stories for all the behind the scenes action, and updates! Also there are many talented bloggers joining the One Room Challenge from everywhere today, so head on over to the ORC Blog HERE to check out what rooms they will be transforming over the next 5 weeks!

Until then, don’t be a stranger and come say hi on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!

See you all on Instagram stories and back here next Thursday!

Areeba

August 26, 2019 · 1 Comment

My Clinical Psychology Journey – Part III

Career

It is the LAST week of residency, aka the LAST week of my graduate program… no big deal, but silently freaking out here!

What better way to wrap up the series of my Clinical Psychology Journey with part three, on this momentous day!

If you haven’t read the previous posts in this series, you can find them HERE and also HERE.

Last time, we left off with my admission to graduate school. I was accepted to a Clinical Psychology program. Typical programs are structured to be Masters and advance right into a PhD, and have built in mandatory course work that is created to satisfy professional regulations created by the licensing body in your jurisdiction.

Some logistical things that are important to know…

In Canada, each province has a licensing body or a college of psychologists, that essentially regulates the profession by ensuring certain standards of practice. There is also an organization at the national level, called the Canadian Psychological Association that accredits graduate programs to make sure that students receive proper training to meet college standards.

All in all to say, that going to a CPA accredited clinical psychology program, i.e. a MA and PhD program, is the most straightforward path to obtaining licensure. All licenses are transferable across provinces, given you write one exam related to the law of the province. FYI There are some provinces such as Alberta, that allow licensure after a Master’s degree as well – in case you are interested. However, I don’t exactly know how transferring this license to other provinces works, when the other province requires a PhD level program.

I can go into all the details of my Masters and PhD, but the bottom line is that once you are in a clinical psych program, the courses you take are pretty defined.

Here is another piece that was the main reason for two years of rejection for myself

The one piece that is not often discussed is research. When you are applying to these programs, it is important to know that there is a CLINICAL component (i.e. certain courses and clinical hours of training you have to do as per standards as explained above). There is a second and equally important component i.e. the RESEARCH component. At the time of application, every program will ask you to specify which faculty member you would like to do your research with. An acceptance to a clinical psych program not only depends on your undergraduate grades, GRE scores, but also critically a match between you and your potential research supervisor. My mistake in the two years that I was not accepted was precisely this – there was not a good fit between my research interests and faculty members who were accepting graduate students.

So.. here we are with an acceptance into the program in 2012

I started the program in 2012. I was very newly married (about a year), and both of us were pretty broke, with no savings and student loans from our undergraduate years. And here I was, starting more school for at least SIX more years. For the record I am in year 7 now – and other folks in my cohort are in year 8. Average completion times are 7/8 years! My poor and incredibly supportive husband had no clue what he signed up for.

They say it takes a village…

Needless to say, none of it has been “a breeze” as it may appear on the outside. I have spent most weekends and week nights working away on course work, studying for exams, running analysis, preparing presentations/manuscripts/posters for conferences, preparing for supervision meetings, grading undergraduate exams (one time which literally ended me up in the hospital with high blood pressure when I was pregnant), preparing for tutorials etc etc. Being a graduate student is NO JOKE. People say raising a child takes a village. I agree, and I add that SO DOES GETTING A PHD. It takes a village. I am very blessed to have my own personal village and cheer leaders. And yes, at the end this is my accomplishment and my hard work – but it would be foolish of me to say that it was all because of me.

And then we decided to have a baby…

At the end of the second year of my PhD, we had a baby. I took an “official” maternity leave for 6 months, but unofficially, was studying for an exam everyone has to pass in our program while on “leave” with a 4 month old amidst the dreaded 4 month sleep regression. I wrote that exam when Liyana was 7 months old, and went back to school full time when she was 8 months old. So, even if I may not have needed my village prior to this.. with a young child the village is really what pulled me through.

Here we are now…

Currently, I am in year 5 of the PhD which is a full-time clinical residency. I moved across the country with a toddler, and my mom to get the training I hoped for. The year has been anything but easy – but it is the LAST week, and I am officially convocating in October! It is a bit unreal.. I have always said that on my convocation, Liyana and I will wear matching Ted Baker dresses. So now, its time to get shopping and enjoy all the hard work after this incredible journey.

