Now before I continue, I'd like to remind everyone that no live meerkats were harmed in the process. I am indeed talking about a stuffed toy. 

Once I'd compared (and purchased) my insurance using Compare the Market, I was able to order my free meerkat toy on Compare the Meerkat. It took a while mind, but it came! Finally! And apparently my meerkat has had a very long journey - you get to track it and it goes around the world....it was exciting the first time I received an update, but I have to admit that after that I lost track. 

Then I received an email to say it would be with me in seven days! That's when I got really excited. In my defence, my life isn't that bad - I get excited by very small things, and considering I have no real use of the toy, it's a tiny bit absurd. Also, at the time, I was completing my essays which really wasn't that exciting. It was stressful! Deadlines were fast approaching and a meerkat coming suddenly seemed so COOL! 

A few days later, a week before deadline day, I received an email from Aleksandr and it said 'congratulations' on being an owner of a meerkat......Only there was no meerkat! It hadn't arrived. I guess it was for the best because I could focus on my essays instead of a new toy. 

Anyway, two weeks passed since I received the 'expect your meerkat in seven days' email- the day I decided my assignments were ready - and it came! I phoned my mum to say I'd had enough, I was submitting my assignments and she said, 'ok. A package came for you.' And when I asked of she could open it, she said 'I really wanted to see what the meerkat actually looked like so I've opened it already! Come see!' I guess I wasn't the only one excited about the toy arriving!! 

And so here it is, meet special addition Agent Maiya! Came with a certificate and everything! 

Thanks Aleksandr! 

Agent Maiya

This is just a really quick post to say that there will be new posts from the week beginning 19th of May. I have deadlines coming up and a serious amount of work yet to be done. :( ugh. 

I keep finding myself thinking of potential blog posts and waiting for the arrival of my Meerkat - I got an email to say it's on its way! Mega excited about receiving one! 

In the mean time I'm back at my undergraduate campus library, where I'll be completing assignments. 

Take a look at the beautiful campus! 

Beautiful Campus!



A photo I took yesterday!

We all have those days where everything is going so well, and then we see two (or more) people – friends/family/people we know – talking to each other whilst glancing at you....and that’s it, good day down the drain. Not sure why, but immediately I think; ‘Oh god, is there something on my face? Are they talking about me?’

It’s not like I can actually go and ask them what they were talking about, so  I’ll probably spend the next half an hour wondering if I’ve done something wrong, making all of those positive thoughts that were present just a while ago run away into an unreachable part of my brain. Even though I know that the chances they were talking about me are 1 in 100, I’ll still have that voice in my head questioning myself. 

Then I get these conflicting thoughts about being paranoid, too self conscious, which in that moment in time are most likely true, because I am being a little too self conscious by thinking they are talking about me! Right...

But why do we do this to ourselves? I’m sure there is an answer out there somewhere, some very simple explanation that took years of study to be found. I should probably look for it, but not today. Today, I've discovered that I seem to have adopted a different attitude, one where I say 'Oh Well' and keep going. I'm not sure if this is the best attitude to have, but it beats questioning myself and ruining my day by asking myself questions that I can't answer. And if they were talking about me, it could have been something good!! 

So there it is people, we can't answer all the questions, sometimes we just have to go with it, because worrying about things we don't know and can't control take up way too much of our time!! Time which can be spent doing other things, like reading, eating, running, sleeping, laughing...I really should stop now because the list goes on and on! 

Keep reading! X

I've opened a shop!! There isn't much more I can say or a better way of putting it - just simply saying 'I've opened shop' :).

People who know/follow/have seen me probably know I like henna and I love the patterns, trying new ones and also colours, so I decided to put all of this to some use. Well, I didn't decide to consciously do this, it just happened really!

It started before Christmas - a few months before actually, when I wanted to get something for a friend that she wouldn't have, something affordable yet personal and it took me a while because, honestly, I'm not too good at getting gifts. In the end, I bought a notebook that had a plain cover and decided to doodle all over it. It was my way of giving her something she couldn't get anywhere else - plus I have a soft spot for notebooks, or books of any kind.

So slowly I built up a pattern and began to colour -  experimented with pencils and also coloured pens - and finally I had a completed notebook :) my first ever one *happy me*.

Before I gave the book, I'd shown it to a few people and it was suggested that maybe I could sell a few, and so, once I'd given the present, I thought why not?!

