NYC, baby!

One of my girlfriends, Mar, is planning a trip to US sometime in April and have asked a few of us if we would like to join. I am seriously considering and have been making plans with another girlfriend of mine who is currently living in Washington DC and Mar has also made plans with another friend of ours who is now staying in Boston. The mister is also agreeable with me travelling with her as long as I am fit enough, so the next few months I would definitely have to keep going for my reviews and work on getting myself healthy, in shaa Allah. I know I shouldn't keep my hopes up as plans may change but this idea of returning back to DC..even just for a day, back to our first home as husband and wife, back to where I learnt how it was to live away from my family and friends...... it is what has been driving me to get fitter and healthier.

It has been years since we last set foot on the US soil and I have been yearning to go back since. Plans were made to go the past two years but we haven't gotten around to do it because we couldn't fit it into the husband's schedule so I am guessing this trip will have to be a girls' trip and I think it would be fun! The only girl's trip I've done before was from DC to NY with some girlfriends and it was amazing! New York is always amazing. I don't know what it is about the concrete jungle that always makes me feel like I can do anything on my own. I have travelled alone between DC and NY several times and looking back I don't even know how I did it. One time, I had to travel to NY to catch a flight back home to Brunei as the cheapest airfare was through JFK. I got on the DC2NY bus on my own and upon arriving to NY, dragged two huge luggages & a carry on while walking around Penn Station to go catch myself a cab to go to JFK. I bet this one comes easy for all the students living abroad but to this kampong girl, I felt like superwoman. =P

During one of our last trips to NY, we got to stay at New York Palace Hotel (now known as Lotte New York Palace). Rafie was there for work so I barely got to see him, which was okay, because I had my girl New York to hang out with. One of the reasons I was so excited about staying at the Palace Hotel was that I wanted to take photos at the courtyard where some of the Gossip Girl scenes were filmed.......but I didn't manage to! I spent one whole day in bed as I had a terrible migraine but the next few days were spent just going around the city; 2 days of going around on the hop on hop off bus and a day of Woodbury Commons accompanying some of the Bruneians before we flew back to DC. Looking back, I regret not taking many photos for keepsake.

Rafie admiring the view from our room. 

I shall update more when I can find more photos. I have spent most of last night looking up tickets, figuring out itineraries & thinking of how I can save up for all the "unplanned" shopping I'm about to do while in the US.

Pro-dUCk-tive!

Yesterday was a pretty unusual day for me.. yet somehow it was usual.. you know? Haha. I don't. 

I didn't feel too well to go out. I had a million and one errands that involved me going out but I had a temperature and my migraine was pretty bad. I thought of just staying in bed and catching up on some tv shows so I did just that for about an hour or so then I came across this photo on IG from one lady that I follow and who is one pretty sweet lady that I had the opportunity to meet through a dUCk event. She was giving her dUCkscarves a bath and I thought of doing the same! My husband knows how I have just been shoving all my dUCks into the laundry basket for quite some time thinking it would magically clean itself. I have to say I did a good job. *pats self on the back* Thank you @_mutedhues for the idea!

Here's an attempt to be creative. =P

   

Next, I thought of arranging more stuff to go on my other IG account where I am selling my preloved items. I finally went ahead and put some dUCkscarves that I have never worn and maybe never wear up for sale. So far, I have decided to part with three. THREE. Hahaha. It's ok Liyana. You're making room for some more. When I told my husband when he came home from work, he said "Why? Are you sure? Don't sell things that you love la.." he knows me too well. But I was pretty adamant. So up on IG it went. Still waiting for anyone who takes interest in them.

When I sat and looked at all the stuff that I am getting rid of, I got pretty sad. Not sad about letting go but sad thinking of how I have accumulated all these stuff in such short time without even batting an eyelash when buying them. Some of the make-up items are just extras.. extras! Who buys two extras each of the same shade of eyebrow gels & lipsticks? Me, that's who. No wonder I get broke easily! Hahaha! 

I know there's an underlying problem here though. If you ask an expert, he/she will probably say "You are trying to fill up an emptiness inside and think that buying all these things will make you happier. It doesn't". I feel like Rebecca Bloomwood but thank goodness without that massive credit card debt. She's one of the reasons that inspired me to sell off most of my stuff. Look at me getting inspirations from a fictional character! Sad, Liyana.. Really sad!

After spending quite some time feeling sorry for myself, I went ahead and deleted most of my photos on my phone. 17,000+! How? Almost 2000 were of my cats! *Pull up crazycatlady quotes!* I take photos EVERYDAY! But it actually helps me though whenever I try to update my planner. "What did I do on the 5th of January? Ah yes.... took 70 photos of the cats!" I kid! Maybe. This actually got me to update my planner and fill in details of the happenings on all those dates. 