Stay tuned…

Curious to see what is in store for me, i.e. where I will be working etc… Stay tuned to find out!

August 19, 2019 · 2 Comments

DIY $50 Skinny Board and Batten Feature Wall

Hi guys!

Last summer I painted our master bedroom wall a beautiful deep blue. I shared that transformation HERE.

August 12, 2019 · 2 Comments

Liyana’s Transition to a Big Girl Room!

DIY· Home Decor

Hellooo! Fun fact – as much as I despise pink, Liyana loves it. If she could have it, everything would be a shade of pink including her hair I bet. But she also loves super heroes… so when she saw her room, she loved her “super hero princess” room as she called it.

I have shared the room in tid bits on my Instagram feed last week while I was at home. The main motivation for getting this room ready for Liyana, was basically our transition back home.

August 9, 2019 · 1 Comment

My Clinical Psychology Journey – Part II

Career

Helloo friends! It has been a while, eh? I wrote the first part to this series last year in July!! You can find that HERE – Holy.. Its been a long time, right. Oops – life got in the way! Since I wrote that last post, I moved to Vancouver for residency, defended my dissertation, went through a period of living away from my daughter for three months (read about that HERE), and SO much more!

Lets get started shall we. Last, I talked about my trajectory up until my undergraduate years. Today, I am going to tell you about my failures.

Yes.

Failures.

Lots and lots of failures.

Rejections to be exact. Remember, last time, I talked about the successes and how I had all this wonderful experience in my undergraduate career, and my eyes set on this degree and I knew I was going to get it.

Well, my 20-year-old self had no idea what I was in for. And guess what, no clinical psychology program wanted me. The first year I applied in 2009, I received multiple rejection letters.

I was crushed.

Here I was, an honor’s student from one of the worlds leading universities, with solid research experience… and no one wanted to have me as a graduate student?

Have you ever heard the saying, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time with more intelligence.” I hadn’t either! But reflecting back to 10 years ago, that is precisely what I did. I went back to the drawing board. I recall looking at my CV and saying, “If I was person X, what would I be looking for”. I made lists. I emailed friends who knew others who had been accepted to programs. I emailed other friends who maybe knew of someone who could get me some experience. I tried to approach the failure with a problem solving mind set, which is very accurate representation of how I approach life.

The key lesson from this is to network. Do not underestimate the power of having a closer knit, but also a wider knit network. Time for some nerd talk (because lets be real – I AM a nerd, and proud!). In neuroscience, scientists have studied the power of networks in the brain. The bottom dollar is that networks get work done. There is a concerto of brain regions working in harmony, syncing up and unsyncing, depending on what you are doing. There is a network of brain regions working right this second, helping you read this blog post, make meaning of it, process it. Oh wait, you just got a notification on your phone. Yup, another brain network (or related one.. it gets a bit tricky with distractions), came online to help you focus your attention back to this blog post 😉

Bottom line – a network is important. Be a part of one, and use it when you are stuck. Theres some great new research that shows women who succeed professionally have two kinds of networks – a closer knit one, and a wider knit one, as compared to women who do not succeed AND men who do succeed (Yang, Chawla & Uzzi, 2019). Obviously, 10 year ago, I didn’t know if this scientifically proven fact (albeit one study.. but interesting none the less).

This is how I got a volunteer position in a research lab at St. Michaels Hospital. I met some incredible people there, who are now doing amazing things in academia. That volunteer position, turned into a paid position where I worked for almost a year. The same year, I applied a second time for graduate school.

Signy (or Dr. Sheldon now at McGill) and I in 2011.

Guess what? I was rejected AGAIN.

I recall, crying for days on end. I am not kidding – it was a truly devastating time in my life. This was something I had wanted SO BADLY, had worked for the past 6 years at this point.. and to no avail. At that point, I was THIS close to giving up. I said okay, well if a clinical psych program isnt going to take me, then I will apply to social work, occupational therapy, physio therapy, speech language therapy. I kid you not, I started to fill out those applications. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with those professions, they did not feel like my calling. I loved research and clinical practice, and the prospect of a PhD that let me do both thrilled me like nothing else.

