Shaza’s Scrapbook Has Moved!

If you follow me on WordPress and have noticed that you haven’t received any notifications regarding new posts, it’s because I have moved! Don’t worry, my blog looks exactly the same on the outside – the move is a back office/internal change.

So, how does this affect you? If you follow me via WordPress, you will no longer be notified of any updates on my blog. Sucks, I know.

No fear my friends – you can still stay up-to-date on everything! How? Simply go to my blog and either subscribe via email (enter your email on the right side of my blog) or via RSS Feed.

You might have missed out on some of my posts – for instance, I posted about graffiti art at our mehendi, our wedding cake and 30 facts about myself!

Our Wedding Cake
Photography by Big Al Studios

Graffiti art by my sister!
Photography by Big Al Studios

See you on the other side!

PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week 2012: Teena by Hina Butt

Quite frankly, I hadn’t heard of Hina Butt until her name popped up in relation to PFDC. While I didn’t love her collection, I did like some pieces – especially the soft pink ones!

The shirt is shorter… dun dun dun! And is that a shalwar?

Interesting

I’m loving the colour

I heart!

*All the above images are via Fashion Central*

PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week 2012: Fahad Hussayn

Although I love Fahad Hussayn’s work, I was a little disappointed when I saw his collection. No one piece stood out for me – which is a surprise because I really liked the sneak peeks of his Laaj Nagar Collection!

*All the below images are via Fashion Central*

That’s a pretty ‘meh’ outfit if you ask me

I like this

I love the yellow. I want lots of yellow.

I like

Sneak peeks from Fahad Hussayn’s Facebook page:

How stunning is this?

What are your thoughts?

PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week 2012: Elan

It’s time to indulge our eyes with bridal fashion. YEAY! I’ll post a roundup of the highlights from the show but for now, here is one of my favourite new designers. I have come to love Elan’s collection.

Love the colours on this one

Pretty colours but I’m not loving the neckline – a little unflattering

How hot is the back? Too bad it’s way revealing for me!

Intricate! The colours and kaam remind me a little of Sana Safinaz

Simply elegant

*All the above images are via Fashion Central*

Love it or seen the same thing too many times? Tell me what you think!

Friday’s Feature: Rammal’s Photography and Digital Art Hub

I’ve been wanting to feature this Islamabad based photographer for a while – you  might recognize their work from previous posts of mine.

Anyway, I think Rammal has a very unique eye and is able to capture some extremely gorgeous moments. Is it just me or all her brides super stunning and well dressed?

How cute is this?

And this?

This bride is a designer and wore one of her own creations

You probably remember this bride from one of my previous posts!

I love the picture of the bride and her parents walking in! Can you tell her dad is sad? Sigh!

Check out that amazing door

I love twirling pictures!

This bride is stunning. If she’s not a model, she totally should be

*All the above images are via Rammal Photography’s Facebook Page*

Have a good weekend! I may be cooking on Sunday – pray for me!

Busy Beebee

Well, hello there people! I thought that I would bring you all up to date with my life today.

I have been a busy bee. Life has been hectic and I’m feeling a little burnt out – the weather might be dampening my spirits too. Jerk. Some of you have emailed with questions while others are sending silent questions my way. I know because I can read your mind. So here is a quick run down of the latest and the greatest.