I have three different planners for this year. One is a very cheap one I got from Kinokuniya; a weekly planner that has a vertical layout. I basically fill this up with my day to day activities and I use it to track my daily spending.

Another one is my dUCk planner I purchased late last year. While waiting for the weekly planner inserts, I just fill up the monthly planner for now. 

And lastly, my Happy Planner that one of my besties got for me as a new year's present. Thank you, Siti! <3 I am yet to fill it up with all these ideas I have in mind. I have ordered some planner stickers from etsy and I can't wait for it to arrive!

Anywhu, I am about to start my day now! Heading to poslaju this morning to post out some of the stuff that I have managed to sell through Carousell and IG. Will update more later, in shaa Allah!

Good morning & good night wherever you are <3

Oh Brother!

Currently back home in KL after few days away in Brunei for a very sad family affair. Came home to a very clean house thanks to Mu'izz who helped clean up while we were away. We arrived back home yesterday morning and we spent most of the day catching up on sleep.. well, me anyway! 

Mu'izz is leaving in a few hours time and we will be leaving the house around 3am to send him off to KLIA2. I have to admit that I will miss him being around, miss the noise outside when he will just be lazying around with the super loud music playing in the background, my jalan-jalan partner while Rafie is at work and basically my food delivery guy who would walk next door to get me food. I am so proud of the person he has become. He is a very ambitious guy and I foresee him becoming someone successful because he puts in so much effort in everything he does. Whenever I need him to be here, he will make time and try fly the next day! He is amazing seriously! But now that he is in uni, I would have to wait for him to have his break. Booooo. 

Although we fight at times (I think all siblings do!) we both know when to draw the line and actually find ways to make it up to each other. I don't know if I can go on for days without speaking to this guy. I have two other amazing brothers as well and I know they will do anything for me (if it does not require having to travel! haha) and I am blessed (Alhamdulillah) to have these three bodyguards! 

Jeddah, 2011

Raya in Brunei, 2014

Raya in Brunei, 2016. (Remember the time when I was taller than my brothers? Me neither =( ohhh I just noticed Najib has the same sinjang on! =P )

Okay... T minus 4 hours before we leave for the airport. Gonna get some shut eye first. Goodnight & good morning wherever you are <3

My first week of 2017

A little recap of my first week of 2017 so far. More like an online diary entry, so I shall warn you that it's going to get boring from here.

Sunday, 1st January 2017

Woke up sooo late after coming home around 1am the night before (we decided to catch the fireworks by the park and it was so beautiful!). Uchu, Atin, Rafie & I decided to go to Times Square to pick up Uchu's robot. Uchu has this fascination with robots and he has quite a collection back at home. He's so cute! Later in the afternoon, we decided to go to Pavilion and bring the kids out. I wasn't feeling well so we left early while the rest stayed and shopped. Slept in throughout the day hoping I'd wake up feeling better, but it didn't turn out to be that way. The pain was so intense that I had to take the prescribed painkillers. My doctor warned me that I could get addicted to painkillers and have suggested other alternatives but that day, I couldn't really think of anything else but. 

Monday, 2nd January 2017

While Uchu, Atin & the girls decided to do some last minute shopping at Kenanga, Mu'izz, Yumi, Rafie & myself opted to go to Publika and go check out what's happening there. Got myself the drink holder floats from Pink N' Proper that came in the form of donut shapes. I imagined myself having a nice warm bath while my glass of smoothie just floating around the bath tub. Aaaaaahhhhhh.. From there on, we went to Bangsar so Yumi could check out this one store to get Wafi's clothes & we settled for a McDonald's dinner right after. 

Tuesday, 3rd January 2017

Ok. Breathe. This day was the most exciting one out of all the other days of the week for me. Mu'izz, Yumi & I went to dUCk to purchase some of the alphabet dUCk collections (some for us and some for their customers) and just before we were about to have lunch, Yumi went to MAC to get something for Rash. So there I was playing around with the eyeshadows and swatching them on my wrists when Mu'izz suddenly poked my shoulder and said "Ka! Ka! Look! It's.. Look!" and there was Vivy waving at us! My eyes were so blurry that I remember squinting before I actually saw her clearly. I hilang cool okay. I ran towards her and gave her a hug. Mu'izz, who always pokes fun at me for always losing my cool around celebrities was squealing and said "OMG! Can we take a picture for with you??" HAHAHAHA. See, Mu'izz! It runs in the family. Iman was so nice to help take our photos and Vivy was so sweet when we took her time to look for nice places for our little photo session when clearly it seemed like she had somewhere else to be. THANK YOU VIVY. You made our day! Initially, we decided to get a grabcar to go back home but I think we were all just too excited that we didn't even mind walking all the way home. We stopped by Urban Decay so I could finally get my hands on the VICE lipstick in the shade Criminal, that they helped restock. It's a beautiful shade and the texture is really just as beautiful. Later that day, it was time for Uchu, Atin & the girls to leave. I was so bummed. I was already getting used to the idea of having so many people over that I felt so sunyi when everyone  left. Atleast Yumi & Mu'izz are still here.