But, here we were, summer of 2011 – no acceptance in sight, and no motivation to apply.

Two things happened that summer – I decided I was going to get in to this program if its the last thing I do. We were poor and broke after being newly married, and my husband had just started his first job. The fact that I was volunteering wasn’t helping our finances at all.

So I turned to what I knew best – talking to people. I reached out to my network again. Two things came from that summer in 2011. First, robin, my undergrad thesis supervisor, asked me to present some research at a local conference. Second, I met and started to volunteer with Dr. Mary Pat McAndrews (or MP as those who know her call her).

MP and I at my last day working in her lab in 2012.

Both of these together, changed my life.

I presented at the conference in October 2011 – where my future graduate supervisor swung by to ask some questions about the research I was presenting. We started talking (its really a strong quality of mine this talking business), and he told me he was recruiting students in the clinical psych program at York University for 2012, and he asked me to apply.

Second, I worked with MP for that whole year and learned whatever I could about Neuroimaging. Here is the thing about MP – she is not only a brilliant scientist, but also a top-notch clinician. She see’s where you are in your training, and not only meets you there, but challenges you to think on the spot and about things you may not have considered.

Winter 2011 rolled around, and like clock work for the third time, I applied to the same programs again.

And this time…

ACCEPTED!

The end.

Just kidding.. that is how I started a 7-year-long program in Clinical Psychology in the fall of 2012.

The journey of that program.. coming next. I promise I won’t take 8 months to write about that.

July 25, 2019 · Leave a Comment

A Moment in Time

Letters to Liyana· Uncategorized

Blog Post

Hi guys!

I hope you are having a wonderful day! I am currently in withdrawal mode after the fun weekend I had as a family again when my husband was visiting. It was exhausting, but oh so fun! Liyana had been anticipating her dad being here so much, that on Friday, she woke up earlier than usual and demanded to go check if he was here…which he was and she was over the moon joyed!

The one thing we try to do (if the budget permits) is to rent a car when my husband is here. While we have a car back home, I don’t have a car here and rely on public transit for 99% of our trips. But, when Shafi is here, the last thing we want to do is spend it in transit. Especially, when we want to do things in Vancouver and surrounding areas as much as possible!

With a car, comes responsibility… right? Since I have been driving in 2006, I have somehow always chosen Petro-Canada as my go to spot for feeling my car. From a 1999 Toyota that I named Winston (yup, I named my car) to our current SUV, I find that the premium fuels at Petro-Canada do an excellent job of keeping our vehicles running smoothly and maximize their efficiency. Trust me, when you have an SUV, engine efficiency is a huge deal especially in how many kilometers your car runs on a tank!

So even this weekend, we headed over to Petro-Canada for their premium fuels before we started on our weekend long social hopping and mini trips!

We managed to do a ton of things this weekend, and as I joked with my husband – he had enough socialization this one weekend to last him a whole month: D From dinner on a nice patio with friends, to a summer bbq, a trip to Granville island, science world with Liyana, a coffee date, a kid free dinner date… we did it all in the city! And, we manager to make the most of our time because we had a vehicle that ran smoothly, didn’t give us any troubles – thanks to the premium fuels by Petro-Canada.

So, now tell me – do you have any weekend plans? What kinds of things are you up to this weekend?

**Thank you to Petro Canada for sponsoring this post. All opinions provided are my own**

July 18, 2019 · 1 Comment

When in Calgary….

Travel

Hi y’all!!

I’m back in Vancouver after a fantastic weekend in Calgary. I went to Calgary with 6 friends of mine from Vancouver for the Calgary Stampede. I was incredibly fortunate to be hosted by the awesome Tamania from Urdu Mom!

What to do this summer in Calgary

GO TO THE CALGARY STAMPEDE

If you haven’t heard of the Calgary Stampede – you can find more information about it HERE. It is one of the best summer destinations in Calgary! It’s the largest outdoor western/cowboy event, filled with carnival eats, a traditional cowboy rodeo, evening shows, music festivals and so much more! It is probably the busiest time to be in Calgary, AB and wherever you go, people are dressed in cowboy hats and boots. It creates such a fun vibe in the city! My friends and I attended several events – so fun!

