My newest love

This isn't me; it is Sr. Badra's stock photo from the listing. :)

Salaam ya'll! No, I'm not talking about Cap'n (who is not so new anymore!) or little kitty or a new baby (good lord NO! lol). I am talking about the new khimar I purchased from Badra Boutique. Ohhh mA, I love this khimar!

It's actually called a pak chador so it is the kind that you can opt to wear as niqab or down under your chin. It has a tie-back headband (the penultimate in comfort!) but the front is open. You pull one side either across your face or under your chin, then secure it with a hijab pin. I intend to sew it at some point I just haven't yet.

The one I bought it kind of a turquoise blue; shocking, I know. :) I am the girl who branched out into olive green. lol. It's not that I'm opposed to color I just always find black and it looks good on round faces. I like black but I also like having a little color sometimes too.

I also love this style (and my regular poly tie-back khimars) because they are uber-modest and definitely cover the entire chest area. This is a big deal to me and one of the reasons I am pretty picky about my hijabs. Oh and I can't do the whole "feeling like my jaw has been wired shut" thing with the wrapped hijabs. I can't open my mouth! So as ya'll have known for a while, tie-back khimars are where it's at for me.

Unfortunately the company I've always bought from (www.hijabgirl.com) no longer gets new stock in. I think they are sourced from Syria which would explain the inability to restock. However, it was really a hardship for me as I needed a new khimar and stat!

I am really glad I took the chance on Sr. Badra's pak chador. It is made from a very soft, stretchy jersey material which is comfy. I am not positive I love the fabric though; I went to a family reunion today and was really worried about Aaminah's greasy fingers touching my hijab; it will leave a grease spot, where the polyester ones of course do not. It also doesn't hold the peak as well as the fabric is so soft but overall I really really like it and it's great because it fits any size face as you adjust it yourself.

Look her up on facebook under Badra Boutique or on www.etsy.com. I think the name is the same. I do NOT get paid to endorse products nor do I receive free products; I paid $25 for my khimar with shipping! lol I just like to pass on things I've found that I love. :)

Ma salaama ya'll!

***Hijabi clothing alert***

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. I found this very hijab-friendly tshirt while looking for bras today. (I really wanted to say "whilst" but refrained as I am neither British nor Canadian). It's 39" long (yes!) has long sleeves and a modest neckline. It comes in sizes M to 6X masha'Allah. It's only $9.99 and comes in 4 colors although some are sold out. Go here to check it out.

I've ordered a heather blue and a heather grey, opting out of the red and magenta. Yeah you know me, not too exciting in the color palette department. :-) I don't normally buy in multiples anymore but this seems like such a great shirt for exercising (um, I do it sometimes!) or just spending some time at the park.

Insha'Allah this will be of some help to ya'll. I have to say I've never ordered through here before but it's a huge, well-known company for plus size clothing. Some of their items come in regular sizes as well.

Ma salaama ya'll!

I'm excited!!!

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. So I know I just posted about a couple of abayaat designs I've wanted for a very long time. Well alhamdulillah I bit the bullet and placed an order with Sis Umm Ibrahim from Old School Hejabi. Most of you are familiar with her; she's been Muslim for years masha'Allah and has a really nice blog centered on Islamic fashion.

I've ordered from her through her Arabian Threads website and really loved the Saudi button-up abaya I received. Well it turns out she had an extra Iranian sleeved chador for sale that another sister had ordered. It is exactly my length and is really neat; I love how it's made! Here is a pic of the one I ordered:

It has an inner piece you can snap onto the other side to cover under your chin.

I also ordered a peachskin overhead abaya, the kind found in N. Africa and widely sold in France. Umm I ordered a sage green abaya which she ended up not liking. I like the color and would prefer to buy from another sister who got something they can't use instead of having another shipped over. Plus I get it quicker this way! I'm really excited and hoping to maybe be able to sew my own after I'm able to see how it's constructed. I also think I will make an underscarf from that awesome black henna-inspired fabric from my previous post to wear under the black chador. :-)

This photo is from Old School Hejabi blog but it's the one I ordered so I wanted to show it. :-)

I'll let ya'll know how great they are after I get them. :-) Ma salaama ya'll...

