Day 3, July 1, 2015

Here is the thing. I love birthdays. I love buying flowers, blowing up balloons, spending 5 hours baking and decorating a cake, buying the perfect gift, wrapping it Pinterest worthy and then surprising the person in question. I love all that. And I try to do that for everyone. At least family members.

The problem is fitting these celebrations has become a challenge in my budget. Not that I ever have a budget. I try to be all sophisticated and save money. But I end up using Abdullah's card on everything then. Technically that is still saving. Anyway, I was just figuring out in my head the various upcoming birthdays, welcome backs and congratulations. And it dawned upon me that I am going to end up in debt even before the month is up.

Story of my life.

I do not know why I am in love with it. But I am. And I would not have it any other way.

I didn't do much today. I went to Ikea and ended up coming back empty handed. Which is no small accomplishment, I tell you. I love Ikea. My first visit was to the one in Jeddah as a tween. I loved it back then and I still love it now. I love how you can take so many individual pieces from all across the shop and create something beautiful out of it. It is one of those shops that lets your creative side free to dance around and throw paint on the wall.

I have a weird obsession with house makeovers. It is like a guilty pleasure. Looking at different people's personality through how they decorate the room is a fascinating thing. Although, you would never know that it is my room if you looked at the one I have now. Me and Abdullah always joke that we are like a bunch of lazy laid back people who live in a grey/black/white themed room with fancy candle holders on our side tables. Its when you open our side tables and see the mess of headphones, coins, diaries, all sorts of junk that you get who occupies the room.

Sometimes I feel like my head is too big for my own good. As in, I get distracted so easily because I have another great idea. But then I am forced to be grateful for having an idea in the first place.

Adieu !

SAP

........

Happy Birthday Minion !

Batman sign cake made by me. 

Today is my baby brothers birthday. He turned 7. He is probably the first kid who has marked his birthday on the calender,  a month ago and we were reminded everyday of it. I was told to buy presents for him and to act surprized. He wanted a Batman cake and I, honestly, was not sure whether the cake will end up like it or not. But surprisingly, it did.

I still remember the day he was born. We were in Jeddah, but my dad was in Riyadh, miles away and he had lost his job. And we all were in the middle of crises. When my dad came home after meeting my mom and the baby, he had already forgotten two of the names my mom had suggested for my baby brother. We ended up naming him Moawiz which people used to pronounce as Mouse. The same day my dad got an offer from Qatar. And our life turned around. Amma called him "The Passport of Qatar".

Moawiz, when he was about 3 years old.

Time has passed by like running water. One second we were fighting with each other over dressing him up in cute clothes and the next, he is choosing his own clothes. People always ask, who is he like the most ? I used to reply, me. But truth is, he has a bit of each of us in him. He can stand for hours looking at himself in the mirror, combing his hair like Huzaifa. He is never short of money and he stomps off in anger like Muaaz. And he eats exactly like me. He already is in love with books. He won't believe what anyone is saying till he has asked at least 3 people. He is the kid who gets smothered with love and kisses by strangers but when it comes to scolding, he gets scolded five times for a single misdeed. Even now life is moving on way too fast. Instead of taking on a bus's speed, it has taken an aeroplane's. He is already 7.

Whenever someone talks about him as a baby, he will go like, I know, I was such a cute baby and than Bhai Jaan stepped on me.This kid got published in a magazine couple of weeks ago and the story, ofcourse was about pirates. I always wake up to find him standing by my bedside, smiling creepily, to annoy me.

Happy B'day Kiddo ! You always ask me, who my favourite brother is. Truth is, you have made it impossible for me to choose. Just remember, always be the person you are today. This life is like the moon. It looks beautiful from the outside but when you go inside it, you see all the scars and failures etched into it. But you have to remember and hold on to that beauty and hope in order to turn those scars of failure into the marks of your success and happiness. After all even a diamond is a stone. So its all about how you look at things. You brought so much happiness in our lives that we never imagined. You truly were a shining star in those dark times. I wish you all the very best for your life.

First day of school.

I have no idea what he trying to do.

Reading Garfield like a boss. 

...SAP...