A tip I learned, if you want to attend one of the shows, like the rodeo, you can get your ticket in advance. Why is that tip? Well, it means you can access the grounds hours before the show, so you can start eating. Carnival eats and deep-fried goodies everywhere!

VISIT THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

I highly recommend renting a car and taking a day trip out to the Rockies. My favourite place is Lake Louise in Banff National Park, it is about a 2-hour drive from Calgary. But, be forewarned, it is busy! We reached Lake Louise at 7:55 am (which meant we were on the road at 6 am), and the parking lots were already full! They do have overflow parking, from which you can shuttle to Lake Louise, but that can add an extra 20-30 minutes to your “commute.” Regardless, it was worth it!!

Lake Louise is a glacial Lake that gets its turquoise colour from the abundant minerals that are in it. This is not photoshop, it truly is this magnificent!

We decided to hike up to the Lake Agnes Tea House. This hike is all uphill and 3.8 km long. It can take about an hour and is an intermediate level hike. The views of the mountains are incredible with an abundance of wildlife (no bears though because it’s too busy with humans). There is also another lake called Mirror Lake about 3/4 of the way up.

And then a beautiful waterfall as you approach the tea house. The tea house is at the top of the waterfall, adjacent to the Agnes Lake. You can enjoy a nice cafe style meal at the tea house. The soup and sandwiches were delicious!

Travel tip: For any mountainous hike, dress in layers as it can get cold as you ascend in altitude.

CHECK OUT HERITAGE PARK

The other thing that I did in Calgary was visit Heritage Park. This park is essentially a museum but completely outdoors. The various buildings are donated by the original owners and are a representation of life in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. You know I’m obsessed with antiques, so this was basically my dream come true! If you have kids and planning a trip to Calgary, I highly recommend spending a full day here and going prepared with a picnic lunch to make the most of your day!

Heritage Park also has wonderful classes/activities for kids of different ages. We went to an ice cream making class and had the yummiest ice cream!

WALK AROUND DOWNTOWN AND CHECK OUT THE CALGARY CENTRAL LIBRARY

Another fun thing I did in Calgary was visit the Calgary Central Library. Let me tell you what a gorgeous architectural feat this state-of-the-art-library is!! I was so impressed with just the entrance alone.

One of the best parts of Calgary was hanging out with so many wonderful people!! I had an amazing time with my friends from Vancouver and also had the opportunity to connect with new blogging friends! This trip was definitely one for the books.

Ps. For those wondering where Liyana is – she stayed back in Vancouver with my mom, so I could take a solo trip! A huge thanks to my mom for holding down the fort back in Van city!

That is basically what I covered in Calgary in 2.5 days! I wish I had more time to spend this summer in Calgary – I definitely would have spent more time in the Mountains!

Have you been to Calgary? Or are you planning to go? Let me know in the comments ????

PIN THIS POST FOR LATER

May 28, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Celebrate Ramadan with Your Neighbours

DIY· Ramadan and Eid

Hello friends!

Today, I want to talk about a special tradition that I grew up watching my mom bring to life in our home – celebrating Ramadan with our neighbours.

Ramadan is a very special time of the year for Muslims all around the world. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, where Muslims all around the world fast from dawn to sunset. In Islam, Ramadan is all about self-control and discipline for the sake of Allah. I personally struggle internally a lot this month and use this time to reflect on these and grow spiritually. Usually, this time of the year, mosques around the world are filled with worshippers standing in prayer into the wee hours of the night.

April 14, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Old Navy Spring Haul

Fashion

Hi Guys!

I decided to do a little sprucing of my wardrobe this spring. I like to add a few trendy pieces most season because it makes things interesting. My overall wardrobe is quite stable with curated work outfits etc (as you know if you have asked me recently where something is from – my answer is usually “uh its like 5 years old from XX store”).

Here are all the pieces I tried on!