Cutest li'l hijabi plus updates!



My daughter has a kohl addiction. :-) If she sees me putting some on she has to have it.

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. The winner of the cutest li'l hijabi award goes to...................  Aaminah!!! Masha'allah what a sweet little face! This piece of fabric has a beautiful history, as well. When I first became Muslim my hijab selection was nil. I had the very thick, heavy, ivory square hijab a sister gave me that first Jumuah I attended the masjid. (I've talked about this on here before.) I've worn hijab since that day masha'Allah, may Allah be praised for making it easy for me.

Anyway the hijab was thick, heavy, and uncomfortable. I knew I had to do something and fast! I just had no idea what that was. :-) So I headed out to Wal-Mart and was looking for some fabric with which to cover myself. I found the above fabric and fell in love with the henna-inspired print. Plus it was only $1 a yard on clearance and it was really lightweight and stretchy. I bought a yard or so and headed home.

I didn't have a sewing machine at the time so I used the iron-on hemming tape that is available to "hem" the sides. I loved this hijab. :-) After some time and finding newer, more practical styles of hijab, I had placed it in my drawer. (Along with the extra couple of yards I had picked up at a later date.)

Aaminah pulled it out the other day and loved it as well. I thought, hmmm let's see what we can whip up! I'm not ashamed to say I used my magic-tape hemmed edges and just sewed a quick little line down the middle to join it. A few snips here and there and voila! My little muhajabat!

So now my first hijab has been passed down to my daughter. She loves to play with hijabs and wears them when she prays with us (most of the time lol). I love her chubby-cheeked look in them! I think she looks like those cute little Malaysian babies with their ruffly hijabs masha'Allah. :-)



Really she did smile for some but they ended up being blurry. Photo shoots before bed time = less options. :-

 I think I am going to make myself a khimar with the longer fabric I have. I also thought about making her a butterfly abaya but the inside of the fabric is a little scratchy so I don't think that would go over too well. And yeah, I like the thought of us going out in matching khimars. :-) Mommy and me, right?

Oh sorry for the lack of updates recently; I'll take care of that now. Alex, my baby (well for years and years pre-Aaminah) turned 14 on the 10th of March. Masha'Allah! He is just a great kid; alhamdulillah both of my boys are very intelligent but Alex has that something extra. He is a math whiz, plays in the school marching band, runs cross-country track and is one of the most caring and compassionate people I've ever met. He is an awesome big brother and dotes on Aaminah. He is creative, hardworking, selfless and is taller than me now!!!

Yes, all that AND a sense of humor and self-confidence masha'Allah! :-)

Hmmm which is Alex? The one pretending to be camera-shy. :-)

I mentioned Aaminah's kohl/kajal addiction. Let me explain. I love to use real kohl. To clarify, not the medicinal kind that burns (ya Allah, I used it once!!! lol) just a beautiful dark natural kohl. I didn't like the last type I had (that I bought in UAE) and I saw a recommendation for Rani kohl. I bought some online, the thick paste kind and I'm in love! It goes on nice and dark, doesn't seem to smear as much as the loose powder type, and I love the applicator stick in it.

Aaminah masha'Allah sits still and opens her eyes and lets me draw the thin applicator stick between her lids. It's so cute, masha'Allah, how she wants to be like mama. I also bought some perfume from the same online seller Islamestore. I ended up getting a fragrance called "mokhalat" and another that smells of yasmine (my husband loves the smell!). I don't care as much for the yasmine but Aaminah loves it. I really like the mokhalat; it has a high note of rose (which I dont' typically care for) but the undertones of saffron and something else is just too yummy. I really enjoy it.

Anyway Islam e-store is a seller on eBay. I bought the kohl for my eyes, henna for my toes, and 2 bottles of oil fragrance. It came to about $25, the shipping was fast and I had great communication from them as well. (I forgot to specify which perfumes and they emailed me promptly to remind me to pick.)

I also got 2 hijabs for the girls. They both needed a dressier one and my stepdaughters do tend to like amira hijabs. I bought these two gathered lycra amira hijabs, which for Hafsa and lavendar for Zainab. The price was $15 each plus free shipping from Izdihar Boutique another eBay seller. I was pleased with them, they are long enough to be modest (cover the chest) and are well made masha'Allah.