• Nouman and I are approaching our 4 month mark Alhamdulilah – can you believe it? Time is flying by faster than I could have ever imagined
• We are officially finished with all weddings and baby showers… until December. Side note – I went to a baby shower on Sunday and met someone who reads my blog… that was pretty cool!
• Although we have been on numerous dates dawats with aunties and uncles, Nouman and I have only gone out twice since being married
• If you know me, the above is not good because I am dying to try out restaurants near our home. Nouman knows nothing about restaurants in his neighbourhood – unless you count Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. He loves those places.
• We finally have our wedding pictures and videos! I can’t wait to share them with you – but you’ll have to wait. I have a pretty crazy schedule for the next 1.5 – 2 weeks. I will also be making some changes (hopefully) to the blog before I post the pictures up – yeay!
• No, I have not changed my last name
• Yes, I’ve had some awkward moments as a newly wed – less than I expected, which is good! One time, Nouman’s friend took us out for lunch and gave us a box of chocolate (I love See’s Candies!). Obviously, I cracked open the box as soon as we got in the car and started munching away. Nouman was too full to eat (as if you need an empty stomach to eat chocolate. Sheesh.) so I decided to eat half of each piece of chocolate. There was mainly only one of the same flavour so I thought I would share; Nouman could eat his half whenever he wanted. That makes sense, right? Well, after not being able to eat the chocolate after a few days, Nouman decided to take the box upstairs. This would be fine except that Nouman and I live in his parents basement. You might know where this is heading. Noumans mom opened the box and saw the mess I had made – she couldn’t stop laughing. I was so embarrassed – I think I said something about how I wanted to share it with him. I was trying to be nice guys! She was probably wondering what kind of weirdo her son married. Oh well…
• I have gained weight and for the first time in my life, I am unable to lose my gut. I’m not trying very hard but still!
• “How is married life?” is the most common question I hear. The answer to this question warrants an entire post so stay tuned – dun dun dun! In a nutshell, it’s a huge change. For me, anyway. Those of you who are getting married soon, you should look out for that post
• Everyday, Nouman and I come home to a hot meal waiting for us because his mom is sweet enough to cook for us. Starting next week, this will change. Noumans mom will be travelling and I have to cook – I am SO dreading it! Not because I don’t know how to cook – I can cook basic things such as daal, chawal, a loo, pasta’s, etc – but because I don’t like cooking. I’d rather starve. Okay, I lied – I love food way too much. PLEASE help me; I’d love to know some easy and quick recipes – preferably vegetarian.

Pardah hai pardah. A teaser from the mehendi. That’s me!

Other than that, I’m planning on doing a FAQ section so please hit me up with any questions you have!

Wedding Favours

A few of you have emailed and asked me to post about my wedding favours. Hence, I’ve decided to showcase various favours in this post – including ours! YEAY.

• Cupcake In a Box: Cupcakes have officially taken over everywhere – so why not include them in your wedding too? I love the idea of cupcakes in a box!

Image via Bobette and Belle

• Personalized Cookies: If you want to add a personal touch to your favours, having the names of your guests on a cookie (or any other dessert) would be great. This can also double up as a cute name card! Obviously this might be hard if you’re a typical desi with 300 + guests at your wedding…

Image via Sweetopia.net

• Cake Pops: I’m a big believer of edible favours (stop smirking – I know you guys are not surprised by that revelation). How cute are the below bride & groom cake pops
  

  Image via Wedding Bee Boards

• Love Songs: One of Nouman’s friends had a CD with their favourite love songs as wedding favours. It’s cute, it’s sentimental and it allows your guests a better insight into who you are as a couple.

Image via One Fab Day

• Candy Buffet: If you’ve ever been to a wedding with a candy buffet, you’ll notice that even the oldest people are giddy with excitement around the table. I love candy buffets because it’s an interactive and fun way to make your guests happy!

Image via Michaels.com

• Take Home Pictures: Another fun trend – a photo booth that has take home pictures. This is a great way for your friends and family to remember your wedding. It creates a memory and is a great keepsake for your guests! If you don’t have access to a photo booth, you can also use polaroid camera’s – have one at each table or a 2-3 at a designated area (i.e. your guest book)

Nouman and I at a BangaBooth

And lastly, our favours.

• Mehendi: Chooriyan. Both of our families distributed chooriyan to the girls

Photography by Big Al Studios

• Shaadi: Finally. I can show you guys my favours! For the shaadi (wedding) favours, I ordered candy shaped gift boxes. Since I wore red and purple, I had boxes alternating in colour. Each box had 3 things written on it: Nouman & Shaza, our wedding date, and our “logo.” This logo was on our wedding invitations, our wedding favours, and the wedding programmes. We stuffed the wedding favours with chocolate, nuts, and Shahi Supari (I love those things!)

Photography by Big Al Studios

Nouman’s family also handed out Bidh after our Nikkah

It’s customary for the grooms side to hand out something sweet/with nuts after the Nikkah. Ours had nuts and dried fruits.
Photography by Big Al Studios

• Reception: Nouman’s family had silver boxes with gold stars as favours. These were stuffed with yummy things such as chocolate, nuts and some sort of supari

Photography by Big Al Studios

… Well, there you have it!

Monday’s Munchies: Mrs. Fields Icecream Sandwich

I don’t know about you but I had a busy weekend. We went to a dawat on Friday, Wonderland on Saturday and a baby shower on Sunday. Best of all though, we got our wedding pictures!! I have been so excited to see them that I contemplated staying up all night to go through the pictures over and over again – unfortunately, Nouman isn’t feeling well so I couldn’t do that. I can’t wait to go through all the pictures and then share them with all of you! Hang in there as I wrap up a busy week and a half.