For sizing reference – this is my usual size:

Shirts/Tops/Blouses – SMALL

Pants – Size 4

Jumpsuits – SMALL

Shoes – Size 7

Here are all the outfit deets! As always, all links below are affiliate links – which means I make a small commission when you click on the link below AND purchase. I encourage you to support me and use my links, particularly if you like something I have shared. It makes this whole gig a little bit more worth it 🙂 But absolutely no pressure to purchase anything 😉

CANADIAN LINKS

US LINKS (not everything is available in the US)

April 5, 2019 · 5 Comments

A Letter to Liyana

Dear Liyana,

I write this to you from a place of reflection. From November 4, 2018 to February 1, 2019, we lived apart 4381.9 kms. We moved to Vancouver in September 2018, so that I could start and complete a year of residency training. The penultimate year of my program, that I really wanted to complete in a new city, with new training models and opportunities. Nani and you came with me to support me in this last year.

But, Nani got quite sick, and had to go back home to see some doctors to make sure she was okay. That left, you and I , in a bit of a pickle. Thankfully, dada came to the rescue and you went back home to him. At that time, we didn’t know if you would come back to Vancouver or stay in Toronto until I came back.

I remember dropping you off at the airport, and you not knowing what was going on. For you, it was another trip in the stroller. Until you realized that I wasn’t next to you in the security line. I remember that moment, watching from the other side, where you looked up and didn’t see me. I had to quickly walk away, before the flood gates opened.

On the sky train back, I remember sitting there feeling… numb. In that 20 minute train ride back, I felt exactly that.. a feeling of nothingness. I did not know how to make sense of what I was feeling.

I walked back home and entered the apartment, which was still reminiscent of you – your toys were strewn around, the half empty plate of food, your shoes. You were still there in all essence in that apartment.

I walked back into our room, and saw your crib… it bore indentations of your last nap. I recall, standing there in silence, not knowing what to do, how to react. And that is when I sat on the floor and just wept. I am holding my tears back as I write this, in a busy coffee shop. I held out on writing this for 5 months, because it is still so raw for me.

Those three months were the hardestmonths for me. Hard, because I was away from you. Tiring, because I was constantly flying back and forth across the country to see you. Draining, because I was trying to be a “good mom” by calling before bed, not parenting over face time, and so on.

In those three months, I also had ample time to feel the insidious “mom-guilt” creep in. I felt guilty in all of November for sleeping in, having no responsibility, leaving laundry unfolded, leaving dishes in the sink, not cleaning up after myself, eating ramen for dinner. I felt guilty for not having the same amount of work to do, that your baba had while he was juggling taking care of you with work.

I also had loads of time, to think about what this guilt meant. Why was I feeling guilty, for circumstances beyond my control? Why was I feeling guilty, for simply doing what any regular person who doesn’t have children does? Why was I having ‘mom guilt’ when my child wasn’t even there?

I started calling it “phantom-limb mom guilt”. I basically conceptualized it as guilt over not feeling guilty as a mom, while I am with you.

It is a tad twisted, but basically it went to underscore the point that feeling guilty as a mom, is SO pervasive. Because, I am a working mom, I was just used to feeling that way, even though I was saying outwardly I am not feeling guilty. So when I lived away from you, I felt guilty about not feeling guilty.

I thought long and hard about this… on my many empty weekend mornings, and evenings.

And I decided, that this phantom guilt needed to stop.

Rather, I had an opportunity, to live alone. Something I had not done in my 29 years.. I hope you are doing that or planning to do that when you read this letter, because girl it is SO important to know who you are!

I decided that I would enjoy this time, and make the most of it. So, I went to whistler with my friends. I went for long walks, enjoyed tea alone while reading a book, sat on the couch the whole day and read a book cover to cover, let the sink pile up with dishes because I COULD, did not do laundry for 3 weeks (thats the max I could do haha), and so many more things that I had never had the opportunity to do. Not because I was expected to do them at home, its just my personality. This time, I felt like something in me shifted. I changed as a person in these three months. And, yes, it was hard (none of it was easy), I reframed it in my mind as an experience that led to change and self growth.

Perhaps in your adult life, you may encounter a similar situation where you are faced with difficulty. Something that seems arduous and challenging like nothing else you may have experienced before.

In that moment, I want you to remember this: Change the way you feel, by changing the way you think.

I want you to think back to this letter, re read it and find meaning in your difficult experience. I want you to take example from this, because I am raising a strong, independent, free-spirited little girl who can make her decisions and learn from them in the best way possible.