 OK I think I caught ya'll up! To recap, Aaminah is too-cute in hijab, Alex is growing up faster than I can comprehend, and I can recommend from my experience the 2 above sellers. :-) Not too shabby for a quick Saturday morning post. :-) Ma salaama ya'll!

Hijab/abaya styles I want:

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. It seems I'm always on the lookout for the perfect, no-fuss, comfy hijab with an awesome peak (the part that comes out over the forehead). I don't like the flat-to-the-head look on myself plus I just find it more practical.

Anyway I found these pics online; I think the majority of these are similar to Iranian hijab. I saw these (if I remember correctly) when the unrest in Bahrain was at its height. I really love how this one looks:

See how it cover the chin to the forehead? Me likey. :-)



I also like this overhead abaya style. I wouldn't be opposed to different colors such as a nice chocolately brown or muted eggplant but I think its usually easiest to get in black.

I like black, I think it looks elegant but somewhat formal and have just recently begun to experiment with different color combinations. I wore a brown abaya with a beige khimar the other day. It may not seem like alot to you guys but for me it was really going out on a limb. lol
Anyway I like these styles; I think the overhead abayaat being sold in France (an Algerian or North African overhead) is going to be the closest I can get to these. I've been given a few sources in France for abayaat and insha'Allah I'll be able to get a least a couple of new abayaat and maybe start a new love affair. :-)

This is the N. African overhead which is probably the closest I can get; the forehead part is a little different but insha'Allah will be good.

ma salaama...

To all my south asian sistahs

Can ya'll see any desi features on her? Curious...

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. As you may or may not know, my darlin' little Aaminah is half Indian masha'Allah. I try to encourage her to learn (in age-applicable ways) about the other half of her culture. Masha'allah she's got alot on her plate.

1. M-U-S-L-I-M of course is first and foremost. 'Nough said.

2. American. Amreeki. Amreekiya. Whatev, howev you say it, she was born a southern girl and that is of course my basis for life after being a Muslim.

3. Indo-pak/desi. Please if any of these terms are offensive, tell me. It seems simple to say Indo-Pak but I've never definitely heard if it's rude; if so please excuse me and feel free to call me a redneck if ya wanna. :-))

So I guess it goes to say she will never learn Urdu. First English then Arabic and no one to teach her Urdu. Her Abi left when she was 3 months old and returned to India (after I had traveled to India to marry him, completed his visa, waited apart for a year, brought him over as his sponsor on his relative visa, worked while pregnant with Aaminah and he make TWO trips back to India and didn't work, blah blah blah) LOL Sorry really not bitter at all just want ya'll to have the WHOLE picture in your mind and not think I am trying to keep her from anything anyone.

Anyway I want her to know about her more interesting (to me!) cultural half. Here's where ya'll can help. Anyone out there reading who has a couple of choli-lenghas or shalwar kameez sized to fit a sturdy almost 3 yr old, give me a holla. The bright metal bangles, anything really. I have a few things for her but most of the clothing she outgrew as the waist was made for some very slender child and while masha'allah Aaminah is perfect, made by Allah, she is sturdy not a will-o-wisp. :-)

I am more than willing to pay S&H plus cost but I am not looking to spend $$$. Used is best as it costs lest and I save more $$$. :-)) I would also love to have a sari for me to wrap as a rida (really neat way to cover) or a woolen jamovar/stole/pashmina???? jeeze thought I knew some things but guess not.

I know I can go on eBay and search but I am so leery of getting poor quality in things I am not as well-versed in, such as Indian clothing. Hence my appeal to you.

Now, if you have the goods, you wanna sell, we can make a deal. If you have the goods but kinda feeling, Oh I should save it for my sister's daughter or my cousin's baby, then please do and don't worry. :-) I like to hand things down in my family too or help out those less fortunate, alhamdulillah.

I knooooow this might be stretching it but I would also love to find some jewelry for her; earrings or bracelets. She has a pair of silver anklets given by a sweet friend but I of course would like to put her in some bling-bling gold, insha'Allah, the kind I cannot seem to find in the US.