Wednesday, 4th January 2017

My mission was to hunt for LED mirrors for the make-up class later at night because we figured we won't have good lighting in the living room. I dragged Mu'izz & Yumi to Low Yat and Times Square but we failed to find any. Took Yumi to have her first taste of boat noodle and then off to Pavilion we went. I got myself some essential oils at MUJI for my diffuser and some stickers for my planner from TIMES. We got home and waited for the MUA to come so we could start with the mini workshop. I didn't know what to expect at first and thought that it would just be like one of those youtube tutorials but I have to admit that I learnt quite a few tips that I would never have learnt just by my constant youtube-ing. The MUA has a fun sense of humour and I think she did well in trying to keep everything light and not so serious but yet manage to squeeze in all the good info.

Thursday, 5th January 2017

Yumi leaves for Brunei and Mu'izz went to KLIA2 to send her off. They left around 9am so when I went back up to the unit, I was finally home alone after having family over almost two weeks back to back (my parents were here for a few days and left two days before the rest of my family arrived for the New Year holiday). I took some time to update one of my instagram accounts where I'm selling my pre-loved (and some new) items. I have made it a point to declutter everything. Actually the idea came a few months back when I created that IG account (@liyanadeclutters) but I have been too lazy to actually gather everything up to take photos(lazy, lazy, lazy!). I have promised myself that I will get my act together and actually do it this time. We are moving sometime March, in shaa Allah and I would really love to start fresh in the new place without all the clutter. Rafie and I realised we have accumulated so many items and most are in great condition thanks to his constant nagging on how I should take good care of my items (LOL) but I see now that his nagging will pay off. I have plenty of make-up that I have hoarded in 2016 - most are unused and still sitting pretty in their packages. I had this weird mentality whereby I tell myself to buy extras incase I run out / they stop producing them / I need last minute gifts etc, so I end up being a hoarder. My name is Liyana and I am a hoarder. There. I said it. Anyways, In shaa Allah, in one or two months time, I hope to be rid of most of the items. I have even set up a Carousell account! *pats self on the back*

Speaking of decluttering, I have been looking up videos of the konmari method by Marie Kondo on YouTube & that was what pushed me to start decluttering. I bought two of her books (probably still 1/10th done on the first one. Stop being lazy!) and I promise (so many promises, LOL!) to actually finish going through both books soon.

Friday, 6th January 2017

It is never fun to wake up in pain and I should get used to it by now but I decided to push myself to get out of bed after and go grab some late breakfast next door with Mu'izz. I have been craving for Rotiboy so that was our first stop. Since I have been feeling under the weather, I need a little pick-me-up so off to Boost we went to get my Immunity Juice........I wanted to end it there so you would think I went all healthy but I also got ayam penyet from the food court. I was so happy when Mu'izz said "bah, baliktah ka. Makan di rumah saja". I was secretly hoping he'd say this and not want to go walk around the mall first but I didn't want to rush him incase he needed to get any last minute shopping done. So.. Thank you Mu'izz!

Back at home after downing everything, I decided to go through my e-mails and whatsapp messages to clear everything that was not important as I wanted to not only declutter the house but I wanted to declutter everything slowly (clear my laptop storage, photos and some music on the phone, shred unimportant documents, take photos of receipts and not having to keep everything lying around, etc). I don't like seeing that I have over 3000 e-mails in total on my e-mail accounts and most (if not all) are from shopping websites & facebook notifications. I came across old messages I saved between myself and my friend back in DC and it prompted me to go listen to this song (Jangan Menyerah or loosely translated - Don't Give Up) my friend suggested back then. It became one of our go-to songs whenever we felt low. This song always brings tears to my eyes. I needed to hear it.