You my darling, give me life. You give me purpose and meaning, and your smile lights up my world. Those three months, I had to find purpose and meaning in myself, and I hope you will too.

Always yours,

Mama.

January 10, 2019 · Leave a Comment

National Geographic Kids – “Weird But True!” Book Review

Mom Life

Hello friends!!

I hope this finds you well – Today, I am bringing you a really fun and informative review by one of my childhood favorites – National Geographic!

You all probably know about National Geographic – They are a world leader in cartography, geography and exploration. They have an incredible team of scientists, journalists, photographers, editors, film makers, and so many more disciplines that work closely together to put out inspiring and educational content for all ages.

They have a new set of educational books for young children ages 2 and up that are focused on “Weird but True!” facts that are fun to learn!

Creativity in Learning: National Geographic Kids - "Weird But True!" Book Review

Liyana is at the age where she is a bit young to remember and learn these facts…. but if you know national geographic, you know the visual imagery is just stunning! And there is a great amount of research that shows that pairing stories or knowledge with imagery is more effective in learning, than straight forward “learning” through words. So while, Liyana may not understand the Weird But True! “fact” per se, I found these books to be really great in the sense that she would find a picture she found interesting, and we would take the “Weird But True” fact and make an interesting story about it.

Now, you may be wondering… why create a story around it?

Here is why:

Stories are inherent in human nature – we latch on to good narratives. So if i told you the weird but true fact that “ring tailed lemurs live in groups called troops and troop members do everything together” and then I invented names for the lemurs in the picture and how they went on an expedition to get some groceries in the middle of the winter as a troop… by creating this story, I am adding in CONTEXT and association for my toddler to remember the leemurs. I am also teaching her new vocabulary (e.g. the word expedition) and the over all concept behind the word “troop” and other related concepts of adventure, grocery shopping etc..

I am all about educational learning, and through these books I found that because Liyana was so attracted to the photos, it was second nature to elaborate and create a story.

Each book is filled with 300-350 outrageous facts along with beautiful and colorful illustrations. There are fun books like the Weird But True! Canada book and Weird But True! Christmas and so on. They have 10 volumes full of 350 facts EACH! That is a lot of fun stories to tell your toddlers!

I would recommend you to think outside the box when trying to buy books and purchase informative books but also those that stimulate creativity AND knowledge. My whole PhD is in creativity and I forever looking to teach my little one information in a creative sense to keep her creativity alive!

I hope you found this review useful and will check out this great series of Weird But True! books by National Geographic. You can get yours hat independent book stores, Indigo, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target, Walmart etc and they also make great gifts! The books generally retail for $7.99 in the US and $10.99 in Canada.

Also there is a fun contest happening – Share a weird fact about your hometown, province or country by January 31, 2010 at natgeokids.com/wbtcanada and you could win these Weird But True! books!

See you back on the blog soon!

Hugs,

Areeba

Disclaimer: I received this product for free from Moms Meet (momsmeet.com) to use and post my honest opinions.

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My Top 3 Secrets to How I Get ANY Thing Done while Working From Home

Gooood morning friends!

This quarantine situation is a bit whack right?!! I have no idea how we are already in week 4, but man have we had to adapt FAST! From learning-from-home for the kiddos, to figuring out how to take care of our mental health.. we have a lot going on. I have tried to share resources that you may find helpful during this time, and one question I get the most is:

HOW AM I STAYING PRODUCTIVE AT WORK?

Back story: I am working from home as a psychologist, so I am able to see clients remotely via video or telephone. My husband and I switch off work hours, and my in-laws live with me so there are blocks of times when we can both be working while my in-laws help with childcare. We are beyond blessed and I am aware of that. Regardless, there have been times where Liyana has walked into a therapy session, or our cat has decided its a good time to jump on my laptop and disconnect the call. GASP. I know.. so I need all the productivity hacks I can have to maximize the time I get to work.

Here are my TOP three productivity hacks to getting anything done while working. I will say, another unstated one that needs to be done is to get in some breaks and exercise while you are working. That boost of energy is SO essential!

If you are looking for some other resources, I have a guide for toddler activities HERE, and some things you can bake with your kiddo’s or even by yourself if you like!

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