And here I am....I've opened a shop on Etsy and it's called Made By Fatima :). I haven't got many products but I plan to slowly build up, hopefully selling as I go along! My ambition is to eventually decorate a scrap book cover :) - once I've sold a few I think! I can add names and specific colours, so if there is something you really want, I can add it into one you like! Or make one for you specially - hence 'personalised'. So check it out and let me know what you think. Also, if you like what you see, don't forget to share it!!

The link to my shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MadeByFatima

Also, there is now a button on my blog that will take you directly to my shop! Go on, press it! :P

It would have been nice to meet her, but our seats were pretty good because we actually saw her, plus the large screen really helped :). 

Her show: 

Obviously you can tell I'm a fan (is it too obvious?!) so it goes without saying that I did enjoy her show and by the sounds of it, my two companions enjoyed themselves a lot too! There were some really funny moments such as dating/party stories, but unfortunately I can't remember and post all of it :(, but here are a few things that stuck out:

- When 'Call the Midwife' came out in America, there was a glitch in advertising and so people expected Miranda Kerr....quite a surprise when Chummy appears played by Mitanda Hart!! (Google them, people!)

Now, this I can relate to because it happens to me a lot, obviously not with hot supermodels like Miranda Kerr, but other 'Fatima' named people....there are a lot of us Fatimas out there and at times it's very, very confusing! 

- That awkward moment you walk in the wrong way and for some reason you can't just immediately change direction, instead out come our phones and watches, because somehow, looking at our phone or watch makes it better and less obvious that we walked the wrong way!! Ahem, I actually did this the other day - I went through the wrong door in the gym and walked into the swimming area expecting to see gym equipment, lucky for me there weren't many people there so I took a step in, realised where I was and walked back out....awkward indeed! 

- It's the same when you go into a shop you really don't need to be in - you can't just walk out, instead you do a 'swoop' - as Miranda put it - touch a few items and walk back out...we've all done it! 

- Probably the funniest moment I can think of was when Miranda flirted with a member of the audience and after when she asked how old he was, he said '13',

and she asked, 'is that....your mum next to you?'

'Yes'

'Oh,' she says going slightly red, 'what year were you born in?' 

'2000' replies the boy,

'I'm very sorry' - this was majorly awkward for Miranda but HILARIOUS to see her when she realised how old he was. In her defence, it was dark and all she went on was the hair till the light pointed towards the boy. 

- Last point about the show; Miranda dressed up as Beyoncé. There is literally nothing more I can say about this, becasue it says it all. I saw her dance and everything! It was great :). 

The message Miranda left us with, was to try and be 'the best version of ourselves' - excellent advice! 

On the whole, it was awesome. I'd like to see Lee Mack and Russell Howard next.....maybe some day I will! 

And here are a few photos:

Us on the way!

The Three Musketeers!

The Arena

Not really a flattering photo but proof of my non-black scarf :)

Keep reading all! Next scheduled post is about my new shop!! :) Very excited to share it with you all :) 

The thing I love about night time driving is lights - the display of headlights and break lights and the tiny illuminating road markings. It's all so pretty and beautiful how you respect other drivers and dim your lights before they are blinded by the extremely bright beam of light projected from the front end of your car.  

When you see a car coming - especially when they have their bright lights on, on a lonely dark country road, it's a hallelujah moment. You see the lights waaay before you see the car, all misty and disappearing into the trees, and then the car comes and suddenly the lights have been dimmed slightly because they have seen you coming too! It's weirdly enchanting, relaxing and highly, may I reiterate, highly, dangerous.

See it's not always me doing the driving at this time of the night - bonus for me I guess! But the person who drives has to be alert and have some knowledge of the roads, the bends and curbs. There has to be a destination and some sort of plan - even if that plan is to keep driving to where the road takes you, it's a plan. 

But is this like life? Do we have to know what we are doing, where we are going? Is it not ok to just go with it, wherever life may take you? I guess people might say that we avoid plans because there is a chance of being disappointed, and so what. By not making plans there is a great chance of being surprised and liking the outcome. 

Not everything has to be perfectly mapped out because there are a lot of pot holes out there! 

I'm not saying having a plan is bad - on the contrary, it's great if you have plan! Go out there and achieve all your goals and most importantly, have fun doing it. But if you don't have a plan, it's perfectly alright too. Just keep going until you know what you want, because who knows, you may have found it already.