The past few months have taken a toll on me but it reminded me to be patient, not give up and be thankful for all the blessings I have. Everyone goes through difficulties in their lives and it is up to each of us to react in whatever way we choose. Although I don't tell everyone exactly what I am going through and have been going through the past few months, I have been vague to everyone who cares to ask, but I have only confided in one friend other than the usual suspects - Rafie, my parents & my brothers. I have not been ready to share with anyone else, not even my bestfriends...because I know everyone's going through different things in their lives. Some may think I am shutting them out of my life but they don't know that I just choose not to share the burden with them because I don't want to bum them out and get them worried.. Eventually they too will choose to shut me out of their lives but I guess it's okay. Life is short and it must go on. Whatever it is, Allah SWT knows best. Okay, enough serious talk! ;)

Saturday, 7th January 2017

It is now past 2 am on a Sunday so I can say that this one is a fresh entry. This morning (well technically yesterday morning but let's pretend it's still Saturday), I woke up vomitting so Rafie offered me his shirt as mine was covered in vomit. He had somewhere else to be in the morning but decided to take me to the hospital instead and was given several medications. I decided to just stay at home and get Mu'izz to buy food next door. Everything was tasteless. Today's one of the days I feel that I have taken so many for granted, like my sense of taste & smell. I have been diffusing some essential oils but I can't smell anything as my nose was blocked. =/ I shall remind myself to not take my senses for granted ever again, in shaa Allah. I slept in pretty much half of the day as I have been taking the cough medicine that was supposed to make you feel drowsy and I don't like this because eventually I'll be staying up till early in the morning (almost 3 am now!) and I have Jimmy Fallon on tv while Rafie is sound asleep.

I know I have to be up early later as someone's going to come over around 11 and pick up two of our kittens....it's so sad but I know they'll go to good homes at least. We are in the process of cutting down the number of cats we will keep so it's easier for us to manage. I can hardly keep track of my medications most days when I am unwell and stuck in bed, so there are times when I can barely bring myself to go clean their food bowls & top up their food in the morning but Rafie makes it a point to come home for lunch on these days sometimes so he could do it himself.

Some people won't be able to believe my health conditions because they see my posts on IG looking all well and healthy (Alhamdulillah) but there's alot that goes behind the scene (eseyman! HAHA) before I go out. I have to always remember all my medications - painkillers (just incase!). Two Fridays ago while I was out with Uchu and the gang, I forgot to take any medications and had to learn the hard way that I must never never never forget it but thank goodness for the panadol extra that we got from 7 eleven. It helped! I know in the long run, all the medications will not be good for me internally and I think it really is time to listen to one of the suggestions to look for an alternative. May Allah SWT make it easy for me. Aaamiin ya Rabbal alamin. Good night or good morning wherever you are!

Gossips.

You have to admit that at least once in a while, you have the tendency to gossip, whether it be about your friends, family, celebrities, strangers, their family, your cats or whoever. For some, that is what they crave for on the daily... gossips. While some on the other hand are always so eager to be one to spread gossips, to be the first to provide "relevant" info. It is now becoming more and more easier for gossips to spread now with the widespread use of social media. Everyone's a screenshot away from it. It is becoming the norm where one would just stalk someone's social media account, take screenshots of their posts and forward them to their friends and gossip about the aforementioned person. I for one, have done so in the past & present me can't be more appalled.... 


أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ

What we need to remind ourselves is the following :

It has been mentioned in the Qur'an in Surah Al-Hujurat ayah 12 

"O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful."

So dear sisters in Islam, we should really stop with all the backbiting, spreading of rumors and fitnah.  Do we really want to be held accountable for these actions on the Day of Judgement over a mere few minutes of gossiping pleasure?
 نعوذ بالله من ذلك

It is never too late to repent, in shaa Allah. May Allah SWT forgive us all for our mistakes and may we be worthy of Jannah Firdaus. Aamiin ya Rabbal alamin.

2016

I know it's a bit cliché but the year really did go by so fast and I for one, know that I won't miss it that much. It indeed was filled with plenty of happy memories but memories of pain and heartbreak came with it hand in hand. I promised myself and a few close friends that I will no longer dwell on the sad memories and just focus on a better and brighter 2017 and I will do just that, in shaa Allah.

But before I close that chapter, I just want to say - thank you 2016 for teaching me the following :

• how to get up again every time I fall
• what not to do whenever getting into quarrels with anyone
• how not to get into quarrels with anyone (LOL!)
• learn to keep more things to myself
• appreciate everyone in my life for the roles they play in shaping me into the person I have become
• why I must always be grateful for all that has happened
• not ask why bad things happen
• not be sad when things don't go my way
• not get broken hearted when I don't get what I pray for
• be thankful for all the good days when I am not in pain and of course the bad days too because it makes me appreciate the good days more..
• how to walk away when I need to

and above all else... that I should always be kind to myself. In order to do so, I must always treat myself well and take care of my own health and happiness, because who else but me will do so? Allah SWT created me and He placed me here for a purpose, therefore I must learn to appreciate this amanah given by Him.    

So.. thank you 2016.