I'm Getting My Routine Back

These past few weeks have been good. I feel like I'm getting into the swing of things and I'm loving everything that I'm doing. 

I know that I've been quiet on the blog front. Now that I'm in a good routine I'm hoping to get back to blogging more often.

I'm a routine person - I really am. Just having certain things to do at certain times makes me so much more focused and productive. 

I've spoken before about my difficulties trying to find work. To go from years of full-time study to having nothing on my plate was a really uncomfortable change and I struggled with staying productive (and not losing my mind).

That's why a month ago I jumped at this opportunity to study again. I'm studying Clothing Manufacture - it's a full-time course and I get to spend my days sewing. I love it! And it's something exciting and uplifting for me to do while I keep looking for work.

I'm improving my sewing skills, but without any pressure. There's no rush to start a business, or create lots of new products. I'm simply taking my time learning and soaking everything in, knowing that I can do everything I want to do in time. 

It almost feels like a stable transitional part of my life - I know I won't be here doing this for long - but I have enough things figured out for the moment to relax. 

Things always work out in the end. And in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy these moments.

Bit By Bit

This past week has been a bit full on, and the lesson I've taken away is to take things bit by bit.

We finally got all our things moved up and were able to start unpacking and setting up our home. It's been nice to see things slowly come together.

Somewhere between unpacking, my sewing course, and the mountain of arabic work I have to do, I stopped taking care of myself. I was sleeping less, not eating as well, and my environment felt chaotic. 

So naturally, I got sick. I guess it's my body's way of telling me to stop, slow down, take it easy. 

Over the past few days, I've been taking things bit by bit. I've been resting often and when I have the energy I do some work - I unpack a box, tidy up one corner of a room, doing a lesson of arabic.

It's not much, but I can still see progress being made. And sometimes that's all we can ask of ourselves.

:)

Love List #15

My Week //

1 Catching up with a friend at a colourful cafe // 2 French toast with caramelised apples and maple syrup // 3 Quranic caliigraphy in sequins // 4 Neutral colours in clashing patterns // 5 Working on the toile for my skirt in pattern making // 6 Smoked salmon pizza with cream cheese, capers, and baby spinach // 7 Finally unpacking! // 8 A rock that I gave my husband years ago. He keeps it in his tool belt :) // 9 DIY arabic keyboard letters!

Links //

// Young prodigies dazzle the art world - thanks Shahirah!

// I love this idea of little monthly resolutions. I always make New Year's resolutions, but a few months into the year I'm not really interested in them any more. I think with monthly ones I'll be more focused!

// DIY embellished sunglasses are such an awesome idea. 

// I always enjoy reading behind-the-scenes pieces from people with small businesses - Tania from Tdesign writes about being brave.

// These posts just make me wanna travel to Paris! Paris Photo Diary: The Eiffel Tower from Shauna Haider and An Apartment in Paris from Gala Darling.

// Such a sweet post from Camille Iman about things that make her happy

Thanks for reading, enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Love List #14

Follow me on Instagram

01  Practicing my Arabic handwriting  02 Comfy clothes for class  03 I finished painting our bedroom! That wall used to be bright yellow...  04 Chocolate ice cream with banana and frozen bluberries on a sunny afternoon  05 A new snake print maxi skirt that I'm exited to wear  06 Blueberry chocolate brownies that were eaten very quickly

LINKS

// A cute DIY for geometric flats

// I'm excited about doing this creative cleanse

// As an introvert, I can totally relate to this

// Feta & tomato sandwich on a baguette.... yummm

// Could you go completely without Facebook?

// Baked french toast sticks. Yum, again.

// I'm loving this reminder on the positive use of free time.

// Put a timer on, and get it done quicker!

// I loved this GSD interview with Hitha Palepu on getting things done.

// Beautiful experimentation with water droplets on paper. 

MY WEEK

// I'm in my second week of my course, which I still absolutely love! So far I've done seam, hem, zip and pocket samples, and on Monday I start pattern-making.

// I've noticed that studying full time again has made me way more productive, and I've actually decided to increase the blog posts that I'm doing a week. Weekends are a good time for me to get things done and I'm dedicating Saturdays now to photographing, writing, and scheduling my upcoming posts for the week. I hope you all like what I've got planned!

// It's also my sister's birthday today! She turned 22. I wish I could be there with her, but virtual love and hugs will have to do. Happy birthday Leni!

// As a treat to myself (for finally redesigning and relaunching this blog) I signed up for fashion illustration classes with Katie Rodgers from PaperFashion. I've been wanting to improve my illustrating skills for a while and her work is always so beautiful, so I'm really excited to start these classes.

Do you have any favourite links from other sites, or even your own blogs? Put them in the links below, I'd love to read! Let me know a highlight from your week as well :)

Thanks for reading!