Wedding Season Style Inspiration

It's that time of year where wedding invitations start streaming in! Neighbours, friends, family of friends, your cousins twice removed; everyone seems to be getting married, and while Hollywood embraces the glamour that comes with the pending awards season, we too will be strutting our stuff during the upcoming wedding season...which leaves us with the major dilemma of what to wear!!! Without the assistance of personal stylists at our disposal, or designers begging to dress us, we need to figure out how to put an ensemble together all on our own.

While I don't regularly deck myself out in couture garments, I do know a thing or two about Eastern wear and generally gravitate towards it whenever I need to glam up. The key to pulling off a Bollywood inspired outfit successfully lies in effective accessorising. Eastern trends lean heavily towards accessories - Big, bold earrings and a colourful arm full of bangles are essential to pulling this look off effectively; while makeup trends leans more towards shimmering gold and bronze, and a generous dose of mascara and eyeliner...and no look is complete without the intricate detailing of henna tattoos and some hand bling. Everything about a Bollywood look is excessive and dramatic. More is definitely, well...more!

For this look, I used a piece of fabric with that would traditionally be used as a Salwar Kameez (dress & pants combo) which I got as a gift from my sister in law, and made it into a dress by adding the Indian silk brocade fabric on the top part of the dress as well as along the hem of the skirt, and used the pants fabric to make the full flair skirt part of the dress. The fabric features ornate Indian beadwork on the front of the dress as well as on the scarf, which adds to the opulence of the finished look. Because the dress had a long sleeve, I opted for an intricate hand chain in place of bangles. The necklace and earring were not overly big, but I did add a hair accessory which I think tied the look together well. A bronze and gold smoky eye with a bold red lip, completed the look!



 

 For more Eastern inspiration, view Moon's Sari look  HERE

 Outfit  Details

Fabric - gifted

Sewn by - Nazir

Hand Chain - Ziba Styles

Hair Accessory - Shehrezaad (  in Vangate Mall)

Necklace & earrings - India

Statement ring - Lovisa

Henna Pattern - Ayesha

Photographs - 2Cherries Photography

Thanks for reading!

Peace,

NAMU :)

Spring Break

I usually dread school holidays and I would approach it like a shackled prisoner heading towards their prison cell. It's not so much having the kids around me 24/7, nor their constant demands and bickering; but rather, it's the fight with Time...and the lack thereof in the day to pursue my own selfish needs. I used to fight my circumstances instead of embracing it, and in so doing, lost out on the gift of the moment. But my relationship with Time is slowly starting to evolve, and it's a lesson I've learnt from observing my kids and how they interact with it!


We live our lives lost in the realm of the never ending list of things to do! As a mother, this is multiplied by the amount of kid's schedules we are juggling; constantly chasing deadlines, due dates and time allocated to their varying needs as we race through the day, week and months until the end of the school term is in sight. Often, we unwittingly groom our kids for this same kind of life of chasing with no reprieve. Lost in a pile of homework and projects. Always looking toward the next deadline...Needless to say, by the time the last school term ended, we were all more than ready to down tools and embrace the break.


 I used to dread the school holidays, but now I'm starting to look at it in the light that it is. Something I've missed as I wallowed in self pity every time it approached. Something we lose when we become adults submerged in the world of doing...and that's striking the balance that is needed between work and play! We become caught up in the system and by our responsibilities, that we forget how to just "be", and if anything, the school break needs to be just that...a break from the mad rush a break from the system, a little oasis for us to regroup, and it's not something we know how to do, or do enough of, in the adult world. It might seem unrealistic, but a mental reprieve in any form should become a necessity.  Now if only I can get the kids to find the reverse balance between work and play, all will be good ;-)


This past school break, we focused on having fun without having to spend tons of money. It was centred around reconnecting with the kids, while enjoying the beauty of our city, and also strengthening family bonds. We had gloriously beautiful sunny days that made us all restless for Summer to arrive...and we also had some gloomy weather to remind us that there's one last lap before we get there. We truly embraced the break, and now, as we enter the final term, everyone seems geared up and ready for the mad race towards the end of the year. They seem more committed knowing that at the end of it all, after all the hard work and stress, there's a well deserved break waiting at the finish line, and this year, I am looking forward to it too!

Never too old for a ride on the Blue Train!

Enjoying some time with Naani

<3



Nash left for Rugby and Cricket tour

Seeing him off

First swim of the season!

No time to fight when they're having fun

Blessed with some glorious beach weather



Sister love ❤

My handsome almost teenager❤

Building forts when the weather turned bad

Beach clean up

And then it all came to an end.....

Thanks for reading!

Peace 

NAMU:)

Happy Birthday Mom

When you were my age, I remember you never being able to see your life beyond the age of 40. That number hung like a noose around your neck, and you anticipated that oncoming horizon like it was the final sunset. I know that a lot of those feelings had to do with the loss of your mother...the unresolved emotions and grief. In some ways, your survival felt like a betrayal to her memory and her struggle. But here we are today, celebrating 66, and if anything, what you have accomplished in these years has been the biggest tribute to her!
 

They say that a mother and her child's destinies are inextricably  entwined. As children, we carry their stories in our heart and continue to pass and build on the legacies they started. Perhaps it's because of that, that your birthday always conjures up memories of her - my grandmother...my Naani - and it's a reminder that you have had a great purpose to fulfil. I know that you used to think that living past the age she died made you feel like you have failed her...but I want you to know that the WAY you have lived has been the greatest celebration of her memory!! Every breath has been a testament of great strength, and with each step  you have broken down the walls and chains that have bound us...you liberated us and freed us from conformity and gave us the greatest gift and platform to build our lives on. For that we are forever grateful...

 

 

Today is a celebration of a life well lived. A celebration of a strong and powerful woman. A celebration of the accumulated memories...of a mother, grandmother, wife, sister...daughter. Today we celebrate you, mom; and all that you have sacrificed for us and all that you stand for. When I look at your 66 years, much as you had looked upon your own mother's years, I can only hope to live my life as fully and courageously as you have! I can only hope that we will be suitable bearers of your legacy...

You are an amazing mother and we are forever blessed to have you with us, guiding us and showing us the way. We are even more blessed to have you as our children's grandmother...the unconditional and abundant love you show them is a true gift. I know that you plough all the grandomotherly love you wish we had but never got to taste, into our children, and that  you have and always do go beyond the call of duty! For that, we are all extremely lucky, and we are exceptionally grateful to have you. On this day, we pray that we will have you in our midst for many more years Insha Allah <3

 

 

 

I hope to pass on the flames that you ignited in me to my own daughter IA

When I look at these pictures...at the life you have built, I know Naani would be proud, and I hope that I have made you  proud too <3

Happy Birthday Mom!

We Love You... 

 

 

Photographs by 2Cherries Photography