Oh also just plain play shalwar kameez, shoes, whatever. Sorry trying to be more explicit in what I am searching for. Alright looking forward to hearing back from someone in the near future and if not, alhamdulillah. Maybe one day her Abi's family will think of her here in the US and send her some little token of her other background, wa Allahu alim.

She said to me the other day, rather poignantly, "I want someone to look like me" or something to that effect. She knows I have green eyes and my hair isn't quite the same as hers and her stepsiblings have a more North African/Arab look, and her brothers have light brown hair and startlingly blue eyes. Subhanallah she picked up on that! I want her to be proud of her mixed heritage but I have to find ways to present it to her first insha'allah.

Ma salaama ya'll...

They're baaaack! 2nd post of the day

I love 'em!

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. I was sooo excited when I looked in my yahoo and had an email from HijabGirl and saw they had restocked my absolutely FAVE type of hijab, the long tie-back khimar. Who am I kidding, fave? It's the only one I wear for many reasons. One, comfort, comfort, comfort. Two, it's very modest. Three, it stays put fairly well. :-) HG is the only place online I have found them. I don't like the ones with the separate underscarf; I need the attached underscarf.

My love affair began innocently enough about 4 years ago. A sister threw one in with an abaya I had purchased on ebay. At first I felt kinda conspicuous but it didn't take long before I was in love. Now it's all I can wear and my black one had gotten kinda groady and I was needing some more. Unfortunately they had been out of the black (a staple for me) for the past year. Yep, year.

Alhamdulillah they got these in and when I placed my order, there were still 74 black ones left. :-) There is also beige, brown, navy and white. I have only good things to say about this company and if you are interested their prices are great. $5.95 shipping in US for any size order and I only paid $19.95 for each long khimar. Happy day!

Ma salaama ya'll...

Who out there wears overhead abayaat?

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. I am thinking of expanding my clothing repetoire (which is pretty basic) into overhead abaya. I mean, I wear abaya all the time anyway but then have to throw a hijab on top (I wear the tie-back khimar style) so I think I can really streamline this situation. lol

However I must must must must must have a peak (the part that sticks out) on my forehead. Flat to the forehead hijab is NOT a good look on me. Plus I don't like showing so much of my forehead but I digress.

I want to know who does or has worn an overhead and if you've ever tried the chador overhead abaya, a newer style. It has the forehead piece and ties back behind the head but is all one piece abaya to the ground.

Any sources would be great. I found one (see above) on http://www.alhediya.com/ (I think) but it's $56 PLUS shipping and I just can't justify that amount. So I would super appreciate any words of advice you all can give insha'allah.

Ma salaama....

No mo' black satin with gold designs :-)

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. Any one else ever felt like most of the Islamic art was really a black velvet Elvis poster in disguise? lol I don't really do that look nor do I like to cover my home in papyrus-like posters or neon plastic signs. So imagine my delight when I came across this website.

The sister makes crafty little Islamic (and secular) signs. So cute masha'Allah. :-) And more at home and fitting with a modern household who isn't into glitter pics. lol

Check it out here. I haven't ordered from her, just found the website.

Ma salaama.

Buy with caution

A'salaamu alaikum. I bought 5 abayaat from East Essence because their prices were, well, too good to be true. We paid $140 for 5 abayaat. Mine was fine, true to size. None of them were great quality but for the price, didn't expect it.

The other four were all too small. They all measured about 3 inches too small in most areas. We contacted the company to return them, and then of course I had to pay return shipping.

The company just contacted me and said they will not honor the return because they measured them and they were correct. ?? They also said they had been worn and were stained and wrinkled.

Ummm they were wrinkled because I had to stuff them back in the packaging and as they were SKIN tight they were never worn. Any stains were from their factory. Subhanallah.

I am very displeased with the company, especially the tone they used when writing to me. Accusing me of being dishonest, wearing something and then returning it. Anyway now I have to spend ANOTHER $10 to get them returned to me. I will hope to sell them on eBay and make a little of the money back so I can buy the girls some new abayaat for Ramadan.

Please excercise caution if you want to do business with this company. No problem if your order comes in good shape; beware if there are any issues.

Ma salaaama.