Back to today’s post – FOOD.

We’ve all had Mrs. Fields cookies, right? This summer, thanks to Noumans brother, I discovered that Mrs. Fields has icecream sandwiches. I know, you’re wondering what the heck is so special about an icecream sandwich that made me want to write about it. Well, if you’re a fan of icecream sandwiches and Mrs. Fields, you should already be salivating by the thought of the sandwich. At Mrs. Fields, you can choose two flavours of cookie to make your sandwich – not one but two! Can you imagine – all that variety of cookies to choose from?! They don’t have a variety of icecream flavours, just basics such as vanilla, double chocolate, chocolate mint and cookies and cream.

Our Order: Cookies and Cream icecream with a macadamia nut cookie on top and a chocolate lover cookie on the bottom.

DIVINE.

Surprisingly, the combination wasn’t too sweet – although we didn’t have one whole sandwich each. The sandwich was soft and crunchy at the same time… yum, yum, yum!

… And then I wonder why I’m getting fatter by the day. Seriously.

Highlights of Delhi Couture Week

I’m a little late in posting these images but married life is busier than I thought! With the exception of last Sunday, Nouman and I haven’t had a single weekend free in a looong time. Add our work schedules into the mix and we’ve got crazy long days. So yes, I’ve been busier than I was before the wedding – who would’ve thunk it?!

Anyway, here are some of the highlights from Delhi Couture Week! I’m totally into all the lace, black and white and full sleeves.

Manav Gangawi – I love the black and white. Especially the outfit on the right

Gaurav Gupta – I’m not a fan of the yellow/orange outfit but I love the colour!

Varun Bahl – Lace looks hot

Anju Modi

Anju Modi

Lookie! It’s Madhuri Dixit (she’s my favouritest) wearing Anju Modi

JJ Valaya

JJ Valaya – love the pop of colour. The middle outfit is so different

Sabyasachi

Sridevi wearing Sabyasachi

Manish Malhotra – I like the idea of having sheer fabric covering the outfit

Manish Malhotra – How stunning is the first outfit?

Manish Malhotra

And lastly…

I can’t decide what I think about this piece from Shantanu and Nikhil’s collection. Definitely eye-catching!

*All images are via Fashion Design Council of India*

I’m loving all the long open shirts with sharara – how about you?

Monday’s Munchies: Dosa at The Nilgiris

On the weekend, Nouman, his mom and I went for dosa. It was my (and Nouman’s) first time trying dosa – I have wanted to try it for a long time but never got around to it. Nouman’s mom has had it before so she suggested The Nilgiris in Scarborough.

Since none of us are dosa experts, we asked our server for suggestions. Nouman’s family likes well-spiced foods so he suggested the Mysore Masala Dosa with Onions. Nouman didn’t think he would get full by eating just one dosa, so he ordered 2. Obviously. Our order: 2 Mysore Masala Dosa’s, 1 cheese Dosa and 1 Rava Onion Dosa. All their dosa’s come with Sambar (vegetable stew with lentils and veggies) and 3 chutneys.

Mysore Masala Dosa with Onions: Thin crepe made of rice and lentils, coated with the Mysore paste and stuffed with potatoes and onions

The Mysore Masala Dosa was yummy but a little bit too spicy for me. The filling was yummy – potato and onions mixed with a spicy masala.The potatoes are stuffed at the center of the dosa – so that the dosa doesn’t get soggy. Although the dosa was crispy, next time I’ll be ordering potatoes on the side.

Cheese Dosa: A regular dosa coated with cheese and stuffed with potato and onions

The cheese dosa was delicious. The filling was the same as the Mysore Masala but the dosa was coated with cheese. I liked eating just the dosa portion – the cheese flavour tasted like the remains of a grilled cheese sandwich. You know what I mean by remains, right? It’s the extra bit of cheese that gets grilled a little bit longer and gets left behind in the pan (I eat it).

Rava Onion Dosa

I think this was everyone’s favourite. The dosa was crispy, light, and very flavourful. The onions were partly cooked so the flavour was bursting. When I asked Nouman why he liked it and he said it reminded him of a dry omelette.

While Nouman, the meat lover, didn’t love dosa’s, I can’t wait to go again!