Welcome Home Mum!

My mom recently embarked on a visit to Mecca and returned on Sunday. In the spirit of this holy month, I thought I'd include a few lines on this  special journey which I hope to take. I'll be patient until  my time comes, Inshallah (God willing).

One performs many of the rituals as is required for Hajj (pilgrimage), and spend your days in prayer in two major mosques in Madinah and Mecca. The time is generally used for introspection, asking forgiveness for sins and repeating many of the actions performed by our last prophet , Muhammad (PBUH). Of course, there's also loads of shopping to be done, usually more abayas (black cloaks), prayer mats, jewellery etc etc.

So the sweet thing with my moms journey this time is that my son, Ihsaan (9), wanted to know each day where she was and what she would see and do.  We would then try to follow her travels from SA, he was really interested in what happens in the Holy Land with such fresh curiosity.

At the airport, after getting dressed and out of the house by 6:30am

Mom looking very sad before she left

My outift for the occasion:

Scarf: Gift (accessorised with SassDiva headband)

Snood: Cotton On

Quilted Leather Jacket: Asos (Urban)

Leopard Print hi- lo tunic: Mr Price

Skinny Jeans: RE @ Woolworths

Boots & Belt: Country Road (old)

Earring: SassDiva

Ciao for now,

RuBe xoxo

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Polka dot luncheon

My apologies for neglecting the blog, but its due to so many things happening at home. 

My second son, Ameer, starts high school next year, so we've been preparing applications and attending open days. My youngest Ihsaan, has decided he's a mini Masterchef, and has joined a cooking club- this means Mommy has to constantly buy the required ingredients for the next recipe! It never ends....

And of course, I am also now without my domestic worker, which complicates things a lot more. So when my sister suggested some time out for shopping and lunch, I was more than ready! I even managed to find a lovely pair of polka dot pumps on sale at Country Road (pics to follow). I am so into prints right now, stars, polka dots and stripes and even tropical.

It was such a lovely way to destress, forget about the housework and all the other responsibilities. And my sister has the knack for making me feel better about everything in general. Anyone who is blessed to have a sister knows, you have your ups and downs , but in the end you love them to bits and that's all that matters!

For the lunch I paired my polka dot cardigan with red wedges with a nautical striped heel detail:

I was wearing:

Jeans | ZARA

Vest & cardigan: Mr Price

Wedge heels: Woolworths (old)

Bracelets: Honey & Tiffany

Necklace: Sass Diva

Sunglasses: CK

My absolute favourite fashion icon, Victoria Beckham,also sporting polka dots. (Image courtesy of Google)

Image courtesy of people.com

Ciao for now, 

RuBe xoxo

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Dirty Dancing Musical

The past weekend we went to see the Dirty Dancing musical. I absolutely loved the movie, it's one of those classics you could never tire of. The show was held at the Artscape Theatre, and has been booked solid for all the performances- an indication of it's popularity I suppose.

As with any musical, it was big and bold and thoroughly entertaining. The only thing that bothered me slightly was the american accent used by the actor playing Johnny (Gareth Bailey), it was heavy and really difficult to understand. Baby (Bryony Whitfield) also didnt really mature during the live show as she does on the movie, and it is a coming of age story. All this aside, the dancing was pretty good and as expected amazing costumes and set design.

The highlight of the show was of course the end scene where they perform the "lift" and the audience broke out into applause enthusiastically. Billy (Kyle Grant) did a beautiful rendition of "In the Still of the Night" and "I had the time of my Life"- that performance was defintely spot on!

Since it was a Saturday night theatre evening I decided to dress up. I wore my Perry Book princess skirt with and emeral wrap top from Trenery.

Enjoy the pics!

Hot and bothered after beauty preparations in the heat!

Outside the Hilton, on our way to have an early dinner at Mezbaan

A delicious meal, although the tandoori wings were a bit spicy for hubby!

I was wearing:

Trenery wrap top

Perry Book princess skirt

Nine west heels

Bracelet and neckpiece by Mr Price

Sunglasses by Ray Ban

Clutch 36 Boutiques by Vickson

Ciao for now,
RuBe xoxo

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Introspection:normal life

Life returns to normal and my time is now filled with school, sports trips and stationery.   I am still on sabbatical and spending time every day to reflect on my career and health, vs. being a stay at home mum and concentrating on my priorities. For so long, my career has played a very big part of what I am and what I do, my decision making, and I rarely had time to reflect.

So, while I have no meetings to rush to and no budgets with no deadlines, I am using this time to recuperate health wise and re-evaluate. Of course, a career is very important and fulfilling, whilst being a mom and wife and home maker is an unacknowledged job. I have already pointed this out in a previous post (which you can read HERE). But the longer I think about it, I realise that I know my children so much better after being at home with them all this time and we’ve had some really memorable times.

My son, Ziyaad has entered adolescence and it is a very difficult time for me, as much as for him. Apart from having a demanding job, I also had to deal with the mood swings and evolving personality. We spent the majority of our time, disagreeing, arguing and “fighting”.   I suppose he was testing the boundaries as teens do, and I barely had the time (or energy) to chat amicably never mind constantly negotiate boundaries. And to add to this, I also have two younger boys, who are rambunctious, busy and also in need of constant mommy attention. This was a typical day when I work and come home to my ‘second job’.

It’s no wonder my health took a back step, as I tried to juggle everything and “have” everything. As my doctor says, women generally multitask pretty well, but all we end up doing is taking away from one area and giving to another (usually at our own expense).

I find myself in the position of having to reconsider my priorities, this being forced on me partly by the state of my health and partly out of necessity.  Thus I am taking some time doing lots of introspection about what is important to me, above all what is best for me.

Here’s a look of what I wore to a school event, an old maxi bought a good few years ago with my Madison heels I won last month . It was a scorcher of a day, and I did not have the inclination to dry my hair. So I pinned it back and off I went. (Oh how I miss my tresses- I could have braided it!).

I'm wearing:
Legend shirt| 'vintage' maxi| Mr Price belt| Madison heels| Guess bracelet| necklaces by Honey & The Space|

Ciao for now,
RuBe xoxo

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