A Cup of Shai

Hello everyone!  In today's post, I will be doing a Spring 2021 Home Bargains  and  B&M  haul. (Can you honestly go into those places without picking up a scented candle or two, and a fun smelling disinfectant?) I suppose it’s the sign of adulthood when you get super-satisfied buying… cleaning products ha! I am super house-proud and have a minimalist mindset. My motto is that if anything is out of or cluttering up the place, I either a) tidy it or b) bin it. Organising, cleaning and decluttering is therapeutic for my anxiety as  it keeps my mind occupied from whatever I may be overthinking about. It also allows me to use pent up energy, whilst bringing order and sense to my environment. So without further ado, I'm going to get started with my product list. 1 .  ‘Sparkle’ sink tidy. This is a grey, plastic tidy in a super sleek design, with ‘Sparkle’ printed in silver calligraphy on the front. It has two handles either side so you can hold it easily...

Elmer, Winnie the Witch and The Twits, to name but a few are going to take over this Thursday, the 4th of March 2021.  You guessed it, World Book Day is around the corner! I'm going to share with you some crafts  I've made which you can easily do at home with your children.  These crafts are aimed for children aged 4-7, and can be adapted for older children simply by changing the book you base the craft on. You can also adjust the level of support or preparation you offer, and alter the complexity of the end product to meet the child's ability. Scroll down to see the ideas.  1. Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell.  Idea: Design a Zoo using a box, pictures of animals, and different materials to make elements like grass, water, straw, stones, fences or tyres.  Learning opportunities:  This will help with children's imagination, creativity, their fine motor skills when they're ripping and cutting paper, learning animal names, and also allows them to identify the dif...

Perched on the corner of Sparkenhoe St, Crumbs Cafe was a delight to visit. The cafe from a design point of view has a "shack" sort of vibe to it, with coffee bean sacks lining the walls (so you can see exactly where they have sourced their coffee from) and brown, card style menus.  There's a selection of breakfasts, from a full English complete with tomatoes and mushrooms to lighter options such as an omelette filled in a chapatti roll if you're not feeling quite so peckish! Love your carbs? Fill yourself up with their Jacket Potatoes which come with some really yummy fillings- they even offer tandoori or peri peri chicken.  Although the menu looks like it doesn't have much food available, they have bakery style (chicken, meat and vegetarian) paninis, pastries, wraps, rolls and sandwiches at their counter ready to buy. I was truly spoilt for choice! I ordered chicken pastries but was disappointed with them- there was hardly any chicken in them *sad face*.  You c...

Salaam and Hello all :) On my Instagram stories, I made a poll and asked you, my Followers, if you wanted to read my Bridesmaid's Speech, as it's my sister's 1st wedding anniversary! You voted that you did want to read it. So here it is!  I was really nervous by the way, all 700 pairs of eyes on me, I was on stage in a heavy Indian dress, full face of make-up, cameras (phones and the professional wedding photographer) on me, my anxiety was kicking in and my legs were trembling. My hand was sweaty holding the mic, looking at my audience. They were waiting for me. I was watching them.  I asked my cousin "Shall I start?!"  She replied with a firm "Yes", which was the push I needed to begin.  " Assalamu-alaikum everyone. When my sister got engaged, naturally I assumed the role of Wedding Planner being the only other sister. After all, it involved girly trips to Bridal Shops, getting creative, organising a party and making sure everything was colour-c...

Nestled in one of Leicester's leafy streets, CUE Coffee Shop, Allandale Road, is an understated treasure that is the  place to be if you want some chill-out time. That, and a delicious hot beverage.  The Scandanavian decor (plain white walls and leaf art prints) is bang on trend, adding to the calm vibes because of the minimalist aesthetics. The shop itself boasts wooden chairs and tables, with a couple of black metal chairs scattered here and there for that oh-so-cool deliberately mismatched look. All this, sitting proudly on a gorgeous sapphire-blue painted boarded floor. The succulents and trailing plants placed stylishly around the space brings the outside in and feels really refreshing. They've got a little outdoor dining space too, should you wish to sip on juice and people-watch in the summer breeze.  The service was friendly and chatty- always a plus in a quiet coffee shop! Our waiter even offered to keep an eye on our belongings and encouraged us to fit in a ca...

Hello and salaam all! 😀 Oh, and also Eid Mubarak! How have you been? Have you been coping with Lockdown? The first one, I was fine with, I did lots of activities and kept occupied, but the second one, I haven't been so great with *tired face*. I am glad that the Leicester Lockdown has ever so slightly eased Alhamdulillah *hand on heart*, as it means I get to see different faces and have a little change of scenery. As you all know, I regularly do 'Alhamdulillah' series, which is similar to a Gratitude list. 'Alhamdulillah' literally means 'All praise is to Allah.'  Below is a list of things, (some seemingly really small) that I said "Alhamdulillah" for in July 2020. 1. Watching Hajj Vlogs on YouTube. This brings back so many memories from when I went for Umrah. InshaAllah sooooon *fingers crossed.*  2. Walks in the park.  3. Celebrating Eid and eating lots of yummy food!  4. Listening to 'Mindful Muslimah' on Spotify. This lady is amazinggg...

Hello and Salaams everyone! :) I hope you're in the best of health, and are enjoying the eased up rules on Lockdown. In Leicester, unfortunately, we're facing a further 2 weeks of Lockdown due to the rise in Covid-19 cases, so life has taken a bit of a backward step again after looking forward to being able to go shopping. Boo hoo! It's strange isn't it? Even little things like being able to go for someone's house, or going shopping which we always take for granted becomes such a thing of significance when you lose the opportunity to do it. I'm a firm believer in that you appreciate things more if you lose them. And these past months have definitely been a chance to acknowledge the 'small' things we don't give a second thought to. Below is my list of what I said 'Alhamdulillah' for in the past month. As you'll notice, it's very much food-related, because you know, 'time-pass', (as they say in Gujrati) during Covid-19. *...