a trip to the mountains..

about a week after eid, on july 24th, i made a trip out to albuquerque. it'd been a year since i last saw my niece so i really wanted to go and spend some time with her. i was so lucky to see her for the two days i did. :) they were my best days from the entire trip.
but before i saw her, i had a few days to spend time with the family and hang out with my girls. :)

^^i had a six a.m. flight. that's why my face looks like that..lol

 ^^flying into albuquerque is always so beautiful. right past those mountains is my city <3

my parents and sister came to pick me up from the airport. we went to frontier right away, picked up some burritos and their fresh orange juice. then we did some grocery shopping on the way before heading home. perfect way to start the trip :) 

 ^^post jummuah lunches with the girls

 ^^also got to meet my favorite cat, rafiki

 ^^she's my bestieeeeeeeee

 ^^my sisters. i'm obsessed with them. seriously

 :)

 ^^dinner with clodiya! 

 ^^went to see paper towns with brother plus friends. the movie was SO cheese, btw. 

 ^^pedicures with the girls :)

^^selfie from the dinner my mom hosted

and now, the real fun begins. ;) 

time to go pick up layana!!

my SIL, mom, and i went to get her and had to stop by costco afterwards.

 ^^we got a bunch of samples together lol

 ^^she saw this rainbow dash outfit at costco so i got it for her. along with a lego set. :)

 ^^she had me sit with her while she built this. we just hung out and talked about so much random stuff together :) can't believe how grown up she is mA <3

 ^^she was so good at this!

 ^^she took this photo lol

 ^^on the way to the park!

 ^^her outfit though lol

 ^^my mom's friends daughter also came. they have so much fun together

 ^^aunty shahira taking selfies while the kids play..lol

 ^^nothing like albuquerque sunsets

 ^^after the park, we came home and i was surprised with this! saba, amaal and hanaa's eid gift to me :) i loooooove it. and i love them too! 

 ^^chick fil a party!

 ^^next morning. still in our pjs lol

 ^^she colored me this picture..which is hanging on my fridge right now :)

 ^^on the way to butterfly land! her favorite place

 ^^she tried so hard to get the butterfly to land on her hand. 

 ^^photo cred: saba molai ;)

 ^^the big blue ones were my favorite

 ^^she looooves her dadi (grandma)

 ^^at the aquarium

 ^^she has a collection of these pennies from different places lol. 

 ^^she lined up her little characters to watch her play the game lol

 ^^with the grandma

 ^^peter piper! she can get my parents to do anything..lol

 ^^she won three balls

this was my last day with layana, and also my last day in albuquerque :( saying goodbye sucked but i had the best time with my family. can't wait to go back <3

eid al-fitr 2015!

UPDATE: more than a week late here..so behind on the blog. working on getting caught up now!

i'm a week late, but EID MUBARAK!!

eid is my most favorite day of the year. growing up, i have some really amazing memories of spending eid with my family and friends. we would go to the masjid for eid prayer, out to breakfast/lunch with family and friends, and we'd receive eidi (cash money as a gift from elders;)) all while getting to dress up in brand new, and very fancy, clothes. :) 

although things are different now that i am married and living away from my family(this sucks no matter how many eids you spend away :( ), eid is still amazing every year, getting to spend it with the husband and our family/friends here. :) 

this year, eid for me started thursday, the day before eid. 

saad ordered me this amazing, to-die-for purse that arrived in the morning. i've been wanting a tory burch handbag for the looongest time, so when i found this perfect one online, and at this amazing price, i ordered it right away. it just so happened that it arrived right on time. ;) 

 ^^i loved the little gift bag it came in. :) 

thank you again, husband. <3

after i was done lusting over my bag (which took a long, long time) i got ready and headed to a friends house to get henna/mehndi done :) 

^^this was two days after i got it done but the color came out so nice :))

 ^^ready for eid prayer..

 ^^my thobe-wearing-handsome-hubby ;)

 ^^after prayer, we stopped by my in laws place for breakfast than i took husband to the mall and surprised him with an iWatch :)

^^so cool!

after relaxing at home for a bit, we got ready and headed out to a brunch hosted by our SIL. :) 

^^at eid brunch, sort of matching with hubby? lol

^^EVERY year he makes me believe i'm not getting eidi but then surprises me anyway. and i fall for it every single time..lol

after the brunch we headed home to change and get relaxed then went to another friends place that night. 

the next day, on saturday, we made plans to go for dinner with family and friends as well. we went to a persian restaurant then to a dessert place called sweet hut :) 

 ^^heroine lips

^^creme brûlée & oreo cheesecake

this year's eid was one of my favorites. it was an amazing day. i'm so, so blessed in every way possible, alham. :)

4th of july + iftar with S&S

every year during ramadan, saad and i plan an iftar (breaking of the fast) for our family and friends. this year, it just so happened that it landed on the fourth of july. to make it fun for the kids, we had some friends bring sparklers and tons of other fireworks so they didn't miss out on any of the independence day fun. ;)
we planned dinner at bundo khan, which is a pakistani restaurant here in georgia. the food ended up being really great and everyone had a lot of fun. the fireworks were a hit, too. :)

 ^^the morning before the party ;)

 ^^i was in loose with this kurti (top) that came from pakistan :)

 ^^fireworks in the parking lot!

 ^^lol he was excited..

 ^^the fact that we looked like a pakistani flag on america's independence day was..funny? lol

^^love him :) 

we had a blessed ramadan, and our iftar was amazing as well aH. :) also, what better day to celebrate? God bless the U.S.A