In all the greyness, spring fashion is the light at the end of my tunnel. By February, I seriously need a dose of colourful fun in my wardrobe.   Pretty dresses in shades of coral, turquoise and creamy white coquettishly tell me not to give up:  Soon there will be flowers, sun and green leaves.  I love bright colours, shift dresses and British bohemian aesthetics.  Victoria Beckham has brought his all together in her new ready-to-wear collection for Spring 2012. Check it out here!... More »

So many mornings of my life have entailed going into that room and scooping a delicious angelic bundle, swaddled meticulously, into my arms. Then, as they grew older, my days began with an active toddler holding the railing and yelling to get out. More »

I took out some crafty stuff and we got busy. Beads were the weapons of choice against Boredom and they were indeed successful in engaging the Girl. I also ended up with a pretty cool necklace! More »

Delicious, fragrant, homemade Indian food is a great way to introduce colourful, flavourful nutrition into your homes. If you don't already have these key spice ingredients, I recommend you buy them More »

As I mentioned, we had not one but two family weddings within one week. It was beautiful madness. My cousin Faheem wed beautiful Moina in an elegant ceremony at home.  The ceremony was incredibly moving and intimate. The home was resplendent in fresh flowers, the scent of attar and so much love.My favourite part of the wedding was a decorative swing that had been set up in the backyard to seat the newlyweds.  The decorators drenched it with orchids and jasmine, and it was seriously the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.  One thing I can't get over at Indian... More »

The wedding events were explosions of colour and fresh flowers, against the backdrop of silk, brocades and chiffons. The clothes were to die for and I couldn't get enough of people-watching at the functions. More »

I'm not much of a baker, but every holiday season I whip up some simple sugar cookies that can be cut into holiday shapes and decorated with the kids.  I've sampled a number of recipes but this one from Canadian Living is by far the best and the easiest, with no weird or hard-to-find ingredients.  Best thing about them is that they take 10 minutes in the oven, another 10 minutes to cool and they're all ready to decorate.3/4 cup (175 mL) butter, softened1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar1 egg1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla2-1/2 cups (625 mL) all purpose flour1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking powder1 pinch saltLine rimless baking sheets with parchment paper or grease; set aside. In large... More »

My son came home last week with assignment called "Structure".  It required him to make something, from scratch, using raw materials.  The teacher also wanted to see the design, the plan and the resources. As you can imagine, I was nervous.I'm not crafty and I'm not very good at building anything.  I turned to the web and found all the resources to be overwhelming and too hard - Google is great and all, but sometimes it's all too much.That is, however, until I came upon the Martha Stewart website.  I've used the site in the past for recipes, but had... More »

I got the call last week.The call that every parent dreads, yet expects at least once in your kids' school years.  I answered the phone and our sweet school administrative officer says, "Hi Amreen. Can you come get the kids? They have lice."Ick. Gross. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.  Immediately, I start mentally defending my parenting skills:"My kids are so clean, how could this happen?""Our house is clean, the kids bathe regularly, I wash their hair myself!!!"  Outrage, disbelief, and throw in some disgust for good measure.But, seriously speaking, lice is the second most communicable "illness" in school-age children after the common... More »

Last weekend, I took my girls out for a nature walk. We wandered through our neighbourhood, and picked an assortment of brilliantly coloured leaves. The variety of foliage was amazing, and we were very, very pleased with our found treasures. More »